Beca held the heavy kettle in her hands, peering out the window. She hadn't meant to stop there, on her way to make her third cup of coffee. However, something caught her eye. Across the yard, that was occupied by tall walnut trees evenly spaced apart, and a flock of chickens lazily pecking through the grass, she saw something moving. At the edge of her yard, was a stream that separated her little piece land, from the darkness of the Elm Wood Forest. Between the stream and her yard, was a long row of blueberry bushes. She slowly put the kettle down on the counter, and leaned closer to the window, her eyes narrowing as she tried to find what had caught her eye.

In the same moment she spotted it, all her chickens did too, and they froze. Beca took a step back, taking a breath as she weighed her options. It only took a few seconds before she made up her mind and hurried toward the door, grabbing the gun that rested beside it. She couldn't risk anything attacking her flock. She relied to heavily on their eggs to not only feed herself but to sell.

She made it down the steps of the porch then down a small hill into her yard. Her eyes locked on the edge of the forest. She snapped her fingers twice and the chickens ran toward her. She had learned early on that training the flock to come to a certain sound helped keep them alive.

She stepped forward once they reached her and readied her gun. Whatever it was she had seen was out of sight again and she listened intently for any sound. All she could hear however was the stream and the everyday sounds of the forest. She scanned the tree line until her eyes landed on something low to the ground.

She lifted her gun and walked toward it, ready to shoot and wondering what unfortunate creature she would be having for dinner.

Though, the closer she got, the slower her steps became. When she was only ten feet or so away from it, mostly hidden in the brush at the edge of the stream she stopped, her eyes wide as she lowered her gun.

It wasn't an animal, like she had thought.

"Hello?" She asked cautiously, looking around behind the figure for a second before trying to get a better look.

Whatever it was froze for half a second before it started to struggle through the brush and into the stream.

"Hey, wait," She said stepping forward.

It stopped and Beca was able to get closer, looking through the leaves of the brush, she could see red hair on a head that was bowed.

"Please, I wasn't going to kill your chickens, I just needed the water, and then I saw the berries." Came a soft voice and Beca slowly knelt, setting her gun behind her. It was young woman, by the sound of her voice.

"You can come out; I'm not going to hurt you." She said gently, wanting to get a better look at whoever was hiding in her blueberry bushes.

She watched as the woman seemed to think about it, before slowly inching her way out of the bushes. Beca moved back slightly, to give her room. Once she was fully visible, Beca could see she was dirty, and covered with sticks and leaves. Her mane of red curls held the debris of the blueberry bushes and her dirt stained face was scratched by the branches. She huddled close to the spot she had emerged from and Beca knew it was because she was staying ready to run if she needed too.

"What happened to you? Did you get lost in the forest?" The woman shook her head quickly, eyeing the gun that lie in the grass behind Beca.

"Please, don't shoot me?" Her words came out in a shaky breath and Beca slowly raised her hands.

"Why would I shoot you?"

"You have a gun, and I stole a few of your berries." She said, her eyes traveling from the gun, to Becas and Beca could see the fear swimming in her cerulean eyes.

"Well," She said, her voice light. "You're not so scary."

The girl looked up at her curiously.

"I don't shoot people for stealing my berries." She assured her. "Besides if you hadn't, the chickens would have." She smiled kindly and the woman seemed to relax.

"My name is Beca," She said, seeing that she believed her.

"I'm Chloe."

Beca looked around, as if she were waiting for someone else to come walked out of the trees. When no one did, she stood up slowly and offered the woman her hand. "Are you hurt, Chloe?"

Her hand was studied for a moment before she reached up and took it and Beca helped her to her feet. She winced and Beca nodded.

"Where are you hurt?"

She looked down as if she were ashamed of it and Beca looked her over. It wasn't long before she saw the red stain on the cream-colored shirt she wore.

"Come inside and let me help with that?" She said and picked up the gun. Chloe looked hesitant, peeking back over her shoulder into the trees.

"I have blueberry jelly and some fresh homemade bread inside, if that is any interest to you?"

Chloe looked up at the house and Beca could practically hear her stomach growl at the thought.

"I promise you are safe, come get some food and get cleaned up. Then if you wish, you can tell me what you were doing crawling through the bushes, or you can be on your way."

Chloe looked back at her and nodded slowly. Beca couldn't stop the smirk that curved her lips. She carefully led Chloe through the yard and up the stairs into the house where she put her gun away and showed her into the kitchen.

"Have a seat here." She said pulling a chair out at a small table for her. She did as she was asked and watched as Beca rustled around the little kitchen. In a few short minutes, the table had bread, butter, jelly and a bowl of warm water. Beca grabbed a clean washcloth and soap and set it down before pouring Chloe a cold glass of water.

"Here, I am sure this is better than stream water." She said as she took a seat and scooted the chair around to face Chloe.

She took the cup and drank it quickly as Beca got the towel wet and soapy. "Okay, can I see?" She motioned to the blood on the front of her shirt.

She let out a breath as she leaned back and lifted her shirt to reveal a gash on her side.

Beca examined it before carefully beginning to clean it.

"What happened?" She asked, not looking up at her as she cleaned.

"I don't want to talk about it, if it's okay?"

Beca nodded. "Your story to tell. You don't have to say anything." She said giving her a quick reassuring smile before she dipped the towel into the water.

"Help yourself, its really good with butter and jelly." She said nodding toward the food she had laid out on the table.

Chloe looked at it, then looked at Beca. Watching her carefully clean the cut on her side. She was gentle and precise.

Less than thirty minutes before, Chloe had thought she hit the jackpot finding water and then blueberries. She had only eaten a handful before she saw the chickens she was going to avoid run toward a woman with a gun. She thought for sure that the small handful of berries was going to be her last meal. She thought about trying to run, but she knew she didn't have the strength to get across the stream and up the bank back into the forest on the other side.

Now she was being fed, her wound tended to. And she couldn't understand how her luck had changed so quickly.

"Why are you being so kind to me? You don't even know me." She said and Beca looked up to her. Her own eyes saddening.

"Why should I be anything but kind to you? The world went to shit, and everyone turned on each other. I see the same twenty people once a month to sell my eggs and then I come back to my hidden house in the woods. You're the first person to ever be in this house other than me. You needed help, clearly. I don't want to become what everyone else did. I don't want to pull my trigger on every stranger I see."

She fell silent as she bandaged up the cut. "Its not infected, but it was close. It should be okay now, just need to keep it clean." She said standing up and walking over to wash her hands.

Chloe looked around the house she was in. It was clean and comfortable. It was warm and smelled like cinnamon. She felt herself begin to relax, as Beca sat back down and began buttering a piece of bread.

"Thank you, for helping me." She said and could see the corners of Beca lips twitch as she smeared the jelly on the bread before setting it on a plate and pushing it toward her.

"Thank you for trusting me."

Chloe smiled sadly, picking up the bread and taking a bite. Beca was right, it was good. The first substantial food she had had in so long.

Beca watched her for a second before looking down in thought. After a moment, letting Chloe enjoy her food in peace she looked back up.

"Do you have anywhere to stay tonight Chloe?"

She swallowed the bite and set the bread back down. "No."

"Would you like to stay here? I have a spare bed."

Chloe looked at her. "I don't think that is a good idea."

"Why not?" Beca asked leaning back in her chair.

"Because I don't…" She trailed off, her brow furrowing as she looked down at her plate.

Beca waited patiently. The girl was covered in dirt and debris, drinking from a stream with an open gash on her side. She couldn't fathom a reason she couldn't stay there and get some rest even if it were just for one night.

She looked up at her. "I don't want to put you in danger if…if they find me." She said setting the plate down and gently hugging herself.

Beca looked at her in confusion. What kind of danger could she possibly put her in?

"If who finds you? The people who did that?" She looked at her side before locking their eyes again.

"Yes."

"Who are they? Why are you running from them?"

She watched as her shoulders tensed and her body seemed to shrink. "Because they are hunting me."

Beca felt her stomach sink.

"If they find me here, they will kill me. If they find me here, they will kill us both."

A/N: Thanks for reading the first chapter in my new fic! To those of you who are here because you followed me under my old name KissKendrick THANK you for coming back and I hope you enjoy my new work! Please review!