Cold. Dark. And wet. Mel was instantly regretting them wearing the nicer clothes, worried that they would now get dirtied up and ruin their chances of blending in better. She made a sound of disgust as she moved further down to make room for Gally. He only chuckled as she could see him make his way down, the light from the opening they came through the only source of light they had at the moment.

"Relax, Lawrence said they stopped using this a few years ago, it's all just water." Gally jumped down the last few steps and landed with a thud as his boots hit the ground. He immediately began running his fingers along the wall as if he was looking for something. Mel's eyes were trying to adjust to the black void ahead of them but she struggled. Gally's form barely visible as he moved forward.

"What are you doing?" She asked trying to go after him, worried about being separated. It didn't take much longer until he found what he was looking for. There was the sound of a click, then seconds later everything was bright again. A string of lights hung above them, lighting the way all the way down the tunnel. Mel had to blink a few times as her eyes adjusted once more and then smiled approvingly.

"I asked for those to be put in once it was all finished, figured it would be easier than trying to wander in the dark." He said as he looked down the way they needed to go before finally walking in that direction.

Mel was quick to follow after him, letting him lead the way as her mind began to race. What would she expect on the other side? She took a few deep breaths to calm herself better and get her mind to focus on the task at hand. As well as confirming some other thoughts that floated around in her head.

"What do you think it'll look like up there?" Gally asked finally breaking the silence between them as they walked. Mel could only shrug, the idea of the city only ever being a fantasy.

"No idea to be honest. But I do know that it will be a thousand times better than what we have. Just from what we can see on the outside they must be fancy." She said not needing much imagination. In a wasteland like theirs surely they didn't have all the resources to create such exotic things that they didn't already have. The only thing that came to mind were the flying crafts they saw coming in and out from time to time.

They had been walking for almost ten minutes before eventually reaching the end. They felt confident as their string of lights guiding them had finally ended. The exit being a hole in the wall leading into the so called subway he mentioned before. She remembered hearing stories about them, but couldn't recall ever seeing one when she was younger. It would be a surprise to both of them.

"Alright, we'll wait a minute for the next train to go by and make sure it's clear before we go out." Gally said moving the covering that was on the other side to keep the hole a secret from curious eyes. It took less than a minute as only seconds later a loud noise startled them and the train in question went flying past them. Any details on it a blur, the wind from it's movement causing Mel's hair to fly in her face, causing her to pull it back and tie it up into a ponytail. They both watched it with wide and curious eyes. Once it passed and the tail end could be seen disappearing into the distance, Gally hopped down and looked both ways, Mel giving a quiet 'be safe' as he did so.

"Okay let's go." He said as he deemed it safe, offering his hand to help her down which she took gratefully. Hopping out she looked down at the tracks and followed their path with her eyes seeing the almost never ending direction it went in.

"According to the guys it's about a five minute interval between them so we gotta move quick. This way." He said fast as he re-covered their opening and started jogging along the wall to their next exit. Mel was quick behind and kept up with him, glad he wasn't full on running otherwise she knew she'd get left behind. The ladder leading upwards came into view quickly and they both gave silent thanks that it was this close and not any further.

Gally went first again to make sure it was all clear. Opening the top he first pressed his ear against the opening to listen for any people or possible vehicles going by. After a moment of silence he then opened the hatch fully and stuck his head up to peek out. Just the spot they were in alone was enough to make him look around in wonder. Shaking his head to refocus he looked down to Mel and nodded it was clear before he finished climbing up and out. Mel close behind as she could hear the rattling of the tracks, the next train coming by. Gally offered his hand once more and she took it as she got to the top. Once she had a moment to fix herself, she finally looked up.

"Woah.." Was all she said looking around them. The tall buildings and windows shining in the light as the sun reflected off of them. The area they were in was empty, almost as if it was abandoned and not regularly used. Gally closed up the hatch and slowly they began walking down the road. They peeked around the corner just to be sure that any inquiring eyes won't suspect anything as they come out from an unusual area. Once they both deemed it safe and gave each other a nod they pulled themselves out and into the now busy city life.

It took all of Mel's energy not to stare at everything open-mouthed. All the people, the signs. It was as if the Flare, Cranks, none of it existed inside. Everyone moving along as if it never touched them. Gally pulled out the list Elise gave them and looked it over again to reread what the items were called.

"Any idea where to start?" He asked as they started walking, getting the feeling of being back in the Maze again with all the tall buildings imitating the walls, and the different streets being the maze itself.

Mel looked around as she thought hard. "I remember Elise talking about the city before, telling me about different areas." She said in a soft tone, wanting to keep the conversation between them and not have others eavesdropping.

"She used to say that towards the middle, there were all kinds of shops people could go into to get things they needed. Best place to start I'd guess." She continued.

Gally nodded and they picked up their pace as they continued further into the city. Everyone seemed casual and calm so they did their best to imitate that and seem as normal as they could in a new setting. The less eyes on them the better their chances would be.

The buildings all looked the same to them and was soon becoming a blessing and a curse. They were glad that there seemed to be no new surprises waiting for them to gawk at, but then it also meant that they had to pay close attention to where they've already passed and remember their way back to the subway entrance to get back to the other side again once they had the supplies.

"There, that looks promising." Mel stopped and pointed over towards a smaller building on the corner that seemed to have a variety of items inside. They had already looked through two small shops so far and found nothing useful. Gally agreed to try it and they crossed the street, giving each other a hopeful look before going inside.

There was one lady at the counter who smiled and greeted them when they entered. Gally gave a nod and a short smile in response before they started making their way through the different aisles hoping for anything that looked like what they needed. He left it mostly to Mel since it was all stuff her and Elise had actually worked with and handled before.

Up and down Mel went. Eyes scanning everything closely. They were now on the third aisle and she was beginning to lose hope that what they needed wouldn't be here. Until she spotted bottles at the end of the shelf. She practically leaped over to them and read them carefully.

"Let me see the list again." She reached out to Gally and he handed over the paper. She looked between the two before smiling and grabbing a few bottles of each that were needed. But as she was about to move she realized something which made Gally look at her questioningly.

"What, what's wrong." He asked waiting, Mel releasing a sigh.

"What if they use money, we don't have that. That stuff has been gone for ages." She didn't want them to have come all this way for nothing and go back to Elise empty handed. Gally weighed the options as she felt bad for not remembering. They could risk just running out with it but then surely they'd get caught. He could only shrug as he couldn't think of a proper answer to give her.

Mel now felt determined. She wouldn't be leaving without those bottles. Putting on her best smile she then started walking towards the woman who greeted them earlier, Gally frowning at her and tried to ask what she was doing but was ignored and decided to stay back. As she put them on the counter the woman took note of them and smiled back as she rang them up.

Once it was all tallied up the lady then held out her hand waiting, "Your ID card please." Mel paused a moment as she pondered the words.

"I'm sorry?" She asked.

"Your ID card? So it can be counted onto your weekly allowances." The woman explained. So they didn't use money anymore either Mel thought as she tried her best to laugh it off and improvise.

"Oh of course, my ID. Let me see here." She then started to feel around all of her pockets pretending to search for what she knew she didn't have. She gave a quick turn to Gally and gave him a look that said to play along, it took him a moment to understand the gesture but caught on to what was happening.

"Wow this is so embarrassing. I must have left it back at my place. I'm sorry I'll have to go get it and come back." Mel then started to back away, the woman nodding as she then moved to help the next person in line. She must have said the right thing since nothing bad had happened yet.

She did a quick look back to make sure the woman was occupied before turning to face straight again, Gally was already in front of her and heading out. As she passed the aisle they had gotten the bottles from she did a quick swipe, managed to take at least two, and discreetly placed them in her coat pocket before they exited.

Once outside and going back across the street they came from she walked closely beside Gally and transferred the bottles to his jacket.

"Wait what are you doing?" He asked now noticing that she had stolen them when they left and quickly looked around to see if anyone saw.

"Your pockets are bigger than mine. At least now we know how they do things around here. We can look into being better prepared if we ever have to come back." She explained being more casual about it all than he was.

"How do you even know how to steal?" He asked still confused about what happened causing Mel to smile.

"It's not that hard when your not being watched. Also before our much smaller city became its little community we have now, it was pretty much every person for themselves when I was little. Took what I could to survive with the few people that looked after me. That's when Lawrence helped step in and organized everything. Guess that's one thing I can thank him for." She explained giving him the small glimpse into her past and how bad things used to be.

Gally could only nod as he looked ahead, he knew this wasn't the time or place to get into that discussion. But he knew it was something he did want to bring up again with her and get to know her a bit better than the small details he'd learned over the past couple of months.

They walked in silence once more as they tried to remember the streets they took to get back, certain parts becoming familiar again to them as they got closer. Gally gave a smile of relief when the empty street they originally came from was now in view.

"Ready to go home?" He asked before turning around to look at Mel.

But he was met with nothing. She was gone and nowhere to be seen among the people that moved around him trying to get to their own destinations. He immediately went into panic mode as he started walking, retracing his steps to make sure he didn't go down a wrong path and leave her behind anywhere.

"Mel? Melinda!"

Quick Note: Now don't remember anything like money being mentioned in the books(correct me if I'm wrong) and I know there was never anything mentioned in the movies so the ID Card seemed more logical in the City so they could keep track of who was buying what and how much. Hopefully it makes sense!