Nia walked along with Lucas. She didn't quite know where they were going, she just followed.

The pair of them walked through the forest, their footsteps muffled by a blanket of fallen leaves. They both marvelled at the vibrant hues that they found, listening to the whispers of the ancient trees. They eventually stopped somewhere deep within the forest, surrounded by trees nearly 3 times their height. She didn't know what to do, so she started to pick up some sticks for the fire, Lucas kept on walking about 7 metres ahead. She looked around, there were lots of sticks on the ground, but they were thin and snapped beneath their feet. They were too thin. She looked around a bit more and found some a tad thicker towards the base of one of the trees. The tree was one of the shortest around, maybe around 1 ½ to 2 times their height. She bundled up the sticks she found and looked around a bit longer in an attempt to find some more for the fire.

"You can't use them," a voice echoed from the distance, she knew it was Lucas but she still turned around to see who it was. "They're too thin. They will burn straight through and the fire won't last as long. Look here."

He motioned for her to come over, so she followed. He crouched down and pulled a lighter from his back pocket. The casing was an orange metal. It had a pattern engraved into it, with an L in the middle. Placing the lighter beneath the stick and flipping its cap, he set the lighter off. The smell of charred wood was intense, almost echoing through the forest. Fire is the gateway to hell, but fire has that magnetic pull, that hypnotizing dance it does to lure you in. The dance that catches souls in its flame, the dance that makes you wish you dazzled and shined just half as bright as that flame had ever done. It crackled and snapped. It moved around as if it was alive, dancing and swaying in the wind. Blowing around like that one noodle man at a car shop. Soon, the stick snapped, the end dropping onto the ground, just to get trodden on by 30 other people who wandered this way. Peed on by 8 other animals, picked up to play fetch by 15 other dogs.

"See? Doesn't last long," he picked up another, more of a log than a stick. He chucked it up, spinning it in the air, before catching it and clenching it again. "Something more like this, ok? Makes a better fire. That's all." He then just turned around and kept on looking for firewood.

"Thank you," she shouted to him, he turned around to look at her. "Not just for that, for what you did back there too... if you hadn't said anything he would've sent me back."

"Just because I stood up for you doesn't mean I agree with it. Yes, In his eyes, you're safer here, but you're still not safe. He only cares about you, I think you just need to realise it." He raised his head to look at her face, Nia looked sad, confused. "I'm sorry that sounded rude,"

"No it's OK, I know what you mean. I know what you mean it's just, he was my brother Lucas. My baby brother. You don't understand-"

"I do. I do understand. I'd do anything to protect my sister," he said. Nia looked back up at Lucas, this was the first time he had looked directly at her. "Just know... me and Nathan are not as different as you may think. I know how he feels."

She didn't know what to say, Lucas sat down for a moment, cracking twigs as he sat down. She followed him, sitting down next to him. 28 people to go.

"I didn't know you had a sister..." she said, trying to start a conversation with Lucas.

"Yes. Kaitlyn, she's 14." Lucas turned to face her a bit more, "I don't want you to think I'm being rude Ni I'm really not trying to be its just- I... I know how he feels. Nathaniel. The fact that you couldn't stand seeing your sister get hurt... I'm sorry. I'm rambling on. I don't know why, I feel like I have to tell the truth all the time, just so people like me. And then when they don't like me because of it, I still feel like they would hate me even more if I lied. I don't know why I do it, I just do. I struggle to... talk to people, this may be the longest I've ever spoke to someone all in one go to be honest." He chuckled, glancing over in her direction, smiling at her.

She placed her hand on Lucas' thigh, a comforting gesture. She smiled back, for some reason, the "Ni" had given her butterflies, fluttering around in her stomach. Pressing at her skin to get out.

He could smell her perfume; a sweet smell, though one that felt as if it was made to draw him in. It was as if she had become the fire, using its magnetic pull to draw him in. He slowly leaned closer towards her, edging every centimetre carefully.

"Lucas! Nia!" Someone shouted from the edges of the forest. "Luuuuuucas," the voice yelled, really enunciating the U, as if it was trying to find a dog.

"Over here!" Nia shouted back, Lucas looked at her as if to say'what the fuck why would you do that! It's hilarious trying to find us.' but Nia just looked back and shrugged angrily.

"There you are. Bloody hell I've been looking everywhere for you, just so you know, Eli has prepared all the stuff, just waiting for the wood so me and Nathaniel can set the fire, OK?" Neve said. Looking at the pair of them with a weird glance.

"Why did you call me like a dog?" Lucas asked her, she laughed but he thought it was a genuine question.

"Because it was funny. Plus Niiiiiiiiiia doesn't have the same ring to it," she turned to leave back but she turned around last minute. "And Lucas?" She mouthed some words to him, but Nia couldn't quite make out what it was.

"Oh my days. Stop acting like my mum!" She smiled to this comment, and just walked off laughing.

"Guess we better actually start with the wood then?" Nia said with a hint of sarcasm to her tone.

"I guess we should. Fuck why did we leave it this late?"

"Fastest one to get 12 acceptable logs and back to the campfire wins?"

"Why 12?"

"13 is unlucky," she said, "We need as close to 25 as possible. We can't do 13 to get 26, so we have to do 12 and get 24. I'm not a bad old stick. Eh?" Nia knew her joke was terrible, but they both ended up laughing none the less.

"Fine. 3 2 1 go!" He said all in one breath, he wanted to catch her off guard in attempt to get a head start.

~

Nia ran back to camp, only to find Lucas waiting for her with a half made campfire.

"What the hell I literally ran here!" She exclaimed. She panted as she thought about how pissed she was that she wasn't fast enough to beat him in her own competition that she made.

"Well I'm just faster Ni, get over it." He smirked at her, laughing at the fact she was so angry that she lost. "Come on, Neve's busy setting tents now because you were soo slow. Nathaniel is just helping Marcus get everything sorted before he cooks. I'll help you set your half of the fire."

She looked over to see Marcus and Nathaniel, sorting all the freshly chopped food that Elliott had done to make it quicker to cook.

"I never realised how dark your eyes were," Nathaniel said to him. "Bloody hell I can't get over it, they're like pools of nothingness."

"Wow, thanks so much, I am nothing. Believe it or not Nath, that's what pupils are. Holes" Marcus replied, he was of course being sarcastic, but Nathaniel didn't seem to realise. "Sorry that came off a little harsh," he said, reaching for the back of his neck. He awkwardly smiled at him and got back to organising the food.

"What's wrong? You seem quieter than you normally do." Nathaniel said, putting a pile of kidney beans next to the red peppers.

"I'm not sure... I feel a bit confused. But I don't know about what. Do you ever get that feeling when... you feel like you have lived your whole life as one person, and then you wake up and feel like a completely different one?"

"Yeah... I guess instead of feeling completely different for me, it's like I have a switch board in my head, and someone is constantly flicking those switches on and off, changing how I feel all the time. You know what I mean?"

"Yes... yeah I do Nath." Marcus said, looking at Nathaniel, in an admiring way. He had finally found someone similar to him, that understood how he felt. That had gone through similar ordeals to him. It felt nice.

~

The fire was blazing. Keeping the 6 young adults warm. It was no longer the noodle man from the car shops, rather a searing flame with immense heat emanating off it. It grew and grew until it engulfed all the wood and dried leaves that were left out in its path. Becoming more and more like the world it made a gateway to.

The only thing left in their pans were parts of pepper and a few seasoning crumbs. Safe to say the food went down well, even with the pickier eaters.

"Pass me your dishes. I'll wash," Neve said, with a bit of a controlling tone to her voice. She seemed tired but didn't want to accept it. Everyone passed her their dishes and she walked over to the nearest stream without saying another word. The rest of them glanced at each other, wondering who would be the next to talk.

"So," Nia said, "I'm gonna go. You lot are boring and I'm tired." She got up to walk off, and Nathaniel and Lucas followed.

"What do we do now?" Marcus asked Elliot, he was bored, but wasn't tired yet.

"Uh... I might... go and see if Nevaeh needs any help... I'll see you later." Elliott walked off to go find her.

"Great, all by myself. Guess I may as well... watch the stars," and he did just that. He didn't think that he would enjoy it, but he did. He found it calming, even. He did that and nothing else. For 2 hours, until he fell asleep on the grass. Leaving an indent where he had been lay.