Miriam couldn't stop crying. It was making it hard for her to breathe, and she began to panic about fainting or vomiting. The cat curled up into her arms, warm and soft. Glad of the comfort, Miriam hugged the little thing, and soon her crying died down enough for her to breathe. After another few minutes, she was able to hear it purring in her arms. The purring helped to calm her and soon enough Miriam could feel its pulse instead of her own echoing throughout her hear. She let the cat down when it started fidgeting but kept petting its fur, wiping off the dust and sand to reveal a very glossy coat.

"You're not a stray," she said. "Somewhere close by is where you live, isn't it? Will you take me home?"

The cat didn't even look at her, it was enjoying the petting session too much to even hear the whispers of her raw throat. She kept petting until her arm hurt. She lay down on the side of the road and pet the cat with her other hand until that arm hurt as well. Then regarded the sky and barely registered that she couldn't see any stars.

The cat slid under her limp arm but, when it didn't get the response it wanted, it came to her face. It bumped it's face against her cheek and meowed with impatient. When it was ignored, it began to walk away. Miriam found the energy to get up to follow it. The cat fared better at moving over the sand than Miriam. She had to rush to keep up with its gentle pace.

They passed a traffic light, stuck on yellow, buried half way up its lowest bulb. It was so quiet Miriam could hear a clicking noise as the light flashed. Next to it was a traffic cone not unlike the one she had passed earlier on the road. The cat yawned at it and kept walking. Miriam could make out the tall shapes of buildings in the distance. As they got closer she realised two things:

1. The buildings were mostly ruins. But that didn't mean that no one was there anymore. Tourists go to ruins all the time.

2. It was on a rocky shelf that made her wish she had shoes.

The cat was heading towards was those ruins. Someone there had to be feeding it.

The thought made Miriam feel better if not any warmer. Her breath was now cold before it hit her lips. She caught her arms, rubbing them with sand trapped in her cupped hands. The friction didn't get rid of the goose bumps on her arms but the slight itching sting distracted her from the numbness of her checks and chattering of her teeth. Around her the dust settled as the breeze died and the dunes turned still. The silence that surrounded her grew. She strained her ears to hear something, anything, but the only thing was her harsh breathing and the sound of her clothes as she walked. The cat's footfalls made no sound and she could barely make out the sound of its tiny lungs at work.

She had never been good with silence. Even when she was angry with someone she spoke to them to avoid the silence that burned between them. It wasn't something she liked to do; too many people took it as her forgiving them or apologising. She rarely let them do this, and ended up screaming and yelling but she preferred even that to silence. The only person she could be around without needing to speak was Aaren., and that included herself. Miriam started to hum.

She passed another traffic cone. The cat stopped and looked at it for a moment, its small bright eyes narrowing. Then the cat pounced, tearing at the light-reflective wrapping with needle-like claws. Miriam didn't want it getting distracted by something to play with now. She stopped humming and walked over to pick the cat up, who hissed until she touched it and then curled into her warmth and bumped its head against her chin.

She walked it a little, petting the soft fur. It had a collar and a tag. She hadn't seen it before as the collar was black and the tag was also dark, with silver lettering announcing that cat's name as 'Shadow'. Miriam had to squint to read it. She didn't want to let it down but she didn't know the way. She kept her hand trailing along it's spine for a few stokes before standing back up. They went back to walking.

Then she heard something. It was a soft, far away sound but it was something. Shadow picked up speed and Miriam followed, her feet catching on a jutting rock, making her trip, banging her toes and cutting her shin. She sat and clutched her leg. The cat watched her but didn't come closer. Its paw was raised forward in impatience.

"Hang on," she said.

She rolled up her jeans leg and looked at where she had been hit. Her toes hurt more, but she had to check. The cut was thin but the jeans hadn't stopped sand sticking to it, making it sting and her curse as she touched it. The cat put down its paw and stared at the blood, wide-eyed and mystified. Miriam figured the small thing could smell the blood and was confused by it.

When she took off her t-shirt, goose bumps ran up her stomach. She spat on one of the sleeves and went to work. The blood had started to harden and was sticky, making it hard to clean it. When she did more blood ran up through the little slit in her skin, hiding it from view quickly. She ripped her t-shirt at the end and wrapped a piece around it to keep anymore sand getting to it. Then Miriam put back on her t-shirt. The sleeve was wet with blood and saliva that made it sticky. It was even colder than the rest of her, although the gap in her t-shirt now made her hips and stomach as cold as her neck and face. She had to get out of this soon.

They walked on and, thankfully, her leg didn't make any difference to her pace.