~Jack

"When are we gonna find food? I'm hungry." I complained as my stomach rumbled loudly, as if to prove my point. "Jack's right, it's around one and we haven't taken a break from trying to find someplace to stay." Mark sighed in resignation. "We could split up?" Felix suggested. I shook my head no. "How would we find each other again? We don't have cell phones that work except for Mark." I reminded him. "My phone has twenty percent battery." Mark added. "Just keep moving forward I guess." Bob said grudgingly as we carried on in silence, none of us sure what to say to the other. "I think I see a gas station!" Ken announced excitedly. I squinted at the distance and saw that he was right. I couldn't tell what the name of it was since the sign was torn down, but it seemed abandoned. "I'll scout it out." I volunteered as we reached the shattered double glass doors. "I'll go with you." Ken sped up a little bit to catch up with me as I stepped into the doorway. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a length of rope. "Move!" I warned Ken as I shoved him to the side. Instantly I was taken high up into the air, reaching about one story height before I jolted to a halt, encased in a rough rope net that left red marks on my skin. I yelled curse words at the top of my lungs while everyone else below me just stared up at me in shock. "Help!" I cried, daring to look down, then instantly regretting it. I could see only the black unforgiving parking lot and my friends faces. "I hate heights." I growled under my breath as I closed my eyes tightly, breathing sharply as the net began to sway in the light breeze. "We'll get you down!" Mark promised me as he started scaling the building. "Mark stop!" I ordered, not wanting him to fall or get hurt. "Oh my gosh!" I heard someone unfamiliar gasp below me. It was a girl with long fiery orange hair and vibrant green eyes wearing a black t-short and jeans, holding a hand up to her mouth. "Tom, Vince, get out here!" She ordered. A few seconds later, two men emerged from the gas station, one with shaggy black and baby blue eyes, and the other with fringed blond hair combed to the right and hazel eyes. All three of them seemed to be teenagers well under eighteen. "Lower the net!" She instructed as one of the boys darted towards the back of the building. Mark froze where he was during his climb, then started his descent back to the pavement. A few seconds later, I heard a cranking sound as I was lowered back to the ground. I let out a sigh of relief before halfway I was abruptly dropped, free falling down. I let out a yell of surprise before I was yanked back up, caught just barely from breaking every bone in my body. At last I was finally free from the net as whatever had lowered me went limp, releasing the net around me so I could step out. I took one shaky step forward before falling face first on the ground, terrified. Bob caught me before I hit the ground, then helped me stand back up. "Not a fan of heights huh?" Felix mused. I shook my head no, then turned to face the teens staring back at us in awe. "I-I'm Kaitlyn." The girl stammered after an awkward moment of silence, her face turning a bright crimson. "That's Vince and that's Tom." She introduced as she first pointed at the blond haired guy, then the black haired guy. I hesitantly waved hello, expecting another trap. "Is this another trap?" Bob voiced my concern. "Oh, we didn't mean to trap you, we actually want to help you." Kaitlyn explained sheepishly. "The trap was to keep the Shadows out. They keep trying to take our stuff." Tom grumbled. "The Shadows?" Wade repeated. "They're a group of black masked people-" "we just beat them up a couple hours ago." Felix interrupted smugly. "Well that explains how come they didn't show up for a while, they were chasing you guys." Vince thought aloud. "Who did that?" I gestured over at the net I was previously trapped in. "That was me." Tom admitted proudly. "I've been working on my engineering skills." "Are you tying to copy me?" Mark accused teasingly. "Uh, kinda yeah I guess." Tom mumbled meekly. "Come on in, we'll try to explain what we can." Vince ushered us inside.

~Mark

        The place was surprisingly neater than I thought it would be, considering that it was run by three teenagers. Kaitlyn motioned for us to sit at the small round table that was shoved into the corner of the room, surrounded by uncomfortable light gray plastic chairs and wrappers of various food items. Tom hastily gathered up the trash and threw it away as we sat at the table. "Sorry it's not much." Tom apologized as he returned and sat down by Vince. "So, what are you guys doing here instead of home?" I prompted. Dark shadows passed over their faces. "Kaitlyn is my older sister. Our parents were killed in a house fire by the Shadows last Freedom Day." Tom explained grimly. "Vince is my best friend, but he's been an orphan since birth." He continued. "This is the gas station we go to usually to hang out, so this is where we met up when Freedom Day started back up again." Kaitlyn added. The three of them hesitated before Vince spoke up. "There used to be four of us. Matt. He was an eighteen year old we met here and we were fine for a while, no Shadows, plenty of food...then when we left to look for others...he was dead, a bullet to the heart." Vince paused. "So when we heard you guys were here, we decided to find you guys." "Why?" Felix blurted. "One, you're all adults, and two, your our heroes." Tom listed. "You guys always know what to do." "How old are you guys?" Ken asked softly. "I'm sixteen, Tom and Vince are both fourteen." Kaitlyn answered. An uncomfortable silence fell over the table. "You guys must be hungry, I'll get you guys food." Kaitlyn stood up and hurried away, followed by Tom and Vince. "That went well." Jack stated with a wry grin. After a few moments, the trio returned with bags of chips, warm hot dogs, a variety of condiments, a package of chocolate chip cookies along with a couple of brown bottles filled with beer and water bottles. I said a quick thank you before I decorated my hot dog and tore into it greedily, enjoying the hot dog's warmth as it filled my mouth. I paused only once in a while to take a swig from my water bottle before continuing eating. Everyone around me seemed to be just as hungry. I had finished three hot dogs, two helpings of chips, and one cookie before I was full. "We haven't had breakfast." Tom mumbled around a mouthful of food. "Neither did we." I replied. "Do ye have any more beer? I'm not drunk enough yet." Jack placed the empty bottle back on the table with a thunk, his face a light red hue. "We're gonna scavenge for more supplies and try to find others that need our help. "Wanna come?" Tom ignored Jack. We all murmured our agreements, except for Kaitlyn, Bob, Felix, and Wade, who all volunteered to watch over the gas station while we were gone. As I walked out the door with the others, I couldn't help but feel like this was going to be the last time that I saw the gas station intact.