July 31th, 63AW.

VALE CITY POLICE HEADQUARTERS, CITY OF VALE

THREE DAYS SINCE THE FALL.

"But it's the truth!"

Roman Torchwick stared at the man on the other side of the table with a mix of disbelief and anger.

It had taken time to drive from Mountain Glenn. Mister Mattus' car had survived the journey, and whilst he had wished to keep it, they'd been forced to abandon it in the old factory district. He'd kept the key, however. One of the few lessons his father had actually been right about was about not wasting resources, and the car was just that.

Thankfully, Neah's father had the foresight to stuff a rucksack into the backseat amongst all of the coats and blankets. The pair had stuffed as much of them in as possible, and ventured into the city.

After a quick bite to eat at TACO Shack, he had led Neah to the Police Headquarters. He could have gone to a regular Police station. They'd even passed a few on their wandering through the city. But going to the HQ would mean more of a chance at someone actually listening to him.

Or so he'd thought.

Things had been going better than he had expected. The officer at the front desk had ushered them into an interview room, and even given them hot chocolates (with whipped cream and marshmallows to boot!) to have whilst an interviewer could be found.

When one could be found, he had listened quietly to Roman's account of what happened, only interrupting to ask questions every so often. The man had been gentle with Neah, and took her sudden silence in stride and soon found a workaround (by means of asking her yes or no questions, and letting her nod or shake her head in response). When he'd asked his question, he had thanked them for their help.

For the first time in days, Roman had hope in his heart. This hope lasted until the officer that had interviewed him told him point blank that he couldn't help them because Roman was lying.

"...Understand this young man, there's the truth and 'the truth'. One is what actually happened, the other is what officially happened. And officially, no one survived Mountain Glenn." The officer explained, a grim look on his face. "So now, bearing that in mind, I must ask you to cease with your lies about surviving Mountain Glenn, or I will be forced to detain the both of you. Despite your age."

"But…" Roman paused, and a near despondent look crossed his face, one matched on Neah's. "But what are we supposed to do now?"

The man looked at him, and gave a sigh. "There's a shelter, two blocks down. 'S not great, but it'll be better than nothing."

Forcing himself not to cry, Roman got up from the table.

"For whatever it's worth." The officer said quietly, "I'm sorry kid. But the Council's orders are the Council's orders."

Roman merely glared at him, and stalked out of the room and the building, with Neah hurrying after him. She soon reached his side, and slipped her hand in his. Neither looked back. Neither wanted to.

"Come on Neah." Roman said when he came to a stop halfway down the street. "Gotta find someplace to hunker down in."

The young child merely nodded, and he had to admit to himself that her continued silence continued to unnerve him. The once talkative girl hadn't spoken a word since the Fall, and Roman couldn't know it then, but he would never hear her speak ever again.

"We survived Mountain Glenn, we'll survive this."