"You bitch!" The soldier screams at me, pushing me down onto the ground. He wipes his nose with his sleeve, causing more blood to flow.

"I'm sorry! I wasn't thinking!" I cry, praying that he won't take a swing at me. He does, and I flinch, waiting for the blow, but it never comes. I slowly open my eyes to see Captain Neville pinning the guy against his tent.

"Didn't you hear when General Monroe said you weren't to touch that girl?" Neville asks, smashing his fist into the guy's face again and again.

I wrap the blanket tighter against my naked body, tears flowing freely down my face. A familiar warm hand touches my bare shoulder, and I flinch away. "It's alright." Monroe says softly. I glare up at him.

"Don't touch me." I spit.

"Come on, you're freezing. I'll make you tea or something."

"It doesn't matter. It goes the same way every night. You ask me to go with you, I refuse, you take me anyways, and then I feel worthless."

"But this time I mean it." Monroe insists.

"You've said that five times." I say, standing shakily. "Might as well get it over with."

I actually really like Monroe's tent. When he's not in it, I mean. He has a large armoire, candles, and a mirror. And of course, a bed. "Why do you hate me?" Monroe asks from behind me.

I let out a light laugh. "That's a joke, right?"

Monroe just looks at me. "I know that Miles has been trying to figure out a way to get out of here. Hell, I would be too, if the girl I love was trapped with him."

"Miles does not…"

"Save it, Avalon. My point is, I think we should start over. Your parents would want us to."

A tear slides down my cheek. Dragging my parents into this is a low blow, and he knows it, too. "Fuck you." I whisper brokenly.

"That was low." Monroe agrees. "But true. So from now on, let me know if anyone tries to grab you like today. We'll talk more later." He says, dismissing me. I nod and stand. "Where are you going?"

"To find a place to sleep."

"No need, I'll leave. Have a good night's rest." I stare after Monroe as he leaves his own tent. Which is mine now. I shake my head. Nothing makes sense anymore.

I carry the clothes that I just washed out to the line where I hang them. I hum quietly to myself, daydreaming about when the lights were on. I accidentally bump into someone. "Oops, sorry." I mutter, about to move away.

"Wait, Avalon?" A girl asks. I look up at her and immediately know who she is.

"Lida Connors?" I ask. We embrace quickly. "What're you doing here? I thought you ran away a few years ago!"

"I did. They caught me." Lida says grimly.

"Oh. I'm so sorry."

"Whatever, Monroe's over it. What're you doing here?"

"Part of a trade. Me and knowledge for the freedom of Nate and a few friends. Including Miles Matheson."

"You saw Miles Matheson?" Lida asks, shocked.

"Yup." I say, popping the p.

"Didja kiss him?" She teases.

"Lida!" I say, clipping the clothes to the line. "You know it's not like that anymore."

"Too bad. You two were so cute." I roll my eyes at her. "Speaking of cute, where's Nate?"

I shrug. "Not sure. I suppose they're hanging around here somewhere."

Lida opens her mouth to say something else, but shuts it quickly. "I'll see you around, alright?" She winks at me and then disappears.

I shake my head at her behavior and return to hanging. "I never knew that Lida Connors knew about us." I jump when I hear Miles' voice next to me.

"Jesus." I hiss. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack? What're you doing here, anyways?" I ask. "You could get in a lot of trouble."

"I need to talk to you." He says seriously. "What exactly is your plan? Nate's gone of, torturing himself because he thinks that he 'figured out' your plan. So what is it?"

I smile wryly. "I take it he kissed Charlie?"

Miles stares at me, stunned. "That was your plan? To make him and Charlie get together?" I nod. "Why? I thought you loved him."

"I do. But I was causing so much damage. I just want him to be happy." I say. Miles shakes his head at me. "What?" Before I can comprehend, his lips are on mine. I immediately shove him away. Okay, that's a lie. I kind of kissed him back until we had to stop for air. Oops. "What the hell was that for?"

"What do you mean?" Miles asks casually. I try to contain my patience. He's just being typical Miles, I tell myself.

"I mean, why did you kiss me? We aren't together."

"And obviously you and Nate aren't together." Miles points out.

"That was just a precaution. In case I never made it out of here. Which, by the way, it seems as if I won't."

"It's taking time, we're working it out."

I notice him looking uncomfortable. "You shouldn't have done that."

"I didn't see you pulling away." I remain silent. "Exactly."

"Nate will be mad."

"Probably. But isn't that a little bit hypocritical? Him getting mad at you for kissing someone while he's doing the exact same thing?"

"Well… Go away, Matheson."

"Oh, so we're going back to calling each other by our last names, huh, Kandinsky. Really mature." Miles says bitterly. "You're still the same immature sixteen year old that you were when I met you." Ouch. Miles knows that his words hurt, because he immediately tries to back out of it. "Avalon, I didn't mean…"

"Yeah, Miles, you did." I say, hanging up the last piece of clothing. "I told Monroe a little bit about the lights."

"Why?"

"Because it's what I promised. The other stuff doesn't make sense, I would just confuse him." I say. "Besides, he hasn't been so bad lately."

"He's forcing you to sleep with him. Why isn't that bad?"

"He isn't anymore, that's my point. He's treating me like he should've from the start. I don't know, he's starting to grow on me." I admit quietly.

Miles stares at me. "Okay, let's get you out of here, right now." He reaches out to grab me when we hear a voice from behind us.

"Are you really going to take her so soon, Miles?" Monroe asks. Miles shifts in front of me. "Things were just getting interesting." He leers at me, causing me to flinch away.

"Monroe, don't play this game. Admit it; you have no other use of Avalon." Monroe and Miles stare at each other. Miles gently pushes me backwards. I stumble and nearly lose my balance when hands reach out from behind me and pull me into the trees.

Before I can comprehend what is happening, I am put on some type of cart with other people and Miles is screaming at someone to go. I finally get a good look at everyone and see that all of my friends have come to rescue me.

I grasp onto Nora's hand until we slow down in front of the safe house. The whole ride had been silent for some reason that I could not understand. "Have you guys gone in yet?" I ask quietly. This is not the reunion I imagined.

"No, this is our first time being here." Nora responds.

I wander towards the house as the rest of them unpack. I hear a crunch of fall leaves, and suddenly there is a knife at me throat. It's clearly a guy, from his grasp on me. The placement of his hands feel so familiar, I smile. "Sterling Evans."

I'm released and spun around to face a familiar boy with dark brown hair, lightened and streaked by the sun, and shocking blue eyes. "Avalon?" I nod, and Sterling crushes me into him. "I missed you so much."

I press my face into his chest and breathe in his grass-and-sunshine scent, which is absolutely amazing after years of being apart. He pulls away and stares down at me. "Wow." He whispers. Seeing my best friend since birth again, after everything that's happened, is too much. My lower lip juts out, and my face contorts. "Hey… Are you okay?" I burst into tears, and Sterling is automatically soothing me. "What's wrong? What's happened?"

He tilts my head up so that he can see my face better. "Oh, Sterling. Everything is so wrong." Sterling gives me a sympathetic smile. "Where are your parents?"

He shakes his head subtly. "They died about a year ago. Mom was killed by some militia guys. Dad was gone shortly after."

My heart goes out to him. "I know the feeling." I say.

"It's just been me, and occasionally Seren. Smart dog you have there." He remarks.

"Thanks. I trained her." I say. I stay attached to Sterling's side, but move so that everyone can see him. "I made some friends." I tell him.

"So I can see."

"That's Aaron, Nora, Miles, Danny, Charlie, and Nate." I look out at my new friends. "Everyone, this is Sterling."

"Come on in. There are a lot of rooms, feel free to take whichever you want." Sterling says, turning to lead our group up to the house. I remain glued to his side. Sterling slings his arm carelessly around my shoulder. "So, Ava, what's been going on? Anything major?"

I let out a small laugh. "Oh, Sterling, you have no idea."