Eli couldn't leave them. But one by one, those he tried to help, died, usually in his arms. There had been four in all, in his last group, and now there was one. He carried a near empty backpack as he humped through the sewers. Feeling hungry, he stopped walking and pulled the pack off him. Opening it, he saw the final can of Dinty Moore stew. He sighed and closed the bag before continuing to walk.

Hearing someone up a head, Eli concealed himself around a corner. The darkness made it impossible for him to get a good look, but he thought he could hear multiple women entering some sort of chamber that echoed. He thought for a moment to consider what this might mean. Echoes like that mean tall ceiling, which means more space, which means a possible place to scavenge for or store food and other supplies.

Ever the trusting type, Eli was about to move around the corner to greet them, but he stopped. When has that ever worked? Once. The other dozen or so times nearly ended with his life removed from him, and certainly what little food he had. But from what he could discern from their voices, they sounded like all women. Surely he could take a couple of girls if they tried anything. Well, depending how many there were. Besides, at this stage, everyone had been hardened into a survivor, not a victim. All of the victims perished within the first couple years, once the strong ones realized that protecting the weak risked their own lives.

However, Eli had never held to that philosophy. "Do unto others." 

So he inhaled deeply, took his knife from his pocket, flipped it open in his knuckle-gloved hands, and slowly moved down the sewer toward the voices. As he approached the door, he was shocked. Without even entering the room, he could see a couple of them clearly, through the door that they had carelessly left open for some reason. Perhaps they were expecting someone else? Perhaps they were expecting [i]him.[/i] That's a scary thought.

Eli clenched his blade more firmly and swallowed nervously before clearing his throat, getting Collette's attention at the very least.