Author's Note: Sorry for the wait! Although I guess it wasn't much of a wait… I did keep my promise. But I just couldn't find a way to get this chapter started, I didn't quite know what to do with it. Luckily, writing Charlie and Jason flirting is lots of fun for me! Remember to review at the end! I may or may not give someone a name in the next chapter if they give a really good review! Thanks!


Trust Comes Easily to Some

Chapter 3

Camp that night was a quiet affair, to say in the least. Dinner consisted of a few apples and dried venison, watered down with what Jason suspected was the water Charlie was retrieving when they met. Plans were made as to the direction they were heading, but they never did say what their destination was. Jason assumed it was Chicago, it was the biggest city in their direction. Jason thought that Maggie was purposefully interrupting anytime she thought Charlie or Aaron were about to say the world Chicago. He was going to have to watch Maggie; she was too street-smart for her own good. Soon Aaron and Maggie were asleep, Charlie having taken first watch.

She sat near the small fire they had built, the flames casting dancing shadows on her face and glinting in her eyes. Charlie looked so along and tired, like she had no one in the world.

"Hey," Jason whispered, catching her attention. "Are you okay?"

She gave a small laugh, but the laugh didn't go to her eyes. "Well, no, not really. I.." she broke off, and looked him in the eyes, trying to decide something. "I almost died today, that's all."

She still doesn't trust me. Jason was hurt, even though he knew her suspicion was justified. Here he was, ingratiating himself into the group and in a matter of days he was going to betray them, and Jason was upset that she didn't trust him. It made him feel dirty, unworthy.

"Is that really it?" He tilted his face to side, brows pinched together. "I don't believe you."

Charlie sighed, looking back at the flames. "Those men were ready to rape and kill us just for their own enjoyment. There was no sense to it. We don't have much food or meds, nothing that could tempt them. They just wanted to destroy. And," Charlie huffed a bit, glancing back at Jason "Well that scares me." She finished with another sigh and stoked the fire, embers flying. She didn't look scared. She looked frustrated, like she was angry the world had to be this way.

She's right though. This whole world is a mess. Jason clenched his jaw, the muscle jumping under his skin. He thought back to what his father would say at every chance he got, that the only thing keeping the world together was the Monroe Republic. Without it, he would tell Jason, neighbors would kill neighbors, wars and hunger would be rampant, it would be like the years after the blackout.

Jason moved next to her and lifted another log onto the fire. "We can only do what we can. We have to be better than before, we have do what we believe is right, we have to follow orders."

She looked at him sharply with that last part. "The militia is the enemy. They're ruthless and cruel and don't even follow their own law. They pillage and murder and ruin families wherever they go!" She choked, no longer able to speak.

She's thinking of her brother and father, Jason thought, the guilt from earlier that day resurfacing.

She raised her chin, glaring at nothing and everything. "The world would be better without them and General Monroe."

Jason grimaced, but he couldn't face what she said. It touched too close to what he had thought a few times himself. "But wouldn't the alternative be worse? A land with no order, no law?"

Charlie scoffed, grinding her teeth. "Their laws are wrong. No one can have their beliefs; no one can stand up for what they think is right!"

Jason caught himself starting to smile. She's just so strong, she's not afraid of telling the world that it's wrong. Her eyes reflected the flames and she looked ready to fight, to make everyone see what she saw. Jason shook his head, trying to remember his orders, everything he was raised believing. One girl wasn't going to change everything he knew to be right. Especially this girl.


The group set off early the next morning, the morning dew clinging to the plants and trees around them, making their packs wet and heavy. As they hiked, Aaron told them of working at a company called 'Google' and the silly competitions they would have with other companies, and how fruitless it all was as soon as the blackout occurred. Jason found himself touching Charlie at the smallest reason. To help readjust her pack, to help her across ditches and streams, or just accidently brushing her arm with his own. At every instance Maggie pursed her lips and just looked at him.

After helping Charlie jump across a ditch, Jason held out his hand to Maggie, trying to appease her. She just glanced at it and raised an eyebrow.

"So, Nate, was it? Where are you headed?" She asked, challenging him.

"Chicago." He said, using his assumption of the night before, "Hoping to get on a fishing crew." He turned at looked back at Maggie, smiling in answer to that challenge. "You?" She just raised another eyebrow at him.

"We're headed to Chicago, too" Charlie answered for her.

"Charlie…" Maggie said, upset that Charlie would reveal anything to him.

"Look, we have food and I do kinda owe you." Charlie looked apologetic, but not enough to take back the unspoken offer of traveling together.

Jason smiled at her, cursing himself for how pleased he was to know that she was starting to trust him.

"Can you give us a minute?" Maggie asked, clearly wanted to tell Charlie off.

He moved on ahead while they lagged behind, speaking in hushed tones. Charlie's voice sounded indignant, while Maggie's sounded sincerely concerned.

Charlie quickly moved back up next to Jason, rolling her eyes a bit in explanation.

"So why are you guys going to Chicago?" He asked, testing that new trust. He needed confirmation that Miles Matheson would be there, that he wasn't following them for nothing. Matheson needed to be back with the Militia, he was too important to it.

"We.. uh.." She glanced back at Aaron and Maggie. "We're looking for a friend we think lives there."

"I hope it's worth the walk for you guys." He said, grinning, knowing that if he asked too many questions her guard would be back up. Anything to keep her talking to him, laughing and smiling.

"I hope so too!" She grinned back. "How'd you learn how to use a bow like that?" Charlie gestured to the recurve strung across his shoulder.

"From summers in the new forests of Pennsylvania. The forest is reclaiming towns and parks and makes for really good hunting grounds. My friend taught me." He answered honestly. What he didn't tell her was his 'friend' was a militia training sergeant.

Nathan Walker had joined the militia before him because he was a year older. As Nate learned, he passed on the training to Jason when he was 14. Tom Neville, Jason's father, was an officer by then in the militia and encouraged the training, going so far as to hold competitions between the boys in area Jason's age in target practice, wrestling, and hand-to-hand combat. Every single one of those boys enlisted as soon as they turned 15.

"I prefer crossbows, much easier to handle." She said, patting the crossbow on her back.

"Easier, eh?" He said, grinning again. "You do realize it doesn't take as much muscle to draw a recurve as it does a crossbow? I can also reload and shoot in the time it takes you to only draw the string of your crossbow."

Charlie laughed, the smile lighting up her face. "Try and convince as much as you like, but I would rather have something good and sturdy to shoot with then one of those flimsy things."

"What? Look at this thing!" Jason pulled the bow over his shoulder. "Look how thick the limbs are! This bow means business!" He shook the bow emphatically, making her laugh more.

Behind them, Maggie 'tch-ed' her annoyance and continued her conversation with Aaron.

"We'll just have to see who'll win in a fight, now won't we?" She smiled mischievously.

"Yeah, I guess we will!" He grinned, shoving her playfully to the side. "And we'll see me out-shoot you every time!"


A/N- Alright kids, enough flirting, y'all have business to attend to.

Oh Jason, try as you might, you'll never be able to withstand the smile of a Charlie in the morning! She's like bacon or coffee, just dang addictive.

Well, review please oh please! I really do watch my email, just waiting for an email telling me some loving soul has taken it upon themselves to review my work! And make them a good edit! I love it when people give me helpful criticism!

I'll be back with a new chapter probably sometime this week (cross your fingers) and we'll see Dear 'ol Uncle Miles! Yay for betrayal!