~Xylo POV~

     I know my little sister, she'll be fine. I run my finger along the flat of the only combat knife I got from mom's collection. AJ got the rest... She always loved mom's knives.

     She never loved dad though. Maybe she saw it. She saw his true self. She saw the monster. She always seems to know a person's character... I guess it makes sense why she never trusted dad.

     Mev casts a side glare.

     My grip tightens on the knife. "You have something to say Mev?"

     Austin glances over his shoulder.

     Mev turns to look me in the eyes. Okay, so this isn't some petty argument type thing. "You're the leader of the Crystal Shards..." Mev's tone the harshest I've ever heard it.

     I put the knife in my belt and cover my eyes. I guess my second chance has just gone up in flames. "Do you want to know one thing I hate?" I ask my tone as flat as it was before the shadow showed up and everyone in the shards ended up dead... except me and Mario.

     I lean forward. My face settles into a blank expression. "I hate when people ask a question they already know the answer to... So... don't." I lean back and close my eyes. I should have known better than to think I could start a new. No one ever gets a happy ending. There are no second chances... There never were.

     God. I hate my tone. I hate my choices. I hate my persona.

     I sound like dad.

~POV Austin~

     I knew... I knew the moment I saw you in my house. I knew who you were. I remember the night the crystal shards fell. The night I learned all they ever did was lie to me. The night I stopped being the shadow... The night I stopped killing people. The worse part is I forgot what I did... but when Lachlan Mcloclan fell to the floor it all came back in a flash.

     You have that blank look on your face again... that silent pain is so visible on you. At least on Y/N, it's sorta hidden.

~Le time skip (because I can)~

     Mev held his machete ready to cut anything that wasn't us. Even though it was obvious he wants to gut at least one of us. I still feel bad for leaving Tyger alone with the trucks.

     I look up at Xylo and Y/N. When she got out she took one look at us and knew. The pain in her eyes deepened. 

     "I have a question," Mev says the venom in his voice burns into me even though I knew it was meant for Xylo. 

     "There were only four people that knew about our shack," Y/N says her tone as flat as Xylo's expression. "Me, Xylo, Michael, and Mario. Neither Xylo nor I went to the shack and we learned that Michael was being held by the doctor from Ryan."

     "How do we know we can trust Ryan?" Mev says his tone shifts from harsh to flat rather quickly. 

     "He saved me from the doctor, is that a good enough reason for you?" She says her irritation clear in her voice.

     We all look to her. Xylo is viably concerned.

     "When did the doctor get you?" Mev asks sympathetically.

     She looks over her shoulder. "There was a bang than there a piece of shrapnel."

     Mev bites his lip and looks away. What the hell just happened? Y/N looks over to me then looks forward again.

     "We haven't come into contact with one lurker... that hoard is going to be massive." She starts walking forward again Xylo beside her.

     We walk in silence for another ten minutes. 

     It's too quiet... It's driving me crazy was driving me crazy. "Are we there yet?" I ask not even trying to hide my annoyance.

     "Austin," Xylo says apathetically. "Shut the fuck up."

     "Wait, what about this Mario character?" Mev says flatly.

     I stop in my tracks. "Mev shut up and stop prying." 

     The entire group stops. Xylo doesn't even move, Y/N touches his shoulder gently and looks up at him softly.

     Xylo tilts his head up and sighs. "Me and Mario were together when the lurkers first showed up."

     We all go quiet. 

     Y/N starts walking again. "Come on guys we have a shack to raid."

     We all follow one by one.

~POV Y/N~

     We don't have time for this that kid has been in that hospital for days now. Only God knows what the doctor is doing to her in there. If he so much as touches her I'll-

     Xylo sticks out his arm stopping me in my tracks. "Watch your step here guys. Unless you don't mind getting a knife to the face."

     I mentally facepalm. We are here and I didn't even notice. I had one job. I step over the trip wier and walk over to a tree that is covered in vines and push them away. "There you are beautiful," I say as I pull out the knife from the trap. Xylo walks forward forgetting about the other trap. I throw the knife two feet in front of him. 

     He doesn't even flinch as the bear trap clamps shut. "I forgot that was there."

     "This place is in the middle of nowhere who's going to come out here and set off your traps?" Mev asks to himself.

     I bit back my response. They've caught a few waring gang members. They saved me and Michael countless times when we were being chased. I walk over and grab the bear trap. "Anyone want to carry this?"

     Xylo takes it from my hands. He walks over to the entrance everyone has confused looks on their faces. Oh, right, not everybody knows the shack is covered in vines and we carved out parts of the rock. He pushes aside the vines, an old wooden door with a padlock. He puts in the combination and takes off the lock. 

     "Let's hurry this up shal we?" Xylo asks as he ducks through the door. I follow suit. We head straight to the back of the room the others take the front. Xylo and I shove all of Mario's things in our bags.

     "Guy's there's a locked box over here," Mev says apathetically.

     I tense up. I keep my eyes glued to the floor I can tell Xylo is trying to meet my gaze. His words echo through my mind. We're family we don't hide things from each other. What's in the box AJ? He only calls me AJ when he's pissed. If there's one thing that pisses him off more than people asking questions they know the answer to, it's when someone he trusts is hiding something from him. 

     Xylo sighs in defeat, pulls the last magazines into his backpack, and turns to face the others. "Y/N's got the box." He zips it up, slings it over his shoulder lifts the other one and pats me on the back. "Let's head back to the trucks. We shouldn't keep Tyger waiting."

     Austin glances over to me back to me. "What about Y/N?"

     Xylo lets out a breathy half-hearted laugh. "She's been solo for almost the whole time the infected have been around. She'll be fine. Let's go." He walks out without a second thought. Mev follows after a few moments.

     I look over my shoulder and see Austin giving me a concerned look. I nod telling him I was fine and walk over to the box.

     "Okay," Austin says as he turns and walks out.

     I look out the door to make sure they were actually leaving. Austin jogged after the others. I sigh and brush off the dust from the box. I lift the key lock and pull the key out of my bra. I unlock it and set the lock aside. 

     I open the box I'm greeted with the familiar sight of mom's empty leather-bound journal. Her knife collection. A blue dress she planned on giving to me when I was 21, a little family tradition so I was told. As well as a $300 pair of glasses she accidentally won in a competition of some sort. I pick up the glasses gently as though if I weren't careful enough they'd turn into dust.

     I smile and tears start to fall on them. I wipe my eyes with my sleeve and sniffle. I miss you, mom. I grab the knives and put them in the front pouch careful not to bend the photo. The photo. I close the box and lock it again. I walk to the door and push part of the wall aside to get to the photo. I freeze when I see an empty frame with not even weeks old prints... 

     Maby Morio's not as dead as we think. The doctor never let anyone see project Z. I clench my fist, fling out the glasses and put em on. Things just got a hell of a lot more complicated. 

     I won't hesitate, if I have to put a bullet in you, I'll do it. There's only one thing that would push you to work with the doctor. In one of the conversations, I listened in on between the doctor and V was about Z wanting revenge. Who better to blame for your brother's 'death' than the one he can't control. Xylo... nothing I can say will prepare you for what's coming. 

     I'm sorry.

~AN~

My writing buddy was doing research
for their sci-fi novel
and ended up reading about chickens...
What am I going to do with you, Ann?