A Human Friend (Sequel to A Pet Squishy)

Survivors

Los Angeles...

Lana greedily uncapped a bottle of water she'd found in another demolished convenience store and drank it down. It wasn't cold anymore, but at least it was clean water. Part of her felt guilty about taking it, but with no one around and the store destroyed anyway she didn't see room for conscience. She gasped, water dripping down her chin as she sat on the hood of a car for a rest.

All day she'd been running through the city trying to find some way out; a car with keys in it or something. Thus far she hadn't been able to locate a vehicle that wasn't severely damaged or that had keys in it. She had no idea how to hot wire a car and with the new security measures in the newer cars it was unlikely she'd succeed anyway without the keys. Not only that, if she set off a car alarm it might give away her position to any Decepticon in the area. Lana hadn't seen any robots since escaping but she wasn't going to take any chances.

She put down the empty bottle and began scouring the store for anything edible. Unfortunately many of the items were burned or ripped open. Luckily she managed to find a bag of chips that hadn't been opened and proceeded to eat them.

"Man...when was the last time I ate?" Lana mused after she'd wolfed down half the bag in a minute.

Suddenly she heard footsteps outside the store and froze. They didn't sound metallic or big. Lana ducked down, slowed her chewing, and waited. The sound of glass crunching on the sidewalk signaled the approach of the unknown figure and then a shadow. Lana could hear muffled whispering and then a small figure appeared in the broken window. It was a young Vietnamese boy, probably three or four years old with a dirty T-shirt and jeans and a red backpack on his shoulders. He rushed to pick up a bottle of water lying near the curb, only to find it empty.

"Reggie, wait! We don't know if it's safe!" a girl's voice hissed.

Moments later an older Vietnamese girl of about sixteen with hair braided down to her back came running next to the boy and took his hand.

"I'm thirsty Kia," the boy whined.

She ran a hand affectionately through his hair, "I know. We'll get you some. But you can't just run out like that. Ok?"

"I'm thirsty," he repeated.

Kia sighed and looked through the broken store window carefully. She appeared to be assessing whether the building was safe or not to enter. Lana decided to save them the surprise and stood up. Immediately Kia tucked Reggie behind her and tensed up.

"No. It's all right." Lana assured with her hands up, "I'm not going to hurt you guys."

The two seemed to hesitate.

"My name is Lana," she picked up a bottle of water from the floor, "Want some?"

The little boy's eyes lit up at the sight of the water but he older girl seemed cautious. Tentatively she marched into the building and approached Lana. Lana held out the water by the cap and Kia took it slowly and then handed it to Reggie, who eagerly cracked it open.

"My name is Kia. This is my little brother Reggie," the girl finally said.

Lana nodded, "Are you two all right?"

Kia's mouth twitched as her eyes became wet, "We're not hurt."

"Are you two alone?" Lana asked carefully.

The young girl shook her head, "No. There's more of us hiding."

Reggie sighed, dropped the bottle, and began looking at the scattered candy bars on the store floor. He picked one up that was already opened and Kia snatched it away quickly.