There was barely a breeze, yet it was now howling like a cyclone in her ears, and even though the mounds of frozen junk didn’t appear to be moving, the screeches and scrapes were deafening. Grimacing at the thunderous chorus of metal against metal, Lisa closed her eyes and focused on the sound of her own heart, breaking out of her thoughts only when she heard footsteps. A few seconds later, Bennett was kneeling by her side.

“Are you doing all right?” Bennett said, placing her hand on Lisa’s arm.

“Yeah, I think so. Things got loud for a minute, but it’s better now.”

“Good. Now, first things first,” Bennett said, gently removing Lisa’s glasses. “You don’t really need these, and they could get in the way, so I’ll hold on to them. All right?”

“Um…sure.”

Bennett slipped the glasses into her pocket before motioning to her right. “About twenty paces that way is where some homeless people camp out. They’re asleep, and fairly far apart, so you shouldn’t have a problem. You just have to remember to be quiet.”

“You’re not going with me?” Lisa softly squeaked.

The angst in Lisa’s voice was almost too much to take, and Bennett paused long enough to make sure her own anxieties would not seep into her tone before she spoke. “I wish I could, Lisa, but I can’t,” she said, brushing a strand of hair off Lisa’s face. “If I were to go with you, you could easily home in on me, and we’d end up getting into quite a tussle. This is basically a rite of passage, Lisa, and it’s one you need to do alone.”

“But…but I don’t even know what to do. Do I need to kill them? Do I have to kill them?” Lisa whimpered.

Bennett thought back to centuries before when she’d asked the same questions of Max. “Unfortunately, first feeds aren’t easily controllable. Eventually, you’ll be able to take what you need without…without ending a life, but I can’t guarantee you it won’t happen tonight, and you can’t worry about that.”

“But I don’t want to kill anyone, Bennett. Isn’t there another way? What about the bags?”

Warmth radiated throughout Bennett’s body, the Olympic torch a mere matchstick compared to the flame of her hope. “You and I both know that’s not what you need, and I’m thrilled you don’t want to kill anyone. That means more to me than you can possibly imagine, but it’s going to be all right. I promise.”

“But I’m scared, Bennett, and I don’t know what to do.”