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He pushed forward, and suddenly artificial light enveloped the in air that was stale and thick but blessedly free from dirt and dust

Striker threaded his hands under her aret out of this building The tunnel

could collapse beneath us”

They raced up more stairs and out into an abandoned store Striker scanned the street beyond the hile Friday bent double and gasped for air

“Okay, we’re good Come on” He motioned for her to follow Unlike her, he wasn’t out of breath

They sneaked out into the street, hugging the walls of the buildings, keeping to the shadows Striker took her hand again to ensure she kept pace with him His eye restlessly scanned the area as he led her across the road They were in a suburb full of cheap prefab houses with tiny roo the poor, out of sight of the rich, where they couldn’t offend

“In here” He elbowed the door to a darkened house There was a crack and the panel gave way

He shoved her inside and quietly shut the broken door behind them As he spied out of theto see if anyone was following, Friday surveyed their surroundings They were in the s were sparse, cheap but neat Someone had tried to care for their home, and it had been invaded Guilt assailed her

Striker turned away froood here for now”

He strode to the kitchen area, opened the refrigerator, and pulled out two bottles of water He thrust one at her “Drink But spit out the first few mouthfuls We ate a lot of dirt”

She followed him to the sink and did as he ordered Her first s of ice-cold water was a balm to her abused throat Without another word, Striker fetched two more bottles and passed one to her She sank down the wall to sit on the cool stone floor Her an to ache She leaned her head back and closed her eyes It felt like her eyeballs had been rolled in sand The grit had worked its way under her coainst her eyeball Sheout, first chance she got The lens was useless to her anyway, now that she was disconnected frorid

“You did good”

She snorted It wasn’t ladylike She didn’t care “I did nothing”

“Which is exactly what I told you to do Hence the good”

She opened her eyes to find Striker crouched in front of her “You could have told me there were snakes in the tunnel”