Matti and his brother Jed had a cabin up on a hill away from the city. By the time they reached it, Pan had no tears left to cry. Robert held her in the back of the truck, not sure what else to do other than tell her occasionally that it was going to be alright. Pan wished she could believe him but it was hard to miss how hollow his voice sounded. He didn't believe it either.

The cabin wasn't very large. But it was enough to hold the people Matti and Jed had managed to pick up. Pan didn't bother to learn their names. At the moment she honestly didn't care. It took her a while to notice that Erica wasn't there and when she looked at Robert for guidance, he simply shook his head.

Had they killed her? Or had they taken her? But why would they take her? What would they want her for?

Pan sat in the sitting area of the cabin, watching as Robert and Daryl tried to re-wire the telly to work again. She felt numb, a feeling she had never experienced before. It was strange. A large part of her couldn't believe that it was over, her brother was gone. She was his older sister, she was supposed to look after him. She was supposed to look after him.

And she'd failed.

"Why is there so many red wires?" Daryl muttered. He stepped back and rubbed the bridge of his nose tiredly. "There shouldn't be so many red wires."

"They connect to the yellow ones to produce picture and the blue ones to hook the speakers," Robert said quietly. Pan could only see the top of his head as he worked. The screen still showed static, but occasionally a picture would come through, only to flicker back into nothing.

Pan buried her face into her knees. "Trust you to know," she mumbled.

Robert ignored her and handed Daryl a satellite. "Hold this by the window," he said. "I'll tell you when the picture comes through."

Daryl did as he was told and held the satellite out the window, moving it around and adjusting it. A variety of things happened to the screen. At first it stayed just as static but eventually a clear picture came through. "Stop," Robert said. "Hold it there."

Everyone crowded around the television. A newsreporter came on screen, telling everyone to stay indoors. Pan couldn't believe what they were saying. Stay indoors? If those soliders wanted to, they could break down their doors with their bare hands. What good was staying indoors?

Jed stepped forward and pushed Darly so he lost his balance and they lost the connection. "It's all bullshit," he muttered before leaving.

The room was silent for a moment after he left. Jed was the only person in the whole cabin who had fought in a war, he would know what he was talking about. But why would the media lie? Were they on the Koreans' side? Were they being forced? Threatened, maybe?

"Are people actually believing this?" Pan asked. She hadn't realized how unused her voice was until she started speaking again. "They couldn't be, right?"

"You'd be surprised what people believe in distressing situations," said Matti.

"So what do we do? Do we just sit and wait for them to find us?" asked Daryl.

"Surely they wouldn't look here, it's the middle of nowhere," one of the people who followed them in a car said.

"They'll probably be looking anywhere," Robert replied. "No stone unturned."

"No stone unturned," repeated Pan, almost trancelike.

Daryl put down the satellite and sat down on the floor. "If that's true," he whispered quietly, "then it won't be long before they find us."

No, it probably wasn't.

~xXx~

Someone was coming.

Everyone heard it. Even in the dark, when they were supposed to be sleeping, they heard the engine reeving and the wheels grinding the dirt into the ground. Matti and Jed went outside, both armed with guns, ordering the others to stay indoors. Pan and Robert got onto their knees and peered outside, to where the brothers were talking aobut something.

Matti returned a second later. "Everyone, get down and switch off the lights," he ordered.

Pan ignored him and kept looking out, even when the dark clouded her eyes. She wasn't going to take orders from someone she barely knew. When Robert obeidently obeyed, she threw him a confused scowl. Robert grabbed her arm and dragged her to the floor, hissing, "Don't be difficult."

Pan wasn't sure how long they sat in the dark and waited. It felt like hours but it was in reality only two minutes before Pete, some guy who also came in the car, took matters into his own hands. "Fuck this," he muttered.

"Pete," Matti hissed but the blond ignored him, standing up and pulling a gun out of his back pocket. "Pete!"

"Shit," Pan whispered. She got up and followed them as they exited the cabin. Pete lifted his gun and fired at the headlights approaching them, the shot shattering the silence of the night. Pan covered her ears but it was too late, the fired bullet already having tore her ear drums.

"Hold your fire!" Jed came out of the dark and jogged toward them. He imemdiately went for Matti, because he was the one who had the only other gun. "You almost blew my head off!" he yelled.

"It wasn't me!" Matti exclaimed.

Jed noticed the gun in Pete's hand. "I thought they got past you," said Pete.

"Give me the gun," Jed said fimly.

"I'm not giving you dick," he fired back acidly.

Pan self consciously edged closer to Robert, fisting his coat sleeve in her hand. She had never seen so many guns at once and the fact that all you had to do was squeeze the trigger to kill someone unnerved her. Jed overpowered Pete, grabbing the gun and pushing him over.

Pete didn't try to grab it back, which was a good thing as all it would have achieved was creating more conflict. And more conflict was not what they needed right now.

The approaching car hadn't been a threat. It just had just contained a few people Jed and Matti seemed to know. Pan recognized one of them as Toni, Erica's older sister. She hadn't been aware that the soliders had taken Erica and Matti had the horrific job of telling her.

When their was an issue with the sleeping arrangements, and there was an odd number of blankets, Pan and Robert volunteered to share. They had been doing it ever since they were kids after all, and didn't mind doing it now. The only difference between then and now was that they were being invaded.

As everyone else fell asleep, Pan found herself lying awake, staring at the ceiling. She was incredibly aware of Robert's presence beside her, so close and yet so far, which was strange because it had never really posed a problem before. Maybe she was still coming down from the adrenalin from all the rushing around, and she was hyperaware of all her surroundings.

How had she not noticed that something like this was coming? Maybe they could have been more prepared. She had heard of the trouble with North Korea on the news occasionally, but she had always believed it would be something that would blow over. Nothing to worry about, just some country-to-country drama. Never had she expected an invasion to come.

When she wished for a more exicting life, this wasn't what she meant.

Just as the sun was peeking out over the horizon, Jed entered the room and kicked Matti's foot. "Wake up," he said. "Pete and his friend have taken off. And they've taken all our food."

Shit.

A/N: R&R with your thoughts?