[@datadogie]
[b]Jessalyn - Bus - Jasper[/b]

The kid looked like a puppy afraid he was going to be kicked. Jessalyn swore ripely under her breath repeatedly. 
"Relax short-stuff I'm not in the habit of shooting kids," she said, rubbing the back of her neck.
Turning, she reached into a box and pulled out two cans. They had pull tabs so easy open. Popping them both she realized she had grabbed two cans of spaghettios with cut up pieces of hot dog. It wasn't the best cold but it wasn't the worst either. Jessalyn stuck a plastic spoon in each can and handed one to Jasper.

"Here kid. You and I are going to have a chat."
She sat down next to him and started eating. "Okay short-stuff. I'm not going to send you off on your own. So here's the deal. I'm not going to make you stay but I'm not going to make you go. Your choice. You can stay here but you are going to pull your weight. I give you a roof and food and you help me scavenge. What do you say?"

-----------------------------
[b]Katie - mall parking lot - Rex[/b]

Katie heard the sound of the monsters. She had no qualms about leaving the other man behind. He was too hurt. He would die soon and become a monster as well. 
She looked confused for a moment when the man who helped her asked about her mom. Then she remembered. "Mama? Oh! Uh..." she looked around rapidly. "Maybe one of the other store entrances?" she suggested, tugging on the man's arm. 

She needed to find a way to slip away from this man and head back to the soon-to-be-dead-man's camp and take what she could carry before someone else found it. Maybe she could lose him in the mall.
She no longer wanted to steal from this man. She didn't have to now that the bearded man's stuff was easy pickings.

When the dog growled she backed away, this time genuinely scared. Katie had run into wild dogs before. They were mean and scary. She had seen then rip other animals apart. She was almost as afraid of dogs as she was of the monsters.