Disclaimer: I do not - in any way - own any of the characters from any TV shows mentioned in my work. I only own my original characters and plotlines. Any similarities to real life people whether living or dead is purely coincidental.


Caroline was surrounded by darkness, a thick fog that made it impossible to see more than a few centimetres in front of her. Her head felt hazy, groggy as though she was under the influence of narcotics. The air felt heavy, thick with smoke and a smell just as strong. Terrified screams echoed around her. She tried to turn, to see where the screams were coming from, but found herself unable to see or hear anything properly. She squinted her eyes, as if it would help any.

More screams rang in her ears, several a few feet in front of her. She began to run, blind from the smoky substance filling her vision. Her legs pumped faster, feet pounding against the ground as the screams grew more and more terrified. It was a horrifying sound.

"Caroline!" A voice cried out, raw with fear. "Caroline, help us!"

Tears welled up in Caroline's eyes as she ran towards the voice. She wanted to tell them she was coming, to yell until her voice was hoarse, but no sounds came out of her mouth. She choked up, the words getting caught in her throat.

"Caroline, please!" The voice screamed again.

She had never felt helplessness this strong before, it frustrated her greatly. She kept running towards the voice, but it just seemed to get further and further away the more she chased it.

"Caroline!"

The ground began to shake, began to crumble underneath her feet.

"Caroline!"

She felt herself falling, a cry tearing itself out of her throat as the hurtled downwards. As she fell, she felt hands grabbing at her, pulling in her in all different directions.

"Caroline!"

She woke with a jolt, sitting up instantly with a loud scream. Her breath heaved for a few moments – not that it was necessary – and she scrabbled at the bedsheets with panicked hands. Her eyes shot around the room, taking in the wooden interior of the cabin she had slept in last night. She slowly allowed herself to relax. She was at Camp Chitaqua, not back in Mystic Falls. She was safe.

Her eyes fell shut as she took a deep breath in, her grip on the fabric beneath her loosening. When she opened them again, her gaze fell on the dark-haired, bearded man grinning at her.

"Up and at 'em, newbie!" he said, clapping a hand on her shoulder before moving back. "You've got a big day ahead of you. Now come on, get ready 'cause it's nearly time for breakfast."

It took Caroline a moment to register what he said. She shook her head quickly to clear her mind, standing up and stretching her limbs out.

"Uh..." she looked back at the man, whom she realised she was actually taller than, "Who are you?"

He nodded, still smiling, "Of course. You got here so late yesterday you probably didn't get to meet me – or anyone else for that matter. Dean kept you in his cabin for a while." He stuck his hand out towards Caroline. "I'm Chuck Shurley, in charge of supplies here at Camp Chitaqua."

Caroline took his hand warily, "Caroline Forbes."

Chuck nodded again, then gestured to the door. "Coming?"

She looked down at herself, noting that she was still in the same clothes she arrived in. Glancing around the room, she spotted a small pile of clothes on a table nearby the bed, along with a hairbrush, a pair of work boots and a toothbrush and toothpaste.

"Give me five minutes to change?"

"Of course." Chuck said, "I'll be right outside."

After he left the room, Caroline quickly changed her clothes, leaving the dirty ones on the table where the other pile had been. She ran the brush through her hair, wincing as it pulled at the tangles and knots there. She brushed her teeth as fast as she could, before opening the door and meeting Chuck outside. He gave her another smile and nod, then jogged down the steps leading from the cabin and began to lead the way to the mess hall where the rest of the camp were having breakfast.


The mess hall was crowded and noisy. Caroline hadn't been around this many humans since before the first breakout of the Croatoan virus, and whilst she wasn't completely starved of blood, she knew she would need food soon before her cravings kicked in. It wouldn't exactly make a great first impression on the camps inhabitants if she bit one of them, especially as none of them knew she was a vampire except Dean.

Speaking of the camp leader, he was nowhere to be found. Caroline couldn't find him anywhere in the room. She did find nearly everyone's eyes on her though. She squirmed uncomfortably under their gaze; she used to love having attention on her, but that had changed over the years. She was no longer the self-centred cheerleader she used to be. The virus had made sure of that.

She made her way to the back of the line congregating around the food, not inhaling through her nose to make sure she couldn't smell anyone's blood. That didn't mean she couldn't hear it though. She could hear it almost perfectly, coursing through everyone's veins, pumping loudly in her ears. Caroline didn't usually have issues with control, but she hadn't fed in a few days and even then it hadn't been satisfying enough.

"You okay?" A voice made her jump, stopping her train of thought. She turned, seeing Chuck frowning behind her.

She shrugged, "Just hungry, I guess." You have no idea how much, she added to herself. No one knew she wasn't human, not even Dean's highest in command. They'd decided this before she left for bed the night before, as Dean didn't want to cause any panic amongst those living in the camp. Caroline couldn't exactly disagree, and besides, it wasn't as if people who knew about vampires were the most accepting of them.

"If you say so." Chuck didn't seem completely convinced, but he didn't push it any further. He leaned over, grabbing two trays and two bowls from the shelf next to where Caroline was standing and handed one of each to her. She took them with a smile, hoping that it didn't look too pained or forced.

"We usually have porridge for breakfast. Oats are the only thing that will keep long enough for us to store." Chuck explained as they got their food.

Caroline nodded, following him over to a table where a few people were already sat down at. She placed her tray of food down next to Chuck's, taking a seat near the edge of the table.

"Caroline, this is Miles," Chuck gestured to a blonde man who Caroline recognised from the gate the day before, "His wife Elliot and their two year old daughter, Alexis." A red-haired, freckled woman smiled at her, and the young girl in her lap peeked out from under her red curls with a shy wave. Alexis was adorable, Caroline decided, a perfect match between her mother and father, with dimples in each cheek and blue eyes that were full of curiosity and wonder.

"It's nice to meet you all." Caroline smiled almost shyly.

"You too, sweetie." Elliot replied.

"Elliot's actually going to be showing you around later, she volunteered after she heard about your arrival last night." Chuck interjected in between mouthfuls of breakfast.

Caroline smiled at the older woman, "Thank you, honestly, it's very kind of you."

Elliot shook off her compliment with a laugh, and the group continued eating their meal in almost silence, only making small conversation as they ate.


"...and this is where the residential cabins are. Literally everyone but Dean lives here, and even his cabin is only about five minutes away."

Caroline nodded, taking in Elliot's words eagerly. She was fascinated by how well the camp was set out and how smoothly it was run. It seemed like Dean had everything under control.

The pair of women walked down the path leading down the middle of the cabins, Elliot pointing out who lived in which cabin. Caroline was fairly certain she'd forget most of the names mentioned; names weren't her strong point, and she needed to meet the people for them to make an impact on her.

They were just passing the cabin at the end of the path when a man emerged from the beaded curtain in place of a door. Caroline raised an eyebrow; surely that wasn't safe? The man had incredibly dark, messy hair and scruff around his jawline, a placid look in his eyes. He stretched his arms upwards, before looking around at his surroundings. His eyes fell on Caroline and Elliot and he grinned, making his way towards them.

"Are you here for the orgy?" He asked, tilting his head towards her slightly.

Caroline sputtered at his unexpected question, her eyes flying wide. "Uh... n-no?"

The man frowned, "Shame."

"Caroline, this is Castiel." Elliot said, fond exasperation in her voice.

"Pssh, call me Cas." He said, his grin quickly back in place. Caroline returned it unsurely and introduced herself with an extended hand. Castiel took it, gripping tightly but not shaking it. He opened his mouth as if to say something else, but a call of his name from the cabin he exited from stopped him. The three of them looked over at the 'door' (if it could be even called that), seeing a short woman with black hair peeking it out of it.

Castiel turned back to the other two, "Sorry ladies, duty calls. I'll see you around, Caroline."

Caroline and Elliot watched him retreat back into his cabin before carrying on down the path, following it down to where it joined with the main path that weaved through the main camp.

"So..." Caroline began. "Is he always like that?"

Elliot laughed, "Who, Castiel? Nah, it's just because you're new. He is a bit of a womaniser, but he knows to back off if you're not interested." There was a slight pause before, "Are you interested?"

"God, no! No, I just got here. I don't think relationships would be the best idea right now." As Caroline said this, she found herself thinking of the previous night when Dean pressed up against her. Sure, he had been threatening her, but he was attractive and it had been a while since Caroline had been intimate with anyone.

"Castiel isn't a relationship kind of guy, if you know what I mean."

Caroline found herself laughing, "Yeah, well... that either."

The pair continued to walk around camp; by now, Caroline had a good idea of where everything was, and how the camp was run. Meals were served three times a day and food was rationed out equally, with those in more need of food (i.e. pregnant women, children and people with illnesses) getting slightly more rations. Most of the camp were up by 7am and lights out was at 11pm. The medical supplies and weapons were kept locked up and under top security, but were available to those who needed them. Elliot explained that she was a nurse at the medic cabin, and they were often short of some medical supplies so people had to go out and scour for supplies a lot of the time. It was getting harder to find supplies as time passed. Caroline almost felt lucky that she didn't have to worry about most human things.

"Caroline!" A deep voice called out from behind them. Caroline turned to see Dean waving an arm at her, a gun strapped to his back and his typical military attire on.

"Yeah?"

"I want to talk about rescue plans." Caroline knew he meant finding Sam, so she shrugged at Elliot before saying her goodbyes and rushing over to the man waiting for her.


A/N: You know what sucks? Writers block does. I would have updated sooner but this chapter just didn't want to come out. I promise I will update quicker with the next chapter, pinky swear! Ugh, I'm still not 100% happy with this chapter but it's technically only a filler to introduce more characters. So, how do you like Cas, Chuck and Elliot? I know I added Miles and Alexis in as well, but they didn't get as much of an intro so yeah. I have a free day tomorrow so I'll start writing the next few chapters then - the next chapter is definitely more interesting than this one, promise! Let me know what you thought of this chapter, lovelies. :3