We carried the wounded solider carefully through the woods. Some on would always say here or there "watch out for a root" or "look out for that big rock".'

"There's the cabin!" Jake announced, he was clearly out of breath but continued to walk on.

My arms felt like they were going to fall off. There were a few strand of hair in my face so my vision wasn't the best right now. I almost tripped over my own foot and fell, thankfully, for me and the soldier, i didn't.

I sighed with relief at the sight of the cabin. We put down the makeshift stretcher and I opened the door. We squeezed in and laid the soldier down on the floor. I sat on the couch for a second and caught my breath, i was surprisingly not sweating as bad as thought i would be. I brushed the hair off my face and took off my flip-flops. I quickly grabbed a glass of water and then pit the cup in the sink. Sarah was already laying her supplies out in a more organized way as she prepared stage two. Jake had ran upstairs and probably collapsed on his bed. Sophie was sitting in a chair at the table, her head resting on the wood.

I heard someone moan and looked at the soldier. He had blinked open his eyes! I stood up and walked over cautiously.

"Where am I?" He rasped and tried to sit up.

"No," Sarah said simply and he turned to look at her.

"Who are you?" He said with confusion.

"She just saved your life so if I were you, i'd listen to her", i said and he looked at me with his deep brown eyes.

He looked at me for a second and laid back down.

I sat back down on the couch, "You crashed. You were lucky we found you and not the wild animals".

"So I am", he replied and Sarah silenced him.

He looked to be around my age and had dark brown hair. 17 and already in the army, it looked like the Alliance was desperate.

"Ow," He winced as Sarah put another cloth on his burns.

"You need help, Sarah?" I asked, I didn't like feeling useless, no matter the situation.

"Sure", she replied as I sat down on the floor next to her.

We did the same procedure with the wet clothes on the visible burns as we did on the beach. The soldier's jacket was torn up, so it didn't protect him well in the crash.

"Sophie, scissors", Sarah said as she removed the cloths from the burns.

Sophie groaned with tiredness. I heard the chair push out and Sophie get up. She handed Sarah the scissors.

"What are you doing?" The soldier asked but kept still. 

"Quiet", I ordered and pushed his head back down.

"Cutting away the fabric around the wounds", Sarah said more nicely and started to cut the jacket.

"Here", the soldier said and sat up.

Before I could push him back down again, he took of the jacket, he had a black t-shirt on under neath, the burn  was almost under the sleeve but not quite.

"Ok, now lay back down", I ordered.

He looked at me and laid back down.

"Is she always this bossy?" he asked Sarah and I heard Sophie laugh from the kitchen area.

I glared at him, he was injured yet could still annoy people.

"We didn't drag you all the way from the beach for nothing", I snapped back.

He gave a hoarse laugh and went back to lying still. His eyes were open though, and staring at the ceiling.

Sarah wrapped all his wounds in bandages in a painstaking 30 minutes.

"All set",Sarah said.

She looked worn out and tired, her hair was a mess and her eyes looked as if they were struggling to stay open.

"You can go get some rest," I said and placed my hand on her shoulder.

"Thanks",she said, "I'm exhausted."

I watched as she walked up the stairs to go to her bed.

"Thank you", I heard the soldier say.

I turned to him and nodded, "We couldn't let you die, we couldn't let anyone die".

It was silent for a moment, Sophie had gone upstairs as well. Thanks for helping Soph! You are so helpful!

"Where am I?" The soldier broke the silence and looked up at me.

"The woods," I replied, "Somewhere in Canada."

"Do you live here?" he asked.

"Yes, have for about eight years now," I replied, "You a solider for the Alliance?"

He nodded and sighed, "Yeah, they needed troops so I volunteered, I got shot down by enemy pilots and then the next thing I know I am here, alive, not dead."

I looked out the window to my left, the sun was setting slowly over the trees, the day had gone by very slowly, most days weren't like this, then again, most days didn't have planes crashing on a beach.

"Come on," I said and went to help him up, We have a spare bed upstairs, it's getting dark."

I put my arm around his shoulder and helped him up the stairs. He laid down on the bed and sighed.

"Thanks for everything," He said, "I'm James, by the way".

"Emily", I replied, "And your welcome."

I got changed in the bathroom into a t-shirt and sweatpants and went to bed. Once my eyes closed, i fell into an almost, but not quite, instant sleep. My head rested on the pillow and my breathing slowed as i relaxed. i could hear the soft sound of rain landing on the roof and the wind blowing some trees around. I felt myself falling asleep and then my mind started to dream.

I woke up at the lake's edge. There were dark gray clouds in the sky and the wind whisked through my hair. I saw a small boat on the water, but the thing was, there was no one aboard. I walked into the water up to my knees to get a closer look. I saw what i thought was my parents, it was very faint and barely visible.

My mom's blond hair was clean and perfect, her blue as shimmered like the summer sky. She  was wearing a black and white long -sleeve shirt and jeans. My father's brown hair was also neat and clean, he was wearing a gray t-shirt and jeans. My mother was smiling and waved to me. I waved back then they disappeared.

I heard a crash and lightning ignited the sky. I heard a loud clap of thunder and ran into the woods to try to go back to the cabin, but, it wasn't there. I frantically looked around as the rain started to pour.

"Emily!" I heard Sophie's distraught voice scream. I looked up and saw her clinging to a tree branch.

"Sophie!" I shouted with alarm and ran to the tree.

Sophie swayed with the wind and then i heard a crack. The branch was going to break!

"Emily watch out!" I heard a voice shout. I turned behind me and saw Jake, except he was older, I looked back at Sophie and realized she was older too. 

Jake ran over and pushed me out of the way as the branch fell and Sophie landed on the ground. I ran to her side and Jake picked her up.

"Come on!" Jake yelled and we ran to the lake.

Why the lake? I felt fear running through my body, fear and anxiousness.

Then, the next thing i knew i was in the middle of the lake on a the small boat i saw earlier.

"Emily!" I hear someone scream. but i didn't recognize the man's voice.

I woke up sweating. My breathing was heavy and is at up. I looked out the window and saw the dim morning sunlight. A nightmare? I hadn't had one in years. If I did, they were completely random and I would often forget by noon the next day. Everyone else was still sleeping. My bed was in the corner of the room, then next to me was Sarah, then Sophie, then Jake. James was on the other side of the room where the spare bed was and the dressers. Between each of our bed was a night stand with a lamp. Did it serve any purpose? No, with no electricity, it was completely useless, but it made it feel more normal to have it there.

Today, we were going back to the plane crash site to collect useful materials or tools. It might be a little stressful on James so soon after the accident, but then again, he might not even be in shape to go to the lake.

I stood up and walked to my dresser to get my clothes. I grabbed a black long-sleeve shirt and some jeans and went to go get changed. I brushed out my hair and put it in a quick pony tail before getting my brown hunting boots on. I went down stairs and out the door to go get breakfast from the food store, there was plenty to last through the winter, which was only a few days away.

I grabbed a little pouch of fruit and some older deer meat i had caught a while ago that would spoil soon but was still good to eat. The rain had stopped but the leaves above were still dripping with rain water. The ground was wet, all except the area where the fire pit was, we had made a roof over it so if it rained we could still cook some food in the morning. I started a fire and grabbed some dry wood that we kept in the store. The fire felt nice and warm as i sat by it to cook the deer meat. I peaked into the berry pouch to see what type i had randomly selected. I picked one raspberry and put it in my mouth. The sweet flavor tasted great! I closed the bag and focused on the fire. It's heat felt nice, like i could sit here all day. I looked around to make sure there were no predators attracted to the smell.

Nope, all clear. I looked at the meat, it was done. I put out the fire with a large bucket of ice cold rain water and brought the meat and fruit inside and placed it on the table. I got five plates out of the cabinet by the sink and placed them on the table. I also grabbed five glasses and filled them with some water from the well out back. I evenly divided the deer meat between the five plates and i did the same with the raspberries.

I heard footsteps and looked towards the stairs.

"Good morning, Sophie", I said as she sleepily walked down the stairs.

"How long have you been up?" Sophie said tiredly and sat in a chair.

"I don't know, about 45 minutes maybe," I replied and walked towards the stairs, "Sun's up, i'm going to go wake up Sarah and Jake for breakfast."

"What about the guy we found yesterday?" Sophie asked with a few raspberries in her mouth.

"If he wants to sleep longer he can, he's injured so..... yeah", I finished oddly for a better use of words hadn't come to mind.

"Ok", Sophie said and I continued to walk upstairs.

I walked over to Sarah's bed and lightly shook her shoulder.

"Breakfast is ready", i whispered in her eye, "Sophie's already down there and I am going to get Jake."

Sarah stirred and i saw her eyes blink open. She kicked off the covers and sat up.

"Ok, i'll go eat then", she said and walked down stairs.

I pulled the covers off of Jake's bed and he tried to pull them back.

"Come on, Jake", I said softly.

"5 more minutes," he insisted.

I shook my head, "We have a busy day today, we are going to search through the wreckage."

This immediately got his attention and he blinked open his eyes and sat up, "Ok i'm coming."

He stood up and walked down stairs.  I questioned waking up James in my mind. I walked over and nudged his shoulder.

He opened his eyes, "What time is it?"

"No clue, no clocks", I replied.

"Oh right," He seemed to have forgotten he was in the woods in a cabin with three people he didn't know.

"Breakfast is ready if you want to come down," I said and turned to walk down stairs, "If you want to sleep more, go ahead, but breakfast is ready now."

"I'm coming", he said and sat up.

Before I took a step down the stairs I looked back up, "How are your wounds?"

"Better," he replied and stood up.

He swayed on his feet for a moment before taking a step forward.

I walked down stairs and sat at the table. Sophie was almost done, Sarah had just finished her berries, and Jake was slowly eating the meat.

I pulled out a chair and sat down on the right side of the table. Jake was on the far end, Sophie was across from me, and Sarah was on the other end. Jake looked towards the stairs.

"Good morning," he said to James.

"Morning", James replied and sat down at the table next to me.

"What's this?" James pointed to the deer with his fork.

"Deer", I replied, "I hunt, Sarah gathers, and soon Jake and Sophie will hunt full time with me."

"So that's Jake," James pointed to Jake and Jake nodded.

"Your Sophie?" he said with less certainty as he pointed at Sarah.

"No, I'm Sarah. That's Sophie", Sarah said and nodded to Sophie, then she nodded to me, "And that's Emily."

"I remember that", James responded and took a bite out of his deer steak.

"What's you name?" Jake asked and took a sip of water.

"Oh right, James," He said, "I was a pilot for the Alliance, but I crashed. That is why you don't let 17 year old's fly planes in wars."

I laughed a little and James smiled, he wasn't so bad, a little annoying some times but not dreadful.

"What's the plan for today?" Sophie asked as she placed her plate and glass in the sink.

"We are going to search through the wreckage to see if we can find anything useful", I replied and looked at James who stiffened a bit.

"You don't have to come if you don't want to ", i said and he shook his head.

"It's fine, i'd rather be helpful than stay here all day," he said with a little confidence.

"Ok, we leave after breakfast", i finished and put my dishes in the sink. I sat on the couch with Sophie and Sarah while we waited for Jake and James.

When everyone was done i stood up and walked to the door, "Let's go".