I'm standing at the shoreline, at sunset. The waves have a calming effect. I'm melancholy and tired. Karl has been missing for almost 24 hours now. Suddenly I hear a shout. "We found him!" I whip around, just in time to see Karl limping back into camp with Sawyer helping him. His face is bruised and bloody, and when he smiles at me, I see a row of stitches in his cheek. "Karl!" I cry, flinging myself into his arms. "Are you ok? What happened to your face?!" He winces in pain, then smiles ruefully, and says. "Your father, that's what." "What did you say to him Karl?" "I told him something." he says cautiously. "What?" I ask. "I told him... that you were pregnant." I'm speechless. "Why?" "To see how he reacts to the news. Don't worry, I have a plan." "A plan to get yourself killed?" I ask gently. Then I reach up and kiss his forehead. I say. "Or a plan to save me?" He presses his forehead against mine, and says. "I love you, Alex." "I love you too, Karl." I whisper. He embraces me, and then pulls away, and grabs my hand. He rubs his fingers over my wedding ring. "Your father is trying to split us up, Alex." "Well, he has to get to us first." I smile at him. "When I first woke up in the Barracks, my ring was gone." I look down at his hand, where his ring sparkles. "And..." "Your father took it." "How low will he stoop to be rid of us?" "Not us, Alex. Me." "Why does he hate you so much?" "Because, Alex. We both know what would happen to you if you got pregnant. You would die, and I'd be blamed. There's no one else that you've been with. Unless there's something you're not telling me." he teases. I shake my head. "Nope." I kiss him again, and we walk down the sand to our tent. There's dried blood on the sand. I gasp, but Karl just shakes his head. "Don"t worry, that's from this." he says, pointing to the stitches in his cheek. "Tom cut me with a hunting knife, then threatened to do the same to you if I didn't cooperate." He fingers the cut on his face and winces. "I didn't want you to get hurt, do I went with him. I didn't want you to have a huge ugly cut on your face like me." "Well then, Mr. Ugly." I say, kissing him. "That makes you my knight in shining armor." He smiles, and all is right in our little camp again.
