[b]Tyler - Baton Rouge/Bingo Hall - George/Katie[/b]

Tyler stared at the man, his face almost contorted into a glare. After a long, tense moment, his features softened and Tyler closed his eyes. This man sounded lonely. Tyler had heard it many times before. Brad had been the loneliest one, hadn't he? "Then I suggest we don't stay here," Tyler eventually said. "My concern is still valid. Someone had to have left those supplies, so we'll have to assume someone will be back to get them. They may come looking for us, but at least they won't find us waiting here for them." He moved away from Katie to kneel down before the backpacks. "Tell me what's where and tell me what you want to bring. We'll sort it out and carry what we can." He paused to look up at George. "I'll help carry your supplies so that me and my daughter can have what we need to survive, nothing more. That's all this is for now. If you touch or even look at my daughter funny, then we'll have a problem."

As Tyler began to scan through the backpacks, he gestured for Katie to help them sort it all out. "My name is..." Thomas? Tyler? What name was he supposed to give now? "... Tyler. And my daughter's name is Katie."

---

[b]Danny - Outpost - Scouts[/b]

The sky above was grey and dull, but Danny found an overwhelming satisfaction in staring up at it nonetheless. They were living in an apocalypse, something one would usually associate with fire and brimstone falling from the sky, or a land ravaged beyond recognizable. Yet even despite the sickness and the biters, the sky was still the same, sometimes blue, sometimes grey. It was calming to know that no matter how crazy things got, Danny could always look upward and find something familiar to him.

Elliot, beside him, suddenly laughed. Danny looked down and gave the boy a quizzical look. Elliot shook his head and raised his hands. [i]"You were looking hypnotized."[/i]

Danny smiled to himself. "No, I was just thinking," he said. They had finally let Elliot back on the wall. The early morning was a good opportunity for Danny to hop up there himself so that he could talk with his friend. Some people still didn't want Elliot being a watcher, but no one would say anything now that Elliot was one of the people to take down the big bad Reggie. Danny would keep silent about what Myriah told him, if only for Elliot's sake.

[i]"Were you thinking about your girlfriend?"[/i] Elliot looked amused as he expressed the sign name he and Danny had come up with for Shannon. Though sign names were to be agreed upon by the individual themselves, both boys had believed Shannon to be dead at the time, and she had come up enough in conversation that Danny had felt it would be easier for them.

Danny rolled his eyes. "No, not at the moment. It's not like that, anyway. Me and her, we--" He stopped himself, unsure how to sign what he wanted to say. Hell, he wasn't even sure he could put it into words either. "... Whatever, my mind was on more important matters. Some people still look at me weird over Thomas, you know. I vouched for the guy, but they didn't suspect anything either! A bunch of assholes--"

Elliot held out his hand in a stopping gesture. [i]"None of us knew what he was planning. He helped us figure out what kind of man Reggie was and everyone was grateful for that. So we..."[/i] Elliot paused and looked downward for a moment. [i]"I know how it feels, Rudy. Don't worry. I know you're strong, so you'll be fine."[/i]

Danny nodded and crossed his arms. Letting out a deep breath, he looked beyond the wall, his eyes eyeing the spaces between the trees. There had been no biters wandering nearby this morning. That could only mean good things for the scout mission later that day.

A tap on his shoulder caused Danny to flinch. He looked back toward Elliot who apparently was still carrying on the conversation. Sometimes, Danny forgot that Elliot never spoke at all. Danny had become a lot better at reading sign language than a few months ago and sometimes it weirdly felt like Danny was hearing Elliot's voice inside his head. Danny had heard Elliot cry out a few times before, but he wondered if Elliot's voice really sounded like the voice in his head.

[i]"I would have left if not for my brother. There was nothing here but people who think of me as a liability. You and Myriah have become dear friends of mine, but I didn't want to live around that any longer."[/i] Danny moved and opened his mouth to respond, but Elliot put out his hand again. [i]"Wait until I'm done. I would have left, but Richard would rather me be safe behind walls than out there risking my life. I hate to admit it, but it can sometimes be difficult for me out there. I'd had to rely on Richard and others more times that I would have liked. Yet, if Richard was out there and I was here, I would leave immediately, no matter the risks and no matter who I'd be leaving behind."[/i]

Elliot paused for a long moment, and Danny had no idea what to say. "But, if you guys needed me..."

[i]"Who do you think we are? Myriah and I don't need anyone's help. Shannon is like a sister to you, isn't she? She's your family, or so you've led me to believe. What you should be doing is finding her. Outpost is not the place it once was. You would be better off with her."[/i]

Stillness. Danny was at a loss for words. He slowly began to nod, as he turned to head back to the ground. Elliot was right, but Outpost was still home, wasn't it?

***

It was to be a regular scout mission, but what was 'regular' had changed now that Sylar was in charge. With many cleared paths into the city and The Pub now being used as a way station of sorts, getting into the city was much easier now than it had been when Reggie was in charge. While Sylar and Enrique disagreed on a few things, they both at least were agreed that they needed to keep to the city for supplies. Metairie was smaller and simply not as viable for supply runs any longer.

Danny fell in with the scouts as they geared up for their trek. They'd moved out from the scout cabins and were now stationed at Outpost's gates. While everyone deferred to Sylar, it was clear watching them that the scouts had formed little cliques and tended to associate only within them. The core group of longtime veterans, containing Lucas, Aoife, and Jerry, were unfortunately the smallest group after the events from a month ago. Alex was also a part of the group as no one really shared Reggie's views on the guy's ability. Danny had to admit that Alex was probably more competent than himself, if only when it came to firearms. The next group were the newest scouts, the people who had joined within the last month. They tended to crowd around Sylar and didn't like Enrique much for his reputation and his strict training methods. The third group were in the middle in terms of their size. They had been the people who had joined when Enrique was in charge of them almost 24/7. They viewed Enrique's strict training as tough love, and the majority of them respected the man, even if it made Danny feel sick.

The last group wasn't really a group at all. They were fringe members who were either indifferent to Sylar and Enrique, or the few that had joined during the strange week where Sam's murder was being investigated. Danny felt a part of this 'group' nowadays, despite his status as one of the longest running scouts. Like Enrique, Danny had been a big supporter of Thomas, but unlike Enrique, Danny had never been able to gather much camaraderie among the scouts. He felt close to the veterans, but Danny doubted they felt very close with [i]him[/i]. Myriah hadn't given him the name Rudy for nothing.

As per usual, Enrique was doing some last minute drills while Sylar went over the mission itinerary. They were almost always at odds with each other, as if they both vied for the attention of the scouts. Danny had never missed Reggie so much as he did right now.