"Oh," she said, "a young girl shouldn't go without food. Come with me for a moment."

She began to lead and as Sheldon started to instinctively follow, she smiled and pointed, "You wait here."

Sheldon spat on the ground and he cleared his throat. It was always the same, whenever she appeared like he did not exist. Strangely, she seemed only to help the young girls here. Why? He wondered as he bit his lip.

Even with his expression, the lady didn't pay him any mind at all. She completely ignored him as she continued to walk on.

"It's okay," Natalya responded calmly giving him a smile, "I will be back soon."

The man that was beside Mathinda looked Sheldon over, "You're about fourteen right ?"

Sheldon nodded, in response.

"The same age as Natalya," he said nonchalantly as he started to walk along with the rest.

Sheldon watched her walk away before he shifted himself. He found a place not too far to sit under the shade of a tree as the sun's heat bared its gaze. The long worn bench was facing the overgrown pasture as he watched and waited. The other homeless people passed him up and down while some started gathering around the pasture, taking seats beside him. He had long grown accustomed to their putrid smell, still, their conversations for information were extremely useful. People always liked to gossip, it took their mind off their suffering.

A scrawny boy with long black hair wearing discolored, green ragged clothes the same age as Sheldon approached him cautiously.

There was shakiness in his voice and a foul stench on his breath as he spoke, "Good morning Sheldon, is Natalya nearby?"

Sheldon looked at him. He turned his face in disgust, he had seen him many times before but he didn't care to know his name. His mind was more focused on listening to the conversations around him.

"No," he responded coldly.

"Did you hear that music playing in the school last night? It always plays at the same time; someone probably likes to practice at that time ...." The boy was asking but realized he was not being acknowledged.

The boy looked down as he lingered for a while until he could no longer stand the hostile air that he was being given. Sheldon heard his footsteps and glanced at him as he walked away in the opposite direction from which he had come.

The people that surrounded Sheldon spoke about it being harder and harder to live and looking to leave the city. Others were talking about the disappearance of children that were staying in the area. The last thing he heard of importance was of the small group of the Swidleys and how they were taking over every district bit by bit in the zone and forcing people to pay to commit crimes in areas they had claimed.

*

Two hours had passed before Natalya came back alone. His stomach growled again, even louder than the last time. Natalya couldn't help but laugh. Something seemed off to Sheldon but before he could ask."Here," She handed him some of the food she was able to sneak away, "we have to eat and walk," as she began to lead.

At the entrance of the school there was an old man with gray hair like a mane, extremely unkempt. He sat down covered with flies; at least that's what they appeared to be. He looked utterly filthy even compared to those who weren't clean either. His clothes were completely covered in dirt and he looked on the verge of dying.

As they tried to pass him, he called to Sheldon "Hey Kid, anything you could spare for me to eat?" with just enough effort to grab his attention.

Sheldon ignored him and kept walking but Natalya couldn't help but look back at the old man.

They walked for a long while, hands tightly gripped. The streets that they passed were flooded with people, wares and services. Sheldon's eyes went left and right, catching the attention of a young scantily clad woman. She smiled at Sheldon as Natalya lead him away.

It was dangerous to linger long, looters stalked buildings, disorderly conflicts broke out. People waited and watched to prey like vultures upon weakness. They finally settled themselves upon the Pantry Isles, it was not crowded and hardly ever was. The problem they faced was no guarantee they would make money today it was all on chance. They looked around to see if there were others in the same area, knowing the conflict of interest when too many groups work together. Sheldon remembered what he had seen firsthand, being honest and begging for spare change. They had asked over and over again in the beginning but no one paid them any mind and acted like they didn't exist. It only led them to be hoarser than ever before so they developed a new strategy.

They had decided that after a successful robbery the meeting spot would be the old Cinema which was passed two streets back. Sheldon and Natalya developed a code of whistles through the whistlers they carried. They would use it to alert the other when they had reached the area or in the case of any danger.

Natalya was beautiful and she would use that to distract a person that seemed capable of having money. Then, Sheldon would sneak in to take whatever he could grab from their pockets. It was dangerous if they got caught but they had no more options left to provide for themselves.

They stopped by an old bench which used to be a bus stop. His feet were tired causing Sheldon to immediately sit down. Natalya placed the bag down on it as well. She then took out a bottle of water and slowly poured enough to wash the dirt that had started to cake on to her face.

"No Swidleys are here that I can see," Sheldon said as he double-checked again.

Natalya nodded.

He looked around for somewhere close-by to hide and found an alleyway that he could use to watch for the signal from Natalya. He moved in that direction as she sat on the bench and mentally got herself into character.

She scanned the people as they walkedby. The first few looked like they were barely surviving. They were on the verge of giving up hope but then a decently dressed gentleman began to approach them, walking with confidence as he came closer.

People used this route to travel to work and this was the best area to get lucky. It was also very risky, as people took the law into their own hands. Natalya got up and while he was about to pass she fell on him, causing him to instinctively catch her.

The gentleman turned her over and saw her face He instinctively asked, "Are you okay?"

Withdrawing herself slightly from him, "Yes."

Sheldon used this opportunity to get behind the man and snatched his wallet from his back pocket as it was protruding. When he turned to face Sheldon, he already gained significant distance from him. He shouted at him to stop. When he turned to face the girl, she was gone.

Back at their meeting spot, Sheldon and Natalya checked through what they were able to snag. It was enough money to last them a month if they rationed it out. Sheldon grinned to Natalya. Things were beginning to look up. She took the bread that she had in the bag since this morning and broke it in half.

"Lunch," she said as they both ate quietly.

He was glad they hadn't bumped into Swidleys as things could have turned ugly. People marked certain sections as their own and demanded money or payment of absurd amounts when other people used that area. He was able to learn from rumors and other people resorting to methods like him where would be best to avoid them.