21

Junior and Joseph were still awake, while Chef PeePee was still asleep. The two boys were sitting around, just being bored. Joseph wanted to turn his phone on and play Google solitaire or anything so bad, but he knew he couldn't give into his urges or else he'd get Junior caught.

Meanwhile, Junior didn't even have a phone on him. He already colored so much he got sick of it, hung a whole village's worth of men in hangman, and spied every tree in the vicinity. He was very bored.

"I wish I had my phone... and my Thomas bed... and my trains..." Junior said.

"Yeah, I wish I had my phone too. Or even just a bed, or a mattress at the very least." Joseph responded.

"Did you have a bed when you lived in the other spots?" Junior asked curiously.

"It depends. I used to squat in this abandoned trailer, which had a mattress. But one day I got home from your house, and it was gone. So I normally just sleep on the ground and shower in the sink at school in the morning. Everything I have is in my bag, and I can't fit a bed in my bag." Joseph explained.

"How could you survive without a bed?! The ground is so uncomfortable, even with a sleeping bag." Junior questioned, almost astonished.

"I've just gotten used to it." Joseph shrugged. "Can you pass me a water?"

"'Course." Junior said. He dug into Chef PeePee's bag and got one of the water bottles, but it was empty. The second one barely had any water in it, but the third was thankfully nearly full. "Oh god, we're running out of water. We're gonna have to find a way to get some."

"Hopefully the people of Brent won't recognize at least one of us so that person can fill them." Joseph hoped.

"How did you get water when you lived back in Titoville?" Junior asked.

"Well, the places I stayed normally either were near a gas station, or in a few there was a water pump that kinda worked." Joseph explained.

"I wish we were lucky enough to find a water pump." Junior mumbled. "How were you able to live on your own for so long? Were you never attacked or anything?"

"A few times, almost. But I'm good at running away." Joseph said proudly, but then retracted that proudness because of how cowardice he sounded. "B-but most of the other homeless kids were chill, and the police never really noticed me walking around. They probably just thought I was just taking a walk then going right home after."

"That kinda sounds like our police force, heh." Junior chuckled. The two were yet again silent. It stayed this way for a few more minutes, before another thought popped into Junior's head. "Y'know, you could've come to my house And lived there. We already have like 10 people in the house, another wouldn't affect much."

"Yeah... I just..." Joseph said, but not finishing his sentence. He fumbled with his words a little more before finally finding exactly what he was gonna say. "I didn't want to mooch off of you too much. I didn't want you to abandon me or something."

Junior's eyes widened. He would never abandon Joseph, and the thought of Joseph thinking that made him sad. "I wouldn't leave you, ever! You're my best friend. Sure, I may be distant and a little rude sometimes, but we'll always be best buds."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course." Junior said. He held out his fist to Joseph. "Fist bump?" Joseph gladly accepted, tapping the ginger's fist with his own.

The two later decided to fall asleep, since it was now around 9 pm, and they were very tired. They said goodnight, and both slowly but surely drifted into slumber. They were going to need the rest. Their journey is far from being over.