My foot connecting with a tree root brought me immediately out of my thoughts as I stumbled and nearly fell. I clutched my chest at the unexpected adrenaline rush as I righted myself and for the first time in awhile, looked around the forest I had walked out into early this morning. I made a slow turn, not recognizing where I was and realized that I'd gotten myself well and truly lost.

"Fuck," I muttered. "Ain't this par for the course. Rook, my girl, you've gone and gotten yourself lost."

I sighed and scratched the back of my head, grimacing at the fact that it had been nearly a month since I'd bathed properly. I looked back at the direction I thought I'd come from, but the forest was so fucking similar I wasn't sure that I had even come that way.

"Oh, fuck me," I said and sat against the tree whose root I had tripped over.

I looked up at the sky and noticed that it at least looked like I still had plenty of daylight to try to find my way back to the dropship. I closed my eyes and tried to remember the direction I had headed out this morning, if I had circled around the camp, but I was coming up blank. I hit the back of my head on the tree in consternation and glared outward. My hands twitched with the sudden need to do something, but there was nothing for me to mess with. To fix. To hit. I sighed and thunked my head against the tree again. I could find my way through the most complex schematic on the Ark, but ask me for directions and I'd always come up empty. Especially, when my mind was occupied by some design or the image of a certain brunette or blonde. I growled and pushed myself off the ground. I looked up at the sky once more and wondered briefly if the brunette was still alive up there. If she was struggling to breathe. Worried for her since we had no way of letting them know that the Earth was survivable or the fact that there were people here trying to kill us.

Then my mind traveled to the blonde. She had come down with the rest of us. She had curves that I wanted to trace with my fingertips. Taste with my lips. I took a deep breath pushing those thoughts away. She'd never notice me or think of me in any other way. I was a nobody. I was just some mechanic with a penchant to brawl. That's what had gotten me thrown into Lockup, the Sky Box. I'd gotten into a fight with some asshole when he'd called me names that I dare not repeat, even to myself. I'd nearly killed him without realizing it before I was dragged off him by the guards that had been nearby patrolling. There wasn't even a howdy-do before they tossed me in a cell and left me. I couldn't even recall how many times I'd been sent into solitary for beating up a fellow inmate. It was almost to the point that they had honestly considered just leaving me in solitary until it was time to float me. I scoffed and shook my head at the nearly missed demise.

I pushed those memories firmly back into the recesses of my mind, determined not to dwell on the past and focus on how to get myself back to the dropship before night fell. So, I picked a direction and started walking, knowing that I wouldn't recognize anything since I hadn't even been paying the slightest attention. I don't know how long I had been walking, but I suddenly felt eyes on me making me stop in my tracks. My body tensed as the feeling increased. I was definitely being watched. The only question was by who or what. I slowly reached behind me and withdrew the axe I had the forethought to grab before I left the camp. I had a knife in my boot, but I wasn't sure I wanted to risk bending down to retrieve it. I shifted the axe until it was gripped firmly in my hand and concentrated to see if I could figure out where the feeling was coming from. It was coming from my left, I was sure of it, so I turned my head in that direction, but couldn't make out anything. That didn't mean that there wasn't anything there. It just meant that I couldn't see it yet. And when I did, it would probably be too late.

I took a deep breath and cautiously continued walking forward, my eyes glancing wildly about me in anticipation. I was so tense and scared that I could feel sweat starting to slide down my spine and face. One drip descended over my eye and I reached up to wipe it away, momentarily distracting myself. That was apparently all whatever it was needed because the next thing I knew there was a growl and the sound of twigs snapping. I turned just in time to see a giant wolf launch itself at me. Its giant maw aimed for my throat. I threw up my arm instinctively and its jaw latched on to my arm, teeth piercing deeply into my skin and I thought it was deep enough to embed itself in the bones. I screamed as the weight made me fall, pinning me to the ground as it tore at my arm. Miraculously, I still had the axe in my hand and in a panic, I swung it and felt the jarring connection as it met flesh and muscle. The wolf immediately let go, howling in pain and wretched away from me, nearly pulling the axe out of my hand, but I held onto it with a death grip. I scrambled to my feet, my bloody arm held tight against my chest as I backed away from the now injured wolf.

Now that I had a chance to look at it, I was startled by the whiteness of it. It was as white as pictures of snow that I'd seen. With the bluest eyes, much like the blonde's that I nearly lost myself in them before it was coming at me again. I knew that I couldn't outrun it even though I had injured it, so I crouched low and waited. It launched itself again and I slipped sideways and swung the axe again, biting it in its side. I backed out of its reach, breathing hard as I felt blood soak my shirt. I didn't dare glance down because I knew that I wouldn't like what I saw. Instead, the wolf became my sole focus. It had fallen and I saw blood streaming down its side and somewhere around its shoulder, but it still had the strength to get up, growling. When it faced me, it let out such a horrifying howl that I wanted to cover my ears to block out the sound. It came at me once more and I knew that this time it would either be me or it. I swallowed bile that had crept up my throat and as it neared, I launched myself at it. We met and I felt claws dig into me and its jaw clamp down on my shoulder. I screamed again as I swung my axe again and again as we tumbled to the ground. This time, the impact knocked the axe out of my hand, sending it flying somewhere. Black tinged around my vision and before I lost consciousness, I thought that I had felt its jaws relax its death grip.