A/N: Thanks SO much to Selene Morywinion ( I hope I spelled that right) You are my absolute favorite reviewer and I love you !!!! Keep reviewing please!
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Cassandra grabbed a dish of what could be described as white, mushy sludge and scowled. It wasn't like Teke fed her well, but the food she usually ate had a lot more substance than this.
"Cheer up, kid. It's not that bad."
Marina, the weapons dealer, offered her a friendly smile and a pat on the shoulder, before straddling one of the benches, that lined several metal tables, in the makeshift mess hall.
Cassandra rolled her eyes and slid onto a bench, across the table from the kid.
He was hunched over a steaming metal mug and had a blanket wrapped around his thin shoulders.
"You going to be okay ?"
He looked up at her with big eyes and nodded. He looked even younger now that his head had been shaved. Clutching the blanket tighter around his shoulders with one hand, he picked up the mug with the other and took a sip, before spitting the entire mouthful out onto the floor.
She grinned and tried to suppress a laugh. "I'm taking it you don't like coffee then ?"
Jones made a face and peered into the mug. "Is that what this is ?"
"Yeah. Haven't you ever seen coffee before ?"
The boy stuck out his tongue at the black liquid. "My parents used to drink it. But, it was never like this."
"Oh really. And what happened to your parents ? Did you run away or did they run away from you ?"
Cassandra threw Teke a sharp glare and moved around to the other side of the table. Kneeling next to Jones, she slipped an arm around his thin shoulders.
"It's all right. Don't pay any attention to him. He's just a stuck-up prick."
Jones nodded, but she could see his lip trembling and tears began to pool up in his dark eyes.
"Jones, can you tell me why there was a pit full of bones ? What happened there ?"
The boy sniffled loudly and wiped his nose on one trailing sleeve, before leaning close to Cassandra.
"There were monsters. They came in the dark and killed everyone. My mom put me in the air-vent and told me to get out of the main building, so I did," he whispered." But I heard everyone screaming and the darkness just went on forever. I don't remember when it stopped. But when it did, the monsters went away."
Cassandra nodded. "Do you remember what the monsters looked like ?"
"N-no," his voice was still shaky and he looked on the verge of tears. "They just came out of the dark, like a big shadow and then disappeared again."
Cassandra bit her lip and gently wiped off a few of the tears that had slipped down his cheeks.
"I know this is hard for you, but can you tell me one more thing ? When did this happen ? How long ago was it ?"
"I don't really know. But I think it was three years ago, 'cause it happened two days after my birthday and I was six then."
Cassandra smiled at him and gently patted his shoulder.
"Thank you, Jones. You've been very helpful. I'm going to go talk to the captain now and tell him what you told me. Or would you prefer to tell him yourself ?"
Jones shook his head and rubbed his eyes on his sleeve. "No, you can tell him. But I want to go with you."
"Okay. And after that we'll see about getting you some better clothes."
He offered her a trembling smile and slid off the bench. As they walked out of the mess hall together, he slipped his hand into hers and she gave it a small squeeze, silently telling him everything would be all right.
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