22

The chef woke up to the sound of the birds chirping, the tree leaves dancing in the wind, and one of the nearby houses' cars revving up before driving off to wherever. The sun was just barely coming up, yet people were already going to work. Though, it was now Monday, so it wasn't unexpected.

He held his hand up to the sky to check the time. It was around 6 or 7 am, which made sense since he'd gone to bed around 7 or 8 pm the previous night. He dug a cereal bar out of his bag and started to munch on it. He was really hungry, and even if the breakfast bar wouldn't fill him up, it at least satisfied him.

After finishing breakfast, Chef PeePee started feeling really bored. He hadn't brought anything to entertain himself like Junior had, which at first he thought would be better because he'd have more space, but now he definitely regretted it. He ended up just finding two walnuts and practiced juggling them to pass the time until either Junior or Joseph woke up.

After juggling For what felt like hours, he just stared at the sky, watching the clouds. He never understood how people could cloud gaze for hours on end. He definitely couldn't.

Chef PeePee was about to die of boredom, until God spared him and Junior woke up. Junior slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes, also yawning. He looked over at Chef PeePee, who was looking back.

"Morning, Chef PeePee. What time is it?" Junior greeted.

"Morning, Junior. It's around 8 right now." Chef PeePee responded.

"How long have you been up?" Junior asked, coming over to Chef PeePee's bag to get breakfast.

"Only an hour or so." Chef PeePee replied. He saw Junior take a Lucky Charms bar and start to unwrap it. "Hey, that's mine." He said jokingly.

Junior took a bite and chewed before responding. "Nuh uh, it's not burnt." Junior cheekily smiled.

"Such an original joke." Chef PeePee said, while Junior laughed.

"Well I don't know if you could freezer-burn a cereal bar." Junior said. "Actually, scratch that. I'm sure you'd find a way."

"Wow." Is all Chef PeePee could say. Junior finished the rest of his cereal bar and went for the water bottle and took a sip.

"Oh yeah, we're almost out of water..." Junior told the chef.

"What?!" The chef exclaimed. Junior showed him the last bottle, which was half full. "Great... we're gonna have to go into Brent early then."

"When would that be?" Junior asked.

"I don't know... I think right now would be ideal, then we'd have to hide during people's lunch breaks... otherwise people would get off work around sundown, then there'd be more cops at night." The chef thought out loud.

"Want me to wake up Joseph?" Junior asked.

"Yes. I'll pack our stuff." Chef PeePee responded. "We'll stay against the woods for as long as we can, so no one will see us."

"Good plan." Junior said. He walked over to Joseph, who was cuddled against a tree with his tiny blanket. He lightly shook the sleeping boy. "Joseph? Joseph, wake up!"

Joseph slowly opened his eyes with a groan. He didn't really look happy to be awake. "Yeah, dude?"

"We're gonna be leaving soon." Junior told him. "Can you check the time?"

"Yea." Joseph mumbled, still trying to fully wake up. He sat up, and closed his eyes for a second before taking out his phone and checking the time. "It's 8:21. Crazy to think that we'd be in school right now..."

"I know right?" Junior said. Joseph stood up, and stretched his arms and legs. He then put his stuff in his bag while Junior helped Chef PeePee pick up his stuff. Once they had packed everything they needed, they started walking.

The woods they were in were away from the road, but followed it up until Brent, where they cut off. They were most likely cut down for extra space for the ever-growing town, at least that's what Chef PeePee thought. The walk wasn't too far, it definitely wasn't the farthest they've done, and the cool breeze was nice. The distant passing cars didn't seem to notice them, which relieved the trio.

Once they reached the edge of the woods, and the start of the town of Brent, they scouted out a good entrance that would keep them hidden from passing pedestrians and cameras. It was hard, since most buildings on the edge of the town were houses, most probably with cameras. Even if they didn't have any, Chef PeePee didn't want to risk it. Cameras are the reason the police knew that Joseph was with them, and they didn't want to expose any more important information.

After a while, they finally found a way into the town. It was quite run-down, but there wasn't really anyone around. And, as a bonus, there was an open gas station the group could get water from. Joseph took Junior's jacket and put the hood over his hat to make him less recognizable. His picture hadn't been plastered all over the news, at least not a clear one, so Chef PeePee and Junior felt better having him get water instead of themselves.

The gas station was so poor it didn't even have cameras, just one of those circle mirrors the employees look at. Even the guy working looked doped up out of his mind. Junior and Chef PeePee could see him slumped on the register counter through the window. Joseph got the water, and even stole a few packs of gum and some candy bars which he hid from Chef PeePee so the chef wouldn't get mad at him. He slipped a stick to Junior as the three walked away from the gas station, and gave him back his jacket.

Fernando Strongbottom was still very sure that their journey could end any second, but at the pace they were going, he was hopeful. Of course he was still scared, and he felt as if he was going to crumble at any second, but that was expected. That was normal. He knew he had to keep going, no matter what. For Junior, and for himself.