"I'm fine. I'm wide awake, actually. I've been asleep for about 48 hours. You can take the bed if you like." I nodded towards the bedroom I'd previously been asleep in. "I'm going to go over these maps for a bit and see what I can find. I think it'll be good for me to stay awake. If I sleep any longer, I'll be awake for he rest of my life." I joked. "Get some rest, you need it."

I paused for a moment. "Well, if you're sure..." I would much prefer to sleep in a bed, I knew that, but I didn't want to put Daisy out, she was the one who needed the bed most after all. "Okay- but if you feel tired and I'm not up, wake me and I'll be happy to move, honestly." I told her with a smile. "And thanks, if you need anything, just let me know." I nodded at her, letting her know I meant it, before I stepped away from the table and made my way to the small bedroom. I couldn't wait to shut my eyes and find a blissful sleep.

((Time skip? I'm gonna go for it lol))

The morning came with a light drizzle pitter pattering on the roof of the old rickety house. The siblings were asleep in various places in the living room. Spencer was sprawled on the half cushioned couch, while Nina lay on the floor beside him. Joe slept up against the wall in an upright position, right next to a window so he could get some air while he slept. Em lay next to Nina, cuddled beside her younger sister for warmth. As for Sam, I guessed he was still in the bedroom, asleep.
The light patter of the rain on the roof was calming. It had eventually put me to sleep long after the siblings were out. I had fallen asleep at the table, arms crossed over the maps. I'd used them as some comfort or pillow. The night seemed endless as I'd spent it mulling over the maps. But with much determination and little sleep, I'd finally figured something out. I had saved my new findings to tell the group when the morning came.
"Hey guys, I found something." I said to sleeping ears, wondering if anyone could hear me. "We've got a way out of here." I said quietly to myself.

((Good call! We were in desperate need hahaha))

I sat upright on the bed, heart racing as I pulled myself out of a dream. I let out a shaky sigh as I ran a hand down my sweaty face. A soft dull light shone through the boards plastered across the small window in the dusty bedroom, creating lines across my legs. I listened to the tapping of the rain on the rooftop as I waited for my pulse to return to normal, flashes of my dream were flickering across my mind and before too long, I could hardly remember what it was about.
Despite my fears of being followed and ambushed, we seemed to have made it through another night. I pulled myself off of the bed and straightened myself out. As I reached the door to the main room, I heard Daisy's voice saying that she'd found something.
"What did you find?" I asked gently, hoping not to startle her.

"Oh, good morning." I heard Sam say from the doorway of the bedroom. "I didn't think anyone had heard me." I looked over my shoulder and gave him a small smile. "So-" I gently patted the chair beside me for Sam to sit down. "It took me a while, but I finally got it." I said proudly.
"Actually, don't sit. Stand here." I gestured beside me. I placed both of my hands onto the table and slowly pushed off, standing up in front of my chair.
The maps were all sprawled out onto the table. But this time,they made since. They fit together as one. All of the maps were in fact, one huge map that just needed to be put together like a puzzle.
"We're right here." I pointed to a red dot on one of the maps. "We need to go over there." I gently dragged my finger across various maps to our new destination.

"Would you look at that." I said as I moved over to stand next to Daisy. "Nice work! How did we not see this before?" I smiled down at the maps, spotting various details that didn't make sense last night but now worked perfectly together as one.
"Okay, so what's there?" I asked pointing at where Daisy had her finger resting.
"What are you two shouting about?" Joe groaned from across the room, a frown on his face, clearly not happy with the fact he'd just been woken from his sleep.
"We're not shouting, Joe. Daisy figured the maps out. Come have a look." I said and noticed the others stirring from their positions.

"Ok, so-" I shifted my weight so I wasn't leaning on my hurt leg so much. "Right here-" I pointed, "Is a secret base located in a discrete part of Til. If we can make it there, we should be good. I don't think a lot of people know about it. It's for... important people. I don't know. I guess all the big, high up people. My brother used to write to me and tell me stories of some almighty secret base that was supposed to help end the war more efficiently." I ran a hand through my hair, thinking of my brother. Missing him. But the war took him. "That was a long time ago, though." I said quietly, "Anyway. I think we can do it."

"Secret base?" Em was standing next to me now, rubbing her eye as she took in the map before her.
"A secret base. One that will end the war?" Nina sounded skeptical. "Are you sure? I mean, how do you know that's it?" She was stretching her arms, looking as if she was about to yank one out of her shoulder socket.
"Well, it's definitely plausible." I said glancing around the group. "Although that's still pretty far. We have to get there first. Once we get to Til I'm assuming it will be easier, but that could take weeks if we have to keep walking."

"I mean, I don't know if it could end the war. Those were just stories I'd heard from a long time ago." I carefully sat back down in my seat. "But I'm pretty sure that's the secret base I'd been told about. If not, they were just stories to keep me positive." I shrugged. "It's worth a shot though. We don't even have to get to the base. We just have to get to Til." I rested my hands in my lap.
Spencer came stumbling over, his hair sticking up this way and that. He grumbled something, but I couldn't make it out. Nina hushed him and sat down beside me, eyeing the maps over.

"Okay, well it's worth a shot." Nina said as she took in the maps details.
"I think we should just concentrate on getting back home." Joe stood opposite us with his arms folded. "Like Sam said, if we keep going on foot it'll take us weeks to get back to Til, we should track a route back to Til territory."
Em nodded and pointed at red cross that had been etched into the map we'd found here last night. "Let's start with that. Nina, you said last night you though it might be a bunker or a warehouse?" Nina nodded. "Whatever it is, it's in the direction of Til. If we can blow up some Jaxlor bases along the way home I'll have no complaints."

"That all sounds good to me." I chimed in. "I can walk. Or at least hobble. I won't be as fast as you guys, but I think I can make it." Spencer shrugged.
"Alright." Spencer croaked. "When do we start leaving? I'm ready when you guys are. Daisy is feeling better, we're all rested. I think the sooner, the better." He looked to his siblings for approval. Joe nodded at him, slapping him on the back. Spencer winced, but ignored his big brothers attempt at affection.
"Sam. Plan Man-" Nina began, "How long do you think it'll take us to get there." She pointed at the red X sketched onto the map.

I stared at the map. "Maybe a few days? It's not that far really, but with Daisy's leg it will take us a bit longer, and that's not a problem, we just have to take it into consideration." I said and looked around the group.
"So, I guess we should get packing." Em said lightly. "We should put the maps in order so it's easier to follow, otherwise I'll refill our water supplies." She moved away from the table and Nina started collecting the maps up.
"What about you Daisy? Are you sure you'll be fine?" Joe looked at Daisy with concern. "We could probably rustle up a crutch out of something from around here if you'd like?" He gripped Spencer's shoulder, clearly including in the 'we' he just mentioned.

"I hadn't even thought about a crutch. That would be perfect. Are you sure you could conjure one up for me? I don't want to be any more trouble than I've already been these past few days." I looked up at the brothers as they stared back at me.
"It's- it's no problem." Spencer wiggled his way out of his brothers grip. "I'll get started on it. I'm sure there's a bunch of stuff I could use to make one." Spencer thumped his brother on the forehead before running off to find something to make a crutch out of.
While Spencer ran off, the girls packed and Joe began grabbing and organizing all of our bags.

I rolled my shoulders as everyone sprang into action. "You know, I shouldn't complain but even though I got to sleep on that bed last night, my shoulders feel like rocks. I think are a few too many slacks broken underneath that lump of a mattress." I said and then laughed. "Though I really shouldn't complain."
"Yeah, don't say that too loud otherwise Joe might knock your block off." Nina spoke up from behind me, raising her eyebrows as she shot a look over at Joe.

Joe shot Sam an over dramatic glare, then smiled, breaking his false anger. The rest of the siblings gather everything we needed and stood close to the door. Joe took his time fashioning a crutch for me. When he was done, he helped me stand up and handed me the makeshift crutch.
"This should do. Try it out." Joe stood back and I walked a few steps forward. It was comfortable. It would work.
"Thanks, I really appreciate it. This will do fine." I smiled. Joe nodded, threw a big bag over his shoulder and walked out the door.
"No problem!" He called from the porch and sneezed a few times. "I can't wait to get out of here and away from this dust." I heard him grumble.

"Looks good." I nodded to Daisy's new crutch as I grabbed the pack I was carrying yesterday. Opening it up, I pulled out my gun and double checked that it was loaded before I slipped it in my pants waistband. The siblings had all grabbed their respective bags, so I took the last one that Daisy would've had to carry and slung both of them over my shoulders. "You want a gun?" I asked Daisy as I turned around to face her.

"Oh-," I was surprised at Sam's question, but pleased to hear it. It had only been about two days, but it felt like two years since I'd had a gun to protect myself with. Everyone was so busy taking care of me, a part of me forgot that I would actually need to protect myself. "Yeah, that'd be great. I'll take one."

"Great." I smiled and pulled one out, checked that it was loaded, then handed it to her.
"Come on guys, let's get moving." Joe called from outside. I looked around the dusty room, grateful for it's safety before turning to walk outside. I held the door open for Daisy and the others as they filed out.
"I've got the map," Nina called, "so I'll lead the way with Joe. Sam you stay at the back so we've got cover from both sides."

"Got it." Joe replied to Nina and waved his hand in the air, confirming that he'd heard her. I filed out behind the others, giving the old house one last look before moving on.
The air was chilled and damp. I thought the rain would have made it a bit more humid out, but the day was still young and it had not yet warmed up. As we traveled, I hobbled behind the rest of the group, slow, but still able to keep a good pace. Almost every ten or fifteen minutes, someone was asking me if I was alright and able to walk. I'd nod and continue to hobble my way through. I appreciated them asking me if I was alright, but after the first ten times it just got annoying. Nonetheless, I was happy that they cared.

"You know what I miss most about home?" Spencer started after nearly two hours of walking through the dense bush. He was walking just in front of me, I'd been getting irritated at him picking leaves off of the plants we passed, letting them fly back into my chest if they were particularly tough ones to rip off.
Em snorted. "What? Your gaming? Or how about your collection of dolls?"
"They're not dolls, they're models." Spencer retorted quickly. "No, none of that. They're basically meaningless. No, what I miss most, is school."
"School?" Joe looked over his shoulder at Spencer with a raised eyebrow. "You miss school? Not mom or dad? Not home cooked meals? You're crazy."
"Of course I miss mom and dad. And the food." Spencer's stomach grumbled as he ripped up another leaf and let it sprinkle to the ground. "But the normalcy of school. The routine. The only thing we had to worry about was homework, or getting detention."
"Like you ever got detention," Nina said with a laugh.
"I know what you mean, Spence." Em said from behind Joe. "It's something so trivial, I get it. Now look at what we're worrying about. Our lives, everyday. That's not something teenagers should have to think about."