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I’m proud to say had the nearest people, namely Akio and Leonard, wincing.
    “Now that I have your attention,” I begin. “How about I tell you all a little story before any of you make your final decisions?” Without waiting for a response, I begin to relay today’s events to the group.
    “You all know that Danny and I went on a supply run today. What you don’t know is what happened during something as common as a routine trip to the market. We were filling our packs with as many goods as we could when a wrongly placed foot,” caused by Danny’s horrible attire, “knocked over a display case. The noise attracted three wheezers to take notice. We moved as quietly as possible when we were leaving, but they still saw us and began to give chase.” Understatement of the year. Those bastards sprinted like the Kenyans in the Boston Marathon.
    “Three quickly became six within the first block. Six to twelve by the third, and finally, thirty-odd following us straight up to our gate.” Gasps of shock and wide eyes spread around, but there are the few being Carlos, Oscar and Mike, who witnessed them during the fight downstairs, that only fidget uncomfortably.
    “With that being said, how about we take a head count of who will be joining us on Thursday?” Four hands go up, belonging to the twins, Whitney and Mike. Leonard looks uneasy, but less firm than he was twenty minutes ago. “Lenny, if you really feel that your old ass is incapable of walking six measly miles a day, then stay here.” Lenny scowls at the remark, just like I hoped he would. That tough ass veteran would definitely not back down to the challenge I just threw down. I add a little more to push his stubborn self onto my side of thinking. “But I thought you were a spring chicken, a man in his prime, the freaking energizer bunny! Not some goddamn elderly cripple.”
    “The hell I am!” Leonard shouts at me with a face flushed in anger. “I’ll be going with you on Thursday and be running circles around you, you whoreson!”
    I bite back my grin and nod my acceptance to the gauntlet he threw at me. Obviously, he won’t be physically capable of running circles with his arthritis, but we can make arrangements to accommodate for his condition. Be that a cane, pit stops, or days of rest, we’ll be able to squeeze them in since that’s the only reason Leonard doesn’t want to go with us, meaning that Tommy and Akio won’t join us without him.
    You can see it in Leonard’s age worn eyes, he wants to join us. That we’ve become family to him in the eight months he’s been here, and from the slight bit of fear mixed into those dark irises, I know that’s also the same reason he doesn’t want to come. He thinks that he’ll either hold us back, or put us in danger. But he won’t, I’ll make sure that he isn’t a burden; he’s an asset to this group. And he is an asset with the amount of work he puts in as head chef, assistant to Whitney, lending a hand wherever it’s needed, guidance counselor and morale lifter. Lenny has affected each of us in some way or another, and it would be like a physical blow to the group if he weren’t part of it anymore.
    Same goes for Akio’s physician skills and to a lesser extent, Tommy’s. Tommy’s more of an introvert, so he keeps to himself, but I’ve seen him upon multiple occasions with his nose stuck in one of Akio’s medical books or his journals. The Doc had me retrieve these from his apartment a few weeks back, so there’s now a duffle bag full of books, medical supplies like tubes for IVs, prescription painkillers in needle form, stitching equipment, scalpels, and all kinds of things that we didn’t have before.
    Before, we couldn’t treat more than a headache or a paper cut with our Tylenol and SpongeBob band-aids. Shut up, we love SpongeBob in this house. I happened to find my cartooned best friend on a supply run months ago, and he’s been with me ever since. Shaking away thoughts of