Chapter 87: Confessions

Daniel waited for Fresco outside the door. "Time for chow. You'll need your strength."

Fresco snorted. "Yes, Dad." But his stomach agreed with his brother, so Fresco followed without further complaint.

The quiet halls hummed with old energy, decades of use etched into the concrete walls and worn floor tiles of the place. Most of the lights didn't work, drenching the corridors in shadow, but Daniel moved with confidence and Fresco could see just enough not to trip over random piles of garbage and discarded bits and pieces that once made the place somewhere regular people wanted to be.

Daniel stopped at last, faint light from a boarded up window lighting a doorway. "After you."

Fresco would have preferred not. He could feel the presence of others behind the door. He'd had enough of them for now. And yet, he chose to emerge from his exile and it meant seeing and talking to people. Why were the thinking of it and the doing two very different things?