They were all a little less tense and angry the next morning. Derek desperately wanted to ask Tori about what had happened to them, back at the…wherever that was. As much as he wanted to, he saw she was in pain from Andrew's death. Or at least in shock. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to think of someone as your dad, and then discover, too late, that you were wrong.

He wanted even more to see that Simon was awake, but his hopes were dashed. Simon was exactly where Derek had set him down the night before.

Chloe woke up with a yawn, and sat up to rub her eyes. Derek was watching her closely these days, making sure she didn't have any lingering side-effects to the anthrax. Derek couldn't tell, but even if she was feeling horrible, he wasn't sure he'd know.

Chloe stood on cue as Derek did. He sighed, wishing she wouldn't treat him as leader, but he knew in a way he was. Tori, on the other hand, didn't move. She was lying on the ground staring impassively at the sky. Derek wanted to let her rest, wanted them all to rest, but knew it was risky. He wasn't sure when the Edison Group would go at them again.

"Guys," He began. "We have to move."

Derek bent down to shake Simon, but then thought better of it. He threw him over his shoulder, trying to be as gentle as possible.

Tori didn't say anything as she rose off the ground.

"Lead the way," Chloe said quietly.

Something inside of Derek broke down. He wanted to tell her to. He didn't want to be overbearing, but he knew they wanted him to lead. So Derek took off in the general direction away from the Edison Group.

Derek was getting extremely hungry. He knew they didn't have anything to eat, so he didn't bother saying anything, but he was pretty sure the other two were, also. They walked in a silence Derek hoped they couldn't hear his rumbling stomach in.

At least it looks like the trees are thinning. We might be about to break free of them.

Derek was brought back from his thoughts when Simon started coughing.

(Back to Chloe's)

Chloe watched Derek react lightning fast when Simon started coughing. Chloe saw Simon's eyes snap open as Derek set him down. Tori was at his side in a moment. Chloe had thought she was depressed about Andrew, but maybe it had been Simon.

Hadn't Derek said they kissed?

"Simon?" Derek asked eagerly. Simon closed his eyes as a fit of coughing racked his body. Derek leaned towards him, waiting.

"Are you ok?" Tori asked frantically. Simon nodded and reached out to take her hand.

"Simon, answer me, please," Derek said.

Chloe smiled slightly when Simon opened his eyes.

"You're back, bro," Simon said, relieved. Tears streaked down Tori's cheeks. Chloe wiped one off her own, when some escaped at the sight of Tori's.

I don't belong here right now, Chloe realized. She backed away as silently as she could. Even with Derek's super hearing, he wasn't paying any attention.

She backed away until she was sure they wouldn't notice if she was gone for a few minutes. The joy at Simon waking up made her smile openly as she walked through the trees. Her feet crunched on the sticks that littered the ground.

Chloe stopped paying attention to how long she'd been walking as she went along. All she knew was that it was extremely relaxing to just walk along…

"Oh my gosh!" Chloe said aloud. She was standing on a road. An actual paved road, with lines and everything. There were still trees around her, but they only dotted the area.

I walked to the right. Right?

Chloe frantically tried to remember exactly how she'd gotten to the road. She hadn't gone straight. If they'd kept going the same way they had been, they would have passed the road completely. She was about to turn back, but stopped when she saw a car coming towards her. She hesitated.

Should I get its attention?

"Chloe! Chloe, where are you?" Chloe heard Derek calling her name somewhere in the woods behind her. She stepped off the road, to call back. The car sped past, not noticing her.

"Wait!" She shouted, running back onto the road. "Come back!"

Derek raced after her.

"Chloe, what are you doing? Stop…"

"Derek, you didn't see the man in the front seat."

"I don't care how nice he looked," Derek said almost angrily. "We can't trust anyone."

"But…he looked…Oh, never mind. It doesn't even matter. They're gone."

But just as she said that, the car made a U-turn in the road ahead of them. Derek tried to pull Chloe away, but waved him away.

The man in the front had looked almost like…

"Dad?" Derek gasped.

…Simon with black hair.

"Derek!" He yelled. Kit jumped out of the car. "I thought the Edison Group still had you! I was heading back…."

"How'd you…?" Kit noticed Chloe for the first time.

"Later. This road leads back to the Edison Group? We have to get Tori and Simon and get out of here as fast as possible."

"Victoria's with you?" Kit said in shock.

"Why do we need to leave so soon?" Chloe asked.

"'Cause there's no reason to stick around."

Author's Note: Ok guys, sorry for all of the misspellings I'm sure are littering this story. I have a tendency for not reading through my work before putting it up. I know; pure laziness. :D

Anyway, you might not like to read this, 'cause this chapter wasn't very satisfactory, but this might (and probably will be) the last chapter.

Thanks for all the reviews. I love reading every one.

Bye, for now,

Maddy Claire!

P.S. Go ahead and move on with you're life. ;)