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"Mom! Kevin! Cami!"

No answer.

"Someone please answer!"

Nothing.

"Please!"

"Help!"

She heard the voice of a young girl crying in pain.

"Hold on!"

The teen ran to the wreckage to look for the little girl, and instead found bodies lying among the debris of the group shelter.

No, no, no, NO!

Green eyes shot open as her heart raced against her chest.

Pain was all she felt as she slowly came to. The blisters and burns along her arm had slowly begun to fade. She figured it must have been two days since the irradiated sandstorm. As she sat up despite the buzzing in her head, her anxious gaze followed the tall walls around the room to scan for any other person. Daylight shone through the stone arched windows, and the door was barred by what looked like fancy living room furnishings. There were golden chairs and medieval looking tables strewn about the stone floor, making the place look similar to a castle that had been attacked and ransacked. A glint in the corner of her eye caught her attention, and she glanced around the corner to see a familiar gold-plated welcome desk. The Renaissance Hotel. The memories of spending nights here with her family while admiring the view of Pittsburgh back in the day was enough to invoke a sense of loneliness in her. She sniffled, letting a tear fall down her dirt and blood stained cheek.

"I apologize. This is not at all the welcome I planned on."

The girl jumped, not noticing the boy standing barely ten feet away from her. He was rather tall, wearing what looked to be medieval armor across his chest. She could see a large staff strapped to his back, and she gasped as she noticed also the state of his face. He had tousled black hair that complimented his dark skin, but she could not tell what color his eyes were, for his left eye appeared to be missing altogether. There was a scar that ran across his cheek, reaching up past his eye, and his entire right side was burned, the eye foggy and white. It was altogether clear that the boy could not see her, but almost sensed her, in a way. He brought his hand up and rested it on her shoulder, steadying her as she stared in shock.

"Why did you bring me here? Who are you? Where is my brother?"

The pain shot through her head once again and she swayed, nearly losing her grasp at consciousness. The boy reached out once more and caught her, easing her into the nearby chair.

"Sit here, I will get the others. Mattia should explain easier."

Mattia?

"Who are you?" The boy sighed and turned towards her again.

"My name is Nathaniel. The boy did not mention your name..?"

"What boy? Kevin? Where is he?" She tried to get up once again and felt a wave of nausea and light-headedness.

"He is okay, I promise you. You have to understand the level of caution we must take when new people get too close. Now sit down and tell me, what is your name?"

She sank into her seat slowly as she squinted her green eyes at him.

"You have to understand the level of caution I must take when meeting strangers. My brother, then my name."

Nathaniel chuckled.

"I'll go get the others, then."

She felt uneasy, but found something kind about the boy. She felt she could trust him, but has never been one to open up easily. Soon she was by herself again, staring at the large room and left to her own thoughts. It seemed that hours had gone by before the next set of footprints was heard again. This time it was a small group made up of a pink haired girl, a tall brunette boy, and a shorter masked girl, the latter of which practically running ahead of the others to give her a curious look. Sadie stood up, slightly pushing her off.

"That's Lucita. And well, she's a hugger."

The brunette chuckled a bit at the girl's surprised response. Sadie shrugged it off, almost feeling bad for the girl. The other two approached, with Nathaniel trailing slowly behind, keeping his distance. Lucita insisted upon standing next to Sadie, scooting closer and closer until she was almost melted to her side. This, Sadie didn't mind, as it brought back memories of her own sister. Memories she had not thought about for a very long time.

"Sadie! Come quick!"

Her sister was running through the kitchen door of their suburban home, crashing into the circus glassware her mother collected. Her shoelaces were hardly tied, getting caught on the legs of the chairs as she rushed through. Sadie stopped stirring for a moment and looked at her sister.

"What do you want Cami? I have to finish this."

She was already losing patience with her spunky little sister, with her interrupting meal preparations. But she softened when she saw the little glimmer in Cami's eyes, knowing it would make her sister's day. In a short five minutes, she finished the pasta and set it out on the table that Kevin had yet to set plates for. Following her sister outside, she admired the tiny pathway Cami had made from small pebbles and flowers, delicately arranged to make steps along their garden.

"Wow, Cami, this is beautiful."

There were flowers in all of the beds, and grass growing in between, making a rainbow of life in their front yard. Cami beamed with her sister's praise.

"Mommy and I planted these when you were in college, and I was so hoping that they would grow for you!"

Sadie's heart practically melted, and she almost felt like crying. She hadn't been home for about four months, and knowing that her family was looking for her to come home and waiting to surprise her made her extremely grateful, and she immediately gave her sister a hug.

But that memory was bittersweet, disappearing as soon as she had pictured it. Just like her sister. Snapping out of it, Sadie let out another tear. How she missed Cami! The boy had taken notice of her reaction and his green eyes squinted slightly, but he said nothing. The pink-haired girl was the first to speak, her brown eyes soft with kindness.

"You okay? I'm Callie. You are Sadie, right?"

Sadie smiled. It was the first time in almost three days since she felt genuinely glad to see another human. Of course, there was her brother, but he got boring after awhile, annoying her as all brothers do at some times. To be with another group and not having them trying to kill her or get information from her immediately was a relief and a blessing that she had not experienced nearly since the beginning of the end.

"Yeah, I'm Sadie. Nice to meet you, and nice sword."

Callie chuckled and unsheathed her sword that lay strapped against her slender back. It had an embroidered sheath that stretched across her shoulder blades and pictured a Chinese dragon wrapped around the dark brown exterior. The hilt of the sword itself was equally mesmerizing, displaying small purple gems embedded in the handle, matching beautifully with the eyes of the black dragon that seemed to point towards the blade, guarding the hand from the rapier's sharp edge. The blade itself was masterfully crafted, as sharp as one could touch before being split down the hand. The edge caught the light from the windows and glimmered, almost blinding Sadie.

"Her name is Taraka. It means dragon. My mother loves them, and once I saw this sword at a festival, I knew I had to get it for her. Cost me a good lot too, but I have it now."

Sadie knew better than to ask more of her. These days it was easy to assume what had happened to most people's families. It seemed that everyone had a brother, mother, uncle, or niece who had been killed when the storms started. Callie's brown eyes tilted up at the sword, as though she were admiring it herself. She sighed, and put her sword back in its place, with the accompanying shriek of a sheathed sword. As she started to walk away, Mattia approached.

"Her mother was visiting family in New Zealand when they started. She couldn't get back in time to escape. Callie was on her own for several years in Alabama, never knowing what had happened to her family. She found Fried Ribs on accident by stumbling around Traveler's Rest, and they've been nearly inseparable since."

Sadie cocked her head to the side.

"I mean, I count myself as inseparable to food, but how did she find you guys?"

Mattia paused, looking rather confused. As if hit by a brick, he started up again and laughed, this time more than his earlier chuckle, and a hearty full laugh.

"Fried Ribs is a person. My mistake! I should have made that more obvious. Friedrich is his name, and she met him in South Carolina. They traveled north together, got in a quarrel with a man who wouldn't help them, and little Jim got me to save them. I almost didn't."

"Sadie!"

Her head whipped to the left as she saw none other than her brother running down the stairs, eyes ablaze with excitement. She took off running towards him, and they embraced, ignoring the other strangers that had come down with him. When they got tired of the moment, Sadie looked up and noticed three others with him. Kevin quickly gestured at all of them.

"That's Jim, that's Marai, and that's Nizire. Guys, this is my sister Sadie."

The three shared their own greetings as Sadie tried to remember everyone's names. Marai was a taller girl with brown curls, and she had a bow strapped to her back. Her blue eyes stood out against her darker complexion, making her look uniquely beautiful. Jim had scraggly and curly brown hair, brown eyes, and assorted freckles on his peach skin. He looked very small, around the same height as Lucita, and carried a small spear across his shoulders. Sadie took note also of Nizire, who was tall, with a badly scarred tan face. His dark eyes almost seemed black, matching the hair that went down to his shoulders, put in a half-up, half-down style.

"Nice to meet you all, and thanks for looking after my brother here. He'd forget his own head if it weren't attached to him!"

Sadie ruffled Kevin's hair a bit, making him scowl at her, and the others laugh. He was her brother. How could she not?

Soon there was a bell tolling, and as Nizire said, it was to signify dinner time. Sadie's mouth watered at the very thought of it. Scavenging around is no joke, and the siblings had been a long while without a true meal. They walked through a large arched doorway and came upon a long corridor filled with banners and "torches", which were makeshift and powered by electricity. It added a medieval tough nonetheless. Walking past large doorways that led to larger, splendorous rooms, they reached the far pathway that led to a big and decorative room. Out of what Sadie could only guess was the kitchen came a girl with green eyes, wearing a dark green shirt and a brown vest. She carried an apron in one hand and a knife in the other, startling Sadie. Her flinch must have been visible, as the girl let out a booming but kind laugh.

"I mean no harm, new girl. I'm the cook, and I was just cutting the ham."

Sadie almost laughed along at her own fear, feeling much more at home than she had ever felt since her own was destroyed. As the others flooded in, she learned that Natalia, as her name was, happened to be Mattia's sister. She noticed the resemblance instantly. The brown hair, the green eyes, and their rough, tan skin was without mistake the same. The two hugged just before Natalia turned to face the table.

"This here is creamy mashed potatoes and beef with a side of steamed carrots, and pudding after you eat all that."

The dining room was, as it was originally a hotel, quite lavish, and, according to Marai, almost untouched. So far, at least. Sadie and Kevin and the rest of the group knew that no place was home for too long. Not with the storms.

The stained glass windows were almost completely intact, if not for a few stray shards that left the pictures bare in some places. The walls were raised high, the gray stone bricks adorned with colorful banners of purple and red. The last light of day shone through the glass, illuminating the dining hall with colorful lights. The long dining table was decorated with lavish glassware, and Sadie couldn't help but wonder how those had survived. The plates were so ornate they could have been from a real castle, borders of flowers laid around the circular dishes. The glasses were filled with what looked to be water, most likely the case, and the plates ready to be filled with servings of the meal laid out along the center of the table.

The food was just as Natalia had said. There were a total of three big pots with a delicious and smooth white mixture inside, the tiny bits of potato skin floating about the container. She could smell the sweet butter as the steam rose into the air about her. Her stomach did a complete turnover at the sight and smell of food. It had possibly been months since she had eaten a proper meal, especially among friends. She knew nothing about these strange people, and knew better than to trust easily, but something about their friendliness seemed genuine. Sadie could only remember one person she had known who was that easy to read and that genuine. An old friend of hers from her hometown, Kion. The moment she met him, she felt like she knew him her whole life. He had been the most genuine and thoughtful person to ever cross paths with her, and she was proud to call him her best friend. She wondered if she would ever learn of what became of Kion.

She snapped back to reality and took her first bite, nearly gasping out loud. Her taste buds were overwhelmed by the sudden burst of flavor, it had been months since she had tasted real food. She tried to conceal her expression, but Mattia had already seen her and chuckled.

"It's been awhile for you, huh?"

Sadie shrugged.

"We were actually lucky. Some didn't have food in the start, or ran out rather quickly. But we really didn't go too long without it, at least compared to some others."

Mattia nodded.

"That's how my family was. Well, sort of. Natalia and I came from Sardinia, right off the coast of Italy's mainland. We had family with us, but we got separated. We were refugees, running away from the radiation and chaos. We didn't know it would follow us, but we still got lucky with some good Samaritans here and there. We had food for a while, and you know Talia's a good cook. It got us out of some bad situations, but we ended up near starvation a few months in. Wasn't until we got here that we truly felt we had good food scavenging spots around."

"And even then, we'll eventually have to travel again when it runs dry."

Nizire spoke up from across the room. Sadie had to strain to see his dark hair down the left side of the long table, and he had been listening to their conversation for a while. Mattia could only nod solemnly as Natalia started picking up plates and cups from those who had already finished.

The chatter slowly went dry as the group got more drowsy, and many went off to bed. Sadie wasn't sure where she and her brother would be staying, so she stayed up talking with Callie and Mattia until the latter of the two decided he had enough of the day. She walked with Callie and Kevin down a long hallway decorated with medieval banners and old advertisements of events long passed.

"This will be your room, with Lucy and Marai. Kevin is across the hall with Jimmy."

The two stood awkwardly in the doorways, slowly turning towards the knobs with hesitance. Callie nodded understandably.

"Unless, of course, you'd rather stick together and not blindly trust the people you just met. Let me do some maneuvering really quick."

After a few people moved their few belongings over to different rooms, there was now an empty room for the siblings to stay in.

Sadie peeked in and immediately noticed the purple window drapes and strong wooden twin beds. The sheets had been worn down over time, but she and Kevin both had travel sleeping bags with them at all times. After setting down their bags and taking out their covers, they settled down for the night, too tired to say more than a quick exchange of 'goodnight's.