"Yeah, I guess I'm kinda sweet." Hana demured, with a little self-depreciating smirk. She didn't want to disagree with Simon. She didn't want to tell him that he was dead wrong. That the last thing you could count on was other people. That she didn't need anyone. Ever.

But even as she repeated her little mantra to herself, she found herself wrestling with doubt. If she didn't need anyone, why was she with Simon right now? Why had it filled her with hope when he sat down beside her. Why were his words Miss Hana tingling down the nape of her neck and making her throat go dry? Women Simon had said. Not girls. It took an act of will for Hana not to start skipping.

"Plus, you looked kind of hungry." Hana said, dragging herself out of her visions of Simon standing inches from her, staring longingly into her eyes. Miss Hana, I can't help myself. I love you... She gave a little cough and cleared her throat. "What did you used to do? You know, before Z day?"

Simon chuckled. "I was a cop," he admitted, grinning at her shyly. "A really bad one, actually. I'd been raised on the good ol' boy network." He looked away from her. "It was funny. When the zombies came, I found myself acting like a cop for the first time, ever. I tried to save some people, and that went wrong. Then Josh found me and offered to let me stay in the prison. By the time I realized what the full plan was, I also knew what we were facing out there. It was really easy to stop being a cop then."

He dug into a pocket and pulled out a badge, handing it to her. It was oblong, golden and stamped with designs. The metal banner on it was emblazoned with 'New Mexico State Police'. The back was simplier, with a pin to fasten the badge and a number stamped into it. It felt heavy in her hand and was still warm from being carried so close to him. "This was yours?" Hana asked.

"Yeah," he said, looking a little sad. "A long time ago, in another life." Suddenly, he laughed. "I'm sorry, I don't know why I'm telling you all this. You're just... I find it easy to talk to you. About real things. Important things. I'm boring you, aren't I?"

Hana shook her head adamantly. "You're not boring me..." I really like you almost made it past her lips before she bit her tongue. Way too Junior High. She smiled lightly at Simon and handed him back his badge, her fingers brushing briefly over his.

She blushed at that and looked down at her Adidas, then tried to synchronize her steps with Simon so that her feet rose and fell just as his did. After a few steps she had it...and then she lost interest in her little game and returned to taking a step and a half for every one that Simon took.

"You know when I asked you before, about all the women in the prison?" Hana glanced up at Simon and saw his expression turn serious again. "And you told me about what happened, but what I meant was...how did they get there? Why were you all there? Or, okay, you were there cuz of your friend Josh...but how come everyone else was...and how come when Daniel and the others went over there they found zombies still there? Didn't you know about them?"

"Some of them were prisoners, before Z-day," Simon said softly, slipping the badge back into his pocket. His expression became troubled as he added, "Some of them came seeing santuary. Some were brought there by their husbands. But most had been locked up for crimes."

"What... kind?" Hana asked, her eyes wide at the thought that she'd been sleeping in a building full of convicts.

"All kinds," Simon said softly. "Theft, drugs, murder." He smiled humorlessly. "Most of them won't trouble you, Miss Hana. And if they do, let someone know. I understand this place has rules. They'll protect you.

"Many of the men were there for protection, to start," Simon continued. "Some of them... lost sight of reality. They thought that what they were doing was okay, because Josh said it was. It's something weird that happens to people. They lose realistic perspective if they recieve a constant supply of a new reality, over and over. Kidnapping, rape, torture, murder - it was all okay if it happened to a prisoner or an outside man." Simon sounded disgusted.

"The zombies." He stopped and swallowed hard. He stopped walking and turned to her, putting his hands on her shoulders. "Hana, I don't want to tell you. I really don't. But if you ask me to, I will, because I believe that truth is important. I think that people should know the truth, if they really want it. I'm going to ask you to think about whether you really want to know before you ask me to tell you why there were zombies there."

Simon was looking down at her, waiting for an answer. Hana looked up at him and gulped. Simon didn’t have to tell her. She was already imagining it...an enclosed courtyard with a high barbed wire fence, flood lights aimed down from the prison watch-towers. Inside the courtyard a forgotten basket-ball court where inmates had once played. Now shambling shapes lurched across its concrete surface, ravaged bodies with the skin pulled taut and gray across sinewy bits of muscle, here and there exposed, missing limbs, trailing bits of themselves with every slow and plodding step. And then the figures stop, and turn as one. A tense groan, a low inhuman noise, comes from the gaping holes of their mouths. Then the screams of a young woman, bruised and beaten, as she is shoved into the courtyard. The laughter of the men behind her distinct even over the noise of her terrified wailing. Hands reaching for her like claws. A desperate attempt to run on weak rubbery legs, that ends with a fall on the cold concrete. Shin and knees bloodied as they come for her. Rotting fingers dig through her hair, pull her open and naked as she screams and screams and screams at this last and horrible affront, this final gruesome indignity. And the men watch. Watch and joke nervously with one another. Laughter helps convince them they are still men and not monsters as the girl is taken apart, reduced literally and figuratively to meat. They smoke a cigarette as her pretty eyes glass over with the knowledge of her death. Maybe one of them turns away when her buttery insides are torn loose, spooled out of her like yarn. But maybe they all keep watching right up to the end. Later, what’s left of her will rise up again, a rotting husk that once had dreams and hopes and fears and wants...now another groaning empty thing that knows only hunger.

Hana decided she didn’t need to know if she was right. She shook her head at Simon and her voice came out in a small whisper. “I don’t need to know.”

Simon looked relieved. He gave Hana’s slender shoulders a small squeeze before letting go and gave her a somber smile. “You don’t.” He agreed. Together they walked back to Violet’s and Hana took comfort from the hard weight of Simon’s arm in hers. As they neared the building, Hana noticed Ashley fixing up a tent near one of the walls. She paused as Ashley’s gaze fell on her and Simon. It was a hurt, accusatory stare. Hana turned toward Simon, wanting to ask him outright, but when she opened her mouth to speak Simon bent down and held her in a brief and friendly hug.

“Thank you, Miss Hana.” Simon straightened. “I really enjoyed our walk.”

“Uh huh,” Hana murmured back at him dumbly, flushed with a warm glow that had chased all her suspicions away.

“And if you ever need a friend to talk to, you know where to find me.” Simon affectionately pushed Hana’s long mane of dark hair back from her forehead.

“Okay.” Hana choked out, smiling brightly even as she fought back a sudden urge to start bawling like a baby.

“Alright, sleep well, Miss Hana. And remember what I said about staying safe.” Simon clasped her arm in parting and turned and walked toward the tent. Hana stood there a moment, and then jogged up to Violet’s, hurrying to escape Ashley’s venomous stare. Padding quickly past the prison women downstairs, Hana climbed the stairs to her shared room. She found Kristin deep in sleep, curled up like a bug in the cousins’ bed, all bundled up in the covers. She looked so adorable, Hana couldn’t help but smile. Stripping quickly out of her clothes and folding them back into her bag, Hana got out her pajamas and began getting changed for bed.

As Simon approached, Ashley hid her glare for the lying little hoyden behind a fond smile for the man who had given her succor in Paradise. She took his hand in a tight grasp and pulled him down onto the firm air mattress in the open arch of the tent.

"Dear Ashley, you are too kind. This was very thoughtful, and I thank you for it," Simon said with a warm grin, giving Ashley's hand a returning squeeze.

"It was nothing." Ashley tossed her head, flinging loose chest nut strands out of her face, suppressing a blush from his thrilling smile. He didn't leave me - us. "It's little enough, for everything you've done for me and my cousin."

"Ashley..." Simon sighed. "You don't have to thank me. You and Kristin should never have been put in that situation. None of the women should have been." He placed his hands on her shoulders, rubbing the tenseness away. "I regret that I couldn't have done more. You were the only one I could spare, and even there, I couldn't spare you from everything."

"You did enough." Ashley met his clear blue eyes with ones of gold-flecked brown. Her lips parted, back slightly arched. She had found a friend where she had no reason of finding one. As much as she thought she wanted more, she was extremely grateful he had never taken it further. Now it was her turn to watch out for him, especially as he couldn't see the danger. She chewed her lip worriedly, then pressed on. "That girl you were with... Hana? I think you should be careful around her. She's...hiding something..."

"Ash, Hana's very young and lost a lot too." Simon's voice was reproving but the amused quirk to his lips took the sting out of it. "We all have things that are hard to share. Give her time, okay Ashley, for me? Please?"

"No, Simon - you don't understand, there were these shadows - I felt them!" She saw Simon's eyes harden and she pressed on, not wanting him to think she was nuts. She had to explain. "First she said it was just a nightmare and then she said Violet did it, but Violet wasn't even there. She did it! I know it."

Simon's hands grew tight on her shoulders, almost hurting and the look in his eyes was very grave. "If this is true... Ashley, please, listen to me. I think you should stay away from her, okay? She could be very dangerous. You trust me to handle it, don't you? Promise me. I couldn't take it if something happened to you before I had a chance to stop."

The only time Ashley had seen Simon like this was when the worst was happening at Paradise, so she knew he was being very serious. But Kristin was there, in the room with Hana, and she couldn't take it if something happened to him. Her lips pressed into a tight line, hiding the fluttering in her heart, then nodded.

"Oh - okay, I promise, Simon. I'm just going to check on Kristin, now, then." She ducked her head, looking at Simon through a curtain of dark hair. "I'm not sure what we're gonna do. She... she just found out she's... pregnant."

"Interesting," Simon pondered in a low voice, blue eyes cold and distant as a smirk played across his lips. Ashley withdrew from his touch with a shudder, her eyes wide. She had never seen him like that. "Wha - what do you mean, Simon?"

Simon shook his head, and when he look at Ashley, it was him again, not some creepy imposter. "It is a surprise, Ashley, and that's going to be a very difficult decision for her. You should go check on her. And remember what I said about avoiding Hana."

"I will," Ashley tossed over her shoulder, her heart pounding with... something. She hustled around the large building and entered through the back, running softly up the stairs. She took a deep breath, then cracked open the door and slid inside.

Ashley found Hana inside, her back to her, just finishing changing into her pajamas, pulling the top on. She padded up behind the little lying pre-teen, a hand snatching out and twisting tightly in her midnight.

"You fuckin' tiny cunt!" Ashley spat venomously, bending down to put her mouth next to Hana's ear. Using her greater weight and leverage, she began shoving the smaller girl towards the empty bed. "Those - those Darkness...things were yours, you lying bitch! And whatever you're doing to Simon, you're gonna stop. Now!"

“Oww!” Hana yelped, “Ashley, what the fuck!?”

“Shut your fuckin’ hole!” With her fistful of the little teen’s hair, Ashley kicked Hana’s legs apart from behind and slammed her face-first into the bed, dropping her hard onto her knees. She bent Hana roughly at the waist, pressing up behind her and leaning over her to hiss “keep your fuckin’ voice down, cunt. If you wake Kristy up, I’ll beat your fuckin’ face in. Got it?” To emphasize her point Ashley yanked Hana’s head back by her hair and then smashed her face back into the mattress.

“mmmnnngh!” Hana squealed. She tried to push up with her arms, but Ashley had dropped onto her back, smothering her, digging her hips painfully into the bed-frame.

“First, you little cock-sucking piece of shit, I want to know what you did to Simon. You fuckin’ infected him didn’t you!? You got your…your fucking Darkness into him!”

“I didn’t!” Hana gasped, her scalp burning where Ashley jerked at her hair.

“You fuckin’ did! I know it was you! I know you made those things!” Ashley dug her elbow into Hana’s back and pulled harder on her hair, cranking her neck up. “You didn’t tell me Kristy was pregnant you fuckin’ whore! This is your last fuckin’ chance, do you hear me? Don’t fuckin’ lie to me, Hana!” she whispered savagely.

“You’re crazy!” Hana was crying in short scared sobs.

“I’m crazy? I’m crazy?” Ashley growled in Hana’s ear. “You haven’t even seen crazy yet. I’ll fuck you up, Hana! What did you do to Simon!? Tell me what you did to him!”

“Fuck you! I fucked him, okay!?” Hana shot back defiantly.

“You fuckin!—” Ashley saw red. She whipped Hana over onto her back, yanked her up by her top and gave her a blistering slap across the face. Hana saw stars. Her ears were ringing. She felt the back of her head strike the mattress, then dizzily registered that Ashley had knotted a fist in her top and was jerking her back onto her feet for another slap…

Instinctively, Hana tucked her chin into her shoulder and shot an arm up, elbow high, to block Ashley’s blow. For a split second, Ashley’s rage gave way to surprise. It was all Hana needed. She threw a crisp right left combination and felt and heard her knuckles crack against Ashley’s jaw and nose. Ashley’s head snapped back.

“Aaahhh!” the older girl cried out, “You bitch!” Ashley surged at Hana.

“HAIISH!” Hana yelled, ducking under Ashley’s hard right cross and swiveling her hips sharply to drill a roundhouse kick into Ashley’s chest.

“Unnnf!” Ashley groaned, the air bubbling out through her bloodied nose, her right breast stinging horribly. “You slippery little—“ Hana slammed a shin kick into her stomach and a second later another kick blasted Ashley’s ribs.

“Aanghh!” Ashley doubled over and wrapped her arms around her head protectively. She blocked another combination from Hana then jerked back and took a glancing kick to the head. Hana was fast, much too fast, Ashley saw. It was time to get serious. She saw Hana's feet shift, and then the kick hammered into her side. Only this time, Ashley was ready. She caught Hana's leg against her waist and heaved up as she shot in, taking them both to the ground with a crash. Hana jerked her legs up, wrapping them around Ashley's sides. She curled up defensively and Ashley's fist struck her forearm instead of her face. The second punch glanced off Hana's elbow. When Ashley reared up, cocking her fist and looking for an opening, Hana pushed her legs against Ashley's hips with all her might and rolled...

...Kristin finally came awake at the sound of the fighting. She blinked at what she was seeing. Hana was sitting on top of her cousin, trying to rain punches down on Ashley's face while Ashley was punching up from the bottom. Both girls looked completely exhausted, but they kept batting at each other, cursing and crying out when one of their weakly thrown punches connected.

“Stop!” Kristin shouted furiously. She sprang out of the bed like a lioness, and in one swift motion grabbed the back of Hana’s top by the collar and flung her off of Ashley.

Hana sailed across the room and cracked into the door, sliding down onto her butt and holding the back of her head in both hands. “Ow.” She whimpered.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing, Hana!?” Kristin demanded, outraged.

“She started it!” Hana accused, pointing at Ashley. Fresh tears spilled from her pretty dark blue eyes and her lower lip quivered with wounded indignation.

Ashley lurched back to her feet, her face red and angry and her own eyes bright with unshed tears, but Kristin jerked her thickly muscled arm out, stopping her. “I said, STOP.” Kristin repeated with finality.

Kristin was pissed. She had been having a good dream for once, winged and flying with Gabrielle, in a sky bluer than bluer, all her worries far away, just like the world so far below. And now she had woken up to this, two girls fighting for no reason she could see. Her lips peeled back in a silent snarl - it reminded her of the 'gladiatrix' fights Hornsbeck would sometimes force some of the women to do.

Kristin glowered down at Hana with hard, green eyes, then turned her narrow-eyed gaze on Ashley. "What the hell is going on?"

Ashley swallowed, scrubbing the tears from her eyes with an arm, then forcing a contrite smile on her lips. She placed a hand on Kristin's arm, suppressing a wince at the feel of the iron muscles coiling beneath her skin.

"Kristy, I'm sorry, but please, listen. Kristin, you can't believe a word that little bi-" Ashley took a deep breath and changed what she was going to say as Kristin lowered her brows, "that Hana says. She lies about everything. Remember last night, those heavy shadows?"

Kristin nodded sharply, giving Hana a warning glance when the small girl tried to stealthily reach for the door. "Yes, it was just a nightmare, a bad one."

"It wasn't! She did that." Ashley pointed accusingly at Hana. "She lied about it, and when I confronted her about it, she said Violet did. But that was a lie too. Violet wasn't even here."

Kristin stalked across the room, bunching a hand in Hana's pajama top and effortlessly lifting her to feet. Her other hand was stretched back, keeping Ashley from getting any closer, though over Kristin's strong shoulder, Hana could see the taller girl's gold-brown eyes gleaming gloatingly.

"Well?" Kristin growled menacingly.

"I - it's - please-" Hana stammered, desperately trying to think up a plausible excuse that the over-muscled teen would buy.

"And that's not even everything." Ashley grinned viciously with cruel triumph. Fuckin' whore can't squirm her way out of this one. "I was trying to warn Simon about her, and he didn't believe me. He was almost... not quite himself. That - Hana said she fucked him - and that's a total lie. Simon would never do anything like that with a little girl. And if he did, it could only be because she did something to him, got her darkness into him-"

"I lied! I lied about that, I swear, Kristy." Hana twisted, prying futilely against Kristin's arm and having about as much success as she would against a railroad track. "Ashley saw me talking with Simon and must've been jealous or something 'cause then she came back here and was all 'What the fuck cunt!' and totally attacked me like a crazy bitch, hurting me and I just wanted to hurt her back, but she's lots bigger'n me and so I said the first thing that came to mind and-"

"Why you!" Ashley lunged again, but Kristin held her back with negligent ease.

"That's ENOUGH!" Kristin's furious scowl was directed at both girls. "You're fighting over a man? Simon? Simon? He was a fuckin' guard in Paradise. If he seems nice, it's 'cause he's better at hiding what he did and what he wants to do." Kristin snarled, her anger a palpable thing. "That's IT! I'm dragging both of you to see him right now! An' if he doesn't explain what-the-fuck, I'm gonna rip his balls off!"

"NO!" Hana and Ashley squealed at the same time. Neither of them wanted Simon to see them as there were.

"Yes."

Kristin's strength was implacable. Hana was swung over a shoulder, barely able to squirm with the unnaturally strong arm around her waist. Kristin's other hand snatched Ashley's wrist, her grip gentle, but unbreakable, despite straining with everything she had. Heedless of their pleas, she dragged them out into the hall, then down the backstairs and outside.

"Where is he? Tell me, or I'm gonna carry you two all through the Refuge, yelling his name." Her jade eyes blazed, her voice low and eerily matter-of-fact, and both resisting girls knew that it wasn't an idle threat. Hands trembling, Hana and Ashley simultaneously pointed around the corner of Violet's.

Kristin stomped around the corner, battered captives in hand, and stalked right up the tent. "Simon!" she snarled, in question and demand.

In front of the entrance, Kristin swung Hana and Ashley around in front of her, a hand on the back of each of their necks to keep them from running. Ashley had grown deathly pale, but tried to hold herself confidently straight. Hana sagged in the incredible grip, trying to portray an innocent helplessness.

Hana's pajama top was a ruined, stretched out mess. The collar had torn some, where Ashley and Kristin had jerked at it, and now the little top kept slipping down Hana's shoulders and threatening to expose her. Her cheek still stung where Ashley had slapped her, her scalp still burned from having Ashley yanking on her hair, and her stomach ached from being bounced up and down on Kristin's rock-hard shoulder.

"Kristy, this is stupid," Hana murmured miserably, "let me go." She held the top in place with one hand, but she still felt vulnerable standing barefoot on the grass in her thin pajamas. "You're hurting my neck." Hana added with a wince.

The affiable smile on Simon's face disappeared into a mask of anger. "Let them go," Simon said to Kristin, his voice a whip-snap of command. The blond glared at him but released them. Snatching a blanket off his sleeping pile, he put it around Hana's shoulders, covering the threatening exposure. "Go change," he ordered her, "and then come right back."

His blue eyes raked angrily over all of them. "Then we're all going to talk about this. Like adults." To Hana, he added, "Hurry. We won't start without you."