'Abby, I'm cold,' Colm grumbled. He was standing in front of Abby, his back to her, with a worn-out towel over his head.

'When your hair dries, you'll be warmer,' Abby replied, rubbing the towel vigorously on his head. The two, as well as their six pack mates and most of the other kids and teens in the camp, had taken quick baths in the freezing cold river after lunch, before racing back up to the camp to dry off and change into dry clothes. Now, Abby was sitting on the ground in front of Maggie, who was trying to rip a brush as painlessly as possible through Abby's tangled mess of hair. The 2nd Mass had spent the morning setting up camp once Harlem and Dallon had reported back that the skitters were gone, allowing some time for a more relaxed atmosphere. Sentries patrolled the camp perimeter, and a few scouts were patrolling deeper in the woods.

Abby pulled the towel off of Colm's head and turned him around. 'Done. You can go now.'

'Yay!' Colm squealed, racing off towards where Mariah, Amanda, Summer, Alexis, and Matt had started a game of tag.

'How's it going there, Maggie?' Anne asked, joining the two girls near the fire.

'I think I've got about half of the knots out, and I think I've ripped out about half of her hair,' Maggie laughed.

'On the bright side, with less hair, there will be fewer knots next time I have to brush it,' Abby joked.

'Hopefully,' Anne laughed.

'Hey,' said Tom, joining the group. 'Where is everyone?'

'Hal is out scouting,' Anne replied. 'Ben, Harlem, Dallon, and Jimmy wandered off somewhere, and the younger kids are over there.'

The camp was set up slightly differently than the last had been. Rather than an outer circle of vehicles, with the tents set up on the ground inside of them and a fire circle in the center, the tents were grouped into mini-camps, the vehicles of the occupants parked nearby. Each mini-camp had a small fire circle. The mini-camps were arranged in a rough circle around a larger fire circle, near which the command tent was located.

The Masons and the eight spiked children had camped together between the river and the entrance to the camp. The med-bus was parked parallel to the river, one side opened up to a built-up platform that formed a curtained-off extension for Anne and Lourdes to work in. Nearer to the clearing entrance, the Masons' tent had been set up on a raised wooden platform. Inside, Tom and Anne's bed was on the right, Hal and Maggie's was on the left, and the cots were lined up in the back. The floor between the beds and cots had been turned into nests made of sleeping bags and blankets from the med-bus's stockpile.

'Hey, Anne,' called Lourdes, approaching from one of the nearby camp circles.

'Hey, Lourdes,' Anne called back. 'What's up?'

'I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to stay with Jeanne again, at least for tonight,' Lourdes replied.

'Are you sure?' Anne asked. 'There's always room for you with us.'

'I know,' Lourdes smiled. She waved slightly and walked back to the other campsite.

'Dad!' Ben called. He, Jimmy, Dallon, and Harlem were approaching from the river. 'Look what we've got!'

'Are those fish!?' Anne asked.

'Yep,' Ben grinned. Each of the boys held a string with about five fish on it, the largest nearly a foot long. 'We caught them.'

'How?' Tom asked, taking Ben's string and looking at the fish.

Ben shrugged. 'With sticks. We broke them off so they had sharp ends and speared the fish.'

'These will be great for dinner,' Anne said, examining Harlem's fish. 'We can skin them and roast them over the fire. We don't have anything to fry them in, but it'll be good.'

'How many did you get?' Tom asked, laying the fish on the towel Colm had used earlier. 'I'll wash it tomorrow,' he said in response to Anne's glare.

'I got six,' Ben replied, sitting on the ground next to his father and pulling out his knife.

'I got five,' Harlem said.

'Six,' Dallon added.

'Four,' Jimmy sighed. 'I'm not very good at spearing fish.'

'That's twenty-one fish,' Maggie marveled. 'And there are how many of us? About fifteen?'

'Fourteen,' Anne corrected. 'There will be plenty here for everyone. I can go ask Weaver if he and Jeanne and Lourdes want to join us.'

'That sounds like a great idea,' Tom nodded. 'We'll get to work skinning and cooking these fish.'

'I'll go and talk to Weaver,' Anne smiled. She stood up and made her way towards Weaver's campsite, skirting the energetic game of tag on her way.

'I can help,' Abby said, looking over at Tom and the boys as Maggie continued to comb her tangled hair.

'If you're holding a knife while Maggie's ripping that comb through your hair, you'll cut your own fingers off,' Jimmy laughed, picking up a fish and pulling out his knife.

'Good point,' Abby agreed, wincing as Maggie's comb caught in a particularly large and stubborn knot.

'Are we de-boning them or whatever?' Dallon asked, flopping the fish he had skinned.

'Sure,' Tom replied. 'Do you know how?'

'Uh…' Dallon started at the fish in his hand. 'Sort of. Not really.'

'Well, hold on while I finish this one and I'll show you,' Tom laughed.

'I have to say, these are some good fish,' Weaver said. 'I appreciate whoever caught them. And thank you, Tom and Anne, for letting us join you.'

'Of course,' Anne smiled. 'We would've had extra anyways. Thank you and Jeanne and Lourdes for helping us finish it.'

'Thanks to Ben, Harlem, Dallon, and Jimmy for catching the fish in the first place,' Tom added, glancing at the boys.

'Next task: figuring out how and where everyone is going to sleep in the tent tonight,' Hal joked.

'Well, we'll leave that to you,' Weaver said, standing and brushing off his pants. 'So long, and thanks for all the fish.'

'Good night, Colonel,' Anne replied, smiling warmly. 'Good night, Jeanne, Lourdes.'

'Good night, Anne,' Lourdes smiled. The trio departed for their mini-camp, leaving the Masons and spiked kids at their fire.

'Okay, time to get ready for bed,' Anne said, standing up. 'Let's go.' She herded her family and the other kids into the tent. 'Tom and I are over here. Lexie can sleep with us. Hal and Maggie are over there.'

'Matt can sleep in our bed,' Hal shrugged. 'There's room.'

'Okay,' Anne nodded. 'We'll see how much room we have before we decide that. How about you girls take the cots?'

'Yeah, Mariah and Amanda can share one, and Summer and I can share the other,' Abby nodded.

'There's enough room that you and Summer can each take one cot,' Anne replied. 'And the boys can sleep on the floor; maybe Jimmy, Ben, and Colm on one side and Harlem and Dallon on the other, and Matt can sleep with Hal.'

'Sounds like a plan,' Tom agreed. 'Everyone happy with that?'

'Abby, I want to sleep with you,' Colm whined, clutching at Abby's leg.

'Colm, sleep with me tonight,' Jimmy said, bending down and picking the small boy up. 'You kept Abby up half the night last night. Maybe tomorrow you can sleep with her.'

Colm nodded grumpily, rubbing his eyes.

'Okay, let's start getting settled in,' Anne smiled. 'Leave your shoes and big guns by the door. Hand guns can stay with you if you want, but I'd prefer them over here.'

Obediently, the kids kicked off their shoes and lined them up near the door. Hal, Maggie, Tom, Ben, Matt, and Jimmy left their rifles with the shoes, and everyone with smaller weapons unstrapped their belts and left them with their own shoes.

'Come on,' Abby prompted, pushing Mariah and Amanda towards the back, Summer following them. Abby lifted Mariah onto the middle cot as Summer climbed into the one on the left. Once Mariah was settled in, Abby picked up Amanda and laid her down at the opposite end. She tucked the blanket around the girls, leaving only their heads peeking out.

'Good night, Abby,' Mariah whispered sleepily as Abby tucked her in.

'Night, Mo,' Abby replied with a smile. She turned to Summer and tucked her in as the boys started to settle into the sleeping bags. 'Take off your jacket,' she said, helping Summer out of the garment. When Summer had lain down, Abby tucked her in as well, then walked over to the third cot.

Anne watched the teenagers settle in from a position seated on the edge of her bed. Alexis sat on her lap, kicking her feet cheerfully. Tom pulled off his jacket and scarf before joining her. On the other side of the tent, Maggie was sitting in bed, laughing as Hal and Matt started wrestling again.

'Okay, no wrestling matches tonight,' Tom called. 'And no sock fights either.'

'Fine,' Hal groaned. He heaved Matt off of him and onto the floor with a grunt and a thump. Matt laughed and crawled back into the bed.

In the sleeping bags next to Tom and Anne's bed, Dallon and Harlem had shed their shirts before curling up underneath heaps of blankets. On the opposite side of the tent, Jimmy was helping Colm pull off his shirt while Ben unfolded the blankets Anne had left for them. Abby had finished tucking the girls in and was getting into her own cot. She had shed her thick shirt and shorts and just wore her tank top and leggings.

'Bundle up, everybody,' Anne advised. 'It's going to be a cold night.'