“Hey, Ben.” Carl shoved me in the shoulder and pointed to a young man with his back turned toward us. He seemed to be waiting to cross the street, though he was there for much longer than necessary. His clothes were much higher class than was normal for this part of town: well-made slacks with a nice black overcoat and tailored outing-hat.

The fancy cane he fidgeted with, at his side with his pale and delicate hand, made him stick out like a sore thumb amongst the likes of us, who mainly wore tattered cotton pants and shirts with at least twenty holes between the two of us.

“He looks like he has more money than he knows what to do with.” Carl snickered. “And I’ll bet that cane could fetch us a week's worth of food.”

I hated when we had to steal from people just to eat but my stomach growled at any protests I could give. “Alright. But no one gets hurt this time. Promise?”

Carl was already moving toward the man. I didn’t want to give him a chance to repeat what happened last week with the old lady we’d gone after, so I rushed ahead of him. The man took a few steps toward the road when I grabbed him by the collar of his coat and dragged him to the alley. He didn’t fight or protest in any way, in fact he seemed to go willingly.

I pushed him against the crumbling brick wall of the building and was ready to search his pockets. He leaned forward in a low bow and the hat dropped away. Long blonde braids unfolded and fell, almost touching the dirty ground.

“Thank you. Thank you so much for saving me,” a soft and timid voice told him.

Shit...It’s a girl. What do I do? Wait! What did she say? “Saving you?”

She stood up straight. Her face was pale and soft. Silver eyes seemed to stare through mine, into my soul.

“Yes. I’m so sorry for causing such an inconvenience,” she continued. “Being blind, it can be hard for me to tell when vehicles are coming. I try very hard to listen…” Tears glistened at the corners of her eyes. “But, with all the noise, sometimes I just can’t hear them.”

She smiled sadly at me and bowed again. “So thank you very very much, sir. I owe you.”

Carl pulled my arm and gestured to follow him far enough away that the girl couldn’t hear us. “Dude, she thinks you saved her! Ask for a reward.” 

He fidgeted with the silver ring around his middle finger. It was too big for him, but it was the only thing he had been able to keep of his parents from before the war. “We got so lucky, man.”

I nodded, but didn’t share his enthusiasm… until my stomach grumbled, yelling at me again for neglecting it. “I guess it couldn't hurt to try. You go find Sophie and the others and tell them we may actually get to eat real food tonight.”

Carl took off running. I walked back to the girl, trying to come up with the right words when she spoke up.

“Please, sir. If it’s not too much trouble. If you can help me to that restaurant over there, I would love to repay your kindness with a free meal.”

“I...I…” I really wish I could refuse. I didn’t save her. I was going to rob her. My stomach made an awful, audible noise. “I would like that.”