The four kids who called themselves the Riot had embarked on a wild journey. They only had to travel fifty miles, approximately a day's walk, if they were to average twenty minutes per mile. Cameron had predicted it would take them three days, allowing for breaks, a slower pace, and of course, time spent getting lost. They arrived at Camp Peregrin at the top of the fourth night.

They had gotten horrendously lost along the way. Cameron had instructed them very clearly to avoid the forests. They were unsure of where Harper's army would be, and they couldn't risk being seen. Besides, the quickest route was by following the old highway. The signs that once marked exits, however, were long gone or had layers of festering moss, so they were clueless as to where they were. After so many wrong turns, they were shocked to discover the camp at all.

When they'd reached what they believed to be the entrance, they agreed to send one member down first. The road leading to the campsite was surrounded by trees, and their goal of going undercover was mandatory. Natalia was the candidate. She was unknown by most inhabitants of the City, so they wouldn't recognize her to be one of the runaway foursome. She was also a smart girl, and a fighter. If there were people living in the camp, she could fend them off until the rest of the Riot could save her.

Natalia tip-toed down the hilly road until she came upon a sign. The painted wood was faded, but she could clearly make out the only word that mattered.

"We're here!" she called up to her friends.

"If there's anyone down there, they'll have heard her," Marley muttered to Jacob and Donovan. Still, the trio approached her and the sign.

"There's no footprints anywhere, and nobody's vandalized this sign or anything," Natalia observed, "I don't think anyone is here."

"They might be at the base," Jacob pointed out.

Donovan shook his head, "Look," he gestured to a field below them that was covered with weeds and overgrown plants, "That had to have been a garden when this camp was real, but it hasn't been touched in years."

"So Kamai isn't here either," Jacob muttered, "Well, at least we're alone so far. Should we head down?" He was met with a unanimous nod, and the group began to continue down the steep path towards the camp. Apparently cars and buses had once managed down this road; it seemed like they would have rolled right off. In a way, these kids had forgotten how normal driving once was. It had been years since they'd sat behind a steering wheel. Some of them had never even been old enough to drive.

Once at the base, they were overcome with silence. It was as though the camp hadn't been touched in years. There was no trash anywhere, no sign that someone was living there, no signs of enemies.

"Hands up," Donovan whispered to his friends, and they followed his instructions. He then yelled, loud enough for anyone who might be living in the camp to hear, "We come in peace. Is there anybody here?" The Riot stood at the base of this gravel path for about five minutes, waiting for some sign of life. There was nothing. They were alone.

The group began to walk around the perimeter of the abandoned camp. At the bottom of the large hill, there was a lake, still equipped with canoes and kayaks and the fishing gear the campers had once used to explore. Fishing gear was good; it meant they could find food. Along the camp sat around fifteen cabins, each of them filled with four to six sets of bunkbeds, depending on the side. The doors were all locked, but some quick finagling opened them easily. Dust filled the empty rooms, a final sign that they did not share this land with anyone else.

As the sun set that evening, the Riot sat outside by the clearing that once held a campfire. They were too tired from their journeys to find dry wood, and besides, the air was warm that night.

Marley pulled out a lighter and a joint from her back pocket, "Shall we?" On any ordinary day, Donovan would have condemned this behavior, but on that evening, he joined in. All four kids passed the drug around, smoking and getting high. As the substance reached their brains, the stresses began to dissolve, and they were left with the comfort of a world where they did not have to worry. A world where Harper couldn't touch them. Yes, finally, they were untouchable. Invincible. In that moment, they would even say they were immortal.

------

When dawn came to the Grove forest, some of the Ravens had packed their old duffel bags and backpacks that they'd brought with them when they first fled their hometowns. In the dim light, they turned towards Emma and Kamai, who were standing at the front gate.

"He might have chosen to stay," the latter of the girls turned to her friend, who was staring longingly around the camp, eyes searching for one person in specific.

"He would have told me," she muttered, "He'd have said goodbye." They waited out there for about five more minutes, staying longer than they'd ever intended.

"We can't hold out any longer," Kamai said eventually, "We have to start moving."

"I'll find him," Emma shook her head. She walked away from the nervous crowd, and barged into her brother's bedroom. Two heads turned to look at the intruder: Sebastian and Dylan. "Get out to the center, or we're leaving without you."

Sebastian nodded and stood up, picking up his packed bag. Before following his sister out of the room, he turned to his co-leader, "You can still come."

Dylan just sighed, "You're making a dumb mistake."

"Have fun being their pawns," Emma snapped, "I thought we came out here for our freedom."

"We came here because we had nowhere else to go," the other girl corrected.

"Sounds like the same thing," responded the first. With that, the Harlem siblings exited the cabin, leaving Dylan Alexander alone. Around twenty of their forty members had gathered in the camp's center. The rest had chosen to stay. Among this twenty were Mai, Serena, Nova, Hayden, and a multitude of scouts, including Corey, Nathan, Yasmin, and even Ellie. They had counted off their numbers at least ten times before they set out onto this new journey.

"The camp where we're going is one forest over," Kamai announced, "We're headed northeast. There's a highway near the top delta of the creek. If we can get there by nightfall, it'll be smooth sailing until we get there."

"Why do we trust this girl again?" Mai muttered to Sebastian. The two were standing near the back of the crowd, making sure that nobody would fall too far behind. Sebastian was watching his sister intently. She was at the front, right beside Kamai.

"We don't," Sebastian responded, "But we trust Emma, right?"

Mai nodded, "And Emma doesn't trust just anyone. Besides, I could kill this chick if I had to."

"It's not gonna come to that," the other boy smirked.

"I didn't say it would, just if I had to," Mai shrugged. As the group cleared a couple of miles, they approached the border of the Condor's camp. Luckily, they would not have to cross through any of their self-proclaimed territory, but scouts were still patrolling the area.

"Gail!" Sebastian called, and Emma's head whipped up as she walked back to meet him. He was careful not to say her name so close to this territory. Her hair was hidden again in the beanie, and her bandana covered her face. Hopefully, nobody would recognize her as their deceased prisoner. The leader turned to both girls beside him, "You two need to go. Take a longer route. Meet at the bridge near the creek by noon. We'll wait for you there."

Mai and Emma both nodded, understanding why they must avoid being seen by the Condors. They were too valuable to both sides, and as far as one was concerned, they were lifeless. As the two girls began to leave their group, Sebastian gripped Mai's arm.

"Stay safe," he said, gazing into her brown eyes, "And keep her safe too."

"You too," Mai nodded. Emma began to interject something towards her brother, express her discontent with needing "protection", as he'd suggested, but she refrained. A Condor had whistled, signaling that the Ravens had been sighted, and it was time that the renegade prisoners run. And so they ran.

Sebastian sighed, watching the two people he cared for most in the world as they disappeared into the greenery. So many things could go wrong. He could lose them both in an instant. But would he not lose them if they stayed in this pack? Would the Condors not see them? Deep down inside him, he knew that they would need to separate to make it through this trial.

"Ravens, huh?" said a voice from behind him. The crowd stopped and turned to the newcomers. The trio consisted of three Condors: one girl and two boys. The boy in front was the one who had spoken. He was tall, with dark brown hair and an innocent face. He seemed harmless, but Sebastian knew better than to deem any member of their clan harmless.

"We're not in your territory," Sebastian said shortly. His eyes wandered towards the forest, making sure the girls were out of sight. They were. The Condor boy followed his gaze, and then scanned through the clump of Ravens, although he was looking for someone.

"There's a whole lot of you here," he observed, "Suspicious, right?" The Ravens' leader took a step forward, but was met with Serena's hand on his shoulder.

"Seb—," she whispered, looking at him nervously. She could see the anger rising inside him just by looking at this Condor. She feared the cords keeping him in control might snap.

As she said the boy's name, the Condor's face dropped. He took a deep breath as his heart raced, "You're him."

Serena stepped forward, more protectively now, "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm sorry about your sister," the Condor shrugged, "She was a fighter. Wouldn't break to anyone. She did what she had to." At this moment, Sebastian realized who he was speaking to. Whoever this boy was had seen his sister in her most vulnerable state. He may have been the killer, for all he knew. He may have thought he'd drawn the life from her lungs. The details of Emma's escape were still blurry to Sebastian; he figured that they assumed they'd killed her, and when her body was removed from the cell, she'd ran. He was utterly unaware of her means to freedom.

Serena's fear was right. Within seconds, Sebastian was on top of this boy, punching him relentlessly, and soon enough the other Condors were attacking the Ravens' leader. The Ravens stood by in shock, some of them aching to assist in this squabble, but Serena and Hayden held them back.

"Sebastian Harlem!" Serena screamed, hoping to get his attention, "Seb, if you don't calm down, the rest of us will have the same fate as your sister!" She knew this last part wasn't true, as she knew that Emma was still alive and well, and while Sebastian knew this as well, just the mention of his loved one was enough to draw him out. He stepped back, breathing heavily. His bottom lip was swollen, and his left eyebrow dripped with blood, but the boy on the ground fared worse.

He stood up shakily and sighed, "I deserved that. Now get out of here, and I won't tell Megan about this. And I know the last thing you want to do is face her."

Sebastian nodded and turned back to the Ravens, "You heard him, let's go." Just like that, the group continued towards the creek, moving slightly further from the Condor's boundaries. He remained in the back of the group, as the rest just followed Kamai. She appeared to be irritated by this slight delay, but when they were travelling along this path, it was inevitable.

Serena pulled out a small napkin from her bag and wiped the blood off Sebastian's face. "You could have hurt yourself."

"He hurt Emma," the boy muttered angrily.

The medic sighed, realizing the subject had to be changed. She said, "He mentioned Megan. She's their leader, right?"

"Yeah," he nodded, not really paying attention. His mind was elsewhere. When Emma had interrupted him and Dylan that morning, she was not wearing her jacket. For the first time since her capture, he saw her bare arms. Most of her wounds had healed by that point, but the scars still remained. He saw lashes on her back that could only be caused by a hard belt, burn marks painting her pale skin, the number 37 carved into her forearm. Emma had told him nothing of her time in their prison, but that morning, his twisted nightmares came true.

"He made it sound like you knew her," Serena continued.

"I did," Sebastian shrugged, "I wish I didn't."

"Tell me," the girl prompted, "It's a long walk, we'll run out of things to talk about."

"She's my ex," he began, "We dated for a couple years in high school. She was crazy high-maintenance, which was fine, but stressful. Anyways, she started cheating on me. Emma's the one that figured it out, she was in my sister's room with my best friend. I called her out for it, and she told the world I was the devil incarnate, or something like that. Well, now she hates me, and consequently hates all of us. It's all my fault that the Condors hate the Ravens, so that's just great."

Serena frowned, "I'm sorry. She's a bitch, you know. Mai's told me stories. But Seb, you're not at blame for any of this. They're strong, we're strong. With Megan in charge, they were going to hate us no matter who our leader was."

"She knows my weak spot," Sebastian pointed out, "She knew to take Emma."

"Emma gave herself, remember?" Serena smiled softly, "This isn't going to help, but my brother had a psychopathic ex-girlfriend too."

The leader smirked, "Really?"

"Yeah," she nodded, "My parents died during the Plague, and so I was living with just her and Slade for awhile. That neighborhood got violent as soon as the adults started dying off and losing control. The turf wars were pretty severe. Basically, she pushed my brother in front of a bullet, and then got mad at him that he hadn't been eager to take it for her. He was only shot in the leg, so he lived and made it to a fortified city, but still. She was insane."

Sebastian cracked a smile, "I didn't picture you as one to put up with a crazy person for so long."

Serena just shrugged, "I've put up with this lot, haven't I?"

------

Mai and Emma had decided on a path that was far inland and filled with Rogues, but that meant there would be no Condors. Taking on Rogues would be easy. They wore masks and bandanas to hide their face, a custom carried by many of the forest's inhabitants, and carried bags as though they were looking for their next place to set up camp. Mai's gun was situated in her makeshift holster as well—a symbol that they were not to be messed with. They passed by many real Rogues throughout this travel, and nobody gave them a second thought. A couple stared at Emma for a brief moment, and she held her breath as she realized they were boys and girls she'd slept with. They recognized her shape, but with the rumors of her death and her hidden face, there was no way they could prove who she was.

"We haven't exactly gotten the chance to talk yet," Mai said at one point in their hike.

"We've talked this whole time," Emma shrugged.

"You know what I mean," Mai sighed, "We went through the same thing. Nobody else has gone through that."

Emma shook her head, "There's nothing to talk about."

The older girl paused and rolled up the other's sleeve, as well as her own, "See these numbers? There's plenty of shit to talk about."

The younger one snapped, "I give two shits about our camp, you don't. It's that simple."

Mai stepped back, alarmed by her sudden outburst. She couldn't deny this stab to her own hubris, and reputed, "Are you insane? I spent three months there, you took two weeks. You're not any stronger than I am."

Emma just laughed, "You think that measures anything? What about when my brother was a disaster and gave up his jacket to Hayden, of all people? You came to Lily's looking to leave them. They shouldn't have even let you come back. All you ever want to do is run away."

"You left them too," Mai hissed, glaring at the other girl.

"I came back after, I don't know, three weeks?" Emma rolled her eyes, "You took nine months, and then tried to leave again when they were already weak."

"Then why don't you just kick me out? Why'd you let me tag along on this trip in the first place?" Mai challenged her.

"Sebastian wears the jacket," her opponent said casually. While the older of the girls seemed to seethe with rage at this attack, the younger had been swept over with a steely resolve. She was unwavering and relentless, but under control. This Emma had grown up. She no longer thought of her emotions the way she had once before. To her now, all the world was a mess of tricky alliances and bloodsport, although the killing was something she hoped to avoid. Emma Gail Harlem was no longer weak. She added, "You better be thankful that he's the older sibling."

They reached the creek thirty minutes after the Ravens, and it could not have been a moment more soon.