Okay, so you're probably wondering how everything went, truthfully, in no other words completely insane and utterly confusing. I mean, everything went to shit so fast. Good news; I'm going to explain. Bad news; I'm lost, practically alone and truthfully, terrified.

"Phones." Macbeth snapped, holding out a bucket and giving it a shake for empathises. Loud, reluctant groans escaped the students as they pulled out their precious phones and placed them in the bucket. But, I'm not like other students, and I'm not surrendering my phone without a fight. It has sensitive information and sentimental value installed inside. Pssh, just bullshitting, it's my last line of communication; hopefully I'll be able to find a way to tune into our com. frequency if we get separated.

"Whoa!" I yelled as I tripped over some tree roots. Arms wind-milling for a moment, the hard ground rushing up to meet me as I sprawled out across the floor, gripping my foot and rolling around as I groaned in pain, completely milking my injury. But the transition wasn't as innocent as you were lead to believe. While falling I sneaked my hand in my pocket, concealing my phone and hiding it in the palm of my hand. When I gripped my boot, I slid my phone into it; cleverly hiding it there where no-one would bother to look. Hopefully.

"Zero!" Vin exclaimed, drawing attention to us both as he quickly knelt down to examine my injured foot. "Are you okay?" I shot him a glare as it seemed to be the reasonable thing to do in my position. Vin winced slightly, looking as if he wanted to back away to a reasonable distance that would keep him safe from my whack up-side the head. "Sorry, standard question. Where does it hurt?"

I gave a snort. "It doesn't hurt!" I snapped as it was usual for me to deny all knowledge of pain. I pushed myself off the ground, annoyingly with a little help from Vin, keeping all of my weight off my right foot. I wasn't pretending on the pain, I caught my foot on a tree root and twisted it when I pretended to fall. But, I've had many a twisted ankle, so I knew the pain was temporary.

"Phone!" Macbeth was looming over me rattling the bucket in my face.

"Phone?" I echoed, a look of innocence plastered on my face. "Don't have one." I said with a simple shrug, watching Macbeth as the words sunk in.

"Dirty, stinking liar doesn't have a phone, does she? We'll see about that." Macbeth muttered. I raised an eyebrow, the words easily comprehensible for me. "Turn out your pockets!" Macbeth yelled, leaning her face inches from my own.

I took a step back, uncomfortable with her presence and feigned meekness as I pushed my hands in my pockets and turned them inside out. They were basically empty, all but a few innocent-looking paper clips, a normal plain ball-point pen with a cheap store logo branded on it, three elastic bands and a small pocket-torch. The items lay on my outstretched palm while Macbeth glared at me. "I told you, no phone." I closed my hand and returned the said items to my pocket.

Macbeth glowered at me before screaming full-force at Vin. "PHONE. BUCKET. NOW." I winced guiltily, knowing that the rage Macbeth was venting on him was caused by me. Vin's expression was a perfect example of contempt as he pulled out his phone and threw it into the bucket, Trixie and Newton following suit.

Only Newton didn't follow suit. Because Newton wasn't there. Newton was dead. And nothing I could do would ever change that. It was strange really, I had repeatedly seen Newton. Joining us at breakfast, sitting next to Trixie in class, laughing along with Trixie as me and Vin messed around, play-fighting and acting is nothing was wrong, while our brains mentally screamed at us. It was like we had forgotten about him, or at least were trying to. We were trying to save pain, but what was more painful? Pretending he never existed, or remembering?

Why is life so freaking difficult?

"Cut the crap, Zero, where'd you put your phone?" Vin asked out of the corner of his mouth once he was sure Macbeth was out of earshot. I was alarmed at how easily I had tuned out, quietly scolding myself. I couldn't allow even a single lapse in my attention. But then again… What was the point? There's nothing to gain. We're in Macbeth's territory. Now Soper's gone none of us are safe any more.

I gave a small shrug and pretending to use Vin's shoulder to prop myself up on my injured foot before I leant forward and whispered in his ear, so no-one could eavesdrop and consequently rat me out to Macbeth. "Like I'd give my phone to Macbeth. I hid it in my boot when I fell."

Vin chuckled. "Classic Zero Gag. The-Fall-Boot-Boot-Phone tactic."

I tested my foot on the ground, wincing as a small jolt of pain ran up my leg, before stamping down hard, causing my ankle to practically scream in protest. Searing pain shooting up my leg like fire. I bit my lip, smothering my pain-filled cry. I tested it again and the pain had eased, it had relatively disappeared. That was my fool-proof tactic. Logically, you'd think it hurt more, but normally you'd have to walk off a twisted ankle. By using that tactic it hurt so much at once that the small pain beforehand feels like a tickle compared to it. "Wait a minute. That makes no sense."

"Yeah, but it sounds awesome." I just rolled my eyes in response, so tempted to say; no, it makes you sound like an idiot, but I didn't have the heart.

Crack. My head jerked in the direction of the noise, causing Vin to break off his sentence to glance at the seemingly uninteresting trees too. I peered into the gloomy forest, determined to find the source this time. I had previously concluded that we were being stalked, but the big question was; by what? "Uh, Zero, are you okay? You seem… tense." I turned back to be faced with Vin's concerned expression and Trixie's gaze boring into the back of my head, demanding an answer.

"Huh? Oh, yeah." I replied; giving a second behind me to double check nothing was there. "Fine." Out of the corner of my eye I could see Vin and Trixie exchange knowing looks. They didn't believe it for a second. Gosh, why do they always know?

Rustle. I spun around to be faced with a pair of glowing eyes. I gasped loudly, my gaze never leaving the golden orbs as they drew closer. "Guys." I squeaked, which was totally unlike me. Vin was instantly by my side, checking to see if I was okay, before glancing around to see what I was staring at. Let's just say he found it. Trixie quickly joined after she realised there was a hold up. I pointed ahead at the eyes as they blinked, growing larger by the second. A loud, feline growl echoed, shattering the peace and causing every student to stop in their tracks.

They glanced around, an anxious titter of voices rising by the second. Burt snatched a nearby branch, obviously in an attempt to protect himself and Van who was clutching onto his arm, looking thoroughly terrified. A roar came from straight ahead of us, forcing me to snap into action. "Run!" I exclaimed, reaching out and grabbing Vin's wrist and Trixie's arm, dragging them behind me as I tore away from the trees.

"RUN!" I have no idea who sounded the alarm, much louder than mine, but the students obviously sprang into action after I promptly hared away from the tree-line, pulling my friends behind me. Students were screaming and racing around, pushing and shoving each other in a mad attempt to escape. Students ran into me, I felt pain jolt through my arm as something hit it. Then, I lost my grip on Trixie, my voice drowned out as I yelled for her, Vin doing the same but making no difference. I could see her red headband, but she was heading in the wrong direction, being pulled along by the crowd.

"Trixie! Trix!" My hand slipped down his arm, I tightened my grip, my hand holding Vin's in a vice-like grip. I didn't even have time to feel embarrassed, that's how chaotic it was. "Trixie?" I screamed, scanning the running students, trying to glimpse her distinctive red head-band among the throng. She'd disappeared, they'd pulled her out of sight. "Trixie!" I had to find her, we had to stick together otherwise we couldn't be able to contact each other!

Well, technically, we could. I just had to stay with Vin, since he still had his watch and Trixie her pen. A body shoved against me, I wind-milled and just about regained my balance when someone pushed me out of the way. I was knocked sideways, my hand slipping from Vin's. So much for staying with him. I could see him shout, and his hand shoot out to grab my own but he was shoved away, merging with the crowd. I gave a yell as I crashed down, sprawling across the ground and painfully smacking my hip, hard enough to bruise.

I curled into a ball as feet stampeded towards me, knowing I'd never be able to get up with everyone shoving above. I braced for impact but instead found myself being pulled to my feet. "Come on!" I couldn't see who had hold of me, but someone had lifted me off the ground and was bundling me away from the centre of the screaming students.

"Vin!" I shouted, thrashing in their arms. I couldn't lose him. I couldn't! "VIN! VIN WHERE ARE YOU?" I couldn't see him, the crowd was thinning, people had disappeared down the various tracks. "VIN! ANSWER ME, VIN! PLEASE; ANSWER ME!" Ahead of me I could see a small group of people crowded near a slope, doubled over as they tried to regain their breath.

"You nearly got trampled!" I was released and quickly spun around. Aaron was there. He was glancing around; making sure the creature hadn't followed us.

"Oh no." I whispered as I surveyed our group. Neither Vin or Trixie were present, I'd been completely separated from them. In fact, our group consisted of Little Fred, Peggy, Aaron, Me, Kate, Kathy and Li. "Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no!" Out of the corner of my eye I could see a shadowy figure slowly approaching, keeping low as it stalked towards us. "Oh crap. Ohmyfreakinggodareyouactuallyserious? Imeanwhythefuckareyousocruel?" The figure gave a menacing growl. I instantly began tearing off in the opposite direction.

Aaron gave a yell ordering the others to sprint as fast as they could. Obviously it wasn't worded like that. Nor was it as polite as that, because, in reality, when is anyone ever polite when they are completely terrified? Aaron's shout was actually worded like this, 'OH SHIIIIT! EVERYBODY FUCKING RUN FOR YOUR GOD-DAMN FUCKING LIVES!'

I glanced over my shoulder. "Go up the slope, I'll lead it away!" I yelled, shooting Aaron a glare when he muttered something under his breath which sounded somewhat like 'go screw yourself' which left me immensely confused. He's the one who… res-save-helped me when I was about to get trampled. Now he's going to fight with me? Boys are weird. I concluded. "I don't care about past mishaps, right now we need to forget about all that. If you want to get all of us outta here alive, you need to trust me. So go!" I commanded, shoving my slingshot into his hands, he gave me a long glance before nodding his head. He led the charge up the slope.

To my alarm the creature looked set to follow them. I searched in my pocket, pulled out an elastic band and scooping a stick off the ground. Conveniently, it was in the perfect forked shape. I tore the elastic so it was no longer circular but now a straight line. I quickly attached the band to the stick, creating a make-shift slingshot and using stones for ammo.

I pulled the band back twice, propelling two stones at the creature. One hit just below the eye, the other on its ear. It growled in anger, turning to me before breaking into a run. I dashed through the forest, expertly dodging the trees. I didn't take the tree roots spread across the floor into account and tripped, slashing my arm on a sharp thorn bush as I tumbled, sliding down into a ditch, coating myself in mud and tepid, possibly stagnant water. "Ah, you little bugger." I growled, inspecting my arm after I'd pushed myself off the ground, and scrambled up the side f the ditch, I began running flat-out, only just realising I'd abandoned my slingshot when I slipped into the ditch.

I saw a bolder lining a cliff. It was steep but looked climbable. I raced over and quickly scaled the boulder, pulling myself onto the very top of it as the creature shrieked in anger, bolting out of the undergrowth and racing towards me.

Oh crap.

I had my eyes practically glued to the floor while I walked. I refused to look at anyone after I'd explained that it was just a prank call. Only Little Fred and Peggy believed me, and the others didn't want to upset them so they kept their traps shut. But now Little Fred was complaining about a bad stomach-ache and that his feet were sore from walking. I gave a sigh and slowed my pace, dropping to the back of the group. I continued at a steady pace, falling in time with Aaron who was beside me. "Look; I'm sorry. The phone call was unexpected; it shouldn't have been able to happen so it freaked me out." I was going for the, I'm not really bothered attitude, but it just tumbled out, and to my horror, made me sound weak.

I sighed and continued walking in silence. Fine, if he didn't want to acknowledge me, it's his problem! "Understandable." I gave a small smirk and continued meandering at our slow pace, Little Fred's voice ringing out in another complaint to anyone who would listen. Right now, that was no-one, they were too busy wrapped up in their own thoughts. At this rate we'll never make it back to Pinkerton! "Hey, those clouds are coming in fast." Aaron commented. "I swear they were just on the horizon a minute ago, now they're almost directly overhead!"

"Pssh, yeah right. Clouds don't move in a minute." I replied, staring up into the sky. It was blue above us but I quickly found out he was correct as the horrible dark grey clouds blotted out the sun. "Not again." I mumbled, cursing inside my head as the rain began to fall. In a matter of seconds I was drenched, the rain lashing out mercilessly. I shouted and peered around try to locate our group. "Get closer together!" I commanded, directing them by placing two fingers in my mouth and giving long, loud whistles so they could find my position.

I continued to slowly edge into the centre of the clearing until my back hit someone else's. I turned and so did they. It was Li. Next to me was Aaron, while Peggy clung onto Li's arm and Kathy began yelling. It was incoherent for the first minute, then I realised Kate and Little Fred were missing. I stumbled forward, bracing myself against the violent wind. The ground was already saturated, puddles dotted around, some looking about the size small lakes. Little Fred was lying on the ground, in a slowly deepening puddle with Kate crouching down and repeatedly shaking him, looking extremely frightened when he didn't respond. I quickly jogged over to them, stepping into several puddles and having mud spray up my leg. I reached them. "Is he okay?"

"I- I- I… He j-just fell. I d-don't know w-what happened."

I could hear him groaning, and he was clutching his stomach. He was complaining about a stomach ache, but it can't be this bad. Right? His shirt moved slightly when he rolled and I saw a red welt beside his belly-button. Oh crap. "What's wrong?" Aaron had finally located us after blindly stumbling through the forest for several moments. He kneeled down next to me and stared at Little Fred, his concern increasing with every passing second. I reached forward and slid his tee-shirt up slightly revealing more painful red welts near his belly button, most likely over his back, and arms too. "What the fu-" I elbowed him hard. His swearing is unneeded in this situation. "What is that?"

"Hives." I answered, sliding a hand under his neck and back, quickly scooping him into my arms and balancing him on my knee. Aaron looked even more puzzled than before. "It's caused by an allergic reaction." I explained.

"But he hasn't eaten anything since breakfast…"

I spotted something. Or more like heard something. "WASP!" I yelled. I could hear it, buzzing angrily as it was trapped beneath Little Fred's top. I could see the bulge but was worried that if I squished it than it's stinger might get stuck in Little Fred's skin, but if I released it what's to say it wouldn't sting me? I don't know if I'm allergic and by the looks on everyone's faces, I'm the only one who knows how to deal with this.

I put my thumb and index finger on either side of the bulge and pressed the together, pulling the fabric out, away from his body before crushing the insect between my fingers. I made sure it was properly dead before pulling it out and dropping it onto the floor. I could see several inflamed bumps where it had repeatedly stung him. This isn't good. "He needs his Epi-pen, and fast."

"Where's the first aid kit?" Aaron shouted, glancing over at the rest of the group who shrugged.

"I think Hector has it." Kate supplied.

"Helpful." I muttered under my breath. "Alright, we need to get to the nearest house, or hospital, whichever is closest. If we don't get out of this rain we're going to get hypothermia, and Little Fred's condition is only going to get worse the longer he's like this." They stood there, completely dumbfounded. "Let's move people!" I yelled, clapping my hands together for empathises.

I watched our group, our group, as they nodded, listening to every word before springing into action, Kate took Aaron's backpack while he pulled Peggy onto his back, piggy-backing the small girl as she looked so exhausted. Li took my own while I carried Little Fred, my worry increasing all the more. Great, now everyone's relying on me to lead. I don't know how to lead! Why does this have to happen to me?

I just… I just really don't want to screw up.

It's not just my life on the line now, it's everyone's.

I hope I'm ready.