A/N: So I'm a northerner and my knowledge of Bristol and the south west is mostly from MapQuest/Google so I'm playing about with the geography a bit.

"We're leaving Bridgwater now." Naomi felt her unease growing as she watched the limits of the town fly by as they carried on down the A39, heading towards the coast.
"He only said it was near there." Katie pointed out, ever the optimist, but even she was beginning to look nervous as she sat on the other side of the van, holding Effy's hand in hers. Effy just looked bored as usual. Naomi shook her head as she turned around to face the two of them and sat with her back against the door. The combat pants she was wearing were covered in dust from kneeling on the floor of the van and she dusted them down before pulling her gun out and checking the magazine was full. She had a couple of spare magazines tucked in the pocket on her left leg and her knife holster strapped to her right. She was prepared for whatever was coming when the van finally stopped. She turned back around to the peep hole in the door and waited for Michael to lead them wherever he was taking them.

She didn't have long to wait. The towns and buildings quickly faded out and were replaced by vast fields and dense forest. "Holy shit!" Naomi's hand shot to her side as she heard Cook up front. Effy pulled her gun out of her waistband, suddenly looking a lot more awake, like a sleeping lion that had just had its tail stood on.
"What is it?"
"This place…fuck me, wait till you see it!" Cook sounded more excited than concerned as the van lurched to a stop. Naomi slowly opened the door, her right hand never leaving her holster. She squinted as the low lying sun hit her face. The clouds overhead were thick and full, threatening an early afternoon rain that would cost them a good few hours of daylight.

She dropped down from the back of the van, her boots flattening the grass below her feet. They'd been travelling down a dirt road for a good twenty minutes and had pulled up in a clearing at the end of a gravel driveway that led all the way up to an impressive looking building. It was an old red brick house that was three storeys tall and looked to be a good couple of hundred years old. There were modern additions to it though, a large glass conservatory on the side of it, a standalone car port to the left and solar panels on the roof. In the distance to the left there were stables, a pig pen, chicken coop and fields as far as the eye could see. To the right there was a fresh water stream that seemed to run around the back of the house.

"Welcome to Henham hall!" Michael grinned as he stepped out of his truck and walked over to the van where the five teens were standing gawking.
"What is this place?" Naomi quizzed, her suspicions still not quelled just because he had taken them somewhere that actually looked like a settlement. There was a six foot chain link fence that stretched as far as they could see on both sides. The gate in front of them was manned by two armed men with heavy duty looking M-16 rifles. They looked warily at Naomi with her hand on the holster at her hip. Michael ordered them to open the gate and they complied without objection.

As Michael strode through the gate he took on the role of eager tour guide, selling the house like the teens were prospective buyers. "This was originally a stately home, built in the eighteenth century. It was used as an internment camp for POWs in the Second World War and later was sold to a wealthy American who was something of a conspiracy nut. He took the house completely off the grid. It runs off a generator that is fuelled by the solar panels on the roof and the wind turbines in the higher fields. There's a filtering system in place for the water from the stream and we grow all of our food off the land. We still have hot running water, electricity… In a nutshell, we're a completely self-sufficient society." Michael led them up the gravel path towards the main house.

"Impressive." Cook whistled as they passed a young blonde woman who was planting flower beds. She looked up from her work and shot him a coy smile. Naomi wasn't so easily distracted though, or impressed. She was sceptical about Michael's claims. The man was pretty much admitting to a group of strangers that they were standing in a utopia. If Naomi had a place like they did, she wouldn't want anyone coming within a hundred miles of it.

As if reading her mind Michael stopped at the front door and was met by another two armed men. "I'm afraid we don't allow guns in the house. If you hand them over to my friends here we'll make sure their stored safely. I really must insist." The old man smiled at them, his expression sincere. "Please?"

Katie was the first one to pull out her pistol and hand it over to one of the men. With a heavy sigh Effy followed suit and handed hers over as well. Freddie copied the girls and it was just Cook and Naomi holding on to their weapons. "What you thinking?" Cook turned to Naomi like Michael and the armed strangers weren't standing in front of them. He trusted his friend's judgement, and Naomi knew he wasn't about to hand his gun over if she wasn't. She looked between Cook and Katie before she undid her holster and let it dangle from her hand until Michael took it from her.
"My thanks." His smile never wavered as he took it from her and Cook handed his weapon over too. "And the knife." He nodded to the holster on her leg.
"Not a gun." Naomi pointed out in a tone that told him she wasn't about to part with it. His smile became a little more forced but he nodded and carried on walking towards the front door. Naomi shot Cook a pointed look behind Michael's back, she wasn't the only one who carried a backup weapon, but Cook and Effy chose to hide theirs.

Michael led them inside the house and they were met with a grand marble staircase. The house looked like it hadn't been redecorated since it was built, but it was in immaculate condition. A middle-aged woman was mopping the floor and looked nervous as she caught sight of the group of teenagers, particularly Katie. Michael greeted her and she turned her attention back to the floor. "There are thirty four of us here at Henham, and everyone has a job. I fish and trade some of what I catch at the post, Maria there is one of the housekeepers, and we have perimeter guards, farmers, all sorts really-"

"And who runs it all?" Naomi snapped, still feeling uneasy at being in the middle of nowhere without a gun or a plan. She still felt like she was walking headfirst in to a trap.
"We're a democracy here Naomi, a family-"
"Even democracies have leaders. So who's yours?"
"I guess that would be me." Naomi and the others looked up to the top of the stairs and found themselves staring at a middle aged Asian man in a pristine suit. His dark hair was peppered with grey at the sides and he held his head up high as he descended the stairs. "My name is Oliver Minhas, I acquired Henham hall last year. After the outbreak of the virus I opened my gates to the survivors, offering food and lodging in exchange for help to work the lands and keep the power going… And you are?"

"Looking for my sister!" Katie interrupted before Naomi could get a word in edgeways. She was picking up a bad feeling about Minhas. As charming as the man was trying to be there was something off about him. He turned his attention to Katie and for a moment his calm façade slipped, his eyes widened and his nostrils flared. He composed himself before the others noticed, but Naomi wasn't fooled. After years of sharing her home with strangers she was used to reading people pretty quickly and it was hard for her to shake her first impressions of people.
"You must be Katie." His eyes softened as he turned his attention to the oldest twin. "Forgive my crass, but Emily said you were dead?"
"I thought she was too…that's why I left-"
"Katie." Naomi snapped, cutting her off before she could say too much. They still didn't know anything about the settlers at Henham, or if Emily had really been with them voluntarily.

"Please." Minhas held his hands up in front of him. "I understand that in these harsh times it's hard to trust anyone, but I can assure you Emily was more than just a settler here, she was like family. She and my daughter were…close."
"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Katie rolled her eyes but there was a hint of a smile on her lips.
"What happened to her?" Naomi wasn't entirely ready to buy what they were trying to sell her, but she'd made a promise to Katie and the only lead they had was the sharply dressed man in front of them. She would play nice while she had to.

She didn't miss the subtle shift in Minhas' gaze as he looked at Michael before answering. "Emily was out on a foraging trip, the car she was travelling in was attacked and she was taken. The rest of our people, all men, were shot. One survived long enough to tell us what had happened. We don't know what's become of Emily, but we've never stopped looking. As I said, she was like family-"
"Yeah? Well she is my family!" Katie snapped and Naomi could tell she was getting anxious. She'd pinned her hopes on these people leading her to her sister and they were still no closer to finding her. If Minhas was telling the truth then for all they knew Emily was already dead. "We're wasting time here! We should be out looking for Emily!"

"Please, we have some leads on the people who took her. I'm expecting a scouting party back later tonight. You're all welcome to stay the night. We have the room…in fact we're always looking for new members of our community-"
"We have our own family." Naomi answered, knowing she was speaking for the rest of them. Minhas' eyes narrowed on the young blonde for a moment but he quickly recovered.
"I understand. At least stay the night, my people should be back by the evening meal. They're following up a lead that Emily's alive and being held in Exmoor Park. If they come back and confirm it, then I'll send a rescue party tonight."

"Then I'm staying." Katie piped up before Naomi could suggest going back to the farm and returning in the morning. She knew she had no hope of talking her out of staying, but she couldn't help but feel that Minhas was trying too hard to get them to stay, dangling too much temptation in Katie's way.
"Fine." She nodded towards Katie. "Then I'm staying with you. Cook, you drive Effy and Freds back home with the supplies."
"But-" Cook started, he looked as uncomfortable with Minhas as she was, but she cut him off with a glare.
"We have a lotof hungry people back home. I'll stay here with Katie tonight and you can come back and pick us up first thing."

"Cook and Freddie can go back alone, I'm staying with Katie." Effy took hold of the smaller girl's hand and shot Naomi a glare that dared her to say otherwise. Naomi forced a smile on to her face as she slapped Cook on the arm.
"That's settled then. We're having a girl's night out and you boys can come back for us in the morning. Mr Minhas, did Emily have a room here? Could Katie maybe see her things? And I'll walk Cook and Freddie back to the van."
"Actually Emily shared a room with my daughter. I'm sure she'll be overjoyed to meet Katie, just let me find her and she'll show you Emily's things."

Effy and Katie went off with Minhas to find his daughter while Michael escorted Naomi, Freddie and Cook back to the van. Naomi had been hoping to speak to Cook alone, but with Michael hovering over them by the gates she only had one way to get a message to him. "I'll miss you baby." Cook frowned as she placed her hands on his chest. He was about to ask what she was talking about when she grabbed his T-shirt and pulled him forward, crushing their lips together. His eyes widened but James Cook had been trying to get in to his best friend's pants for years and instead of questioning it he kissed back.

Naomi pulled away and let her lips hover by his ear as Cook's arms slipped around her waist. "I don't trust them. Drive a mile in to the woods, camp out tonight, I've got my radio on me, if you don't hear from me by midnight then come get us."
"Love you too princess!" Cook's smile was far too cheesy as he stole another quick kiss from the blonde. Naomi resisted her natural urge to slap him and turned to follow Michael back in to Henham hall. She wanted to get straight back to Katie and Effy; something in her gut was telling her that Minhas wasn't being entirely honest with them.

Michael led her to a large library overlooking the river. The others were there along with Minhas and a young woman who was clearly his daughter. They shared the same olive skin and jet black hair and his daughter set off the same alarm bells in Naomi's head. She didn't have time to dwell on the daughter though as Katie held up a blue chequered shirt to her face. "This is Emily's favourite shirt." Her voice came out choked. It still had Emily's scent faintly clinging to the material. As well as the shirt there were a few other items of clothing, a couple of books and a handful of photographs on the table in front of her. Naomi picked one up and stared down at the happy smiling faces of the Fitch family. "That was from last Christmas." Katie's eyes were wide and watery as she took the picture from Naomi's hand. She sat in one of the high-back leather chairs, staring silently at the photograph of her family. Effy leant over and pressed her lips to Katie's cheek before wrapping a protective arm around her.

"Didn't she have anything else?" Naomi quizzed. There wasn't much there considering Emily had supposedly been living with them for months.
"Emily had a lot of her things with her, she'd been on a long foraging mission…I promise you Katie; we are doing all we can to find Emily and bring her back to us. Isn't that right Mandy?" Minhas turned to his daughter and placed a hand on her shoulder. The dark haired young woman nodded, her eyes glued to Katie.
"I hope so."
"Right then, we'll get you three settled in one of the guest rooms upstairs. Dinner won't be too long and the scouting party should be back by then."

"Something's off about all this." Effy finally spoke up after they'd been escorted upstairs and Minhas closed the door behind him. "If Emily was really kidnapped then it's a bit convenient she was taken with most of her stuff."
"Any bet there's some guard outside that door." Naomi sighed as she went to the window to check how high up they were. They were on the third floor and the ground was a long way down, so that escape route was out. "They've never left us alone since we got here. Maybe they're worried what we'll hear about Emily?" Naomi sat on the windowsill with her foot braced against the wall and took out her radio, hoping to get a good reception. "Cook? Come in Cook." She took her finger off the button and was just met with static. The two way radios had a range of about five miles, but she'd told him to drive a mile away just to be safe. If they'd been followed then Cook might have had to drive further, maybe even as far as the motorway. He knew to be back in range by midnight though. They'd wait until Minhas' scouting party came back with news of Emily and then take it from there.

"What do you think Katie?" Effy finally asked the twin what she thought about Henham Hall. The smaller girl sat on one of the two beds in the room, curled up and quietly contemplating what was going on.
"Hmm?" She looked up, her expression vacant, like she'd been a million miles away. She held the photograph of her family in her hands. Effy took a seat behind her and wrapped her arms around the other girl, gently pulling her back to lie against her.
"Do you really think Emily was with these people?"
"I don't know." Katie sighed as she shifted to turn around and bury her face in the crook of Effy's neck. "Maybe… She's not here now though, is she? We're still no closer to actually finding her."
"We will." Effy reassured her as she ran a soothing hand through her hair. "What the hell are you doing?" She frowned as Naomi pushed the window up and practically hung out of it, looking to her left and then her right.

"The room next door has a balcony. I'm pretty sure I can get to it. If the door's not locked then maybe I can have a look about for some clues or something?" Naomi felt restless copped up in the room, and though it was already dark it would be hours before the evening meal, she couldn't just sit doing nothing.
"Clues? Ok Scooby Doo, and what if they catch you?"
"Then we'll know if they're the bad guys, won't we?" Naomi shot back with a smirk as she stuck her leg out of the window. Her foot probed for the thin ledge below and once she found it she lowered the other leg out. She pulled the radio out of her pocket and tossed it on to the closest bed. "Keep trying to get through to Cook."

The ledge was literally only a few inches thick and she clung to the window frame for as long as she could as she shuffled along it. Katie and Effy stood at the window, watching with baited breath as she slowly made her way towards the metal railings of the balcony next door.
"Careful!" Katie hissed as Naomi reached for the railing and her fingers slipped. She had to lurch forward and grab the railing with both hands before she slipped. She scurried over the railing and slumped to the ground, trying to catch her breath. "You ok?" Katie called out, concern etched over her young face.
"Fine." Naomi breathed and forced herself back to her feet. She dusted her combats off and checked everything was still securely in her pockets before she smiled at Katie, trying to reassure her. "Give me an hour, yeah?"

Turning her back on the other two girls she turned her attention to the French doors that led in to the room and was glad to find them unlocked. The room looked empty, which admittedly wasn't something she had really thought about before climbing out of the window of the other room. She slipped inside and closed the door behind her. The room was larger than the one next door, but rather than two single beds there was a single queen size bed in the middle of the room. The room was elegantly decorated in red and gold with silk bed sheets and expensive looking solid mahogany furniture. It was clearly the bedroom of a teenage girl though with clothes scattered all over and photographs pinned to the wall above the mirror by the dresser. One in particular caught her eye. It was the type that came from an instant Polaroid camera and it was of Minhas' daughter Mandy, her arm wrapped around a grinning redhead. Emily. So they had been telling the truth about Emily living with them; but were they being honest about her disappearance?

"Don't move!" A voice growled over Naomi's shoulder and the blonde's hand instantly went to her side, only to remember her pistol was gone. She still had her knife strapped to her leg, but she couldn't risk going for it if whoever was behind her were armed. She had no idea who was behind her, but the gruff voice definitely didn't belong to Mandy, so whoever it was didn't belong in the room either. She turned slowly around to face them and found herself facing the jagged barrel of a sawn off shotgun. The man holding the gun on her was wearing a balaclava, so it was safe to assume he didn't belong at Henham Hall anymore than she did. She slowly held her hands up, not wanting to spook the man.
"Easy mate, I-"
"Shut up!" He growled again and shoved the gun against her stomach. Naomi's eyes were warily glued to the trigger. If his finger slipped and the gun went off at that close a range her torso would be ripped to shreds. "So you must be her new bitch then. Turn around. TURN AROUND! He screamed as Naomi stood her ground and shoved the shotgun harder against her stomach. Naomi grunted from the pain and slowly did as she was told.

She heard the soft tell-tale clank of the shotgun being placed on the dressing table and knew it was her only chance. As her assailant bent down to remove her knife from its ankle holster she kicked her leg backwards, her heavy duty boots catching him in the face. He screamed in agony as his nose popped and blood started pouring from it. While he recoiled and held his bleeding nose Naomi dived for the shotgun. The man recovered quickly though and she found his own booted foot connecting with her stomach before her scrambling fingers could reach the shotgun. She doubled over with the pain and fell to her knees, winded and fresh out of luck. The man grabbed the shotgun and brought it crashing down against the side of her head. The last thing she saw before blacking out was the barrel being shoved in her face.

"I don't like this." Effy shook her head as she leant out of the window, staring at the balcony next door and waiting for any sign of Naomi. She'd been gone over for well over an hour and both girls were starting to get nervous. She picked up the radio and tried to get through to Cook again. "Cook? Cook, where the fuck are you?"
"Right here my lovely." Cook finally replied and Effy let out the breath she'd been holding. "They followed us halfway back to fucking Super-Mare! We're about a mile and a half out down by the river. Where's Blondie?"
"She ran off playing Nancy Drew an hour ago. I'm starting to worry Cook. Something's going on here- Shit!" She switched the radio off and pocketed it as the door to the room they were being held in started to open.

Minhas appeared beside two men armed with the same MK-15s that they'd seen at the front gates. Minhas looked dishevelled. His top button was open and his tie hung loose around his neck. "There's been a break in. We believe it was the same people who took Emily; they must have followed the scouting party back. It seems they intended to take my daughter. It seems convenient that this happens on the same day you three turn up, except now there are only two of you." Minhas glared at them, all traces of friendliness gone.
"Naomi heard something next door; she went to check it out. That was an hour ago." Katie was only half lying as she stepped up to face Minhas. "Why would we have anything to do with the people who took my sister? If I knew where Emily was I wouldn't be wasting my time here!" Minhas' expression remained stoic as he stared at the defiant little girl standing up to him. Eventually his features softened and he nodded.
"That explains it then. My daughter's room is next door. We found blood on the floor…I'm sorry, but I think your friend has been taken too, or possibly worse. My men are searching the grounds and the woods and we managed to capture one of them. I must ask the two of you to stay in here until we sort this mess out. I'll keep you informed, if your friend is still alive, we'll find her." Minhas turned and strode out of the room before either girl could question him.

The second the door shut Katie slumped on to the bed and tucked her head between her knees as she struggled to fight off a panic attack. Emily was gone and Naomi was missing. Minhas hadn't mentioned how much blood they had found and whether it was fatal or not, but surely if she'd been shot in the next room then they would have heard it? Effy took a seat beside her and rubbed her back, trying to quietly comfort her. She had known Naomi for longer and was just as worried about her, but she had to be strong for them both. Pulling out the radio she turned it back on and told Cook everything that had happened. The radio crackled with static as she took her finger off the button and waited for his reply.
"Mother fucker!"