Anju stood in the back of the meeting shaking her head in disbelief. She knew her words could not help those children now. They were probably lost somewhere, cold and afraid for their lives. And the guards who were sent to hunt them down, they would probably hurt them.

"We must get this word out to the public, and we can not mess up this information or we'll be in trouble."

Anju listened to Indrake and the others rambling on about their final decision.

Two hours later, the rain began to pour and the news was non-stop.

This had to be the biggest bullcrap in the world, and sadly, Anju and the rest of the doctors had to play it out as truth.

Deth never thought that he would end up this desperate. Now he didn’t seem to have a choice, walking in the cold rain, with pursuers close behind. He had to find shelter or May would fall ill.

Wandering into a neighborhood, he approached the first house he saw and sighed. He knew begging would do him no good, but he had to try.

He rang the doorbell grasping May's cold, wet hand.

It was not until the door started opening and the light seeped into the outside that Deth predicted what to expect. These strangers would kick them off the lawn before he could beg a single word of need.

He looked up into the face of an old woman. Deth could not tell if she was angry or terrified at the least. The curly gray lady only stared at the children at her door confused and shocked.

"Please…" Deth said shaking. "We need shelter."

She didn’t know what to do with the old uniform that the two children had to share. She decided to just place it in her dirty laundry hamper. "Is it warm enough?" She asked May, waddling and relaxing in the bathroom tub.

May only nodded.

"Good, good," said the old woman. She turned off the faucets. "Okay now, you just stay put and I'll find you some dry clothes. Small clothes if we're lucky." The woman caught a glimpse of May's smile before she left the master bathroom.

She then went down the hall to the other bathroom. Deth had finished with his shower and wore a towel around his waist. "Follow me," the woman greeted. She led him two doors down to a well-furnished bedroom. Deth was scared about sleeping in a room that was meant for someone else.

"My son is in college right now and he only takes the clothes that he wants to keep wearing," the old woman said. She began opening the dresser drawers while Deth watched her from the bed. "Is she your sister?" Deth heard her ask.

"No…" said Deth shyly. In the back of his head, he was actually annoyed. "Just a…really good friend."

"Well, she's very lucky to have a really good friend in return. I understand if you don’t want to explain your situation but I'm glad you turned to someone instead of just staying out there in the cold."

"That's the last thing we're concerned with," Deth said.

The old woman placed some pajamas and briefs on the bed and then some more clothes on top of the dressers. "You should fit these easily. I'm gonna have to dig deeper to find something suitable for your friend. Speaking of which, I should go and check on her. Now don’t you worry about a thing. Go to bed now. I'm sure I have something I can prepare for breakfast in the morning."

Deth didn’t think that sweet old ladies like this one still existed. He barely murmured a 'thank you' before she left the room.

Yet he knew this peace would not last. "They" would hunt. "They" would hunt endlessly without stopping. He and May didn’t travel far away enough from the facility but if they moved fast enough, there would be no trail for anyone to follow.

Around 3am, Deth crept quietly into the second guest room where May was sleeping soundly. He gave her a few shy pushes that did no good. But suddenly, as though she anticipated to see him in the night, a small pair of bright blue eyes became focused on him.

"Hello," she smiled softly.

"Hey," Deth replied. He looked over at the pair of clothes folded carefully and placed on the nightstand. He shoved them to May, struggling to be alert.

"Why are you dressed?" May asked him.

"Because we have to leave," Deth whispered. "If we stay, 'they' will catch up to us."

Quickly and quietly Deth helped May change, and then they tiptoed down the stairs. They would leave behind no note of gratitude or thanks. They would, without a word, step quietly out into the night where the grass was damp and the air moist from the rains that have passed.

When the sun rose, the news was everywhere. When Deth came upon a newspaper with the fake abduction story, he growled in anger and crumpled the entire newspaper. He kept his ears alert for any sirens and sounds which he and May would walk as far away from as possible. In time, they came upon a bad side of town. The streets were boarded in planks and graffiti. It was no place for them but there were no lab people looking for them around here at least.

This was not good. Deth began to slow down and realize that they had no place to run and certainly no opportunity to survive outside the labs.

May's stomach growl and the pain was hard for Deth to bear. She ate little while in captivity and all of that running only made her soar. She looked around at the sight of the depravity she and Deth have walked into. Catching the scents of food in the air, Deth looked towards the nearby food shops.

"Um…" May muttered close to him. "We're not gonna steal, are we?"

She twitched upon the strangest feeling she ever felt. Deth's hand rubbed her back in gentle strokes. It was at most unexpected and comforting. "Don’t worry, May," Deth assured her as he did this. "We'll get our food the honest way."

They continued to walk the hollow streets while Deth peered into alleyways. He led May into an alley right next to a soul food restaurant. The darkness and unsettleness of the alley frightened May while she watched Deth digging through the dumpsters. She also thought about how disgusting it would be for her to eat garbage.

A sudden sound of crash was heard at the end of the alley and a startled May clung herself to the dumpster.

"Hey," she called out to Deth hitting his legs.

"What?" he called out.

"Hey!" May kept screaming and hitting again. Deth finally drop down from the dumpster and caught sight of the back alley.

Approaching the children at a very slow speed was a skinny dark-skinned man. His clothes were distorted at the position he walk towards them.

Deth was frozen to his spot to scared to move. May's fist grabbed hold of his pant legs as he stood his ground.

"Children should not be here alone," the man said slowly. "You…you did something bad…you running away."

"We didn’t do anything bad," Deth said shaking. "And it's none of your concern!"

"Oh, I know who you are!" The man began to point at Deth and teased him. "I know who you are," he cackled. "You naughty children ran away. Where you gonna hide?"

Deth had enough of the strange man's teasing and grabbed May.

"Foster homes will want papers. Halfway houses won't let you stay a week. But around here there are plenty of places to be hiding."

It was the first time Deth heard the crazy man say something intelligent, which compelled him to stay where he was. "I show you where to hide," said the man. He turned his back to him and suddenly turned a corner.

Deth tugged on May's arm. "Come on, May," he said. He grabbed her arm as they quickly and cautiously followed the man.

They came to a deeper part of an alley that felt empty and hollow. The grounds were cluttered and smoke was strong in the air.

"See all the doors," said the man. "Lots of places they wont find you. Nobody live in these doors. Want me to show you some?"

Deth tried to think of the suspicious catch that this man was trying to pull. He wasn’t going to let this idea go away. Especially since he could feel May shaking in fear.

That alone was enough for him to look at the crazy man straight in the eye and strongly say, "No. Now get away from us!"

He waited and waited until the crazy man finally mumbled away. Deth waited to make sure that he wasn’t around still and he and May walked down the alleys.

Out of his own curious nature, Deth pushed open one door and peeked inside. He found a small empty room littered in boxes. There was a small center of room on the ground revealing a red carpet. He waited in silence until he finally led May in. Deth shut the door securely.

May was uncomfortable about the dust and lack of space. She was also scared about being in someone else's room. Deth got May to sit on the carpet floor with him.

"Hey, don’t worry. We'll just stay here and rest up for a while. I can tell we're both exhausted." Deth could see that May was looking ill. He felt her head again. "I forgot, you still have that fever."

"I'm scared someone might find us here," she told Deth.

"Well if you're really worried then I'll stay awake. But for now, I think you should really lie down."

May muttered an okay as she began to curl herself on the carpet. Deth could only wrap an arm around her as she struggled for comfort. He was angry that he couldn’t provide a blanket or a coat at the least. Her coughs disturbed him.

All he could for her now was stay awake and keep watch.