The Last People // When Snow Falls in Neverland :: complete

Snow c o v e r s

ANA'S BREATHS WERE HEAVY as she sat inside of the cellar. Her heart pounded and her eyes begged for sleep, but her mind was awake as she sat, crouched, on the cement floors.

"What happened out there?" a boy asked, probably the youngest of the troops. He looked to be about her age, with dirty blonde hair and eyes just a shade lighter than the cobalt she'd seen in the dead man's eyes. He was tall, taller than her anyway, and he looked strong.

"They found me hiding, and they held a gun to my head." Ana sucked in a shaky breath, and repeated the moments in her head.

"Can I just ask you a question?" he said.

"You just did." Ana kept her eyes downcasted.

"Why didn't you just tell them where we were? You would've been prized to them, and you would've been spoiled and safe, but you protected us. Why?" he queried. Ana asked herself the same question, but her mind was foggy.

"You're my native troops," she said, "I can't just not help you. It wouldn't be right." She shrugged, looking the other way.

"What's your name, anyhow?" Ana considered her options.

1. She could tell him her name and hope that he was somewhat trustworthy. Or...

2. She could just tell him she didn't want him to know and have certain safety, no worry for any trustworthiness.

"Ana," she said at last, but she didn't know if she'd made the right choice. She tried to tell herself that he was native to her, and she should be able to trust him. On the other hand, Ana didn't know who exactly she could trust anymore.

"Nice to meet you, Ana. I'm Nolan," he responded nonchalantly. Ana wasn't amused. "You're a tough one, aren't you?" She shrugged again.

"I suppose I'm considerably stubborn, but I can be nice." He nodded in a rather unbelieving way, but he seemed to accept that he hadn't known her long enough to judge her right away. "I can try, anyway." He chuckled, but the moment quickly ended.

"I'm too tired to stay up talking to you, Ana. I need sleep. I'll see you tomorrow morning, Sergeant." Nolan gave her one last smile and laid down on the hard cement, just like the rest of them had.

Did he really just call her Sergeant?

Ana thought about what they were to do tomorrow, but her mind was blank. She noted that the enemy army was probably unsuspicious about this town after the incident before, or at least she thought so. It might be safe to go out, or it might not be. She stared at the unopened cans, her eyelids drooping ever so slowly.

She finally let herself drift off, her sleep dreamless. She couldn't help but be glad for that.

+++

When she woke up, it was still dark outside. The soldiers were already up and completely awake. Ana wondered how many times they'd been in this situation.

"Oh, look. Sarg is finally away." It was Nolan who said this, and he gave her a wink. Ana just rolled her eyes.

"So, what are we doing today?" another man asked. Most of the men were in their late twenties or early thirties, and only two or three boys seemed to be Ana's age, maybe even a year older, but it honestly didn't matter to her. She didn't some guy to boss her around, anyway.

"I was just thinking we could eat and go peek out to see what's going on. I don't know who we're trying to kill, but I'm assuming it's those guys that came yesterday," Ana explained, picking up a can.