After Amy finally managed to get a hold of her emotions, Mark took her up and weaved between the trees to bring her back home once again. He seemed pretty content with his newly given name, though whether he understood it or not was still yet to actually be seen. Amy didn't care that the giant was pretty much kidnapping her again, as she was far too tired and drained to bother protesting. And she didn't exactly have anywhere else to go...

When they made it back to the cave, the sun was already sinking behind the tree line. Amy felt her stomach growl pitifully, reminding her of the eventful day she didn't spend surviving, but she ignored it and curled up tighter in the giant's hand. She didn't have her appetite anyway. But Mark looked down at her and growled softly, making her glance up at him.

"I'm fine," she mumbled. She put her head down and sighed sadly. "I just want to go to sleep." Mark rumbled and sat down at the back of the cavern. He leaned back and cupped Amy carefully against his chest as he slowly lay down and rested her over his breastbone. Her small feminine figure looked so fragile and skinny, slim from the weight of the rain. Mark gingerly nudged her legs to tuck them closer in, and then lay his huge hands over her and softly embraced her. Amy shivered slightly as his body heat washed over her. She had forgotten how warm the giant was. She felt her muscles relax as his heartbeat enveloped her, and the young girl's eyes slowly closed as she drifted off and away from her troubles.

When Amy woke the next day, it was still early morning. The sun was barely up yet, and nighttime crickets still chirped in the fading hours of darkness. She yawned and stretched, looking up to see Mark still sound asleep. She shivered a little before relaxing. She remembered this time that he wasn't like the other giants, and this time she wasn't afraid of him. But Amy knew deep down that she couldn't stay here. She sat up and repeated her actions from yesterday morning, climbing down the giant and cautiously sneaking out of the cave. She hesitated at the mouth and glanced over her shoulder. In her absence, Mark had rolled over on his side and breathed peacefully, fingers curling where she once lay. She felt a prickle of guilt, that for a second time she was leaving this oddly kind giant to wonder where she'd gone off to.

"I'm sorry," she whispered quietly, "But I need to know what happened. I'm sure I'll see you again... thank you." So she turned and walked out into the woods.

As soon as she made it to the abandoned campsite, Amy began her investigation in the morning light. She scavenged what she could and checked for signs that may tell the story of what went down, but all she could see were footprints and scuffmarks. Bandits? She wondered. The damage seemed to severe for such a simple explanation. Amy turned to the knocked down trees and examined a stump. It's been burned off. How is that possible? It's like someone sliced a hot knife right through the bark! She returned to the footprints and noticed that they leaded away from the camp.

"Guess that's my trail then," she grunted. With an adjustment of her slightly charred bag of supplies, she treaded deeper into the vast woods and followed the footprints. There were quite a few of them, which raised Amy's hopes up. There had to have been survivors, she told herself, They had to have survived. They had to! The trail led her over hills and across rivers, swerving between massive oaks and dominant elms. The path brought her to a birch forest when the sun hung midway in the sky.

Amy squinted as she studied the ground. The tracks seemed to have disappeared into thin air, and she was trying to retrace her steps to recover her bearings. She climbed on top a fallen log and studied the still wet ground stretched below. They have to be here somewhere. Desperate panic began to seize the young doctor. If they outlasted the rain, the trail has to continue somewhere around here!

"Hello?" She tried calling. "Jack? Signe? Anybody!?" She strained to hear a response, but only the trees answered her with their soft rustling. She sighed and sat down, hopes dampened. Tyler was right, she remembered with a wave of sadness, I did end up killing them, didn't I? At the very least, I ruined everything they had. They were just fine before I came along and-

Amy's train of thought came to a screeching halt when she heard a twig crunch. She tensed and looked around eagerly, hoping for a familiar face. "Hello?" She called. Her newfound strength came crashing down when, instead of a survivor emerging from the brush, she felt a hand clamp down over her mouth, and another hand grab her shoulder. She let out a muffled scream and struggled, but her attacker dragged her off the log and threw her to the ground. Her bag rolled to the side, but before Amy could grab it she was rolled over on her back, and the other person crouched over her and clutched her wrists.

"Hey Jackson!" The man smirked as his eyes studied the healer. "Lookee here what I found!" Amy felt her breath quicken as a second man approached.

"Not bad! Nice catch." The second bandit crouched down and gave Amy a sadistic grin. "You lost little lady?" He sneered. Amy tried to thrash against her captor, but he was too strong for her. Jackson chuckled and let his finger brush her lips. Amy jerked her head and bit down. "Ow!" The bandit pulled his hand away, looking pissed. "You bit me!" He snapped. The first bandit laughed.

"She's feisty, isn't she? Just what I love in a woman." Amy saw the hand coming for her, and she started to scream "No!" when he smothered her mouth. She strained to rip herself away from the bandits, but neither were bothered. The first bandit made sure she kept shut up, while Jackson grabbed her pack and rummaged through the pockets.

"Boeing, boring, boring, already have it." He made a face. "There's nothing in here!" He threw the bag away and turned back to the other two humans. "What's your name, darling?" His accomplice let up his hand just enough for Amy to speak.

"Sc-screw you," she gasped breathlessly, and then the hand came down again, clamping harshly over her jaws. Jackson smirked.

"Well, eager beaver, hun? Don't worry. We plan on taking our sweet time with you." Amy whimpered and tried to kick the bandit off. He moved his leg out of reach and laughed cruelly. She became more frantic the closer they came, and she started screaming again under his suffocating fingers.

"Give it up!" The bandit laughed mockingly. "There's nobody around for miles to hear your-" He fell silent and cocked his head. Jackson did as well, and then both of their eyes widened. Amy fell quiet and stopped struggling when she realized she could feel vibrations in the earth. And she recognized them as footsteps. "Shit!" The bandit hissed. "I thought you said there weren't any giants around!"

"There weren't none!" Jackson protested.

"Fuck. It's probably heard her then." The bandit got up and dragged Amy by the arm. She stumbled and yelped with pain when she landed on her bruised foot awkwardly, but the two thieves ignored her. She felt her muscles give out and go weak, and when she did she heard Jackson mutter something about going unconscious her vision spiraled into darkness.

Amy frowned and quietly groaned as she came to. Her head was pounding with a terrible ache, and her ankle didn't feel any better. She shivered and found her tired eyes opening to seek out the warm darkness of the cave, but instead she found herself looking across a large establishment of tents. Bandits clad in browns and greens milled all around her, talking or sharpening their weapons. Amy felt the blood drain from her cheeks. This is more bandits than I've ever seen! I've heard about some groups like this, but there's more than twenty of them! She tried to move, but quickly found that her wrists were bound and tied to a pole. She wriggled her hands and tried to break free. Straining with all of her might, she still could not snap the ropes. She stopped and tried looking around for something sharp to use.

"What news on the border?" Amy froze and pretended to still be asleep as she overheard two approaching bandits.

"That dumb giant is still hanging around," the other grumbled, "But we made some fake tracks to throw it off."

"Good. We have enough problems without it." Then, "So where'd y'all find her?"

"In the clutch of birches over the hill. Jackson thinks that the giant was hunting her, and that's why it's hanging around here."

"Not for much longer, hopefully." Amy jolted when a sharp foot suddenly kicked her leg. "Hey, wake up!" The bandit commanded. Amy looked up at the two with a nervous glare.

"Oof, someone didn't catch their beauty sleep," the other bandit snickered. Her lower lip quivered as the two crouched down in front of her.

"Wh-what do you want from me?" She asked, trying to sound fierce. They both grinned, easily hearing the quiver in her voice.

"The real question is, what can you do for us?" One chuckled.

"What can you do? Hunt?" The other mused.

"Forage?"

"Cook?"

"Course, there's always the usual, with women being so rare nowadays." Amy felt her guts twist in disgust as he reached out and brushed his hand along her cheek and hair. She jerked her head away, ignoring their mocking chuckles.

"You're going to regret it if you don't let me go," she warned. They both looked at each other and then laughed raucously.

"Oh really? And why is that?" They asked, howling with amusement. Amy sat up a bit straighter.

"My friend can kick all of your butts without breaking a sweat," she threatened. The first bandit scoffed and blew a raspberry, finding her remark hilarious. The other snickered and asked, "And what makes ya think that, lassie?" Amy grinned.

"Because he's a giant." That shut them up. They both stared at her for a few seconds.

"Yeah right," the first chuckled nervously. "Nice try, but there's no such thing as being friends with a giant." Amy simply sat pretty with a smile on her face.

"We'll see," she said sweetly. They both began to sweat nervously and pulled away to demand more scouts. Amy's confidence wavered, and as soon as they were gone she hunched over and sighed. Who am I kidding? He's probably gotten tired of me running off by now and given up on me. Amy blinked and then slowly let her head hang, sighing. It was just a bluff... She was forced to sit there for a few hours, listening to the vulgar conversations of the men and smell the intangible taste of cooked supper. She licked her dry lips, remembering that it had been a good while since she'd eaten anything. I got so wrapped up in looking for the others, I didn't even think about taking care of myself, the young doctor realized with dismay. She wanted to slap herself for her stupidity, except her hands were bound.

A moody fog had set in as clouds covered the setting sun. Amy fidgeted uncomfortably, stiff from not moving the past few hours. She still could not come up with an escape plan, and now she was almost too exhausted to even think when she lifted her head up and saw one of the bandits approaching her. She watched warily as he crouched down in front of her and pushed hid hood back.

"My men tell me you were wandering around in the birch forest." Amy paled. Great! This is their freaking leader! "What were you doing there?" The man asked. Though his voice was gentle, his eyes glittered beadily in their sockets. Amy felt vulnerable, and she brought her aching legs closer to her skinny frame.

"I-I was looking for someone."

"Who?" Amy didn't answer. She didn't like the vibe from this dude at all. She stiffened when the man grabbed her by the hair and pulled her head closer. "Who were you looking for?" He hissed. Amy fidgeted.

"N-no one! Just my partner," she managed to gasp out. The man narrowed his eyes.

"You're lying."

"No, no! I'm not-" The bandit leader whipped his hand across her cheek, and Amy fell over on her side with a yelp.

"Who were you looking for!?" He roared. Amy whimpered, cowering on the ground. He raised his hand to slap her again, but before he could an animalistic roar suddenly bellowed from the trees. Shouts from the men rose up, some screams and orders being thrown around desperately as the ground shuddered. Amy lifted her cheek up, recognizing that roar. Mark?

The leader growled and hurried off to see to the commotion. "What the hell is going on!?" He started to demand, but then a giant foot slammed down in his path. He stumbled back with an exclamation, and he looked up to meet a pair of red, furious eyes. The giant bared his teeth at the pesky humans and roared at them, sending the cowards running. He whipped around and stomped on the tents, watching as the bandits fleed from his wrath. He was livid. His chest heaved with labored breaths, and he felt rage coursing through his body as hot as lava. He growled and trained his eyes on the pathetic excuse of a leader, and then he stepped over the men and snatched the guy up by the back of his clothes. The bandit leader yipped and squirmed as he was lifted up to the giant's eye level, and the massive being narrowed his eyes to harsh red slits. He opened his mouth slightly, showing his teeth as he snarled deeply.

"Mark, don't!" The giant's attention immediately pivoted. He turned to see Amy, tied to a pole and dusted over on the ground. His eyes widened, and then he growled at the leader again, connecting the dots. "Don't!" Amy pleaded. Mark's lips twitched as he struggled to hold on to the snarl, but then he finally resorted to roaring right in the dude's face. The leader covered his ears, cowering, until Mark's echoing bellow faded. The giant gave him a hard glare before bending over and setting him back down. With legs like jello, the man staggered away from the giant and fled to join the others.

Amy sighed in relief and watched as the leader escaped unscathed. Her heart beat wildly in her breast, for Mark's behavior had frightened her as well. She watched as the giant turned and walked over to her, red fading back to brown. He crouched and swayed for a second, and then he grabbed the pole and snapped it in half. Amy gasped in relief as she sat up and slid her hands free, and the bonds came undone in her lap. She rubbed her raw wrists and breathed sharply, grateful to be free again.

"Thank you, thank you!" She breathed. Mark rumbled and scooped her up in both hands. He got up, staggered a step, and then turned and left the remnants of the destruction he'd created.