Kat squinted in the light, silently watching the road around her. Jim seemed to deem it safe, and asked her about James. Even though Jim thought it was safe, Kat spoke in a hushed voice as she replied, "I haven't seen my brother in 7 days, he left our home to get food. I am looking for him.". She glanced a worried look at Jim, unsure how he would respond, he might hurt her if he knew she was alone. "I didn't know there was a cave here, I came here to rest, and you were here." Kat watched Jim carefully, he seemed old and saggy, she would be able to outrun him if he wanted to steal her things or hurt her. Something about growing up while the world was ending had made Kat paranoid, probably a good trait in these times. Kat went quiet for a moment, thinking about her brother, and how many days he had been missing.
Suddenly she looked up at Jim, "Its my Birthday in 8 days, I have to find him before then. Or he'll be upset that he missed my birthday. Last year we had our own little party." Kat smiled at the memory of the stale cake picnic they had shared, James had found a frozen christmas cake in someones freezer, and saved it for her birthday.
Kat suddenly noticed a faint smoke smell, the air was still clear, but the smell was slowly growing stronger. "Jim, I smell burning." She looked out towards the street hunting for the source of the smell.