"Okay. So that most definitely isn't a raccoon footprint," Alec said that morning. The gang had went outside to take a look around the house and see if anything Magnus had told them when they woke up was true. So far, everything he said was on the dot.

"Male. Size 12. About 160 pounds of muscle. Maybe 5'10?" Magnus knelt down to get a better look at the footprints that were outside the front window. "See? What did I tell you? I said it was a human on the roof. But no. Had to blame it on your imaginary raccoon, didn't you?"

"Okay. You were right. Get over yourself." Alec ran a finger over the boot print. "This must mean there's another group close by and they know we're here. These tracks are fresh."

Jace scanned the area with the scope of his gun. "Doesn't mean they're welcoming though. They could be the thieving type. Or some other bad type that we don't want to get involved with."

That morning was a quiet one. With no sign of Forsaken anywhere, it was almost like the community was still asleep and no one was up yet. The sky was gray, signalling a dull day of walking ahead of them. The group had decided that it was best if they didn't find a car that still worked to avoid drawing more attention to themselves than they already did.

"We should head back inside and get something to eat before we leave. Magnus? You coming?" Clary leaned over Magnus' shoulder. "Helloooo. Earth to Magnus."

"Hmm? Oh," Magnus stood up straight. "Sorry. I was just studying the footprint. Taking a mental photo of it, if you will. We need to keep a close watch on that possible group of humans. Jace is right. They're probably not the nice kind."

Alec sighed and followed Magnus back inside the house. Isabelle was handing out slices of dried apples to the rest of the group. When she saw Magnus and Alec step back inside, she handed them four slices each.

"Sorry I don't have any more. I just grabbed what I could from home. Or what was left of it." She handed Alec a bag with slices of apple in it. "Max already ate so he's good for now. Are we still headed to you know where?"

Alec nodded. "Yeah. Hopefully it's still standing and isn't occupied by another group."

"Wait. Where are we headed?" Magnus asked.

Alec and Isabelle looked at each other, but it was Jace that spoke up. "Alec wants to head home. Home as in our childhood home in New York."

Magnus' eyes bulged. "We're going into New York? Do you have a death wish or something?"

Alec said nothing. He just continued to eat his apple slices.

Magnus had enough of this. "Look. If you think you're just going to drag me around and expect me to do whatever the fuck you want then you're very wrong. I'll take half the supplies and leave because I refuse to be dragged around like a dog."

If it was even possible for a deeper silence to happen, then it did. Even the birds had fallen silent outside. The only thing that was audible to anyone was the beating of their own hearts in their ears.

"You're right. I don't mean to treat you like a dog. I should've told you where we were going as soon as we left Alicante," Alec got to his feet and went over to the window to look out of it. "The Lightwood home is the best place I think of where we'll be safe from Forsaken. It has lots of space for everyone."

"But it's in New York," Magnus stated.

"It's in New York," Alec repeated. "But I don't know where else to go, Magnus. I can't have my family on the road like before."

It was Isabelle who spoke up next. "We could try heading west. Towards nana's."

"We have a nana?" Max squeaked. "I don't remember her."

"You were too young anyway. Plus you only met her once at Christmas when you were three. We aren't exactly close to her," Jace tied his long hair back into a ponytail. "I say we try home. If that doesn't work out, then we go for plan B: Nana's house."

Magnus shrugged. "Alright. Let's be reasonable humans and vote. All in favor of this plan?"

Everyone raised their hands, including Max.

"I guess that settles it. We're going to New York." Alec picked up his bow and quiver. "Pack up, everyone. Make sure you have everything. We won't be coming back here."

Max jumped to his feet. "Thank god. A lot of bad memories in this place. I wanna forget everything that was said in the other room last night."

Alec laughed as he packed up their supplies. "I know, buddy. Get your stuff. We'll leave as soon as possible."

They gathered up their gear and headed out towards New York City. Any Forsaken they came across, they managed to avoid just by being quiet and staying out of their line of sight. Magnus hadn't seen so many Forsaken in one place before, but he guessed that it'll be much worse in New York.

"So what are you, anyway? Clary and I have a bet going. She says you used to work at McDonald's. I say Starbucks with a side course of survival skills," Jace snorted as Magnus rolled his eyes. "Are we even close to the truth?"

"Far from it," Magnus grumbled. He heard Alec chuckle from the front of the group and smirked to himself. "What were you back when all this shit went down?"

Jace frowned. "I was 17. Not even out of high school yet. Same with Isabelle. It was during exam month when all of this happened so I guess I have something to be thankful for." He winced as Isabelle punched him in the back. "I'm serious. I hated studying for those things. Why should we let grades decide who's smart enough for a future?"

"Well you don't have to worry about that anymore, idiot. I don't think Harvard is looking for applications at the moment. Not that you'd get into Harvard," Isabelle scoffed. "Anyway. Magnus. You don't have to tell us who you are unless you feel ready. But if you turn out to be a killer, I will stab you in your sleep. No questions asked."

Jesus, Magnus said in his mind. She's ruthless. "Should we be saying all this around the kid? It could taint him."

Max raised an eyebrow. "I'm already tainted. I just found out where babies really come from. I doubt it gets any worse than that."

Magnus shrugged his shoulders in agreement. "This Lightwood home. Is it very big?"

Alec looked over his shoulder. "It's been passed down to each firstborn son for five generations. So yeah. It's big and old."

Five generations. Magnus whistled. This family must've been loaded with money back in the day. These kids didn't even need university for a bright future. They had money for days. "I lived in a small apartment building here in Brooklyn. I had a cat. Chairman Meow. I miss the little guy...."

"I like cats," Max chimed. "I always wanted a dog back in Alicante but Alec said it would draw too much attention when it barked."

"Which is true," said Alec from the front of the group.

A blob of bird poop landed on Magnus' shoulder. He grimaced. "Then you could just teach it not to bark? Because that is a thing, you know."

Alec shot him a look. "I could. But then that's only another mouth I have to feed."

From the corner of his eye, Magnus saw Max's shoulders sag in disappointment. Poor kid. "They're also great guardians. They could protect the groups."

"My answer's still no," Alec paused to listen. "Everyone be quiet. I hear voices."

Everyone fell silent. Voices could be heard off in the distance as well as gunfire. After a minute, the sound of a vehicle roared to life and it sounded as if it were headed in their direction.

"Everyone hide in that alley! Quick!" Alec ushered everyone into a dark, small alleyway. The truck roared past them just as Alec knelt down behind a trash bin. Hoots and hollers echoed down the street as the drivers passed them. "It's all clear. They're gone."

The group stepped out from the dark alley. It was Magnus who surveyed the buildings, taking in how many windows and fire escapes there were. Not that any of it was relevant. He just wanted to see if there were any vantage points in case that group of humans had people watching them from above.

"Who do you think they were?" Simon whispered even though the threat was long gone.

"No one I want to cross paths with, that's for sure," Alec fixed his bag over his shoulder. "Come on. We still have a long walk ahead of us."

Isabelle groaned. "Can't we take a car? My feet are killing me."

Alec sighed. "Izzy, you know we can't take a car. It'll draw attention-"

"But it'll also get us to our destination much quicker. So I say we get a car. Let's vote," Isabelle stuck out her chin stubbornly. "Who here doesn't want to walk anymore and would like a ride instead?"

Everyone in the group including Jace raised their hand. Alec shot Jace an icy glare and felt betrayed.

"Sorry bro. Izzy is right. A set of wheels would help us get to our house a lot quicker," Jace shrugged. "I'll siphon the gas if we need it. You know I don't mind."

"I know. But I just don't like the idea of drawing too much attention to ourselves...we don't know who that other group is or what they're capable of," Alec hissed.

They fell silent, contemplating their options. Personally, Magnus would go with a set of wheels. Regardless of the attention, he could always ditch the car and find another one later if he ever needed one. It was easy. Plus Jace said he could siphon the gas if they needed it. Chances are that someone did leave their keys inside their car when the apocalypse hit and that they were still there just waiting to be taken.

"Fine. Let's find a vehicle. Something big enough to hold both us and our supplies inside. Let's start in the back alleyways first. Stay away from the main roads. That's where all the Forsaken are," Alec pointed towards the roads behind them. "Keep your eyes and ears open. That group could come back at any moment."

Magnus always had his eyes and ears open. He was in fight or flight mode 24/7, even when he was asleep. "Alec never relaxes, does he?"

Jace snorted. "No. I don't even think he knows the meaning of the word to be honest with you. You know the theory that objects in motion tend to stay in motion? Well that's Alec. He's always in motion. Never stopping, always moving."

Never stopping, always moving. That sounded a lot like how Magnus had spent the last five years of his life. If someone had told him that he would meet and journey along with Alec and his small group of scavengers, he would've laughed. He wasn't much of a team player, at least not in the world they lived in now but if there was one thing he learned in Quantico was that you always had to rely on your team. No matter what.

"Come on. We should get moving before those people come back. We could be in their territory and don't even know it," Alec said as he fixed his bow over his shoulder, leading the way again.

A loud crash made the group freeze in place. Following the crash, there was a loud cheer accompanied by the sound of a revving engine. Car lights appeared at the top of the road, facing where they were frozen like deer in the headlights.

"Move. Move now," Alec pushed everyone ahead of him into the dark alley once again. "Get behind the garbage bins and stay low. Don't make a sound. You hear me, Max?"

"Yeah," Max nodded, trying to keep his voice from wavering but couldn't.

As they ducked down, the car that had been speeding down the road had slowed down significantly. To anyone else it would've seemed like they had slowed down to abide by the speed limit. Alec knew better. There were no speed limits in this new world. They were looking for something.

Or someone.

"See anything?" A voice sang out in the distance.

"No! You need your eyes checked, Santiago! What the fuck did you even see out here anyway?!"

"I told you! I saw a group of people walking across the road! They might still be around if you look hard enough!"

Alec peered out around his hiding spot. A man with hair pulled back in a ponytail stood on the back of a truck with a rifle in his hands. He seemed to be looking for something; for them. Alec quickly hid again when the man looked in his direction, his heartbeat thudding in his ears.

"I'm not fucking staying out here all goddamn day looking for something you think you saw, Santiago! I'm tired and I want to go to bed!"

Santiago shouted something back in what sounded like Spanish and the man responded back in Spanish. Alec couldn't translate most of what they were saying but he picked up on "dead" and "morning". Whatever they were saying didn't sound good.

The truck finally drove away but Alec kept his group hidden until he was certain the men were gone. When the coast was clear, he signalled them to follow him.

"Stay close to the buildings. If we stay on the streets or in the back roads, there's a good chance that Santiago guy can see us from wherever he is," Alec craned his neck up to look at the side of the building. "They could be on the rooftops with scopes or binoculars."

"Snipers," Magnus said. His face went serious as he stared at the pavement for a few seconds. "I think I've heard of these guys. Just whispers from passing groups. I didn't think they were true but today just proved how real they were."

Alec shrugged. "Well? Who are they?"

Magnus sighed. "It's a group run by a crime lord from back when the world wasn't as shitty but still pretty shitty. Rumor has it that he stocked up on everything and everyone when all this went down. He owns most of Brooklyn and calls his group The Others."

"The Others? That's not very creative," Simon snorted. "How can one person own all of Brooklyn?"

"Same way a person becomes president. Power. Whoever has the most will eventually be the boss." Magnus held his gun closer to his body as if he thought he could become one with it. "We better get moving. You said you live further north, right?"

Alec nodded. "Yeah. What's the rush?"

Magnus popped a cigarette in his mouth and spoke as he lit it. "I certainly don't want to be around when the big bad boss finds out we've been trespassing on his property. Do you?"

The group shook their heads in unison. None of them thought that sounded like a good idea at all.

"Splendid. Now lead the way, oh fearless leader. If you can get us to your safe house without getting us caught or killed, remind me to buy you a beer."

Alec chuckled. "Right. I'll hold you to that. But on one condition." He took the cigarette from Magnus' mouth and put it in his mouth to take a drag. "Sharing is caring."