<div style="background-color:#353535; border:1px solid black; margin:10px 10px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px;"><div style="text-align: justify;">"Dunno," she replied honestly. At least there were no rats down here. Mallory wasn't squeamish; there were more rats than people in Denyan, which probably said something about the living conditions there, but there was just something about their sickly fur and wriggling noses that set her off. But she wasn't squeamish. She wasn't. She had just tied a rag around someone's bleeding arm, did squeamish people do that?! No, strong people did.<br/><br/>Having quietly proved her merit to herself, she gave Blake's hand a small, reassuring squeeze.<br/><br/>"But they'll get us soon," she continued with fake optimism. How long had they been here? It felt like hours, not that Mallory had ever learned how to tell time, much less seen a clock. Either the sun was up, or it wasn't.<br/><br/>The thin stream of flickering light that suddenly penetrated the darkness felt like a submarine supernova to her eyes. The girl sprung from her slumped position on the floor, making it to the bars in the door faster than her dad had left her mom. They were saved, and without seeing as much as a whisker of a rat! The flickering light came closer and turned out to be Rog, Mallory's new favorite person in the world.<br/><br/>"Are we getting out?" She practically yelled at him, pressing her face against the door. Rog took a moment to wipe spit away from his face. It was kind of impressive, really, since she was only just tall enough to even see through the bars.<br/><br/>"No," he replied in the same gruff voice he always did. "Figured yer sorry asses might be hungry," he added. Was Mallory making things up, or did he sound slightly nicer than normally? Rog held out a couple of crackers, and she stuck her bony arm out as far as she could.<br/><br/>"Thank you!" She yelled at his retreating back. Rog pretended not to hear. Mallory turned around slowly, looking at the crackers in her hand like they were made of solid gold.<br/><br/>"Look, Blake, it's food..." She whispered. Her grimy, brown hair had escaped the bun and was hanging from her head in uneven tufts. "It's food!"</div></div>