"I think we should hurry. Don't know if it's me but the sky looks like it's about to let rain." Sarah motioned upwards.

Everyone glanced up with her.

Kenji suddenly yelled, making everyone jump and turn around. His face showed pain and it looked like he's struggling with Annie on his back.

He gasped, "G-Guys... C-Could you check... if she's okay?" he collapsed onto his knees.

Sarah nudged at Toki who was fidgeting beside her. He gave her a worried look before inching forward gingerly.

"Quick!" Kenji spluttered and fell flat against the ground. Annie still resting on top of him.

The moment he attempted to lift Annie up, he had dropped her again, making Kenji yelp in pain. Zack looked at Dr Han. They exchanged glances before she proceeded to lift Annie off and her eyes went wide.

Everyone gasped at the amount of blood that bled from the huge cut at her torso. Dr Han ripped Annie's top apart and applied pressure on the wound. The minute her hands touched the wound, she flinched and retracted her hands. Zack frowned at her actions.

A still moment as she looked about the wound wildly before coming to a decision, "Water. Get me water." She ordered.

Wordlessly, everyone fished out the remaining water ration in their possession. The doctor then began washing the wounds quickly and stared in surprise at the large gash.

"How..." she looked at Kenji, "How did she get this?"

"I... I don't know. It was burning my back, I couldn't take it anymore..." He was still spluttering.

Zack felt Celina move a little to get a closer look, "Did she go somewhere on her own?"

Sarah pointed at Kai, "Kai was with her." she looked at Kai, "Did you see what happened?"

Kai frowned, "She did not move at all. She wasn't even awake."

"That's impossible!" Ji argued.

At that moment, Annie was lightly stirring. Dr Han held her up gently.

"Annie?"

She looked at the doctor warily, "They are here."

"Who? Who's here?"

She let out a sob gripping Dr Han's arm with such a force that scared the doctor a little.

"We are all... going to die..."

Suddenly someone shouted from behind the group, "Get rid of her!!"

"She's tainted!!"

Zack turned around angrily, "Can you just shut up so that we can think about the situation?"

"There's nothing to think about!"

"If you want to leave, leave." Sarah voiced out, "Go on."

The group of guys that made of almost everyone stared at her with opened mouths, "You're making us leave?"

"You can choose to leave. I'm not forcing anything on you." she replied calmly.

"Fine." The man turned around, "I'm leaving!! Who's with me?!"

A bunch of guys followed behind him. Sarah snorted as she watched them go.

"So I guess it's just us..." Celina looked around.

Zack looked at Annie carefully, "Who is them? Who's here?"

She pointed west shakily, "They are there."

"What?"

"They know we are here."

"Okay, ... Ow!" Dr Han tried to pry her hands off her arm, "You're cutting off the blood circulation at my arm."

Zack was still looking at Annie solemnly, "Who are they?"

"The protectors."

"What?"

Celina sighed, "This is crazy... I want out of here. Now."

Ji kicked a tree out of frustration, "Stop the riddles already!"

Sarah squatted and bowed her head, "Okay . I'm scared. I really am." she looked up at the rest, "I don't know how we're going to survive this honestly-"

"Shh..." Toki patted her back, "You're rambling."

Suddenly Annie coughed and blinked a few times. She stared at everyone, panting like she had just woken from a bad dream. Dr Han was still holding onto her when she suddenly pushed herself up to her feet, stumbling towards Zack.

Zack took a few steps back, eyes wary, but then went forward again. It seems like she's starting to have difficulties breathing.

"You..." she pointed and heaved a few times, "You have to be careful of th- urk!" Without warning, she had clutched onto and collapsed onto the ground writhing.

He took a shaky step forward and felt his breath catch at his throat. What was she trying to say...

Annie looked at Kai and opened , trying to speak, but blood came out, "Kai... dreams..."

Kai was wide eyed and silent, refusing to comprehend the scene in front of him.

Dr Han was shouting and holding onto her but after a few seconds of struggles...

Kenji was yelling her name...

Sarah had her face buried in her hands...

Celina looked away with eyes shut tightly...

Zack moved away slowly, still piggybacking the feisty one. Both of them were knowingly silent. It was after a few minutes did she finally spoke.

"Are you... okay?"

He nodded.

"You seem awfully quiet."

He shook his head, "Who is they?"

She frowned, "Seriously are you gonna go search them out?"

He snorted, "And what?"

"I don't know. It was creepy watching that. I mean I like horror movies but that... That is one hell of a scene." she gave a hollow laugh, trying to ignore the goose bumps surfacing.

"This is crazy." he stated.

"That's what I said!"

"I know, but I never thought it would get to this point. How does such things happen? Something was killing her. She wasn't exactly committing suicide."

"Is it some... evil-"

"Oi guys!" Dr Han waved, "What are you two doing over there?!"

Zack received a ear pinch from Dr Han the moment he reached them. Celina gloated at his pain openly.

"Don't separate yourselves like that."

"Yeah... Yeah okay." He nodded.

Sarah began lumping the loose wood around them, "Toki is gonna help Kenji with... um, Annie. I'm gonna start a fire now. It's not night yet I know, but it's freaking cold."

The chill was coming at her words.

Dr Han gestured a circle, "Sit around me. I wanna check all of your wounds again."

"Are we resting?" Ji sat down.

"Just for awhile. We have to be on guard." Sarah sighed.

Zack slowly let Celina down.

Dr Han motioned at her, "You first, dear." the doctor began inspection the leg wound, "It's recovering well. Surprisingly. You'd be good to walk on your own soon."

"Oh goody." Zack mused, "I was getting tired."

She glared at him, "You could have just dropped me."

"And you'd kill me."

She snorted and looked away, "Smart for an . At least you know the consequences."

He chuckled, sitting down beside her.

"...heavy..."

"OMG stop it already!!"