Dani waited for the man to move. She stood ready to defend Poppy. The knife was in her hand. That made her feel even better. When he started coming toward her, she felt her muscles prepare to be used. However, when he finally got to her, his words were not what she expected. "Look, uh, I don't want to cause any trouble, but that's my knife, and I'd like it back, please." Dani kept her position so she would be ready if he decided to attack her. She was a little bit intimidated by him looking straight into her eyes, but she forced herself to stand strong.

"I can't do that. I don't trust you." she said and watched for his reaction.

"You don't trust someone who asks for the knife back instead of strangling you to death for it? Interesting." the man said, crossing his arms. There was still a resolute look of annoyance on his face. He figured this girl was probably frightened to death, and so he decided to explain himself. "Look, I threw the knife at the girl because from a distance, i thought she was someone else. I had no intention of killing her. It was merely a misunderstanding."

He inched closer to Dani. His eyes weren't locked on hers anymore, but they were looking for something instead. The young girl and this girl looked very similar. Was he correct in saying that the two were different?
"By someone else, I think you know who i'm talking about." he started again, his face and tone of voice becoming more calm. "Once we heard that Rick was gone, we managed to escape when she left. We all just kind of went our own ways. I have no idea where the others are...That being said, i'm sure you're in the same predicament as me, yeah? Everyone thinks they know their way in the woods...."

He put his hands in his jean pockets and looked down at the ground for a second, as if remembering something. "Well, I don't think anybody's getting far if they don't know a thing or two about survival. The name's Darius Hefflin. Nice to meet you, blondie."
he said, his sharp eyes locking back on Dani's. "Now that i've given you reasons to trust me, can i have the damn knife?"

Dani didn't say anything. She just watched him. He appeared to be annoyed, but she didn't care. However, when he began to explain himself, she started to wonder if maybe she should trust him. He made reference to Poppy. Dani glanced up at the tree to see if she could catch a glimpse of the small girl. At the mention of Rick, the guy had her staring straight at him. He knows about Rick? When he escaped? Dani was beginning to understand.

"It's Dani. And you may have the knife." she said and held her hand with the knife out.

Dani opened her palm to fully reveal the knife and offered it to him.

"Watch where you throw it next time." she said and looked up in the tree again.

"Poppy. It's safe." she said and looked at the guy again.

"Thanks, blondie." he said, pulling the knife away from Dani's palm and revealing the koi tatoo on his wrist. Nicknaming people was something Darius did often. He was never one to take things seriously. In a larger sense, giving someone a nickname was a subtle way for Darius to show authority. Obviously taking his knife and not running away from him was a stupid idea. These girls would need to learn how to think straight.

"Poppy. It's safe."
The young girl heard Dani calling her name, and jumped out of the tree, landing almost cat-like on the ground. She was starting to get the hang of traveling above ground. Poppy was indeed a fast learner, and was good at memorizing useful skills. Repition was one of her strong suits.

As she approached Dani, her eyes flicked between her friend and the enemy. Although things were safe, Poppy had a very anxious look on her face. Her lips looked as if they had been glued shut. Around more than one person, she could be awfully shy. Poppy wasn't one to start opening up to people right away. She would wait until she had talked to a person for a while to start being more sociable. She stared at Darius, a sullen and slightly intimidating look on her face. The man gave a half-smile, trying to greet her the only way he knew how.

"Sorry" he said, his sharp eyes becoming more relaxed. Being a very understanding person, Poppy's eyes did the same. However, as she nodded to him in forgiveness, her mouth was still shut. She felt as though she were pretending to be X, one of the girls she met while kidnapped by Rick.

Darius took control of the situation again, and he eyed the two girls he assumed were sisters. "So what were you two planning on doing? I think we should go find the others right away. If you two aren't up to that, I suppose we could rest here. Not for too long, though. We have to keep moving."
Poppy glanced over at Dani, seeing how she would respond.

Dani rolled her eyes at his use of the nickname 'blondie'. "It's Dani." she said with slight annoyance. She hated it when people gave her nicknames. It was even worse when it was someone she didn't know or care about. What was even worse about him was that he seemed to feel completely comfortable with doing it.

Poppy jumped down from the tree and moved next to Dani. Dani put her hand on the young girl's shoulder and looked at Darius again. Poppy seemed untrusting of Darius at first. Dani liked that. She didn't fully trust him either and was glad to see that Poppy didn't either. Even though they weren't sisters, it felt like it.

Dani glared at Darius when he began speaking again. He was more instructive than she would have liked. Dani believed that she could do things on her own and liked having Poppy to take care of. "We? It's me and Poppy. We know what we have to do." she said with increased annoyance.

Dani didn't like that Darius was including himself in their plans. She knew what she needed to do and didn't feel the need to have him around. However, the more she thought about it, she realized that maybe having him around would be more convenient. After all, he did have good knife-throwing abilities and he was probably much stronger than Dani. Her only problem would be him taking control over the whole thing. "Alright, look. I just want to make sure Poppy is safe. You can probably help. But I don't want you controlling us. I'm willing to keep you around for safety reasons, but you're not going to tell us how it's gonna go." she said, crossing her arms and watching him.

"We? It's me and Poppy. We know what we have to do." Dani said with annoyance. He smirked and raised an eyebrow at her. Was she serious? Damn, she's fiesty, he thought to himself. Why was she so apprehensive to letting him join the group? Didn't he already earn her trust? He watched her sternly as she continued to speak.

"Alright, look. I just want to make sure Poppy is safe. You can probably help. But I don't want you controlling us. I'm willing to keep you around for safety reasons, but you're not going to tell us how it's gonna go."
He rolled his eyes and sighed, clearly irritated. "Alright, Dani, I'll be your damn bodyguard," he said, "but i'm only saying this once; If i'm 'controlling' you and you or the kid gets hurt, it's not my fault." He started to walk away into the shadows, still scolding the blonde 17-year-old.
"Should've fought you for the knife while I still had the chance. If you wanna get things done, you gotta do them by yourself...."

As the bothersome boy made his disappearance, Poppy glanced up at Dani, a smirk on her face.
"Well he's nice" she said, sarcastically.

"Alright. Stay together, within arms reach. Keep an eye out for the others. Come along, ladies. We mustn't keep the world awaitin'."

Anita nodded in response to Charlie as they took their weapons, and she pulled the drawstrings of the bag shut. She tossed it over her shoulders and tugged the strings to adjust them and make sure that the bag wouldn't slip or tear of, and then turned to Reason as she spoke up.

"I'll bring up the front. X in the middle. Do you mind bringing up the rear. It would be better if we kept in a line. That way, we have each other's blind spots and we take up less space."

Turning back to Charlie, she studied his expression. He was obviously worried about something. Mentally, she tacked off everything she had retrieved from the house. Everything they needed was in the bag, except ...

Food!

She slapped her forehead with the heel of her palm. How could she forget food! She was so out of practice ... No wonder he was worried. It was no doubt about the lack of food, which was her fault. Luckily, once they found a safe place, she could head out, forage for food and set some traps to catch rabbits or something, anything really.

She moved over and let her hand fall on Charlie's upper arm. She pointed at her lips and pretended to chew, gave him a questioning look, and then stepped back. She moved over to a bush and traced her hand over it's leaves before she pointed to herself, as if signing that she could find food later on. She then tapped her temple and shook her head, smirking a little at him, as if to say, 'Ya' gotta think man'.

She slipped her hand into her pocket and removed a Glock, slipped it into her waist band, and turned to the two. With a wave of her hand, she motioned for them to move, and began to walk.

Charlie chuckled softly, understanding X very well. "My apologies. Old habits die hard. We'll be fine," A tiny smile graced his features as he spoke. He knew, perhaps only subconsciously, that he was purposely appearing warm and cuddley on the outside, while he was privately analyzing everything these two girls did. Trust didn't come easy, maybe not even at all anymore. Not even now, when the three of them might keep each other alive.
Charlie stopped smiling, his face falling back to it's usual indifference. He glanced around, suddenly resenting the trees that surrounded him. "If I were in the city, I'd be out in two minutes," He muttered to himself, scowling momentarily. He glared at the trees again, suddenly realizing how scared he should be, and how scared he wasn't. I must be completely mad, he thought, that women must have made me loose the last of my marbles, and I wasn't even born with that many. Of course, it was possible that he was simply cool under pressure, but he would never give himself that much credit.
His feet start moving before he even realized it, and all three of them were walking. Very quietly, for three teens in the woods, but he had a feeling that the two girls in front of him were no more ordinary than he was. Charlie realized he hadn't actually picked a weapon from the bag, not a blade or the gun. He hadn't even thought about it, because his feet had always carried him off before he had to use his fists. How would he protect X and Reason if they were attacked? Shaking his head at himself, he brushed it off and decided to hope for the best.

Dani caught on to his irritation and smiled when he used her name. She watched him walk away and half smiled at his words. It was slightly amusing to her. She glanced down at Poppy and smiled.

"At least we've got something stronger now." she said.

Dani watched as Darius continued to walk away. She held a hand out to Poppy.

"Come on. We should stick together, even if he's not all that pleasant to be around." she joked.

Dani's mood was starting to lighten up. She felt a bit safer now that she had something to defend and something in case she wasn't capable. Maybe the three were a good grouping after all. She inwardly admired the group she was part of.

Reason watched as X palmed her forehead and gestured food. Oh that was the last thing she needed to think about food. Reason didn't eat often but when she did, she ate alot. It was a shock she was built the way she was. Although, with her free running. She burned off any food she did eat. It was then Charlie mentioned he'd be out in two minutes if he were in the city. She chuckled a bit. "Chyea. Me too." She said, looking up at the trees. She was use to free running in an urban environment. The concrete jungle, Not a real one. Trees weren't as reliable as say a parking meter. Branches break. One false move and she could fall to her death. Oh this was taxing. How the hell were they gonna figure out how to get out of here, in the middle of the night. She looked up at the stars. Thankful for her mother forcing her in to boot camp at 6. The moon wasn't fully out yet which meant they have several hours before morning. They just had to last the night. Although, The Morning was just an advantage to the Woman as it was to them. Reason would just have to think. Food would important but they needed water. By the looks of the lushness of the grass and height of the tree, and abundance of bugs, she could tell there was alot water around. If they could find a creek, they'd be good so long as they kept clear of the Woman. "Yo." Reason whispered. "Check it out. If we find a creek or something. We'll be good. We need to stay hydrated. We could probably make camp there too." She explained. "And, where's there's water, they'll be alot of critters trying to drink it. So We could probably find food there. Although we won't be able to cook it until morning. If shd sees fire, she'll come right for us." She said, thinking ahead a bit. "Be on the lookout for alot of gnats. They love the water. So the more gnats, the closer we are to water." She turned her head, realizing they maybe curious as to how she knew all this stuff. "I'm an Army brat." She said with a half grin. "Not a survival nut." She said, and also noticed, she was scared and so she was talking alot.

"Come on. We should stick together, even if he's not all that pleasant to be around." Dani joked lightly. Poppy gave a small giggle, and took her extended hand for a second. "Aye aye, cap'n. You lead the way i guess. I can keep traveling, but i know eventually i'll get lost. Maybe we can get out of here in the morning before i hit fifteen..." The last part of the statement she muttered softly to herself. There were more important things to be worrying about at the moment, but she secretely wished that if she was still stuck in the woods, her birthday would be an unforgettable adventure.

Meanwhile, Darius was wandering around the forest, following his tracks with a small pocket light. He was searching for a backpack that he had left in a hiding spot inside a small hole in the ground. It had most likely been an abandoned rabbit hole, and made a convenient place for keeping his supplies safe. He had obtained the backpack and its contents during the little time he had to escape the cabin. He had been smart and fast enough to pack food and drink, but unfortunately, he wasn't able to grab a cellphone. He didn't regret it though. Even if he did have a phone, there would be no reception. He knew that from the times he had to live on his own. That's why he had enjoyed living in the woods, his uncle wasn't able to contact him.

A few minutes later, he was able to find his yellow backpack. Suddenly, as he was slinging the bag over his shoulder, he heard the sound of footsteps approaching in his direction. He kept low to the ground, and hid himself behind one of the trees. As the footsteps got closer, he could hear the sound of a woman talking.
"Be on the lookout for alot of gnats. They love the water. So the more gnats, the closer we are to water...."
Darius could still hear the woman talking, but he couldn't make out what she was saying. He breathed a sigh of relieved, grateful that it wasn't the woman who had kidnapped him for what seemed like eternity.

He quickly looked around the corner to see the Motley Crue that was approaching. The group was composed of a small pretty-faced girl, a kid with pale skin and an emo haircut, and a tall, atheltic looking girl with black dreadlocks. He assumed that she was the leader.
He started to consider his options; should he let the group move on, or should he stop them? He mentally listed the pros and cons, and came to the conclusion that it was better to let them wander off. After all, more people in a group meant more people to take care of, and Miss Blondie was enough for him at the moment. After the group had passed him, he started to make his way back to Dani and Poppy.

Dani began walking in the direction that she saw Darius disappear into. She glanced back every once in a while to make sure Poppy was alright and then continued. Before she could get far, she heard voices. "Poppy!" she harshly whispered. Dani spun around to find the girl. Her main concern was getting Poppy high up in a tree where the bigger and heavier people couldn't get her. She moved away from the voices so that she wouldn't be seen and grabbed Poppy and pulled her along with her. "Shh. There are other people out there." she whispered to the girl as she held her down to keep her from being seen.

(Sorry for the short and late post. Stuff came up and it's causing me to be busier than ever.)

"My apologies. Old habits die hard. We'll be fine... If I were in the city, I'd be out in two minutes."

Anita only caught the end of his statement due to her trained hearing. Oddly enough, she felt as though the two people beside her were trustworthy. They had all obviously been face with a similar, if not the same, misdeed, and although it went against everything her father had ever taught her, she trusted them. She trusted Reason, with her crazy, tough personality, and Charlie, with his kind, happy demeanor.

Turning her mind back to their current situation, Anita began to study their surroundings. Due to the lush greenery around them, she figured that there had to be running water somewhere nearby. Along with that, there had to be berries and other types of food. The soil beside water was nourishing and berries bushes and fruit trees tended to grow quickly. Also, there were gnats, mosquitoes, and other annoying bugs already fluttering around her face. She swatted at them, and slapped two or three on her arm, and all the while, Reason spoke.

"Yo. Check it out. If we find a creek or something. We'll be good. We need to stay hydrated. We could probably make camp there too. And, where's there's water, there'll be a lot of critters trying to drink it. So we could probably find food there. Although we won't be able to cook it until morning. If she sees fire, she'll come right for us. Be on the lookout for a lot of gnats. They love the water. So the more gnats, the closer we are to water. I'm an Army brat. Not a survival nut."

The poor older girl was obviously scared and rambling to distract herself. When she said that she was an 'Army brat', Anita smiled. She pointed at herself, held up two fingers, and grinned, signaling 'Me too'. She pointed at a tree and adjusted the sack over her shoulder, before moving over to the tree and easily maneuvering up and into it. She perched there for a moment, peering around the immediate area, before spotting a small stream a few feet away from them.

She had just turned to make her way back down, when movement on the ground below her caught her eye. She looked in that direction and froze when she saw the boy. For a moment, her shock made her go still, but she thawed out and pushed out of the leaves.

Due to her not being too far above the boy, yet far enough up to be out of sight of him, she reckoned that if she were to fall, she would survive. If she were to jump and tackle the boy, she would be unharmed.

Her expression neutral, she dropped from the tree, immediately coming into contact with the boy. She tackled him to the ground, her legs going around her waist. They rolled over the grass, and she ended up straddling his back, her hand against the back of his sandy-blonde hair, pressing his face into the ground. She leaned down and whispered into his ear, one word, before she slowly and gently moved off of him.

"Safe."

There was a chilling breeze as Darius started to head back to his group. To him, the air was as thick as ice. Was it the middle of winter, or was the cold weather just starting? He had lost track of the time while kidnapped. It had seemed like ages ago when he remembered sitting out in the open woodland, stargazing as he tried to forget what had happened that day. Of course he tried, but sometimes even the dullest of memories still left an imprint in his mind. While imprisoned in the cabin, some of those memories did slip away. However, there were still a few that would leave a scar, no matter what.

These woods were different than the ones he used to remember. The forest he knew was peaceful, calm, serene, and provided a safe haven in times of distress. In this place, danger lurked around every corner, or in his case, from above.

Something heavy had toppled right over him, and was pinning him down to the ground. From the way the thing was holding down his head, and didn't take much guessing to know that it was a person. He could feel long, smooth hair brush against his neck as the attacker muttered one word into his ear:

"Safe."

It was a woman. What a surprise.

The girl, whoever it was, rolled off of him gently. However, Darius wasn't willing to let his attacker go as easily. He grabbed her by the neck, and pinned her down to the ground. He gripped one hand unto her shoulder. His other hand held a knife to her throat. He wrapped his legs around her waist, just like what she had done to him. He was ready to slit this woman's throat once and for all...

....But he didn't. This wasn't the woman that was chasing him. He had made a mistake again. His enraged face turned into a look of realization. He inspected her, and through the darkness, he saw that this was the girl that had traveled with the group. How the hell did she notice him, catch up to him, and then pounce him? Whatever. There was more than one crazy woman lurking in these woods.

He rolled off her, dragged her by the arm, and then pushed her into one of the rough-barked trees. He pinned her like before, and stepped on her feet so that she couldn't escape.
"Alright, Dollface," he started, drawing the knife from behind his back. "I know you're probably from Rick, and you're not a threat to me, but that doesn't mean I can't be a threat to you."
He drew the knife closer. His face was cold, cross, and furious. It was as though his eyes were that of a snake's.
"I'm hoping you don't do what you just did to guys often, cause I'll admit, that was pretty damn creepy."
The knife was against Anita's neck now. Before Darius could speak again, the voice of a young girl cried out from the darkness:

"STOP!"

---

As the two girls walked across the woods underneath the starry sky, Poppy couldn't help but stare into the beauty of the moon. It was something she easily got lost into. Then, out of nowhere, voices could be heard in the distance. The young girl stopped in her tracks, and listened. However, Dani fierce protection started to kick in before Poppy could identify the voices.

Without hesitation, she pulled Poppy high up into the treetops. She was grateful for Dani's help, but she wished as though Dani would let her explore a little more.
"Shh. There are other people out there." she whispered, holding her down so she couldn't be seen. A thought crossed Poppy's mind. A group of people wasn't the crazy woman alone. A group of people could be campers, or the police, looking for them. And besides, wasn't that boy still out there? What if the group WAS dangerous, and he was in trouble? There was no way she was leaving him out in the open. She reluctantly moved Dani's protective hand away from her, and whispered, "I'm really sorry, Dani." a sad yet understanding smile on her face. She knew what she was about to do would probably freak her out, but it had to be done. She jumped out of the protection of the tree, the black of night surrounding her as she became a silhouette. Falling out of trees was starting to become more natural to her. She took off into the night, listening for the voices as she traveled. Finally, she was picking up something. She moved faster, and found that it was the boy's voice. She was worried, but not as worried as when she found out who he was cornering.

It was X.

Seeing that he held his knife promptly against the girl's neck, she decided to blow her cover.

"STOP!" she yelled.

---

Darius turned around, surprised to see the girl again. He released Anita from his tight grasp, and made a concerned and serious face towards Poppy.
"You know this girl?" he asked in a serious tone.
In the blink of an eye, Poppy had her arms wrapped around Anita. Darius crossed his arms and moved away as the girl hugged the brunette.

"Hi, X" she whispered.

One moment she was slowly backing away from the boy, in order to give him space to get up and brush himself off, and the next, her neck was taken in a hard grip, and she knew it would begin to bruise not too long afterwards. She felt him shove her to the ground and promptly pin her, with one hand on her shoulder and the full weight of his body atop hers.

She felt the cold blade of the knife settle against her throat.

It wasn't as if she couldn't have fought back. However, she didn't feel as if it were right to do so. She had been the one that had pounced upon him first. She was the one that was foolish enough to allow The Man to take her. She was the one that was holding Reason and Charlie back.

She deserved to die.

Death would be a welcome relief to this hell-hole called life.

Before Anita realized what had occurred, the boy was pushing himself off of her, and a familiar voice was speaking to her, while the girl's arms wound around her body. Anita's eyes were closed, but when the arms went around her, and the girl spoke, she immediately recognized her.

Slowly her eyes opened, yet she had never once been afraid of what she had thought was the unstoppable death. She had merely closed them so as not to look at the boy in, what he would undoubtedly think, was hatred and disgust. However, she did not blame him. It was merely human nature to do what you could to survive.

She pressed her lips together and slowly sat up, rubbing at her throat. She stared at Dani for several moments, before beaming a smile at the girl and waggling her fingers under the girl's nose, her version of a 'hello'. She managed to pull out of her arms and push herself up, but stumbled a little and bumped into a tree, which she promptly grabbed onto.

Her throat was constricting.

Her air pipes were clogging.

She could feel her heart begin to beat harder, faster, in an attempt to keep up with the oxygen being cut off.

She collapsed to her knees, her breaths wheezing through her throat, one hand clutching her chest while the other wound around her neck.

"Dani," she rasped out. "Asthma ..." she choked, beginning to tremble.

She slumped forward, her entire body shaking. Her vision was beginning to darken, dim, the still of the night settling around her.

"Can't ... Breathe ..." she wheezed.

There were only a few things in that moment that she could still hear. She could hear Dani and the boy; she could hear birds chirping in the trees; she could hear footsteps racing through the woods, which came to an abrupt stop not too far away; and she could hear, in the far distance, due to her trained ears, a single pair of light footsteps.

Despite her inability to breathe at that current moment, she forced herself up and onto trembling legs.

"Here ..." she gasped, stumbling over to Dani. She grabbed the girl's arm to hold her up. "Woman ..." She pointed West of them, her eyes wide with fear, panic obvious in them. There was no time for her to allow her fear of speaking to hinder her ability to warn the others, even if it meant she would die, left behind due to her asthma attack. Her voice was soft, however, a combination of her years of silence and her breathless state.

"She's that way ... Two-fourths mile ... Charlie ... Reason ... There," she pointed to their East, "Ten feet ..." She grabbed the girl's arm in an even tighter grip. "Two more ... Boys ... Behind those trees ..." she pointed to their North. Her bag had to be somewhere nearby. She must have dropped it in the process of falling from the tree and being attacked by the boy.

Her vision grew darker, wavier, and she slumped a bit against the girl's side. She dropped to her hands and knees and felt around on the ground, barely able to see at this point, before her hand closed around a bag that had fallen beneath a bush. She wrenched it out and snapped it open, dug inside of it, retrieved an inhaler, and promptly shoved it before her face.

As soon as the medicine had made it's way into her system, her lungs began to expand, her throat began to return to normal, and she laid there for a few moments longer. Finally, she slipped the inhaler into her pocket, swung the bag over her shoulder, and shakily pushed herself up, clearing her throat in the process.

"I know I haven't spoken to you before, and trust me, I'm going to return to my silent state as soon as we are relatively safe from harm from the woman. However, at this current moment in time, The Woman is approximately two-fourths of a mile West of us. Reason, a boy named Charlie, and I, were all together until I climbed this tree and tackled this boy here," she pointed at Darius. "Reason and Charlie are ten feet East of us. There are two more boys, undoubtedly our age and escaping from The Woman also, not too far behind those trees," she told the two, her arms crossed. Her voice was hoarse from her asthma attack and her having gone silent for so long, yet it was audible and understandable.

"The Woman is closing in. There's no time for you two to argue with me, especially not you," she pointed at Darius. She looked over at Dani. "Find out who those two boys are and meet me back here in two minutes. If those two minutes are up, I'm going to come looking for you," she told the two. With that, she disappeared into the bushes, ducking and sliding beneath the limbs.

She hopped up behind Reason and Charlie, managing a tiny smile. "Boo," she said quietly, moving over between the two. "I don't have time to explain, but I figured it's better for all of us if I drop my silence for now and make sure everyone stays, well, okay. For now, you two just need to trust me. Come on," she ordered, and started through the bushes, walking this time so they could keep up, yet keeping was ear trained on the sound of The Woman's footsteps. She soon returned to the spot where she had told Dani and the boy to meet her at.

"We'll wait here for one minute and twenty-two seconds, and then I'll have to go looking for Dani and the others," she informed the two. She leaned back against a tree to wait, her arms and ankles crossed, her face towards the ground, her entire focus concentrated on listening for The Woman.

Charlie could hear a commotion, but he was so used to the city. The freeze distorted the sounds and he couldn't hear where they were coming from. He scowled, his caramel eyes darting back and forth.
"Boo"
Charlie whirled around, an unbelieving grin on his face. He came face to face with X, who had snuck up behind him like the ninja she was revealing herself to be. "We were about to come looking for you, I heard something happening," He said softly as he followed her. He listened intently, marveling at her smarts and the sound of her voice. He nodded, unable to argue with her plan.
Charlie took a deep breath, relaxing momentarily as he eyed his surroundings. He glanced at X, and had to do a double take. Without thinking, he darted to her and lifted her chin to get a better look at her neck. "Did you know you have a handprints on your throat?" He asked, his protective nature showing through. "Reason said you have asthma, a grip like that would definitely cause an attack," He frowned, concerned. "I thought we three agreed to take care of each other. If you keep scampering off, it makes it hard for city kids like me to look out for you. And for you to keep an eye on us." Charlie checked the forming bruise closely, chewing the inside of his cheek to keep himself from giving her a full lecture.

Reason didn't even know what happened when X took off and then reappeared with a 'Boo'.

Even under normal circumstances, surprising Reason could have startling results. Ask a boy in her third grade class that ended up looking like Owen Wilson about the nose.
Thankfully she had more restraint now. She sighed as Charlie sorta lectured her. She looked around the area. X didn't look like an sort of threat so why the hell did someone choke her like that. Reason had a bit of a temper so coupled with her old sister like protectiveness over X. Especially now that she knew they were kindred spirits both being military brats. All she wanted to do was completely level the guy -judging by the size of the handprints on her neck- that did that.

She kept her calm. An amazing feat for Reason and agreed with X's plan until she talked about moving again. Reason crouched down beside her. "You can't keep running off, dude, seriously. If push comes to shove, I can't do a damn thing if the woman catches you. We have a better chance together." She whispered, her eyes ever scanning their surrounding. "We'll go together. Separating is nevera good idea in this situation. You're an Army brat, you should know that." Reason said and her eyes fell on Charlie as he examined her bruise. Reason pulled her knife as she heard footsteps drawing near. She held the blunt end against her forearm and waited.

"Did you know you have a handprints on your throat?"

"I was aware that I do. It's pretty hard to get marks like that without knowing that you had them," she said, her voice slightly sarcastic.

"Reason said you have asthma, a grip like that would definitely cause an attack. I thought we three agreed to take care of each other. If you keep scampering off, it makes it hard for city kids like me to look out for you. And for you to keep an eye on us."

Correction. You and Reason agreed to take care of each other. I don't need taking care of," she scoffed, looking up at him with slightly pouting lips. She allowed him to turn her head from side to side by the chin to study the bruises, her lips pursed. "Besides, it's my job to look after others. Papa always said so," she shrugged a little, not seeming effected in the least by his miniature lecture. It was pathetic in comparison to her father's famous ones.

It was then that Reason piped up. "You can't keep running off, dude, seriously. If push comes to shove, I can't do a damn thing if the woman catches you. We have a better chance together. We'll go together. Separating is never a good idea in this situation. You're an Army brat, you should know that."

"I only said that we would wait here for fifty-five more seconds, and that I would need to leave momentarily. I never said that I was removing yours and Charlie's free will. You're more then welcome to follow me, but I need to make sure that the others, whom I happened upon when I managed to get these bruises, are okay," she informed the two, leaning back against the tree for only a few moments longer, before she pushed away. She tilted her head to the side for a few seconds, then to the other side, to the back, and then the front.

"The Woman's moving away from our current location," she murmured to the two, her ears twitching slightly as they caught the now-familiar sounds of a female's footfalls through mud, grass, and other foliage.

She turned away and motioned with a hand over her shoulder. "They're just past these trees, and not too far away," she told them, already walking in that direction. She didn't even pause to see if they followed, but simply continued to walk.

She froze mid-step as she spotted the owners of the two footsteps from earlier. Both were boys, and both were around her age, which pinpointed them as victims of The Woman. They looked similar, although one seemed a bit older, and she studied them with a hard gaze. "Charlie, were these two taken by The Woman, too?" she asked over her shoulder.

Charlie held his tongue, listening silently as she spoke. He stepped back, crossing his arms. He found himself trusting this girl less and less the longer she used her voice. Usually he could tell what people were like from a first impression, but he had a feeling he had been wrong about X, or whatever her real name was. He drew back towards Reason. He was pretty sure his gut was right about her.
As X moved away, he followed behind, a little suspicious of whether or not she was coming back. His first impression of her already derailed, he didn't trust his judgement on her trustworthiness.
Charlie stopped behind her, following her gaze to the two boys. "Yeah. They're brothers but I don't remember if they're twins or not. It's Isaiah and Elijah I think," He whispered curtly. He slipped his hands into the pockets of his jeans, rocking back on his heels. "They were the first ones to run."