Will-o’-the-wisp, flibbertigibbet, clown

"No, Mom," I growl, yanking on her. "You can't have him."

"But- but- he's hot!"

"He's also taken. I thought even you at least had standards, but you want a man who's already claimed? Seriously?"

My youngest brother, Brack, latches onto her other side. "We don't need more half-siblings! Now come on, we have to keep moving!" We work together to pull her backwards down the street. "Mom, stop dragging your feet. I've lost track of how many safe houses your antics have gotten us kicked out of, and we still need somewhere to stay tonight!"

She pouts, but finally relents. "Oookaaay."

We sigh with relief and stop pulling as she finally starts walking on her own again. Checking my straps, I tug lightly to make sure my sisters are still connected to me. When they tug back, I smile a little and check in with Brack, who tugs his own straps and nods. I know we look weird walking down the street like this, but five out of our seven family members have the tendency to wander off.

Just when I think that we won't find another safe house because we've already been kicked out of all of them, a man appears, waving at us. "Come quickly! Night is coming!" Brack and I pick up the pace, dragging our siblings and mother with us. "Faster! Darkness comes early in this area!"

We dash inside just as the shadows swallow up the road where we were just standing. Panting, I stretch backwards to breathe a little more easily. "Thank you," I manage to say. "What do we owe you?"

He shakes his head. "I don't take payment for saving people. Stay here tonight. I would suggest longer, but the fact that you're way out here so long after the disaster means that you've been evicted everywhere else, right?"

I hesitate before nodding. "Yeah. We have some, ah, troublesome people in our group that don't think before doing things. If you know anywhere that could take us..."

He tilts his head. "I'll do some thinking. Do you need help out of those harnesses?"

I shake my head, letting him lead us deeper into the safe house. "We have a lot of practice. It's also better that we keep them on." I can see him trying to figure out what exactly we're wearing, so I decide to explain. "Our mother is the type of person who acts on every whim. We were actually lucky that the Collapse happened. She couldn't hold a job and had six kids."

He blinks at me. "That might be the first time I've heard someone say the Collapse was a good thing."

"I didn't say it was good, but it probably saved our lives." I catch him eyeing my mom up and down. "If you make a move, so will she."

He startles. "Pardon. That wasn't my meaning. I was noticing that none of you look like her, and that she looks normal enough. Why couldn't she hold a job?"

I bark out a laugh. "Our mother is a nymphomaniac with a policy of never sleeping with the same man twice. She was on birth control for most of it and swears that she always used protection, but still managed to get pregnant six times by six different men. You were curious about the harnesses, right?" He nods. "Four out of six of us inherited her habit of doing random things without thinking. Brack and I didn't. He's the fourth child, youngest son, large for his age, so he took the boys and I took the girls and we're both strapped to Mom because between us we're strong enough to keep her from getting herself killed."

He stares at us. "Well, you seem to be doing all right. You're each still in one piece, after all. Here's a tent for the night. This basement isn't the most comfortable place, but it's dry and no one has died down here, so it's decently safe."

I nod, but keep him in my periphery until he stops to talk to someone else. For a refugee safe house, it's surprisingly orderly down here, and I can see where they've expanded the room beyond the original basement. That's a good sign; expansion means there's a fairly permanent population. Even still, I shoot Brack a look that he easily interprets: trust no one.

As we settle in, albeit somewhat uncomfortably, the man comes back. "There's a place, about three days' walk from the city. Rest stops each day's walk between. It's fairly organized, almost a city in and of itself if you look at the people, run by some ex-military. Probably safer than any city safe house. Straight east, along the road. Can't miss it."

I nod my thanks. "Our gratitude. Any messages to carry?" That's the biggest repayment I can give him. Travelers are often requested to carry messages in return for shelter or food, since the postal system fell apart in the Collapse.

I relax a little when he nods. "I'll have a satchel with the messages ready for you first thing. I suggest you leave at Lightbreak. I'll let you know when the signs begin."

I nod again and settle back. That's another change since the Collapse. Darkfall and Lightbreak have replaced dusk and dawn, now that the coming of darkness is no longer cyclical and consistent. We have to watch for signs now.

As promised, he wakes us just before Lightbreak and passes us the bag of letters. I let Brack check through it; troublemakers sometimes add bait to their packages so that the spectres follow the travelers away.

The bag is clear, though, so with compass in hand, we set out. Here's hoping we get to refuge.