At the end of the world, you'd expect there to be signs. For this world, my world, it began with a ship. A ship with a well-groomed crew and a bombastic captain. A ship with extravagant decor and lavish sails. The epitome of wealth in practice.

It came to port on an ordinary day in an ordinary month in an ordinary year. Ships like this one were few and far between but not unheard of. Most belonged to noblemen with the few exceptions of wealthy merchants and royal explorers blessed by their benefactors. However, this ship did something unheard of in the way of charity. The ship's captain was having a birthday and needed an extra crew to pull off his luxurious party. He offered payment, good clean clothes, a hot bath, and even sleeping accommodations for the night of the celebration. In the dead of winter, it sounded too good to be true yet the offer was made. All one would need to do was sign up at the docks tomorrow at dawn, and that's exactly what I intended to do.

"I don't think you should go," Damian muttered through his scarf. He wouldn't look at me but continued glare at the fire the three of us huddled around. Maria, who sat in between us, let out a knowing sigh and pulled her jacket tighter around her body. The white puff of air didn't vanish as quickly as it should have this close to the fire.

I rolled my eyes, setting my jaw as I felt my body tense for the fight. "Damian, it's a worthwhile risk--"

"It's just a risk," he snapped, turning his glare to me, "and a stupid one at that!"

Maria swatted his arm. "Keep your voice down!"

I leaned across Maria, an inch away from Damian's face. His brown eyes reflected the dancing flames, and I hoped my blues did the same. "And?" I asked. "We take risks all the time. It's the only way we get anything!"

"Keep your voice down!" Maria swatted my head with a swift strike, and again a few times to the face for good measure until I stopped invading her space. I rubbed the spot where my face stung.

Maria gave both Damian and me a hard stare as she looked between the two of us, daring to be challenged. But we knew better than to challenge her. She let out another sigh. "Just . . . keep your voice down. We are drawing too much attention."

She was right. One glance around the alley told me that. Word about the job opportunity had spread, which meant more competition for spots. And I was broadcasting that I intended to take one. Alliances within our little group only went so far. My eyes met with the newcomer across the way who hasn't yet learned the art of subtlety. He quickly looked away and went back to staring at his fire, shivering in his thin clothes. The poor boy didn't even have a jacket. Just a long sleeve that saw its fair share of hardships. Then I noticed the shadow behind him. Not his own. An extra. It towered over the boy with a wide smile. But I know it's not real.

"Listen, Renée, this is a risk you don't need to take," Damian whispered, his eyes also on the newcomer. I knew he didn't see the shadow though. No one else ever does. "A rich ship captain just wanting to do something out of the kindness of his heart? Come off it. The rich will sell you for parts."

"I need the money," I snapped.

"Honey, we all need the money," Maria said, her eyes watching the flickering flames of our fire. "But it's not worth risking your life over."

"What life?" I asked. "I don't have a 'life'. This isn't living, this is death."

Maria smacked me in the face again.

"Ow!" I pressed my palm to my cheek. "Will you stop doing that?"

"Hard to feel pain and be dead."

"You know that's not what I meant."

"You know what's really hard to do when you're dead? Finding a life. You know what will probably happen if you go? Death," said Damian.

"I'm not asking for your permission and I'm not asking for you both to come with me. I'm just letting you know where I'll be tomorrow," I said.

"If you're going, then I'll go too," Maria declared.

"What? No. You just hit me in the face because you were against the idea."

"I'm not asking you for your permission either. There's no stopping you so I might as well go with. If anything goes wrong, then at least you'll have backup." Maria turned to Damian.

Damian shook his head. "Ain't no way I'm walking into that sketch trap," he muttered. "Gonna get yourselves killed. At least there will be less competition with your asses out of the way." He hauled himself up, stuffing his hands into his pockets as he skulked down the alley before entering the small abandoned building our group calls home. I think it might have been a restaurant at some point, but it was hard to tell as it was stripped down to bare bones. Part of it had collapsed, leaving us one room to work with. With the broken windows the cold air could seep in, but it was better than curling up in the alley where the wind was ruthless.

Maria's eyes followed him as he walked, lingering until he disappeared through the door frame. "Cruel, but true. I'd say he's grown pretty fond of us," she said with a soft smile.

"You shouldn't come," I told her. "This job makes you uncomfortable."

"They all make me uncomfortable. Besides, if both of us go, that's double the pay. Maybe we can pool our money together and get a place out of this hell hole."

"We won't have a sustainable job to keep a place."

"A good bath and nice clothes go a long way in a job interview." Maria shrugged. "Living like the rich for a night will do wonders, and we can always borrow the server clothes they give us. We might have a good chance at landing a job if we clean up and look like that at an interview. And," she swings an arm over my shoulders, "once we do that maybe we can convince Damian to join us after he stops sulking."

I smiled. Maria always had a way of making my crazy ideas sound sensible. "Sulking?"

She smirked. Her dark eyes glinted as she replied, "He's going to be angry that we have money and he doesn't."

I chuckled. "I can't believe you're going to this shady job with me."

"Oh, so you actually think it's shady?"

"I may be desperate but I'm not stupid. Of course, it's shady as hell. But this could be good for me if it all pans out."

"Or it could mean something much worse."

"I suppose some things could be worse than this, but that possibility is the same if I don't. So, I might as well try and make something of this opportunity."

"High risk, high reward."

"Our best shot, I guess."

"Alright, well, if we're going do this we should at least hit the sack early. It's going to be a day tomorrow." Maria tussled my hair and pushed herself to her feet. "Remember to put out the fire," she reminded me in a grave tone. With a glance at the cold boy, Maria headed to the same door Damian had walked through minutes before. I warmed my hands near the fire with a sigh. Hopefully, tomorrow it will be easy to get to the docks. We will have to leave well before dawn.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a shadow shift. My eyes turned to the ownerless shadow resting next to me. I groan. It's not real. It's not real...The shadow waved at me, and I closed my eyes to rest my forehead on my knees. Why am I like this? I don't have time for this. I drew my head back and opened my eyes. The shadow was gone.

Before I saw any more shadows, I painstakingly got to my feet. The cold had made my joints stiff and I could hardly feel my toes anymore. This winter has been harsher than the last, and it might get worse. I piled snow onto the fire. Only embers remained, but they would die off soon. I took one last look at the cold boy huddling by his fire as I entered the building. It wasn't too full now, but within the hour all of our group would be finding a spot to sleep. Maria already found us one about halfway inside, up against the wall. She had already curled up on a singular tattered blanket, seemingly sound asleep. I crawled carefully next to her and laid down with my back pressed to hers. Maybe it won't feel as cold tonight. I took my backpack and rested my head on it, curling up into a tiny ball. I could feel the ground sapping the warmth from my body, it would almost be worth giving in and sleeping outside around a fire, but I didn't dare. You never keep a fire lit after dark, not in this town.

Instead, I opened my backpack where I stored a few extra rags and stuffed them in my jacket. It wouldn't be enough, but between the extra stuffing and Maria's body heat, it would be enough for tonight. I laid my head on my less cushioned backpack and tried to get some sleep with anticipation poking at the back of my mind. We just have to survive the night.

There are always dangers to consider when living on the streets. You'd think the worst of it would be competition with other people for resources or even the occasional provoker from a higher class. All of that is arbitrary when it comes to our greatest threat. The clean-up crews.

I was sitting up before I opened my eyes. My heart hammered against my ribs and filled my ears with the haunting rhythm. The night was silent. The type of silence that fell on a forest as a predator stalks through its shadows. I dared to look into the darkness. Many of my group look the same as me. Eyes wide and scared to breathe.

Scuffed footsteps outside broke the quiet, followed by more. I felt the urge to puke as I began to understand what woke me.

"Nice shot!" laughed a deep voice. There was a pause, then some shuffling and a dissatisfied grunt. "Damn. Nothing good."

"What did you expect?" said another voice. The sound of him reloading his gun sent a shiver down my spine and once I started to shake, I couldn't stop. My chest felt tight and no matter how much air I tried to take into my lungs, it wasn't enough. I couldn't breathe. They're going to come inside. They're going to come inside and kill us all.

Maria appeared in front of me. She grabbed my shoulders and caught my eyes with hers. She took in a breath, then slowly let it out. Then another. I tried mimicking her, watching her lips to match the rhythm she had set.

Maria's eyes darted to the doorway. The voices outside were getting closer. How did they know? How did they know we were in here? We have been so careful and well hidden, how could they know? Then an image came to me. The cold boy huddled alone by his fire. Did he keep the fire going after dark?

The screech of the old door hinges broke my thoughts. Maria froze. Other members of our group stayed as still as possible, sticking to the sides and corners of our dark room.

"It's hard to see," murmured the deep voice from before.

"Did you bring a torch?" asked the other.

"Nah, I didn't think we'd ne--Ah!"

I saw a shadow hitting the first intruder. Then the two men openfire. Many bodies surged forward, seeing their opportunity, only to be gunned down.

As I stood, Maria jerked me back to the floor. "Crawl!" she shouted, and pointed to one of the broken windows on the far side of the room. "Go!" She shoved me forward.

I took the lead. Scrambling to the window and trying not to get stepped on. The first two bodies to reach the window only made it halfway through before they took bullets to the back. One stayed stuck on the seal while the other fell right in front of me. I didn't have time to look to see who it was. I could hear bodies dropping behind me. I needed to be quick if Maria and I were going to make it. My legs carried me forward long before I made the decision to run. I tore the body out of my way and was halfway through the window, pulling myself out the other side, as a bullet whistled past my ear. I ungracefully fell onto the stone ground below. A few seconds went by and no sign of Maria. Shouts came from around the corner as the fight spilled out of the building. I peered around the side to catch a glimpse of Maria scaling one of the buildings and a member of the clean-up crew taking aim.

"No!" I screamed, and at that moment, the man changed his target. The bullets fired at me burrowed into the brick of the far building, barely missing my face. I scrambled down the pathways, taking twists and turns, hoping to lose anyone who might be following. I have to trust Maria and Damian would be okay. I try to push the horrible thoughts from my mind, each uniquely designed to torture me with violent images and unheard screams.

I pass a dead body. Then another one. And another. I came to a stop at the entrance to another alley. The smell burned my nose, reeking of blood and feces. My eyes fell on the faces of the fallen, all frozen in neverending terror, illuminated by the fatal fire most of them were laying around. I shook my head. It's getting too cold to live without one, but to have one means death. Damned either way.

Footsteps from above sent me diving behind the corner of one of the buildings, crouching down to peer into the alley. Most of the crews scanned and aimed at torso height, I could get away with this for at least a moment. Metal clanged as footsteps make their way down one of the outside staircases. He looked a little younger than me, maybe sixteen or so. He didn't spot me. Actually, he never even looks to see if anyone is there. Instead, he made a straight shot to one of the bags near the fire. The teen slung the bag over his shoulder, immediately turning around and grabbing another. He took the jacket off of an older man who would no longer have use for its matted fur lining.

A bullet tore through the air. The teen never felt anything as it shredded his brain and added him to the tally of kills for the night. A triumphant holler came from the other end of the alley followed by congratulatory voices of approval like he had just shot a prized deer.

"Works every time. Greedy little shits," a voice said, and I could imagine the smug smirk the man wore by the tone of his voice. I closed my eyes in a brief moment of silence before slinking back. No need to give them another target.

I tried continuing a different way, not completely sure as to where I was. The map in my mind was all turned around. For all practical purposes, I was a random dot in a spinning city where right could be left could be right, north could be west and south could be east. Maybe this was a good thing. If I couldn't find myself then maybe the crews couldn't find me. It may be flawed logic, but it's hopeful logic.

I resided in myself that I probably wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight. Just by how things were going. Now, the best thing to do would be to find the docks. If I can find the docks and hang out there then I could land myself a glorious night's sleep for tomorrow. Easier said than done. Looking for landmarks in this city at night is a lot harder than in the day for pretty obvious reasons.

"Shhhh!" giggled a giddy voice. "You don't want to draw attention to us!"

I rolled my eyes. For as loud as she was, I doubted that was her main concern. I hid behind the corner of a building, crouching like I've done so many times before and watched as a couple in formal dress stumbled into the street and toward what looks to be an entrance to an estate. Any terror I had been feeling washed away and was replaced with a feeling I couldn't quite understand as I beheld the two lion statues majestically guarding the gate. Even the night couldn't keep me from recognizing that damned house. The starlight glistened off the woman's red dress and golden hair as she spun. I watched blankly as the couple giggled and laughed their way across the street, stumbling as they ground up on each other. The woman who looked so much like me let out a pronounced moan which the man snickered at in return.

The two managed to squeeze through the gate, then disappeared from view though they could still be heard for minutes after. I found myself staring at the cobble long after any sign of them had vanished. Numbness long since spread through the entirety of my being and it took everything for me to move again. I knew exactly where I was and how to get to the docks. I just wished that bullet would have shredded my brain instead. Dawn couldn't come soon enough. The clean-up crew would retreat back to their homes to get ready for their normal day jobs and the danger would be temporarily subdued.