For the next several days, my siblings and I settle at Camp Cottonwood and spend copious amounts of time working on getting their defenses together; bolstering the front gate, preparing traps, and making sure these campers know how to defend themselves. 

Yesterday, the fourth day of our stay here, we've finally finished reinforcing the gate, but, as predicted, we've run out of material for the traps we need. Today, I sit with my siblings, Josh, Dani, and Sparrow, as we eat breakfast together, the fresh eggs, veggies, and meat too tantalizing to pass up before we talk to Leon about the next step in the plan.

Dani had gone to Doc sometime after the raid once more to get checked out, and the only reason I found out about it was because Doc had ordered Josh and me to force Dani to rest until she could walk without wincing or limping. 

Needless to say, she has not been a fan of this.

More pissed off than usual, Dani sits across from me, picking absently at her food while Sparrow chatters away about some story from his college days before the infection. 

"Nick came up with the idea to put the dye in the fountain," Sparrow continues, "but the poor dude's colorblind, and put in the green dye instead of the red dye! Oh man, the dean was pissed when he saw it! He thought it was the Baptist dudes who were trying to prank us!"

Octavia nearly spits her coffee out while I chuckle, rolling my eyes. "Aren't they like, an hour away from OSU?" I ask. "Why would OBU prank a college that far away?"

Sparrow grins. "It wouldn't be the first time they would have pulled a stunt like that!" His smile slowly disappears as Octavia laughs, and a somber look glazes his face. "That was the last time I saw the guy..."

Octavia's laugh quickly dies, and the mood at the table sobers. Felix pats Sparrow's shoulder sympathetically, and Sparrow tenses at the contact. "He sounded like a good guy," Felix offers. Sparrow nods, unable to look at my brother full in the face as he wipes his nose. 

"Yeah," Sparrow says, "he was. Anyway," he quickly changes the subject as though he never brought it up. "What's our plan exactly? Unless we wanna have a wet T-shirt contest with the Widow's, we're going to need more supplies for the traps."

"Wait," Octavia says. "Why a wet T-shirt contest?" 

"You know, 'cause all we have in terms of material is the water in the river?" Sparrow explains. 

Octavia is still trying to piece together his sub-par joke when Dani pipes in with, "I was planning on talking to Leon about that after breakfast."

I open my mouth to jump into the conversation but stop short when I see an annoyingly familiar face sauntering our way. I have to suppress a groan as Matt wanders over to our table, a sly grin on his face. 

Judging from Dani's sour expression and Josh pointedly ignoring his existence, I'm not the only one who dislikes the creep. 

"Sup, nerds," Matt greets, leaning against the table on Dani's side, much to her displeasure. 

"Matt," Sparrow greets, his voice even. 

"Oh, don't give me that, sword boy," Matt rolls his eyes as he takes a seat on the table next to - and almost in - Dani's food. Dani snatches her plate up to her chest, glaring at Matt, who doesn't seem to notice - or care - that he's in her personal space. "Just wanted to swing by and let you know that Leon's wanting to talk to us." 

"Why would he want to talk to you?" Sparrow asks. 

"Why would anyone want to talk to him?" Octavia mutters. 

Matt glares pointedly at my sister, a look I quickly return, silently daring him to do something about it. Noticing my expression and the overall vibes from everyone, he clears his throat and continues. "Something about an excursion west of here? I wasn't really paying attention, but it sounded important." 

"What's west of here?" Josh asks, glancing over at me. 

"The lumbar yard," I inform him. "It's where my siblings and I were staying for a time, until it got overrun." 

Josh sighs. "Not liking where this is going..."

Sparrow glances between everyone, concern etched into his expression. "Wait, so if I understand this right, Leon wants us to, what? Waltz into a spooky Feral infested warehouse?"

I nod, just as excited for the briefing as Josh seems to be. "Yeah, that sounds about right. Probably to get more supplies for the traps." 

Sparrow throws his head back in exasperation, groaning. "Why can't we ever get simple missions? Like patrols?"

Dani rolls her eyes, glancing over at my siblings and me. "Right, because we've had such an easy time on the last patrol we went on." 

At this point, it's hard to say if she's teasing us or if she's pointedly jabbing at us.

Sparrow chuckles. "Exactly! And you and Josh brought in some pretty cool people on your last patrol!" 

Dani scoffs, muttering, "That has yet to be proven," under her breath. If I knew her any better than 'acquaintance,' I'd hit her for the comment, but since I'm trying to play nice with them, I pretend I didn't hear. 

Heaving a deep breath, Dani stands up, and Josh takes his cue to do the same. "Come on," she orders. "Let's get this over with." 

"It'll be fun!" Josh laughs, and we all know he's lying through his teeth. 

Sparrow stands as well, giving Josh the side-eye. "Buddy, I think we need to re-evaluate your definition of 'fun.'"

Josh simply waves him off playfully, heading for the front door of the mess hall with a spirited smirk on his face. 

Good to see at least someone seems to be in a decent mood today.

Octavia sighs, looking over at my brother and me. "Are we sure this is a good idea?"

"Well, we did promise to help them," Felix answers, looking over at me. 

"You two aren't going to be coming with us," I tell them as I stand up to join Dani, Josh, and Sparrow. 

"What?!" Octavia exclaims, pushing her chair aside as she bolts up. "Why?!"

Felix stands as well, looking upset. "Come on, Cass, we can take care of ourselves," he begs.

I hold a hand to stop them from arguing further. "That's why I need you guys to stay here," I reason, giving them pause. "I'll make sure Leon knows that you two are staying to keep the camp safe. If this is what I think it is, Cottonwood is going to be open to an attack with us gone, and I trust you two to help keep them safe while we're out, okay?" 

Octavia glares at me, but Felix nods, reluctant. 

"Alright," Felix sighs, rubbing the back of his neck. "We'll stay." He glances over at our sister, who crosses her arms. "Right, Octavia?" 

She glowers at us, rolls her eyes, and nods. "Yeah, sure, fine. Go out and have fun; we'll stay and babysit." 

"Octavia," I sigh, going to grab her sleeve, but she pulls away from me.

"Whatever," she interrupts, stalking off and pushing past Josh and the rest. The mess hall doors open as Jocelynn steps inside and quickly dodges out of the way of my angry sister as she storms outside. Jocelynn walks over to us as she stares out the front doors, concerned. 

"Uh, everything okay with her?" Jocelynn asks. 

"Yeah," I sigh, rubbing the back of my neck, all too aware of how difficult my little sister can sometimes be. "She's just being Octavia, don't worry about it."

Felix pats my shoulder, giving me a sympathetic smile before following after our sister. I heave a groan. "Leon wants to talk to us," I tell Jocelynn. "We think it's something to do with going to the lumberyard for the traps."

"Yeah, he just told Matt and me; I just got back from his office," Jocelynn notes as we walk over to join the others. "It's a little unusual for Leon to send such a big group out like this, though, but I understand wanting to get it done quickly. You guys go and talk with him; I'll get the vehicle ready to go." 

Jocelynn regards her friends with a grin and a nod before grabbing a small plate of food and stepping outside towards the vehicles.

The main office is busy as ever, with several guards and scouts giving reports to pass along and checking in weapons and supplies. We spot Leon upstairs talking to one of the older guards just outside his office, and when he notices us, he dismisses the guard and gestures for us to follow him into his office. 

Sparrow shuts the door after we all file in, and Matt all but bumps Dani out of the way so he can sit in one of the only chairs in the room. Dani gives him a dirty look, but Leon stops them from getting into it as he clears his throat. 

"Good, you're all here," Leon greets, folding his hands over his desk. "Let's go over the details, then, shall we?"

"What are we going to need?" Josh asks, leaning on the chair Matt sits in, much to Matt's distaste. 

"As much lumber and sheet metal you can grab," Leon answers with a sigh. "Poles and posts, too. Any razor wire you might be able to salvage that we could put on the walls." 

"You don't sound very sure of what you need," I note, crossing my arms. 

"To be honest," Leon says, looking over at me, "I don't like this plan at all. We'll be completely unguarded from attacks while you're gone."

"We'll be saving more lives this way than being picked off in the woods, spread out, and under no cover," I argue back. "We've already had this discussion, and you already agreed to it."

Leon glares up at me from his desk. "You're getting a little too comfortable with handing out orders and suggestions, Cassandra. I'd watch your tone if I were you."

I open my mouth to give another harsh response, but Dani grabs my wrist and gives me a warning look that suggests what I want to say is a horrible idea. I decide to take her unspoken word for it; speaking out against their leader would make him seem weak, and this group is fragile enough as it is. I breathe a sigh. "Fine, sure. Are we doing this or not?"

Leon eyes me like I just stepped in dog shit and walked all over his office with it but raises his chin - in a blatant display of authority - and nods. "Yes," he finally says. "Jocelynn will be staying behind to keep the camp safe; I'm having her prepare a vehicle for you all. You five, Felix, and Octavia, will take the blue truck to-"

"No," I say flatly. 

A dangerous look crosses Leon's eyes as his glare settles on me. "Beg your pardon?" 

"I said, 'no.'"

Leon slowly stands from his desk, folding his hands behind him as he towers over us, and even Matt shifts uncomfortably in his seat at the look Leon levels my way. The air is so tense in the room that it could be cut with a plastic knife, but luckily Dani takes it upon herself to interject before either Leon or I can say anything else. "What she means," Dani says, gripping the sleeve of my jacket and subtly tugging me behind her, "is that Felix and Octavia are going to stay at camp to help defend everyone in case if the Widows do decide to attack while we're gone."

He doesn't bother to look at Dani as she talks, his dark eyes trained on me, and it's then that I notice a red walkie-talkie on his desk, only partially covered with a rag as though it was just tossed on top of it absently. The few black letters painted on the side that I can see are enough to recognize the word 'EMERGENCY.' Leon notices me staring at his desk and shifts the rag on the walkie to cover it completely, clears his throat, and regards the group of us again. 

"Very well," he says evenly. "Felix and Octavia will stay here with Jocelynn to help bolster defenses while you five are gone. You will grab as much supply as you can fit in the trailer and bed of the truck and be back no more than three hours from now, am I understood?" 

Dani and Josh nod while I simply glare at Leon. 

I know he's hiding something, and I don't like it. I'll even bet my bow that it has something to do with that red walkie. 

I follow everyone out of the big cabin and towards the vehicles by the armory, where Jocelynn is hitching the trailer to the back of the truck. 

"Hey, guys!" She greets, standing up and wiping sweat from her brow. "Just about done here; you can check out your weapons from the armory while I finish this up." 

Dani nods to her, "Thanks, Joe. Josh," Dani calls to her brother, "be a pal and grab my shotgun, would you? I'm going to help Joe hook the trailer up." 

Jocelynn rolls her eyes with a grin, "I got it, Dani; I know how to hitch these things." 

"Really? Because the hitch is a good six inches too low," Dani returns. "We'll end up dumping all of our materials onto the road if we hit so much as a bump on our way back."

As the two of them argue, Josh, Sparrow, Matt, and I wander to the armory to grab our gear, but I stop short when I see who is in charge of inventory. 

I grimace as Ethan makes eye contact with me. 

"Oh," Ethan greets up flatly, "it's you. What nonsense are you lot up to now?"

Sparrow hooks his arm through Ethan's and gives him a thousand-watt grin, "Oh, don't be like that, pops! We just need our sharp and shinnies and rootie-shooties; we'll be out of your hair in a flash! Well," Sparrow pokes the bald spot on Ethan's head, "what's left of it anyway!"

Ethan snatches his arm from Sparrow's, and Sparrow laughs at the distaste on Ethan's face. "I ain't your pops, boy!" Ethan snaps, smacking Sparrow in the back of the head with his clipboard, but it does little to diminish his grin. "And what did I say about boundaries?!" 

"That you absolutely love my company and wish I was your very own son?"

Ethan opens his mouth to spit something back at Sparrow, but Josh clears his throat, hardly holding back his laughter. "Sorry, Ethan," Josh interrupts, "we just need to get our weapons and gear real quick. We're heading out to the lumberyard to get material for the gates and traps." 

Ethan glares at the gaggle of us for a hard moment before scribbling something on his clipboard, stepping aside and letting us pass. "Leon's been giving you kids too much power if you ask me," Ethan growls as we start to file in. I begin to step in last, but Ethan grabs my wrist in a vice and yanks me aside, pointing an accusatory finger in my face. "I don't know who you are or why you're really here," he growls low, "but if you so much as harm a hair on that boy's head, I will personally drown you in the river, and no one will ever find your body."

All I can do is stare back at him, wide-eyed, knowing full well that this man means it and that if he applies himself well enough, he very well could kill me without anyone knowing. 

Sparrow's voice interrupts the tense atmosphere between Ethan and me, "Cass, hurry up! I don't know which bow is yours!"

I manage to squeeze away from Ethan, though his death glare follows me inside, where Sparrow is trying to figure out the difference between four different bows resting on the back wall of the armory. 

"There you are!" Sparrow greets. "Ethan give you trouble?"

I give him a strained smile, "No more than he has been, it's fine. Also, my bow is the only one without the fancy sights," I note, grabbing my bow and quiver next to it, making sure all of my arrows are accounted for.