Nikki settled into a routine in the makeshift camp and insisted that Maria and Helen give her room to a more worthy cause like the genuinely ill. She made herself a small tent out of sheets and branches, and was very proud of it wehn it was completed. She stood back and admired her work when Helen walked past her. "Wow! Not bad!" Nikki turned to face the Scot and blushed at the compliment. She saw that Helen’s hands were filled with bits and pieces that could be used medically. She offered to help and took half of the contents and followed Helen back to the hospital tent. Inside, lay an old man moaning and groaning as he slept. A nightmare, not unusual as everyone here were suffering from them. Helen placed everything she held on the battered table top and went to his side. She took his hand and whispered words of comfort into his ears. The man soon settled. Nikki whispered, "What’s wrong with him?" "A fever, it’s affecting a lot of people here now. With the water and air being dirty it’s not surprising really, but I just can’t make any of them better." Helen was obviously frustrated and Nikki wanted to comfort her but didn’t know how. Nikki left Helen to her duties and watched the people around her. The children were engrossed in a major game of soccer, rules were tossed aside but they were happy doing so. Nikki thought to herself about how incredibly strong children are and despite the fact that most of them were recently orphaned, they still could laugh and find joy in the small things. Nikki saw the others digging through rubble trying to find something of use to daily lives. Usually these searches were fruitless. Water was a precious source here and there were a group of twelve men digging a second well. Food was scarce, and another group assigned themselves to hunt to feed the continuously growing community.

Nikki sighed, this wasn’t what life was supposed to be like, but the will to survive is stronger than the will to give in. She saw this in the faces of everyone around her. She found herself daydreaming about what things were like before… well, before this.