<USS Avalon> Survivors: Day three...voices in the darkness...

"Done," a youth in perhaps her early teens whispered. "They will not return 
tonight."
 
"Make certain to leave lights enough behind, just in case," a male responded, 
his soft and somewhat tired sounding voice heard only in their heads. 
 
"I’m not sure how much more to find," another, younger male whispered. "Food, 
water, lights. What else?"
 
"Bandages," the first male said, taking in the scene only he could see in the 
blackness of the cave. "Whatever else you can find to tend the wounded." 
Turning to the first female he cautioned her. "You’ll need to slow the 
bleeding. The young one cannot do so much." 
 
"Why do anything more? Do you really think kindness will save us?" the female 
demanded. "Would they do so much for us?"
 
"We are not them." The male answered simply.
 
"What more would you have me do," she asked after several long moments, less 
certain of her stand.
 
"Help comes. We need only see them safely here once they arrive. Just slow the 
flow of blood long enough for bandages to be placed, then I will ask nothing 
more of you on their behalf." The male’s seemed to grow more distant and thick 
with fatigue.
 
A young boy cried out in pain and fear. 
 
"Enough." The first male cautioned gently. 
 
"But I’m not done. His injuries are still so…" the boy whimpered.
 
"Those here will see to the him." The first male interrupted. "You’ve done 
well. It is enough." 
 
"I can’t hold the gateway full open much longer," the third male. "Hurry!"
 
"Have we left them what they need?" the second male asked, oddly concerned for 
the hunters they would leave behind.
 
"All that I could find. It’s hard to hold the gate and search." The younger 
male admitted.
"It will be enough." The first assured them. "Everyone through, then the little 
one can re-light the fires."
 
"Only the wood," the second male cautioned. "Nothing more is meant to burn."
 
"Okay," a tiny voice agreed.
 
"Okay," the second repeated, the smile in his voice all too obvious. 
 
"Should I still turn on the lights?" the third male asked, his voice nearly as 
tired as the firsts by then.
 
"All of them that you could find." The first replied. "Leave no shadows 
behind." 
 
The voices vanished. The fires re-ignited, burning with a bright ferocity they 
had not had before. Lights ignited all around them, eliminating the shadows as 
the fires had not. Food, water, and bandages lay in easy reach. 
 
Time resumed.

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