Previously...

"I just fucking cut a kids hand off." Alec swore to himself, before looking up at everyone. "I JUST CUT A KIDS FUCKING HAND OFF!"

"Alec, now isn't the time to freak out, you could have saved her life." Bella told him. He glared at her.

"What are you even here for?" He spat.

"Hey!" Edward said, glaring at his brother. "Don't take your shit out on her, she's right! You did it to save her life, it's better than nothing!"

"And what if it didn't work? Then what?" Alec growled, and then buried his head in his hands. Bella moved to his side, and stroked his hair.

"At least you tried." She said, softly. He grabbed her hand and enclosed it between both of his, and pressed it to his lips.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, tears still streaming from his eyes.

A loud bang echoed and made the RV rock. Bella jumped and looked at the door, and sure enough, Biters were pressed up against it, snarling and trying to claw their way in.

"B, get over here!" Emmett yelled. "Ed, you wanna drive us outta here?"

Bella quickly made her way back to Daisy, and Edward climbed into the front, starting the engine and drove away; effectively knocking over the Biters. The others followed closely behind them, and for that, Edward was thankful. He didn't think they had left anybody behind.

"We had to leave a lot of things back there." Carlisle said in a low voice as he saw to Daisy's arm. The small girl didn't make a noise, she was in shock, and for that Bella was thankful.

"We will need to go on a supply run." Bella murmured absentmindedly. Carlisle nodded.

"Okay, Daisy, can you hear me?" He asked, watching her reactions carefully.

"I didn't know you were a doctor." Emmett mused.

"For thirty years." He answered with a smile.

"That's handy." Bella said, watching Daisy with a worried expression.

"Alec made a clean cut." Carlisle reassured her. "She will be fine, as long as she isn't infected."


They drove for seven hours before Edward found another clearing and pulled up. Everyone followed suit and all came clambering out of their vehicles. Edward was glad Jess and Mike got to his RV and drove it for him.

"You stupid fuck!" Emmett growled and marched towards James.

"Emmett, slow down." Jasper warned, attempting to stand between the two men.

"You brought a whole fucking herd of Biters to camp! What were you thinking? We have children with us!"

"What the hell was I supposed to do, huh?" James asked, kicking the grass.

"Well if you had stayed with the group instead of going into the forest for a quick fuck, they would have passed right by!"

"Emmett, whose blood is that?" Alice asked with a small voice.

Emmett looked down at his clothes with a frown, and then looked over to the campervan, where Rosalie stood, her eyes red and swollen.

"Daisy got bit." He said loud enough for everybody to hear. "The kid got bit, because you guys are too fucking bothered about yourselves to help each other out!"

"What were we supposed to do, risk our lives for one girl?" James asked.

"That is exactly what you do." Bella yelled. "There are twenty two of us, we need to stop fighting at every turn and start working together!"

"We can't be expected to get ourselves killed for someone else's-" Ben started.

"What if it was Olivia?" Bella asked. "What if she got stuck with a Biter and you couldn't get to her? Would you want us to risk our lives for her?"

"Yes, we would." Angela answered from behind her husband. "I'm sorry nobody helped with Daisy." She looked toward Rosalie. "I am so, so sorry, Rose."

"Daisy is alive." Emmett said gruffly.

"What?" Rosalie exclaimed, moving quickly to Emmett. "Alec killed her, I saw-"

"Alec cut off her hand, to stop the infection from spreading." Emmett explained. Rosalie's eyes were wide, but she nodded.

"It worked?" She asked, her voice laced with hope.

"It's only been seven hours. She isn't showing any signs of infection yet, which is good news. We should find out within the next few hours if Alec and Emmett saved her." Carlisle told her.

"Can I see her?"

"Of course you can." Bella said, and gestured for Rosalie to follow her.

"There are twenty one of us." Rosalie told Bella as they entered the RV. Bella looked up at her questionably. "Victoria was ambushed by seven or eight of them. I shot three, but I was too late."

"At least you tried." Bella said, sadly.

"Thank you. For going back for Daisy. I saw you, you could have just left her, but you didn't."

"I couldn't have. I'm not wired that way." Bella shrugged.

Rosalie stopped dead when she saw her daughter, she was clearly surprised to see her all clean and patched up.

"Hi mommy." Daisy said with a lazy smile.

"She's had some strong painkillers." Bella explained Daisy's dreamy state.

Alec walked onto the RV and grabbed himself a bottle of water. He tried not to make eye contact with Rosalie, but she threw herself into his arms and thanked him profusely. He buried her head into her shoulder, as his own started to shake.

"You are everything, Alec Cullen." Rosalie said, her voice thick with tears. "You are my hero and I owe you my life."

Alec shook his head, and mumbled more apologies through his tears.

"Don't you ever apologise. My girl is strong, and she is alive because of your quick thinking."

"It's not set in stone." He mumbled, clearly embarrassed at his show of emotion.

"I believe that you have saved her. She looks good." She kissed the side of his face and sighed happily.

Bella left them on their own to talk, and went to find Alice.

She quickly found her, she was sat speaking to Lena, and decided to wait until she was finished.

"Bella?" Esme's motherly voice came from behind her.

"Hey Esme." She smiled at the woman she had come to see as a friend.

"I saw what you did, it was very brave. The whole time you were on your feet, you was looking around the camp, making sure everyone was safe. As soon as you saw someone who wasn't, you went straight to her."

"She was alone, it was what any-"

"Decent person would do? Her own father had given up on her. As soon as that thing bit into her, Royce dragged Rosalie into that campervan."

Bella didn't know what to say. She hadn't felt brave; she was scared out of her mind the entire time. She just wanted to cry for her daddy and curl up into his arms.

"Esme, Lena is asking for you." Carlisle interrupted. Bella frowned at his nervousness, and at Esme's blush that followed.

"Right of course." She said flustered.

Bella caught Edward's eye, who was laughing at the two of them. He rolled his eyes, playfully at them and she bit back a chuckle.

Carlisle and Esme quickly left and Edward took their place.

"That was subtle." Bella laughed at his words as she watched them scuttle off. "I don't even know why they are keeping it a secret, everybody knows." The playful look was gone from his eyes and he sounded bitter.

"You don't like Esme?"

"Esme is great." Edward replied wholeheartedly.

"Then what is it?" She nudged him with her shoulder and giggled. "You don't have feelings for Lena do you?"

He was silent.

Of course he does!

"Oh." Bella whispered, looking down at her shoes.

"I don't." He amended, throwing his arm over her shoulder. "Alec does though."

Thank every god there is.

"That's sweet." She said, smiling.

"I thought you didn't like 'sweet' or 'romantic'." He laughed, but it seemed forced.

"It's not that I don't like it, it's just…" She looked at him and sighed. "It just doesn't end well if you get too attached."

"What about Emmett?"

"Emmett?"

"Aren't you guys like, together?" he asked, frowning at his own words.

Me and Emmett? No. Thanks.

"No." She said, unable to keep a straight face. "Emmett looks after me."

"So you guys just sleep together?" He asked and her eyes widened.

"No!" She cried, appalled. A blush covered her cheeks and Edward grinned. "He is just my friend. Why do you care?"

"I just do." He said simply. He watched her blush intensify and his grin turned into a genuine smile.

"Do you really thing Emmett would let me share a bed with you every night, if we were together?"

"Well, he could have just really trusted you."

"Gross, I am way too young for him." She mumbled. Not that she wanted to be with him, but in Emmett's mind, Bella was just a child. He preferred his women older. Edward frowned at her words.

"Too young?" He said. "How old is Emmett?"

"Twenty five." She told him.

"Right." He muttered. "Seven years between you. That's-"

"Does it matter?" Bella asked sadly, knowing they were no longer talking about the age gap between her and Emmett. She felt the shift in Edward's body language and his mood.

"I think it does, sweetheart." He answered. He stayed seated beside her as her emotions played on her face.

She knew she liked him, she liked the way he looked. But she had no idea she had actual feelings for him until he reacted to her words about being too young. She didn't want to be too young for Edward. She didn't feel too young for him. Tears burned her eyes and she turned her face away in frustration. Edward, who had already noticed the tears, pulled her into him and held her. She rested her head on his chest and she sighed.

Why is he always so warm?

"Why don't you go wash up?" Edward's voice was hoarse as he spoke. "You might feel a little better before we get back on the road.

She nodded, standing up, and without looking at him, she walked away.

Just as she reached the door to the RV, Ben stopped her. He stood too close to her and glared.

"Is there a problem?" She asked, swallowing thickly.

"Not yet, but you should be careful. God is only punishing us with this plague, because of people like you." He growled, grabbing her arms and shaking her.

"Hey!" Alice yelled, coming to Bella's rescue. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Watch how you speak to me, girl, or one of these days you will find yourself as a Rotters chew toy." He said and then walked away as if nothing had happened.

"You okay, Bells?" Alice asked.

"Yeah." She said shakily. "What the hell is wrong with the men here?"


An hour later they were back on the road and Bella was sat next to Edward in the passenger seat, whilst Mike and Jess were playing cards in the back.

"You okay?" Edward asked, not looking at her.

"I really wish people would stop asking me that." She mumbled.

"I'm just worried about you." He replied, scratching his almost beard.

"Can we just change the subject? Please?"

"Sure." He remained silent for a few moments before he found a new subject. "What were you doing before all of this happened?"

"Um," She blushed slightly. "I was in school. Preparing for exams."

"School. Right." He cleared his throat.

"I was a sophmore." She could see he was uncomfortable so she asked him the same question.

"I was moving into a new house. I had just divorced my ex wife, and we were looking for a new place to live."

"We?" She watched as his jaw clenched. She instantly regretted asking.

"My daughter was coming with me." His whole body was stiff as he spoke, and Bella didn't know how to handle this sort of conversation.

"Why wasn't she staying with her mother? I mean, you don't have to tell me, if you don't want to. God knows it is none of my business."

"Tanya wasn't her mother." He told her, glaring out of the window. His hands were grasping the steering wheel so tight, his knuckles were turning white.

"What is your favourite colour?" She watched as relief flooded his features, and he smiled at her.

"Brown." He told her and laughed when she wrinkled her nose in distaste. "What?"

"Brown is so… It's like dirt." She giggled.

"What is your favourite colour?"

"Green." She said without hesitation, but why did she say that? Her favourite colour, up until now, was blue. She knew that it was the shade of Edwards eyes that made her say green, as he had the most beautiful, emerald coloured eyes she had ever seen.

He chuckled at her, as if he knew her little secret, so she blushed.


Thanks for reading. Let me know what you think.