"I thought this was the desert. Isn't it supposed to be warm?" Tim says quietly with a shiver as he and Adam head to their rental car in the early morning hour.

"That's the way the desert is, Sweetie. Hot during the day and cold at night." Adam replies as they get into the car.

It was still very dark and very quiet. Only a dog barking in the distance could be heard. The glow of the full moon cast shadows on the ground.

"You know, this is kinda creepy." Tim says as he drives along the deserted road. "Not a car or person in sight."

"Well, it's only about three thirty in the morning, on a Sunday at that, so who did you expect to be up?" Adam chuckles.

"I don't know. It just seems so dead." Tim says. "Like ... nevermind."

"Like Dead Town?" Adam asks as he gazes out his window.

"Okay, let's change the subject." Tim chuckles nervously.

"So what do you think Rob will say about the place we found?" Adam asks as he turns his head to look at his lover. He couldn't help but smile at his handsome face being illuminated by the dashboard lights.

"Well, he seemed pretty positive about it. But I'm still worried that it's going to cost too much to renovate everything. Some of the places look pretty rundown." Tim sighs.

"And then there's the water and electricity. Yeah, Rhyolite had the power lines and water pipes but what shape are they in now?" Adam adds.

"Exactly. I'm trying not to get my hopes up but it's really hard." Tim says as he stares at the highway before him. "Especially when you see how excited the others are."

"Yeah, Avi is already planning his garden." Adam chuckles.

"That's what I mean. What if this falls through, they'll be heartbroken." Tim says.

"Don't lose faith, Sweetheart." Adam says as he reaches for Tim's hand. "If it falls through, we'll just keep looking. We'll find a place."

Rob's plane was not scheduled to land until seven. They were running ahead of schedule so they stopped and had a nice breakfast before getting back out on the road.

"Wow." Adam says as he stares at the cities skyline. "Would you look at that."

"D*mn good thing we have GPS." Tim chuckles. "We'd definitely get lost."

"The city that never sleeps." Adam says as he looks around trying to take everything in.

"Unlike Beatty." Tim laughs. "We'll have to come back someday and check out some of the sights."

"Definitely." Adam nods.

Tim breathes a sigh of relief as he pulls into the parking lot of the airport. Driving in big cities was a little nerve-wracking for him.

"Is it too late to mention that I haven't been to too many airports in my life?" Tim chuckles as they walk inside holding hands. "If Jenika hadn't taken charge I probably would have ended up in Bumf*ck, Egypt instead of Minnesota when I was looking for you."

"Relax, I got this." Adam laughs.

Soon, they found themselves waiting at the terminal for the bearded doctor.

They scan the crowd as the passengers unloaded from the plane.

"There he is." Adam points as he sees Rob exiting the terminal. He was walking with the use of crutches.

A huge smile comes across his face as he sees his friends walking toward him.

"Hey, guys." Rob says as he hugs each one tightly.

"Did you have a nice flight?" Adam asks as he and Tim collect Rob's luggage for him.

"Actually, I did. I think I slept the whole flight." Rob chuckles. "Where are the others?"

"They're waiting in Beatty. It's a small town about five miles from the place we found." Tim says as they load the luggage into the trunk of the car.

"I'm really excited to see this place you found. I love challenges." Rob says as he carefully gets into the car.

"That's good to know. Causes it's definitely going to be a challenge." Tim chuckles as he closes the trunk.

Adam gets into the back seat figuring Rob would have more room and be more comfortable in the front with Tim.

"The first thing we need to do when we get back to Beatty is to go to the realtor. You said most of the buildings were either locked up or had fences around them. We need access to all the buildings." Rob says. "I'm very open-minded about this Tim so just relax. I can tell you're really nervous that it's going to be too expensive."

"That I am." Tim nods. "I just don't want to let the others down. They really like the place."

"Were you able to find everyone?" Rob asks.

"We have everyone except for Kevin, who is living in Nigeria with his family, and Darrell who just didn't want to join us." Tim answers.

"I'm happy to hear that Kevin and Avi were able to make it out of Dead Town." Rob says.

"It's just been so chaotic that we really haven't had the time to just sit down and talk about what happened." Adam comments from the back seat.

"There will be plenty of time for that." Rob smiles.

As they pull into Beatty's city limits, they had been so busy talking and catching up on things, that they had forgotten that none of them had eaten for several hours.

Tim sees a cafe by the name of KC's Outpost and pulls into the parking lot.

"Adam, sweetie, call the others to let them know we're back and tell them to meet us here." Tim says as he gets out of the car. He stretches his aching back before going around to the other side of the car to see if Rob needed help.

"Dang, something smells good." Rob says as he opens the car door.

"We haven't tried this place yet. We ate at a place called Mel's Diner that you'll definitely have to try while you're in town." Tim says as he takes Rob by the arm to help him out of the car.

"They're on their way." Adam says as he slips his phone back into his pocket. "They were just riding around checking out the scenery."

As they walk into the restaurant, Tim ask the waitress if they could move some tables together. He explained that there would be eight more joining them. After getting the okay to do so, Tim and Adam begin quietly moving some tables while Rob checked out the restaurant.

"This is a pretty cool little town." Rob says after receiving the drinks they had ordered.

"We thought maybe that if things go well with the property that we could find jobs here." Tim says as he sips his tea.

"That shouldn't be too hard." The waitress says as she lays out some extra menus. "A lot of people just don't hang around small towns like Beatty."

The door opens and the other members of the group enter with smiles as they see Rob sitting at the table.

After enjoying a delicious meal and some idle conversation, Tim pays for the meal after winning the argument with Rob. The hefty tip that the doctor left on the table put a huge smile on the waitress's face.

They gather outside by the vehicles deciding their next move. Tim drives Rob over to the realtor office while the others remain at the restaurant. Anxiety was high, as they sit at picnic tables outside the diner waiting on the mayor's return.

"Should we pray?" Avi asks with a nervous chuckle.

"Probably wouldn't hurt." Chance laughs.

A few minutes later, Tim pulls back up to the restaurant, alone. Everyone jumps up from the tables and runs to the car.

"Y'all load up. Rob is with Mr. Douglas and they're on their way to the property." Tim says. He chuckles at the excitement of his friends as they make a dash to the vehicles.

"Well, baby, this is it." Adam says as he squeezes Tim's hand as they drive out of town.

"Yep, it's either 'yay' or 'nay'." Tim says with a nervous smile.

"I have a good feeling about this." Sami smiles as she snuggles up to Chance in the back seat.

"I hope you're right, Kiddo." Tim says as he pulls in beside the realtor's car.

They soon find themselves walking quietly behind Rob and Mr. Douglas. They were finally getting to go inside each of the houses and the train station. There was definitely a lot of work that was needed. Floors, ceilings, roofs, walls. Just about everything needed repair. Tim's heart sunk with each house they entered.

Inside the train station, Rob and the realtor walks away from the group as Mr. Douglas points out things of interest to the potential buyer.

Tim and the others stay behind and begin to make plans of what would go where IF they could get the place.

The others begin to see a change in Tim. He seemed more confident about getting the place. All his doubt seemed to be gone.

Was he connected to the doctor's thoughts?

***********

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