Allen poked his head out of the water, looking around for any danger. He crawled out onto the river bank, followed by Lavi and the others. When everyone came out they got in formation and began to hike out of the woods.
The previous night they discussed how they would get out of the woods. They decided they would go to the Campbell mansion. Allen said that there was something he needed from there but he didn't dare to say what it was. To be honest, there were too things he needed but one of them was in a nearby town. Allen sent Cross to get that item because Allen knew if he sent anyone else, they would try to stop him.
Cross led the formation. He was not only the most capable but he was also dead to the public so if anyone noticed him they would just think he was a traveler who looked like Cross. Bookman was next to Cross and helped with directions. On the sides were Lavi and Kanda, with Allen and Road between them. They wanted to hide Allen as much as possible and Road was personally protecting him. In the back was Johnny who was in charge of camouflage.
Cross held his hand up to halt the group. "We are near the end of the forest. Bookman will lead you to the Campbell mansion," he said.
"Where are you going?" Kanda asked. Cross didn't respond and just walked off. Kanda was about to grab his shoulder to force Cross to answer but Allen held him back. The look in Allen's eyes indicated it was time to stop joking around and be serious. Kanda was so taken aback by the seriousness in his eyes that he didn't even scoff.
They set out of the woods and headed toward the town. There they would take the nearest train. Once on the train they got a single room, managing to fit all six of them in there; it was too expensive to get more than one room. To help out with the cramped space Road turned to her doll form and snuggled up on Allen's shoulder, quickly dozing off. Soon Lavi and Johnny dozed off.
Kanda got up, "I'm gonna stretch my legs out." This time Bookman stopped him. Before Kanda could say something Bookman said, "Now that they can't use the arc, the order will be on trains. It is more than likely that there are finders somewhere on this train."
Kanda angrily flopped down, waking up Lavi and Johnny. "What the heck Yuu?" Lavi complained.
Allen sighed, "Since you're already awake we might as well discuss our plan." He purposely shrugged his shoulders, waking up Road too. We're discussing our battle plan, he whispered. She nodded sleepily, leaning over onto his neck.
Lavi pulled out a map from his bag. He spread it out on the ground and slapped his hand over a single spot.
"This is where we are going," he said, "The town is small and there are lots of openings. If you look at the mansion there is nothing around but the town. Plus, the town is a few miles away."
"We have to go into the mansion and make a good base on every level. More than likely the order will surround us but we don't have many options. Remember how there were different enemies in each room when we fought in the ark?" Allen asked. Everyone nodded, except for Johnny who was hoping he would get a hint.
"Well there was an enemy stationed in each room and as you got through the rooms, the enemy was harder and harder. But since the order has more people than us, we have to act differently. First," he said, flipping over the map and drawing a sketch, "We need to knock out any stairwells so they have to go through us first."
As he finished up the drawing, it formed into a rough sketch of the house, indicating rooms, floors, and stairways. "Now, we have to set up traps on the way up so if anyone slips by us they can't get up."
"What if they make us fight up to the final floor? What then?" Bookman asked. Allen smiled. It wasn't a happy or a fake smile; it was an evil poker smile. "Then we play a little game," he said.
The train clacked slowly beneath him. He looked out the window and watched as the dark figures of trees passed by in the night.
"What's wrong Timothy?" Lenalee asked. She was sitting in the seat across from him.
"Nothing's wrong. We men never get sad!" He proclaimed, puffing out his chest, trying to seem a little taller.
Lenalee giggled, her smile slowly fading. "I know, I miss Allen and the others just as much as you do."
She got up and sat next to him. "Lenalee, do you think-," Timothy stopped talking; Lenalee fell asleep and was leaning against the wall. He got up and gently laid her down. He took off his jacket and put it under her head as a pillow.
He opened the door and crept out. He slowly walked down the rooms. When he noticed the number of one of the rooms, his eyes lit up. Who's in here? He thought, slowly opening the door. When the door was open, he was frozen in place. He stared into the room and a huge smile appeared on his face.
Author's note:
Muahaha cliff hanger! Anyway head on to the next chapter, the story's not over yet… so I guess it's not really a cliff hanger…