She hugged her legs tighter as the wind howled down the alley, blowing grit into her eyes and sending trash flying. Every bone, every muscle, every joint in her body ached. She needed food, she needed warm clothes, and she needed shelter. She toyed with the idea of simply falling asleep. It would be so much easier to give up, but as her mother used to say, “Everything wants to live.”Groaning, Devlin pushed herself to her feet and considered her plan. If it worked, she’d have a coat, a pair of gloves, and maybe a warmer hat. Then she could think about stealing some food. If it didn’t work, she’d end up in a warm detention facility where they’d feed her. Devlin figured it was a win-win situation. She’d used a rock to break the single bulb above the back entrance, and when the cleaning crew pulled up half an hour later, Devlin had been hiding in the shadows. The crew consisted of three men and a woman. The woman complained that she was afraid to walk back and forth to the van in the dark, so they’d propped the access door open with a stool.
