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pure confusion. What the heck was he talking about? I could hear him fumbling in his shirt and suddenly a pocket-light illuminated the darkness. I stepped away from the tiny beam. I didn't want Reese to see my face right now. “Come with me,” he requested and reached for my hand again. I almost impulsively pulled it away but I managed to stop myself and not visibly react. I followed him in silence, choosing instead to focus on the unfamiliar feeling the dirt floor had on the soles of my shoes. I had never walked on uneven ground before and I felt a bit wobbly. It was a strange and foreign sensation to have solid ground under parts of my feet and uneven ground under other parts. I walked slower. After a few minutes Reese abruptly stopped. A sudden scratching noise made me jump a bit and I moved closer to his side. “It's okay,” he spoke assuringly and crouched down. My eyes followed where he was aiming the light beam and I gasped. There was something there! It shifted. I covered my mouth with my hand to prevent myself from screaming. Reese moved the beam again.
                  The moving thing was a person. A child. “It's okay,” Reese spoke again and I realized he was not speaking to me. He was speaking to the child. “The friend I was going to bring, this is her. This is Ruby.” The child's eyes widened and she clutched her knees with her little fingers. Her impossibly blonde hair was extremely long, endlessly matted together in tangles and extra dirty as if she hadn't used bathing powder in weeks. A strange, unpleasant smell waifed off of her. I tried not to be incredibly rude and wrinkle my nose in distaste. She was wearing, well, I couldn't tell what it was. It was some kind of suit that covered her entire body, but it was very puffy, as if filled with stuffing. It definitely didn't resemble any kind of division uniform I had ever seen. The odd, unrecognizable one-piece garment seemed just as filthy as the rest of her. Reese reached into his pocket again and pulled out something wrapped in a napkin. He held it toward the girl. For about five seconds she didn't move, but then her dirty hands shot forward, grabbed the napkin out of Reese's grasp and pulled it back possessively toward her chest. I bit my lip and carefully crouched down next to Reese so she could see me a bit better in what little light there was.
                  “Are you lost?” This was not good. This was not good at all. How did a little girl get in here in the first place? These passageways were sealed off and forbidden. She could be put to sleep if she were to get caught. We couldn’t bring her out to a flatfoot and say she was lost because we could get put to sleep, too. We had no excuse for being in here. “What division are you from?” The little girl raised her head fearfully. I could see in her eyes that she understood my questions – my language – but she wasn't answering me. Was she simply afraid? I would be, too, if I had somehow gotten lost at such a young age. “Can you tell me where you're from?” I tried one more time.
              Then, the little girl did something I will never forget. She did something that would change the direction of my life forever. No pun intended. She pointed Up.
                  I leapt backwards as if flames ignited in front of me.
              OMIGOD, SHE WAS FROM THE SURFACE! SHE WAS A MUTANT, A MONSTER! SHE WOULD EAT US! HOW COULD REESE BRING ME HERE, DID HE REALLY THINK BEING EATEN ALIVE WAS A BETTER FATE FOR ME THAN MARRYING CONNOR?
                  Was it, though?!?
              Reese scampered to his feet and rested a hand over my shoulder. I couldn’t tell if he was forcing me, or requesting from me that I didn't immediately run. I happened to notice that the little girl wasn't jumping up to attack me. “It's okay, she won't hurt you!” I don’t know why, but suddenly, I believed him. That did