Ailsa cursed Sam repeatedly as she wandered around the building flailing her arms with no destination in particular. Her theatrics were quickly helping her sober up. She didn't care if she appeared immature or over dramatic in Sam's eyes. She had come to really like him yet he showed no interest in return. She changed to cursing herself for allowing her feelings to develop for him.

"Stupid girl!" She spoke to herself. "Rule one. Don't get attached."

She had come this far by being strong, independent and blocking out others but there was something different about Sam, something about him that attracted her.

"It must be his chatty and approachable attitude." She said aloud sarcastically.

"Hello?" A voice called out suddenly from one of the floors below.

Ailsa darted to the edge of the floor and peered over the railings with her knife withdrawn by the time she got there. Two very rough looking women stood there. Both were covered in mud and grime and the clothes they wore were torn in many places. Their faces were filthy so it was hard to put an age on them.

"Who were you talking to?" One of them asked brightly.

"No one." Ailsa answered.

The women eyed her suspiciously at her reply.

"Who are you?" Ailsa asked coldly. She did not like the look of these women at all. "Where did you come from?"

They replied in turn.

"My name is Louise."

"And mine is Lorna."

"We're sisters." They said in unison with wide smiles cracking the dirt on their faces.

"And where did you come from?" Ailsa pressed not returning the smile.

"Your name first." Louise called up cheerily.

Ailsa hesitated before giving it.

"Hello Ailsa. We have just come from Edinburgh and..." Lorna started but Ailsa cut her off.

"Edinburgh? So, it's true. There are survivors." Ailsa almost whooped with joy.

"There were survivors." They corrected her. "No one is left now. There was a huge fight."

"No! That can't be true." Ailsa sighed in disbelief. "How do you know?" Ailsa pressed desperate to know every detail.

"The army and the unnamed fought for days. I'm surprised you didn't hear the explosions. That's what lured us to Edinburgh." Louise explained.

"What about the Haven?" Ailsa asked but the sisters stared at each other clueless to what she was talking about.

"There is no haven there. The city is a warzone. We saw the soldiers die. We barely got out alive ourselves." Lorna explained.

"We left a warning outside the city for any other survivors. We changed the Wel..."

Ailsa ignored the girls. It felt like her insides had been ripped out. Could Sam have been right all this time? She didn't want to believe it. She wouldn't believe it.

"Do you have any food?" One of them called up pleading.

She didn't know which. She wasn't interested in them anymore. She was too lost in her own thoughts. Eventually Ailsa turned her attention back to the sisters staring at them for a long time before answering their question.

"None that I am willing to share. Now, leave here and don't come back." She warned.

"But please, we are starving." They begged.

"Then go starve somewhere else or I will kill you."

Ailsa made a show of walking towards the stairs with her knife visible and heard the women's footsteps echo as they quickly ran for the exit. Once she was sure they were gone she collapsed against a wall and cried. Her knife clattering to the floor. She had come all this way just to find out that her hopes and wishful thinking were useless all along.

"No!" She called out. "I have to see it for myself."

She wiped away her tears refusing to believe those stupid women. Ailsa felt a pang of guilt for scaring them away. She wouldn't have really killed them. She had never killed a living person in her life and hoped she would never had to but she couldn't risk Sam talking to them. The stupid man would believe them in a second.

What have I become? She asked herself as she headed back towards Sam holding on to the cross around her neck and pressing it against her lips, deep in thought and memory.

* * * * *

She was a little girl again crying all alone in her room. Her black dress her mum had ironed for her now lay in a crumpled heap in the corner unworn and her polished black shoes were now scuffed after she threw them at the wall. Her hair that her mum had spent so much time on was now a tangled mess that Ailsa had let fall over her face. She wanted to block out the world. It was an unfair and evil place. Downstairs she heard the front door open then close softly. Her mother was home from the funeral. The stairs creaked as she ascended up them towards her room.

Knock! Knock!

"Ailsa, can I come in?" Her mother's voice asked sweetly through the door.

Ailsa tried to speak, to tell her to leave her alone but no words came, only a choked sobbing sound. Her mother entered and upon seeing her daughter in this state rushed over to her and held her tight in her arms.

"My poor sweet girl." Her mother stroked her head as she cooed her. "I'm here. Mummy will take care of you."

Even at the age of seven Ailsa knew that her mother was just pretending to be strong. That she was hurting more than anything right now. The man she loved had died suddenly and she never got the chance to say goodbye. And yet, here she was taking care of her. Guilt fought with the little girl's grief.

"I'm sorry mummy" Ailsa sobbed.

"Why on earth would you be sorry Princess?" Her mother asked staring into her eyes.

Ailsa noticed that her mother's eyes were puffy and bloodshot from endless crying.

"I should be the one telling you it will be alright." Young Ailsa declared.

Her mother laughed lightly at the sentiment.

"As long as I have you I will always be alright my sweet Ailsa." Her mother replied.

"I swear you will always have me Mummy." Ailsa promised her.

"And you will always have me." Her mother promised in return. "I also have this for you. It was you fathers."

She produced a silver chain from her pocket with a silver cross attached and placed it around Ailsa's neck.

"Whenever you feel lost and alone and need to speak to your Father. Use this and he will hear you." Her mother explained.

Ailsa burst into tears and promised to never take it off and she never did.

* * * * *

"Are you religious?" Sam asked suddenly from the opposite couch breaking her away from her memories.

"No. It was my Fathers." She answered removing the cross from her lips and staring at it in brief reminiscence. "Did I wake you?" She had just been muttering to herself.

"Yeah but its fine. Sorry about earlier." He said but Ailsa never replied. "How did he die?"

"He died of a heart attack when I was very young. He was a good man but not a very healthy man. He never would have survived the change."

She laughed lightly at that but stopped almost immediately. "I shouldn't have said that. Who am I to say who would have survived?"

Sam answered for her making her smile. "You are a survivor and the bravest person I have ever met so you know what it takes to survive this world."

Damn, she thought.

"Goodnight Sam." She said as she turned onto her side facing away from Sam. Despite her best efforts she found her feelings for Sam had just grew that little bit more.

"G'night Ailsa." Sam yawned in reply. "Last sleep before we reach Edinburgh."

And what awaits us when we arrive? She thought before drifting into an uneasy sleep.