A/N: Sooo it's been a while. Sorry. I'm really just quite rubbish at updating. Thank you to everyone who review; keep 'em coming! I love all of you with all my heart. I don't actually have multiple hearts; I'm not a Time Lord (if I was, I would grab a TARDIS, and go back in time to update sooner). Enjoy! Xx :)

The FAYZ was changing. That much Sam knew. It wasn't just the fact that they had been getting variations in the temperature (only slight, but enough to be noticeable to those who were looking, which the Council did, because that was their job), but the atmosphere of the people was changing. It had started before Drake had made himself known again- it wasn't anything to do with him. It was a positive change, in some ways, and in other ways it was kind of sad: people were getting used to the FAYZ, they were adapting. But not in an 'I have to carry a weapon so nobody bludgeons me to death in the street' way, but more in the coming up with ambitions, and realising that this was their life now way. Kids had started saying what they wanted to be when they grew up: a fisherman, or a carpenter, or in the Council.

Life was the FAYZ: it was no longer an interruption or passing circumstance. People were seeing it as their future now. No one had Stepped Out, even though a couple of people had had the opportunity to, because the Outside, as whatever it was that lay beyond the FAYZ wall had come to be known as, was unknown. It could be that Astrid's original theory was correct, that they were in their own universe now, so Stepping Out would kill you. Or it could be that it was the old world. But the unknown was the greatest fear, and people weren't ready to face up to it.

So instead, they just accepted the situation, finally, and moved on, trying to make the best of it and realising that they didn't have a choice. And it made Sam so, so sad.

Ellen wanted to tell Dekka to keep up. But nobody told Dekka to do anything if they had any sense, and besides, she had massive respect for the girl, and also tended to have the odd feeling that she had once gotten when she was in a lift at a hotel with Angelina Jolie. An air of mystery and celebrity, although if she said that to Dekka, she would probably just laugh. She was really quite modest. On the other hand, if she said it someone like the Breeze, she'd probably take it upon herself to start the FAYZ's very own version of Hollywood.

"Shall we take a break now?" Ellen suggested, realising that she was getting quite tired. Ever since they had been starving for weeks, nobody in the FAYZ thought to complain about usual levels of pain or tiredness, but Ellen hadn't slept for twenty-four hours, so she was definitely ready for a break. Sometimes Ellen worried for her health: she slept and ate less than most of the people she knew, because she was willing to give her share of some food to her comrades, to keep the younger ones going when they wanted to quit working, and she worked double shifts most days, as well as being on the council. Ellen thought that sometimes people forgot that people who were ten were not in fact middle-aged, as they had begun to be seen as. Back in the old days, they were still in Elementary school, but here they were, fishing, filtering water, building furniture and running a small version of the armed forces. It hurt to think that everyone's innocence had been stolen away from them because of one child who didn't know what he was doing.

Because everyone knew now, everyone knew that it was Little Pete who had started the FAYZ. At first, they had resented him, had said horrible things about the boy. Then they moved onto Astrid, and Sam, because they had kept this from them, because they should have been able to fix it. And then…everyone sort of stopped caring. They accepted that they were here now, and there was nothing they could do to change that. The famine, Drake, the bugs, Little Pete: all of that became history. And there was no point in worrying about the past: you had to look to the future.

"Sure." Dekka agreed, wandering over to the side of the road to sit down on a rock. The two soldiers who had been silently accompanying them sat in the grassy verge at the side of the track, under the shade of some trees. Dekka pulled something out of one of her heavy combat boots and put it down beside her, and Ellen saw with a start that it was a dagger. She wasn't surprised that Dekka had a weapon; no, she was surprised at the quality of it. Everyone else had weapons they had either made, or battered ones that no one wanted when the weapons were split between the Community and Perdido Beach and stashed away in armoires. Only the EED were meant to carry proper weapons.

"Where did you get that?" Ellen asked in a suspicious tone, as she pulled out her water bottle. She only had half a bottle, because she'd given some to one of the kids who'd been on night duty with her, to help him stay awake. Dekka looked at her steadily before replying, as if trying to gauge whether she could trust her or not. Evidently, she decided she could because she said "I've always had it, ever since before the FAYZ."

Ellen raised an eyebrow. "You used to carry a knife around with you when you were at Coates?" She asked incredulously. Dekka shrugged.

"It wasn't that uncommon." She said. "They never searched the rooms, so kids had all sorts stashed away. A small dagger I inherited from my grandfather was the least of the contraband items there." Slightly shocked at that, Ellen sat down on the ground near Dekka's rock, facing the way they had come. They were downhill from the Community, and she could see a plume of smoke from where someone was obviously cooking something.

"Where's your water?" Dekka asked.

"Right here." Ellen waved the bottle, although she knew that wasn't what Dekka meant. She sighed and then shrugged. "Some people need things more than I do. " She reasoned, and Dekka nodded thoughtfully.

"That's true, but if you give too much away and end up getting sick, that's not going to help anyone." She had a point, and Ellen knew it.

"Come on, let's keep moving." She said after a pause, and Dekka nodded, rising from the rock and walking onwards at a steady pace; one that she had perfected that meant she could walk for a long time without a break. The soldiers copied her, marching along as if they were really a part of a proper army, their weapons held close against them, lest the need to be drawn quickly during a fight.

Several hours later, judging by the position of the sun (most watches had stopped working and those that hadn't were kept in the Council tent), the group of four reached the outskirts of Perdido Beach. As far as they could see, no one was living in any of the houses on the edges of the town; it seemed that the inhabitants had all migrated to the town centre. Safety in numbers, Dekka presumed, although she also thought about the obvious flaw in that philosophy: everyone being grouped together only made it easier to kill everyone. Wondering when she'd started thinking like a military strategist, Dekka picked up her pace slightly. There was something about the almost deserted town that gave her the creeps, and while she would never dream of admitting it, it didn't mean she wanted them to stay there any longer than they had to.

After about five minutes of passing by empty places that did nothing except freak them out and bring back bad memories, they finally reached houses that looked like they were lived in. There was no electricity, so people had started putting candles around- which was a horrible risk of fire, Ellen noted. It was day, so they weren't burning, but they sat on window sills; usually right next to curtains and blinds. Really, it was a miracle that the whole place hadn't burnt down yet.

"Hey!" They all started slightly at the yell, their eyes darting around to attempt to find the source of the sound. Eventually, their eyes fixed on a small boy, probably no older than four or five, crouching in the dirt behind a tree in someone's front yard. The boy looked almost savage: he wore nothing but a filthy pair of jeans and a baseball cap, and there was a wild look in his eyes that suggested that he'd seen things that no young child ever should. Of course he had. They all had. The FAYZ cared nothing for childhood innocence.

"Who're you?" Ellen asked, slowly moving forwards with her arms outstretched to the sides, in an attempt not to spook the boy. The boy considered her for a moment then barked out an answer.

"Stevie." His voice was hoarse and weak. His stomach bulged out, his gums were bright red and his hair was brittle and wispy under the cap. Dekka knew malnutrition when she saw it, and knew that this boy needed vitamins and minerals pumped through him in an IV drip, and some of those high protein bars that they charities fed to starving children in Africa. But he wouldn't get them, and would probably be dead within a week.

"Heya, Stevie." Ellen said with a smile. "We're from the Community up by the lakes; we're here to see Caine. We have something to tell him."

"King Caine don't see people." Stevie said, puffing up slightly with an air of importance.

"I'm pretty sure he'll see us, once he sees who we are." Ellen said confidently, not about to be intimidated by a kid.

"Who are you, then?" Stevie asked.

"I'm Ellen, and that's Rosa, Alan and Dekka." Ellen answered, pointing to herself, the soldiers and Dekka in turn. Stevie snorted.

"That's a stupid name." He said to Dekka, who looked irritated.

"So's Stevie." She replied, earning her an exasperated look from Ellen. "What are you, anyway, three?"

"I'm four!" Stevie said indignantly. Ellen rolled her eyes.

"Dekka, leave it." She said with a sigh. "Stevie, can you take us to Caine, please?"

"I know where he is." He said with an eager nod. "But I swear he ain't gonna see ya."

"We'll see." Ellen said. Stevie shrugged, then set off down the road into town, limping slightly and going very slowly. It broke Ellen's heart to see this little boy having been so poorly looked after: what was Caine doing? Clearly they didn't have enough food here. Nothing was said the whole way to the Plaza, with Stevie seeming exhausted after just a couple of blocks. Eventually Ellen wordlessly lifted him up, placing him on her hip and allowing him to point the way, even though she knew full well where they were going. She just couldn't leave him: it felt like he was her responsibility now.

As they neared the Plaza, they saw more people: wide, staring eyes set in hollow cheeks that screamed silently for help that would never come. It was shocking, because the Community was doing relatively well: they were self-sufficient, they had just about enough food and water for everyone, and they'd reached the right balance of consumption in the local area that they probably wouldn't run out. But here were more people, people the members of the Community had pushed to the fringes of their minds, who were starving, were dehydrated, were living in squalor. It reminded Ellen of the times of the Famine, and she supressed a shudder at the thought that these people were going through that again.

When they reached the Plaza- having collected quite a crowd of those who weren't too weak to move-, the four Community delegates were greeted by a horrible sight. Next to all the carefully, respectfully dug graves of the times before the Community, were clumsy, messy heaps of earth, numbering in the teens: graves. More graves meant more dead. Something caught Ellen's attention, and she looked at the steps of the Town Hall to see that Taylor was there, her head held in her hands and her shoulders hunched. She'd clearly seen the graves.

Carefully setting Stevie down on the grass, Ellen made her way over to Taylor, Dekka and the soldiers in her wake.

"Hey." She said, sitting down next to her. "You've seen them, then, I take it?" She waved a hand in the direction of the graves. Taylor nodded sombrely.

"Have you seen the people?" She asked quietly, her voice hoarse. It sounded a bit like she'd been crying, but Ellen didn't mention it.

"Yeah." She said. "I'm going to mention it to Caine, it's outrageous."

"Ok." Taylor said. "He's in there." She gestured to the Town Hall.

"I know." Ellen replied. "You coming?" Taylor hesitated, but then shook her head.

"I'll stay here with Rosa. Take Dekka and Alan in with you." She decided and Ellen shrugged.

"Ok." She stood up, gesturing for the other two to follow her. But then she paused, and turned back to Taylor. "That kid over there." She pointed at where Stevie was sleeping peacefully in the grass a few feet away. "Keep an eye on him, yeah?" Taylor looked confused, but nodded.

"Sure. You picked up a stray?" She asked, and Ellen sighed.

"Stupid, I know. Like I need more responsibility." Taylor smiled slightly at that, then turned away. Ellen sighed, looking up at the battered, half torn off door of the Town Hall and mentally preparing herself. She glanced at the other two and saw that they were doing much the same thing. She was about to go in there and yell and one of the people she hated the most in the world- by which she meant the FAYZ, because that was their whole world now- and then tell him that the person- or rather, monster- that they all feared the very most was back. And he was looking for blood.

A/N: Bit of a cliff hanger there, and a lovely sprinking of malnutrition and all-round depressing stuff. Lovely. Anyway, if you enjoyed this, please tell me so! Or even if you didn't: I love constructive criticism, it makes me work harder to improve. Xx :)