There were few enough people left now that it was easy enough to avoid them. But there's nothing like spending time alone to end up craving company. The fire could be a prelude to an ambush or it could just be someone keeping warm.

Ian was confident of his abilities to fend off an attack, but he still approached cautiously. He relaxed - but only a little because there could still be an ambush - when he saw the person sitting by the fire was a woman.

"Mind if I share?" he asked, sitting beside it himself and trying to look non-threatening, despite the cutlass he'd tied to his belt and plank of wood he carried.