Alive

After several hours of silence, the wounded man awoke with a gasp. Christine quickly seized her gun and aimed it at him.

"Christine...?" Leo asked softly.

"If you're really Leo then tell me something only, he would know!" She yelled.

"Your 20, and you help me, and our friends get weed and alcohol." Leo said.

"Anyone can figure that out!" Christine yelled.

Leo sighed, "We met in high school when I was a freshman, and you were in your junior year. You were advanced two grades because you were too intelligent for a freshman level. I took you on a date by a beautiful lake in these woods. You wore that stunning denim skirt and blue crop top. You had the tips of your hair dyed red at the time and you wore those gorgeous boots with the little gems on them." Christine slowly lowered her gun as he continued speaking. "You hate being called Christina as most people often mistake that for your name, when it's really Christine. You have a pretty 8-year-old sister at home. And you love her to death."

Tears streamed down Christine's face as she embraced her boyfriend tightly, exclaiming, "It's you! It's really you!" as she wept.

Leo offered a feeble smile before scanning the room, his face etched with fear and concern. "Where's Stacey?!" he inquired in a panic.

"Are you talking about the girl you came in with?" June asked.

Leo nodded, "She's my little sister. She's 13..."

"She's over there." June said as she pointed to the corner of the room. "I'm June by the way." 

"Leo." Leo introduced himself.

"Get some rest ya sister will be fine. We leave soon." June explained.

Leo nodded as Christine curled up in his arms, they both soon fell asleep. He was soon roused from sleep once more by a loud howl. Leo scrambled to his feet and seized his shotgun, while the others sat up and hastily gathered their belongings.

"Ada can help you if you need help walking." June said to Leo.

Leo shook his head, lifted his younger sister, and carried her to the door, trailing behind the group. Outside, June assisted the others, clutching her side as they walked.

"Anyone know their way out of here?" June asked.

The cluster of teenagers turned their gaze to Leo. "Leo?" inquired Jake.

"I haven't been this deep before...." Leo said.

"Then how did you find us?" Megan asked.

"I followed y'all's footprints," Leo laughed slightly. "Didn't I tell you guys I would catch up?" he said.

"If you can do that than those beasts might be able to as well." June said.

Leo nodded in agreement, then turned to his friends and shot them a disapproving glance. "You guys could have been home and safe by now if you had just listened to me and stayed on the fucking trail!" he scolded.

All his friends turned to look at Chase, then Marissa turned to look at Leo. "I'm sorry Bubba..." she said softly.

"It's alright." Leo sighed before continuing, "I'm just glad you're all safe. You guys could have died, you're lucky you ran into Ada and June's group." he said with a small smile.

Adaline offered Leo a faint smile as they ventured further into the forest. Retreating along their original path was not an option; it would only lead them back to the beasts. Thus, they pressed on, delving deeper into the woods. They had been walking for hours when June decided to break the silence.

"So, Marrissa called ya Bubba. Are you, her brother?" June asked.

"Nah, I treat them all like family, so I've earned the nickname, Bubba. That's what they all call me," Leo replied.

"Ah, so you're like the big brother of your group?" June asked.

Leo nodded and looked at Adaline, "Ada and I used to know each other growing up before she moved out to the outskirts of town." he said.

June nodded, "I think she's mentioned you once or twice."

Christine looked at them as they talked, she stuck close to Leo not wanting to lose him again. Leo offered Christine a gentle smile, holding her hand in one of his while balancing his sister on his back with the other. He didn't know if they would make it to town in time to get her to the hospital. He just hoped she would wake up soon, he kept checking her pulse every few minutes. He was worried that she wouldn't make it, her injuries were severe there was only so much a high school med student, like Chase could do to help. 

"She's gonna be ok, Leo. You know she's a fighter." Marrissa said softly.

Leo nodded and gave Marrissa a small smile, "Yea..."

"If she can survive cancer then she can survive this." Marrissa replied.

Leo looked at her sadly and nodded, "Your right. She won't just give up not now..." he said.

Marrissa stayed quite for a few minutes before speaking again, "Do you know why she came earlier then she said she was?" 

"Chris....well that thing whatever he was back there, said she came to surprise me." Leo said.

"Surprise you?" Christine asked.

"When I invited her to come with us a few weeks ago, she was in the hospital...so I'm not sure what she was gonna surprise me with." Leo said softly.

A prolonged silence lingered before Marissa finally broke it.

"She recently found out the radiation worked, that's what she wanted to surprise you about..." Marrissa said sadly, "If...if I would have known all this was going to happen, I would have told you she was going to be here sooner..." she said.

Marrissa began to cry. "Don't blame yourself. There was no way any of us could have known any of this would have happened." Leo said softly.

Marrissa looked at Stacey sadly and nodded, she felt bad for Leo. He already almost lost his younger sister once and now he could lose her for real this time. The howling intensified, drawing nearer as the group continued their trek; the creatures were swiftly closing in on them.

"We should pick up the pace. Can you walk faster Leo?" Adaline asked.

Leo nodded, doing his best to keep pace as the group quickened their step.