"Where's Alec?"

Magnus stretched his neck and glanced around the crowded cafeteria. Alec was nowhere to be seen. When they had left the examination room, Alec had been right behind them. So unless he had stayed back to get his wound checked, Magnus assumed that's where he was right now.

"Wasn't he getting examined with you guys?" Clary asked as she grabbed a tray. Her face was dirty from taking a tour of the coal room where she'd chosen to work.

"He was. Was it as bad for you ladies as it was for us? Dr. Branwell has Pervert written all over him." Jace shuddered at the thought.

"Livvy was actually really nice. She made us feel comfortable before looking us over," Isabelle told him. "As for our older brother, he's probably getting stitched up properly. He'll catch up with us later when he's ready."

Magnus looked around the room again. Alec missed breakfast earlier and it looked like he was about to miss lunch as well. "Make sure no one's looking, yeah? I'm sneaking some food for Alec."

The group made sure no one was looking as Magnus stuffed some sandwiches into his shirt. It wasn't inconspicuous; the outline of the plastic wrapped food was still visible through the thin material of his shirt.

"You better hope you don't get caught taking that," said a familiar accented voice. Magnus turned to see Keeley standing behind him, eyebrow raised as she reached for a food tray for herself.

"I won't. Unless someone decides to squeal," Magnus retorted. He looked down at his watch and nodded. "Huh. Look at that. You're just in time for tea."

Keeley shot him a look. "So just because I'm British you're going to associate me with tea, are you? You shit faced monkey wanker."

Simon choked back a laugh as did Jace. Clary and Isabelle stared at the teenager with their jaws dropped, shocked that she had such a potty mouth.

Magnus didn't seem too phased by her. "Fair enough-hey. Have you seen Alec anywhere?"

"Alec? You mean tall, dark and handsome? Last I saw he was being led into the room where scavengers plan their routes. Which is surprising, actually. Hardly anyone ever gets recruited unless they're personally sought out."

Magnus' jaw dropped. "Alec got the job? Just like that?"

Keeley grabbed a sandwich for her tray. "You didn't hear this from me. I also didn't see you stealing food."

Magnus smirked. "Smart girl. And I'm not technically stealing. I'm saving some for a friend who missed breakfast this morning. He's probably starving."

Keeley popped a gum in her mouth and said "Aren't we all?" before turning and leaving with her tray of food, flipping Magnus the middle finger as she walked away.

"Charming kid, isn't she? Nice to know teenagers are still angsty little shits," Magnus grumbled. "Let's get some food in us. I'm starving."

They sat at a table to quietly eat. By the time they had taken their last bite, Alec still wasn't with them and it was causing them to worry a little bit. The cafeteria crowd was thinning out as they waited for him to show up but he didn't.

"Where is he?" Jace grumbled.

"Keeley said he was with the scavengers. Maybe they're giving him the rundown of their job?" Isabelle picked up her butter knife and began to carve her name into the table, coughing into her sleeve. "You know Alec. He likes to know all the details and assess the situation before getting involved."

As she continued to cough, Simon pat her on the back and handed her some water. "Come on. I'm taking you to see the doc about your cold. He'll have some medicine for you."

Despite Isabelle's protests, she eventually gave in and allowed herself to be led back to the infirmary. Jace decided to go with them to make sure his sister was okay.

"I have to head back to the coal room. Are you staying here to wait for Alec?" Clary asked Magnus.

"Yeah. I want to see what he has to say about the scavengers here." He smiled as Clary said goodbye and left the cafeteria. By now it was completely empty apart from Magnus himself and the cooks behind the counter. Alec was still nowhere to be found.

After waiting for twenty minutes, Magnus finally rose from the table and made his way out to the hall. People passed by him, talking in hushed voices and passing papers back and forth between them. No one acknowledged him or the suspicious sandwich shaped bulge in the front of his shirt.

"Magnus!" A voice yelled from the other end of the hall. Magnus turned to see Alec jogging towards him, his face pale and distressed. "I was looking all over for you. Where were you?"

"Where was I? Where were you? The group and I already ate-here. Let's go in here to talk," Magnus whispered as he opened a door and peered into the room. It was empty.

When they were inside, Magnus reached inside his shirt and took out the sandwich, his hand outstretched for Alec to take it.

"That was in your shirt?" Alec screwed up his face. "It's warm."

"I smuggled it from the cafeteria. Would you rather I shoved it down my pants instead?" Magnus handed Alec the sandwich. "Eat it. You haven't eaten anything yet today."

Hesitantly, Alec took the sandwich and unwrapped it from its plastic. "Sorry I didn't make it to lunch. I was busy with something."

Magnus nodded. "We know you were talking to the scavengers so you can skip the cryptic answers. Just tell me what they told you."

So that's what Alec did between bites of his food. He told Magnus about how the Forsaken were evolving and getting smarter and how the Institute were studying their abnormal behavior through cameras set up around the city.

"So apart from the scavenging for supplies, you're also studying these things?" Magnus asked once Alec was done explaining.

"I suppose. It's a good opportunity for me to learn how and why the Forsaken are evolving. We'll be better prepared that way. All of us."

".....but why? That seems like a job for a different group. A scavenging crew hardly seem the type to sit down and take notes as they watch the undead in their natural habitat."

"I know. But I can't complain. I got the job, didn't I? This way I can learn the routes they take and which ones to avoid." Alec straightened his back. "Think about it, Magnus. If we ever need to make a quick escape-for any reason at all-this is the job for me to get you all out alive and unharmed."

Magnus huffed. He didn't like this idea one bit but Alec did make a valid point. "Fine. Just....don't try to play hero. Don't risk your neck for these people that we don't even know."

"Noted. Speaking of, where did you decide to work?"

Magnus shrugged. "The warehouse. The agriculture one. I always wanted to have my own farm so this is the closest I'll ever get to becoming a farmer."

Alec smiled at this. "Good. I'm glad you found something you're interested in. What about the rest of the group?"

The doorknob to the room rattled and both men froze. The rattling stopped after a moment, the voices just outside the door becoming faint as they walked away.

"Whoo," Magnus breathed. "That was close. I don't even know if we're supposed to be in here."

"Wherever here is," Alec whispered. "I'm going to head to storage. I was told they had better fitting clothes for me there."

He tugged on the hem of his shirt, making Magnus chuckle. "Right. Go on then. I won't keep you for much longer. Just wanted to see where you were."

"Okay," Alec nodded. "Just....don't repeat anything I said in here out there, okay? I was sort of told not to tell anyone what they did behind the scenes."

It sounded a bit suspicious but Magnus nodded and obliged anyway. "Your secret is safe with me."

They exited the room together. Alec went one way while Magnus went another and neither of them showed any signs that they were talking in secret to each other. Alec went to the supply department and changed into a new outfit consisting of a loose black t-shirt and a pair of jeans that actually fit him with black boots. The man working at the supply room had told Alec that the boots weren't easy to find, especially a pair in his size. Alec was just thankful he managed to find any at all.

"Hey Alec!" A voice called. It was Meliorn. "I see you got a new outfit. Looks good. You got a second?"

Alec nodded. "Yeah. What's up?"

Holding up a map, Meliorn gave it a flick with his finger. "The crew and I wanted to go over our route details with you. Fill you in on what we have planned for the next supply run."

A sensation of excitement coursed through Alec's veins. "Of course. Are we doing it right now or...."

"Yup. Follow me. Everyone else is already at headquarters waiting for you."

Meliorn led him to a room that didn't seem familiar to Alec. At least it wasn't one that was shown to him during the tour. It was dark, only lit with dull lightbulbs hanging from the ceiling. In the center was a small round table with chairs with people seated in them. They all looked up when Meliorn and Alec entered the room.

"Sorry we're late. Big Guy here is hard to track down." Meliorn sat at the biggest chair, ushering Alec to sit as well. "Now that we're all here, why don't we introduce ourselves to our newest recruit?"

A murmur of agreement went around the table. A girl with long blonde hair spoke first.

"I'm Emma Carstairs. I'm the strategic analyst of the group. If we're ever lost and don't know where to go, I decide the best course of action to take."

The next person to introduce themselves was a large hulk of a man named Hector. He was the muscle that helped move obstacles that might be in their way.

This continued for another minute. Alec knew the entire group's names by then: Emma, Hector, Maia, Jordan, Aline and Meliorn. Seven was the perfect number for a group; not too many to make mistakes and not too few that they were screwed when it came to a serious situation.

"I brought Alec here today so he can see what it is we do and how we do it," said Meliorn. "He has experience in the field. Thought it would good to have an extra pair of experienced hands in our group."

Hector nodded. "Works for me. I'm tired of being the only pretty one in the group-" He cackled when Emma threw a piece of paper at his head. "Relax, blondie. You're not so bad yourself."

"Fuck you," Emma grumbled. "Ignore him, Alec. We all do. So where do you come from? You from around here?"

Alec shook his head. "Uh....not really. We're from Brooklyn. My group, I mean. Alicante. Have you ever heard of it?"

"We don't really get in touch with other communities," Aline told him. "Though that's actually not a bad idea. We could probably set up a trading system."

"Aline, we haven't come across a community in a long time. That one group we bumped into a few years ago were weird-what was the name of that group again?" Hector scratched his shaggy beard in thought. "City of something....god I can't remember."

Alec felt his stomach sink to the floor. "Bones?"

Everyone at the table turned to look at him. "What?" Meliorn asked.

"City of Bones. That's the name of the group you were talking about."

"You know about them?" Emma's voice was rising as she grew excited. "I was only 11 when I first heard about them but I heard they're weird. Ruthless, even."

Alec stared at the dark wood of the table in front of him. "They are. Their leader killed my nine year old brother in cold blood."

The group fell silent. Alec could feel the air growing awkward so he cleared his throat and spoke again.

"Your route. Where does it usually take you?" He asked after the silence became deafening.

"Ah. Our route. We've pretty much scavenged all the nearby buildings from top to bottom. Now we're branching out into the more further away ones." Meliorn rolled out a map onto the table. "We try not to go out too far in case we don't make it back before dark. We never stay out late past the gates when it's dark."

Alec glanced up at him. "Why not?"

Meliorn shrugged. "Too dangerous. I thought that was obvious? See that red mark on the map there?" He pointed to a small red dot labelled 'Danger Zone'. "We encountered an entire horde of Forsaken there last year. That area is avoided no matter what. I wouldn't even go out there to save my dog."

Alec thought that was kind of cruel but he nodded anyway. "Avoid that area. Got it. And what do you normally scavenge? What's the goal?"

Aline handed him a list. "Whatever Lydia tells us to bring back. But we usually go for the basics: food, water, weapons and clothing. Standard procedure."

The words "Warehouse 7" popped out at Alec as he scanned the list of items. "Warehouse 7. What's in there that we need?"

"Not what we need," Jordan whispered. "Meliorn is the only one in here with high enough access to that warehouse. Every now and then Lydia asks him to go in and....check up on things."

"But other than that, we don't really know what goes on in there. He won't tell us," Maia finally spoke up. "Top secret, he says."

"You're better off not knowing. Trust me," Meliorn rolled the map back up and put it to the side. "So does anyone have any questions about what we need to do tomorrow?" No one said anything. "Excellent. Go rest up. You'll need every bit of energy for tomorrow. What's our motto?"

The entire group apart from Alec all said in unison: "Those who are left behind are left for dead."

Meeting adjourned, Alec slipped down into the dungeon and collapsed onto his small bed, staring up at the ceiling as his heart thudded rapidly in his chest. He was shaking, not in excitement but rather in fear for what was going to happen tomorrow. His little group's quote echoed in his mind.

Those who are left behind are left for dead.

What did he just get himself into?