Alex pushed herself to her feet, nodding at Sylvia. "Yes," she said, "thank you." It couldn't hurt to be polite, even if a part of her wished she'd been placed with Sylvia's friendlier companion. She would just have to work that much harder to develop a rapport with the team leader she [i]did[/i] have, and be grateful that the reserved young woman at least seemed to take their safety very seriously.

Scooping up her backpack and tossing the now-empty coffee cup, Alex went to stand next to the nervous-looking man—she wondered which one he was, Tavi or Thomas—who had also moved in Sylvia's direction. She held a hand out to him, deciding it also couldn't hurt to start getting a feel for her teammates. It might give her a hint as to who was open to making friends, and people always felt more real to her after a handshake.

"Hi," she said. "I'm Alex."

She realized too late that, instead of finding the handshake reassuring, as she did, this man might be uncomfortable. She cursed inwardly, but it was too late to withdraw her hand. All she could do was shift her backpack on her shoulder and hope he would trust her small, friendly smile.