Hey Guys! Less than a month until FEAR comes out. I can't wait, don't know about you guys! I am absolutely obsessed with the Gone Series. It has kind of taken over my life… I've decided to write a fanfic as my tribute to this absolutely incredible YA series. I have been reviewing some of your stories under the name GoneLoverMM, so I finally made a legit account. Please enjoy and review, constructive criticism is totally welcome. So, I hope you enjoy this first installment. Please read and review, it makes my day. I am also known as HungerGamesLoverMM, so if you love the Hunger Games check out my other stories!

-GoneLoverMM

Chapter One

It would be a bit of a stretch to say that life at the lake was pleasant. Bearable was more like it Sam Temple thought as he lay in his bed that night. He could hear Edilio's gentle breathing from the pull out bed a few feet from his own. Sam envied the fact that Edilio could actually get a few hours of sleep in here or there.

Sam had been plagued by nightmares ever since the coming of the FAYZ. A lot of those nightmares featured whatever horror he had seen the day before. E.Z's death still had a starring role in his dreams. The time Drake whipped him was also a regular.

He used to have dreams about losing Astrid too, but those hardly ever came anymore. He hadn't seen Astrid in well over a month. Nobody had. She left without so much as a note or explanation. Sam had waited for her at first. He had stood at the end of the road leading into their little community. He had imagined her face as he gave her a can on Pepsi and a jar full of Nutella, but she never came.

Sam eventually gave up hope and accepted that she wouldn't be coming. To be honest, wondering where she was caused Sam's insomnia. A sharp pang hit him in the chest. Astrid would have used a word like insomnia. She would probably know how to spell it too.

Sam was on a downwards spiral into depression when he stopped himself. He sat up in bed and slapped himself across the face.

"Get a grip on yourself!" Sam said aloud into the darkness.

"What?" Edilio said sleepily, "What's wrong? I'm awake."

Edilio was already standing beside his bed, slinging his machine gun across his shoulder.

"Nothing," Sam said to Edilio, "Go back to sleep."

"Alright." Edilio said not needing to be asked twice.

He was asleep by the time his head hit the pillow. Edilio had spent the entire day digging ditches a few miles from their little base. They had to leave the backhoe in town, so the work was hard and grueling underneath the hot, California sun. If they were even seeing the sun…

Sam fumbled around in the darkness for his shoes and then his jeans. It took some effort, but he finally found them. He passed Dekka, who was sleeping on the couch, on his way out. He stepped off the houseboat and into the cool night air.

The lake was smooth and crystal clear without so much as a breeze rippling across it. It was also quite. There was the distant giggling of kids who had not yet gone to sleep. Sam sighed. He should probably tell them to go to sleep. The last thing he needed was for them to fall asleep on the job tomorrow. Sam let out a deep breath when he realized that that was Albert's problem. He no longer controlled that.

Sam was kind of like a symbolic head of the lake community. He didn't really have any control. Albert ran all of the industry, and kids basically did what they wanted. Sam could only imagine how different it probably was in town. Caine was a dictator. A harsh one at that. He was forcing the kids of Perdido Beach to call him King Caine. Who does that?

Sam couldn't really talk though. Perdido Beach was probably in much better shape now then when he had run it. Back then it had been total chaos. Sam sighed again. It seemed like that was all he did lately. Sigh. What else was there to do when you no longer had a job and your girlfriend was off in the dessert somewhere?

Sam walked down the wooden dock that hovered a few feet above the water. It creaked as he walked. He looked up and saw a shadow sitting at the end. Sam threw a Sammy Sun into the air.

"Who is it?" Sam called to the silhouette.

"Astrid." The voice called.

Sam's heart skipped a beat at the sound of her name, but then he heard the harsh, condescending laugh that could only be Diana's.

"Oh." Sam said. He tried to keep the disappointed tone out of his voice.

Diana fed off of insecurity and awkwardness. It was almost like she had a radar or something. Even Caine was subject to her constant mocking. Caine must be a lot more confident in himself than Sam in order to put up with this girl for how long he did. Sam was about to turn and walk away when Diana called to him.

"You don't have to go." She said, "I'm just here by myself. I won't tell smart-girl Barbie."

Sam wanted to turn away, but for some reason he found his feet moving towards Diana. He sat down beside her, his feet dangling just above the water. Sam turned and looked at her as she stared out at the lake. He had to admit that she was still beautiful. How could you not? You would be just be lying if you said she wasn't. However, this Diana could never compete against the pre-FAYZ Diana.

Sam remembered the first time he had seen Diana when she stepped out of that SUV behind Caine. She had long, chocolate brown hair, huge brown eyes, and the perfect body by any fourteen-year-old guys' standards. The Diana sitting beside him now was very different. Her once long, silky hair was now cut short. It had grown out somewhat, but it kind of had a rusty, dry quality from the starvation. Her huge, brown eyes looked too big where they sat atop sunken cheekbones. Her once curvy body had been reduced to skin and bones.

"Are you going to stop staring at me anytime soon?" Diana said bitingly.

Sam blushed in the darkness. "Sorry." He stammered.

She sighed and we stood there in silence awkwardly. He finally broke it.

"You eating?" Sam asked her. This was now the standard greeting it the FAYZ. It had been for a long time.

"Why yes," She began, "Today in fact I had a whole roasted rat to myself and a half rotten artichoke. Yum." She said sarcastically. "That's really going to keep the baby healthy."

Sam froze up for a sec. He obviously knew that Diana was pregnant. He had known for over a month now, but he had never really heard her acknowledge the fact that she was in deed pregnant. She laughed at his awkwardness.

"Don't be scared Sam. Pregnant girls don't bite." She said matter-of-factly, relishing in my obvious lack of experience with this sort of stuff.

"Uh yeah…" Sam stood up, brushing the small splinters of wood off his jeans, "I'll see you later. You should probably get some sleep." He said to Diana.

She bobbed her head and looked back at the water. Sam was only a few feet away when she called him again.

"Sam?" She said still staring at the lake.

"Yeah?" He responded.

"It's a three bar as of today."

Diana Ladris watched Sam's back as he walked away. She continued staring even after he had disappeared into the darkness. When her butt was finally numb from sitting for so long, she stiffly got to her feet. She stretched out her back and sighed as she heard the bones crack. Then her hands fell to her stomach.

It was still completely flat, almost concave from not eating. How long would it take for that to change? It had been a little over a month since they had moved to the lake. Diana racked her brain for any of the information she had learned in Health class so many months ago. She came up blank. It's not like she actually paid attention anyways.

Eventually word would get out. It was a miracle, Diana thought, that more people didn't already know. Sam had kept his word. It was for Diana's own safety though. If Caine found out – Dian shivered. He was sort of unstable to begin with, who knows what news like this could do to him.

Diana yawned. It was late, probably close to morning. She walked on stiff legs back to the houseboat that she shared with Brianna and Lana when she was in town. She had been for the last couple of days. Diana hated Brianna, the little freak could be so annoying, but she preferred rooming with her to sleeping on the ground. Diana didn't mind the healer, nobody did.

The boat was small, but Diana didn't really care. It's not like she spent much time here. That would probably change though as her stomach expanded. Brianna was asleep, so Diana tried to be as quiet as possible as she climbed into bed. Lana was probably awake, but if she was she didn't make that fact aware.

As Diana was walking over to her bed, she tripped on something and fell. She fell hard on her wrist, and she heard the snap as it bent at an impossible angle. Diana cried out into the darkness.

"Oh crap, it hurts, it hurts!" She said between curses. Diana was glad that she couldn't see it; it would only make her throw up. Keeping food down was hard enough with the morning sickness, she didn't need to lose even more of the precious food in her system.

"Here," Lana said holding out her hand, "Give me your arm."

Diana did so without hesitation. The pain was horrible. Diana, like most kids in the FAYZ, had brittle bones. She couldn't remember the last time she had had an actual milk product. The lack of calcium and other essential nutrients was hard on their small bodies. Brianna had awoken now, and she sat on the floor beside Diana.

The second Lana touched her, the pain started to ebb. Diana exhaled in relief. Lana made a weird sound in the back of her throat.

"What's wrong?" Diana asked.

"I don't know," Lana answered honestly, "Healing you just feels… weird. It kind of feels like I'm doing double the work."

Diana took in a sharp breath. Lana had not yet been told the news. She was a double agent, so to speak, meaning that she commuted between Perdido Beach and the lake community. Therefore she could not be told the news. If Caine somehow got his hands on Lana, he would force her to tell him. Lana would have no choice because Caine wouldn't kill her. She was much too important. Instead, he would torture her until she gave in. Diana shuttered at the thought. Diana was lost inside her own mind when Lana spoke again.

"It seems to get stronger the closer I get to the center of you body."

"Uh…" Diana said, her usual wit and sarcasm betraying her.

"Wait…" Lana said. She gingerly placed her hand right on Diana's stomach and she gasped. "No way…" Lana kind of mumbled under her breath, looking up at Diana with huge, shocked eyes.

Diana looked at Brianna for guidance. Brianna was giving her the same look back.

"You're pregnant!" Lana said.

"Shhhh!" Diana and Brianna both hushed in unison.

Sanjit waited on the dusty, sand coloured hill for her. Every week he would meet her half way so that she wouldn't have to walk all the way back to Perdido Beach by herself. At first she had resisted, refused even, but eventually she had given up. Maybe she finally figured out that he was indomitable. You can't vince the invincible. Sanjit smiled to himself, he always knew that she would eventually give in.

At first Sanjit had wanted to follow her wherever she went and commute back and forth between the small lake community and Perdido Beach. However, his adopted siblings all still lived in Perdido Beach. His "brother" Virtue was now a full time nurse in the makeshift hospital. He said it was because he liked helping people, Sanjit believed that, but he also knew that Choo was crazy about Dahra.

Sanjit finally saw her silhouette in the distance. She was standing by his side within a few moments. Sanjit smiled.

"Hey" Lana said. She looked him over once, "Why are you smiling like an idiot?"

"I'm happy to see you." He answered honestly.

She rolled her eyes and tried to maintain a poker face, but he could see the small smile that crept its way onto her lips. Sanjit could tell that she wasn't quite right though. She seemed off, preoccupied or something.

"What's wrong?" Sanjit asked, his brown eyes full of genuine worry.

Lana's eyes grew large; she was obviously surprised that he had noticed her mood. Most kids were kind of oblivious, but Sanjit was very perceptive. It was how he had survived that rough streets of his former life. You had to be quick and alert. If you weren't then you would never make it on the touch streets of Bangkok.

"Nothing," She answered quickly, "Nothing is wrong. Let's go, we have a long walk ahead of us."

She started walking, but Sanjit grabbed her arm. "No," He said firmly, "Lana, something is wrong. I can tell."

She sighed heavily. Sanjit could actually see the inner conflict as it played across her face. Should she tell? Should she not tell? Eventually her face relaxed. She had made her decision.

"Diana's pregnant…" She said and then continued walking. Sanjit didn't move. He couldn't believe his ears.