Somehow, my knife hit its target.

Mostly.

I'd propelled towards the short-haired women. I didn't have the best aim. I just hoped the blade would land somewhere useful. And it had.

It landed straight in the woman's shoulder.

My feet hit the ground milliseconds after my blade sunk in, but I couldn't keep myself up. My knees buckled as I hit the ground, knife stuck in her shoulder. She howled and let go of the shooter's chains before pulling out her gun.

I scrambled backward. I didn't have anything left to defend myself with. She aimed at me.

But before she could shoot...

"Thalia," the other gang member interrupted.

"What?!" Thalia spat back.

"She could be useful. Why waste another good one?" The man walked towards Thalia, hand held out as if to placate a wild animal.

"She doesn't deserve to live."

"Thalia...," the man warned.

She stared down at me, her fingers gripping the gun tightly enough to turn them white.

And then finally...

"You're right," she replied, her aim unwavering. "But I don't care."

She pulled the trigger.

The sound of clattering metal filled the air. Then, a loud crack as the chains to the shooter's handcuffs slammed into Thalia's skull.

The bullet that'd been destined for me was thrown off course by the attack and hit a crate. I stared in shock. I needed a weapon. The gun that Thalia had been holding had fallen at her feet. I snatched it off the ground just as another shot rang out.

The blonde man still holding the prisoners had his tranquilizer gun aimed at me, but the dart had missed. I pointed the real gun at him without hesitation. I wasn't sure I had the guts to shoot him, but my ploy seemed to work. He put his hands up, dropping the gun to the floor.

The chained shooter tackled Thalia to the ground, her face smashing into cement. He slammed his shackles against her head, knocking her out.

Her partner seemed conflicted. His weapon was on the ground. It was two against one.

I kept my gun pointed at him for good measure.

"Just let them go, and you can walk out of here unharmed," the shooter warned the man. I hoped he knew that I wasn't serious about shooting this guy.

It was like he was doing the math to see if he could take us. I wondered what kind of punishment he'd face for this.

Then, he desperately sprinted to the window, dragging the two weak hostages behind him.

Unfortunately, the added weight made it impossible for him to move quickly.

The boy sprinted after him, pinning him to the ground just as he had Thalia. He drew his shackles up prepared to knock him out. Silver flashed in the air, and I shouted, but it was too late. The man's blade sliced across the boy's shoulder. I started forward, but there was nothing I could do. I only had my gun, and it was useless in this situation. I didn't trust my aim enough to shoot the right person.

The boy quickly regained his composure and brought down his shackles on the man's face, not once, not twice, but three times. Finally, he passed out. My arm shook with adrenaline. The gun I held was still shakily pointed at the now-unconscious gang member.

My fingers released their tight grip on the gun, letting it fall to the ground. The boy turned to face me. He was taller than me by a couple of inches with murky brown hair, shocking gray eyes, and an angular jaw. There was a tiredness in his expression, one I understood. He was like me – he'd been through a lot and knew what horrors lay outside. Yet, he was still here.

"Thank you," he suddenly said. I just stared. I couldn't remember the last time anyone had thanked me for anything. "Although you might want to learn to use a gun."

I couldn't remember the last time I'd spoken.

I decided on merely nodding.

"Some help over here would be greatly appreciated...," came a sarcastic voice from the side of the room. I'd nearly forgotten about the two almost-slaves. The girl looked slightly irritated, like she had better things to do than wait to be unchained by complete strangers. Her twin, on the other hand, seemed tired and frightened.

I nodded quickly and knelt next to the unconscious slaver. I realized I was nodding a lot. I didn't think I could speak without my voice shaking. A large bump was already forming on his forehead from where the gray-eyed boy had hit him. My hand shook as I stuck it in his pocket and came out with a silver set of keys. I glanced behind me at the three other people in the room, clutching the keys in my hands.

An innate sense of fear filled me. What if one of them attacked me the second I released them? I wasn't sure why they would but...

I shook my head quickly and cautiously made my way toward the chained-up girl. As efficiently as possible, I unlocked her handcuffs, and gave her the keys to help her brother.

"Ugh...wow...that feels so much better. I hate handcuffs," the girl commented, shaking out her wrists. "I honestly should be used to them by now." She seemed normal, especially for someone who'd been through a lot. She hummed a quiet tune as she fit the key into her brother's lock and undid it. "Ha! There you go, Alex. Good as new."

She patted him on the shoulder, while he continued to silently glare. He definitely wasn't fond of his sister's openness to strangers.

I guess the gray-eyed boy and I must have seemed intimidating. I couldn't imagine why.

"Hmph, you're a quiet bunch," the girl mumbled, eyeing both me and the gray-eyed boy. Her arms were crossed like she was trying to figure us out.

"Seriously Jadie? I don't think they want to talk...," her twin whispered intensely as he grabbed his sister's arm. He looked ready to bolt.

I should have left by now. For some reason, I couldn't drag my feet to the window.

I eyed Gray Eyes, but he'd busied himself scavenging the slaver's body for anything useful. He was pocketing a lot of coin.

Great. I was the only one awkwardly standing like a kindergartner on her first day of school.

"Oh please, I just want to have a conversation with someone other than you for once. Talking to you is boring," the girl muttered loudly. Gray Eyes finally glanced up at that.

"Yeah, no. We're leaving. Sorry," Alex interrupted, glancing nervously at us before opening the window.

"Wait," Gray Eyes suddenly interjected. "I need the keys."

The boy froze, patting his pants pockets until he pulled them out. He tossed them towards Gray Eyes, then paused. Almost uncertainly, he spoke. "I'm Alex, by the way. And...thank you. You really didn't have to help us."

Gray Eyes just shrugged noncommittally.

The girl looked the two of us up and down before saying, "And I'm Jadyn, just so you know. I probably won't see you again, but hey. In case I do." With that, she faked a salute and promptly headed towards the window.

I don't know what came over me, but I had to speak up. Maybe I was fueled by loneliness... or maybe I just felt like I needed to join the conversation. Why not? It wasn't like I'd see these people again. "Calestia," I replied.

Jadyn gave me a bright grin and inclined her head in acknowledgment. "Well, it's nice to meet you Calestia."

Now the only one who hadn't introduced himself was Gray Eyes, but he was fixated on digging something out of the man's back pocket. I picked up my dagger which had fallen near my feet and stuck it in my belt, only mildly eavesdropping on the conversation Alex and Jadyn were having. Despite their promise to leave, they seemed a bit conflicted about where to go.

"Do you guys have a place to stay?" I asked, my voice small. I wasn't sure what had come over me.

Jadyn looked up in mild shock. I blushed. Alex opened his mouth to answer, but Jadyn cut him off. "We do," she said, confidently. I wasn't sure if she was bluffing. Each night, I ended up somewhere new. Occasionally, I'd find an empty store to settle in for a few days, but it could never be more than that. How they had a solid place to stay was bewildering.

"I'm guessing you two work together? Cousins? Secret lovers? Or you could be enemies, I wouldn't know," Jadyn added suddenly.

Alex turned his fierce glare on Jadyn once again. He wanted this awkward meeting to end as much as I did.

"Oh, we don't, we've never met," I stuttered, feeling my face go red. How had I become so horrid at communicating with people in just six months? I took a few steps back, shying away. I resisted the temptation to sprint for the window.

Gray Eyes had finally finished ransacking the gang member's supplies. He stood with his arms crossed. Blood was smeared across his shoulder from his wound. "You know, there are probably supplies downstairs. I'm willing to share." He looked at me first and I wanted to cave in. It felt like his eyes were piercing into my soul.

Plus, he'd just ruined part of my plan anyway. I'd somewhat been hoping he would leave with the twins so I could go downstairs and take whatever was left.

I nodded my head slowly.

Alex actually seemed interested. "Thank you, but it's all right. Jadyn and I are fine," he replied. There was definitely something they were hiding. Why else would they deny a perfect chance to re-stock? "But you guys take care. Don't die."

"Hey, wait, you guys should come with us!" Jadyn burst out. She stomped towards me and lightly grabbed my arm, staring pointedly at her twin. "Please, Alex. Look, she's innocent." She awkwardly waved my hand around a bit as if to prove her point. Alex looked on in horror.

"They don't bite. If they wanted to kill us, they would've done it by now." Jadyn was way too comfortable standing next to the person who'd been holding a gun up to a man's head a few seconds ago. "And we can help them, we can-"

"Jadyn," Alex said abruptly, cutting her off. "They'll be fine. And no, we can't," he said, meeting Jadyn's furious gaze. "You know why." It was a bit cryptic, but I didn't have the guts to ask.

If they did have some secret resource-ridden hideaway, they weren't willing to share.

Jadyn's frustration was obvious, but her resolve weakened.

"Fine...," she muttered, dejectedly letting me go and returning to her brother's side. "Well, sorry you guys." Jadyn stared at the two of us for a second before turning and ducking out the glass window, her brother right behind. The thud of the window shutting rang throughout the room.

An uncomfortable silence fell between us. Gray Eyes picked up the gun I'd dropped. "This will probably be useful."

The way he was holding it, I couldn't tell if he meant for me or for himself.

I took a few quick steps backwards, eyeing it. Realizing his blunder, he shoved it into his waistband before putting his hands in the air innocently. "I'm not going to shoot you," he said with raised eyebrows.

"Can I have the gun?" I asked. After all, I'd found it first and definitely didn't trust him with it after watching him fight.

He waited only a moment before pulling it out and tossing it to me.

I wanted to leave – I'd lingered for far too long. I also wasn't sure what that would mean. Would I go back to wandering the cold for hours, days, and weeks? I didn't want to stay and scavenge anymore; that was his plan. He had offered to share. There wasn't anything too off about him, and he'd managed to survive this long. If he had a place to stay or knew anything I didn't, it could be useful information.

"Why were you here?" I asked. While not the best question, I couldn't help my curiosity. I'd assumed he'd known the twins. But now I was certain otherwise.

"I found this trading site. Why were you?" he replied, vaguely.

"I...," I didn't know how to answer. I hadn't even received a complete response.

"If you want to share whatever is downstairs, we should get going. Any minute now, another gang could come in here," he commented. I stared at him, befuddled.

"Are we?" I asked.

"What?"

"Working together?" My voice had gotten a lot quieter.

There was a glint in his eyes as if he found my fear amusing. "I was just offering to share supplies, but if you'd want to work together, I'm fine with that too." His jaw tensed as he looked at me. "The people who are alone are usually the ones who get caught."

My face reddened. "Oh, I just meant supplies, but..."

"It wouldn't be such a bad idea. If you need somewhere to stay tonight, I've got a place."

I didn't have an answer to that and decided to ask a simpler question. "What's your name?"

"Asten." He inspected me for a minute, his hands in his pockets. Then, he headed to the stairs, stopping at the top to look back at me. "So, are you coming or not?"

I wasn't sure what to do. If I went with him, I was risking my life. If I didn't, I'd continue alone, scavenging for food and supplies in abandoned grocery stores while waiting to die.

Maybe trusting people wasn't always a bad thing.

What Jadyn had said was true: he hadn't tried to kill me yet. In fact, he'd saved me. Living without trust was the same thing as being the only human left in the world. It had been tearing me apart, the loneliness, the endless days of fighting to breathe and hiding at every moving figure. Everyone had become a threat to me.

My feet carried me towards him of their own volition. Seeing my decision, Asten stepped down into the lower level. I followed close behind.