Then, Matt pulled the small black device out of his pocket. I had to refrain myself from swiping it right out of his hand, because even if I didn't want to, I had to trust that Matt knew what he was doing."Mission affirmative, sending reinforcements to rendezvous at your location." He attempted to lower his voice until it was unrecognizable. Then his eyes hesitantly met mine as he stuffed the walkie-talkie into his pocket.

"Where exactly is there location?" I whispered hesitantly, my quickening heartbeat pounding away at my chest."I have no idea." Matt shook his head seeming just as confused about the whole situation. "But, we have to get the hell out of here right now." He jerked his arm around my waist and ran, supporting my weight as I stumbled forward after him.

"We can't just leave her behind, Matt." I jerked away from him, and tried my best to ignore the hurt expression in his face. "I'm not dragging her all the way out here just to abandon her." I threw my hands up in exasperation, still trying to ignore the pain in my shoulder. Reaching for my shoes I pulled out my wrathblade and I ran, not knowing exactly which direction I was supposed to be going. Sure I was still dizzy, but Katrina needed me, and that fact couldn't stop me, not if my baby sister was hurt.

Matt pulled me by my good arm rather harshly, it was almost as if he didn't know his own strength.

"Hey, just be quiet and listen for a second." Matt whispered dryly, his hands shaking as he shoved me back behind the wide bushes to our left, then he threw his hand over my mouth trying to get me to calm down. I pushed him with my good arm, my pounding heart thudding against my chest, making it hard for me to breath as I stared at him in utter disbelief, seriously, what was all of that for? Smoothing down my wild hair I glared at him, but Matt didn't seem to care. He just shrugged, leaned forward and studied our surroundings silently, fully concentrated, even if I wanted to, I would not be getting his attention at that point.

Then I heard the soft patter of feet running, two pairs of them, they were both delicate, and small sounding. Matt's eyes widened as he stared through the green leaves, he seemed to recognize whoever it was standing there.Silently I crept beside him, trying to find out what the big deal was. As my eyes landed on the scene before me, I felt my mouth go dry, we had found her... Katrina. Loose ringlet curls flew around her face, as she was dragged tightly by the wrist. An older girl with strawberry blonde hair, tanned skin, around either seventeen or eighteen, was pulling my sister behind her with a deathly tight grip.

My heart rate quickened. I had no idea who this girl was, but from the look of it, she wasn't any help. I sprung up, tightening my grip around my blade, as I lunged in front of the girl furiously. Who was she? I mean, this was my sister we were talking about here, and and she was squeezing my sister's wrist so hard that it had left a dark, swollen bruise around the rim of her wrist.

"Get your hands off of her." I growled warningly, my eyes scanning the girl up and down.She was small, seeming not to have any sort of advantage on me whatsoever. Her light strawberry blonde hair was straight and long, falling all the way to the middle of her back. She seemed to be a mixture of Korean and caucasian, which made her eyes seem even bigger, with that deep green color that seemed so unusual. Even so, she was absolutely stunning, and hadn't Matt seemed to recognize her?

I shook my head to regain my thoughts, this wasn't the time to be getting all territorial over something that wasn't even mine.

"I'm sorry." The girl tilted her head to the side trying to catch her breath for a second, then she loosened her grip on Katrina's arm. "Who are you?"

I took a deep breath of air in order to calm myself down. I didn't want to attack someone that could potentially help, but another part of me was screaming, 'go ahead, rip all that perfectly straight, red hair right off of her head, you know you want to.' Though, I somehow managed to keep myself calm, as I forced a smile on my face. "I could be asking you the same thing." I replied in a even tone.

Matt was beside me now, I hadn't even notice him move, though he wasn't all that interested in me at the moment, instead he was staring right at the girl. Then when she saw him, her deep green eyes caught his and she stayed frozen, watching him in disbelief. I didn't know how to feel about it exactly, all I knew was that I didn't like it. I didn't like it at all."Matthew?" She tilted her head to the side just a little bit. Then without warning she dropped my sister's hand and ran at him. "Oh my God! Matthew! I thought you were dead." She threw her arms around Matt and tucked her head into his chest as if she were going to cry. I felt a pang at my chest to see another girl hugging Matt, but I tried not to think of it.

Hesitantly Matt patted her back with an awkward hug then quickly pulled her away from him. My hand tightened around the blade, I could already tell that I wasn't going to like this girl, but instead of making a scene, I shook my head and shoved the knife into my pocket."Maybelle, what are you doing all the way out here?" Matt's voice was worried as his eyes met mine. I averted my eyes away from him trying to avoid his concerned gaze. I didn't know who that girl was, but this proved the fact that I really had no idea who Matt was, and even less about his past.

Off the corner of my eye, I noticed Matt crossing his arms, which made him look slightly uncomfortable. Then Katrina limped silently toward me. I wondered what had happened, and how Katrina had been separated from Matt and I.

Bending down to my knees, I observed my sister's face. Placing my hand gently under her jaw, I carefully tilted her head to the side. She was bruised, it looked as if she had been punched on the side of her face somewhere below her eyebrow and above her cheekbone. The bruise was a nasty looking one, all dark purple, and swollen. I was surprised she could even keep her eye open with it being as swollen as it was. I shook my head feeling weak at the knees, I should've been there to protect her, but I wasn't.

Maybelle's voice slowly brought me out of my trance, and I let my hand fall from her face but I continued to stare at my sister."Gosh, I don't know, I've been out here for years now, I've sort've lived here since the Town Hall, well, you know what happened."

My eyes were now trained on her. Maybelle had been at the Town Hall, just like most of the other people that had been forced down there that day. She ran her fingers through her hair. "But, these past few days I've seen groups of Pendomite's marching through here, I've been hiding out you know. But, then I saw them trying to hurt this little girl, and that wasn't just something I wanted to stand back and watch, so I helped her."

Slowly, Maybelle's eyes gleamed back and forth from Katrina to me as she took in the similarities to our appearance. Trying to ignore the girls stare, I allowed my eyes meet Katrina's questionably. I really didn't believe anything coming out of that girl's mouth, but Katrina nodded in confirmation.

Maybelle had to have been telling the truth, I knew my sister wouldn't lie about that."Look, I know you two probably have a lot to catch up on," My voice was raw, but I did my best not to show the emotion in it. "but, you see, Matt just kind of tried to blow my arm off, and I can hear the soldier's, they're not to far off our track. So can we like try to follow up on this reunion later, and maybe, you know, find out what the hell we're going to do right now."

My voice was calm, but in reality it took all of my willpower to hide the panic inside of my voice. What was I going to do? How could I possibly keep my little sister and Matt safe?A wave of nausea suddenly took over my body and I steadied myself against the tree at my side before I completely toppled over. Matt didn't seem to notice this as I heaved in a deep breath to regain my composure.

"Yeah." Matt's voice rang awestruck as he stared at the girl. My heart was crumpled into a million different pieces when I noticed the way he completely ignored me, but that had just been a coincidence, right?Maybe it was all just in my head. It was crazy to even think Matt wouldn't notice me, but, I had to admit, Maybelle was absolutely gorgeous. I mean, seriously what was there not to like about her?

She was thin with straight, flowing strawberry blonde hair, but up close it almost seemed to fade into just a regular dirty blonde. Her eyes seemed almost unreal, they were evergreen, my favorite color.And me? Well, I was no match for Maybelle, none at all. My hair was, complicated; always sticking every which way, frizzed in tight-ringlet curls from the humid air, rain, or sweat, but either way, I could never seem to manage my unruly hair. No matter what I did, it would never quite sit the way I wanted it too. My eyes were a dull color of grey and blue mixed together...

And Maybelle? Well she was the exact opposite. So, I couldn't help myself from feeling unwanted when Matt stared at her the way he did, and completely ignored my presence. I shook my head trying not to let myself think too much. He was just surprised, right? I mean, Matt didn't know this girl was alive until now, for all I knew she could be his sister, but, on the other hand for all I knew she could also be his girlfriend... I shook my head.

It was not the time to be thinking that way.Once I had regained my composure I secured my hand around Katrina's unbruised one. I didn't waste anymore time after that, I just ran, not exactly knowing where we were going to go. By now the wooded area seemed like an unmapped maze that could go on and on forever. While we may have been going in circles, everything was starting to look the same to me as my medicine began to set in.

'Damn it, not now!' I thought to myself, I could feel myself tripping over my own feet. Knowing that my medication was kicking in I dropped my sister's hand and slowed down, somehow hoping that this would bring some of my senses back to me. But that didn't seem to help me all too much, still everything was spinning. Katrina slowed down at my side watching me with concern glowing in her emerald eyes.

"Are you okay?" She examined my arm with her eyes as she jogged by my side. She didn't seem to know what to do, her head whipped toward Matt, and then she quickly looked back to me.

"I'm fine." I muttered through gritted teeth. Then I squeezed my arm, somehow thinking that it would allow my mind to focus on something different completely, but of course, it did not. Katrina's concern wasn't making things any better on me. Well, I mean, I was the big sister there, wasn't I supposed to be more responsible? I should've been the one worrying about her... But, I couldn't think straight, and everything around me seemed to be growing more and more distant, as I continued to run. I wouldn't though, I had more adrenaline left in me than ever, so I pushed myself to keep running.

"No you aren't!" Katrina yelled obviously getting aggravated with me. She yanked me by the arm, knowing that I just couldn't push her away from me. "Matt!" She called without even a second of hesitation, her long, dirty blonde hair falling below her back. I shook my head, we didn't have time for this, the soldiers were gaining up on us. The last thing I wanted was for Matt to get killed because of me not thinking. "Matt, she can't do this!" Her voice was frantic as her eyes darted back and forth between Matt and I.

"I'm fine, Katrina." I muttered with shaky hands as I squeezed her shoulder, somehow hoping that it would calm her down. Though in reality I wasn't fine, I knew that what I was in desperate need of a rest, but I'd yet to find any.

Though, even if Matt had heard me, he didn't believe it, because he was by my side within an instant. That thought alone made me feel a little bit warmer, but everything was still blurry.

Gently he placed his cool hand against my face and and stared at me for a couple of seconds, I could feel my heart racing and my skin burning, and my emotions fluttering everywhere, and it was all just simply from his touch alone."You're not okay, anyone can see that." Matt shook his head, allowing his hand to fall from my face, but those sapphire eyes never left my sight. "I got you though." He whispered as he wrapped his arm tightly around my waist and carefully swung me into his chest.

I could feel Maybelle's eyes burning a hole in the back of my head. I leaned heavily into him too, which of course did not set well with Maybelle, but I couldn't care less what she thought of it, even as I was being glared at the whole time being. All I wanted was to sleep, but no, I just had to be oh so popular that day didn't I? Matt was the only thing that held me upright as he ran, and I still felt as if I were going to pass out there in his arms.I was scared, frustrated, and everything was spinning again.

So, holding onto him tighter, I dug my head into the crook of Matt's neck and tried not to listen to the sound of the soldier's heavy boots crunching against the dried leaves on the ground as they made their way towards us. Everything was going to be okay, as long as I had Matt there by my side, and by no means was he going to let anything happen to me. He wasn't going to let them touch anybody, even Maybelle, he had always been selfless that way, since the first day I met him.Then out of nowhere I heard this hollow thudding sound under Matt's feet as he ran. A splitting headache suddenly took over, and I dug my nails into Matt's arm mostly as a reflex to the ringing in my ears.

"Didn't you hear that?" I mumbled against Matt's chest as he continued to hold me in his arms. Somehow I just knew that neither Katrina nor Maybelle would be able to hear what I had said.Matt's sapphire eyes deepened as they met mine, but he didn't say anything. Just came to an abrupt stop, and I could feel him jolt to the side a little bit, with that movement I heard the same hollow sound that echoed under his feet. It sounded almost as if it were a piece of hardened wood, so much, to the point that it had been cured almost or completely through the slack.

"Yeah, I did." Matt shook his head, then he carefully slipped me out of his arms and started swiping all the dirt and dried leaves away from whatever it was he had stepped on.

"What are you doing, the soldiers-" It was Maybelle's voice that sounded hysterical as her eyes flashed back and forth between Matt and I.

"Would you shut up and let him concentrate!" I snapped at her accusingly. Of course I could see where she was coming from, but I had already lost my patience.Then Matt's head turned to meet my gaze and he squeezed my hand in an attempt to calm me down as if to tell me it was going to be okay in one of those secretive silent gestures no one new about but me and him. Then he broke our eye contact and went back to dusting off the ground. It was quite rushed actually, but soon he had cleared the leaves away, which revealed an old rotted looking wooden latch. It seemed to be almost like the 'door' to our high school, but instead this one was worn down and neglected from years of abuse.

"It's and old war shelter." Matt said aloud as if in thought.

"What? Matt, you're kidding, that's like impossible those have been lost for decades." I shook my head, but nevertheless he yanked open the old ratty looking thing without sparing me one glance.It was like being pulled back through time, but, you know, without all that nauseous, head spinning stuff that you think would come along with it. As we stood there gawking, I slowly noticed that there was a dark spiraling staircase, mostly made out rotted oak wood, and there lying on the first of the eroded stairs, conveniently was an unlit lantern. Matt, of course, was the first person to step forward, but when Katrina moved after him, I yanked her away before she could follow in after that idiot himself.

"What are you doing?" I muttered incredulously at him, my eyes investigating the damage of the pre-war shelter as Matt's boots creaked onto the first stair.

Though Matt, being the type of guy that he was; the damn boy just merely tilted his head to the side."Isn't it obvious? I'm doing what I always do; saving your dumb ass, now get in here before I have to go full on savage with these damn Pendomite's."

Shaking my head, I let go of Katrina's arm, deciding that the old war shelter was a better choice than running from the soldiers all morning. "Fine, but you owe me big time." I grumbled, slowly pushing Katrina forward to go in after him. Then I turned around to meet Maybelle's fiery gaze, for some reason or another she certainly seemed very aggravated with me, but instead of being rude to her, I put my arm out to indicate that she should go in after Katrina. She did, then I spread out some of the leaves as well as I could before I climbed down the staircase.

Once we were all inside Matt shut the latch, and I grabbed the old lantern from the floor beside me. It was almost pitch black, so I let my eyes adjust to the lighting. I had seen a lantern before, but I had never learned how to turn one of them on. I knew there was a nob on the side, and as I turned it with my fingers, I saw the wick slowly peaking through the glass, we were in luck. "Hey Matt? You still got that lighter?" I whispered, staring intently at the old thing.

"Yeah, I do." Matt said after we heard him shuffling through his backpack for what seemed to be eternity, but in reality could have only been a few seconds. So, without thinking, I reached forward when he held his hand out for me, and I grabbed his lighter, feeling my finger grace his hand as I did so. At the time, I was glad for the darkness, glad neither Matt, nor Maybelle could see me blushing, from the simplest touch of our hands...

My heart was pounding, yet, I somehow found it in myself to light the lantern in my hands. The flame flickered, as I yanked my hand away from the lantern. The area was once again visible, even in the dimmest of lighting.