A/N Nothing really to say here. SO ENJOY ANYWAYS

DISCLAIMER: If I owned Terra Nova, don't you think I would have better things to do than write fanfiction!?

It was too bright for her eyes, burning until she finally managed to shut them closed with force. But the burning still continued, all the way throughout her body almost making her want to writhe in pain if she had the energy to move. Everything was blurry and painful. Pain and pain and more pain. That was all that went through her mind as it pounded on her skull, threatening to break through any second.

Zoe hadn't been able to count the days since she last had water, but she knew that it was constantly getting hotter and drier with no signs of anyone looking for her.

BANG! BANG BANG!

Three shots of gunfire echoed through her head, pounding, bruising her brain. She cried out, another wave of fire blasting through her senses. Her vision clouded over again, making everything green and yellow and brown.

Someone was talking. They were saying something. Something urgent as if the entire colony's life depended on it. Zoe felt the urge to get up, carry out the order as if she could've understood it. She propped her arm up, but more burning made its way up through her arm. Another scream erupted from her mouth.

A bright light erupted from the entrance. Through her haze, she barely recognized a figure. A figure with a gun pointed at her. It took her a second to realize what was going on before pushing through the pain and scooting back farther into her hut, only halfway comprehending that if she moved any farther she would burst the walls and fall out of the tree.

"No no no no no no no…." She said the word over many times uncontrollably. "No. No l-leave."

The figure said something. An order. It said a different something, more caring, sweeter, more like home. No! A trick. That's what it was. This couldn't be real. This was a mind thing placed by Phoenix. "No! N-no! Y-you're not real!" She squirmed as the creature reached out for her, gripping both arms and sending throbbing pangs up her spine. "Y-you're a trick! N-not real!" Zoe squinted her eyes, trying to make out more of the figure.

"Shh shh shhh, it's okay." Wait. Zoe recognized that voice. It was someone she knew, someone she lived with maybe? "Zoe. Zoe look at me." It reached up to her face, making her look it in the eyes. Definitely a male, but she couldn't remember who.

A sharp pain hit her right shoulder. Snapping around, she looked to see the figure holding something there. A syringe. No, a needle. She had been injected with something. "W-what? Nooo…" Her last word droned out, as the figure held her straight when all vision sense went black.

**()**()**()**

Zoe gasped in breath, her head light and airy. But there was no pain. Or mostly no pain.

Hearing came to her before her sight, for it felt like her eyes were glued together. There was the sound of papers rustling, a small child whimpering, the beep of a heart monitor. She was in a hospital! She slowly opened her eyes. Everything was fuzzy, so she reached up to rub whatever was making her eyes so stiff.

But something stopped her.

She looked down at her hand and blinked a few times until her vision cleared enough. Was she chained to the cot!? Pulling on her wrist, she realized it was only handcuffs. Why would they need to handcuff her? She was a loyal soldier, she would never hurt any of her brethren! Unless…. Unless she was in a Phoenix hospital! Zoe checked her other hand. Yep, also handcuffed. Feet? They were chained together, but not the bed itself. She was definitely in a Phoenix hospital.

Time for some action.

She her feet up so she was sitting with her hands chained below her. Shifting to one side, she pushed on foot so it got caught between the bed and the chain. She was barefoot, so she slowly moved her heel up and down the chain until she found a moderately weak link. Propelling her heal outward with as much strength as she could muster, she hit the link. It didn't give way, but she didn't expect that. It took four more tries before she could finally feel it snap under the pressure. Pulling her arm up, it showed that the chain had broken and now all she had was the silver cuff around her wrist. Zoe then turned over and easily pulled off the other cuff, for she could use her hand now. She then bent forward and worked on her feet. Zoe couldn't run anywhere with her feet being chained together. It would basically turn her into a penguin.

When her ankles were free, she sat up more, hanging her feet over the edge preparing to run as far and as long as she would need to. Then, she saw Elizabeth walking towards her, a puzzled look on her face. Zoe realized that she was in the Terra Nova medical bay, not a Phoenix one. "H-how did you break those cuffs?" her mother stammered.

Zoe shrugged, now at ease knowing she was home. "You're only as strong as your weakest link." Her mother was disheveled. With her hair only just slightly frizzy to show that she was frustrated with something and eyes gloomed as if she hadn't slept in the past few days. "What's wrong?" Zoe asked, almost disgusted with the innocence in her voice.

"I've been worrying about you." Her mother sat down on the bed next to her and Zoe felt compelled to lean on her shoulder. "You've been gone for more than a week Zo, and I thought sooner or later Taylor would announce you dead."

Zoe scoffed lightly. "Thee have no faith? I was fine, really," Zoe tried persuading her.

"You were severely dehydrated, malnourished, had two broken ribs and four burns on your left leg."

Zoe's brow furrowed. She didn't remember the broken ribs, she must've got those when she fell out of the tree for the first time and she just didn't notice. The burns? Those she remembered. Zoe had made her first flare and accidentally set it off, making it burn a hole through her camouflage pants and burning her leg. "See! Not too bad for someone who was in dying vegetation with no sense of direction or survival!"

"Still…" Her mother trailed off.

Zoe leaned over and gave her mother a sideways hug. "I'm fine. I'll always be fine. I promise."

"Don't you ever break that promise." Her mother scolded before laughing. They got a few strange looks from other patients and nurses, but neither cared. "Now go home, get some rest, clean up." Elizabeth ordered.

"I'm going back to Taylor in a minute anyways, why should I clean up when I'm just going right back out in the dirt?" Zoe looked down at herself. Her pant legs were torn and bloody, and her white t-shirt was no longer white, but now tattered and covered in blood as well. Her jacket was tied around her waist, but she also had a feeling it was destroyed. "I could always ask for a new uniform."

"Yeah well, you're not wearing a uniform for the next week." She said. Zoe stood baffled. Not wearing a uniform? What was she on canteen duty for something? "You are staying home, taking the week off." Her mother explained.

"What!? No, no I can't!" Zoe protested. She had to get back to work, had to start helping again. What was the point of being a solider if she didn't help people? "I've already been gone for so long! I-I want to help again!"

"You can help yourself by getting cleaned up and relaxing." Slowly, Elizabeth began leading her out the door, dropping Zoe off at the porch of the hospital. "Don't worry, Miles got the week off too, so you won't be bored." She winked and closed the door on Zoe's face.

What?

Zoe's mouth dropped open. W-was her mother trying to set her up with her flat mate? Miles was always just going to be Miles. He was always there, always making her laugh always making her comfortable, but that's what friends do right? Only… friends….

She shook her head out. Maybe it wasn't a wink, maybe the way her mother smiled it caused a contraction between her eye muscles and made her wink. Walking down the street, she suddenly felt self-conscious of all the looks she was getting. Stares and sneers and gasps of fear. Until a group of kids came up behind her.

"E-excuse me! Ms. Shannon!" One child asked, a small girl with brown hair.

"Yes?" Zoe replied, crossing her arms consciously over her stomach to cover a few bloodstains and tears.

"Is it true you spent an entire week out in the jungle!?"

"With slashers!?"

"Is your shirt bloodstained from fighting big scary monsters?"

She was bombarded with questions from the small people. "Can you autograph my plex? On the newsletter about you?" A small girl asked, handing out a small plex that parents gave to children so they would have knowledge for using the bigger ones. Cautiously, Zoe picked up the stylus from the girl's hand and wrote her name in the fanciest writing she could. "Thank you Ms. Shannon!" They all called as they ran off, giddy as if it was the first day off school, madly bouncing around, flapping their arms and talking about the mysterious Ms. Shannon.

Zoe held herself in a tight hug. Was she famous now? For practically banishing herself from the colony? She tried to shrug it off, but she knew there was only one person who read enough to tell her what was going on.

And that person was Maddy Shannon.

A/N Still a bit of a lame chapter, but it was longer! FTW for ME! R&R please, as always I still accept flames and/or bashing!