Authors Note: So sorry this took so long to get posted, real life got in the way and I wasn't able to do anything about it. But I'm back to my usual self and looking forward to cracking on with the next chapter. jdpenny121 and anonSTfan, I'm so glad you're still so enthusiastic about this story and hope you trust me when I say I am too and if I could post any faster I would do. DevinBourdain, all your little messages, and reading your latest story (especially my sneak preview) have meant the world to me, just when I've needed it most. You're keeping me sane in what is a long and weary situation and I love you for it.

Hope you all enjoy this next chapter.

Chapter 11

Sandra could have cried with relief when she saw him. He painted a heart-breaking picture and she had to refrain from running over to him. She would have, were it not for the rather angry young woman waving an assault rifle at her.

"John, you know these two?" The woman asked, refusing to lower her weapon.

"Yeah, yeah. They're my friends."

"You never mentioned any friends." The woman said, suspicious.

John let out a shuddering breath as he got his emotions under control. "Because I didn't know they'd find me. Put your gun down Sophie you can trust them. You trust me, don't you?"

"My sister does." The woman said, clearly yet to be convinced herself, but she lowered her weapon and stepped aside. Sandra noticed another woman had appeared in the doorway of a room off to the side. She had her arms folded across her chest and was leaning on the doorframe with a gentle smile on her face. She looked so like the first woman that she had to be the sister.

Dorian ignored the woman and rushed through the rows of mattresses, sinking to his knees beside John and wrapping his arms around the man, drawing him into a bear hug. John hissed in pain, but laughed too, returning the hug. Dorian realised he'd hurt the man and quickly recoiled. Sandra came up beside them and dropped to her knees too, unsure of his injuries she took his hand instead and gave it a gentle squeeze, as she did she noticed the bandages round his wrists that were spotted with blood. He was dressed in an old grey tee shirt and worn jeans, and she could see there were bandages beneath the borrowed clothes as well.

"How did you find me?" John asked, his voice strained, barely able to see out of his bruised eyes.

"That's a long story." Sandra replied, throwing a glance to the girl Sophie. John caught her hint and gave her a slight nod, not in present company.

"You okay Jason?" John turned and spoke to the young boy that had been propped up in the bed. "These are my friends Sandra and Dorian. I've got some important things to talk to them about, but I'll be back later okay?" The kid didn't say anything, just nodded. John ruffled a hand through his hair and reached for a pair of old wooden crutches that were propped up against the wall. Dorian stood and offered him a hand, hauling him to his foot before grabbing the crutches and offering them to him.

"Thanks buddy." He said under his breath. Sandra knew he was still embarrassed about the loss of his leg and he hated needing any kind of help. He looked like he needed help though, he was unsteady and weak. As he leaned on the crutches he couldn't help but let out a pained gasp, but he gritted his teeth and began to move with surprising deftness, swinging his body forward as he navigated through the obstacles. By the time he'd made it to the door though, his arms were shaking with the effort.

John lead them outside and sat down heavily on the steps to the church, setting his crutches down with a sigh. Sandra sat down beside him and placed a hand on his knee. "Oh John, what did they do to you?"

"Anna was there." He said, his voice sounding raw. "They wanted to know the extent of my investigation."

"They tortured you?" Dorian asked, horrified.

John avoided the question but the answer was obvious. "I escaped but was in a pretty bad way…"

Just then the door opened and the older of the two sisters appeared carrying a blanket. "Sorry to interrupt," she said with a tired smile. "But it's too cold for you out here." She opened the blanket and draped it over John's shoulders, rather than being embarrassed at the motherly gesture, as Sandra would have expected, he smiled at her gratefully and pulled it closer round him.

"Carrie, this is Sandra and Dorian." He introduced. "I was just telling them how you saved my life."

"Well don't forget to tell them how you returned the favour." She said. "It's a pleasure to meet you. You should come inside, I'll see if there's any dinner left for you." She offered, turning and leaving them to their talk.

"We should get out of here." Dorian said when she'd left. "Hide out somewhere until we can find another car."

John shrugged. "We can stay here, there's not a huge amount of space but we might be able to find a couple of extra mattresses. Anyway, they've had a bit of trouble here the last few days and I'd rather not abandon them until I have to." Sandra studied him in the dim moonlight. He looked exhausted and the relief he'd shown at their arrival had quickly fallen, replaced by a sad expression that barely masked the pain he was in. It reminded her of how he was in the days after the hospital, she knew she'd have to keep a closer eye on him than usual.

"John," Dorian spoke carefully, knowing he was about to broach a difficult subject. "The people here, they work for InSyndicate."

It shocked them both when John nodded. "I know."

"You know?" Dorian was horrified. "They work with the people who tortured you John! We can't stay here, we can't trust them."

John held a hand up to stop the tirade. "Look it's complicated okay…"

"Look, John." Sandra interjected quietly but firmly, afraid that Dorian's emotional plea was getting too loud. They had the door shut but she still wasn't convinced they weren't being watched. She wished they could have this conversation further away but John looked like he'd barely make it another step. "I know they patched you up, but they're with the people who did this to you in the first place. They're terrorists John, they're the ones who killed your team, took your leg... You don't owe them anything."

"But I might." John lowered his voice so that even Sandra had to strain to hear. "When I escaped I found a warehouse. It was full of DRN's. With the synthetic souls and ZNA stuff that Nigel Vaughn stole, they could be building an army. There's been mutterings here about taking down the wall, apparently InSyn has stepped up their recruitment. We need to finish this, but the people here are not the enemy. You saw how desperate it was in there. Those people in there are dying. InSyndicate smuggles drugs across the border and no one here can afford to ask any questions about where they came from, or what was done to get them."

"You're saying these people don't know who InSyndicate really are?"

John paused as though he was debating how to respond. "Honestly, some do. The guy Will definitely does, he was there during the raid. He's the one I followed to find the tunnel." Dorian looked ready to stride back in and blow the man's brains out but John continued. "The others? I'm not sure. Bits of it yeah, they're not naïve. But one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter."

"You cannot be siding with these people?"

"Not everything is as black and white as your programming would like Dorian!" John hissed.

Sandra sighed and shook her head, this was not the joyful reunion that she'd spent days wishing for. "This Will, you're sure he's not recognised you?" she asked instead.

John shook his head. "I don't think so. I was just one of a dozen nameless cops a few years ago. You know how it is, most people just see the uniform, not the person behind it. Besides…" He waved a hand to indicate his blackened and swollen face. "He would have recognised Dorian as a DRN, but he left yesterday to try and get more supplies. Most of the group went with him, so it's only Carrie and Sophie here at the moment."

Sandra nodded, while she was as uncomfortable as Dorian amongst the strangers, she could see that John would not be swayed on the subject, and she owed it to him to give him the benefit of the doubt. He's always been a good judge of character, she told herself, even as a little voice inside her head whispered, 'remember Anna.' "John, you're cold. Let's go inside."

He didn't protest, just nodded and struggled to his crutches. The blanket slipped from his shoulders and Sandra grabbed it before it hit the filthy floor and held onto it as he made his way slowly up the steps. He moved on ahead of the others, Sandra watched his shoulders, muscles taught under his shirt, blood coming through the bandages and staining the thin cotton of his tee. She looked at Dorian who appeared to be struggling not to cry and she marvelled again about how it was the android who always seemed to be the most human of all of them. She had to remind herself that whatever she thought of these people, John had clearly been in a bad way when he'd found them and for the care they'd given him, she had to be grateful.

John placed his hand on the door to push it open but turned and looked at them with a serious expression. "Listen, Carrie knows I'm from over the wall but won't say anything. But the others think I was on the road heading West, when I got attacked by bandits. It's best we stick to that story. I know you want to get out of here, but I do have a plan. I just need a few days that's all."

As they entered back into the church they were hit with warmth from the fire. It reminded Sandra just how cold she'd been over the last few days of being on the road. John showed them over to a mattress by the fire and sat down on it heavily resting his back against the wall, gesturing for the others to do the same. Sandra sat perched on the edge and Dorian sat on the floor beside them, legs crossed. It was quiet in the room, the younger sister Sophie was nowhere to be seen, the older, Carrie was hurrying about between the beds, she stooped down to speak to someone quickly and then disappeared into one of the side rooms where a low moaning could be heard until she shut the door behind her.

"Nathan is having another bad night," John said as though that was enough of an explanation. Looking around the room though, it was clear no one was well, so Sandra assumed whatever was wrong with him had to be really bad. "Listen, you should get some sleep." He moved to get up. "It's my turn on watch soon anyway."

"On watch?"

"Yeah, this place is a target for gangs looking to score medicine. It was attacked when I got here a few days ago, and they say it happens regularly. We've kept a lookout posted in the bell tower, with everyone else gone and Carrie needed here, I've been taking shifts."

Sandra looked to Dorian but he had his eyes closed and was unresponsive, she knew that without any means of charging he had to conserve as much energy as possible. "I'll do it, you need rest if you're going to heal."

"I'm alright," John protested.

"Like hell you are." Sandra stood. "Where am I going?"

John pointed her to a wooden door in the corner of the room. "Get some sleep, I mean it." She said, planting a kiss in his messy hair.

"I'm glad you found me." John said quietly.

"Me too."

There was a set of stone spiral stairs through the door, as Sandra started to climb she could feel all the effects of her two-day hike. Her thighs burned, her calves kept threatening to cramp and her feet were really painful. The day spent in the car had been a welcome respite but it would take more than a day to recover. She wouldn't complain though, not when one of her best friends had been through hell. At the top was a small space about a metre square. The wall came to waist height and then was open on all sides giving a clear view of the surrounding streets, pillars in the corners supported a tiled roof and a large bell. An old wooden chair had been taken up there and Sophie was sat in it, that assault rifle slung across her lap. She leaned on the top of the wall staring out at the street below.

"I thought it would be the other one of you." She said quietly without looking up.

"Dorian's resting, he was driving all day." Sandra explained.

"Where's your car now?"

Sandra actually laughed at that, but only because it was so frustrating. "Actually, it got stolen."

Sophie looked at her then. "Just so we're clear, I'll let you take watch, but you're not having my rifle. You're to get me if you see anyone, and know if you try anything I will have no issues with taking you or your friend out."

Sandra nodded. "Understood."

Sophie stood and gave her a curt nod, before making her way down the stairs. Sandra watched her go and then huddled down into her jacket, turning her attention to the streets.

She lost track of how long she was there, but the sky was beginning to lighten on the horizon when she heard footsteps. She turned and saw Carrie make her way slowly up the steps. She looked sad and tired.

"Everything alright?" Sandra asked. She wanted not to care about these people, the anger she held for InSyndicate burned too brightly, but she couldn't help himself.

"Nathan just died." She said, sitting on the top step.

"I'm sorry."

Carrie sighed, "He's been in pain for a long time." She replied. That short sentence said everything; it's sad he's gone, it's a relief he's now at rest, death is just part of existence this side of the wall.

"I wanted to thank you, for helping us out. And apologise, my sister has spent so many years acting as a cold, hard-ass that sometimes she forgets to switch it off."

Sandra smiled. "She's protective of the people here. I'd be a hypocrite if I said I blamed her. You've looked after John and for that we owe you."

"He was in a really bad way when we found him; hypothermic, starving, I've never seen injuries like his. I know you want to take him back home, and you should, but he's not as well as he's pretending and it's a hard journey."

"Can I ask you something?" Sandra asked carefully, "You know we're from the other side of the wall. John thinks you won't tell the others, not even your sister. Why?"

"My job here is to look after people, theirs is to protect us. We have our reasons not to trust people from the other side of the wall and I don't want them to overreact."

"So why do you trust us?"

"Because I trust John. He knew me for ten minutes before he saved my life, and he's kind, he's helped us out a lot since getting here and has never asked for anything. I know not everyone from the other side can be as bad as we think they are. Sophie is too young to remember, but we were all united once."

Sandra nodded, thinking of her own prejudices aired just hours ago, to a man who had more cause to hate these people than most but who had managed to see clearly what she had been missing. "Sometimes that's an easy thing to forget."