[Y/N] sat in the cool grass and scribbled in her journal. The morning sun danced through the leaves, shining down and warming her face. She picked up the small plant she had in her lap, turning it over in her hands before setting it down gently. She drew the plant with immense detail before taking brief notes on its physical appearance.

"Come on, you should know peppermint when you see it by now."

"I thought you were going hiking this morning," [Y/N] retorted. Her older brother rounded the tent and tossed his pack on the ground, taking a swig from his water bottle. "Plus, I know this is peppermint, I'm just practicing documentation."

"Sure you are, kid," Jay laughed, patting his little sister on the head as he passed by.

"What happened to your hike?" [Y/N] asked as she pressed the small sprig of peppermint between the pages and shut her journal.

Jay shrugged, "I just didn't feel up to it."

[Y/N] raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "Carter Jay Moses, you know that I'm not that dumb."

"What?" [Y/N] kept her arms crossed, giving him a warning look. "Fine, you caught me. I just couldn't leave my baby sister up here all by herself." Jay smiled innocently.

"Jay," [Y/N] huffed, still not buying his gimmick.

Jay sighed and rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay. Look, when I was walking out by the trail, I heard some people. They were yelling and possibly fighting, so I figured I would come back here and hang out till noon. Maybe they'll clear out by then."

"Jay, that's serious! Don't you think we should leave?"

Jay shifted his weight, and toyed with the bottle in his hands. It wasn't until now that [Y/N] saw how uncomfortable he looked. His eyes kept scanning the trees, making [Y/N] worry even more.

"Jay," [Y/N] dropped her voice to a whisper. "Is there a reason we haven't left yet?"

The only response she got was a nod as her brother continued to eye the surrounding foliage. [Y/N] carefully got into a crouch and moved over to where Jay was. She sat on the log next to him but faced the opposite direction, keeping a watch where he couldn't. She'd learned this from her father, an avid hiker and camper. He said to never leave your back exposed if you felt like you were being stalked by an animal, and that's exactly how [Y/N] felt all of a sudden.

"I heard them talking about scouring the area for 'survivors,'" Jay whispered. His voice was strained.

"Why didn't you tell me this when you walked up?" [Y/N] scolded quietly, loathing Jay's happy-go-lucky attitude toward danger.

"I didn't wanna worry you," he admitted softly. [Y/N] didn't respond.

Minutes passed and the two hadn't heard anything out of the ordinary. [Y/N] was beginning to wonder if they should make a run for it.

As if he'd read her mind, Jay whispered, "I don't know if we should run. Maybe we can just hike out of here. I mean, they said they were looking for survivors. That's good, right?"

"Not if they don't want survivors," [Y/N] whispered harshly. She was rigid and her jaw hurt from how hard she'd been clenching her teeth.

Jay slowly rose, staying slightly crouched as he moved to the tent. [Y/N] could hear him rummaging around but didn't want to turn and leave their backs exposed. Her father's words of warning floated around in her head, keeping her seated.

Suddenly, a voice in the distance broke the quiet atmosphere, startling the siblings. "I found two more!"

In unison, [Y/N] and Jay glanced at each other and began running in the opposite direction of the voice. [Y/N] noticed that Jay had his pack and her first thought was to chastise him for it. It would only make it harder for him to maneuver through the trees while running, therefore making him an easier target, right?

A round of gunshots rang out behind the two. [Y/N] threw her hand over her mouth to stifle her own scream. Her heart was pounding in her chest, her lungs heaving as adrenaline coursed through her. She glanced at Jay and saw him inching closer to her as they ran. What was he doing?

As soon as the first round was over, more gunshots filled the air. [Y/N] had heard plenty of camping horror stories, but she never imagined that she would be living one. Bullets pierced the trees around her, whizzing by her head, making her cringe in fear.

[Y/N], despite her best judgment, stole a glance over her shoulder and saw three figures tearing through the trees after them. Panic rose in her chest as she noticed three guns aimed right at them. Just as a shot rang from one of the guns, [Y/N] felt Jay's arms pulling her down. She was dazed, but knew better than to try and fight him.

Their bodies slid in the rough dirt, Jay's arms tightening around [Y/N] as she covered her face. She trusted her brother enough to know that he wouldn't let her get killed out here. Whatever his plan was, it had to be better than running directly in front of the crazy gunmen. She could feel the rocks and roots scraping her bare legs as they slid, but she bit her lip and sucked it up. Any scrape, bruise or cut had to be better than a bullet to the head.

"Look! We're about to jump!" Jay shouted, still holding his sister close. [Y/N] lifted her upper body and saw that they were sliding down a hill, fast approaching a huge cliff. She searched desperately for what he was planning to jump onto or grab, but there was nothing; only an empty space where the ground cut off. His right arm tightened around her while he stuck his left arm out in front of him. [Y/N] wrapped her arms around his torso, her mind racing for an answer.

"Jay, what are you doing?!"

Just as the two were supposed to drop off the cliff, [Y/N] felt her body jerk and swing back in a circle. Jay had caught a large root in his hand and was struggling to hold onto it, pulling the two of them away from the cliff's edge quickly.

[Y/N] heard the men that had been chasing after them speaking. They sounded like they were close to the top of the hill, meaning they possibly believed Jay, thinking the two had jumped off the cliff. [Y/N] clung to Jay as her legs dangled over the edge and she could see her brother's veins in his arm and neck as he tried to keep them still. She wanted to help, but she knew that if she tried pulling herself back onto the hill that it would make too much noise.

[Y/N] listened for the men, waiting for the voices to fade into the distance. Jay was gritting his teeth and she knew he was hurting himself trying to hold them both up. "C'mon, just leave already," she breathed, gripping Jay's right arm. She was looking around for something else to latch onto instead of her brother, knowing that his muscles must be on fire trying to support his own weight plus her own.

"Hold on guys, it'll be okay, just hold on."

[Y/N] and Jay both jerked their heads up to where this new voice was coming from. At first [Y/N] couldn't see anyone, but as she squinted and searched she found a young woman perched on a limb above them. The woman gave them a reassuring smile before slowly turning her head back to where the strange men stood. [Y/N] wanted to trust this woman but a sick feeling sat in her stomach. She felt nauseous and dizzy, her mouth felt dry and her legs were aching. She just wanted to be home.

"Cap, get these guys out of here, now." The woman was quiet when she spoke, but her voice was still intimidating. [Y/N] lifted her head to look at the woman again, but she was gone without a sound. What was happening?

Before [Y/N] had time to even blink again, she felt a new set of arms around her waist. They were stronger than Jay's and much bigger. Her head spun around to see that there was another man lifting Jay. The immediate thing that stood out about them was that the one holding her was wearing some kind of blue mask/helmet and the one holding Jay had a shiny left hand. The two new strangers took off along the cliff side, carrying the siblings to who-knew-where. [Y/N] covered her face as the wind stung her cheeks. They were going much faster than she could ever imagine running and it only made her feel more nauseous.

In the distance behind them, a few more gunshots could be heard before screaming and a loud explosion. Over the man's shoulder [Y/N] could see a cloud of black smoke rise up in the trees. It was the last thing she saw before she passed out in this stranger's arms.