"Sir", the Blade Lieutenant said, entering the Doctor's office. "We sent a patrol to catch the girl, but there was an explosion shortly after they reported finding her, and they haven't check in since. We sent other patrols to look for them, but many of them have failed to report in on time as well." "Damn it." he said, "I can't improve the armor or the island's shield any further without the ability to produce force fields. The explosion likely drew many of the island's outcasts to them, creating a slaughterhouse for the troop to fall into." He thought for a few seconds. "Call them back for now. With them grouped together, and without better armor, they don't stand much of a chance." "We need that armor Doctor." said the CO, entering the office from another door. "I'll send them out in the morning." he said, "after the Outcasts have had a chance to get comfortable and let their guard down. Don't worry, I'll get it." "I hope so." the CO said. "Our partners are most interested in your newest project." --- Susan got off the boat and walked up the dock with the rest of the "civilian workers." "Welcome to Redbridge." said the Blade at the top. "Now if you ladies will follow me, I'll take you to the base. Stick close, though. There are dangerous criminals about. I won't let them hurt any of you, though.

"I'm Haru Osi. My older sister Aki is not wanting to be social." Haru said looking back down at her sister who was glaring at her.

Oliver looked at the bush again. "Haru, huh?" He said. "Any reason why you're spying on us?" He felt a tug at his side. "They're the ones we saw earlier" Cerys tells him

Melanie pulled her hand back and looked up at Haru and Aki, then at Cerys and Oliver. They still hadn't properly introduced themselves to her. She sighed and pulled her hair back, waiting for the pills to kick in.

Ice stays silent, waiting for them to walk over so she can introduce herself. For some reason, Aki makes her feel very uncomfortable, but she doesn't know why. Ice watches Oliver and Cerys closely, curious at what he will do.

"My sister's overprotective and we were moving our camp when she spotted you guys so then she decided for us to watch you guys to see if it was safe to approach you all." Haru explained as Aki stood up.

In a distance, away from the group, a young man, in a slightly torn t-shirt, rests in a tree. He crouches on one of the branches like a baseball catcher and looks down. Underneath him, Blades scouring the ground, looking for any trace of him. He smiles slyly and leans back in his tree. He gently takes out his bow and arrows, the ones that he keeps stashed up in the tree. He draws the quiver onto his back and counts three Blades. He draws out three arrows and notches one in his bow. He immediately fires off one after the other, taking all three down. He then leaps off the tree and lands gracefully on the ground. He smiles down at the fallen Blades before beginning to walk. His quiver bounces against his back and he walks far enough to where he hears voices. He pauses. He grabs the lowest branch of the nearest tree and swings himself up onto it. He then begins to jump from tree to tree, until he is right above a small group of people. He sits in the tree and watches them silently.

Oliver watched as the other girl stood up. Truth was, he was actually starting to feel slightly uncomfortable with all these new people at once. Sure he wanted more people, but not this many so quick. He turned to the others. "What do you guys think?" He then looked at Maxwell. "We'll get to you in a second"

Dae was shaking his head while Pip lifted Lily on his shoulders once more. "I . . . this is too many people, I think," said Lily, "we're so obvious . . . it's hard to hide with so many people. I don't know, what do you think? I'm used to moving alone, so I don't know how to deal with this."

Cerys looked up at Oliver and then to Phillip. "Didn't you say you had a safehouse?" She asked Oliver nodded. "Also, they're after something. They attacked us this far our which means they want something. And no matter how many there are of us, I don't think they'll stop until they get it"

Ice looks at Lily. She shrugs. "Why do you think I like to go alone?" she says. She sighs and says, "Maybe we should split off. Easier to hide that way." ---- Gideon tips his head to the side as the group begins to talk about having too many people. He stays perched on his perch and looks down at the girls and guys. He raises an eyebrow and shifts slightly on his branch. He wanders out to the edge of the branch and some leaves drops down. He freezes.

Lily was conflicted. She _liked_ that there was a lot of people, but it also ran counter to how she had survived all this time. She stayed quiet and decided to wait until everyone could reach a decision. When they did, she would decide whether or not she could stay with them.

"I've survived with Haru this whole time and avoided the Blades and I will continue to do so unless there's a good reason for me not to." Aki said as Haru shook her head. "I really don't care."

> Cerys looked up at Oliver and then to Phillip. "Didn't you say you had a safehouse?" She asked > > Oliver nodded. "Also, they're after something. They attacked us this far our which means they want something. And no matter how many there are of us, I don't think they'll stop until they get it" "Yeah," said Philip. "Actually, I have three of them. One's in the office of an iron mine in the forest, ones at the edge of town in the back of a grocery store, and ones in the sewers in the city."

"Sounds... great?" Ice says questionably. She looks up as some leaves drop from a tree. She covers her mouth in surprise as she sees a young man in the trees. He quickly holds up a finger to his mouth and she nods before looking back down at Phillip. "I don't know if this counts, but I have a bomb shelter in the basement of my house were I live." --- Gideon lets out a breath of relief as the girl nods when he tells her to be quiet and make sure they don't know he's there. He settles back on the branch, drawing his bow and an arrow just in case.

"Ok maybe you didn't hear me. The Blades are coming deep into the forest. However safe you think you are they will find you. Now they never come this far in so its like I said, something's going on. Something important it would seem. Do you really think they're gonna let anyone get in their way?" Oliver said. He was starting to get annoyed, but he didn't let it show.

Ice hates the tone of his voice. "Well, would you rather hide in your hole and have them find you and kill you without doing anything?" she snaps at him. "Or would you rather actually try moving and trying to survive? We could try and fight. We have power in numbers."

Oliver looked at Ice. "Did you not hear what I just said?" He asked. "The whole time to you and the others I've been saying 'stay with us, we can fight' and we have at least 3 safehouses to go to"

((Sorry if I'm coming off as harsh. Heat of the moment stuff. XD)) "I wasn't thinking about it fully until now," she says. She shakes her head. "But you don't see the weakness. You just want to protect your sister. If they threatened to hurt her, how fast would you turn on us? If she was captured, how many of us would you turn over to get her back?" Ice knows she sounds harsh, but she just wants him to see the reality of them staying put and fighting. He needs to learn the difference between surviving and actually fighting.

Melanie stood up and said "Come on guys, let's calm down a bit." The pain killers had kicked in and she was a little calmer then usual. "There's no reason to be fighting each other, we know the enemy."