Krystal's dreams that night may have been hopeful, but the events of the next morning were anything but. She woke to a scream that even her sleep-fogged mind recognized as her sister, and she jerked up from her slumber to scramble from her bag, hand grasping for her blade. She was too late, though, and was only halfway to her feet before Torrance took Kate's head off with a hard swing from the woman's own shortsword. Her head fell but her body kept moving, hands reaching, and with a sick feeling in her stomach, Krystal realized that the older woman must have been bitten in the previous day's attack. They had been so wrapped up in her story that they hadn't remembered to check her for a bite.

'Or maybe she could have said something instead of putting us all in danger,' Krystal thought, twisting in anger as she noticed Jessica sitting on the ground near the now burning body, Torrance having quickly dispatched of her and setting the body aflame with a branch from their campfire. Moving quickly to her sister's side, she noticed Jessica studying a scratch on her arm, a frown creasing her delicate features. She looked up as Krystal approached, though, a hesitant smile replacing the frustration on her face.

"Sorry, Krys," she said, shaking her head as she glanced toward the body. "I didn't think to check her, I was so excited about the story. I put us all in danger..."

"It wasn't you," Krystal said shortly, shaking her own head as she knelt beside her older sister. "Did she get you?" she reached for Jessica's arm, and the older girl twisted it to show the scratch to her.

"No, I think I hit it on a branch when I fell away from her. She... it... was awake before any of us, and I barely got out of her reach. If it weren't for Torrance..." she looked to the side at the man, his back stiff as he buckled the sword belt to his waist. He must have heard them talking, Krystal figured, and though she was grateful to him for getting to the undead and protecting Jessica, she wasn't happy with how much the older girl was coming to rely on him.

"Jess," she said softly, watching Torrance carefully to see if he had heard her, then turning to her sister with a frown. "I don't think we can trust him, he's too..." 'unknown!' her mind wanted to scream, but she knew that wasn't a good excuse. In fact, she knew she didn't have a good excuse, just that Jessica was now paying him more attention and compliments than she was to her own sister. It seemed so strange, not being the center of Jessica's attention, when for the last seven years that was all it had been, the two of them and the older girl doting on her younger sister.

"I just don't trust him," she finally said, and watched as Jessica's frown deepened. She glanced over Krystal's head at the man in question, watching as he went through the motions and packed up their camp single handedly. He must have known what they were talking about since their tones had dropped, but he paid it no mind, just did his jobof readying all of their gear. Jessica shook her head slowly at first and then more firmly as she looked back at Krystal.

"You're wrong, Krys. We can trust him, he's one of the good guys," she said softly, patting Krystal's cheek with one hand as she gave her a reassuring smile. "You'll see."

Two uneventful days passed, their East boun