Silver worked me every moment I was awake, and they weren't busy. I learned to fight, learned to shoot.

  I was with them for a few months before we got into real trouble. We were on the west side of the Rockies, holed up in an old hideout in the shadow of the mountain. The place had been abandoned for a long time. The storms had eaten holes in the walls, and while the mountains kept the worst of it away from us, it was still enough to rub any exposed skin raw.

  To make things worse, a few AI chased us into that safe area, and they had no problem being in the storm. If we did nothing, they'd get the drop on us, and we’d be dead.

  Our gear was running low, and we could only fully cover two people. Mara and Silver went out, leaving Vince and I to try to sand-proof the building.

  “Why couldn't you stay in the cars?” I ask.

  “Like I said, our gear was running low. The cars had to be air-tight, and we didn't have enough O2 to spare sleeping.”

  We nailed blankets up to cover the gaps in the walls, the rotten boards and broken glass.

  Though the howling sand and constant thunder, I could still hear the occasional, distant pop of gunfire.

  Vince and I hunkered down in the bedroom, his gear on and rifle in hand. I kept my knife in my hand and my eyes on him, ready to fight.

  “So… are you doing alright?” He awkwardly said. I think that's the first time he ever tried to talk to me.

  “It was.” Vince interrupts. “And I had no idea how to talk to a kid.”

  “I can hear fighting.” I answered. My hand tightened around my hilt.

  “Yeah, they do that.” He reached up to rub the back of his neck. It was almost a minute later before he tried saying anything else. “I've seen Silver working you hard.”

  “I can handle it.”

  “I know… I'm just saying, you know, good job.”

  I looked at him with suspicion. He was always right behind Mara, I thought he was planning something.

  “They might be a while, storm fights are slow. You should get some sleep.”

  “Not until Silver’s back.”

  “Right, yeah.” He didn't say anything for almost an hour. “They uh, read to you, right? I can do that. If it'll help, I mean.”

  I glared at him out of the corner of my eye for a moment. I was tired though, he was right. I didn’t trust him, but knew he knew Silver would kill him if anything happened to me. I grabbed a tablet Silver gave me, pulled up a book, and handed it to him before climbing into a sleeping bag that was way too big for me.

  Vince tried to read, but-

  “Ok.” Vince interrupts. “In my defense, I hadn’t read a novel since I was with Dad. Mara always took care of most of the contract work, and we never had books just sitting around. I tried as hard I could, and it made me realize I should probably read on my own some more, which I did. I’m way better at reading now.”

  “And I appreciate it, but fuck it’s funny in hindsight.”

  Vince did his best, but it just wasn’t possible to fall asleep. He was stumbling over his words, he’d have to stop to puzzle out the more complicated ones, he’d mispronounce words in books that I could recite by memory. I appreciated the effort, but holy shit it was painful.

  Eventually I managed to tune him out and fall asleep.

  “I actually kept reading after you fell asleep.” Vince adds. “I’d do that whenever I was alone, actually. I wanted to do better next time.”

  Without someone reading, and with the distant fighting, my nightmares were the worst they’d been in a while. I woke up fighting, thinking I heard gunfire right outside the window. I still had to think to move. My legs flailed as I tried to get up, stuck in the sleeping bag.

  “You’re alright!” Vince’s yelling reached my ears, but actually, I heard him speak so rarely that I didn’t recognize his voice.

  I scrambled towards the wall, my eyes locked on him, and finally drew my knife.

  “Hey, it’s ok.” Vince slowly lowered his tablet and held out a single hand. He stepped back, giving me space.

  I finally realized where I was, what was happening. I thought it was weird though, Vince trying to comfort me.

  “It was easier to be nice when I didn’t have to worry at every single moment about what Mara thought. It let my mask relax a little. It let the little bit of me that remained shine through.”

  I slowly waited for my pounding heart to slow, and slid down the wall.

  “You uh, alright?” Vince asked. “Had a nightmare?”

  I nodded, and slowly re-sheathed my knife.

  “Here.” He took out a canteen and handed it to me. “This always helps me sleep.”

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  I took it and a burning liquid hit my mouth. The dumbass gave me alcohol.

  “Wait what?” I interrupt. “Why would you give a ten year old alcohol?”

  “Yeah it was dumb, but it was the only way I knew how to relax.” Vince admits. “My only goal was letting her sleep, and was the only thing I could think to do. Well, almost the only thing.”

  I spit it out and accidentally spilled most of it while I coughed. On the bright side, it got my mind off the nightmare, so I guess in some way it worked.

  “What the hell?” I think that’s the first time I ever cursed.

  “Oh, right, it’s an acquired taste.” He took the canteen out of my hand, and handed me another one. “Maybe water would be better.”

  It didn’t do anything to get the taste out of my mouth, but I downed it all.

  “You want to try to get some more sleep?” He asked.

  “I will when Silver gets back.” I said and hugged my legs to my chest. “The fighting is too close.”

  “When I was a kid, I only ever felt safe with my dog beside me and my pistol under my pillow. I uh, can be your guard dog if you need. And here.” The dumbass pulled out his pistol, flipped it around, and let me take it. “It kept me safe when I was a kid. Maybe it’ll help you feel safer while you sleep.”

  Well, if he was a dumbass offering it to me, I was just as much of a dumbass to take it.

  I took it. I knew pistols, Silver had taught me some. I made sure the safety was on before climbing back into my sleeping bag. I kept the pistol beneath my head, and Vince started to read again.

  Sure enough, the pistol did nothing to keep my nightmares at bay. Apparently I started thrashing, still asleep.

  “You were doing more than that.” Vince adds. “You were crying in your sleep, calling out for your family. You were asking for help. I had to do something, I couldn’t leave you like that.”

  So I’m in the middle of a nightmare, and I feel someone grab my arm. I freaked out. My hand brushed against the pistol, and Silver’s training kicked in. I grabbed it, pointed it towards the shadow grabbing me, flicked the safety, and pulled the trigger.

  I missed, thankfully, but fuck I felt bad. I put a round straight in the ceiling, and Vince drew his own pistol out of habit. That made me freeze at least.

  It took a few seconds to process what I even just did. I ended up dropping my pistol and crying.

  Vince slowly holstered his pistol and stepped forward.

  “I’ll take this back.” He very carefully moved the pistol away from me.

  He didn’t know how to comfort me, what to do, what to say. He just silently patched the hole I put in the roof while I recovered.

  I ended up sitting in the corner, tablet in one hand, and my knife in the other. Every distant shot and crack of thunder drew me out of my book, and often jerked me out of whatever sleep I managed to get.

  It was so long before the fighting stopped. Hours, half a day maybe. The door opened, and the sand came with it. I dropped my tablet, and got into position to rush forward and skewer whoever was on the other side.

  It was two people in familiar gear. Silver and Mara both peeled off their helmets as they approached. Silver came straight to me and took a seat next to me, whereas Mara went for a separate room. Vince didn’t even look back before following her.

  “You didn’t sleep?” Silver asked.

  “I tried.” My eyes flickered up to the hole in the ceiling, which of course Silver caught.

  “Nobody fired vertically.” Their eyes swept the room, looking for an impact point on the ground. “Shot came from the inside?” They guessed.

  I could only nod.

  “You? Or Vincent?” A cold fury simmered under their quiet, even voice.

  “He thought sleeping with a pistol might help me.” I whispered. “I had a nightmare.”

  Their shoulders dropped and all the tension melted from them.

  “I’m sure he had good intentions.” They took a seat beside me and began to strip off their armor, sand caught in the joints falling into a small pile on the ground. “He might even be right, just a few years of therapy early.”

  “He said it helped him when he was a kid.”

  Silver nodded while a small smile tugged at the corner of their mouth.

  “Did you stay safe?” I asked.

  “They didn’t land a single hit on target. I kept them busy in the Digital, feeding their eyes fake inputs, while she put them down. I even checked their memories, nobody else is in the area, nobody will bother us before the storm ends.”

  “Good.” Silver always knew just what to say to calm me down.

  “Why don’t you get some sleep?” Silver took the tablet out of my hand.

  “Ok.”

  I slept well with them there. I always did.

  Over the next two months, I got a little better. I could get myself to sleep, and learned to hide my nightmares.

  I even started pulling my own weight. Silver picked up a rifle and armor, all sized for a child, in a town we were in, and I started helping in some of the fights. I’d stay back and shoot what I could. Never humans, but I didn’t realize killing AI was the same thing at the time. There was no blood, and somehow that made it ok in my mind.

  I traveled with them for two long years. I learned an awful lot, it made me skilled, the fighter I am today. It’s saved my life time and time again, but fuck it was miserable. Being around someone who hates you as much as The Bitch hated me weighs on you.

  We were camped just outside a burnt out town. AI yet again had torched homes. The fight was miserable, scrappy, close quarters. Silver had managed to disable their guns with some AI bullshit, but out came their knives and bats.

  I turned the corner and got stuck. A knife slipped right past my plates, just a shallow hit to my side hitting nothing vital, but the pain. Way worse than taking a round to a heavy vest.

  I went down and Silver fell back to take care of me. That left just Mara and Vince, and both of them took hits. They came out of that town battered and bleeding.

  And you’ll never guess who Mara blamed.

  She yelled, screamed, berated me. Called me a waste of water, worse than nothing. Silver yelled back for me. Vince stayed behind Mara, rifle still in hand, and I stayed behind Silver, knife drawn.

  Somehow that fight didn’t come to blows. Silver placated her, did whatever they had to in order to keep Mara calm.

  We ended up all sitting around a hotplate, waiting for dinner to cook.

  “Cassandra.” Mara glared at me. “Make yourself fucking useful and get me a drink.”

  I glanced at Silver, who nodded intensely, their face apologetic.

  I was scared of her. I grabbed a drink and held it out to her. My hand was shaking, and the drink slipped from my fingers.

  Pain bloomed on the side of my face and I hit the sand hard. Silver hauled me to my feet and we headed towards their car wordlessly.

  “Fucking bitch!” Mara roared out at us. “You’ll pay for this.” She turned to Vince. “You going to be a useless bitch too? Get me a fucking drink.”

  “No.” Vince’s word was barely a whisper, and he looked just as surprised as Mara did.

  She lunged, and Vince did the same. Vince reached the rifle first, and pointed it at Mara.

  “Fucking traitors. All of you.” She stood up, and got her own drink.

  Vince followed us to Silver’s car, rifle still pointed at her. Silver gently put me in the passenger’s seat, Vince took the back, and Silver drove us away.