The rest if the day passed quickly, and soon enough the sun had set. We where close enough that we decided to keep going, but we had to be more careful in the dark. Caius was a little quieter, too busy dodging trees.

When we finally made it to he camp it was a major relief. I saw Skyler first, standing up from a seat by the fire. I smiled as skidded to a stop, giving her a big hug.

"Thank god you made it! We were so worried." She said. Her arms where weak as she held me, and her eyes had less life in them then when we left.

"How did you guys feed yourselves? You must be close to starvation." I exclaimed, slinging my pack off my back and unzipping it.

"Already there my friend." She reached for a flashlight and switched it on. In the light I could tell she was much thinner then she used to be.

"Peter, go get the others. I'll put some food on for them." Peter nodded, and I started making my way over to the glowing embers if their fire. I filled a pot with water from our water bottles and dumped a packet of butter chicken in.

"Who's this?" Skyler asked nervously, pointing to Caius.

"I'll explain once you guys get some food." I said.

I felt little hands reach around my neck and shoulders and turned to see little Ava, thin and weak, but still smiling brightly.

"Hey you." I said, hugging her hard. She hugged me back with much less strength. "You're a little soldier, you know that? Not everyone could pull through like you did. Let's get you some food, okay?" I said.

I searched through my bag and found a few packs of nuts, and started handing them out.

My mother and Jess found their way over as well, and I was happy to see they looked a little better. Jess smiled sheepishly, and thanked me for the nuts. Everyone had a little snack as we waited for the butter chicken to rehydrate.

"Okay, now that we've all greeted each other, would you please tell me what the heck this guy's doing here?" Skyler asked, gesturing to Caius. I sighed and nodded.

"When we got to Cordova, we discovered that we'd become rather famous. Everyone at he school knows what we did. Our pictures are up everywhere. After we got the food, this guy, Caius, saw us. He followed us into the forest, and we only found him once we'd started on our way back. He knew which direction our camp was in, and the society would get it out of him if he went back. We either had to kill him or take him with us." I explained rather awkwardly.

"He can hover boot pretty well, and he knows lots about inventing and engineering." Peter piped in. "He'll just be here until we can find something to do with him. Maybe get him to another city or something." He finished.

Skyler looked him up and down and nodded.

"Okay. If he's staying with us though, he'd better do his part." She said.

Caius smiled. He looked at Jess, and something in his eye made me feel uneasy. Envy rolled deep inside of me as she smiled back at him. I looked away, turning back to Ava. She ran her hand through my hair and I pulled her closer.

My mother walked over to the pot and started dishing it up. Everyone had a bowl full before we started getting ready for bed. Caius' pager went off twice more that night, and I explained to the others our arrangement. He did as we asked and left it alone, setting it inside the shelter. He slept outside, as there wasn't enough room. It gave me a little joy to know he was shivering out there while Jess and I where warm and happy in here.

I slept well that night, my mind at rest with the knowledge that the others where safe.
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I'm so sorry that the chapters are taking so long. I'm really trying to keep up with it, but it was really busy over the holidays.

New Years resolution: Post a new chapter at least every two weeks.

Thanks for the patience everyone. And hey look, 700 reads!

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