We spent exactly four nights and three days in the hospital while Abi recovered from sepsis.

It turned out that I called 911 just in time. If we'd been out there any longer, then Abi might not have made it. But she made it, and she pulled through just fine.

The second night that we were there, some cops showed up and asked me about two dozen questions: Where was the bear trap? What were we doing out there, all alone? Had we crossed the border from North Dakota? If we did cross the border, why doesn't my friend have a passport with her? Where do I live? Where does she live? Where can they find your parents?

On and on, they kept asking me the same questions in different ways. I answered as vaguely as I could without giving too much away, sticking to our fake names and avoiding the truth at all costs.

Abi healed fairly well; the doctors at the Frances Mahon Deaconess Hospital were pretty good. It was standard to spend three days recovering in hospital from sepsis, but the thing I was beginning to worry about next was the cost of it all.

Another reason to avoid hospitals in the States is that they cost an arm and a leg. Even if the patient dies, you still have to pay a hell of a lot of money for it.

So, the night before Abi was due to be released, we snuck out.

"C'mon Abi, it's time to go." I gently shook her awake. We'd already discussed the plan earlier in the day, so she was dressed in clothes under the hospital bedcovers.

"Yep." She yawned and stretched, before moving to get out of bed.

Thankfully, by now she could walk on her injured leg. Sure, she was still slower than usual, but she just gritted her teeth and got on with it.

At a Greyhound Bus Station about an hour and a half's walk from the hospital, we caught a coach that would take us to Great Falls, and then onto Missoula, the closest city to Coloma.

Coloma, empty now — haunted only by apparitions instead of the pack. Yet Missoula was the only place that I could think of where to look for the rest of my pack.

Home.

I knew that once Abi and I got into Missoula, it would be the early hours of the morning — what with the entire journey taking around five and a half hours.

As soon as we were on the coach, I helped Abi into a seat, making sure that we were in the middle of the coach, and she was in the window seat so that she wouldn't get travel sick. Abi constantly got travel sickness and motion sickness, and right now, that was just one thing I didn't need to have that going on as well.

"You good?" I checked as she settled into her seat.

"Yup." She yawned, propping her legs up onto my thighs and resting her face against the window glass.

It wasn't long after the coach set off that she was asleep, snoring gently, her breath leaving a streak on the glass.

Staring at her, I appreciated being with her. With her, it was like having hope again. Proper hope this time, not the fake hope that I felt when I was in Lake Oldoy with her. Jason was alive. I had to have hope with that knowledge.

Resting my head back against the seat, I closed my eyes.

I woke up immediately when the coach stopped.

A bunch of people got off, and the same amount got on. The coach was gassed up, and the driver switched. And we were off again — only 165 miles and just under three hours away from Missoula.

A glance to my left told me Abi was still asleep. I pulled a hoodie out of my duffel bag, not wanting to disturb her too much, and laid it over her legs. She shifted slightly, before sinking into sleep again, evidently exhausted.

After noticing the Free Wi-Fi poster and password, I pulled out my phone and began swiping endlessly through irrelevant news articles, waiting for the scenery outside the window to change from scrubland to mountains.

Even in the darkness of night, I could see the looming outlines of the mountains on the horizon. I smiled, thinking of home.

A quick search on the internet told me that most of the electrical utility companies in Missoula weren't too far from the Greyhound Bus Station in the centre of the city. There were three within an hour's walk from the bus station. I figured I could leave Abi in the McDonald's across the road, and hope that she wouldn't get herself into any trouble while I searched for the rest of our pack.

The next couple of hours passed without much happening. I drifted in and out of sleep, as I wanted to stay awake for when we arrived. The bus kept at a steady speed throughout the entire journey, which was probably what lured me to sleep more than once.

The next time I awoke, I noticed that the dawn was beginning to break on the horizon and that we had now reached the mountains.

In the early-morning sunlight, I saw the sign for Greenough flash by.

"Abi." I shook her gently awake, "Abi, wake up."

"Mhm..." She complained before opening her eyes. "Where are we?"

"Greenough," I told her excitedly. "We just going through Greenough."

Her eyes opened widely as both of us turned to our left to look out the window. Because, up in those trees, less than 10 miles from the side of the road, lay Coloma. Our home.

Abi turned to me again and threw her arms around me. "We're almost home, Theo." She cried, "We're almost home."

"I know, Abi." I hugged her back. "I know."

The bus kept going, oblivious to the newfound joy that Abi and I now shared.

It wasn't long before we passed through Potomac, where I had been found all those months ago. Then the road twisted more as we dropped past Twin Creeks, entering the valley. Bonner Mountain was on our left, and that meant we were about 20 minutes away from the Greyhound Bus Station in Missoula.

We were so close to home; I could hardly believe it.

The sun rose some more, revealing more of the landscape that Abi and I called home, revealing more of what we knew.

And it felt like everything was going right again, everything was falling back into place.

A single, happy tear slid down my cheek (shut up); I'd come so far. So far on my own, and now I'd found Abi, and I was on my way to find the rest of my pack. I wouldn't have to be on my own anymore. I'd have my pack, once I found them.

Missoula was already buzzing with energy when we arrived. And whereas I normally hated being in cities, I revelled in it this time. Because the thing with cities in Montana is that the mountains are never far away, always in sight — which means you can always get away from the city in a matter of minutes.

I breathed a sigh as the coach pulled up to the station.

"Come on, then." I stood first and helped Abi up. Once safely off the coach and away from other people, I pressed enough dollars into her hand and told her, "You're gonna go get some breakfast in that McDonald's over the road, and I'm gonna check out a few of the electrical stations for our pack — okay?"

She nodded, looking pale again. "Theo, there's something you need to know."

Is this a prediction?

"What is it, Abi?" I questioned, as I helped her cross the road.

"Some of them..." She glanced around her, eyebrows furrowed as if she heard something (which she probably did), "Some of them... You need to get there fast, okay, Theo? The hunters have been using wolfsbane with everything they did to us... They're gone now. You must go quickly."

"Do you have any idea where they are?" I rushed.

"Across the river. Middle of an industrial park," she replied faintly, before wandering into McDonald's.

I pulled out my phone and began walking towards the Clark Fork River, the largest river in Montana, and it cut straight through Missoula. Crossing into Idaho as well, the river was roughly 300 miles long.

Bonneville Power Administration — that's where I was heading first. Across the river and in the middle of an industrial estate, it had to be that.

Securing my duffel bag over my shoulder and pushing my phone into my pocket, I broke out into a run, knowing that it would take me less time if I ran there. If they weren't at this Bonneville place, there was another electric utility company about half a mile away, called NorthWestern Energy.

But God, I hoped there were at the first one so we could just go back to normal life again.

But what is normal? I thought as I ran, my duffel bag banging annoyingly against my thigh.

I'll worry about normal later, I decided and ran faster.

After about 10 more minutes of running, I arrived at Bonneville Power Administration and slowed to a walk. Discreetly raising my head slightly, I tried to catch any scents in the wind. And I thought I had something before the wind changed direction and the scent disappeared.

The scent belonged to Jade — that much I could gather before it dissipated. Though whether it was a living scent or a dead one I didn't have enough time to determine.

Shit, I really hope it's a living scent.

I kicked down the door of the electrical room at the back of the utility building; the lock was too stubborn to be knocked off. I pushed my way into the room cautiously, trying to block out my senses, not wanting to experience all that pain.

"Hello?" I called out, all too aware that I could find them in a similar position to Abi.

"Theo?" A weak voice replied.

I felt for a light switch on the wall, but there wasn't one.

"Who is it?" I asked, still being cautious, not wanting to get tricked.

"Theo, it's me..." It was a girl's voice, and she started coming toward me. "It's me, it's Jade."

My heart nearly stopped.

I rushed towards her and enveloped her in an embrace, "It's okay, it's okay; I've found you."

As she sobbed in my arms, I looked around and saw that Ryder was standing there.

"Hey man." I broke away from Jade and wrapped my arms around him.

"Hey man. 'Bout time you showed up." He joked, hugging me back.

"Where's Jason?" I pulled away from Ryder and asked, avoiding asking about anyone else.

"Another electrical room." Jade said, "They moved him and Storm a couple of days ago... Where are we?" She frowned.

"Right in the middle of Missoula." I smiled faintly; we're so close to home. "So other than Jason and Storm, where are the rest?"

"Theo..." Ryder began, "That's it, that's all of us..."

"We should go," Jade interrupted before I could say anything.

"Y–yeah..." I turned to leave the electrical room, "There's another electrical utility place not far from here —can both of you walk?"

"Yeah." Jade nodded and stepped out of the room.

"You good?" I directed at Ryder.

He nodded and pushed past me, but I could see tears glistening in his eyes. Both of them blinked up at the sky like they hadn't seen the sun in months, though I guess they hadn't.

"Let's go." I set off, following directions on my phone.

We followed Kensington Avenue for eight minutes, before turning left onto Russell Street. And there it was: NorthWestern Energy.

I swear to God, Jason and Storm better be in that electrical room...

"Round there." Ryder nodded towards the electrical room.

As we walked over there, I glanced at the two of them — they were grey like Abi had been, and their clothes were messy, bloody.

Just as cautious as before, I pushed the door open after yanking the lock off. "Jason, Storm?"

"Theo!" Storm ran to me and grabbed hold of my t-shirt, "Jade and Ryder aren't far — you have to find them!"

"They're not far at all," I smiled, "I found them already, they're right here."

Storm threw her arms around both Jade and Ryder.

"Hey, Jason," I acknowledged.

"Thank you, Theo." Jason stepped into the light. "Thank you for finding us."

"Jason, I —" I began, before biting my tongue.

"What is it?" He smiled kindly through his pain, the way he always did, to show you that he cared about you. He cared about all of us.

"The others..."

"Where's Abi?" Storm demanded to know.

"At a McDonald's in the middle of Missoula." I dragged my attention away from Jason and to Storm. "She's okay. I found her in North Dakota, not far from the border. She had a bear trap on her leg, and then she got sepsis, and I had to call 911 — I know," I responded to the look Jason threw me, "I know but I had no other choice, she was dying — they fixed her up, we left late last night to avoid paying for it, grabbed a coach to Missouri all the way from Harlem. And I tell you, almost six hours on a coach doesn't half drain you."

"Nice story." Ryder nodded sarcastically. "Well, we've been kidnapped and hauled around from electrical room to electrical room in the dead of night, almost clawed each other to death on full moons, everything we've been fed had been laced with wolfsbane, so that was fun, and some of us are dead. So, how was your little vacation in the UK?"

I met a hot girl.

"Ryder," Jason growled. "Not now."

"Fine," Ryder huffed.

"For the record," I spat at Ryder, "I came back to the States as soon as I knew where the hell to find you."

"Theo, Ryder — stop it." Jason glared at both of us, and we stopped bickering.

"We'll catch a bus into the city centre." I decided and pulled some money out of my pocket.

We waited in silence at the bus stop for about five minutes, before it finally showed up. Another five minutes of not much conversation and we were outside the Greyhound Bus Station.

Abi was already crossing the road and coming towards us. She smiled widely as she embraced each of us in turn.

Us. We. We're together again.

"God, I'm starving," Jade voiced as her stomach grumbled loudly in agreement.

"C'mon," I said, "Let's get you guys something that's not laced with wolfsbane."

As we sat down in McDonald's, I realised that we were all avoiding talking about the massive, imposing elephant in the room. After we'd finished eating, which was a while, because we spent most of the remainder of my money on food, I took Jason to one side.

"When are we gonna talk about them...?" I asked. "I mean, you know what I mean, right?"

"Yeah, I know, Theo." Jason sighed, looking back towards our pack, our friends. "We just need some time to readjust."

"But—" I began.

"Not now, Theo." He eyed me. "We need time to heal."

"Well, are we gonna go back to Coloma?" I asked anxiously.

"Why wouldn't we?" Jason frowned, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"They found us there. When they realise that you're gone, won't they just come back?"

"Theo," Jason kept his voice calm as he placed his hand on my shoulder, "Do you think we'd still be alive if they didn't want us to leave?"

"Probably not." I frowned, shuffling slightly.

"They let us go. I think I have some sort of idea of what they were doing... But other than that, I'm not sure." He chewed his lip, also anxious, "Maybe we shouldn't go back to Coloma... Where else is there, though?"

"Maybe we should talk to the others about this?" I suggested, glancing back at them, laughing for the first time in what must have been a long time.

"Sure." He nodded, and we walked back towards them.

"So, we need a new place to stay?" Jade raised an eyebrow, "We heard every word of that."

"Great." I smiled through gritted teeth. "But yeah, we don't think it's a good idea to go back to Coloma."

"My family used to have this old hunting ranch," Ryder offered. "Since my mom died, my dad's never been back there... He's not even been in Montana for about three years, so I guess that makes it mine. I've got the key back in Coloma, so technically, we won't be breaking into the place."

"That's great, Ryder." Jason nodded. "So, go back to Coloma, grab a few things, then head over to Ryder's dad's ranch."

We all stood up, nodding in agreement.

"Where is the ranch?" Jade asked Ryder.

"It's closer to town than Coloma is — that'll be okay, right?" He checked.

"Hell, yeah it is!" Jade exclaimed, laughing, "I'm literally dying to get back on the social scene!"

"Maybe not the best phrase to use..." Abi pointed out, and I saw how both Ryder's and Jason's faces fell.

"Where is it exactly?" I questioned Ryder, repeating Jade's question and changing the topic.

"The far side of Bonner Mountain," Ryder replied, barely looking at me.

"Well, how about Jason and I run and get our things from Coloma. Then we'll meet you at the ranch?" I suggested, finding myself doing a lot of the suggesting recently.

"Sure." Jason nodded. "Good plan, Theo. We'll see you guys in a couple of hours at the ranch."

Storm grabbed hold of my arm just before I left. "Be careful."

"Always." I frowned back at her; if that was supposed to be a warning, then it was a pretty crap one.

"C'mon, Theo," Jason said, and we set off running, my duffel bag still around my shoulder and banging against me. At least I could put our stuff from Coloma in it — it wasn't entirely useless.

"So," Jason began, "How was the UK?"

I scowled at him slightly, what was I supposed to say? Oh yeah, it was a wonderful vacation, not knowing if you were dead or alive.

Instead of saying what I thought, I just shrugged. "Fine, I guess."

He arched an eyebrow back at me. "I guess all of us have been through some shit these past few months."

"Yup." I sighed as we ran. We were now out of Missoula and running across University Mountain, after that it was still a hell of a long way to Coloma.

"You okay?" I checked after half an hour of running in silence.

"Fine." Jason replied, "It feels good to be out running, like this..." He breathed in the rich, mountain air, "When's the next full moon?"

"A couple of nights away," I replied.

"Ah shit." He let out an exasperated breath and shook his head. "I was hoping we'd have more time to adjust before having to face a full moon..."

"Well then," I retorted, "Sorry I didn't come and find you after the full moon."

"No, I'm not saying that, Theo." He sighed. "It's probably a good thing that you found us when you did because full moons are — were always the worst. 'Cos that's when they used to do the most tests."

"What sort of tests?" I pressed.

"Not now, Theo," he repeated his words from earlier. "C'mon, I'll race you."

From there onwards, we raced all the way to Coloma. Even after months locked up in electrical rooms, Jason still beat me there.

"Ha!" He mocked, laughing, "You not been running recently?"

"Whatever." I shoved him.

The laughter dissipated when we saw Coloma again; nothing had changed, literally nothing. Everything still stood the same way since the night that everything had changed... Though, why would it change?

"We should get what we need and go." Jason's face became grim, clearly not wanting to hang around for long.

"Wait a second." I'd caught a faint scent on the wind.

Jason turned to me, "What is it?"

"Can't you smell that?" I frowned at him.

He shook his head, "Some of the tests they did..." His eyes glazed over with tears. "It'll just be a while before I get my sense of smell back... So, what is it?"

"It smells like..." I began. Her. It smelt like her. "It smells hot, like fire." I finished.

Jason scanned the horizon. There was no one in sight, so how the hell could I've smelt fire?

"Maybe it's coming from a campfire lower down in the valley," I offered an explanation.

For a second everything was still. Before whoosh, one of the log cabins caught fire, so quickly that it had to have been soaked in gasoline, or maybe even napalm.

Both of us backed away as the flames jumped amongst the cabins and grew ever higher, destroying all physical remnants of what used to be our home. A glance at Jason told me that he was just as confused as I was; how is this happening?

"The hunters," I said, "It had to have been the hunters. They knew that we'd come back here. Damn it!" I kicked the ground.

Jason didn't say anything for a little while, before he said, "We never should've come here."

No shit, Sherlock.

"I guess we will have to break into the ranch after all." I finally uttered; there was nothing there for us anymore.

Coloma is gone.