Hey guys! WOW 6 REVIEWS! Due to some confusion, I am here to clear some things up. Firstly, this is set some time after "In the Afterlight." (I'm thinking like a year and a half later.) Second, for the purposes of this fic, Ruby's eyes are brown. I also realized I never gave a copyright statement, so here it is: I DON'T OWN THE DARKEST MINDS OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS. (sadly) Lastly, please review! I get really encouraged by them, and they give me new idea for chappies! Thanks!

Summary: Ruby, Zu and Vida get lost camping. Together, they come face to face with bears, hypothermia, and idiocy.

"I think we're lost." Ruby stated.

"Great observation, Sherlock." Vida replied with obvious annoyance.

Around a week ago, Liam, Ruby, Chubs, Zu and Vida had all decided it was high time they packed their things and went camping for a weekend. It was planned; they were to go to the Acadia National Park, Maine. They planned where they were to set up their tent. They planned their route, estimated time they would get there, gas they would need, and how to keep entertained.

They hadn't expected the extra day to would take them to actually get there.

They hadn't expected the flat tire along the way.

They hadn't expected a half-broken tent when they opened it.

And they definitely hadn't expected, that when being sent for firewood, Ruby, Vida and Zu would get utterly, hopelessly, lost, in the biggest forest in the United States. Without a cell phone, (they left it at their camp) walkie-talkie (seriously, who used them anymore?) or any other way of alerting anyone of where they were.

The Sun was at its highest point in the day, a guiding light for the three girls, one leading, one flitting like a bird, and one, ungracefully stomping through the Acadia wilderness.

"Where the hell are we?" Vida moans. "I haven't eaten in freakin' days!"

"Maybe Liam and Chubs might find us." Zu added, trying to defuse Vida's growing irritation. Vida could always bend to Zu's will, so with a huff, she nodded and continued to huff in silence.

After about 20 more minutes of walking without any directional orientation, Ruby took out a small pocketknife and dragged into a large "X" across a tree.

"What are you doin'?" Zu asked curiously.

"Leaving a trail." Vida answered for Ruby. "So when Grandma and Southern Sunshine go prancing around the woods for us, they don't end up lost like us."

"Yup," Ruby added, "hopefully they realize we're gone."

Two more hours of wandering the forest and multiple "X's" carved into trees, the girls decided to regroup and try to make note of their surroundings. They stopped at a small lake and sat on some rocks nearby the riverside, their backs to the treeline.

"Zu, are you sure those are safe to eat?" Ruby asked worriedly as Zu popped some berries into her mouth.

"Mmhm- while I was traveling to California we ate a lot of plants and stuff." Zu replied through a half-full mouth.

"Good enough for me." Vida replied, plucking several berries off some bushes. Handing some off to Ruby, the three ate in silence.

"Maybe we should-"

Ruby's words were cut off by a loud roar coming from the forest behind them.

"What the hell-"

A massive grizzly bear tore through the trees and into the clearing, stopping around 15 feet away from where the trio stood. Hoping that it had not yet sensed them, they started backing away to the other side of the tree line.

Halfway there, the bear looked up with wild eyes, and charged at the girls. Abandoning the idea of simply walking away, all three turned their backs and ran into the thick forest.

Dodging trees and trying to avoid tripping, Vida managed to call out to Ruby over the thundering footsteps and the sound of blood rushing in her ears.

"Ruby! Some mind voodoo would really come in handy right now!"

Oh. Ruby thought. But instead of sliding into the mind of the bear, her thoughts hesitated. I've never gone inside the mind of animal before. Her mind reminded her. And besides, she didn't feel quite comfortable intruding in someone else's mind, even a bears-

All of a sudden, out of the corner of her eye, Ruby saw Zu trip over a hidden tree root and fall to the soil beneath them. The animal stopped beside her, and raised an elongated claw, ready to strike the young girl.

Without hesitation, Ruby dove into the bear's mind.

It was much different than the mind of a persons- memories were sensations and a swirl of color and sound-

Ignoring the strange (and slightly nauseating) things surrounding her, Ruby tried to push the image of the bear turning and leaving them be.

At first, it didn't work. She had to try to imagine the sounds, colors, and feeling the animal felt instead of simple movements of a person. It was harder than she anticipated, a thin iron wire wrapping around her mind.

Finally, she could hear the bear move, its focus shifting as Ruby began to retract her curling, invisible fingers from the large mammals' mind.

Leaving her with an all-too-familiar headache.

As the bear shifted its haunches and began to walk off, Ruby staggered to the nearest tree and slumped over as Vida and Zu ran over to where she half sat half lay.

"Ruby…?" Zu asked, reaching a careful hand to Ruby's arm.

"Mmm fine." Ruby said, beginning to stand shakily.

"Ruby…maybe you should sit down." Vida had never been one for sympathy and feelings, but something in Ruby's slightly pinched face reminded her of when she and Liam dragged her out of Thurmond.

"No…we need to get going…. it's going to be dark soon." Ruby countered as she rose to her feet.

Exchanging a glance, Zu and Vida moved to accompany Ruby as they made there way through the forest once again.

Night fell fast in Acadia, Maine. Although it was only nearly 4 o'clock, the December Sun had already dipped beneath the horizon, a frost and ice quickly taking its place.

"Maybe we should start a f-fire?" Vida stuttered slightly. Ruby shook her head, as fern-like ice had already curled its grips around all the ground and wood, the equivalent of a wet log.

"We might need to spend the night." Ruby added with a frown. The temperature had already dropped below freezing, and a night exposed out here would lead to imminent hypothermia. Dragging another "X" through frosted bark, tiny snow flurries fell like silent spies.

"Why the hell did we pick to go camping in December?" Vida snapped her red-hot annoyance burning through the icy cold.

"Because," Zu started, "people are still afraid of us."

It was true- even after a year and a half, people (adults, that is) were still wary of Psi kids, even those who decided to have their powers taken away. They would walk on the other side of the street, get overly nervous around kids, and even sometimes refuse to send newborns to nurseries where teenagers worked. Overall, the group had been hoping to avoid wary eyes and hushed whispers.

Only to be in danger of catching hypothermia instead.

As the group carried on, and the snow began to coat the land, their pace slowed and slowed and slowed until they came to a complete stop in the snow.

"It's t-too freakin' c-cold." Vida hissed. All of them were shivering; their limbs moving sluggishly even through scarves and hats.

"We need t-to keep moving." Ruby said through chattering teeth. She knew that if they stopped now, they probably wouldn't get up again. Snow had laced through their hair, giving them a crown of ice.

But they hadn't made it far before they had to stop.

Zu, the youngest and smallest of the group had fallen to the chill first. Staggering through the snow, she stumbled into the ankle deep snow.

Rushing to her side, Ruby and Vida kneeled in the frozen ground, melting into their jeans.

"Zu! Zu! Wake up!" Ruby said as she shook Zu slightly. The snow caught on the sleeping girl's eyelashes, making her look like a bird caught in a snowstorm.

"Zu! Suzume, don't you dare fall asleep on me!" Vida all but screeched. Wrapping her arms around her in an attempt to keep her warm, Vida shook against her.

Think Ruby, think! Ruby searched her mind for anything that might help them come out of this, but her thoughts were as frozen as the rest of her. Facing Vida and Zu, found to her horror, Vida's eyes were now closed too.

No.

Memories of when she found out Jude was dead came back in full-force, a constant reminder of the time she failed him. And she was not about to lose Vida and Zu too.

Removing her coat, gloves, hat, and scarf, Ruby shuddered as the unrelenting wind nipped at newly exposed skin. With determination fueling her soul, Ruby managed to drape her coat around the two still girls, wrap her scarf around them, shove hands into gloves, and her hat on Zu frost-ridden head. As she pulled away with shaking hands, she hoped it would be enough to keep them alive. Because she was the leader, and would do whatever it took to keep her team alive, even if it meant her as the sacrifice.

Her last thought was Liam's warm voice surrounding her, as she lay on the icy ground, cold and dark consuming her.

"RUBY! ZU! VIDA! WHERE ARE YOU?!" Liam and Chubs tore through the forest as they followed a newly found trail of "X's" through the winter-y forest. This was a terrible idea.

"Ruby!" His desperate shout was a cry from the soul he just hoped that they wouldn't be too late.

The light of their flashlight danced around as they ran to where this trail would take them. They followed it into a clearing surrounded by tree on all sides, like a fairy circle.

In the middle of the circle lay two figures curled around another. Zu and Vida. Chubs ran over to check them, and to their joy, their heartbeats were still there, perhaps a bit slow, but steady.

But where was Ruby? Surely, she wouldn't have left Vida and Zu, and he didn't see her by Zu and Vida so where was she-

There.

Near the edge of the tree line, he saw her; snow paling her features and making her look, well, dead. As he scooped her up from the snow he noticed she had no coat or anything else warm except frozen jeans and a thin long-sleeved shirt.

I swear she left with a coat…Liam questioned. Where could her coat, gloves, scarf, her hat gone? Surely she didn't lose them…

Oh.

Looking over to Zu and Vida, he saw they were covered in all her extra warmth.

"You idiot," Liam mumbled to her, "you amazing brave idiot."

Next to him, he could hear Chubs calling 911 (thank God they had reception) and arguing with whoever was on the phone."

"No I will not 'stay calm', my girlfriend's out here and nearly dying of hypothermia, and this is taking too damn long!"

Had it been a different situation, Liam would have laughed, or at least cracked a smile.

But standing under the pale moonshine with snow powdering his hair, he could only hold Ruby closer until help arrived.

Even before she opened her eyes, Ruby knew she was in a hospital. The sheets that weren't hers, the antiseptic air, and IV in her arm. Peering her eyes open under fluorescent lights, she could see Zu and Liam sitting side-by-side by her hospital side. Turning her head, she surprised them and asked,

"What did I miss?"

Zu looked around startled, and Liam visibly jumped in his seat. Smiling to herself, she thought, can always count on these two to be surprised.

But before she could open her mouth again, Liam stated loudly, "You are truly one of the biggest idiots I have ever met."

Zu thought about this for a moment, then nodded.

But what- Her thoughts started. Then she remembered. Oh…. that.

"What were you thinking, darlin'? You could've died! You were nearly frozen solid when we found you!"

"Well sorry for trying to keep my team alive!" She hadn't meant for the word "team" to slip out like that, but it was merely a force of habit.

"Oh." Liam stated. She could hear the gears grinding in his head. "Oh."

She glanced away from Liam's face, and saw in her eyes that Zu had come to the same conclusion.

"Darlin', Jude is still, not your fault. Not a damn thing, alright?" His eyes pleaded for her to understand, to know, that Jude's death was not her hands.

"I know." She said. He smiled, and she couldn't help but smiling back.

All of a sudden, Vida burst in. "You," she said pointing at Ruby, "are an idiot."