We wander through the woods in silence for about two hours before anyone speaks up.

“Why is he here?” Josh demands, glaring at Matt and holding his side as he walks with Sparrow’s help.

“We needed his help to find the Widow camp, which we still need to report to the Valkyrie,” I answer.

“Sparrow already did,” Quentin adds. “While you were looking for your friends.”

“And who’s this guy?” Josh adds, glancing to Quentin.

“Look, we can have a question session once we’re someplace safe,” I comment, leading everyone through the trees. “But for right now, let’s concentrate on not getting killed.”

Dani squeezes my hand in an offer of comfort, and I squeeze it back, glad that she hasn’t let go yet. The nerves in my hand are still sensitive, and it hurts when I use it too much, but I’ll be damned if I let Dani go again.

We break through the tree-line and come across a rural neighborhood with some houses scattered around, a few vehicles we might be able to get into working order again, and the prospect of supplies seem high. I can’t see or hear any Feral’s at the moment, but then again, the moon is still high and doesn’t offer much light.

“We can stay in one of these houses for a little bit to catch our breath,” I offer, glancing back at the others. They nod, though Matt rolls his eyes, staying quiet.

I lead everyone into a backyard, shutting the gate behind me, and looking around. There’s a bunch of children’s toys scattered around, and an above-ground pool full of moss, mold, and bugs in the middle of the yard, with a doghouse tucked away near the sliding back door. I glance through the window, but something large blocks my view, and it’s not a curtain. I try to slide it open, but the door doesn’t budge.

“Try the windows,” I tell the boys. “I’ll check out the front of the house.”

“I’ll go with you,” Dani offers.

I nod and the two of us wander around the side of the house, checking the widow’s as we pass by, but they’re all boarded up.

“Looks like whoever was here secured the place pretty well,” Dani comments, staying close beside me.

“Hopefully they’ve moved on by now,” I add.

The front door is also locked, but at least I can pick this one. I set to work as Dani keeps watch to make sure nothing sneaks up on us.

“So Matt really helped you find us?” Dani asks, her tone wary.

I nod stiffly as I work the lock. “More or less,” I reply. “When we got back to the Valkyrie camp, apparently he was with the Widow’s who tried attacking them. The Valkyrie captured Matt, much to my surprise, so we made a deal.”

“Let me guess; he’ll help you find us if he goes free?” Dani asks.

I nod. “Pretty much. Valerie was hesitant on it – Hell all of us were – but we didn’t have a choice. No one knew where they were hiding, but now the Valkyrie know, and they plan to do something about that.”

“Why aren’t we heading back to their camp?”

I sigh, unlocking the door. “It’s a long story. I’ll explain everything once we’re inside.”

The boys round the corner as I stand up.

“All of the window’s are barricaded and locked,” Sparrow sighs. “Any luck here?”

“Cass just unlocked the front door,” Dani replies. “Let’s make sure it’s clear.”

I nod, drawing my bow and knocking an arrow. I open the door and peek around inside the dark house, but I can’t find much of anything. I kick the door, the sound echoing throughout the house, and a moment later, I can hear snarling and footsteps rushing out towards us. We take a few paces back, and I pull back on my bow, my hand shaking as the first Feral bursts outside, taking a swipe at Sparrow. He burries his machete into it’s neck and kicks it away, where it falls dead as two more Feral’s come out. I let an arrow loose and it finds it’s mark between the eyes of one of them, and Quentin jumps in, grappling the last Feral and snapping it’s neck with a twist.

The house is silent now.

“Split up and check the house, there could be more,” I order, knocking another arrow and stepping inside.

The place is a mess, though not as much of a mess as I thought it would be. Clothes are scattered about the floor of the living room, and there’s a couple mattresses on the floor. In the kitchen, there are three plates set out, the food long since rotted away, and one of the chairs have been knocked over, a dried pool of blood under it.

“Must have been attacked at dinner,” Josh concludes.

“The rest of the house is clear,” Sparrow says as he walks back into the kitchen with Quentin.

“Good. Let’s move the dead Feral’s away from the front door so no one walking past get’s any ideas,” I order. Sparrow and Quentin nod, heading back outside to move the Feral’s to a more secluded spot as I take Josh and Dani into the living room, sitting them on the couch.

I turn on a small electrical lantern on the coffee table as I crouch in front of the two, Matt flopping down in a lazy-boy, sighing.

“Well that was fun,” he comments. “What happens now?”

“Now,” I say, digging through my bag for the first aid kit, “we get rested up, and get out of here at first light.”

I examine the bandages on Dani’s face, and it’s clear that they haven’t been changed in a long while, the blood caked on and the rags tattered.

Sparrow and Quentin come back in, locking the door behind them, and they take a seat in the loveseat.

“What happened to you two?” I ask, looking between Dani and Josh.

Josh sighs, leaning back in the couch. “Well, after Jess knocked us out, she took us to that camp you found us at and locked us up separately,” he starts. “She wanted to try and convince us to join back up with them, said that if we did, we’d be pardoned from our ‘unnecessary actions’ against them.”

Dani growls, shaking her head. “We both declined, and this is the result. She wanted to keep us, said that Grimm would be around in a couple months to check up on them, and she wanted to see what he would do about us.”

“Grimm? The leader of the Widow’s?” I ask.

“Yup, that same bastard,” Dani growls.

“Do you know him? Personally?” I venture.

“We’ve only seen him once, and it wasn’t what you’d call a walk in the park to talk to him. He came by the Widow camp a long time ago to check on their progress, but he didn’t stay very long.”

I sigh, and start to carefully unwrap the bandages around Dani’s eye, and she winces, but not as bad as I do. Underneath, half of her face is covered with fresh burn scars, as though someone took a torch and pressed it directly to her face a few times. The scar is scabbed over, the flesh raw and an angry color of red, and it goes down the side of her neck to her shoulder.

“What did she do to you?” My voice quivers with rage and fear as I examine the wound.

“She didn’t like the way I glared at her all the time,” Dani mutters, her gaze downcast. Her right eye is swollen shut, and I’m not entirely sure if it’s even still intact.

“Next time I see her, she’s dead,” I growl. Dani rests her hand on mine, urging me to calm down, and she smiles softly at me.

“So,” Josh says, trying to steer the conversation. “What happened at the CDC? Did you save the world yet?”

Sparrow, Quentin, and I exchange sidelong glances, and I sigh.

“The CDC was a bust…” I grumble.

Dani and Josh’s expressions fall.

“It was…” Dani’s voice shakes. “A bust?”

I rest my hands on her knees and search her eyes.

“I’m sorry, Dani,” I gently rub her knees as she shakes, a rueful grin on her face. “I’m so sorry.”

Josh shakes his head. “What do you mean it was a bust?”

“Once we got inside, I…” I grimace, “I saw my father, David.”

Josh and Dani stare down at me.

“Isn’t that a good thing, though?” Josh asks.

I scoff. “The opposite, actually. My father is a part of the organization responsible for the outbreak; Atlas.”

They gasp. “Atlas? Like, Atlas Pharmaceuticals? But they’re just a pharmacy firm, right?”

I shake my head. “That’s just a cover they’ve made to gain the trust of the public before the infection. They’re the ones who made and distributed the virus, but my mother was the one who made the cure, and separated these lockets, giving them to the people she trusted the most, including my uncle.”

The entire group is silent as they register the information I gave them, but after a moment, Matt scoffs. “Wow, and I thought my family issues were intense,” he chuckles.

Everyone glares at Matt for a moment, and as I clean and inspect Dani’s wound, I relay the information Doctor Bryce gave me, showing them the list of the names and places of the last people known to have the lockets.

“Do any of these names seem familiar to any of you?” I ask them. They each take a look at the list, shaking their heads, and I sigh. “Well, we at least know where two of the lockets are. Doctor Bryce has one still, and so do I.”

“Two down,” Sparrow slumps down in his seat. “Eight more to go.”

I finish cleaning and wrapping Dani’s wounds, my hand lingering on her cheek a moment longer, and she sighs.

“We should get some rest,” she says, looking up at me. “We can discuss a plan in the morning.”

We all nod, some of us yawning, and Sparrow and I grab some blankets and pillows from the bedrooms, dragging them into the living room where everyone starts to claim their sleeping places. Matt stretches out on the couch, using his jacket as a pillow, Josh claims the loveseat, gladly accepting a pillow and blanket, and Quentin sits down on one of the mattresses where Sparrow seems all too eager to join him. Once we distribute the blankets and pillows to everyone, Dani and I lay down on the other mattress, quickly tangling up in each other’s arms and legs. I tuck my head under her chin, and Dani kisses the top of my forehead before she very quickly passes out.

A few hours pass as I lay there, restless and trying my best to enjoy finally being able to sleep in her arms again. I sigh, unable to calm my mind, and I carefully detangle myself from Dani, who barely stirs in her sleep. I stand, maneuvering my way around everyone and head towards the front of the house to look out of the crack between the boards of the windows.

Four years.

That’s about how long this infection has been going on, and roughly how long I’ve been trying to deliver the stupid locket to the CDC. Now that I know that the infection was on purpose and that David is looking for the pieces of the cure, I have to make sure that I find the pieces before he does. It took my four years just getting from Texas to Atlanta. It’ll take me even longer just to find all of the pieces, and then what? We can’t take it to the CDC, and even if we could find out what’s on them, there’s no way we’d be able to make and distribute a cure without Atlas goons hunting us down. We don’t even know anyone who would be able to make sense of whatever information is on the chips inside, and we certainly don’t know anyone who would be able to make anything of it.

We can’t just play keep-away from Atlas, either. That would deny the world of a cure, which is just as bad as what Atlas wants to do with it. I sigh, shaking my head and lean against the window. Strong arms slowly snake their way around my waist in a hug, and I instantly know it’s Dani.

“Can’t sleep?” She whispers in my ear, resting her head on my shoulder.

“Not really…” I mutter, leaning back against her and setting my hands over hers.

“You’re thinking about the cure, aren’t you?”

Slowly, I nod.

“We can do this, Cass,” Dani assures. “You’re not alone in this. Everybody here is with you, one hundred percent, including the Valkyrie, and that’s not an easy thing to accomplish.” She nuzzles the side of my head with her own. “I’ll be with you through it all.”

I sigh. “How do you know?” I pull away enough to turn and face her, searching her face. “You gave yourself up at the CDC, Dani.”

The hurt on her face is obvious, but she holds my gaze. “She would have killed you if we fought our way through, and I couldn’t risk that.”

“But she could have killed you, Dani,” I press. “I could have lost you, right then and there, and the months I was stuck at the CDC drove me insane. Right after Felix died, I had to watch that crazy bitch drag you away from me, and it felt like a part of me was missing.” Tears prick at the corner of my eyes, and I hide my face in her shoulder. “Don’t do that to me again, okay? Promise me.”

Her arms come around my shoulders, drawing me closer to her. “I promise,” she whispers. “I will never leave you again, Cass. I swear.”

I mutter something to her in her shoulder, the words muffled in her shirt.

“What was that?” She asks, pulling away to look at me.

I pull her into a kiss and she melts into it, my arms around her shoulders.

“I said,” I breathe against her lips when we part, “I love you, too.”