Steven didn’t want to stop running, he wasn’t far enough yet. He didn’t know how far was enough, he just needed to not be, there, anymore. He’d been constantly sprinting for nearly a week, only stopping for water twice so far, and he hadn’t had any food. He hadn’t even slept for fear of being caught in his sleep. He was starving, dehydrated, and very, VERY tired. His muscles burned, his stomach ached, and both his head and heart were pounding.

Given all this, it was not a great wonder he collapsed. And he was so close to a town too, and that probably what saved his life.

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Greg was driving back from picking up groceries when he saw the boy on the ground. He pulled over to go check on them. At first he thought the kid was dead, but one breath later told him otherwise. He picked up the kid to check on him, he put him in the back of his van, it was clear that the kid had collapsed from exhaustion. He moved to check the kids heartbeat and his hand bumped into something. He looked down the boys shirt, and saw a glimmering yellow Gemstone across his rib cage.

Greg did the only thing he could think of when dealing with Gem stuff, he called Rose.