"It's small enough." Lee said after a moment of thought. "About a hundred-fifty people. Well guarded. It's not so much a town or city, or camp, so much as a prison. You saw it around, eh?"

Benny nodded. He nudged Lee, taking over the wheeler. "Yeah, I saw it a couple times. Far enough away not to raise suspicion."

"Right then---I'm actually the leader of this fraction. Probably because no one really wants to test the boundaries of a psychopath." He chuckled darkly.

"Huh. Looks like you really took things into your own hands. How do you operate? Go on mass killing sprees, act quietly, bomb the nearest vehicles you can find?"

"No. Ben, you know me, I'm a man of silence. I keep things as quiet as possible to worm my way in like a parasite, then kill the host. But I don't do much killing for sport anymore... I try to get my point across other ways. See, I only want the best. But I hate how the corruption in the government continues to ravage everyone underneath them. I hate it, Ben. I just..." He shook his head, shouldering the gun Benny had given him when he took over the wheeler. Now they were headed through quiet streets of abandoned vehicles, a bit of a maze. A dog barked nearby. "I just want them to pay. The ones that are obviously rotting inside like fruit left too long in the sun. But unfortunately, that's spreading within their ranks. I'm sure you've experienced that yourself."

He knew what Lee referred to. And he could feel it again. Cold, like steel, on his neck, but it wasn't steel---it was a hand. a hand pushing him into the gravel in a quiet, secluded little alley no one ever took because it was too far out of the way. He thought he'd just be taken to be questioned about his 'suspicious' activities. These men didn't want to acknowledge what they were. "Monster bastards."

"Yep." Lee nodded once. "They almost killed Matt."

"What!?" Benny froze, and Lee paused in front of him. "What'd he do?" Benny had met Matthew a few times, partner of Lee, a sweet blonde man of Russian descent and bad eyesight. Once he was an elementary school teacher, and for the life of him Benny couldn't understand how a one-time killer and an elementary school teacher could have gotten along so well to stay together though corruption, horror, and a world turned completely upside down.

"He'd gone off to get a shipment of guns from Andrew. He didn't have them yet, they cornered him outside the wall and got a false positive off his scan. They're rare, sure, but they do happen." Lee started off again, and Benny hurried to follow along. "They wouldn't let him get a word in to explain why he was outside the wall, where he came from, what he was doing there... His Firefly tag wasn't in view, so they didn't know what he was. I... was almost too late."

"They...?"

"They had him on the ground and put some good kicks in before I took care of them. Had a fractured arm." He glanced toward Benny and caught sight of the mix of horror and disgust on his face. "We've got a few good doctors with us in the prison, bound the arm before anymore damage could be done. Andy sent out someone else to bring the guns."

Benny shook his head, staring at the buckled ground and stepping over young tree roots that had begun sprouting up. It was late, and the prison was still a ways away. "That's just... I was almost one of them."

"Well, you're not." Lee turned, stopping. "See that place?" He pointed to the right, a small, boarded up flea market. "Good place to stop for the night. I wired a couple traps in case anything, human or otherwise, wants to worm its way in."

Benny nodded, and shook out his leg before following Lee to the shelter. Thunder started rumbling overhead again, but they would at least be out of the rain for the night.

"I think that about does it," Amber commented, stepping back to admire her handiwork.

Deciding that it would be unwise for Emily to leave exactly the way she had come in with a couple of goons still out on the street looking for her, Amber had quickly improvised to change the younger girl’s appearance. Emily had been very opposed to wearing the disgusting baseball cap the older woman had extricated from a pile in one corner but couldn’t argue the fact that it was likely to hide her face. Still, it stunk of mildew and she didn’t want to imagine who might have worn it last. Her long hair had been done up in a bun to disguise its length and an old button up layered over her long sleeve tee. The Hawaiian pattern made her cringe but it was clean enough so she didn’t argue.

Satisfied with Emily’s disguise, Amber pushed back the wood barring the door and waited for her to slip through before following suit. Outside, she led them in a convoluted pattern of side streets before joining the main thoroughfare, as much to avoid Daryl and Stan as any other group of soldiers. The rain continued to fall and thunder rumbled in the distance. She and Amber weren’t the only ones on the street but others were few and far between. Most sane people preferred to take shelter indoors at times like this.

Neither woman said more than a few words on their way to the North Gate. When the large electrically charged wire contraption came into view, Emily stopped in her tracks. "Shit…" she swore uncharacteristically.
"What is it? Getting cold feet already?" Amber asked blandly as she stopped beside her.

Ignoring the comment Emily replied, "They saw my ID," she groaned, "What if they’ve already called ahead?"

Amber didn’t need to ask who "they" was and similarly swore. Pretending to take shelter from an overhanging doorway, she mulled over the situation. They could take the chance that the gate guards hadn’t been informed but if they had, both women would be taken into questioning. As people always seemed to mysteriously disappear whenever they were questioned, Amber decided that it wasn’t a risk she was willing to take, not just for her own sake or Emily’s but for the sake of the Fireflies.

Sighing, Amber turned to Emily. "We’re going to have to take the long way around."

He slid aside a panel of wood that looked to be made of many planks nailed together. It was a decoy that made it appear as if the whole front were boarded up securely, thus made it unnecessary to check or find any other fascination with it. Benny pulled the wheeler in, setting it beside the door as Lee moved the panel back and made sure it wouldn't fall. When Benny looked around the area, he found it wasn't a store floor anymore---it had been gutted and now was full of crates and boxes, some old mattresses, cloth and guns hidden only slightly, mainly for the use of whoever knew about this particular shelter. At the back of the room it looked as if a window had been boarded up after someone used a makeshift blunderbuss on whatever wanted to get inside. In the corner to the left sat a small warming plate and a car battery, and directly opposite, a door, from which a familiar noise came. A high squeal, and series of clicking sounds. Lee's breath caught, and he waved to Benny, who slid forward to speak as quietly as he could.

"Lee... Gimme your knife. Here..." He carefully slipped out of his backpack, intent not to let anything clink together, handing it off to Lee as he gave over his silver pocket knife. It was actually a switchblade Lee sharpened religiously, saying the sound it made calmed him and kept his hands steady. Benny lowered himself to the ground, walking on the ball of his feet and sliding to the doorway that led into the back storage room. A trap seemed to have been triggered, killing one clicker but letting in another, which was flailing about at noises it probably heard. The thing hardly looked human anymore, as was with most infected in moderate to advanced stages of infection. Benny had dealt with these before, and they weren't so bad. They were blind, and he was light on his feet. Creeping through a few boxes, he ducked down below them and grabbed a piece of metal from the dirty bomb that had sliced its friend into a few hundred bits and pieces just outside the open door. With the knife in one hand, he tossed the bit of metal across the room and sent the clicker stumbling after its noise. He moved forward again.

The thing's neck was too dangerous a place to attack... They were unpredictable and could easily snap forward and bite one's arm. Then he'd only have up to two days to either accept his fate or have Lee kill him before the turn. No---its back was to him. He could paralyze it easily. Sliding easily and low to the floor, Benny gripped the knife hard and got ready to straighten up, until his foot bumped the box that separated him from the clicker.

"Aw, shit!" The vulgarity barely escaped his mouth before the infected lunged forward blindly, screeching and clicking all the way. It stumbled over the box but spun around when Benny grabbed it, knocking his hand away and stepping over the box, sending him into one of the many shelves that had been dragged back here from the floor. His hand almost released the knife, but it pushed forward to get the thing off. When it stumbled back Benny brought up his bad leg and landed a hard kick under what used to be its chin, sending it spinning into another shelf. Ignoring the burn that now shot through his leg, Benny lunged forward and plunged the knife into the thing's back. A lucky blow---it slipped between the vertebrae, paralyzing the clicker immediately and sending it to the floor. Its weak cries were silenced with a quick slice to the neck, letting it bleed out.

Limping now more than ever, Benny went back into the storefront and glared at Lee. "You heard me having a rough time of it." He huffed, holding the bloodied knife out. "You couldn't have come help?"

"You didn't call for me. I assumed you were doing fine." Benny growled as Lee took the knife, digging a dirty rag out of his pocket to wipe it clean. "By the way, where's your shirt? You're reminding me of Taylor Lautner's Twilight career."

Benny curled his lip. "I'd rather not ruin clothes in the rain more than I need to. You should be glad I'm not completely naked."

Lee was silent for a moment, looking Benny up and down slowly. "Mmmh. Glad."

Benny shook himself, grabbing his backpack and depositing it on one of the mattresses. "Stop imagining it!" He shouted. Lee only snickered, going about to gather heavy items to block up the door to the storage room as Benny sat, massaging his painful leg. He was sure it'd ache for an hour, at least...

Pushing off of the wall they had been leaning against, Amber led them away from the square in a different direction than the way they had come. “It'll be tricky but I’ll see if Andrew can set you up with a new ID…” she said quietly, aware that prying ears were never that far away.

Emily merely nodded and muttered an apology as she continued to curse herself out in her head for the mistake. Her only hope in remaining alive in this city much longer would quite possibly rest upon the shoulders of Amber's "associate". Though still uncertain of her soon-to-be Firefly status, Emily was aware that she had unwittingly made the correct decision.

By the time Amber stopped to crouch down beside a nearby dumpster, both women were beyond soaked. 'At least the hat doesn't smell so bad now...' thought Emily miserably before Amber motioned that they would use the dumpster to climb up and over a crumbling section of the barrier between North and East sides.

Together the two women pushed the heavy metal box over to the side of the wall and Amber motioned Emily up onto the top of the wall. Once the younger girl was crouched in place, she dragged the dumpster away and accepted Emily's hand up. The girl seemed to quickly pick up on her intentions and Amber was satisfied that she had found a worthy candidate.

The drop down the other side made Emily's knees buckle but the pain quickly faded as they distanced themselves from the wall. Emily hadn't been on the East side since her arrival to the city just over two years ago but it was just as filthy and crowded as it back then, if not more so. The young girl glued herself to Amber's heels as she marched them through squalor and grabbing hands until they left that wretched lot behind.

Arriving at the same run-down warehouse Benny had visited earlier that day, the two women followed his followed the same path across the concrete floor, down a flight of stairs, and through an underground tunnel. At the other end Emily helped Amber push a heavy bookcase out of the way to reveal a passage. After slipping inside and pulling the cover up back into place they proceeded through a small sitting area that was for the moment empty. Through another hallway and to the right, Amber lifted her ID to a small window set inside a pair of heavy doors and knocked.

For some reason Benny couldn't flex his leg at the knee. "God... Damn it! This isn't happening..." He growled at himself, for using his bad leg to kick the thing. If he'd been quick enough he could have used his other one without putting too much pressure on it. He watched Lee move about, pull the hotplate and battery out of the corner and go around to his own equipment, a bag that had been strapped securely to his back. On one side a gas mask was attached to a strap. Unzipping it, he pulled out a plastic tupperware container and stepped forward, kneeling in front of Benny. "Pull up your pant leg, let me see."

"What do you know about existing injuries?" Benny asked lightly, but did as instructed and rolled up the loose leg of his jeans.

Lee chuckled. "I've dissected enough bodies to have learned about everything from liver disease to malignant tumors. And I don't forget." He tapped the side of his head. That was true---Lee never forgot. He could name all his victims from one to three hundred sixty four, in order and according to what horror they committed to lead them to his basement. His tough but careful fingers touched the slight swelling that had started around the kneecap. "Looks like it's out of place." He said after a moment.

"O-out of place...?" Benny twitched involuntarily when Lee grasped his ankle. "Hold on, wait! What the hell are you---AAAAGH! Fuggin' hell!" It was as if someone had ripped the bones from his leg when Lee pulled, sharply, quickly downward. "What wah...? What'd you do that for...?" Benny's voice cracked from a combined pain and utter surprise.

"Popped it back in." Lee opened the container and pulled a coil of plastic ice packs that gave off a cold wave as soon as it hit the muggy air. "This'll help the swelling."

Benny's eyes widened. "How do you have those...? I mean, how are they frozen...?"

"At the prison, one of the engineers was able to get a backup generator running. We've got a couple freezers working, and most of the lights on the first and second level are on, too."

Benny widened his eyes in an impressed manner while Lee used a roll of clear tape to secure the pack around Benny's knee. "You guys are pretty handy over there."

"Well, when you have everything handed to you in just the right place, a little patience can get you pretty far."

Lee stood, looking outside from a crack in the boarded-up window. "It's getting a little late. Best to eat and get to sleep---we've been waiting for this shipment for a long time."

Benny nodded, but stayed in place. He wouldn't move for at least an hour, not while his leg was still partially on fire and refused to let up. He'd had popped sockets before, but not in his bum knee. Putting that back into place had been twice the pain.

****

When the knock sounded Andrew had been in a back room. One of the guards, Frank, opened the door, which they would do only if Andrew had given a pass for specific people. Stepping away from his order forms, he moved into the front office to find Amber, and what looked like a scrawny man in gaudy clothes being blocked by Frank. "Hey, let 'em in." Andrew barked. Frank nodded, unbarring the way then closing the door securely.

Andrew looked from Amber to the newcomer. "Hey, Am. Who's your, um..." he cleared his throat, "um, friend?" The clothes were a bit too baggy to see what, exactly, the newcomer was. A man, woman? Probably a very feminine man if the structure of the face were anything to go on, peeking out from under a dirty ballcap.

When the door opened, Amber stepped forward only to find her path blocked by Frank, one of the usual door guards. “Where’s Andy?” she asked, “ We’re here to see him.” When Frank didn’t budge, Amber rolled her eyes and sighed impatiently, “Frank, do you really think I’m stupid enough to bring someone dangerous in here? Let us in.” Fortunately Andrew appeared before she had to get nasty. Shoving her way past Frank, Amber approached with Emily in tow. “God Andy! If this is the way you treat all your newcomers it’s no wonder we haven’t had any new recruits lately...”

Emily let Amber do the talking and focused instead on ridding herself of the disgusting hat. She tried tugging the thing over the bun Amber had fashioned for her but couldn’t get it off. Sighing, she let go of the ballap to let her hair down first after which it was an easy matter to tug the dirty thing off her head. Running her hands through her bangs she muttered, “That’s better.”

Andrew waved off the words lightly. "Eh, y'know Frank. Can be a little oeverzealous. Get." He waved the guard off, and the man did as requested, trudging into another room with a huff. "Besides, Am, if a new recruit can't handle a guard shakin' 'em down, they wouldn't be too well cut out for this life, I'd say. So who's the girl?" He could tell now. She was definitely a girl, long hair large chest made that obvious. "Obviously a recruit, I mean." Andrew trusted Amber. She was a good woman and had her own reasons for doing what she did. He had faith in Amber's observations, and if she thought this girl was worth the time, he'd be willing to set aside important days to see it through. But she did look a bit thin. Hopefully strong in the legs, a fast runner.

Amber didn’t bother to glance in Frank’s direction as the guard stalked off. Focusing on Andy, she had to concede that he had a point. She wasn’t about to tell him that however... Clearing her throat she dropped her voice to a whisper. “She got herself into some trouble with Daryl and Stan, you’ve heard of them right? I didn’t see the whole thing but you should have seen her run Andy. I know she doesn’t look like much but she’s not bad...”

If Emily was bothered at being talked about without being addressed she didn't show it. With “Am” in her private little tête-à-tête with Andy and Frank safely out of the way, she tossed the baseball cap onto a nearby chair walked around the small room, looking at this or that but never touching anything.

Amber paused and glanced back at the young girl as she wandered about the front office. She was reluctant to mention the part about the ID just yet... "Her name is Emily," she added. Turning back towards Andrew she waited to see what he would have to say about the the matter.

Andrew curled his lip at the mention of the officers. "Heard of 'em? Bastards killed a couple of my best guys 'bout a month ago. Been havin' my eye on the two ever since." He turned to look at the girl. "Emily, eh? Could always use a fast runner." He nodded. If she could run fast, she would be a very good messenger. If she could hold her weight in equipment and run just the same, she'd be even better. "Seems like a chance I'd be willin' to take. She get away from dumb and dumber, I'd think she'd do well 'round here." He paused. "Hold up, though---they must'a caught her at first, right? She might need a fake ID if that's the case. I'll have to write up some new papers for her too." He could tell Amber had held something back, and that must be it---Emily was a known name among the officer ranks now, it had to be.

Amber winced as Andrew saw straight through her to the matter she has been waiting to delicately handle after his presumed acceptance of the girl. Her jaw dropped however when the man outright accepted the fact and proposal to draft her new papers and get her a new ID. “You never cease to amaze me,” she said with a chuckle. It was her roundabout way of saying that he had guessed right.

“Emily!” she called, motioning the new recruit over. The girl looked up from the gas mask she had been staring at and came to stand with them. Once there, Amber announced, “It seems Andrew thinks you’re a fit for the job. How about it?” Emily hesitated a moment and then spoke. “I’m happy to be here,” she said, surprised to hear the words slip out of her mouth. She had never in her wildest dreams imagined speaking those words to a Firefly. And the most astounding part, she thought, was that they were genuine.

Andrew shrugged, and smiled. "Anything for some extra help, Amber." He said. "I'll need a few days, maybe a week, so Emily, I think I'd lie low. Don't go back home, I'd say that's dangerous if they're looking for a runner." He went around the desk and sat heavily. "If you need a place in the meantime there's a safehouse downstairs, behind a bum wall, Amber can show you." He referred to a door in the back room, behind a fake wall that just looked like another series of cinder blocks. It led down to a three-room shelter for especially endangered persons of importance.

From his seat, Andrew studied the newcomer. "Don't take this the wrong way or anythin', but you look a l'il scrawny. I mean, fast, yeah, but you got anything else about you?" He thought. Maybe Amber had already thought about it as well, but Andrew was sure she would need someone to help her figure out the Fireflies. A mentor, perhaps, someone that had not only seen the horror the opposition was capable of, but knew more than the average Joe. "How 'bout this: I'll put you up with one of my best guys---He'll teach you gotta know, then you'll go on your way an' all that." He put out a hand specifically to Emily.

It took Emily a moment to follow what Andrew was talking about but she quickly deduced that he was referring to a new ID. Nodding that she understood, her heart fell at the prospect of finding a new lodging so quickly. Andrew just as quickly solved that issue however by offering to let her stay on the premises. “Thank you,” she said gratefully, not fancying another climb over the wall after dark.

Emily wasn’t offended at being called scrawny. The truth was just about everyone was thin these days with the shortage of rations. Those who had been overweight to begin with had thinned out with time while those like Emily who was thin to begin with, got even skinnier. “I’m stronger than I look,” she said in all honesty. Though she was thin, the little weight she had was mostly muscle. “I can run and climb and I know a few self-defense moves. I’m also a fast learner and adapt quickly.”

It wasn’t much she knew, but it was a start. She was grateful when Andrew offered to pair her with someone who could teach her the rest of what she would need to know. “Sounds good,” she said, approving of his idea. Taking Andrew’s hand, she sealed the deal with a firm shake before Amber led her off to safe house, stopping along the way to pick up a pair of clean clothes from one of the rooms in the back. Once inside, she handed these over to Emily and leaned against the wall.

“Your first few weeks will be the hardest,” she said, “But Andy’s a good guy and I know he’ll do his best to pair you up with someone who knows their stuff. If you ever need anything, don’t be afraid to ask him. He really cares about his team and he’ll do what he can to help. Anyway, I’m sure I’ll see you around.” Emily conveyed her thanks and Amber took her leave, closing the door behind her.

Sighing, Emily tossed the clothes onto a chair and looked about her temporary living arrangement. There was a mattress on the floor in one corner made up with clean blankets, the chair, and a small table. It wasn’t much but then again her flat hadn’t been much either. Thinking back to her own apartment, she couldn’t say she felt any remorse at leaving so suddenly. The couple in apartment next door would continue their daily arguments and the old lady in C3 still wouldn’t remember her name.

Her possessions really weren’t worth anything and Emily wasn’t a worldly person to begin with. The only thing she couldn’t live without was her journal which was safely stowed in her messenger bag. Thinking of this, she pulled it out and laid it on the table. Opening it to the sketch she had finished earlier that day, she added at the bottom of the page:

Today I joined the Fireflies.

Closing the diary, she slipped it back into her bag and changed into the dry clothes Amber had given her. After hanging her wet clothes over the chair to dry, she lay down on the mattress and stared at the ceiling. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep and she didn't waken, not even when Andrew came down to check on her for dinner.

Benny opened his eyes to a warm, yellow-gold glow and the pressure of someone curled up behind his back. For a moment he was confused,and wondered how it was possible morning light could get through the boarded up windows and blockaded doors until he focused his gaze and saw clean beige walls outlined with brown wood finishings and molding, and the light cast from the window's half-opened curtains fell over clean hardwood floors. Breathing in deeply, Benny turned to find a head of auburn hair lying quietly behind him. He slid forward under the light blanket and put an arm around the other man, burying his face in the hair that smelled like cinnamon. "I've been having weird dreams lately." He confessed as Nick moved slightly.

"Mmm? What kind of weird...?" Nick slept deeper than Benny---it usually took a few moments for him to come to reality.

Benny paused, resting his head on Nick's shoulder. "Um... I guess you could call them zombies. The best name for them..."

Nick laughed lightly, turning enough to rest on his back so he could look at Benny fully. "Zombies? Again." The man---two years Benny's elder---knew well the younger man's relative obsession with zombie video games and novels. Sometimes those plots followed him into his dreams.

"Not 'again'. It wasn't like any of my games. Or books. It was different. More real."

"But you know it's not real."

"Of course I know! I just..." Benny paused to think, running two fingers absently over the fabric of Nick's shirt. "I guess I can't stop thinking about it. How the world would really react if this happened. If anything anyone's thought about could even compare."

Nick's eyes were so kind---large, bright pools of blue so deep Benny was sure they were actually chiseled from sapphire. And they were just as kind when he studied Benny, raised a hand, and twisted a finger around the light brown strands of hair that hung loosely in front of the younger man's eyes. "I don't think it's very proactive to think about what most likely will never happen. Enjoy the fictitious concept for now, and consider it a reality when the reality is closer to us. I'd rather focus more on our life---at the department, and here. Besides, I'm pretty sure we'd be ready if anything like that happened."

Benny shook his head. "You can't be so sure."

Nick raised a brow. "You can't be sure about anything, Ben. And at this point I don't see any point in thinking about it in such a pessimistic light."

Benny chuckled, pressing his forehead against Nick's. "Sure." He muttered. "I'll keep it optimistic."

He closed his eyes, and it grew darker than it should have. Snapping them open again, Benny saw only falling plaster from the ceiling and felt a warm humidity, like that of a storm that recently passed, and a lumpy mattress under him that reeked of mildew and rusty springs. He sat up at once, the suddenness making his head spin and the simple late dinner of canned ravioli last night churn angrily at him in his stomach. The memory seemed so far away now, that presence that had been pressed against his back no more than Lee, the one-time killer of rapists and child abusers, who hardly had enough humanity in him to truly care about one or two people at a time. Things were gray now, with only a slight gold-yellow glow slicing the room through a slat in the boards over the nearby window. But everything was running together as tears obscured Benny's vision and streamed hotly down his face, and he couldn't hide it quickly enough when Lee sat up. He was quite the light sleeper.

"Hey, what's wrong with you?" He asked, standing and stretching.

"Nothing." Benny lied flatly, forgetting to put resolve into his voice. It was obviously something was wrong, but Lee shrugged it off. He wasn't one for pushing something most of the time---the only person Lee seemed to ever show compassion toward was Matt. Benny stood shakily, stretching his knee, which now only ached a little, and roughly wiping the tears away from his eyes. "Be there soon." Lee called from across the room, buckling his bag onto his back again. Benny only nodded, pulling on some clean clothes and digging a pair of shoes out of the wheeler that had been set aside for him. After a quick preparation, they started off without eating---they'd make it to the compound in time for breakfast.

****

He slipped back through the hole in the wall easily. The rest of the trip to and back from the prison was uneventful and lonesome since Lee had remained back, one lucky chance in a whole spectrum of realities that could come to be in a single instant. Sliding the cover back over the wall, he went back down the ramp that led into what had been the loading bay and though the door to Andrew's office. The man was sitting hunched over his desk, studying something, but he looked up immediately. "Benny! Back early, eh? Good man, I gotta thing for you---"

"No, no more." Benny shook his head, going around to sit heavily on the chair nearby. "I don't want to go back out, Andy, not again, please."

"You ain't goin' out, Ben. There's a girl I recruited from Amber's referral."

Benny raised a brow, a little curious now. "Hm? New recruit?"

"Yep. Got in a rough patch with Stan and Daryl."

Benny's blood sizzled when he heard the name, Daryl. Bastard... "What of it?" He asked at last.

Without the light from her apartment window to wake her, Emily slept much later than usual. Normally a light sleeper and an earlier riser, Emily struggled to open her eyes. Disoriented by the dark room that was nothing like her sunny apartment, she pushed a tangle of hair off her face and forced leaden arms to push herself into a sitting position. The new perspective jogged her memory and the events of yesterday came back with sudden clarity.

Sighing, Emily extricated herself from the blankets and stood up. White flashed behind her eyes and she caught the edge of the table to prevent herself from falling. Hunched over, she grasped the table like a lifeline until her head stopped spinning and her vision returned. She was used to the dizzy spells caused by constant hunger but today’s had been much worse usual. Considering Amber’s mention of extra rations, Emily scoffed. Of course the Fireflies would give out more rations to their workers, they would need it. With the sedentary lifestyle most people lived in the city, they would be able to get away with eating less.

Shoving her feet into her boots she didn’t bother with the laces, afraid that if she bent over she might pass out. Uncaring of her disheveled appearance, Emily grabbed her bag from the table before leaving the safe house and mounting the stairs to the main branch of the office. Frank was on door duty again and Emily avoided him, taking to the back hallway she had seen Andrew appear from yesterday instead. She peered into each room she passed hoping to find him. Almost at the end of the hallway, she was close to abandoning and going back to take her chances with Frank when she heard his voice coming from the last room.

As she approached, she realized he wasn’t alone but the gnawing hunger in her stomach pushed her onward. Reaching the doorway, Emily grasped the molding and peered inside. “Andrew?” she winced as her voice came out in a croak. Clearing her throat she said, “I don’t mean to interrupt, but do you have something to eat?” Normally it would have irked her to ask someone for handouts but it wasn't like she had any other option in this case.

"Me? Be a trainer?" Benny couldn't help the skepticism and scoff in his voice. "I don't see how it'd work."

Andrew shook his head. "Boy, you're a good guy. A good fighter. Good with a gun, a knife, able-bodied, quick, resourceful---"

"Flattery will get you nowhere."

"It ain't flattery, ass. If---" He stopped himself as a newcomer approached the door. Emily. He nodded, and pointed to the door behind Benny. "Through that door then to the one left of it. A couple boxes---got 'em all scavenged around the city so I don't know what's in those packs."

When she left, Benny turned to Andrew and leaned forward. "That's the girl? I don't think---"

"Since when do I care what you think?"

"All the damn time."

"Bah." Andrew waved him away. "You're taking this on. It's not just another job, get it? Ain't just a dropoff. You gotta teach that girl. Amber recommended her."

"Amber." Benny shook his head. Amber didn't normally specifically bring someone in to give a personal recommendation. "She good?"

"She's fast. Can't doubt she's strong 'cause of it."

"Well... Ugh, I guess... It's not as bad as I figured."

"Can't be so sure." Andrew folded something and handed it over. "Here. 'Er real name's Emily, but I had to get some new papers forged for 'er. She'll be called Melissa by guards, officers, soldiers, and anyone that's not a Firefly. Go get 'er."

Benny snatched the papers, standing and limping slightly out of the room to follow the new recruit's footsteps.

Emily’s eyes followed to where Andrew pointed, catching a glance of the other man in the process. He didn’t look too happy. “Thanks,” she said, walking past Benny to exit through the door Andrew had indicated. Taking a left, she entered a storage room. The walls were lined with metal utility shelves but it was the boxes on the floor that interested her at the moment.

Crouching down, she opened the first one to take her pick. The first few she pulled out were peaches and while she imagined the sweet flavor of the fruit, she shook her head. That wouldn’t hold her long. Setting those aside, she dug deeper. There were a few cans of beans which would need to be heated and she set these aside as well. There was tomato paste and mushrooms which made her mouth water at the thought of pasta and then she hit the mother load:

Mouth watering, she put the peaches, beans, tomato paste, and mushrooms back in the box and stared at the can in her hands. The expiration date read 12/18/13 but that didn’t bother her. It had been years since she’d had spaghetti... Not caring that she would look like a child eating her pilfered can of dinos and meatballs, she slowly stood. The can had a pop up top for easy opening but she lacked utensils to eat it. Emily's eyes scanned the shelves for something serviceable. If she couldn’t find anything she wasn’t below just slurping it down...

Benny paused outside the door, just to get out of Andrew's line of sight. Studying the papers, he went directly to the new ID the girl had made. Melissa Gordon was her new name, it seemed. Folding them again, Benny sighed, leaning against the wall. He was, in all honesty, okay with his position now. He wouldn't mind being a trainer, really. It sounded interesting, and he was sure he could do it, despite any physical fallbacks that had never incapacitated him beyond a few hours at a time, or took much speed away from his running ability. He was well known to surprise people. Pushing himself away from the wall, Benny turned the corner into the store room and paused under the doorway to watch the girl. A bit thin, yes, but who wasn't nowadays? Most people were, their weight coming more from muscle than fat. He waited quietly for the girl---Emily, he recalled Andrew telling him---to notice he was there. "I was told about the new recruit." He said after a moment's silence. "Not many people accept a position around here."

Some didn't like the Fireflies. They thought those involved only wanted chaos and murder. Perhaps some were like that, but most, like Benny, wanted something to change---wanted people to live without fear of the gun just for straying into the wrong place. "Your, ah, new papers are here. You'll be called Melissa by anyone not involved with the Fireflies. And you've got a tag, too." He uncovered the Firefly insignia, taped to the last paper. It looked just like anyone else's, as there tended to be a surplus when Fireflies died and were found later by others. While their losses were great, anything that could be salvaged from their bodies before they were hidden or stripped of credentials was certainly taken.

Benny leaned against the wall, setting the information down for Emily to look at when she liked. "I'm Benny. Andrew told me all about your recruitment and asked me to... help you learn about everything, I guess." He could tell there was more to the girl than met the eye---it was evident she was strong in arm and leg.

There! Emily thought she saw something useful… Reaching a hand out, she stopped in her tracks when someone spoke up from the doorway. Backing away from the shelf to get a better view of the speaker, she paused, unsure of what to say. “The New Recruit” that’s what she’d be around here for the next few weeks until she earned her name.

Abandoning her search for a utensil, she stepped closer as the man mentioned her paperwork. He looked at it for a moment before setting it down on one of the nearby shelves. Not bothering to pick it up, she glanced over the sheet. “Melissa Gordon” was written across the top with some details written below. At the bottom of the page, Andrew had tapped her tag. This she removed and slipped over her head before popping the top of her can.

Tipping it up to allow the contents to slide into her mouth, she chewed through her mouthful as he introduced himself. She nearly choked however when she caught his name. Setting the spaghetti can down on the nearest shelf before she dropped it, Emily turned away from him. 'Ben…' Images flashed before her eyes, a young man, brown eyes and curly brown hair, a permanent smile on his face; the same young man with a gun to his head, moments from splattering his brains across the flowered wallpaper behind him.

If she hadn’t already been choking she probably would have thrown up. As she recovered from her choking fit she took a few deep breaths to calm herself. ’It’s just a name Em, just a name…’ But the horrific images in her head refused to budge and the taste of spaghetti in her mouth made her stomach churn. “Nice to meet you,” she heard herself say at last, “I guess we’ll be working together for a while, huh?” she said weakly, still trying to completely recover her poise.

Benny tilted his head, a bit concerned at the young woman's sudden reaction. It seemed to stem from nothing, unless it was an expired can of spaghetti. Shaking the concern away, he bit his lip before speaking again. "I guess so." He said, nodding and walking around the room a bit, going back to the papers Emily had taken a look at and staring at them. "Hopefully we didn't... get off on the wrong foot." He said it halfheartedly, since suddenly he was taken up by his name written on one of the papers in Andrew's hand. He picked it up and unfolded it, shocked to see what Andrew had decided regarding Emily's new home---his. He grimaced, brushing back his hair as it annoyed his nose, and looked up to Emily. "Seems he's not interested in letting you stay in the saferoom here much longer." The reason was written, as well. "Your place is too dangerous---guards will probably have the place scoped out for your return. Andy changed the address on your new ID to my address instead." He sighed.

Maybe it was because of what Benny was: Trustworthy. He was too lost in the past, and certainly not the type to target women. He was sure Lee would have killed him by now if he had even thought about such a thing. And Benny's was a large enough place---two bedrooms, but then, he was lucky that way. There was enough room in his apartment for two people. Thinking about that suddenly made a hollow, cold feeling gorge out his chest, and he shook it away from him. Trust was a hard thing to come by---would Emily even go so far as to accept Benny as a teacher? That was far-fetched, but Andrew just wasn't one for beating around the bush. He made things happen, and made them happen quickly.

Thankful that Benny hadn’t made a scene of her coughing fit, Emily pulled a water bottle of water out of her bag. Taking a sip, she sighed and dropped the object back into her bag. “I’m happy to be working with a pro,” she said, though she wasn’t quite sure Benny was listening. She really knew nothing about the guy but if Andrew had assigned him to train her, she supposed Benny knew his stuff.

Emily’s heart sank when Benny brought up the question of her staying in the safe house. She hadn’t been planning on living off of Andrew’s hospitality more than a few days, but one night and she was already getting the boot? She didn’t have much in the way of friends but with her new ID she might be able to find a place quickly enough…

Emily was so caught up in that thought that she almost didn’t catch what Benny said. ”Wait… What?” she asked, grabbing the paper from his hands, ”He said something about a trainer, not a roommate…” Grimacing as she realized her words were likely to offend she added, ”Not that it’s a problem, it’s just a bit…unexpected…is all.”

Sighing, she threw the paper back down on the shelf and sat down on one of the cardboard boxes. Running her hands through the tangles in her hair, she felt tense. Why couldn’t Andrew have put her up with Amber? Or better yet, why couldn’t she get her own place?

Deciding it wasn’t wise to openly question the motives of her new boss, Emily looked up a Benny. ’Sh*t he’s tall…’ she thought as she craned her neck back to look at the man who would be her mentor and housemate. ”So when do we get started?” she asked, hoping that a show of eagerness might smooth some of the nerves between them.

Unexpected is right... Benny's mind muttered, but he shook that away. It was probably to save paper and time for Andrew, and put things nice and neat in a shorter amount of time. Spending time, after all, searching for a new residence would distract and elongate otherwise important tasks or take away from those that needed one's full attention. Benny didn't mind, at least, now that he considered it. Maybe having someone around would keep his mind from wandering too far. Questions to be answered, things to be taught, to learn between himself and Emily. And it would be a strange type of partnership, he thought. He just wasn't used to leading someone on nowadays, not like before. Now someone was relying on him more to learn the ways of a new fraction, a type of antihero that people liked to talk about, but never get too close to. Their job was their business and as long as the corrupted government still had a steel grasp, Benny felt the Fireflies acted as rust, beginning to erode and break down the joints.

He looked up when Emily's question wiggled into his thoughts. "Um... I'd say immediately. 'Immediately' being tomorrow, at the latest. You ever shoot a gun before, Emily?" He waved her along as he spoke, walking into the other room, where a couple on-break guards were sitting around a small table and his backpack doing the same in a vacant chair. Slinging it onto his back, Benny grabbed the gas mask from the outside and stuffed it in under the extra clothes, feeling for his pistol, which was certainly still there. Though he was sure these guards wouldn't even think about slipping their hands into his bag, Benny was a little paranoid when it came to leaving his things in the possession of others even for a few minutes. A few minutes could, after all, mean a huge difference.

If she'd never shot a gun, he'd have to help her learn. There were underground shooting ranges Andrew had come to find in the basements of buildings on the outside, away from the listening range of guards and patrols. In those areas were weapon cleaning supplies as well, just as important as the weapons themselves. Filthy guns did little to shoot well, and jammed or malfunctioned very easily. His shotgun sat in a space under the living room floorboards in his apartment, alongside the stash of extra food he didn't normally eat so he could take it with him during longer treks out of the city.

Emily’s stomach churned uncomfortably at the thought of handing a gun as the face of the man who shared names with her trained appeared in her mind’s eye once again. ’What have I gotten myself into Ben?’ she asked herself silently. She could come up with a million excuses to delay the inevitable but Emily knew that eventually the Fireflies were going to put a gun in her hand and expect her to use it. She just wasn’t expecting that to be the very first lesson…

”Hey um…” she began but he was already walking through the door. Sighing, she dragged herself to her feet and grabbed her new paperwork Benny had left and shoved it in the bag at her side. Pausing beside the shelf where her can of spaghetti innocently waited, Emily slowly hit her head against the cool metal to clear it. After the third hit or so, she straightened up and grabbed the can of spaghetti. Downing another mouthful despite her queasiness she hoped she could get through her first lesson without losing her lunch.

Following in Benny’s footsteps with her half-eaten can of food in tow, she found him in the next room with a couple of guards. Taking a deep breath, she exhaled, “No,” she said, belatedly answering his question, ”What did you have in mind?” she asked, forcing herself to speak calmly despite the apprehension that she felt. Gulping down another mouthful, she waited for his response. If they were shooting only at targets maybe it wouldn’t be so bad... That's what she hoped at least.

Benny waited until she was with him, then took to the nearby door. It led back out of the underground office and saferoom areas, back to the warehouse. When he turned, though, Benny grimaced a little at the way his knee's bone grated on the embedded bullet fragments, and he growled quietly to himself as he waved Emily along to follow, exiting the area through the set of double metal doors that was always guarded in some way or another. "In mind?" He repeated as his limp showed a little more now than normally. "I figured it'd be better to get you situated into the concept of your role now first. We can't go by your place for a while, I'd think there'd be officers around waiting for you to come back." And neither of them needed that. It'd probably lead to another mad dash through town like the one he was told Emily had embarked on.

When they made it to the bookshelf, Benny pushed it hard, scraping it back enough for both of them to be able to squeeze through. "There are a lot of misconceptions about the Fireflies." He said when he put the bookshelf back. "A lot of people think we're crazy. Think we're mostly prone to unnecessary murder, or like to terrorize people into trusting us. The ones people mostly hear about are the ones most prone to violence and being noticed. It gives the rest of us a bad name." Benny huffed. He didn't like to harm those that didn't need to be harmed. Some officers and soldiers and government employees didn't need to be harmed, for example. They weren't as bad as the rest, as corrupted as most. But they were rare. "Best to keep our voices down if we talk about anything like this in public, I'm sure you know." That was only common sense, after all.

If anyone heard anyone else hold such a conversation, very bad things could easily happen.

Finishing off her spaghetti, Emily followed behind Benny as he led them back to the warehouse out front. Belatedly she thought that maybe she should have packed her old clothes in her bag to have a spare but she shrugged it off. They were bound to come back soon enough and if they didn’t she was hardly going to cry a river over them. Once upon a time clothes had held an interest for her but that had been a long time ago. Now they just served to cover up one’s body and theoretically protect from the elements.

Noticing Benny’s limp, she wondered if he had recently sustained an injury. He seemed a bit young to have developed a limp but then again people were more prone to injuries these days. His line of work wasn’t exactly a cakewalk though either… “Get situated?” she mumbled to herself. It could either be an excellent idea or a terrible one, depending on what Benny had in mind. She hoped this part didn’t have anything to do with his question about guns. In a worst case scenario she could imagine herself shooting a soldier as some sort of initiation rite…

Thankfully Benny quickly slashed that idea. On the other side of the bookcase he basically listed what had been her previous view of the Fireflies: crazy people who were prone to violence. Amber had helped her begin to overcome that misconception and Benny didn’t seem like the fanatic type. Emily could tell she had a lot to learn yet though, not just about the Fireflies but about her trainer as well. ”Yeah, I know,” she replied to his last comment, not in a snappy sort of way but in a truthful way. ”So where are we headed?” Emily asked, hoping to get some sort of idea of what they were getting into before they got there. She didn’t really care for surprises…

Benny pushed the bookshelf back into place and they went on, through the tunnel and up the stairs. Benny proved his ability to keep up with one who had no physical hindrances easily, going up the steps in turn with Emily. He glanced around the warehouse when they made it up, pausing before he answered so he could take an inventory of the living things that might be nearby. Only a rat, scurrying away and chirping at their presence. "Headed to my place." He said then. "I figure it's as good a place to start as any and I'd like to get rid of some of the things I'm carrying just in case..." He'd keep a small gun, certainly. Hiding it in the small of his back would make sure any random checks of his bag would go without it being discovered. Maybe they just didn't check the person's body because they didn't think someone would be blatant enough to hide a gun so carelessly.

He led the way a little now, out of the warehouse. It was already afternoon---he'd made it back late in the morning, probably at eleven. "I'd say Andrew's got a point." He said after a moment. "It'd be better to save time and energy where it's easiest. You'd have your own room, at least. I've got a couple... friends that owe me a few favors, I might have them get over to your apartment to get your things." He paused. "Ah, that being if you have anything you don't want left behind." He didn't think the officers that might be there would think twice about having a couple scavengers clean the place out for them.