Susanna whimpered as he cut off her foot, but tried not to scream because she didn't want to alert anyone. "You shouldn't have wasted your supplies on me. I can't even walk anymore."

"You can walk...I'll help you," Colin said as he zipped up his bag and threw it over his shoulders. He would have asked Cedric to carry it, but he didn't believe he had the strength to carry two heavy packs. "I'm going to help you to your feet...foot. Use me as support and I'll get you out of here," he said quickly. Without wasting any time, he picked her up and wrapped his arm underneath her armpits, steadying her. "We'll take you to the next town. I believe there's one just a few miles west. Hang in there, okay?" He gave her a small smile, something that came very rare to him, anymore.

Susanna shook her head. "No, we can't go that way. We have to go northeast, to a town that's about three days from here. That other town was hit by raiders a few days ago-I know because I grew up there."

Cedric remained silent, especially not wanting to speak at that. He knew that this was a bad idea, but he didn't dare comment on it.

Colin clenched his jaw. "Dammit...okay. I guess we'll have to work wit this." He then turned to look at Cedric. "We're going to have to backtrack a little, okay? Once we get this girl to safety, then we can leave." Without waiting for a response, he begun to walk.

Susanna limped along, holding onto the man tightly. "What are your names?" She tried to take the focus off of her problem and the fact that she was only a burden to them. The truth was that she didn't want to tell them to leave because she dreaded being alone.

"I'm Colin and this is my little brother, Cedric," Colin said, continuing forward. "There are big chemical clouds around here. Doesn't it get carried by the wind or anything like that?" He didn't want her to know that they knew next to nothing about this new type of world, but if she was willing to give them information then it just might save their lives in the future.

"Yeah, it does, but there isn't anything any of us can do about it," she said, already getting tired and breathless. She glanced over at the one called Cedric. "How old are you?"

Cedric was quiet for a moment before answering. "Fifteen."

She smiled slightly. "You're only a year younger than me."

Colin fell silent for awhile as they continued to walk. He felt bad for this girl and there wasn't anything more he could do for her other than hurry and get her to the next town. if this was his brother in her situation, he didn't know what he would do. "Do you need some water?" he asked, holding out his canteen to her.