Layne stood in place and held the broom handle as a sword. The flame at the tip of his candle didn't provide much light. It only danced around and struggled to keep itself lit through the fierce weather.

The sound of the wind howling, together with the rustling of the tree leaves it created, could almost overbear the sounds of the animals. One strong gust ended the life of the tiny fire Layne had tried so hard to keep safe. He muttered a few swear words and tossed the candle away. It plummeted down somewhere in the bushes and that was the end of it.

Heavy breathing of the man accompanied one intimidating animal scream. Regardless, he pushed himself to move forwards, almost welcoming his incoming fate. Even so, Layne did not wish to die. He wished to disprove the need for fear.

"Layne!" The wind carried Troy's voice around. "Layne, where are you?"

Layne pressed his lips shut. Troy was acting stupid, he thought. Yelling around with those 'man-eating' animals hunting nearby. He might have as well called the beasts for dinner. Still, Layne did pretty much the same thing. If something happened to the large man, it would have been his fault. Again.

"Troy," he whispered, turning to the direction he thought the call was coming from.

"Layne?"

Layne ran until a figure emerged right ahead his vision. It was Troy. Unmistakably. "Don't be so loud."

"What the hell has gotten into you?" His hand landed on Layne's shoulder and pressed it tight, like an adult disciplining a child. It felt like that, too. "Do you must do the stupidest thing anyone could ever think of?"

Layne shook his head. "You shouldn't have come after me."

"Seriously? I'm not gonna just let someone die." Troy's voice wavered.

Layne gulped. For the time being, neither of them said anything. They stood facing each other, even though their features were covered by the dark. A loud howl shook the air once again.

"Let's go back," insisted the bald man.

"You do that."

However, that was not an offer. Troy's free hand snatched Layne's upper arm. He tugged him to the direction of the cabin. Even if at first the guy dug his heels into the ground and leaned back, it didn't give any result. He stopped resisting and peacefully entered the cabin. He did, after all, realise he was acting just as mature as his niece would.

Everyone still sat on their pallets, wide-eyed.

"Oh thank god!" exclaimed Alana. "What the heck, Layne?"

Layne glared at her and laid down on his empty sleeping spot. Alana looked at Troy, who then shook his head.

The rest of the night was sleepless.

* * *

Layne laid on his pallet wide-eyed and waited for everyone to leave for... Whatever they'd be doing in the morning. He refused to talk to anyone or answer any questions. After all, he had no reasonable explanation for what happened last night. He acted in an impulse. Like an idiot. Like an animal.

Troy, however, would not leave. He sat on his own bed and stared at the wall right in front of him, sometimes giving Layne a glare or two. The man wondered if it was only his imagination or did he really see Troy's hands shiver.

"So what's up with you?" he asked.

Troy rose his eyebrows and looked him in the eyes. "You're really asking me that?"

"Well, yeah, sure. Don't you have something to do?"

"Don't you have to search for more lakes yourself?"

Layne grinned. "Jealous?"

"As if."

"Hmm." He sat and leaned forward. "Of me or of Malia?"

Layne waited for laughter but did not receive one. Disappointed, he plumped down on the bed. Troy, once again, fixed his eyes into a spot somewhere in front of him.

"Hey, Troy?" Layne asked after a moment of silence. "Why'd you really go after me?"

Again, he gained no answer. Not even a glance to his direction. Layne turned on his side as to not face the other man anymore and chewed on his lips until a metallic flavour entered his mouth.

* * *

Alana ushered everyone outside, to a small opening next to the cabin, and sat them in a circle. Layne and Troy tried to protest it but everyone knew there was no use. There was not a chance anyone would get away.

"We're not spending another night sleeping in the same cabin without getting to know each other," the woman exclaimed and took her place.

"Team bonding!" Malia threw her fist high in the sky. It was hard to tell whether she was sarcastic or genuinely excited.

"Yay," added Layne in a monotonous voice.

"Ok, the last time it didn't go that well but I still think it's important for us to know what each of us had done to be rejected," Alana continued talking. "We have the right to know what kind of people we are sharing our small living space with. For our safety, even."

"You gotta be kidding me," Troy mumbled under his nose.

"No, I actually agree with Alana," said Coden. "We're surrounded by criminals, I'll take anything I can to feel safer."

The middle-age woman smiled to him. "Why don't you start, Cody?"

"Coden, please. It's- It's pretty stupid."

"Carriers are stupid, Coden," commented Layne. "That's a known fact."

"I guess. Well, I was rejected for being an illegitimate child."

Layne's heart skipped a beat. For the first time, he looked at the young guy with genuine compassion. All of a sudden, everything made sense – the way Coden first arrived to the institution on his eighteen birthday. They were waiting for him to be of legal age his whole life. "Yeah, they really are stupid."

Coden smiled and nudged Remy's side. "Try to get over yourself," he whispered. "You'll get used to it and it'll be for the better."

Remy nodded. His lips were shaking and still, he spoke.

One after another, the Rejects discussed their faults. Remy was a shoplifter. Or, more of, he did it once. He was desperate to get his little sister a sixth birthday present but couldn't even afford a plush bear. Layne thought he would have done the same for Rissa – making her happy would have been worth the risk, as big as it was.

Malia, as always, acted in an overly cheerful manner. Even when telling everyone of how she used to be a prostitute. When asked if that was cause of money problems, the girl giggled and commented on how poor people can't afford cosmetic surgery. She refused to elaborate further.

Iker and Zander spoke one after another, although they weren't as happy about it as Malia. As it turned out, both brothers have been homeless for years yet managed not to be noticed by the RCI. After Iker got caught, Zander turned himself in. They've been by each other's side since childhood, it wouldn't change even if it meant dying together.

When the brothers' stopped talking, no one else volunteered to continue to circle. Layne was contemplating on whether he should tell the truth, meanwhile Troy stared at the sky with a sour expression.

"Well?" prompted Alana. "Layne? Troy?"

Layne sighed. "They accused me of killing someone."

Everyone looked at him. Even Troy moved his eyes away from the sky.

"Did you?" asked Coden, his voice shook.

"No, of course not." Layne found it hard to read their faces at the moment. None of the people, however, seemed very trusting of him and he understood why. "I'm not gonna kill anyone, don't worry."

"Anyway. Troy?" Alana broke the tension just to create a new source.

"Pass," said Troy.

"No, come on, Troy. Everyone has to talk."

The man narrowed his eyes at her, his shoulder muscles tensed. "Alcoholism," he snorted.

Layne gave him a distrusting look which he didn't appear to notice. The rest of the people watched him with sympathy. Troy clutched his hands together and stood.

"What are you doing?" Alana shook her head.

Troy turned around and left. The cabin's door banged as he disappeared behind it. It was surprising the poor construction even stood through such force.

"What just happened?" asked Malia, joy gone from her voice. "We didn't do anything wrong, did we?"

"Alana, you didn't talk yet." Layne sighed, still glancing back at the cabin.

"Oh! I pushed my husband down the well, head first," the woman chirped, not a worry in her voice.

Remy gasped and backed away, the rest of the Rejects stared at Alana with open mouths. She didn't seem to notice any of that. She only played with her fingertips, a slight grin on her face. Layne shifted to the side to be at least a bit further away from her – he found Alana's calmness more disturbing than has words.

"Anyway," she continued, "I think that's everyone! Great, who's gonna ask the next question?"

Layne let out a long breath. He would have hoped that one question would have concluded the days 'team bonding practise'. Of course, that would have been too good to be true.

Malia's hand shot up. "Me!"

Alana nodded at her and the girl was about to speak but her lips closed shut as soon as they opened. Layne followed her eyes to see Victor standing behind him. He was smiling.

"Getting to know each other?" he asked.

"Yeah," Alana confirmed. "Need to get along with our roommates."

Victor chuckled. For the first time, he looked like a genuinely pleasant old man – without all the weirdness surrounding him. "That's good. Having friends helps a lot when adapting to living here."

"Exactly, that's what I've been trying to tell them."

"Well, once you're done here, we could use some help. There ain't so many people around as it usually is and the work's still gotta be done if we wanna have enough resources."

"What's with the decrease?" inquired Layne.

"Unfortunately, we don't have a very good medical care." Victor rubbed his forehead. "Of course, there's always someone just being stupid, too."

"Alright, Victor, we'll come help you soon." Malia waved the elder off. Her voice couldn't get even more enthusiastic than that, or at least that's what Layne thought.

"Thank you." The old man nodded to each of them and turned around to leave.

Layne glanced back at him a few times. He still found it hard to trust the man but he seemed genuine enough. Besides, he most certainly wasn't lying – surviving so far away from civilization couldn't have been easy.

"Ok, sorry guys, this question's for Layne," said Malia.

"Wait, what?" Layne snapped his head to her direction, forgetting his previous thought.

The girl chuckled. "Nothing personal, you're just the only one who ran off outside last night and I wanna know why."

The man frowned. Did she really bring that up again? He was, after all, trying his best to forget it. Should have known better than to be so naïve – these people would never let him live that down.

Layne opened his mouth for a comeback but the voice behind him was faster.

"Did I hear that right?" Victor returned to the group. "Which one of you went outside?"

"It was just something stupid," Layne replied. "No one got hurt or anything."

He expected a response. A mean one, probably. Nothing less than a lecture. What he didn't expect, however, was a strong blow to the back of his head. He let out a gust of air and fell to the grass.

Layne still tried to put everything together. A few gasps and screams sounded around him, the people from his cabin scattered further away.

"What a hell?" he yelled, sitting up again. Yet a punch to the chest sent him onto the ground. Again.

"Stop it!" a guy shouted somewhere from the side. It sounded like Coden but Layne didn't pay much attention to that.

He was focused on Victor, who came even closer and gave him a kick to the ribs. Layne groaned in pain yet refused to lay around like that. He threw his leg up in the air, aiming to hit his opponent.

Victor caught it.

"You damn Freak," Layne gasped.

An attempt to free his leg has proven itself successful. Soon enough, the younger man was back on his feet.

"There's always one of you," said Victor, calmly. "One fool who won't listen to the warnings. Don't you get we're tired from burying you?"

Layne had a hard time listening to him. He spread his legs further apart to get into a comfortable position to defend himself. That didn't help as much as he would have imagined.

When Victor came at him again, he hardly managed to land a hit. His ears buzzed, view became blurry. Despite him calling out a few yelps and groans, at the moment, he did not feel any pain.

The voices in the background merged into one mess. Layne didn't hear the individual people. He didn't see the individual people. It was just him, Victor, the grass and the sky above them.

And a whole lot of rage.

And helplessness.