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It had been almost three months since Troy had left, Nick couldn’t be sure, it was hard to keep track of time in the new world. He was still shocked that Troy took Virginia’s offer to join the Pioneers, when they were so close to Humbug’s Gulch and that Troy would abandon him after everything they’d been through. Alicia assured him that he was better off on his own and that Troy had never been good for him, but it was hard to take her advice when she spent most of her time smiling at Wes. Apart from Troy’s absence, Nick quite liked life at the Gulch, and he knew Troy would’ve liked it too. The rivers were clear and abundant with fish, and the soil was fertile. The town was perfect for the community.
As everyone settled in and basic needs became less of a worry, they ventured out into more indulgent tasks. Daniel and Charlie, with the help of Skidmark, had been soundproofing what was formerly the church, so everyone could listen to their records without fear of walkers. The saloon had been renovated and restocked and also depleted by Victor, Sarah and Wendell. Dwight and John had been building a pier over the river, for fishing and other river activities. Nick had been drawn to that task, in particular, he wasn’t too good at building but whenever he was out on a run, he’d make sure to search for bathing suits and snorkels. Luciana had noticed his hunting and helped out along the way.
When they crossed each other’s paths again, Luci was very respectful of his new relationship, but they’d still stayed close and trusted each other more as friends. Sometimes Nick worried that the friendship had driven Troy to jealously, and that was another reason that he left. He tried not to think about why Troy left too much.
The building of the pier was complete, and the weather was good for it. They visited the river in staggered groups as not to comprise the safety of the Gulch. Due to Nick’s contributions, he was part of the first wave.
He’d forgotten how much he loved being in the water for no reason but fun. He was wading around near Alicia, who seemed to be feeling the same way. Wes was floating beside her, shooting a confused look towards Nick.
“Can I ask you something?” Wes said politely as he could. They’d come to know each other pretty well; it was nice to have friends his own age again.
“Sure man.” Nick nodded.
“How’d you get that scar?” It was a loaded question, but Nick wasn’t afraid to answer. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Morgan edge closer to the group, always ready to offer support.
“Well, uh, Charlie shot me” His fingers traced over the marking on his torso as he talked. Charlie was back at the town, but he knew she wouldn’t mind him mentioning the incident. “Our groups were fighting, but she was just a misguided kid. I forgave her like I forgave Troy when he was against us too.”
Morgan decided to take over, “That’s what’s so special about our community,” he said with fondness, “Dwight was a part of a waring group when we were in Virginia. He always had the potential to be a good man, and he fulfilled it with us.”
Morgan had spoken about his time in Virginia on a few occasions, they were stories that were always kept behind a barrier, full of heartache and bloodshed. It made Nick thankful that he was part of the group that he was, they never got into scrapes like Morgan used to.
It had been a long time since Nick had felt comfort in nightfall. The sun set on a day of joy and it was almost easy to forget the struggles they’d all befallen to get there. The happiness he’d felt had made him ache for Troy more, he wanted to share the excitement and the fun, he had no way of knowing if he was safe or even alive, or if he was happy. With questions turning in his head, Nick followed the familiar path to Dwight’s house. After Dwight was welcomed into their group, Nick had formed a close bond with him, it had been a while since he’d had a positive male figure to look up to and turn to for advice, Dwight wasn’t perfect, Nick could relate to his past problems, it was just nice to have someone new to talk to.
Nick rapped on the door, a reply came instantly, and he wandered in. Dwight was sitting on his couch with a beer in hand and a smile on his face.
“Hey, Nick.” He took on a caring tone. “You need to talk about anything?”
Nick paced a little bit, and picked up one of Dwight’s woodcarvings, tossing it over in his hand. “Yeah. I wanted to talk about,” He took a soft breath, “talk about looking for Troy.”
“You’ve come to the wrong person kid,” Dwight said with a laugh.
“Well, I just thought, since your wife left you, you might have some advice on tracking down someone. I tried talking to John, but he told me all this shit about how love would find a way. It wasn’t really my style.”
“That sounds like John, alright. Look, Nick, go look for him, but just once. If he doesn’t want to be found, he doesn’t want to, and you have to respect that.” He was obviously speaking from a point of pain, it oozed out of him.
“I’ll respect that but, it’s hurting a lot, I’m getting tired of him being away.”
“I know how you feel. Al has all the information on the Pioneers, go talk to her in the morning.”
“Thanks, Dwight, I’ll see you later.” Nick left and returned to the Clark homestead. It was empty. He assumed Alicia was out, spending time with her friends and enjoying the freedom of the Gulch, the assumption was a luxury he was glad to have back. Still, he felt a lingering feeling of envy as he crawled into bed, life was good in their new home and he loved the people in it, but he knew it would be better if he wasn’t alone.
Once morning broke, Nick was up. He wondered if he’d always secretly been a morning person or if the new world gave him more reason to be. After a good feed and an early catch up with some of his friends, he dawdled down to Al’s. She’d been working hard with the tapes she’d filmed at Paradise Ridge. Everyone wanted to avoid another run-in with the Pioneers, and Al had been using her intel to steer clear of them on supply runs. Nick wasn’t quite sure of what to ask of her, he just wanted a list of settlements to search, any other information about them was a gift.
“Hey, Al.” Nick hovered in her doorway, well aware that his presence was an intrusion on her hard work.
“Nick.” Her eyes didn’t leave her station.
Nick sat in one of the office chairs in the room, he had to be honest, “Could I look at the where the Pioneer settlements are?” This piqued her interest.
“It’s not smart to look for Troy right now.”
“I’m quiet.” He resisted the urge to bring up her repeated searches for her elusive lover.
“I’ll give you the records, but you better be safe.” She looked tired, yet still had a cheeky tone in her voice. She took out an empty map and circled two areas. “From what I’ve learned about their operations, this is where I think they’d put Troy. Their security is foolproof, remember they found Morgan and me.”
“Al, you fell in a pool. I’ll be fine.” Nick quickly snatched up the map, knowing that if he waited Al would rethink her decision.
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
Without a reliable source of gas, the resource was limited to essential supply runs and emergencies. Nick knew that there was no way he’d be allowed to use the gas for such a purpose, and he didn’t like driving that much anyway. He assumed that they wouldn’t miss one horse too much and began packing a small bag of supplies for his trip. Before leaving he wrote Alicia a short note, that told her where he was going, not to worry and that he loved her. It was always important to remind her that he did, he never knew if it would be the last time that he’d be able to.
All of the Pioneer settlements were north of the Gulch. The first candidate was a few miles off the main highway, around what appeared to be a deserted roadside motel. Nick hitched his horse at a tree that was obscured by a dip in a hill. He made his way up to the motel; he kept close to the ground and had a careful hand hovering over his pistol. When he approached the motel, there wasn’t any noise, not even the gruelling groans of the walkers, it was peculiar. There was a strong fence around the building, even hidden towers at the entrance, and he couldn’t see any guards. Nick was able to just walk through the front gate. It was completely abandoned; it would’ve made a good base too. He reasoned that it could’ve been a similar situation to Humbug’s Gulch, a perfect base with rowdy residents.
Nick inspected the rooms of the motel, there was the pungent stench of the dead about, most of the rooms looked like they’d been left in a hurry, they looked like snapshots of life. He found a couple of corpses, they weren’t yet rotted and still distinguishable, none of them bore Troy’s face.
The sun was beginning to set, Nick decided to stay in the motel. It seemed safe. He brought his horse inside the fence and fed him before opening a can of beans for himself. As he crawled in bed, he started to wish he’d brought a walkie. Despite his request, he knew Alicia would be worrying, and he wouldn’t be entirely surprised if she followed him.
The morning bore new promise. The other option Al had offered wasn’t far away, and Nick was restless. He saddled up and tore up the highway. His destination was a repurposed high school nestled in a valley and once approached seemed to be a real, lively settlement. He felt his heartbeat speed up. It reminded him of Broke Jaw, only with more guns. It looked like a base of operations, similar to an army base, why hadn’t Al warned him of that? With a quick survey, Nick caught sight of a crack in the fence, large enough for him to slip into. It was a dangerous choice, but Nick was rife with adrenaline and longing. No risk was too big.
Once inside the base, Nick needed to decide what to do. If he could find a room of records that would be perfect. He didn’t know if the Pioneers were that exact though, still, it was worth a shot. Around the main building was a lot of infrastructure, makeshift tents and marquees accompanied by chairs and tables. He figured that the best bet was to make his way into the school itself. He patiently waited for a gap in patrols and traffic and snuck through an open door.
Nick wasn’t a stranger to sneaking around high school halls, he’d never thought that skipping class would’ve provided him with the skills to creep around an enemy base.
He heard the clambering of footsteps coming around a corner and promptly hid in a classroom. He felt a sigh of relief at avoiding the patrol, and let his shoulders relax for a moment. He should’ve checked the classroom beforehand.
“Nick?” Nick Clark had always been a lucky man. He turned around with a big smile on his face. He’d walked right into Troy’s bedroom and hardly knew what to say.
“Nick, what are you doing here?” Troy repeated. Nick couldn’t stop looking at him. Troy was sitting on his pull out bed. He looked healthier, his blue eyes were brighter, and he was dressed in camouflage, Nick was always surprised he could make it look good.
“I was looking for you,” Nick said it like it was obvious.
“How’d you find me?”
“Luck.” It wasn’t completely false. “I travelled all this way, ‘cause I missed you. And I want you at the Gulch, it’s perfect there.” He sat down beside him.
“Everything worked out fine for you?” Troy sounded sceptical.
“It did.” Nick nodded.
“Ginny told us you all got eaten by the walkers.” Troy looked relieved. “I grieved you, Nick.”
“You were stupid to go with her, but you can come back home with me now.”
Troy thought it over, and a reply came too quickly.
“I’m staying.”
Nick backtracked, he was expecting Troy to apologise and beg to come back with him.
“What?”
“I have a job to do.”
“That doesn’t matter.” Nick shook his head. “I want you back.” Now he was the one begging. Troy didn’t say anything in response, he just looked at Nick.
“C’mon Troy.” He paused, feeling the weight of what he needed to say, if Troy really did want to stay, a sweet parting word was all he could give. “Please, I love you.”
A smile broke out across Troy’s face. “I’ll come back with you. I just wanted to hear you say it.”
“Man, there is something wrong with you.” Nick fell into comfortable laughter.
“I can get us out, I know this place better than you.” Troy wrapped an arm around Nick and gave him a light squeeze. Nick had missed him, more than he’d know, seeing him just made the past months even more unbearable, like it was an incredible feat to have survived them.
Troy didn’t have anything in his room worth taking apart from some rations, the rest remained as it was. They knew it was foolish and taunting to leave so suddenly, especially when the Pioneers knew what group Troy hailed from. It gave Nick a rush of adrenaline.
They rode back to the Gulch on horseback, Troy arms were steady around Nick’s waist, it was distracting in the best way. As Nick saw Humbug’s Gulch over the horizon, he began to imagine the scolding he’d receive, the wary lectures from Alicia and Morgan’s disapproving gaze. All forthcoming rebuking seemed less unpleasant than what he’d endured while separated from Troy, it all seemed worth it.