Alexis POV

I started to run forward, but Nico held me back. "What the heck, Nico? Let me go, we have to help her!" I struggled against his grasp on my arm.

"Lexi, think about it. Between all of us, we could barely take on two Erasers. We've had no training, we barely have any experience when it comes to fighting. This girl, she can obviously take care of herself - she's already taken out three of them. She'd be better off if we just left."

"Plus, who knows if we can trust her?" Cassie added. "Maybe she's really evil - maybe she'd just kill us once we helped her."

"What's wrong with you guys? They're winning - they're gonna kill her!" I nearly shrieked. The girl heard me and glanced behind her before turning back to her fight.

"Go away. Now."

"We want to help you!" I said, managing to escape from Nico's grip and running forward.

The girl glared at me. "Listen to me! You don't want to help me! Just go away! Let them kill me, the world will be better off that way anyway!"

I glanced back at Nico. He scowled. Suddenly, Nikki cut in. "Maybe if we can get her away from the Erasers, we won't have to fight. We have to distract them somehow. Then we can save her." I looked at Nico. He nodded grudgingly.

"All right, I'll distract them, then you guys get her out of here. Got it?"

I nodded. "Be careful, Nico."

"What choice do I have?" he muttered.

"This isn't a good idea," Cassie said. "Who knows who this girl is?"

"Well, we can't let her die, can we?" I countered.

He ran off to our left. The Erasers didn't seem to have noticed our little exchange with the girl they were trying to kill. The Erasers had always been known as some of the stupidest hybrids. They had a one-track mind, only aware of their immediate mission. Which, currently, was to murder this girl.

The girl kept fighting the Erasers. I wasn't sure if she realized we were going to help her or not.

Just as an Eraser sliced across the girl's cheek, leaving deep gashes that began dripping blood immediately, a rock flew from the trees behind the Erasers, hitting one in the back of the head.

"Hey! Losers! Over here!" The Erasers eyes narrowed. He spun around, snarling. "Yeah, you! Freak!" I couldn't see Nico, and neither could the Erasers. He threw another rock, this time hitting one square in the back.

All the Erasers growled and started in Nico's direction. I gave a small laugh. I hadn't expected this to be that easy. I heard leaves and sticks shuffling as Nico jogged away, drawing the Erasers away from the girl and into the woods. Being light and fast, he'd be able to easily evade the Erasers.

Once they were in the trees, the rest of us started forward. The girl whirled around to look at us. "What are you doing? Why are you helping me? Go away, I'm serious! If you help me, you'll never be safe again." Her eyes were wild, staring at us.

I glanced at Nikki. She shook her head. "We never were safe. And it's too late now. Come on."

I grabbed the girl's arm. We ran off into the woods, in the opposite direction of the Erasers.

"I'll stay behind to wait for Nico," Cassie said. I nodded.

"Be careful," I said again.

Then we were off. We ran until we reached a clearing, then we stopped to get our bearings and wait for Cassie and Nico.

The girl sat down and drew her knees to her chest. "You shouldn't have helped me. You don't understand. They're - they're gonna kill you. Just like -" She shuddered and hid her face in her knees. "Please - save yourselves. Just leave me here. Please."

I didn't know what to say. Shouldn't she be at least a little grateful? I mean, hadn't we just saved her lives? I didn't want to leave her here. So I said, "What's your name?"

"Cosaque," she answered simply. "Just call me C." Then she banged her fist on the ground. "God, why did I just tell you that?"

"Why were you fighting those Erasers? Who are you?" The girl sighed but didn't answer. I looked at Brendan helplessly.

"Just let her be for awhile," he suggested. "Maybe she's still in shock." The girl just glared at him.

(Initiating overlong A/N): Yay! What'd you guys think? I'm scared of C being a Mary Sue, so if she's too Sue-ish for you, PLEASE tell me. Also, if you can, tell me how I can fix it, because I'm trying to stay away from cliches like Mary Sues and stuff like that. I'm also afraid of her becoming the main focus of the story. She's not. She's just another plot device. The real focus is probably gonna come in in the next couple chapters, when they meet up with Jeb and... some other people. ;) So if C is either too Sue-ish or has too much focus on her, tell me and I'll try to fix it. My friend thought of her, and I thought she was too good of an idea to keep out of the story, although I wish I would've made her come in a bit earlier. But it's too late now. :P They may end up separating for awhile so I can get the story more established, but I'm not sure. All right, please tell me what you thought! Bye! :)