"I'm hungry!" I complained as my stomach growled. We had been walking for what felt like hours. The sun was up and I was hot and ready for a break. "Saris, do you still have food in your pockets? How long have we been walking anyway?"

"Nope," Saris said casually. "And it hasn't been that long." Then Saris stopped and put a hand to his stomach. "Mmm. But you have a point. Let's find somewhere to eat."

"We just passed a Subway a block or so ago," Demi suggested.

"Perfect," Saris said. "Let's go."

We started heading back the way we came, Demi leading the way since she had seen the restaurant. I fell into step beside Saris, "do you think I made a good choice? With my weapon and power, I mean."

He didn't answer right away and his hesitation had me doubting myself. I risked a look at his face and he responded, "it all depends on how you end up using it. I think the sword and shield are great for you and your fighting style." His praise melted my concerns and I grinned, proud of my choice. Saris had combat experience, weapons training and strategy perception that I trusted, so if he thought it was a good pick, that was enough for me. "What is your power, anyway?"

I mentally 'duh'ed myself. I hadn't told him yet. "It's an energize weapon thingy," I cringed at my description. "Uhh...it's supposed to extend the range of my weapons."

"Oh, that's great for you. Could be a real surprise for an opponent too. Just make sure to think when you use your weapon and ability. Sounds obvious, but there's lots of people who don't. They have great abilities and waste them doing something stupid in a fight."

"Like what?"

"You remember the day we met and I fought that man who could freeze time? He wasted his ability by not trying to kill me. Something you might want to think about is when you use your ability. If you extend your sword when it's pointing down, you'll just get stuck in the ground. That kind of thing.

"Gotcha."

I spent the rest of our trip to the sandwich shop thinking of ways I might be able to use my gifts. It didn't take long to find the green sign and all thoughts of fighting left my mind. My mouth started to water just thinking about the food inside. Saris stopped us in front of the business adjacent to the sandwich shop. He cautiously peered around the corner of the building and into the windows of the restaurant, motioning for us to stay close. With the addition of Demi to our team, the chills were constant and we could no longer trust that tell to warn us of unwelcome company. We had to trust our other senses till the chills faded, which I figured would happen in the next day or so like they had with Saris. Not seeing anyone inside, Saris approached the door, opening it quickly and swiftly scanning the interior as we entered. Moving behind the counter he searched the back room but returned seconds later, looking visibly more relaxed.

Demi and I took that as a sign that all was okay and she rushed past Saris, making her way to the far side of the counter. She inspected the food for a moment, then combed her hair out of her eyes and put on plastic gloves. "Welcome to Subway, how may I help you?" She said in a dull tone.

I smiled and asked, "done this before?"

"Once or twice," she admitted with a wink. "What do you want? My treat."

Demi had definitely worked at a Subway before. She was quick and knew most of their signature sandwiches by heart, listing off what was in a few that I had asked about. She made me a Spicy Italian with provolone cheese, lettuce, spinach, peppers and tomato, topping it off with ranch dressing. I watched her with dreamy eyes and forgot that Saris was right beside me, watching Demi make the food, probably figuring out what he wanted. "Oh," she said, "you should try this too." She squirted some of the Subway Vinaigrette on top. "It gives it a nice umph." She wrapped the sandwich in paper, slipped it into a bag, and handed it over the counter. "That'll be fifty dollars, please," she announced, an expectant expression on her face as she held out her hand.

I scoffed at her. "What a price!"

She shrugged and simply said, "Inflation." How she managed to keep a straight face while she wiggled her fingers was beyond me. I was already laughing.

"Put in on my tab," I joked, patting myself on the back for my quick wit.

"All tabs need to be paid at the end of the month," she said, handing me the sandwich. She seemed so different now that she wasn't trying to kill us. I enjoyed her jokes, her smile and her laughter; actually, I couldn't find anything that I didn't like about her. The vibe she brought to the team was less serious and, while it might have been my infatuation with her, she almost made the game not seem too bad. I was happy to have met her, despite how and where it happened.

I gratefully took the sub, picking out some chips and a drink as well. I sat down at a booth with my back to the door so that I could watch Demi work. Saris opted out of any meats but got nearly all of the vegetables available. I noticed that he watched Demi carefully while she made him his food, but he took it and started eating even before he got to the table. I wondered if he would have eyed me if I had been making his food too. He didn't sit, opting instead to eat his food while standing so he could easily survey the whole restaurant. Lastly, Demi came out, sitting across from me, with a personal-sized pizza piled high with meats and veggies. It smelled incredible and she offered both of us a bite, which I took but Saris declined. It was amazing but so was what Demi had made for me and I thanked her.

"Man, that really hit the spot!" I said, taking a long drink of my Coca-Cola. "Feels like forever since we ate a decent meal."

Saris raised an eyebrow. "What, you didn't like yesterday's breakfast?"

"Well the toast was a bit burnt," I joked. "But you know what I mean. It just feels like a long time." I sighed, "is it usually like this? Like, not eating regularly and keeping food in your pockets so you have something on the go?"

Saris shrugged, "some people prioritize food more than what we've been doing. But stopping for food whenever you get the urge is a good way to get ambushed."

"It's worse for those without teams," Demi chimed in. "You have to eat quickly, avoid windows or just eat somewhere that's a little safer. And if you hear someone come in, you sometimes have to leave the food there and run."

"So it's best to enjoy it while you can," Saris said with a smirk. "Relax for now but be ready to go. We won't be able to stay here forever." He threw away the paper wrapping that had held his food. "I'm heading to the bathroom. Might check around too."

Demi and I sat alone for a while, not saying anything. I was nearly done with my drink when I mumbled another "thanks" and she gave a polite response. It felt like an awkward first date, when you don't know what to talk about so you don't talk about anything, then you go home and never speak to each other again. I wonder what Tommy and Trisha talk about.

"So," Demi said, breaking the silence, "how's Mr. Mycolf doing?"

"He's fine. I don't really see him all that much. We just say hi whenever we run into each other. Usually when he's out walking his dog"

Demi smiled. I really liked her smile. It seemed like she wore it often and it came easy to her. "That sounds right. What kind of dog is it?"

I grimaced slightly. I had never been very good at identifying dog breeds. "A golden retriever, I think. He calls him Old Joe."

"Oh! I remember when he got Joe."

We talked a bit about Old Joe and moved to the pets we had as children. "When I was a kid, we had a small dog that was a bit...well, odd," I said. "Our living room didn't have carpeting but we had this huge rug that we put down and that dog would wriggle under it if he wanted to cross the room."

"What?" Demi laughed.

"Yeah, you'd just see a lump of carpet moving towards you. He would never step on it of his own will. We'd put him in the middle of it to try and show him that it was okay to be on top, but he'd run off of it as soon as we'd set him down." We laughed. "One time, my sister moved a bunch of the furniture just to see what he'd do."

"Oh, no. What happened?"

"He ran into the sofa and didn't know where to go. We had to take everything off the rug and guide him out."

We shared several silly stories from our childhoods. It was so fun to learn more about her and to get lost in my youth again that I got caught up in the moment. I stopped thinking about my present situation in this horrible game. I didn't think of us as newly formed allies that could summon weapons at will. We were just two people chatting and having lunch. So when Saris came in and walked into view, it made me jump.

"Ready to go?" Saris asked us.

We both sighed. Then Demi got up. "Let me get some stuff to go." She quickly fixed another footlong for each of us, leaving off the meat and cheese so they wouldn't go bad in the heat. After the sandwiches were wrapped she pulled several cookies out of their case and slipped them into a couple bags. She held one out to me with a smile. I took it gratefully and watched her bag all the food. "Wish we had a backpack or something."

Saris held out his hand. "I've got big pockets." He took the food and carefully put them into pockets by his knees. "We should get some water too. We might need to ditch the drinks if we run into someone but we also need to stay hydrated."

I tried to hide my irritation and disappointment at Saris' intrusion. Demi and I had been bonding and having fun, and now it was back to business. "Saris?" He turned towards me while grabbing a few water bottles out of the beverage cooler. "Is it really important that we leave now? This place is pretty empty and-"

Saris cut me off. "Just because it's safe now doesn't mean it'll stay that way. I'd rather us run into someone than to have someone run into us. Besides, we're learning the hard way, remember?" he said, shooting me a satisfied grin. "Gotta show you what the game is like when you keep moving. "

"The hard way?" Demi asked.

"Being on the move, not finding a base to operate from," Saris explained, stuffing the bottles of water into another pocket.

Saris and Demi both headed for the door. Demi stopped next to me and put a hand on my shoulder. "He's right, you know. Staying in one place too long isn't a great idea. There's lots of teams that just circle around an area till they find someone." She sounded as disappointed as I felt. Did she like talking to me too? My shoulder tingled once her hand left it.

"Do you think there are a lot of teams left?" I asked. Saris had stopped just short of opening the door when he noticed that we weren't following. He watched us with arms crossed.

"I don't know," She said. "Sometimes, these things last for several months. Sometimes, only a day or two. It's hard to tell how many are left."

"Depends on the location," Saris added. "This place is relatively small. We can go from one end of the map to the other in a day if we're really pushing it, so it'll be easier for teams to find each other. The fact that we haven't seen many teams makes me think that there aren't many left. Come on." Saris said, opening the door. "We can talk while we walk."

Our conversation continued as we let the sub shop and resumed our original course. Not many of the answers I was given were very satisfactory, but I suppose I couldn't ask for more than their best guess. No one knew why we were brought here to fight like this, why we were the ones chosen or why you had to get three wins to get out of here. But there were still aspects and choices within the game that bothered me and I still had loads of questions that needed answers.

"What's a scavenger?" I blurted out without really thinking of what I wanted to say. Before anyone could point out the stupidity of the question, I corrected myself. "Well, not what is a scavenger. I guess what I'm trying to ask is why does a scavenger go it alone?"

Demi was quiet, but Saris spoke up. "There are lots of reasons, but probably the most common one is that they'll have to kill their team if they are to win. Why get close and make friends if you're going to turn on them?"

"But that's not your thought process," I stated.

"No. But not everyone thinks like me," Saris said.

I looked at Demi. Yesterday, she was a scavenger. Did she feel that way? Were we people to watch out for? Does she really trust us? Then I thought about our lunch at Subway. She was friendly and seemed happy. I nodded my head to myself and looked away before anyone could notice that I was staring at her.

"Hmm," Demi looked up.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Anyone know what time it is?"

"No. Why?" Saris answered.

"I just like to know sometimes. It makes things feel a bit more normal, I guess. Do you know if there are any stores with watches around here? This all seems like small businesses to me. Think we can pop into one if we find a store? Maybe even find a place with some clothes. I don't know about you guys but I'm tired of being in the same, sweaty clothes day in and day out."

Saris eyed her cautiously as he spoke. "Xander? You know of a place?"

"Uhh..." I thought for a while. I wasn't much of a shopper. "Well there's a thrift store, but it's on the other side of town."

"It's not like we're heading anywhere specific. So, it's fine with me if that's what you want to do."

"Great," Demi said. "Sorry, I didn't mean to make it sound urgent or anything. It would just be nice to have a few things."

"No problem. Xander, which way?"

"Uh...this way." I pointed in the direction I thought the thrift store was and walked in front with Saris. Realizing that I hadn't actually been there in over a year, I wondered if it was still in business. Maybe it wasn't even there anymore.

We walked for a while and I started to notice how tense Saris looked. He seemed uncomfortable with something and I had a suspicion that it had something to do with Demi. I found it strange that he seemed so relaxed with me and so nervous around her, but maybe it was because I was new. Did he expect her to turn on us? Maybe he just didn't know her well enough. I tried to think of things to ask so that we could learn more about her. Most of what I wanted to know was more private things; like if she had a boyfriend and would she want to go on a date with me sometime. But obviously, I didn't want to ask those questions in front of Saris, plus even I knew that this wasn't the time or place for that. Eventually, I thought of a safe topic.

"So, what's the most interesting place you've been to while in a cycle?"

"Hmm?" Saris asked. "Is this really a good time for that?"

"Why not? We're just walking."

Saris didn't argue and I waited for his answer, but Demi spoke up first. "I fought on top of Mount Rushmore."

"What!? That's crazy!"

"Oh yeah. I remember that." Saris mentioned casually. "I didn't actually fight on the mountain though."

"I did. It was awesome and also terrifying. It was my second cycle and I was so nervous that I'd fall off of Abraham Lincoln's head that I didn't move at all. Someone took me out because I was literally just standing still the whole time."

"Wow, that's crazy. What about you Saris?" I asked.

"Umm...I dunno. My third one was in the Grand Canyon. That was interesting."

"I've always wanted to go there!" I said.

"Yeah, it was fine."

I waited for some details but none came. "Is that it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Give us some details!" Demi blurted. "It's the freakin Grand Canyon and you're acting like it's just another ditch in the road."

I laughed and I saw a glimpse of a smile from Saris but I knew he wasn't sure what to say. After spending a week with him, I got the feeling that, in this game, he didn't focus on the beauty of an area so much as its combat benefits. He was more focused on survival, not sightseeing and he knew that's not what we wanted to hear. To give him an out I changed the subject.

"Hey, Demi?"

"Hmm?"

"Why did you pick a spear?"

She paused and her steps slowed slightly for a moment. She was probably expecting me to ask her something more about Mount Rushmore or about some other cycle. "Well," She started. "Spears are great. They have great range for one thing and-"

"Spears are not that great." Saris interrupted.

I glanced back at Saris' defiant comment and saw that Demi had stopped and folded her arms."Oh, really? And why is that?"

Saris stopped and turned to face her, holding up his fingers as he began to list his reasons. "Spear attacks are fairly obvious. Your primary attacks consist of thrusts, which are slower than most other attacks and the few slashes you can do are limited because of your range. Too big of a swing makes the attacks too obvious and a spear has such a small blade to cut with, so really, your range is actually pretty small. You can attack from further away but the power of the attack is just at the tip of the spear. And lastly," Saris said counting off his points with one last finger, "it's very easy to get within range of someone using a spear. Once someone gets in close, you don't have many options. You can dodge or you can stop using your spear and start punching."

Demi's spear appeared in her hand, "I bet I can make you eat your words."

Saris looked around, his sword already summoned, accepting her challenge. "Hold on!" I objected.

"Relax," Saris said. "Nothing fatal." He put the flat of his blade on his shoulder. "A practice fight." Spotting an alley up ahead he pointed, "over there good?"

"Fine by me," Demi said, following him into the dead-end nook. I was close behind them but didn't venture too far inside the lane to allow them space and keep an eye on the street so we wouldn't have any surprise visitors. The alley had a large, open dumpster at the far end and random bits of trash gathered in the few doorways that led into it. The enclosed area gave off the smell of warm, wet paper and old fruit, but it wasn't as foul as I would have expected.

Demi didn't wait for any signal to start. She leaped to Saris' right and stabbed forward. Saris dodged the blow easily, closing the distance between them in an instant. Demi spun the spear in her hand, the blade coming at Saris from behind and he blocked it with his sword but Demi used the momentum to slide around him. She swung at him while she crouched and Saris dived over the strike, rising to meet the next attack with his sword but it came at a higher angle than he expected and he had to dodge out of the way.

The battle went on longer than I expected and I felt awkward standing there, watching. It was also nerve-wracking since, for a practice fight, the attacks looked pretty deadly to me. I didn't have their stamina, skill or technique. Seeing them go at each other made me feel lame. It really put into perspective how out of my league I was. Maybe not everyone I would come up against had the same ability as these two but that didn't really put me near the top of the food chain. I needed to get better. I really didn't want to fight Demi or Saris to the death. I would lose every time.

After a while, Demi became noticeably slower. Sweat trickled down her face and dampened her hair. Her cheeks were beginning to flush and I knew that the fight was almost over. It's not like Saris wasn't breaking a sweat, it's just that he looked like he could keep going all day. Neither of them connected with their weapons. Saris kept closing the distance but every time he did, Demi managed to gain it back. But as I watched, I noticed that Saris wasn't giving the fight his all. He had been way more aggressive when he was training me. The only time he used his sword with Demi was when he was going for a block, he never went to attack. While training me, he did this when he wanted me to learn how to attack better. I wonder if he's trying to do something similar with Demi. She looked like she was getting close to the point that I always reached: exhausted and ready to drop. We might have to rest for a while when they were done.

"Alright," Saris said, to my surprise, letting his sword disappear. "You made a good point."

Demi panted, "Yeah, that'll show you." She put her hands on her knees and looked at Saris, who was standing up straight. "See? You can barely stand up."

"In the right hands, spears are pretty good," Saris said. "I had a hard time keeping close to you."

I was confused. "What?" I sputtered. I was happy that they seemed to be getting along a little better but this didn't make sense to me.

"Relax," Saris said. "Are we ready to go? Or do you need a minute?"

Demi huffed. "I can go all day."

"Alright," Saris said, leaning against the side of a building and sliding into a sitting position. "Break time."

Demi joined him and I walked up to them. "Hold on," I turned to Demi, "no offense, but you were losing."

"Details," Demi said, waving her hand dismissively, then taking a drink of water.

"Winning or losing wasn't the point," Saris explained. "In case you didn't notice, neither of us used our ability. She was trying to show me how effective spears can be."

"No," Demi said, "I did show you. You were very impressed."

"Okay. Whatever." I sat down with them and sighed. "You know, it's kind of intimidating, watching you two fight. I don't think I would stand much of a chance against either of you."

Saris waved his hand in my general direction. "You don't give yourself enough credit. But, then again, it would be a good idea to keep training you."

"Is that smart with people looking for us?" I asked.

At the same time, Demi asked, "When would you do that?"

"Hmm." Saris thought for a moment. "At night. We'll turn in early to train. I'll take the first watch, I can do my cooldown then. Demi, you can take second and Xander can take the last watch. That way we're all about as rested as we can get. When he gets better, we can start changing it up."

"That doesn't seem fair. Demi shouldn't have to-"

"Deal," Demi said, cutting me off.

"Am I still a part of this conversation?" I asked.

"Relax." I was getting used to the way Saris shut down my questions. Relax. As in, don't worry about it, just do what I say. As in, the conversation is over and I'm about to change the subject. "Ready to go?" He asked Demi on cue.

"Yes," She replied, standing and stretching.

"Now, hold on," I tried to assert myself, "it doesn't seem right that Demi takes the most inconvenient watch every night."

"Xander," Demi said, "it's fine. In the long run, it benefits everyone. You need to get stronger, right? If you don't, you become a liability. This is the right thing to do."

"But-"

"And when you are ready, you can be the first one to take my watch, got it?" She held out her hand, offering to help me to my feet.

I huffed. It still didn't seem right. Maybe I was being stupid. A part of me just didn't want to deal with more of Saris' intense training, but a bigger part of me wanted to look chivalrous in front of Demi. "Alright." I conceded, taking her outstretched hand.

"It won't be as extreme as it was before," Saris said as if reading my mind. "We need you to be able to recover during the night so we can keep moving at a good pace. And we might need you if we get attacked at night too. That's not to say that I'll go easy on you."

"Right," I said, a little more reassured. I was in this situation whether I liked it or not. Better to make myself as prepared as I can be while I still had the means to do it, which means I'll have to train with Saris while I try to not get killed by everyone else here.