Darius Hefflin's Story

Poppy smiled back. Dani reminded her a lot of her older sister. They both shared the same smile. Poppy started to close her eyes and rest her head upon the bark of the tree so she could sleep, but before she could do so, she heard a noise again. This time, it was coming from the front of her instead of behind her. You could tell she was deep in thought, trying to listen exactly where the noise was coming from. Finally, she gazed back up at Dani. "I'll be right back." she said. The girl grabbed unto a branch just below her, and jumped down unto the ground. She walked quickly in front of her, hoping to find the source of the noise before it went away.

Before she knew it, darkness was encircling around her. She lit the lighter so she could see. For minutes, she looked around, trying as hard as she could to find something, anything. Unfortunately, all she could hear was the cave-like silence of the woods, and all she could see was the full moon shining overhead. Sighing, she started to turn around, until she felt a whizzing sound flying over her right ear. Whatever it was, it hit the tree right behind her.

She slowly turned her head to find a sharp object stuck in the tree's bark. If she hadn't turned, the knife would have been lodged deep into her brain. She covered her mouth just before she could scream. Someone was near her, and if she made sound, someone would find her. She stared at the knife for a moment, and then drew her attention in front of her where a copper-haired man was standing about 5 yards away from her. As their eyes met, their looks both had the same expression of confusion and shock. Poppy was the first to react, drawing the knife from the tree and sprinting as fast as she could to Dani.

"Dani!" she shouted, "Dani, help!!" Poppy was right below the tree where the 17-year old was perched in. "The lady's not alone! There's a guy who almost killed me!" she said, breathing heavily. She held up the knife so Dani could see it. With Dani's apparent hunting skills, she was hoping that she would be able to use it.

(ooc: sorry for the holdup :/ ma exams are over though, so i can post again! ^-^)

Without hesitation, Poppy swiftly climbed up the tree. She looked down at the battle that was about to ensue below. She breathed heavily and started to mentally prepare herself if Dani got hurt or killed. If Dani couldn't take this man down, she would.

Poppy waited. Nothing was happening. She waited some more, and still nothing happened. Finally, the man firmly walked up to Dani, a smirk on his face. He looked annoyed, but Poppy could tell that he had some sort of plan. He wasn't angry, in fact, he was overconfident.

"Well hey there" the man started, his eyes locking straight on Dani's. "Look, uh, I don't want to cause any trouble, but that's my knife, and I'd like it back, please." The man just stood there, waiting for a response. It was apparent that he wasn't going to hurt Dani, but his motives were still unclear.

Back in the tree, Poppy was extremely bewildered. She was expecting a brawl to ensue. Her muscles that had tightened were starting to relax.

"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?"

"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.

"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.

"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.

"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.

"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.