Climax ish coming. Okay. Here's the next chapter; things are heating up! :D And I think, maybe, two chapters left. Thanks! Sorry for the long wait! Busy with school and stuff. Sorry for shortness; I'm suffering serious writers block. Ideas to make this story exciting for the last few chapters?

The next day, I woke to Avielle's wide, brown eyes peering down on me. She shook me gently and I raised an eyebrow. "Trouble?"

"Footsteps outside," she reported.

I grabbed my knife and stood, signaling for silence as I carefully approached the entrance. I peered up and almost screamed.

There was Lester, from the deadly 11 pair, holding a huge spear and staring right at me.

We had a brief staring contest before I said, "Go head. Kill me. I'm trapped anyway."

He stook his head. "No. I want to protect you."

I quirked an eyebrow and looked around, bewildered. "Is this a trick?"

"No. Hester didn't want me anymore. But she didn't kill me. She just left while I slept. She's gone now."

I realized that despite Lester's size, he was very simple and dim witted. Hester and him were siblings and stuck together, but she was the brains and he was the brawn.

"You promise you won't kill us? Wait, why would you want to protect us anyway?"

"I won't live. I don't wanna anyway. So I wanna help someone instead of just laying down and giving in. Ya know. Go down with a fight."

I nodded but eyed him suspiciously. "I get it. Do you have any weapons?"

"No. Hester took them all."

I handed him a knife. "We have more. Hurt anyone and you'll get an arrow in your back before you can push your weapon in farther."

He gulped and nodded. I dropped down into our cave and he followed slowly.

Aspen stared at him with large eyes and Avielle eyed him, frowning at me.

I explained, and they nodded, understanding.

"Now what?" Aspen asked after a good ten minutes of akward silence.

"We sit. And wait," I added.

It took about three minutes before Aspen said, "I'm bored."

I sighed and Lester let out a deep chuckle. I finally had enough of Aspen and Avielle's annoying word games so I went out and collected some leaves, drawing on them with mud. When I went back to the cave I fanned them while explaining the rules.

"Okay, so, we're playing Go Fish. There's circles, squares, hearts, triangles, and x's."

I passed out the "cards" and then sat to play, but Lester came up from behind and tapped my shoulder. "Uh, Johanna, miss?"

A canon boomed and I glanced around warily before I turned to look at him. "Yeah, Les?"

"I don't know what any of the things you said are."

He was such a giant teddy bear. Now he bit his lip and looked uncomfortable, even nervous.

I smiled. "It's okay. You can play with me, okay?" I took back all the cards to deal them out equally. Then we started playing.

Lester and I were just destroying the two younger girls when Tahoe dropped into the cave suddenly.

I stood up instantly, ushered the younger girls behind me, and grabbed a nearby knife. Lester grabbed it out of my hand and leapt on Tahoe before I could even move, and then Tahoe was falling and the knife was lodged in his chest. A canon boomed and Lester stood huffing.

I stared at him, not sure what to think. First, I thought, He just saved us. Then, He just went back to serial killer mode.

But then, before I could say anything, Lester turned at us and grinned. "You're safe."

Then Tigerlily fell down, slit our protector's neck quickly, turned to look at us, grinned devilously, and left the cave.

It all happened so fast. Our playing cards lay scattered on the floor, Lester's sightless eyes stared at the wall, his neck split. Aspen let out a scream and Avielle trembled. I grabbed both of them and hugged them, rocking them back and forth. Maybe I was just a little bit older, but in this place, a mother figure was what the youngins needed.

"I'll get her, I tell the others. Then she'll be gone and we'll be safe."

So I stepped out into the open with a bow and arrow and looked around, searching for my target. Aspen and Avielle came out instantly.

Suddenly something moved. I shot at it. Then it was silent.

"Did you get her?" Aspen anxiously asked. "Are we safe? Joha-"

She would never finish. An axe flies through the air and hit her in the back of the head and a canon boomed before she even fell.

I whipped around and send an arrow flying toward Fallon, the attacker. She sank to her knees and I found myself grinning in satifaction as a canon shot.

I looked up, but we were alone. So I looked at Avielle. "It's just us, kid. We have to go. Get our stuff."

She went in the cave and came back with our supplies. We have way too much, and it will weigh us down. So we ditch everything but a single sleeping bag, Fallon's five throwing axes, the bow and arrow, a knife, and a bag of food and water. We're easily set. So we took off walking, constantly looking around.

We ended up in a tree. We watched as the anthem came, showing Tahoe, Fallon, Hester, Lester, and Aspen. It was just Tigerlily, Blaze, Avielle, and I. All really good competition. I was starting to really doubt myself.

No time for that. Now I had to keep Avielle and I alive. One more strike.

Just one.