I wasn't going to be that girl in horror movies that called out, who's there? I wasn't going to go check it out, I wasn't going to pretend like my stomach wasn't flooded with a swarm of nervous butterflies and that a small part of my wanted to run in the opposite direction.

But that was only a small part. The large majority of me told me to hide out of sight and see what it was.

I dropped to the ground, I jumped into the middle of a large bush hoping that what ever it was they wouldn't even notice me. If someone was looking they would surely find me, but I could only hope this person was oblivious.

The rustling of the leaves grew louder and closer what ever it was, it was in a hurry. My breath hitched when it came into view and all of my worry washed away as quickly as it had arrived.

It wasn't the wind. But it wasn't human either.

The small glimmer of hope that had held by breath for Jesse ached but I knew that we would find out back to each other- he wasn't going to die like this.

A new glimmer of hope ran threw me when I saw the animal.

I had never seen anything like it before, it walked on four legs with dirty orange fur and a white collection of fur around his pointy nose. It looked almost like the meerkats that used to play on channel 7 every night. I missed little things like that.

From the little I knew about animals- that wasn't anymore than breads of dogs and cats- I could see that it was harmless. I had an open opportunity to bring back something other than fruits for the rest of my group.

My fingers curled around the handle of my knife, preparing my self to jump out of my bush when it passed me. I pressed all my weight back before I sprung forward.

The bush protested slightly, holding back some of my momentum but the small creature didn't have time to react. I jumped onto it, my hands reaching for its throat. I squeezed it with one hand, holding its face away from me while I raised the blade.

It was trashing under my grip, its head desperately to turn and bit at my hand. He didn't succeed- I had the upper hand.

I'd never killed an animal before and as my hand held the knife intended for its throat up in the air I couldn't quiet bring myself to drive it down and end a life.

I'd killed a mouse once, actually. It was my pet mouse and I was running with it in my hand, dropped it and didn't stop running straight away. I'd crushed him and was absolutely mortified. I was 3 and cried for the whole day, my brothers lied to mum and said it was them. But I'd always carried that guilt whenever I saw a mouse running in the streets or in labs later on in high school.

The death of one small animal had weighed on my conscious for so long, silently causing my heart to drop whenever I saw a tiny creature. My brothers saw how it affected me, even at such a young age, and the day I'd been accepting into medicine they teased me. How was I going to be a doctor if every death on my hands was going to drive me further and further into a state of guilt?

They were on to something then.

But I'd gone into Medicine to protect people, to be the reason that some people are alive. Just like I needed my group to survive and they aren't going to do that living off food that didn't provide them with the proper nutrients.

Do it for them, Dru.

I whispered to my self, squeezing my eyes shut as I finally brought the knife down with force.

"Sorry." I mumbled as I felt the blade dig in and my hand on the handle met his fur.

The animal grew limp immediately, the blood pouring onto my fist. Removing the knife from it's neck I wiped it off on my jeans and did the same with my hand. I returned the knife to it's home in my jacket and lifted up the small animal.

I need to get this back to my group, give them a proper dinner. Give Cara and Mason some extra strength. They needed me. It was reckless of me to charge out here thinking I would just stumble across Jesse- he'd probably made it back on his own.

What if he hadn't? And I was turning my back on him after making it this far?

I had to protect 5 other people and no matter how heavily I was growing to depend on Jesse, it would be a waste of resources if I continued hunting him on my own. Flinching at my own word choice I turned around before I could change my bag.

Please forgive me Jesse.

~~~~~~~

"Dru!" Caila was the first to my side, catching the animal from my hands before I stumbled onto the ground. My legs were screaming at me to give them a break, the blood leaving my body in several gashes weakening my step by step.

The run back had felt five times as long, my body refusing to my determination to push faster. But I'd made it.

"You're an idiot, you could have gotten yourself killed." Caila had passed away the animal, throwing it towards Emmet who was position over the fire boiling water. She had her hands on my shoulder, holding my heaving body still.

"I got us some dinner." I pointed at the animal, changing the topic all together and ignoring everyone's questioning stares. I couldn't help myself as my eyes searched the camp for any sign of Jesse. There was nothing and I felt my heart sink- what If I'd just left him alone out there. My posture slumped, my elbows on my knees holding my head up.

"He'll be okay, Dru, he's almost as stubborn as you and I know that he wouldn't die without a fight." Caila understood my change in body language, the fell to her knees before me, pulling my head up in her hands.

My eyes met the deep brown eyes of the kind girl. She had so much belief and certainty shining threw to me and I couldn't help but feel the slightest bit relieved.

"You don't have time to worry about him, we need to get Cara and Mason back to the base- we have tomorrow to make a three day journey back. We have no time to waste." She spoke the words that deep within in me I knew, the words that I didn't want to face as being true.

"I know." I admitted, grabbing her hands that held my face and squeezing them in thanks.

"Everything thing will work out, Dru." She squeezed back and then released my face. "So, what do you think about eating some real food for once?" He entire mood shifted into a cheerful excited girl, the thought of real meat lighting up her eyes.

"I'll me you there, I'm going to check up on Cara and Mason." She nodded and sat by Emmet and Vincent near the fire. They were trying to hold it out over the fire whilst trying to remove the fur. I laughed at the sight; they better not ruin this meal.

My eyes flew over to where Cara and Mason lay, the both of them propped up on their back packs engaging in friendly chatter. The both of them looked as though the life had been restored into their eyes, there was no signs of their pain wearing them down.

I breathed a sigh of relief, at least I'd manage to save them.

I couldn't say the same about Jesse.