The journey back to Jill's residential sector was not an easy one. The darkened, misused tunnel stretched on deeper into the city, where the noise and activity of the Combine patrols overhead reached their ears even through the tunnel ceiling. Jill seemed to grow more and more anxious as she led him through the dark winding tunnel, pausing every time a chorus of muffled footsteps and roaring tires passed overhead. Adrian followed close behind, shooting constant glances back down the subway tunnel as they moved onwards.

Throughout the trip, Jill was silent. The only words she uttered were "don't fall behind" when they had left the maintenance room. Adrian debated asking her what was bothering her – she seemed to be even more on edge than when the Civil Protection officers had attacked them – but he ultimately decided against it. Whatever was troubling her, he doubted she would confide in him, a total stranger.

After what seemed like an age, they came to another subway station, which had fallen into disrepair. An abandoned tram car was unmoving on the tracks, covered with rust and dirt. The door leading into the closest car was ajar, and the interior was dark and filthy. Halfway down the platform there was an unlit exit sign and a stairway. Jill motioned towards it with her head.

"This is as far as we can go. We're going to have to risk being caught seen by the Combine aboveground. This station's as close as we're going to get to my place."

"How far is it?" Adrian asked, hauling himself onto the subway platform and reaching a hand down to pull Jill up. Her hand was cool and small within his own.

"About twenty minutes on foot," she replied tersely, checking her green leather case for the umpteenth time. She turned to face him fully for the first time since they had set out. Her auburn hair fell over one of her eyes, and the other stared out at him, bright and green.

"Just so you know, we stand a pretty good chance of being captured by a patrol squad as soon as we go topside," she said quietly. "And I can't afford to be captured by the Combine now. Don't fall behind."

"I'm not going to fall behind," Adrian said.

"Good. And just so you know, don't pull another stunt like the one you pulled earlier, or we'll be captured or killed for sure."

"Another stunt like saving your life?" Adrian asked bluntly. Jill sighed. "This isn't a game, Adrian. I'm not kidding. Thank you, you did me a great service, but you don't know how much damage it will do to the Resistance if I'm captured."

"I used to be a Marine, Jill," Adrian said. "You're not going to get captured if I can help it. And we're wasting time here, so we might as well get moving."

She nodded slightly, staring at him for another second, before turning on her heel and walking as quickly as she could towards the stairway despite her limp. Adrian followed close behind, wishing, not for the first time, that he had thought to grab one of the fallen officers' weapons before they ran.

As they ascended the stairs, the grey sky illuminated the dark walls around them. They were covered with graffiti, mostly random scribbling that looked to be gang insignias. Every so often there were propaganda posters sporting a single logo: a yellow circle surrounded by a two pronged object, with elaborate letters spelling out CMB.

The Combine's insignia, I assume…

Further down the wall there was a strange drawing of a grown man, crouching, holding an infant in his arms. He turned to Jill to ask what the graffiti meant, but she had already reached the top of the stairs, and was moving out of sight.

Hurrying to catch up with her, Adrian lengthened his strides and climbed to the top of the stairs. Looking around, he saw a large intersection, with large grey buildings menacingly looming overhead. Black dots swarmed through the sky around them. The intersection itself was deserted, but Adrian could see the outline of an APC further down one of the streets, gleaming sinisterly in the dreary light.

"This way," Jill whispered, and she headed down an empty street, covered with rubble and huge chunks of broken concrete. Ruined apartment complexes lines the street, some with great chunks broken off, almost as though they had been hit with RPGs or other explosives. Great hunks of stone and destroyed cement dotted the road, which was pockmarked with deep pits of destroyed asphalt. The city must have been through one hell of a war.

Adrian followed Jill through the rubble, picking his way around the giant potholes in the street and clambering over the mountains of destroyed stone that dotted the street. The rain was still coming down, although not as hard as it had been before. It was only lightly drizzling, pattering down on his already damp clothes and skin.

As he walked around the edge of another hole in the street, his foot came down on something hard and round. Looking down, he saw a porcelain doll's head beneath his heel. However, one side of its face had been blown away, leaving behind a cracked, burnt mess.

Adrian, despite Jill's hurry, knelt beside the rubble and scraped some dirt off the doll's head. Its face, once a creamy peach colour, was now so scarred and pitted with dirt and grime that it was nearly unrecognizable. Its remaining eye was caked shut with dirt. He scraped some away with a fingernail and a flash of dull blue met his eyes.

Adrian's stomach twisted with anger and sadness. How many children had suffered at the hands of these alien invaders?

"Come on, let's –" Jill's voice abruptly died as she came up next to him. Adrian looked up. The red-haired woman was gazing down at the doll's head in his hand, her normally bright eyes shuttered and forbidding. Her fingers were clenching and unclenching at her sides, as though she ached to wrap them around someone's throat. Adrian felt a chill as he looked at her.

"Jill?"

"Keep moving," she said flatly, turning away from him and continuing down the ruined street. Nonplussed, Adrian followed her, moving through the rubble and further into City 17.

x x x x

Gordon stared at the girl before him, eyes wide with surprise. The last time he had seen Alyx, she was an infant. She had matured very well, he noted. She looked a lot like her mother, but he could see traces of Eli in her as well.

"My dad worked with you in Black Mesa, remember?" she said as Gordon dusted himself off. "I'm sure you don't remember me though."

"No, I do," Gordon replied, wincing as he gingerly probed the wound on his back. "I used to visit you and Azian back in the dorms at Black Mesa with Barney and Dr. Kleiner sometimes."

"Yeah, Dad used to tell me," Alyx said, a faint trace of a smile on her face. Gordon straightened up and looked at her. "Alyx, I'm very sorry that your mother didn't make it out of Black Mesa."

She nodded slightly, looking down. She opened her mouth to say something, when one of the Civil Protection officers at their feet groaned and shifted a little.

"No time for reminiscing, Gordon, we've got to get moving," Alyx said, striding quickly and purposefully toward an elevator in the corner of the room. Gordon followed her, glancing down as he did so. Seven prone bodies garbed in white masks lay on the floor.

"You sure know how to handle yourself," he said admiringly as they stepped into the elevator. Alyx grinned as she took a small key out of her pocket and inserted it into the wall panel; with a loud whirring noise, the elevator rumbled to life and began to descend. The room slowly drifted out of sight, replaced by blank stone walls as the lift moved lower.

"In times like these, you can't afford not to know how to handle yourself," Alyx replied, replacing the key in her pocket and leaning against the elevator wall. A stray strand of dark hair fell over her face and she blew it away.

She's gotten quite attractive, Gordon thought, and then felt appalled. She was his oldest friend's daughter, for God's sake. She had to be twenty years younger than him, at least.

Speaking of which, have I been aging while I've been kept in that stasis? Gordon wondered as the elevator shuddered to a halt. I hope to hell that I haven't.

"Man of few words, aren't you?" Alyx asked, shaking him out of his trance.

"Sorry," he said, as the doors opened and revealed a dingy looking storage room, devoid of anything except dusty boxes and a red painted pallet. "It's just… a lot to absorb, you know. I haven't exactly been around recently."

"We know," Alyx said, heading towards a corner of the room, knocking some boxes out of the way with the toe of her boot. "We didn't even know you had escaped Black Mesa alive until today."

"How did you manage to find me?" Gordon asked. Alyx bent over the boxes, clearing a space in the corner. Gordon determinedly stared at the ceiling. A faded yellow propaganda poster sporting an image of Wallace Breen was tacked to the wall.

"Barney was on duty viewing the incoming transfer citizens when your train came in," Alyx said, straightening up and beginning to fiddle with a control panel on the wall next to the poster. "He happened to see you on one of the monitors and sent a message to Dr. Kleiner. I was in the lab when Barney called, so Dr. Kleiner sent me out to find you."

Alyx keyed something into the wall panel and to Gordon's surprise, the section of wall covered by the Breen poster shifted to the side, revealing a cleverly concealed doorway.

"It's just through here to Dr. Kleiner's place," Alyx said, brushing her hair back and motioning through the doorway, at the dimly lit hallway beyond. "We'd better get moving."

Gordon nodded and followed her down the hall, towards Dr. Kleiner's hidden laboratory.

x x x x

Like Jill had said, her apartment complex was twenty minutes away. However, it took them much longer than that to get there, as they had to stop every so often to avoid patrols of Civil Protection officers and their APCs. Several times Adrian and Jill were forced to hide in alleyways, behind dumpsters, and in storage containers while waiting uncomfortably for the CPs to move on.

At last Jill led him around to the back of a large apartment building, its stone walls marred with cracks and gouges. There was a large courtyard at the rear of the building, with dead brown stalks of grass waving slightly in the cold air. The area was devoid of people, citizens and officers alike.

Jill led him to a grey steel door at one end of the building and pulled it open. Inside was a dimly lit storage room, littered with broken furniture, large wooden boxes, and an inch-thick layer of dust.

"Hurry up, come inside before someone sees," Jill whispered, her voice sounding strangely loud in the piercing quiet of the room. Adrian quickly followed her through the doorway, and she shut it behind him, picking up a small wooden board from beside the door and wedging it tightly between the handle. Adrian felt some of the tension leave his shoulders as the cold air was cut off from the room. The sound of the rain outside immediately quieted.

"Follow me," Jill said softly, heading across the room towards another door, this one wide open. A flickering EXIT sign hung lopsided over it. Adrian walked behind her, picking his way through the discarded furniture and broken household possessions that littered the dusty floor.

"Why's all this stuff down here?" Adrian asked in a low voice as they exited the storage room and began climbing a long, twisting stairwell leading to the apartment complex. "The Combine took everyone's personal possessions and trashed them?"

"Basically," Jill said quietly, her eyes narrowing at the injustice, her mouth a thin line. "They do everything they can to keep us as downtrodden as possible. They confiscate our personal items, destroy them, and send them back. They take away all the good food we once had and the only people that get it are the Civil Protection officers that work for them. Even basic, everyday things… coffee, tea, blankets, electricity… they cut us off from all of it. Our apartments have no insulation and barely any heating, so during winters we always freeze. Lots of the older citizens die."

Adrian felt a cold rage deep in the pit of his stomach. "I can't believe they can get away with all of this."

Jill looked sideways at him as they climbed the stairs. Something sparked in her eyes. "They won't forever, as long as I and every person in the Resistance have something to say about it."

Adrian admired her optimism, but couldn't help wondering if it was just wishful thinking. Based on what he had seen, the Combine had effectively crushed the human civilization and were holding them in an iron stranglehold.

They began to pass long hallways, lined with scuffed and dirty doorways. Most were closed, but several were open. As they climbed, Adrian had a fleeting glimpse of a dirty and filthy interior before the floor vanished beneath them.

Jill's apartment was at the top floor of the building. They reached the final hallway before the steps began leading towards the roof. Jill turned into the hall and went to a door in the middle of it, carefully stepping over small shards of broken glass that glittered like diamonds beneath her worn sneakers.

When they reached the door, Jill raised her hand and rapped on it sharply, tapping out a series of knocks that were obviously some sort of signal. After a brief pause, someone responded with a series of rapid taps from the other side.

"Inside, Adrian, hurry," Jill whispered, opening the door with one hand and motioning him forward with the other, still holding the writing case. Adrian stepped over the threshold into the apartment, Jill following close behind.

The first thing Adrian noticed was a thin figure leaning against the wall ahead of them. A bright fluorescent bulb hanging from a chain in the centre of the entrance hall threw his outline into sharp relief.

He was older than Adrian by at least a decade, judging by the graying strands of hair at his temples. The majority of his hair was black, pulled into a ponytail behind his head. Sharp greyish-brown irises gazed out at him from a gaunt, skull-like face, skin stretched tight across bones. The dark shadows beneath his eyes contrasted starkly to the pale white skin of his face.

"News?" the man asked, his voice a little raspy, as though he had a sore throat.

"I haven't had a chance to examine it," Jill replied, her voice right behind his ear, and Adrian started. He had almost forgotten she was there.

"Who is this?" the man inquired sharply, examining Adrian with a cursory look. "He's not dressed like a citizen."

"His name's Adrian, I found him in Block 22-B. He was alone," Jill replied. The man continued to stare at him with sharp, untrusting eyes. "Is he one of the Condemned?" the man asked. Jill hesitated, and Adrian felt another stab of confusion. What were the Condemned?

"I don't think he was originally, but we got into a… spot of trouble on the way back here," Jill said, delicately phrasing her words. The man looked alarmed. "What kind of trouble?"

"He killed two Civil Protection officers," Jill said, and the man took a step forward, eyes flashing. "Are you insane?" he hissed, his voice low with panic. "You're telling me all the commotion being raised out there is because of you? You brought an Anticitizen into our apartment!"

Jill raised her hand. "Adam, please, just calm down. We don't turn people away, you know that."

"Of course I do, but the rules are a bit different when you bring one of the Condemned into the headquarters of –"

The man suddenly clamped his jaw shut, looking wary. Adrian, who until this point had been feeling distinctly guilty, not to mention annoyed, felt a surge of interest.

"The Resistance? Here?" he probed, studying the man for a sign of confirmation, but the wiry man gave none. "I didn't know the main base of operations was here," he said, turning to Jill. "Well, I mean, I knew you were a part of it and all but I still didn't –"

"Can this wait until after we sit down?" Jill interrupted, looking at the man called Adam. He grunted, unfolded his arms from across his blue scruffy shirt, turned away and headed down the hall and into a doorway on the left. Jill followed him, her rain-slicked shoes squeaking slightly on the hardwood floor.

As Adrian moved down the hall, he could hear low voices at work. "All right, good, you get right on that," someone said in a gruff, powerful tone, and then there was a furious tapping of computer keys. Jill motioned form him to hurry up, and he hastened to follow her into the room.

Four people were clustered around a computer monitor, conversing quietly about a variety of diagrams and symbols on the screen. It looked as though they were examining a detailed map of a city, complete with coloured lines, red circles, and flashing sections of buildings.

One of the men at the computer looked over. Adrian got a quick glance of a graying beard and moustache, and a large brown pipe dangling between them, before the large burly figure shot to its feet and seized Jill in a hug.

"Where the hell have you been?" the man asked in a low, irritated whisper, his voice gravelly in the quiet room. "I've been worried sick about you! We thought you'd been captured!"

Jill returned the hug with enthusiasm. "I'm sorry, Daddy, I got help up, and I found someone outside who needed some help." She inclined her head towards Adrian, who had been standing awkwardly by the doorway until this point.

"Not dressed like one of us," was the first thing out of the man's mouth, and Adrian felt annoyed again. Was that all anyone was going to say to him?

The burly man released Jill and focused on Adrian fully for the first time. The man was huge, his chest and shoulders wide and powerful beneath the blue citizen uniform. The sleeves were bulging at the seams, his corded muscles straining the rough material. The cuffs of his pants were worn and tattered, and there was a large rip at the left knee. His face was weathered and war-torn, with a thick graying beard and moustache covering his lower face. A large, ropy scar slashed across his left eye, shining in the light like a sharp crescent. Beneath the scar, a bright green eye the exact colour and shape of Jill's met his gaze thoughtfully yet powerfully. Adrian's first impression was that this was not a man to cross.

"Who are you?" the man asked, and his deep voice rumbled across the room like rolling thunder. Adrian felt somewhat cowed looking at him. The guy was huge.

"I'm Adrian Shephard," he replied, in a voice not as deep but just as powerful as the one he was being addressed in. "I'm sorry to intrude upon your home."

The man stared at him with those piercing green eyes, and Adrian felt a strange feeling in his stomach as he met the man's gaze. It was disconcerting to see Jill's eyes looking at him from such a rough and menacing face. Nevertheless, he stared back evenly, until the man spoke again.

"My name is Ken Townshend," he said, holding out a large calloused hand. Adrian reached out and had his arm wrung. "Why don't you a take a seat, Adrian? We've got a lot to discuss." He motioned to a decrepit grey sofa in the corner of the room. Adrian walked over to it and sat down, shifting uncomfortably under the stare of the group of people at the computers. One was a dark-skinned woman with piercing eyes, wearing a tattered gold chain around her throat. She had a combat knife belted to her hip. Another was a wiry and young American, with dirty blond hair and an amiable expression, although at the moment it was laced with confusion. The last person was a powerful looking man with short black hair and a grim expression. Noticing Adrian's discomfort, Jill took several strides across the room and sat down next to him, giving him a nod and a smile of encouragement. He returned it somewhat feebly, grateful for her presence. She seemed much more at ease now that she was back in the apartment.

Jill's father, Ken, turned to Adam, who was leaning against a doorframe in the corner of the room, staring at Adrian distrustfully. "Couldn't make us a cup of coffee, could you, Adam?" he asked. "I think Jill could use it." True enough, Jill looked exhausted, her eyes only half-open. Adam nodded and withdrew silently from the room. Ken leaned over the shoulder of the black woman by the computer and whispered to her in a low tone. The woman nodded, shooting Adrian a brief look, before beginning to type rapidly. Ken then strode across the room and pulled a chair away from a dining table, dropping down into it with his legs spread and his huge arms crossed over his barrel-like chest.

"So, Adrian, first things first," he said. "How exactly did you come to be in City 17?" Adrian shrugged, feeling hot around the collar. "I… was recently let go by an organization, only a few hours ago. They left me in the city."

Ken stared at him doubtfully. "And where were you before this?"

"It's hard to explain," Adrian said dryly, smiling inwardly at the prospect of explaining the G-Man to Ken. Jill's father looked at him for another moment, and eventually nodded. "Very well. How exactly did you meet Jill?" Slowly, Adrian recounted the story of their encounter, ignoring the gasps and looks of surprise that emanated from the people at the computers when he reached the part involving him killing the Civil Protection officers. At this point, Adam re-entered the room and wordlessly deposited coffee mugs before Ken, Jill, and Adrian. Ken nodded thanks as Jill took a long sip, shuddering happily and closing her tired eyes. Going on, Adrian told Ken how he and Jill and hidden in the maintenance room, and then gone on to reach the apartment while avoiding the patrols. Ken listened passively the entire time, eyes never leaving Adrian's face. When it was clear Adrian had finished talking, Ken spoke.

"Adrian, I may not know who you are, but I must thank you for saving my daughter. Every time she goes out I'm worried sick, and there's never anything I can do for her. I wish I could go out in her place, but I have to monitor things here and keep the shop running. Thank you for helping her. I don't know what I'd do if I lost her."

"It's no problem," Adrian said weakly, feeling distinctly embarrassed as Jill and her father exchanged a half-loving, half-chiding glance. For something to do, Adrian brought the chipped mug to his lips and sipped the scalding coffee. He almost choked it up, so unused was he to its taste. The bitter black liquid seared his parched throat, setting fire to his unused taste buds and sending his head into a whirl of ecstasy.

"What?" Adam said, noticing Adrian's reaction. "Doesn't taste good enough for you?"

"No," Adrian started, but Ken held up a hand, glancing disapprovingly at Adam. "Don't mind him, Adrian, he's just a little distrustful of strangers, and I don't blame him at all considering the times." Adam didn't meet his look, but stared at the wall, arms crossed over his chest. Jill looked at him with a worried glance before turning to Adrian. "Coffee is one of the things that was taken from the citizens after the war," she explained. "Normally, only the Civil Protection officers have access to it. But we have some people working on the inside that smuggle it out and distribute it among the citizens. They're very discreet, so it's never a constant thing, but they try. That's how we get access to a lot of things, like sugar and whatnot."

Adrian nodded, taking all of this in. I never thought I'd live in a world without sugar. Man, Mom always said that would happen if I ate too much of it. I just never imagined this would be the way it disappeared.

To break the silence, Adrian asked something that had been bothering him for a while. "What exactly are the Condemned?" At his words, a collective shudder seemed to resonate within the room, and the expressions around him grew somber. It was Ken who answered him.

"The Condemned are citizens who are wanted by the Combine for questioning or relocation to Nova Prospekt. That used to be a high security prison complex, but now it's used for something far worse. We don't know what. Anyways, if the Combine are looking for you, then you're basically doomed. Those types of people adopted all kids of names: the Condemned, the Blacklisted… because any way you slice it, they're screwed."

"And that's what I am now?" Adrian said, not wanting to hear the answer, but expecting it regardless. Ken sighed, a deep rumbling sound. "I hate to say it, but it looks like it. Anyone who shows signs of outright opposition against the Combine is blacklisted. Still, as long as you lay low, you shouldn't have too much difficulty, unless they make you an Anticitizen."

"What's that?" Adrian asked. It was Jill who answered him this time, still leaning back against the couch with her eyes closed. "Citizens who have been declared dangerous and have a death mark on their heads. Anyone who sees them have to report them to the Combine, or their entire residential sector is re-located or sent to Nova Prospekt."

This sent a chill through Adrian's bones. "I should go. I'm endangering all of you just by being here." He made a move to stand up, but Jill placed her soft, cool hand on his own to stop him. "We're members of the Resistance, Adrian. If any single one of us is captured it means the downfall of us all. We're hardly worse off by having you around; if anything, this could help us greatly." She smiled at him. Adrian still felt unconvinced, but he sat back down slowly. Adam looked doubtful.

Ken nodded satisfactorily. "Jilly's right. Good to have you on board, Adrian. Meet the rest of the team."

He motioned over his shoulder, indicating the dark-skinned woman with the combat knife. "This is Sonya. She's our tech expert, works with anything we can salvage or steal from the Combine to better understand their technology."

Sonya nodded at him, staring with those piercing eyes. "If we can find any weaknesses, then we can exploit them."

"Nice to meet you," Adrian said. She smiled at him briefly before turning back to the computer screen.

"This is Michael Storm, our –"

"Call me Mike," the wiry blond American interrupted, grinning at Adrian, his blue eyes bright and friendly. Adrian got an immediate impression of amiability. "I specialize in mechanics. Vehicle and weapons specialist. I can drive anything and fix anything."

"In case you hadn't noticed, Mikey here is the youngest," Ken said, eyebrows raised. Sonya laughed, while Mike smirked and folded his hands behind his head. The last man, the muscle-bound one with the serious eyes, sat silent and still next to him.

"That's Peter Tarasov. Man of few words, you'll soon come to see. He takes care of our security issues and contact with other Resistance members." The hulking Peter nodded at him once, face betraying no emotion whatsoever. Adrian felt distinctly awkward around these people.

"And you've met Adam already, I believe." The two men turned to look at each other, and Adrian almost saw a spark of dislike flare in Adam's eyes as he glared at him. Adrian stared right back, refusing to be ruffled by the man's animosity. At length, Adam turned away.

"In any case, we need to get around to dissecting the contents of that case," Ken said, getting to his feet and clapping his hands once. "Let's –"

Suddenly an ecstatic voice rang out through the room. "Shit! Holy shit! Ken, I got it!"

Adrian started wildly, glancing around. He couldn't tell where the voice had come from. Ken sighed, rolling his eyes. "That," he said, "is Jonah."

Adrian looked where Ken was indicating and to his surprise saw a figure slumped so low in a chair that he had been invisible. Looking at him now, Adrian was surprised he had missed him – especially considering the puffs of grey smoke that were emanating from his general vicinity.

"Jonah serves as our computer analyst and hacker," Ken said in a disgruntled tone. "And a damn good one he is, or we wouldn't keep him around." Jonah laughed, a low, gravelly sound that for some reason Adrian immediately liked. He looked African American, and was dressed in tattered jeans and a worn blue shirt with the sleeves torn off. A joint of marijuana protruded from his lips.

Adrian stared at him, nonplussed. Next to him, Jill was stifling giggles behind her hand. When Adrian looked at her in confusion, she laughed even harder. "Jonah works best when he has a pick-me-up," she managed to choke out. As if to confirm this, Jonah blew a cloud of smoke into the air, and soon Mike and Sonya were rolling in their seats as well.

Watching Jill, Adrian realized it was the first time he had heard her laugh. It was a beautiful sound, rich and sweet. He felt himself relax slightly.

"Yes, yes," Ken said in an aggravated tone. "Very funny. Let's get back to business, shall we? Jonah, did you get the link up and running between here and Kleiner's place?"

"Gotcha, Chief," Jonah replied, coughing slightly. "All systems go. Kleiner says he's putting the finishing touches on the teleporter now, and it should be ready within an hour or so."

"Good," Ken replied. "Get a message through to him and tell him we'll send him the latest news shortly. Sonya, Adam, Peter, crack that case open and let's get to it. We burn it as soon as we have it documented, got it?"

"Got it," they chorused. Ken nodded once and left the room. Still confused, Adrian turned to Jill, who was smiling sleepily and curled up in a ball on the couch. "Weed is still around?"

"Not really," Jill giggled. "One of our undercover CPs, Barney, patches it through during patrols or block raids. It's a risk stealing drugs from the CP stash, but nobody ever notices it's missing, and the Combine only confiscated it in the first place because people stopped caring what they said when they were using it."

"Right," Adrian said weakly. Jill laughed. "You'll get used to this stuff. And don't worry, it's temporary, until we can defeat the Combine." Adrian nodded, feeling mounting respect for this group of survivors. "I'm glad I met you," he said, watching her.

Jill smiled at him, a smile as bright and hopeful and full of life as her eyes, and Adrian felt some of his despair melt away. "Welcome to the Resistance," she said.