A hard day's work had led to a good night's rest, leading to King sleeping right through Annie's secret arrival at and into the quarantine hut. When he awoke and saw her there, he sat up quickly in shock. 

"Good morning," she said as if she wasn't doing anything wrong. "[i]Before you freak out![/i]"

"[i]What the hell...?[/i]" he responded, most definitely freaking out. "[i]What're you doing here. Your father's gonna have a fucking fit![/i]"

Annie told King about her [i]Papa[/i] telling her about the planned trip to rescue the survivor from the [i]Elizabeth[/i]. She was talking a million miles an hour, obviously trying to keep King from interrupting her. He was still too shocked by Annie's presence to form an opinion about her reasoning.

She finished speaking about the possibility of her father catching whatever King might have, "...if he gets sick and dies ... I'd rather be dead, you understand?"

He didn't immediately respond, his mind still spinning around her simply being here. She offered out a steaming cup of [i]mate[/i], which King hesitantly took. Only now did he realize that the bedding was exposing him low to his waist, nearly revealing his groin. He tried to be inconspicuous about pulling the blanket tighter around his hips. Only now, after realizing that he'd nearly flashed himself, did King's cock begin stirring. [i]Down! Down, boy![/i] King chastised himself. [i]Wrong fucking time for that![/i]

"Makes sense, doesn't it?" Annie asked about her reasons for being here.

"Makes [i]sense?[/i]" King asked surprised. "[i]No! Absolutely not![/i]" 

He sipped at the hot drink, grimacing at the sharp bitterness; the honey made it palatable, but only barely. King had a moment to think about what Annie had done, and he began to understand where she was coming from, even if he didn't agree with it. He looked to a small pot cooking over the little fire she'd stoked while he slept. He asked, "May I?"

King wasn't entirely sure what the [i]mush[/i] was made of -- some locally harvested grass seed that the villagers ground, soaked, and boiled -- but, with some more honey, it was tasty and filling both. He studied Annie as he carefully ate the steaming food. "Listen, I understand what you did and why. But--"

That was all the farther King got before he heard a familiar male voice beyond the quarantine hut door calling, "King, are you awake? I brought food and [i]mate[/i]. We need to get up and around if we're going to get to Black Rock before nightfall."

The man outside was, of course, Annie's father, Bran. King looked to Annie, panicked again as he was when he first saw her in his hut. There was no way to prevent Bran from knowing that his daughter was in here, but then, King knew that Annie wanted it that way. If she didn't invite her father inside, King would.

(OOC: Bran is a shared character, who Annie2002 is going to write next. I'm eager to see where she takes this, heeheehee.)