“Sorry for not having a proper bed.” August stands preparing himself.

  Lay shrugs, a small smile gained. “It’s okay.”, she says softly. “I’m just grateful to have a safe pce to stay for the night.” She gnces around the small room, her eyes lingering on the makeshift bed of bs and pillows. She moves towards the makeshift bed, adjusting and moving it closer to the wall opposite to the door.

  August grabs his sword, its weight familiar in his hand as he stands up from the coubsp;

  Lay asks as she watches August move towards the door, her eyes a mix of curiosity and unease, “What…what are you doing?”

  “I’m going to check the perimeter. Stay here, water’s in the cooler.”

  Lay nods, her small frame quivering slightly as she watches his exit. “I will.”, she says, her words ced with both fear and trust. She s her arms around herself, as if trying to ward off the chill that seems to have settled over the room. “Be careful.”, she adds, her voice barely above a whisper.

  A short hop to a roof, his swripped tightly in his hand. The cool night nips at his skin, the wind cool while the moon shines down. The roof beh August’s feet is slightly damp from the densation of the heat of the earlier sun. He moves with practiced stealth across the rooftop, trag a small perimeter around his safehouse. The vilge below is bathed in the silver light of the moon, the streets are fairly quiet and still, and some meill walking around even at this time. He remembers again how he took Lay a mile away from her dipidated home, the journey iernoon using one of the dead men’s vehicles to another nearby vilge. “It was definitely better thaiay there.”, he thought, the memory already taking reminis his mind.

  August ss the rooftops and the street below, catg a glimpse of movement in the distance, his sight of a shadowed figure moviween buildings. His enhanced vision reys more details as he puts his mind to work once again.

  “Small, nky frame. Young boy, no older than ten or eleven. Ragged clothes and carrying a bag over his shoulder, likely sging for food and supplies. Movements are cautious but not aggressive, suggestirying to avoid notistead of seeking frontation. Overall, nothing major to worry about.” The assessment finished as the kid gnced around nervously, before disappearing into the shadows of an alley.

  Figuring the area secure enough, August begins to settle himself. The cold is present but he discards it easily enough. The cold isn’t the issue, but the pre-teen in the safehouse is a different story. “I saved a girl. Why? I guess she deserved to be saved, yet, but…”August’s chest tightens as he feels unfortable to where his thoughts are leading him. “The alternative is something I don’t want to think about. She’s safe dammit, I know it’s right. No, it is a fact. But why am I feeli-”

  “ENOUGH.” The thought is cut off as he tightens his jaw. “Like or not, she does need me. Lay is safe, and that should be all that matters.”

  He shakes off his thoughts, his shifted foow oher or not to tirag his perimeter. The perimeter is secure. Every step, jump, and dest, ning him back to the safehouse, to Lay.