Hi readers! This story is based on the movie universe because I haven't finished the book yet but a have seen the movie. Please leave me a review.

I do not own the Host.

Chapter One

The Meeting

I slipped into the closed building marked with a large sign that simply said store. Hurrying down the aisles I grabbed different foods. Everything I take will have to last me at least a week. I was getting tired of sneaking into stores every few days and was trying to make fewer trips. My stomach rumbled, I had finished the last of the food from my last visit to the store this afternoon; I looked around and spotted a bag of chips on the shelf closest to me. I grabbed the bag and when I opened it made that loud crinkling noise that all chip bags make. Well, I thought, I guess the aliens can't change everything.

Suddenly I heard a noise from the next aisle. I grabbed my gun and holding it in front of me ran around the corner. I found myself face to face with another gun. Behind the gun was a man who looked like he was in his twenties.

"Who the hell are you?" He asked, looking as shocked as I was to see somebody else here.

"I could ask you the same thing," I replied, "Show me your eyes."

"Okay," he said, looking down on me with eyes that were clearly human. Obviously he saw that mine were also human because he lowered his gun. He nodded at mine, "You don't have to keep pointing that at me you know."

"Yeah I know," I said, I hesitated for a moment, looking from my gun to him and back again before slowly lowering my gun. It was a small handgun that my father had kept in our house my whole life. It had never shot anyone; the only action it ever got was being used to shoot beer cans.

"So," he said, "You didn't answer my question."

"You didn't answered mine," I pointed.

"Well I asked first," he said, with a laugh. I studied him debating if I should trust him or not. He had the kind of face that seemed to be both intense and intimidating and kind and gentle at the same time. "It's okay," he reassured me, he could tell how scared I was, "I'm not a bad guy. I'm not going to hurt you. You can trust me."

The instincts that I had developed since the invasion started told me to run. But a part of me, the part from before all this happened, told me to trust him.

"I'm Anya," I said, finally giving up.

"I'm Ian," he told me.

Suddenly I heard footsteps behind me. I grabbed my gun and turned around. Before I could stop myself I gasped. Behind me were three men, all holding guns; the weapons were pointed at me.

"Drop it," One of them yelled, "I will shot you. Don't think for a second that I won't."

"Kyle," Ian said, "It's okay. It's cool, she's human."

The two men behind him lowered their guns but Kyle didn't. "She's got to drop her gun first." I placed my gun on the ground. "You sure she's not going to attack?" he asked Ian.

"For god's sake Kyle," he said, "She's like what five foot?"

"I'm five foot two," I told him.

"Five foot two," Ian repeated, "You're seriously scared of her? It's her against four guys. We're all at least six feet tall. You're over a foot taller than her. She's not stupid."

Kyle finally stopped pointing his gun at me. "Well," he said, "At least now we know what was taking you so long."

"I can take care of myself Kyle," he said, "But while you're here take those boxes out to the truck," he pointed at some boxes near the beginning of the aisle, "I need to talk to Anya."

The three men walked over to the boxes. I picked up my gun and started to walk away back to the items I has gather in the next aisle over. Behind me I could her Ian following me. When I got back to my stuff I pick up the abandoned bag of chips. "So," I said, as I casually took a bite from a chip, "What is it that you need to talk to me about?"

"Where are you staying?" he asked me.

I turned around mid-bite and looked at him. "Why are you asking?"

He didn't answer my question, "Are you on your own? Or are you with others?" He looked at the basket that held the food I had been collected. "That's not a lot of food," he said, "So I'm going to guess on your own. Am I right?"

"Why would I tell you that?" I asked him, "Do you honestly except me to trust you?"

"I trust you," he told me. Something about the way he said it made me believe him.

"Yes," I said, "But as you pointed out. I'm five foot two and you're what six foot?"

"Six one," he said with a laugh, "But you've got a gun. You could have shot me when you first saw me but you didn't. Hell you could shot me right now. I won't stop you." He put his gun down on the ground. "Listen Anya," he said, "I'm not the enemy here. There are only a few of us left. We should stick together instead of fighting. You can come stay with us if you want."

"Where are you staying?" I asked him.

"There are these caves," he told me, "This guy I know, Jeb, he found them and he's gathered a whole group of people there. We live there. We work there. We stay alive."

I thought about my life. Even since the invasion I've been sleeping in the woods or the desert, always moving, never staying in one place for two long. I had to admit a place that I could call home sounded pretty nice.

"Okay," I told him, "I'll go."

We walked over to the exit of the store. The whole time I could feel my heart beating in my chest. My body was reacting the same way any body would if a stranger who had a gun suggested that they leave a store with them. But this was a different situation, in our post invasion world this isn't that strange. But it is possible that my body is reacting just the way it should be. It's possible that Ian did mean to harm me. Even in this new strange world that we live in there are still bad people. But I believe that Ian didn't want to hurt me. I didn't completely trust him, not yet, maybe not ever but I did sense that he wasn't an immediate danger.

When we stepped out of the store I saw that Kyle was loading boxes into the back of a truck. He looked over and noticed that I was with Ian. It was clear on his face that he wasn't happy about this. "I guess the girl's coming then," he said.

"Yes," he said, "Anya is coming with us." He made sure to emphasize his use of my name.