(Pete's POV)

I keep glancing back at the clearing, listening to Choco talking while Matt watches and listens. We're a little ways away from the bridge and far enough to be out of sight of the dirt trail. I don't want to see the bridge anymore. When those poles started slipping out of the ground, all I could think about is never seeing Matt again. He's still in there! Today proved it.

I tear another small, leafy branch from another tree and tuck it underneath my arm with the others. It's bad to sleep directly on the dirt in the middle of the forest. Choco really wants to make a good shelter for the night. I think he just actually wants something to do that doesn't involve the coordinates or sitting still. He's restless while stressed.

Walking back to them, I get there just in time to see Matt grabbing onto a thick tree branch. It's barely small enough to wrap his hand around. Choco backs up a little nervously. Matt grabs the branch with both hands and sets his foot against the side of the trunk. Then he pulls. He pushes away from the tree and wrenches the branch to the side, snapping it in seconds with the strain. The branch is about as tall as he is. Matt's strength still unsettles me every now and then. He was always so gentle and kind. Choco takes the branch and drags it over to where a few others are already leaning against a tree. Their thinner branches create a roof made of greenery.

"Hey, Pete. Back already? Matt wants to get one more branch, but you could spread those ones on the ground inside", Choco motions to the leaning hut, "It won't be the most comfortable, but it'll keep the wind out". I nod, ducking underneath the large branches. I dump my load and spread them around a bit before crawling back out. Matt has another branch down and is hauling it over.

"So do we need to start a fire? I have some extra twigs", I walk over to Choco as Matt finishes the shelter.

"Yeah. I didn't get the chance to bring a lot of food, but it would be better warm. Do you want to help?", he answers. I eagerly nod my head, crouching down and sweeping the leaf mulch out of the way. Choco helps me that way we won't start some sort of forest fire. Matt comes to watch over his shoulder. I drop most of the sticks, but I keep one and rub it along the gab between my thump and pointer finger.

I'm not entirely sure about that the lab turned me into, but there's nothing similar I've ever seen. My skin is a light green, and flexible like rubber. A thin slimy substance coats me like a slug. I coat the stick in it and drop it with the rest. Matt brings sparks to his fingertips, but they're not animal shaped like he used to do for me. The sparks land on the slimy stick and burst into flame immediately. I'm a little nervous to think what would happen if I ever touched fire.

"Hey Choco? Do you think that I have any other abilities from the lab? Sure I look weird, but all I really know how to do is light these fires". I don't know where the question came from, but it's there. It's not easy to make something like me. So why?

"Who knows? Those six that escaped seemed to figure it out rather quickly", Choco thinks out loud, "Matt had training sessions weekly so his abilities could be worked on. Mine....... I'm a failure. My abilities never manifested right".

"You're not a failure! What about your sensing ability? You can always find things", I immediately try and cheer him up, regretting asking that question.

"I can only find things nearby, and it's not very accurate. If the lab was gonna kidnap kids and experiment on them, they should have done it right, at least. It's weird to think that I might of had wings", Choco sarcastically laughs. I don't answer. Choco's been through a lot. Maybe even more then Matt. He's been pitted against death more times then I ever want to know. He has a killed another of us experiments at least once. There's no way he would have lived this long if he hadn't. Choco thinks it's his fault somehow that he's like this. He feels guilty for even living. It hurts to watch him tear himself down. Is Matt somehow better off not knowing that pain?

None of us talk much for the rest of the night. Choco warms up the bit of food we brought, and I use a small iron dish to get water from the river to boil. Matt even sips a little after a lot of 'logical' arguments. He doesn't just have to rely on sunlight. It gets dark quickly, and he shuts off his own power. It's weird to see him so still at night. Choco and I eventually crawl into the makeshift shelter with him. I have a feeling that tomorrow will be another long day.