"I'm fine," the words echoed through the darkness, flat and empty. The kind of response a computer might display after a virus check. It was the sort of response that anyone who truly was fine never gave. The kind that built up over years of being asked, years of not being so and refusing to acknowledge it. It was the same sort of response that Christian had given to anyone who'd asked for months after the accident, some might say he was still giving it.

Christian heard Sam's footsteps recede somewhat and a panic rushed through him that caused the pain in his head to recede. He'd gotten here with the help of his "second sight" but that was erratic and irregular and there was no telling if it would come back now or in weeks or if he could ever control it. Without Sam he'd have no way of finding his way back to the others. The best he could do if he lost Sam would be to wander and hope someone from the group found him, his chances with that were close the zero, he needed Sam.

Christian ran his hands over the sidewalk till he found the wall of an old crumbling building. He used it to haul himself to his feet and was nearly overcome with dizziness again as the smell assaulted him. "Sam?" He asked straining his hears to hear any sign of her.

Then a voice came out of the darkness again. "Watch your step," Came the murmur. "You don't want to fall here."

Christian stopped dead. He could feel loose pieces of trash and refuse he thought under his feet. Here would not be a good place to wander.

He gulped in his breath, he'd once sworn to himself he'd never say these words and now in less than three days he'd done it as many times. "Sam, could you help me. I can't find my way."

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