My body tensed up as I pushed the door open, half of me expecting to set off another trip wire. I pushed the door open in slow motion trying to take everything in.

"For gods sake, open it already." Jesse reached from behind me, his front pressing up against my back in order to shove the door open.

"What if there's a-" There wasn't. The way Jesse barged threw the door way, ducking his head on his way, told me that thought hadn't even crossed his mind.

"Relax, princess, I'm actually capable of keeping people alive." His blow hit me hard, my mouth involuntarily let out a huff of air. I could physically feel my heart tug, hating the fact that he had the ability to make me feel this way. I covered it though, easily, by throwing him a grimace of disgust.

Trying to preoccupy myself I decided to have a look around the shack. It was no bigger than two meters by two meters and only had one bench with an accompanying chair. The interior matched the exterior, the wood worn down and rustic looking. The vines were growing threw the small openings between each wood panel, small insects crawling around the surfaces. I wasn't afraid of bugs, luckily.

My attention was drawn to the bench, which took over half of the tiny room. Jesse was already standing over it, his neck bent at an uncomfortable angle as he reached out for the only thing on that bench.

It stood out like a sore thumb, the clean white paper only dirtied around the edges- but it definitely didn't belong here. His fingers scooped it up, bringing it closer to his face so that he could make out the words that were written.

His face was screwed up as he tried to decipher what the note meant. Impatient, I ripped it from his hands – eager to see what we were dealing with. It was a small list, only about 15 combinations of letters and numbers. Each combination had two letters and 2 or 3 numbers; it felt familiar until my eyes fell upon the 10th combination on the list.

MJ27.

That was the number of our flight. The flight we had been on before this all happened. The flight that someone had taken down to get to me. How had this ended up here? My heart was up in my throat, accelerating with no sign of stopping. There were here, someone was on the island. Someone who wanted me dead. If Jesse hadn't been in the room I would have allowed my self to break down but I had to remain calm- act as if this was news to me.

"It's just a bunch or random numbers and stuff, someone probably got stranded here and went crazy. No big deal." Shoving the paper roughly into my pocket I prayed that he wouldn't stop me.

He didn't, but it did cause an eyebrow to be raised before he shrugged it off. No one else had a reason to be suspicious; to them it was just a terrorist bombing that had gotten them stranded on this island. This note would only mean something to me. And Darcy. Why would they just leave this here? Unless they wanted me to know they were still here.

"Uh- you go ahead, head back. I think I'm gunno just hang around here for a bit." Hang around and see if anyone returns, but I didn't add that last part. He seemed unsure, his eyes questioning me in a way that only he seemed to be able to do. Despite his gazes he still walked over to the door.

"Stay here for as long as you want, I know the more time you're not running around camp acting like a saint the better it is for everyone else." He reached down to pick up the cross bow. "You know, I won't forget that you know owe me your life." He spoke as if it were a warning, shooting me one last challenge glance before swiftly leaving.

The second his back passed the last tree in my line of sight I let out a loud sigh. With it came all the worry that I had been bottle down- they had found me. I knew that they would, but we'd always thought we had more time. Now they were on the island, lord knows where they were camped out. Were they even alive? There was no trace of anyone having returned here?

"Don't be stupid." She mumbled to herself, unconsciously chewing the inside of my cheeks- something Darcy always slapped me over the back of my head for doing. "They wont be that easy to get away from."

For a brief second I'd allowed myself to feel free from them, thinking the last ones of them would have died on the plane- how could I be so stupid?

I didn't give the tears the satisfaction of actually releasing them. I held them in, just like I held back the shakes I could feel wanting to take over my being. I hated feeling weak, feeling useless and out of control and at the moment I felt the first two in bucket loads. All I'd ever wanted to do was protect those that I loved and I couldn't even do that.

It was then that I realised how pathetic I was being. If I wanted to not feel weak or powerless all I had to do was be strong. I could almost head Darcy, telling me to "Toughen up, D, The only thing stronger than fear is hope. But the only thing stronger than hope is you."

She would always whisper those words to me when she could tell I was struggling with the weight of everything being pressed down onto my shoulders, god I missed her.

"Get over it, stop complaining and do something about this." I muttered to myself, pushing myself up from the tiny stool and forcing my legs to push me away from the tiny shack. I knew that if there was ever going to be a change I needed to make it happen, I had never allowed the fear to consume and I wasn't about to start now.

A small smile danced over my lips as I thought of Darcy, she was still the source of my strength even after she was gone.

She'd never be gone. A part of me always knew that and as I looked up to the sky, which was growing a deeper shade of blue, my smile spread from each side of my face. I would always have Darcy by my side, but others weren't as lucky- their loved ones were dead. But no more, I wasn't going to let anyone else lose their Darcy.

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"What the hell do you think you're doing Blake?" My fingers wrapped tightly around his forearm, wrenching him away from those he was standing with. I felt a sense of déjà vu as I shoved him up against a tree, my body stopping him from moving away. "How DARE you take my supplies for me, I wasn't finished with that- you have no right to belittle everything I do and then suddenly help me out." My finger jabbed into his chest, I was already mad but being that close to the boy amplified everything by at least 20%.

Showing no signs of backing down himself he didn't even bother to defend himself. "Looks like you owe me twice now." His arrogant glare caused my teeth to grind together.

"Why can't you just stay out of my way?" I growled, holding the volume my voice had wanted to reach within. "

"I wish you would stay out of my way, princess, but neither of us seem to be that lucky." He bit back at me, clearly as annoyed as I was. "Did it ever cross your mind I brought them back because I didn't know how long you were going to be gone and I knew people needed their food."

Opening my mouth to shot back at him, certain he was lying, except I was interrupted, "Dru, we need you. Now." Caila stood behind me, her face blank except for the concern flooding in her eyes. "Jesse, you might want to come to." She added as I had already began to follow after her.

"What is it Caila? Is anyone hurt?"

"Can I just go back to what I was doing?" That was Jesse, completely uninterested in what Caila had to show us. Why people seemed to listen to him was beyond me. I shot him a look that could kill and his arguing stopped.

"I'm not wasting this on you, your friend is pretty much dead- to tell if you think I'm going to risk my life for one that's already dead!" If Jesse weren't standing beside me I would have thought it was him shouting out the vile words. It came from next to the fire, where Wyatt- one of the boys from Cara's school trip stood over a much smaller women. Gemma. He was roaring in her face, shouting vulgarities at her, but the women of tiny frame wasn't back down.

"I just want a blanket for my friend, she's going to get worse if I don't get her a blanket." She was shivering herself, unable to hide her body as it shook. "Please." She whispered one last time.

I didn't stop my legs as they broke into a sprint, knowing that Jesse was right behind me- I stopped only when I reached the pair. Wyatt as a small group of friends; five of them and Cara- who stood behind her boyfriend trying to push through shouting at Wyatt herself. "You pig, give them a blanket."

"What do you think you're doing?" I demanded, as I took over Gemma's position in front of Wyatt.

"I'm saving the resources for who needs them, her friend is going to die regardless- may as well protect those who have a chance." He said as if it were obvious, as if allowing a life to end without any effort to stop it was a no brainer. His friends all nodded and muttered in agreement, Cara had stopped her screaming but she was still trying to break free of her boyfriends grasp.

"Let go of her. I'm not asking." I shot at Jeremy, and he did as I said. Cara ran straight to my side, bring with her a blanket from the pile behind Wyatt's feet.

"Step away from the blankets, you have no say in who can and can't use these." I shoved him side ways, he tried to hold his ground but I was stronger. "Don't you dare try anything like this again."

Wyatt turned to Jesse, who was watching me with eyes full of confusion, and a glimmer of something else. What was it? I couldn't tell. 'You're just going to stand back and let her take charge of everyone? I thought you were the one fighting against her leadership!" Wyatt was waiting for Jesse to step up and defend him. If I was going to be honest, I was concerned that he hadn't already stopped me from taking action.

"We have more than enough blankets, there shouldn't be a problem with everyone having one. Don't try and be a hero, Wyatt, you're fooling no one." I was prepared to snap back at him, my mouth hung open for a second too long before I felt his eyes on me. I didn't have time to be shocked by his sudden change of heart.

Catching on quickly I had to add, "Now, back off and give Gemma two extra blankets. If you try and stop one more person from getting what they need- you answer to us." I noticed Jesse's eyebrow rise at my choice of words

Wyatt was furious, his nostrils flaring as he attempted to stop us from reaching for the blankets. "Who put you in charge? Why do you get to make the rules?" He pushed his finger into my chest, now I realised how annoying that must have been for Jesse when I did it. It didn't really do anything to get a point across it was just annoying.

"She doesn't make the rules. I don't make the rules." Pointing his fingers between him and myself. "We make the rules." I hated Jesse speaking for me, but I couldn't argue with what he was saying. His words startled me; unsure of how to behave when he treated me like an equal. Something about it felt right, when he look to his side- eyes meeting mine we seemed have had another silent conversation. It was a unspoken agreement that we seemed to share, I could see that he didn't like me but something had shifted between us by suddenly throwing us onto the same side for once.

"You're on HER side, man? What happened to you? You used to give a shit about only the strong surviving. What did she say to change you mind? What has she got over you?" Wyatt didn't show any signs of stopping, his face turning red as he got up in Jesse's face. Placing my open palm onto his chest, holding him back before he could reach out and hurt anyone.

"Back off, because for some reason this guys is holding back on you- but I wont. I wont try and be your leader or you boss you around, but I will protect the people that can't protect themselves. So back off – now." I didn't get to finish making my point when Jesse stepped into it.

"If her side means survival, I'm all in." looking over Wyatt to his friends Jesse threatened, "I suggest you stay away from us for a while, I don't want your friend to get hurt next time." His friends pulled Wyatt from us; Cara shot me an apologetic look before following after her friends.

Jesse turned to me, eyebrow raised with that arrogant smirk playing over his lips. I couldn't help it as my face responded the same way, my eyes smiled too as my lips puckered in amusement. "We make the rules do we?" I teased, I don't know what had shifted between us but I wasn't going to question it- with him on my side things might just be that little bit easier. For some reason, people respected and listened to him and I knew I needed his support in order to make things run smoothly.

"Don't flatter yourself, someone had to take charge around here- I wasn't going to let you get all the credit."

"You're right though, we are going to need to make decisions together if we're ever going to get anything done properly." He began to walk away from me, I grabbed onto his arm.

"I know. But that doesn't mean I trust you." His tone was sharp again, the playfulness still hidden amongst it all but his eyes were serious, digging into mine almost. Pulling me to him he whispered in my ear, "It's all for show, princess, they'll follow if they think we get along."

Pushing him away from me I glared, the pit of anger arising within me again. "Don't mistake me needing you to help with keeping these people alive, for actually needing you. Or caring about you. Got it?" I raise my eyebrow arrogantly; giving returning the look he so often gave me. I didn't give him a chance to respond before stalking off – it was late but it was time to check up on everyone.

"I don't think I've ever agreed with you more, princess." I heard him mutter behind me, but I ignored him- heading over to see who we had lost today.

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