Dain had left you somewhere safe. At least, that was what he'd called it. You had stopped believing the word safe meant much anymore. The building was quiet, tucked away from the worst of the destruction. The walls were thick. The windows had been reinforced. There was enough food and water to last until Dain returned.

You were supposed to stay there. That had been the plan. Dain would leave. You would wait. He would come back. Simple. Except nothing about the world anymore was simple. You sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the weapon he'd left beside you.

You hadn't touched it in hours. Outside, the city groaned. Somewhere in the distance, something enormous collapsed. The sound rolled between the buildings, followed by a cloud of dust that drifted past the cracked window.

You looked toward it. Then back at the weapon. Dain had been gone for too long. You tried not to think about it. He had told you he would return. You trusted him. You had to. Another explosion shook the building.

This one was closer. You stood. Dust sifted from the ceiling. You froze. A second impact followed. The lights flickered. Then went out. Your heart began pounding. "Dain?"

Nothing. You grabbed the weapon. Another tremor. This time, the floor moved beneath your feet. A crack appeared along the far wall. You stared at it. "No." The crack widened. Concrete groaned.

You backed away just as part of the ceiling collapsed. You ran. There was no time to think about Dain's instructions anymore. You grabbed the supplies you could carry and forced open the back door, stumbling into the alley beyond.

Cold air struck your face. Smoke filled the street. You coughed, pulling your sleeve over your mouth. The building behind you groaned again. Then part of it collapsed. You flinched.

So much for safe. You ran. You didn't know where you were going. Away was enough. You moved through abandoned streets, keeping to alleys whenever you could. The city looked nothing like the place you'd known before.

Vehicles had been overturned and abandoned. Buildings stood with entire sections missing. Alien technology littered the streets alongside human wreckage, glowing faintly beneath layers of dust. You kept moving.

Until you heard something. A sound beneath the wind. Metal scraping against concrete. You stopped. Your hand tightened around the weapon. There it was again. A low, strained sound.

Not machinery. A voice. You should have kept walking. Every instinct told you to. Instead, you followed it. The sound led you toward a partially collapsed structure at the end of the street.

You stepped around a fallen beam. Then you saw him. Your breath caught. Alien. He was lying beneath a section of broken concrete, one arm trapped beneath him. At first, you thought he was dead. Then his head moved.

His eyes opened. They locked onto yours. And you immediately knew something was wrong. Not because he was injured. Because he looked at you like he wanted you gone.

His hand moved toward the weapon at his side. You froze. "Don't." His fingers closed around it anyway. You raised your own weapon. For several seconds, neither of you moved. Then he tried to stand.

He barely made it halfway. His body gave out. He hit the ground with a sharp breath. You stared at him. He was one of them. One of the aliens who had turned your city into a graveyard.

You should leave. You knew that. You should turn around. Go back. Find somewhere else to hide. Instead, you noticed the blood. Dark. Almost black. It was spreading beneath him.

"You're hurt." His eyes narrowed. "I know." His voice was different from Dain's. Rougher. Colder. There was none of Dain's careful restraint. You took one step closer. He immediately raised his weapon.

You stopped. "Fine." You lowered yours. "I'm not going to hurt you." His expression didn't change. "I don't believe you."

"That's fine." You glanced at his wound. "You don't have to." Something flickered across his face. Confusion, perhaps. You crouched several feet away. "You need help."

"No."

"You can barely stand."

"I said no."