"There's no one left. The last died not long after you left." Rukma spoke of the quarantine that I had been headed towards. I stopped dead in my tracks, my heart squeezing. The though of it just being the 20 of us left, 19 without Jesse, made me feel physically ill. "And you shouldn't be here, you need to be leaving."

I turned to face Rukma, creating a weak smile with my lips- trying to not display my true emotions on my features. She held out my back pack, watching me with her beady eyes.

"Time do go, Dru." I stepped towards her and she assisted me in putting it on. Before pulling away she grabbed hold of my hand that was on the arm of the pack. She gave me a tight squeeze. "It's not your fault, we tried out best."

I brushed her hand away as politely as I could ignoring her forgiving gaze and hopeful smile. I couldn't deal with this now.

I pushed myself away from the girl and moved to where my group was waiting for me.

Caila, James, JJ and I were headed to the camp site. Caila and I had insisted the small child stay behind- that it wasn't safe bringing him out into the forest. But James refused to let him leave him side and we just couldn't argue that- he'd already lost the other two people he loved.

I shifted my crossbow that was hung over my shoulder, my eyes watching as the two groups prepared to go out in search of more of the traps.

Joe, Gemma and Vincent were heading out to the right, they had their own Crossbow to protect themselves with and had instructions to be back before dark. They knew the drill, except there was no more obvious marking your trail.

We'd agreed that instead we would mark a tree with knife leaving only a single line. You'd only be able to see it if you were looking for it.

The other group was Elena, Chadna and Mason. Despite being a finger down Mason seemed to be capable as I watched him preparing his crossbow.

The final group wasn't going trap hunting, they were going out for food and more resources to use as weapons. They weren't allowed to leave the outskirts of the beach. They needed to stay close to protect the people staying behind on the beach- they didn't have any weapons.

Rukma was staying to watch over Cara and Jenny and Freyja were staying to look after Ari and Addy. It sickened me, the thought of leaving only the children on the beach with no weapons but something also told me they'd be safe.

I made my way to my group's side, nodding at them to see if they were all ready to go. I was given back three nods, everyone picking up their packs.

I turned to the other groups, getting a odd sense of déjà vu from just days ago. Looking from person to person I was welcomed with smiles, with bloodied faces and hopeful eyes. I saw gash after wound after injury, but I also saw determination. And I couldn't have been prouder of my fellow survivors.

"You know what to do, I'll see every single one of you for dinner tonight." I got a series of nods and mumbles of agreement before they all turned and headed off to embark on their own tasks.

"Don't die!" I yelled out as I took the first step into the forest, leaving the sand, the safety, and everyone else behind.

~~~~

"It should be just around here, we found it on the first day. Most of us stayed here but a few of us went a little further. So I got pretty used to what was around us." James huffed out as he attempted to catch his breath.

He'd just carried JJ on his back the entire 30minute run, as the young boy just couldn't keep up nor could he manoeuvre his way around the trees and rocks.

"That tree looks familiar daddy," The young boy the only one of us not breathing deeply as we leant over in an attempt to steady ourselves.

The way here it had looked much the same as the way we'd searched. The trees were dense, thick, unkept and tall. There was fruit dangling from the low trees and the rotten ones littered over the ground.

I'd kept my eyes out for any signs of blood, tracks, broken branches where a person may have ran before us. But there was nothing that told me anything important. Just that a small group of people had been threw here and that wasn't a surprise at all consider we were purposely retracing that groups steps.

"You guys stay here, I'll go ahead and check it out." James reached out for the strap over my shoulder, pulling the cross bows out of my grip. I didn't protest, he knew what he was looking for- I'd have to take a back seat on this one. No matter how hard I wanted to insist it was me that went first.

I grabbed onto JJ's shoulders and pulled him down with me. I planted him on the ground while me and Caila squatted down, leaning our sides against the rock besides us. My fingers were dangling next to the knife that I knew was sticking out of my boots. It was itching to wrap around the handle but I didn't want to frighten the young boy.

I felt uneasy not having protection this close to the mans camp site, I felt even queasier about allowing someone to head in there alone.

"Can I go find Daddy?" JJ whispered as he began to push up off the ground. My hands immediately pushed him back down to the ground, which met me with a groan.

He scowled at me, his immaturity evident as he continued to struggle under my grasp. I wasn't the best with kids, I'd always been the youngest and by default knew how to deal with older people better.

Suddenly Caila held out her two pointer fingers to the boy. JJ knew exactly what to do, holding out his own in a rush making the first move and tapping her pointer finger. In return she put up a second finger on that hand.

His priorities completely shifted as he grew totally engrossed in the game of chopsticks with Caila. I couldn't help but smile as I watch Caila's face- she was just as engaged. She pulled mock shock faces when he got the upper hand, she even did a mock cheer when she wont the first game. She waved her arms around in celebration and JJ pouted his bottom lip.

"Rematch!" He demanded, and that's exactly what they did- about ten more times.

I was growing impatient, knees bouncing and my hands shaking with a urge to do something- anything. I felt do useless just squatting here waiting for someone else to get something done. I always believed in doing things myself, I hated relying on other people.

"Stay here." I instructed Caila as I pulled out my knife, pushing up from the ground.

Caila nodded before going back to the game with JJ.

I swiftly mad my way that I had watched James disappear to, hoping that I would be able to see where he had travelled previously.

Sure enough, I could see the broken branches and scattered leaves. I followed quietly, making sure that my steps were soft and steady.

I could hear the sound of footsteps just ahead of me, but instead of heading in the same direction as me they were heading towards me.

A part of me told me to hide, that it wasn't James but I didn't have time to make up my mind before James burst threw a tree.

Breathing a small sigh of relief I ran to him, his chest rising and falling as if he had just sprinted a marathon. He bent over onto his knees when he made it to me.

His eyes didn't show any fear, or worry it was something different- relief and shock.

I pulled him up from his knees, my hands holding either side of his shoulders. I forced him to look me in the eyes, searching them for answers.

"What is it, James? What did you see?"

He took a deep breath before he began his unsteady breathing again. Between huffs he managed to form one word. A word that stopped my heart but jolted my body in action, I didn't wait for him to continue before my body took off in the direction he had just come.

"Jesse."