"Don't say a word. Don't make a sound. Don't do anything."

Despite the crackling fire and blankets drowning my body, I shivered. I didn't know if it was because it was cold outside or because I'd developed a fever from my untreated leg. Maybe it was both.

"Ok," I said softly.

The blonde haired girl left the room, shutting the door firmly behind her.

I didn't know who the girl was or how she had saved us from the base explosion. I also didn't know why she'd left flannel-guy out in the snow while she carried me back to her house.

Something about her was definitely off- that much I had figured out. Beyond that? I didn't know much.

She had known what flannel-guy's name was though, which was extremely weird and suspicious. Out of all the people in the world and she just happened to know him- the guy lying face down, unconcious in the snow during an alien apocalypse.

I closed my eyes, shifting down further into the comforter.

Was she suspicious? Yes. But she had offered us a place to stay, and after being injured and blown from the army base, I was just grateful to not be lying on the forest floor dead.

If she posed a problem, Evan and I would deal with it.

In the time that it took for the girl to go get Evan, I thought about the rest of the squad...and most importantly: Zombie.

I figured Nugget was ok now that he had his sister, Cassie. And I figured everyone was safe if Ringer was with them. And from what Evan had said before the base had exploded, Zombie was with Cassie.

So they were alive- which was good. But what truly bothered me was the fact that they were alive together. Zombie and Cassie were together.

From the way Evan had mentioned Cassie's name, I knew she meant something to him. But did Evan mean something to Cassie? Or throughout the power outage, tsunami, plague, and arrival of the Others, had she still held fast to her feelings for Zombie?

Even now, Lizbeth's haunting voice ran through my mind.

Just because you've stormed into my life doesn't mean you can do the same to Cassie's. Ben is off limits. He's hers. Don't you even think about it.

I felt tears slide down my hot cheeks.

Why hadn't I told Zombie how I felt? Why hadn't I taken the chance when I'd had it? Now, it was highly unlikely I'd even see him again. And if I did see him again, would I be too late? Would Cassie have finally claimed what was 'rightfully hers'? And would Zombie even be glad to see me?

I hastily wiped my eyes with my bare arm.

It wasn't until then I realized that I hadn't been changed out of my hospital gown. My wounds also hadn't been cleaned or bandaged again- my leg was still wrapped with the same crimson stained bandage put on by the doctor at Wright Patterson.

When the girl returned with Evan, I sat up in anticipation, expecting her to stop by my room.

Instead, her footsteps thudded past my door, and I heard the door open to the room next to mine.

The girl started talking, but her words came out as a jumbled mess, so I moved up to my pillow, pressing my ear against the wall.

"What do you need?" she asked.

"Clothes," Evan said.

The girl said something else that I didn't catch before her voice perked up again. "Call if you need anything. Stay off that ankle. I have to get some supplies; I wasn't expecting company."

Evan asked how long she'd be and she responded saying she'd only be gone a couple hours.

I heard her footfalls head away, towards the door, before Evan's voice called out to her, "And the girl I was with? Where's she?" he asked.

"She didn't make it. I had to leave her," she said.

My eyes narrowed and I backed away from the wall. Why would she lie about me being here? Before I had anytime to think about what I should do, the door to my bedroom swung open and the tall blonde girl entered.

"Don't say a word," she said, untying a handkerchief from her wrist.

"I don't know why Evan had you with him, but I intend to find out. Until I figure out exactly why, I'll refrain from killing you."

With that, her hand shot out and thrust the hankcerchief at my mouth.

I let out a small straggled yelp, swatting helplessly at her hand.

The girl let out a cold laugh and tied the strip of cloth tightly around my mouth, knotting it towards the back of my neck.

"Now, my darling Evan needs to rest his pretty little head, so try not to make any noise, ok?" she said sweetly, her voice twisting sickly at the end.

All I could do was stiffly nod- the cloth cut into my cheeks, making it too hard for me to move much of anything.

"Perfect," she said satisfied. "Until later then."

She left with a small skip in her step and closed the door quietly behind her.

Immediately after I heard her footsteps quiet, I reached a dry hand up to my mouth to tug at the handkerchief. My trembling fingers fumbled with the cloth, attempting to pull it in a way that didn't restrict circulation even more than it already was. I grasped the cloth at the corners of my mouth with both hands, attempting to tug it down in one swift movement. My hands shot away when my nails drew blood and my skin started burning.

Who was this girl? And what on earth was her problem? Why would she be doing this to other humans?

I thought for a moment and then the answer hit me.

But what if she wasn't human? What if she was an Other, like Voche and Reznik and the other officers at the base?

What if she was one of the Silencers sent to kill us?

Cogs started turning and I furrowed my brows in confusion.

But then why wouldn't she have killed us? The Others certainly weren't hesitant in killing humans in the past - so why would she be any different? She said she was waiting to kill me until she figured out what I was doing with Evan. But why would she care so much about him?

I slumped against the bed frame, exhausted from moving and thinking so much.

I just wanted it to end.

I wanted to escape this demon girl and get to Squad 53. I wanted to find Zombie and then save the human race. Was that really too much to ask for?

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of my door creaking open.

"Hey," Evan said hoarsely, stepping into the room. He walked over to my bed and pulled my hair to the side so he could untie the handkerchief.

Once it was free, he stepped away and I pulled it away from my face, throwing it down on the bed. I rubbed my cheeks, cringing when my fingertips brushed over the shallow cuts left behind.

"What's going on, Evan?" I asked. "Who is that girl and how does she know who you are?"

Evan sat down on the edge of my bed, clearly exhausted. I looked down, noticing the fresh bandages wound around his injuries.

So the girl had cleaned his wounds, but not mine.

"Her name is Grace," he said. "We knew one another a while back. She isn't safe though; she's not here to help us."

"It looks like she's here to help you," I said defiantly, nodding down to his wounds. "She also gave you new clothes."

"I had to find these myself," he said, "she didn't give these to me. But yes, she does want to help me."

"Well why?" I asked, growing impatient with his vague answers.

Evan sighed and looked away momentarily before meeting my eyes again. "I'm an Other. Or I was...until I met Cassie," he said softly.

I noticed the way he mentioned Cassie with longing in his voice and how he mentioned he was an Other with regret.

I knew I should really be mad or upset that he was an Other. His kind had eradicated the human race and taken over my planet. But he had saved my life, and risked his own in the process. I owed him at least the chance to show me that he was different.

"Ok," I said. "We'll deal with that problem later. Right now we need to deal with Grace," I said.

I could tell my response surprised him, but he shook his head softly. "Yeah. Well we need to kill her. Right when she gets whatever she wants from you, she'll kill you. And once she figures out I'm not on her side, she'll kill me too, and then go after Cassie. We have to stop her before she even has the chance to think about that."

"We should leave now," I said. "She's gone and this might be our only shot."

Evan shook his head, disagreeing. "If we leave now, she would follow us. It'd be better if we just got rid of her all together."

I pursed my lips, knowing deep down that he was right.

"Ok," I said. "What do we suggest we kill her with? I don't see any guns just lying around."

Evan nodded. "The gun she gave me was a blank. But I have a plan. I'll take care of her when she comes back," he said, standing up.

"If things sound like they're going bad, run."

"Or I can help," I said.

He shook his head again. "She's too strong," he said. "But I don't intend on things going bad, so just wait until I come get you."

I let out a small huff in annoyance. "Fine," I said.

Long after he had left my room, I heard the front door open and the floor boards creak as Grace made her way to Evan's room.

When I could hear her talking to Evan, I moved back towards the wall, trying to catch every word I could out of their conversation.

I quickly realized it wasn't a conversation I wanted to listen to, so I slid back down my bed.

From the little bit of their conversation that I'd gathered, Grace wanted a little more from Evan than just someone to talk to. I just hoped Evan's feelings for Cassie were enough to keep him from getting distracted by Grace.

My prayers were answered when I heard a crash come from the other side of the wall. It was followed by a screech and then more sounds of struggle.

It seemed to go on for a lot longer than necessary, so I heaved myself out of the comfort of the bed, and despite my lack of strength and pain shooting from every inch of my body, I dashed towards the door and into the room beside mine.

There, on the ground, Evan was choking Grace.

My eyes widened at the discoloration of Grace's face and the image of Evan's strong hands on the wires around her neck.

I surged forward and lashed out with my leg, snapping Grace's head backward with my bare foot.

Her body thumped against the hard floor and Evan looked at her a second longer before hoisting himself up.

"Grab some clothes from her closet," he said, nodding behind him. "We need to go."

<><><>

Hey everyone! Long time no see! I hope you liked the first chapter of Part 2! Let me know in the comments what you're most looking forward to in the coming chapters!

Also, I wanted to inform everyone that because I feel like The Infinite Sea does not have as a solid plot line at The Fifth Wave, I will have to make up some scenes that didn't actually happen in the book. Meaning, I'll be adding in some additional scenes to make the plot a little fuller. I just wanted to bring this to everyones' attention so I wasn't getting confused comments later in the story.

Anyway, thanks for your amazing support and for being active (if you vote and comment), I love you all and really appreciate each and every one of you!

I'd also like to thank my two sisters for helping me come up with some pretty epic ideas for part two! You all are going to absolutely love what we've come up with!

(p.s. Updates will be coming more regularly now- at least once every week!)