(Y/n) couldn't sleep that night. The same encounter keeping her mind wide awake, the same face haunting her every thought.

Jasper. The name of the guy she had met earlier during the day at the market. A name that somehow had her heart quivering in her chest. And not in a good way.

It wasn't like much had happened between the two of them. He had merely helped her out and saved her from falling to the ground. In other words, he had been pretty kind and (Y/n) should have felt nothing but grateful. But something about this encounter just didn't feel right. And not knowing exactly what it was drove (Y/n) absolutely nuts with anxiety.

Jasper didn't look like a bad guy either. In fact he seemed rather nice and a bit socially awkward. He looked pretty attractive too, with soft wavy blond locks, pale freckled cheeks and baby blue eyes. Under any other circumstances (Y/n) would have probably fawned over his good looks.

But appearances mattered little in an Infected society where everyone was bound to be a potential murderer. Jasper was no different. And something told (Y/n) he was far from a saint.

She didn't even know where this instinctive deduction came from. Maybe it was because Jasper was an Infected, and as for every other Infected, (Y/n) was bound to see him as a killer. Maybe it was because they had met twice already and he had looked a bit too eager to help her out, whether it was by saving her from falling or holding her bags for her. Maybe it was because he had looked a bit too excited to introduce himself to her and get her name in exchange.

Not that Jasper these formalities had been necessary for Jasper. He already knew (Y/n)'s name, along with some much more invasive information about her.

Not that (Y/n) was aware of it though.

I'm fine. I didn't give him my name and I cut our interaction short. It should be okay. (Y/n) tried to reassure herself, anxiously nibbling at her fingernails. But no matter how much effort she put into soothing her anxiety, nothing would chase the thoughts away.

She held her breath, listening for Marcus's quiet snores that came from his room across the hall. Both Marcus and Tobias had gone to sleep a good two hours ago, leaving (Y/n) alone with her mind and the deafening silence of her room, with no one but the moon to confide in.

(Y/n) heaved a sigh, turning on her side and hugging the cover up to her chest.

Maybe she should have told Tobias about her encounter with Jasper. Maybe he would have had the words to reassure her, or maybe he would have freaked out and berated her for interacting with an Infected that wasn't him. Probably the latter.

(Y/n) could already hear him in her head, calling her an idiot and reminding her all over again of how naive she was. And he wasn't entirely wrong, (Y/n) was quite naive in spite of the many horror stories she had heard about the Infected in her childhood. She wouldn't have chosen to stay in the city otherwise, if she hadn't been naive enough to think that she could make it.

But then again, Marcus, an Uninfected, had made it. So why not her? Was she really as naive as Tobias thought her to be, or was she just a bit too hopeful? A bit too thirsty for the many advantages the city granted her, namely a chance at finding her sister and a taste of freedom which was something she hadn't ever been granted at home?

So yeah, (Y/n) had thought about telling Tobias about her encounter with Jasper, as soon as she had crossed the front door and met his gaze. As soon as he had asked her if anything had happened on her way to the market. But she hadn't been able to. Because she knew how he would have reacted, after all, he had already warned her about Jasper and virtually any other Infected.

He had even gone out of his way to request that she avoid Jasper specifically when they had bumped into him at the Uninfected Shelter.

"The guy you bumped into earlier? Avoid him as much as you can. Same goes for virtually anyone else you meet here. You never know who you're dealing with." Tobias said, "And more often than not, chances are it's not a good person."

Then, the only reason Tobias had accepted for (Y/n) to go grocery shopping alone and to stop acting like her guard dog was because he had grown a bit more confident in her ability to defend herself thanks to his knife and self defense lesson. But (Y/n) knew she was still on thin ice and that the moment Tobias sensed a possible threat to her safety he'd go back to being glued at her side every time she stepped out of the house. Even if this meant missing some work hours.

And for both her sanity and his job, this was out of the question.

So (Y/n) hadn't said anything about Jasper. Although maybe she should have had.

(Y/n) sat up in her bed, shrugging the covers off of her and padding her way to her bedroom door. It was clear she wasn't going to get any sleep that night, so might as well go to the kitchen to get a glass of water and some fresh air outside on the porch. She doubted anyone else would be awake in the neighborhood so late into the night anyways.

As predicted, (Y/n) saw no one outside the window when she approached the sink in the kitchen, just the moon and stars blinking down at her. A melancholic smile graced her lips.

"See the one that looks like a pot? It's called Ursa Major." Grey said, pointing up towards the night sky. The two of them were lying down in the grass by their home, after Grey had convinced little (Y/n) to sneak out their window for a stargazing session.

"A pot?" Young (Y/n) frowned up at the sky in confusion, only for Grey to chuckle at her.

"Yes." Grey said, turning (Y/n)'s head in the right direction, "There you have it."

"Oh! You're right!" Little (Y/n) cheered, eyes filled with mirth as she observed the Ursa Major.

That night had been the first time (Y/n) had gone against her mother's rules and listened to Grey instead.

She had felt guilty at first, for not listening and for being a 'bad child'. But her guilt had quickly dissipated into exhilaration when Grey had shown her all the constellations she knew about and told her about their story. Still to this day, this was (Y/n)'s most prized memory with Grey. The two of them under the night sky, looking up at the stars and going back to bed when (Y/n) had started falling asleep.

(Y/n) quietly opened the front door and stepped outside on the porch to take a seat on the steps.

The night air felt good on her skin, cool and gentle. Everything was so peaceful too, no other sound but the quiet tune of wind ruffling through the trees and animals minding their own business.

That is until a much more human sound reached (Y/n)'s ears.

That's an odd hour to be out for a run.

In fact, it sounded less like they were running and more like they were sprinting from something, or someone. A theory that was only further confirmed when (Y/n) perceived another set of steps sprinting in the same direction.

"You won't get away this time, filthy whore." A low voice growled from a distance, just as (Y/n) caught sight of a familiar girl running for her life. From a distance and through the darkness, it was hard to see the features of the girl. But (Y/n) still was able to recognise the girl she had helped at the market.

Smooth dark skin, button nose, black hair in plaited braids, a deep frown and an apparent fed up expression. Even as she was being chased down by a man twice her size, the girl still looked to be the most intimidating out of the two. In fact, the girl looked way more annoyed than scared.

Still, the man was quickly catching up to her and (Y/n) knew it was only a matter of time before he got ahold of the girl.

Fuck.

(Y/n)'s first instinct was to look around, see if anyone else had been alerted by the two, only to find that she was the only one standing outside. Meaning she was the only one able to intervene if things went south.

(Y/n) anxiously chewed on the inside of her cheek, watching as the girl turned a corner and disappeared from her sight, the man hot on her tail.

She knew it was in her best interest to stay away and not meddle in business that wasn't her own, even more so when it involved two Infected. Hell, she probably shouldn't even have helped this girl back then in the first place. But whoever was the man chasing the girl, it was clear his intentions weren't good and that the second he got his hands on the poor girl things would get rough.

(Y/n) shuddered at the thought of all the twisted things he could do to this girl. Not only as an Infected, but also as a man.

Could (Y/n) really stand by and do nothing as this girl got assaulted, killed or worse? What kind of horrible person would she be if she let any of this happen when she could have gone there and done something? If she had been this girl, (Y/n) would have prayed for someone to help her out. Wasn't it fair for her to do the same?

"Get your nasty hands off of me, you asswipe!"

Yeah, (Y/n) had to do something. She couldn't just stand there and pretend like nothing was happening. Damn be her sense of self preservation, she wouldn't be able to live with herself if she let anything happen to this girl.

(Y/n) ran back inside the house and to her room, swiping the knife Tobias had gifted her from her night table before sprinting right back outside in the direction where the girl's voice had come from. By the time she got there, the man had already tackled the poor girl to the ground, one of his hands holding hers above her head and the other reaching for something in his back pocket.

"Let me go, fucking psycho!" The girl screamed and kicked at him, to no avail.

(Y/n) stood frozen behind the man, neither of the two had noticed her presence yet, which granted her some time to think about just what she was going to do. Her fingers curled around the knife in her hand, her heart beating wildly in her chest.

Was she really about to stab a man?

Things had happened so quickly that it hadn't even come to (Y/n)'s mind that the only way she'd be able to defend both herself and the girl was by stabbing the guy. What if she hit some vital organs and he died because of her? Would she be able to live with someone's death on her shoulders? This guy was one of the worst kinds and she knew she shouldn't feel sorry for him, but what about herself? What would become of her if she killed him?

(Y/n) knew for a fact she wouldn't ever be able to live with herself if she killed him either. Which meant that she had to be careful about how she handled this.

I've got this. (Y/n) reassured herself just as she quietly took a step forward behind the man and switched her pocket knife open, praying that the man wouldn't hear it above his own grunts at his victim's resistance. Not that it would have mattered anyways, for the moment her blade was out, (Y/n) plunged it into the man's shoulder.

Once, then twice. Giving the dark haired girl just enough time to crawl away from him as he groaned in pain and turned around to try and snatch (Y/n)'s knife still sunk into his flesh.

"You bitch!" He growled between his teeth, harshly pushing (Y/n) back, taking her loss of balance to take the knife out of his shoulder with a pained grunt.

(Y/n) gasped as she fell back flat against the harsh ground, air knocked out of her lungs. White stars danced in her vision and pain shot through her skull, a hot metallic taste coating the inside of her mouth. She knew that Infected had enhanced strength compared to Uninfected but she had never realized just how much stronger they were.

It had only taken this man a push for (Y/n) to fall to the ground like a ragdoll. And now that he was looking down at her with her knife in his hands, things weren't looking too good.

Now probably should have been the right time for (Y/n) to run for her life, literally. Unfortunately for her, amongst the fight or flight responses, it seemed like she had gotten neither.

No, (Y/n)'s response to impending danger just had to be freeze.

"I'm going to fucking kill you." The man sneered, his eyes dark with hatred.

And for a split second, she regretted ever coming to the city in the first place. She regretted leaving the comfort and safety of her home. She regretted not having been able to find Grey still, she regretted helping this unknown girl out at the price of her life.

But when she looked around to see no signs of the girl, (Y/n) couldn't help the relief that itched at her chest. At least one of them would make it out. At least, she had done something good.

At least, for once in her life, (Y/n) had been the master of her decisions instead of a passive bystander. She had chosen to help this girl. No one else but herself had taken this decision for her. And she'd take death as a consequence of a dumb decision she had made for herself rather than a passive life at the hands of others any time.

This was the cost of freedom in her world. Her home had been a safe haven, but also a cage that shrinked her ambitions and kept her docile. The city, even if dangerous and the cause of her imminent demise, had been her way out. Not only to Grey, but to herself.

And this was priceless.

So even as the man hoisted the knife up in the air, ready to end her life, (Y/n) couldn't fully regret ever coming to the city.

(Y/n)'s life wouldn't end that night though, for the moment the man lowered the knife to stab her, something cracked his skull open and knocked him out flat, dark blood trickling down his forehead. He wouldn't be up any time soon.

A heavy sigh brought (Y/n) back to reality, her eyes widening as the dark skinned girl stood just above the man. Wordlessly, she kicked his body to the side and dropped a heavy looking rock from her hands. (Y/n)'s heart lurched in her chest at the sight of blood painting one of its cool edges.

She hadn't run off like (Y/n) had thought she had. The girl had gone to search for a weapon.

"Are you going to stay there and wait for him to wake up or are you going to stand up and leave?" The girl asked, a hand on her hip as she stared down at (Y/n), holding a hand out for her to take.