Jaelynn surveyed the tall building.

It used to be an apartment block; that much she could tell. It towered above her, at least twenty stories high, with peeling white walls and large windows. From the first floor up, small balconies jutted out, offering a view of the road below. Some were filled with dead or dying greenery, others had wicker or wire outdoor furniture.

Hanging over the entrance were large blue letters that used to declare the building's name. However, some of them had fallen off over time, until only 'T', 'A' and 'R' were left standing. She could only guess what it used to be called.

The double glass doors to the entrance had been completely shattered, leaving the building open to the elements. Dust coated the surface of the reception desk as well as the floor. Small piles of leaves were strewn about the tiles and Jae winced as they crunched beneath her feet when she took a step inside. The thick smell of mildew greeted her as she inhaled deeply, her eyes scanning over every inch of the large space.

It looked as though it had been frozen in time, left to rot without human interference. There were no footprints on the floor, no tell-tale scuff marks on any of the surfaces, just layers of dirt and grime from months of neglect.

She couldn't tell if this was a good thing or not. It was possible that the building had already been raided and that was why people stopped coming here. Or it could be that people hadn't noticed the potential that the building had, and left it alone. If she was feeling optimistic, she would think that maybe the lack of activity in the building meant that it was still full of supplies.

But Jae had never been overly optimistic, even before her world crumbled to ash.

She paused for a moment, listening carefully for any signs of life within the large reception area. The soft whistle of wind and her erratic heartbeat drummed in her hears. Satisfied that she was alone, she headed toward the stairwell, planning on going straight to the top and working her way down.

The sharp, crunch of glass that came from near the door caused her to freeze, a chill working its way up her spine. Her pulse hammered as she realised she wasn't as alone as she initially thought. She spun to face the entryway, cursing herself for her lack of preparation and how foolish she had been. Her frantic gaze landed on the stranger a few feet away who had obviously caught sight of her before they'd even made the noise.

For a moment, all she could do was stare.

The boy was thin and wiry, with tan skin and a black mop of hair. He looked to be about the same age as her, possibly a year or two older. His white t-shirt and jeans were in relatively good condition, especially when she compared them with the state of her own clothes. His stance was unsure, his dark eyes wide with panic. But, it was what was held in his shaking hands that captured all of Jae's attention, her heart skidding to a halt.

A gun. Pointing straight at her.

"Don't move," he shouted, lifting it a little higher. Jae took a deep calming breath as she noticed that, if he fired now, the bullet would pierce her shoulder. The fact that his aim was slightly off gave her the confidence to speak.

"I'm not one of them." She lifted her hands in the air, showing him that she had no weapons in them. Her dagger hung from her belt, the metal handle digging into her hip bone, reminding her of its presence, should she need it.

But a dagger would be useless against a gun, unless she could get him to drop it.

A large part of her was irritated that she was being threatened by a boy who had no idea how to even use a weapon. But the smaller, rational side of her realised that he could be more dangerous than one of The Risen. If she said the wrong thing, he might lose his composure completely and start firing shots at her. No matter how bad his aim was, one of them was bound to hit her.

She'd rather make it through the day without a bullet wound.

"How can I be sure?" He raised the gun a little higher, now the trajectory of the bullet would be somewhere just over her shoulder. He had clearly never used one before, it looked uncomfortable in his unsteady hands, as though he was more afraid of it than she was.

His was a hard question to answer. The only way you could really tell The Risen from survivors, was the smell they carried with them. Death was a scent that never truly went away, no matter how hard you tried. But, she could hardly invite him to come over and sniff her, he would never get close enough for that.

Trust was already a fragile thing, but after the Rise, it had become non-existent.

She could deflect his question with one of her own, but she already knew the answer. He definitely wasn't one of the Risen. Not only had she never heard one actually speak, she had seen them in all their glory and the boy in front of her was nothing like them. His humanity was as clear as day, from the way his hands shook right down to the fear in his dark eyes.

"I would say that you could go ahead and shoot me, just to watch how I bleed out," she suggested, cursing herself for her quick tongue. "But I've survived this long against the Risen and I refuse to be killed by a boy who can't even aim straight."

His grip tightened on the gun, his brow wrinkling in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"If you shot now, the bullet would miss me completely. I'm sure you realize that only a head shot would work against them. Even then, that only slows them down. You need to lower the gun and point it slightly to the left."

"Like you know so much about them," he scoffed.

"Clearly more than you do," she countered.

He didn't answer, instead he listened to her advice about his aim, pointing the gun straight at her face. Jae mentally berated herself for basically teaching the boy how to kill her. Now, he was pointing straight at the middle of her chest, which hadn't been what she'd told him, but would still be fatal if he actually fired. Although, with how much his hands were trembling, it was still likely the bullet would miss her.

"This your first time using one of those?" she asked.

"No," he said quickly. Too quickly. "I've used one before."

"Sure you have." She dropped her hands, tired of the stand-off. He was either going to shoot her, or he wasn't and Jae was leaning towards the latter. He looked too kind, too soft, to be able to really hurt someone. "You have two options, either you're going to kill me or you're going to let me go. You're welcome to come closer and see how I smell, but I don't think you're brave enough for that. Nor do I think you could handle taking someone's life, especially when you realise that I'm not one of The Risen."

"See how you smell?" His brow wrinkled in confusion again and Jae wondered if it was a permanent feature of his.

Did he not know anything?

"How sheltered are you?" She couldn't keep the irritation from her voice, shocked at how clueless the boy seemed. "Have you been hiding under a rock since the Rise? The only way to tell them apart is their smell. Of course, by then it's too late."

"I don't need the condescending lecture," he snapped, his hands finally lowering, the barrel of the gun pointing at the floor. "I know how to tell them apart."

Despite his insistence, it was easy to see that he was lying. His lip twitched upwards slightly and his eyes focused on the floor. The kid would be terrible at poker, if things like that still existed.

"Well okay then." She shrugged, happy that he was no longer aiming his weapon at her and eager to continue on the mission he so rudely interrupted. "I'm very happy for you. Now, if you'll kindly let me be on my way? It will be dark soon and no offense, but I don't really want to be stuck here with you for the whole night."

Without waiting for a response, she turned away from him and back towards the stairwell. She had only managed to take three steps before he finally spoke again, his words stopping her in her tracks.

"So that's it then? They only come out at night?"

Where had this boy been hiding? How had he survived all this time?

She spun back around to face him, her eyes wide. "What is your deal?" she asked incredulously her voice rising slightly.

He shifted from foot to foot, his hand reaching up to the back of his neck. Avoiding her gaze, he shrugged slightly. "I don't have a deal. I just haven't seen one since... Well, it's been a while."

"So you have been living under a rock then?"

"No, just lucky I guess." He spat the words out through a grimace. His gaze finally met hers, his eyes filled with regret and grief.

He looked so sad that she took pity on him and answered him truthfully. "No, they don't only come out at night. It's just that, the darker it is, the harder it is to see them coming. You can't be too careful these days."

"Are you on your own?" he asked, accepting her explanation a little too easily.

She raised an eyebrow at his question, not really wanting to answer. He seemed to have gone from suspicious to trusting in a matter of moments, and that made Jaelynn cautious. She couldn't figure him out, and for someone like her, who had relied on their instincts to survive this long, it was a red flag.

It was entirely possible that he meant no harm, that he really was just a naïve and innocent boy. But Jae had seen too much in this cruel world to believe that people were always what they seemed to be. Whatever his intentions were, she didn't want to stick around and find out.

Just as she was mentally calculating if she should make a run for it, he seemed to realise her discomfort and spoke again.

"What I mean is, if you were, you could come back with me."

"Let me guess, you're one of those who believe that survivors should stick together? Did you not learn anything from the so-called safe zones?" Jae scoffed. The safe zones had only worked for a few days before they were completely overrun by the Risen. She could only be glad she hadn't made it to any of them before they closed the doors, effectively closing out the outside world and sealing themselves in with ruthless killers.

"No." He shook his head quickly. "It's just that you seem smart. We could use someone like you in The Pride."

The Pride? What a ridiculous name. Then again, so was The Lost. What was the point in calling a group of survivors something anyway? She couldn't understand the need for labels. Wasn't this world insane enough as it was?

"No thanks," she said, still eyeing the boy suspiciously.

"No one should be on their own," he insisted.

"I'm not on my own, there are people expecting me back. They'll come looking for me if I don't."

Actually, they wouldn't. Keenan would never risk anyone else's safety to search for her, especially after he warned her against leaving in the first place. But the boy didn't need to know that. Hopefully he would take her words for what they were; a warning.

"Are you on a supply run for them?"

"Yes I am." She turned away, ready to escape the conversation. The boy was very strange, unlike anyone else she had encountered since the Rise. He was almost too naïve and sheltered for her to take seriously. But underneath his innocent exterior, Jae had the sneaking suspicion that if he was pushed far enough, he would snap the same way she had.

"Wait," he called out, his voice echoing through the reception area. "I'm Elias."

She paused, not expecting him to offer up his name and not willing to divulge hers in return. Without bothering to turn around and face him again, she responded. "You better get moving Elias. The sun will set soon and I don't think you'd manage well in the dark."