I noticed Sarah whispering something in Nik's ear. Seconds later, I received the same message: "I'm going to go check on my sister."

I nodded and Sarah hurried off.

Sarah's older sister and her girlfriend lived together with Sarah - although Sarah often hopped between apartments and spent nights in ours. Since they were both legal adults, there would have been no reason for concern, except for the fact that Sarah's sister was barely 5'1" and looked fourteen at most. Sarah herself was only a couple inches taller, but her body eliminated any confusion as to her age.

Nik touched my shoulder lightly. "We should go back to the apartment. We have work to do."

I nodded. We needed to set up the couch, refill our water containers, barricade the door, do something about the broken window...

With Charlie squashed between Nik and me, the three of us headed home.

*

Nik was about to begin re-barricading our front door when I suddenly had an idea. "Wait," I blurted, holding up a hand. My friend paused, raising his eyebrows expectantly.

"What if the other apartments have food?" I asked slowly, growing more excited as the idea took shape. "It would help with our food problem!"

Nik thought about this for a second before frowning. "That seems super risky..."

"If we found anything, it would be worth it," I pointed out.

Nik was silent for a second more before sighing and shrugging. "Okay. Let's go."

Now I was the one to hesitate. I hadn't thought about what to do with Charlie and I didn't yet feel comfortable leaving him alone or even with others.

My thoughts were interrupted as Sarah scrambled through the window, barely mindful of the sharp edges or shards of glass on the floor. She was sobbing and shaking.

"No," flew from my lips before I could even work through the certainty that hit me. Nik and I were at her side in seconds. Nik cradled her face in his hands.

"Sarah," he murmured.

"She's gone," Sarah choked out, collapsing against her boyfriend. "They took her." She sagged into Nik, her sobbing renewed.

I stood there, feeling utterly helpless. "As soon as they realize how old she is, they'll let her go," I offered weakly. Sarah nodded wordlessly through her tears.

I tried to imagine myself in the same situation, what I would do if Charlie was taken. Go after him, of course. The answer leaped easily to mind. But nobody knew where Rooftop's minors had been taken. How could we find them?

The stress of the situation was beginning to crush me. I had to do something.

I pointed at the somber couple. "You two go rest in the bedroom. Charlie?"

Charlie emerged from the hallway.

"I need you to stay in the hallway and do not under any circumstances bother Sarah or Nik, or leave the apartment. Understand?"

Charlie nodded, eyes wide. I rarely used my "serious voice," and now I had used it several times in a single morning. He understood the gravity of all of this.

My friends and brother shuffled down the hallway while I set to work tidying up the shattered windowpane. Once that was done, I left the apartment.

I instantly felt better in the fresh air and warm sunlight. Taking a deep breath, I began leaping from rooftop to rooftop towards the campfire, where a sizeable group of teens remained.

"Hey," I called out as I drew closer. They all turned to look at me. "I think I know a place where we can get food."

I explained that they could pass through my apartment to get to the others on our floor, and gave them directions. "Be careful," I warned them. "We don't know if anyone else lives there."

The kids nodded and started towards my apartment building. I was about to do the same when I remembered someone - Mouse.

"Aren't you coming?" one girl called after me, confused, as I began hurrying off in the opposite direction.

"Be there soon!" I assured them, not wavering in my path. If we had lost Mouse on top of everything else, we were in even worse shape than I had thought.

I breathed a sigh of relief when Mouse entered her waiting room. "Oh, thank goodness," I muttered.

Mouse looked startled and I wondered how often people expressed joy to see her. "Is everything okay?"

I stared at her. "You don't know?"

After I explained the police raid and everything that had happened as a result, Mouse stood in silence for several seconds. "Oh," she finally murmured.

"I'm just glad you're okay," I told her.

"Do...you need anything?"

I furrowed my brow. "No, Mouse, I just wanted to check on you."

"Oh." The girl still looked very confused, but a slow smile spread over her face. "Thanks, I guess."

As I turned to leave, he called after me, "Have you met with the Gambler's secretary yet?" Her tone was genuinely curious.

I turned back to her, tapped the side of my nose, and left.

Over the next few hours, I helped follow Rooftop residents raid the other apartments in our building. Most of them still had food stored in their Preserves, fridges that - as the name suggested - perfectly preserved everything inside. They had been a relatively new invention when the Uprising happened, and now we depended on them.

Only one apartment was locked, and even though there were no noises coming from inside, we left it alone.

Sarah and Nik never left the bedroom. Charlie, however, got antsy, so I let him into the living room under the agreement that he would not leave, either through the door or the broken window.

Finally, we had reaped all that we could from the abandoned apartments. Teenagers filed from mine, some of them slipping small treats or morsels of food into their pockets. I didn't stop them. They had been through enough to deserve it.

I, myself, had taken ten minutes to make my family and myself peanut butter and banana sandwiches. It had been a long time since we had had such a real meal, and when I discovered that the water was also working, it almost made up for the terror that this morning had been.

Almost.

As Charlie began happily chowing down on his sandwich, I padded down the hallway and tapped nervously on the still-closed bedroom door.

"Come in," Nik called and I slipped inside, balancing the plates on my arm.

He and Sarah were curled close together, Sarah's back pressed into Nik's chest. They were facing the doorway, so I had a clear view of Sarah's numb expression and empty eyes.

"I made dinner," I murmured.

Slowly, Nik sat up, helping his girlfriend to do the same. She moved mechanically, as if on autopilot.

I handed them each a place an asked softly, "Need anything else?" Nik shook his head silently and I backed slowly out of the room as if dealing with skittish animals.

That night, Charlie and I shared the couch bed. I had a feeling that Sarah wouldn't be leaving anytime soon.