“Oh my god,” Hall whispered, becoming absorbed in the tale.

“There were twenty of us at the beginning, as well as several camels and horses,” Clarke continued. “However, we split in two groups when Burke became impatient with how slowly we were proceeding, then split us again until there were five of us; Burke, Wills, Charles Gray, my good friend John King, and myself. On the trip back from the north, Gray died of dysentery, and the supply team we had left behind at the halfway point to meet us had long since run out of supplies themselves. I didn’t find out until later, but they had actually waited an extra five weeks for the rest of us to return, but left without us mere hours ahead of us.

“Exhausted and dying of hunger, we had to eat the camels and our remaining horse for food. The others kept shouting at me to make food appear, nearly beating me half to death in their frustration. Their hunger added to their madness and I felt that I was the one voice of sanity amongst them all. I had never been hungrier before in my life.

“We tried to make it back to civilization as best we could, but the trip was too much. We had to leave Wills behind, but promised to return for him. Burke, King and I continued our journey for two days until Burke became too weak and died. King and I went back for Wills, but found him dead when we arrived. King and I were certain that we wouldn’t make it out alive, but a local aborigine tribe found us and helped nurse us back to health.”

Clarke took a small sip of tea to settle his nerves. “I haven’t told that story in a very long time.”

“Well, I’m glad you made it out alive,” Hall said, grinning hopefully. “Since then you’ve done a lot of good.”

“No, I’ve done a lot of bad things for good reasons,” Clarke said. “I kill people. I hunt down those I believe to be evil because no one can stop me. You, however, do a lot of good. You actually save people.”

Hall smiled, staring down at her coffee. “I do what I can,” she said. “Frankly, it can be really stressful just driving into work. Most of the people who come here never walk out. I haven’t even slept in twenty hours because we’re so short staffed.”

“And you’re good at your job?” Clarke asked.

“I like to think I am,” she answered.

“Then why not transfer somewhere else? You’re obviously dedicated and hard working. A doctor like you could probably find a job at any hospital she wanted to in the country. Why stay here in this dying city when you could save more people with better equipment elsewhere?”