"We must've walked at least ten miles today. Can't we take a break?" Aaron asks.

I turn around and walk backwards so I can talk to him. "If you want to wait here and let us go and get Danny, do it. Otherwise, shut up. We have a train to catch." I turn back around and continue to walk in silence for a couple hours.

I feel a presence next to me, and I don't bother looking to see who it is. "You really shouldn't push them so hard."

"They really shouldn't complain so much. They want Danny back? Fine, let's go do it. I just want to get this over with."

"Avalon…" Nate sighs.

I immediately change the subject. "So how did your dad take it when you broke away from him? Your mom must be upset."

Nate grabs my arm and pulls me close to him. "How dare you bring up my mother? You don't see me pressing you to talk about your parent issues. Don't talk to me about mine." He shoves me roughly away from him, causing me to stumble backwards. Anger courses up through my veins. His dad's reaction might be important for the well being of the whole group.

"Oh, touchy." I keep up a steady pace next to him. "I was just thinking that if your dad was, oh, I don't know, fucking pissed, it might be good to know."

"You want to know what happened?" Nate asks, refusing to look at me.

"Well, obviously that's what I've been saying…"

"Then be quiet and listen. He thought I might leave ever since I let Charlie go. If I'd taken Danny, they would've followed me. And I had to get them to trust me again. So my dad was more embarrassed than anything. Most of the militia thinks that I'm dead, courtesy of my father for abandoning the Republic. So, we're safe. It's been two weeks and nobody's looked for me, and we're only a day's walk from Philly, where Monroe is. I'm fine, and I think it's safe to say that we're safe." I shake my head, fully aware that our group is all listening.

"Don't give me that shit, Nate. Don't pretend like you're okay when you're not. Sure, your dad may suck ass, but he did all of this for you. You have a right to be upset."

"Whatever." I bite down on my lip and stare after Nate for a while.

"We should make camp, it's getting dark."

Nate whirls around to face me. "First you want to press on, then you want to stop. Make up your goddamn mind, Avalon!" He yells, his chest nearly pressed to mine. I take a tiny step back and place my hands on his chest. Nate calms immediately and stares at nothing. "Sorry."

"Don't be." I tell him. "Let's find a good place to rest." We walk for twenty more minutes until we find a nice spot, and Nate doesn't stray from my side the whole way. I can't help but feel sorry for him. He's lost so much in his life, and now he's lost his father and mother, as well as his friends.

Nora and Charlie get their beds ready, while Miles and Aaron seem to be arguing about something. I turn my back to them and strip down to my tank top, jeans, and socks. As I straighten up after laying out my bedding, warm hands wrap around my waist. I turn to see Nate, staring down at me.

"I really am sorry about earlier." Nate murmurs against the skin of my neck. He begins to plant tiny kisses against my neck. "How can I make it up to you?"

I push him away lightly. "By helping me get back Danny." I say, kissing him full on the lips. It's been too long that he's been away.

Nate sighs. "Why are you so obsessed with this kid?" He asks me. "Do I have to kill him, or…"

I let out a laugh. "Don't worry, he won't replace you. I just… There isn't much family in this world, you know? So I figured, if I help them, my parents would be happy. I know they wouldn't be proud of the things I've done in the past, but… I don't know. I just want to make someone happy."

"You make me happy." Nate smiles down at me and kisses me again. This time, I don't pull away.

"Uh, yeah. Can you guys stop procreating for one moment, please?" Miles asks. I blush, but remain close to Nate. "We need to make a plan. Obviously, Nate can't be seen."

"If we're going to run into my dad or Monroe, Avalon shouldn't be seen either. She may be more important than you." I smack Nate immediately. "Ow, what?"

"Why would she be more important?" Nora asks, looking at me carefully. I know that she's a rebel, and I know what she'd do to trade me to Monroe.

"I'm not." I say clearly. "I was just part of the militia, okay?"

"There's more to this situation than that, obviously." Charlie says.

"It's not important." Miles says. I stare at him in disbelief. Maybe he remembers more than he claims. "What is important is that we figure out a way to get Danny back. Monroe will be keeping him in the east wing, on the second story. That's where we keep war prisoners of value."

"I was thinking room two." Nate says. "Since room one is probably being used."

"Sounds good." Miles nods. "You and Avalon will hang back with Aaron. Nora, Charlie, and I will go in and bring him back. Since I honestly still don't trust you, you'll be left out of the plans."

Nate opens his mouth to protest, but I cut him off. "Whatever you think is best." Nate gives me a disapproving look. "What? I can see why they wouldn't trust us. You've abandoned them, I'm militia. Let's get some rest." I stand and hold out my hand to Nate, which he ignores. I wait for a moment longer, and he places his hand in mine.

"So what's your plan?" Nate asks quietly as we walk away.

"No plan." I respond. "They deserve their privacy. Let's sleep while we can."

"And if they turn us into militia? Then what?"

"Then nothing. Nate, calm down. I'll kill myself, then you, before the militia gets us."

"Then you'd be dead and have no way to kill me."

"Whatever, you know what I meant." I slip into my sleeping bag after Nate. He wraps his arms around my waist and presses his lips to my forehead.

"I missed you so much."

"I missed you too, Natie."

"Don't call me that."

"Night."

"Night."

"Avalon!" Someone says slightly too loud. "Avalon!"

"Jesus, what is it!?" I snap back, my eyes still closed.

"There's a dog, Aaron's freaking out." I recognize the voice as Charlie's. Of course.

I turned over on my stomach and sat up. A pretty dog stood a few feet from me, bearing its teeth at Charlie. "When exactly were you going to tell me I might be in danger?" Charlie didn't take her eyes off of the dog. I sigh. "Seren, come off it." The dog looks at me and bows its head slightly.

"You… Know this thing?"

"This thing," I pause to glare at her, "happens to be my dog." Seren lies down on my blanket and lets out a soft, cat-like purr as I scratch behind his ears. "You scared him."

"We scared him? Please." Charlie scoffs.

"Go on, go home, boy." I say, pointing to the west. Seren takes off running. When Nate and I ditch this group of misfits, we'll go to my safe house a few hours from here. We'll be safe.

Charlie just shakes her head and goes back to her sleeping area. "We should get moving before Monroe decides to move Danny to a more secure location. He must know we're coming." Miles says, his stuff all packed.

I step up to him. I hate to be the instigator of the group, but I have a question that I need to know the answer to. "If it really comes down to it, will you kill Monroe?"

Miles watches me silently for a minute. "I don't know."

"Well you need to. Because if you can't, I will."

"They've been gone for nearly thirty minutes." Nate says, kicking at the ground. "I told you this would happen." Aaron watches us both carefully.

"Shut it." I snap. "They'll be here." But I'm starting to get my worries as well. Out of nowhere, there's sudden noise to the right of us. I stand and quickly load my arrow and aim it at the source of the noise. A blonde boy, maybe nineteen came into view.

I nearly let my arrow fly when Nate speaks. "No! It's Charlie's brother. Danny."

I lower my bow. "Oh. Sorry."

"Uh. It's fine." Charlie, Nora, and Miles appear behind him.

"Dammit, Nora, you just had to, didn't you?" Miles asks angrily, breaking into a run. We all follow behind him.

"I saw my chance, and I took it. I'm sorry I'm trying to save us all." Nora snaps back.

"You killed us!" Miles yells.

"What the hell happened back there?" I ask Charlie.

"Nora tried to shoot at Monroe, with a gun."

"What?" I ask.

"In there." Miles says, and we all duck in an abandoned electronics shop.

"What is your problem?" I scream at Nora, pushing her into a wall. "Do you know what's going to happen? We can't run, they know exactly where we are! Monroe has eyes all around him! We're dead!" I crouched down and put my head between my knees, praying I wouldn't throw up.

"Listen, we'll be fine." Nate says soothingly. "We'll be fine."

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