The boy gestured to a house in the corner of the small town, "That's my house, but I can live with my mother for a few days." He shrugged as Arland walked off to go inspect the house before they did anything.

"Thank you..." He turned around to walk away before he noticed something, "What's your name?"

"Martin." The boy said before walking away into the shadows and disappearing within the mob of people.

Alana watched after them and felt a small hand tugging on the corner of her shirt. She looked down to find a little girl looking up at her with wide innocent eyes. "Miss? Why are you so sad?" She asked as she looked up at Alana.

Alana's eyes widened in surprise then she slowly knelt down so she was at eye level with the girl. And spoke for the first time since calling out Felix's name in complete sorrow. "Tell me something. Do you have a best friend? One you love very much?" She asked.

The little girl nodded her head frantically. "Emily is my bestest friend in the whole world."

Alana gave the little girl a small, sad smile. "I see. Will you promise me something then? I want you to promise that you'll treasure every moment you spend with her. Those moments are precious and you may never know when they will end. So promise me that ok?" She asked.

The little girl nodded then was called away by her mother. Alana watched her as she hurried off, still crouching on the ground.

Mark looked back, "Alana?" He said walking back over to her, "Is everything alright?" He asked as Arland poked his head from one of the houses's windows.

"Looks alright to me!" He exclaimed before placing his head back into the house.

Alana took a deep breath and stood up, nodding before heading in the house.

Mark vaulted over one of the windows and awaited Alana to follow so he could help her into the structure.

Behind Mark, Arland flopped onto a bed which had been crafted by clumps of hair - the brittle material digging into the bruises he had received.

Alana struggled to climb over the window sill, she could walk fine now but doing anything else like this or running was another story.

Arland pat the pile of hay, "You should get some sleep, Alana." He said, shuffling over slightly so there was space for her body which was growing extremely weary and feeble.

Mark placed both hands on his lips as he looked out the window.

Alana wanted to argue but was honestly too exhausted. She barely made it to the bed before passing out.

Arland reached out to catch the suddenly limp body, placing her on the bed of straw before moving next to Mark. "She's asleep." He said subtly before looking toward the door, "I'm going to go for a walk - see you in about an hour." He mockingly saluted before leaving, not even being acknowledged by Mark who stared aimlessly out the window.

Alana slept deeply, completely exhausted.

Mark turned around once Arland had left, looking down at Alana who slept peacefully. He seated himself on an nearby chair which rocked forward and backwards. He placed his head in his hands and sighed.

Alana continued to sleep deeply, dreaming about Felix.

Arland walked through the streets, receiving glares from all the people around him. It was hard to believe these were all humans... people who were... real... He felt left-out here, like he was an outsider to the original race which now populated and dominated Earth. The clones weren't real, all they were was a small swab of DNA which were placed in enormous machines.

Alana continued to sleep for a couple hours.

Arland finally returned to the structure where Mark had fallen asleep on one of the chair and Alana was snoring loudly. He chuckled quietly as he sat by the wall and closed his eyes.

A few hours later Alana slowly woke up and looked around, her eyes were empty and open as she looked around, studying the temporary home.

Mark's eyes flickered open and his hands curled up, his sleep which had brought nightmares was much too vivid for him to handle. He then looked over at Alana and smiled, "Hey."

Alana looked over at him and slowly sat up. She felt better now physically but the dreams of her childhood with Felix had been simply cruel. She didn't say anything.

He sighed, "I was thinking... of doing something for Felix." He said as he moved off the chair and sat next to her, giving a soft shrug.

Alana looked at him probbingly, her eyes doing the asking for her.

He looked away, "Sorry... It was a bad idea." Mark shoved both hands in his pockets as he looked out the window, night starting to settle in.

Alana put a hand on his shoulder to make him look at her and continued to stare at him, her eyes asking him to tell her.

(Does she want me to tell her the idea he had about doing something for Felix?)

(yup)

He stared into her eyes and sighed, "I was thinking of making a bonfire for Felix tonight." Mark nodded slowly, a smile arousing his face as he said this.