The second boy, around the age of eighteen it seemed, sighed as he saw Taylor's form go limp. He put his arms around her and gently lifted her, carrying her over to the camp that the group had made. The other boys looked at her curiously, then went back to their hushed conversations.

---

Taylor woke up with a start, looking around and closing her eyes then resting her head on the hard ground again. There were no trees in sight, the orange-colored clay ground going on for as far as the human eye could see. Pain surged through her with every breath she took. She tried to get up, but a strong hand rested on her shoulder and gently made sure that she couldn't get up.
"Who are you?" she croaked, her throat dry and sore to the point that she could barely talk.
"That's not important." He replied. She realized that this was the person who had spoken first earlier.
"What happened?" was her next question.
He hesitated, not wanting to alarm her. He figured that he should tell her the truth. "A comet struck…we just found you near a tiny stream…" When he said that, everything rushed back to Taylor. "Am I dead?" she asked, obviously confused. "No, I'm not, I'm in too much pain to be dead…" she murmured, making the boy laugh softly.
Taylor shot him a sharp glance then sighed, shaking her head slowly. She stared at the sky for a few minutes. "I'm Taylor, by the way." She said.
"Our real names don't matter much here. Now that everything we know is gone, we've decided to change our first names, to leave everything behind.. but we must remember our original names just in case." He said, looking around before adding, "The name that the others gave me is Kyle."
Taylor nodded a greeting, suddenly extremely tired. She curled up painfully, closed her eyes, and fell into a stressful, agitated sleep.

---

Opening her eyes, Taylor looked up at the stars above her. A fire shone brightly a few feet away, and the boys around the fire would occasionally glance at her. She looked at them, trying to pull herself into a sit, crying out softly, but managing to prop herself up on one arm and closing her eyes a moment, before getting a good look at the surrounding area. There were few trees, only charred sticks and burned stumps, fires raged across the landscapes, and the air was thick with poisonous gasses. The moon was almost blocked out, and Taylor noticed the chill…
She stood up with much difficulty and walked over to the fire. A boy who she hadn't seen before turned and asked Kyle something. He nodded and replied steadily.

"So, this is her?" a deep voice rang out. This was the third person who had spoken earlier.
"Yeah, Dylan, this is her." Kyle said, before looking at Taylor, "Sit," he said, "We were just about to eat."
Nearby lay several strips of meat that Taylor assumed to be deer or something like that. They looked charred, probably cooked from fire when they found it. She sat, looking at everyone carefully. "She seems to be doing quite well for the injuries that she has…" Dylan said approvingly.
"Yeah, I'm actually surprised.." another boy said.
"Don't be, John." Another boy said, "You'd be surprised about what people can do."
"I guess…" John mumbled, taking a small strip of the cooked meat and tearing it in half, handing half to Taylor, who took it. "Thanks." She said, nibbling on it carefully. She was actually surprised about how good it tasted.
"So, what will we name this one?" Dylan said. Taylor had the feeling that he was sort of the leader of this group.
"Hm…Hannah?" John asked, to three replying shouts of "NO!"
~Hannah? You're kidding me. ~ Taylor thought, shuddering slightly. There was nothing wrong with that name, though it would NOT fit her personality or her appearance. The others seemed to know that.
"How about Alex? Like, Alexandra?" Kyle asked.
"It okay…" John said.
"I think that if we're going to give her a name, it should be pretty, sort of a girl thing…like Alexandra--" he thought a moment, "Or Elizabeth, in other words, Libby."
Taylor shook her head. Libby sounded good but… She wondered a moment on why she didn't have a choice in the matter.
"Who votes for Alex?" Kyle asked. Four out of the seven teenagers raised their hands slightly.
"Okay, well that's settled." Dylan said, looking over at…Taylor? Alex? "You are now Alexandra, otherwise known as Alex."
Several of the people gathered around the fire greeted Taylor by her new name.

---

So that night, Alex slept, no dreams came to her, but she was ready for a new day. Maybe with her new name she might be able to live past the grief of all of her friends and family gone, which had only just hit her with full force.