I turned to leave and nearly collided with Beverly, who was coming around the corner. “Wow! Sorry, I didn’t see you there,” I said. We got to work right away, picking up the shattered pieces of glass. "Are you okay? Did you get cut?" I asked.

  "I'm fine. Don't worry about it," Beverly laughed. "If I did get cut I can't feel it." She smiled at me. I could see why she and Tiffany got along so well. They seemed to have a lot in common. They carried themselves and spoke in similar ways

  We gathered up all the bits of broken glass and headed back toward the center of the camp.

  "Could I ask you something? I've been wanting to ask it for a while. I'm just not sure if it would be rude to ask or not," I said.

  "Well, now I want to know what the question is. So, go ahead, Tyla."

  "You're a doctor, right?"

  "Yup."

  "But you were also born with the Adamantine, right?"

  "Also yup."

  "You can't die, you can't feel pain. But you became a doctor."

  "Yes. Doctors will always be needed. There is so much danger and suffering in the world. I see it all the time. You don't need to understand another person's suffering in order to help them and feel compassion towards them. Ever since I was a little girl, I knew exactly what I wanted to do," she said softly.

  "I like that. It's a nice way to think about things. Was that a rude question?"

  "No! Not at all." She laughed again. "I'm happy to share!"

  "It's amazing that you were able to make your dream actually come true!" I added. She must have put in so much work and given up so much time.

  "Yeah... I just wish..." A distant expression crossed over her face and a sad look came into her eyes. "I mean... I guess I helped out Ross and Roy here. But I sometimes wish I could go back to the city." Why couldn't I stop this? Answers were all that I wanted. But my questions always seemed to bring up unpleasant memories for these people.

  "Where should I put these shards?" I asked, trying to distract Beverly from whatever she was thinking about. She shook herself and smiled again.

  "Right, I'll show you." We quickened our pace. Soon the mess I had caused was fully taken care of and Beverly and I headed back to say hi to Roy and Tiffany.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  They had finished eating and were clearing their dishes. Roy looked up and waved to us.

  "You're just in time to help!" he called.

  "Help with what?" I asked.

  "The dishes." He handed me a rag. "You'll be on drying duty with Beverly."

  "Where's Ross?" Tiffany asked.

  "I saw him not so long ago," I said.

  "He'd better show up soon. Otherwise we're going to end up breaking his record," Roy laughed. To my surprise, I smiled at that. This felt like home. It felt like doing evening chores after dinner with Mama and Papa. As little girls, Tiffany and I would turn it into a race. But then Mama told us to stop, because speed means nothing if you aren't rinsing off the soap.

  "So, Tyla, I've answered some of your questions about me. May I ask some things about you?" Beverly said.

  "Sure."

  "Did you really fight Alexander?" she asked. Everyone turned to me.

  “If you can call it that. I stabbed him several times with a shard of glass while he was in a kind of dazed state.”

  “You mean you just attacked him?” Roy asked. I nodded.

  “I was angry.”

  “Wow, you’re very brave,” said Beverly. I fought back my laughter with an effort.

  “Tiffany says that I like to walk a fine line between brave and stupid,” I said. But again, if I had successfully harmed Alexander with nothing more than a knife, I stole then, didn’t these people have a good shot at fighting him? I guess it made sense… Ross didn’t want to put his friends in danger, especially if he felt as if it were his job to protect them. I wouldn’t want to put Tiffany in danger. But… couldn’t Ross see…didn’t he know better than anyone else? Alexander wasn’t going to stop until he had found everyone. Yes, so long as there was breath in his lungs, Alexander would be looking for Tiffany. I couldn’t sit here and wait until he found her. Besides, just think of the damage he could do in the meantime.

  “It’s still impressive.” Beverly’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

  “Well…thanks, but I don’t think it was. He’s just a normal person. He doesn’t have any kind of superpower or anything like that. He just happens to be really evil, but that alone doesn’t make him more powerful.” Roy nodded in agreement. Beverly still looked unsure.

  “I heard a little bit of your talk with Ross just now,” she said. “I wasn't trying to listen in or anything, I just happened to hear a little. You know… Ross has been through a lot, he knows a lot. I think it’s usually a good idea to take his word when it comes to most things.” But hadn’t Tiffany and I also been through a lot? Didn’t we know anything? Did I need to remind these people that unlike them I could indeed die? I gritted my teeth. No, I needed to be nice. I doubted pointing that out was going to get me anywhere. Besides they were being surprisingly kind to me considering my outburst earlier.

  “But I think you were right about some things,” said Roy. “He isn’t some kind of God, and he does target more vulnerable people.” I tried and failed to read Beverly’s fearful torn face. Now I was just wondering more and more what had happened to all these poor people. What had Alexander done to them to inspire such horror and fear?

  “You know… if he is still alive, he’ll go right back to looking for us,” I said.

  “Ross will protect us,” was all that Beverly said. Roy had fallen silent. Well, this was going nowhere. But at least I had tried.

  Just then Ross appeared.

  "You started without me!" he laughed.

  "Good luck catching up now!" Beverly called. "We're about to break your record!"

  "Enjoy it while it lasts!" Ross said. We all burst out laughing.

  After the work was done, Tiffany and I headed back to our tent.

  "I like how everyone here works together," I said to Tiffany. "They all take turns with the cooking and cleaning. It's nice to see how they all share the workload."

  "Yeah, it is nice. See, I told you these are good people, Tyla!" Tiffany said cheerfully.

  "Clearly I need to trust your judgement more. I just don't want to be tricked again. Like we were tricked by Miss Roberts."

  "I understand." Tiffany sighed. "It is also concerning to think that I learned of her from a friend," she said. I had forgotten about that. "But I know we can trust these people," she said more firmly.

  "What are you going to do now?" I asked.

  "Go for another walk. I just love how many beautiful views there are here. There's so much space, it's amazing! How about you? Going to take another nap?"

  "No. I think I've finally gotten enough sleep. I'm finally thinking about taking a shower," I said.

  "Good idea. I'll see you around!" She skipped off. It was great to see her like this. All her fear was gone. She always had a smile on her face. That was something.