*Marks POV*

Jack and I turn at the words and begin walking towards The Serene. We get back to the group with anger in our veins.
"We're going. Now." I say angrily to the rest of the groups. They all quickly jump to their feet and try to catch up to Jack and I.
"What happened?" Wade asks following on my heels.
"Violet was taken. We're getting her back." I explain, continuing to walk with anger in my eyes.
"Who took her?" Wade questions further, probably thinking I was acting out of anger and no thought.
"Someone told us that it was The Serene. So that's where I'm going to look for her." I explain, moving my fingers over my knife handle while we walk. I find a large sign over a fenced out town that reads 'The Preserve' and anger fills me more. I start trying to unlock the fence, but a bullet stops me. A bullet comes flying right next to my hands on the gate and I immediately back away. I can't get myself killed. I'm trying to save someone. Focus Mark. I think to myself. I see a man in nice, fancy clothes comes to the fence in front of me, bearing a smile.
"Hey, we don't see survivers very often. What can we do to help?" The man asks, beaming. Wade pushes me out of the way before I can answer.
"We are looking for someone and found this place. Have you seen her by any chance? She has long, brown hair, green eyes, a pretty noticeable crossbow." Wade explains, trying to sound polite.
"Oh, I think we saw her, but she refused to come inside." The man recalls. He's lying. I know it. She wouldn't leave without us, even so, she wouldn't decline to be in the place we were trying to get to.
"You can come inside the compound if you want. We welcome all." The man smiles brightly as he opens the gate for us. I walk inside quickly, glaring at the man the whole way.

*Violets POV*

I wake up in a dimly let room, tied to a chair with a cloth shoved in my mouth. I blink a few times to get sleep from my eyes and try to see more of the room, but all I can see is that it has white walls and little lights.
"She's awake!" I hear someone yell as a man walks into the room. I try to stay as still as possible, acting like I wasn't afraid.
"Hello dear. Will you not scream?" The man asks approaching me slowly. I nod my head so that he will take out the cloth and for him to trust me better.
"Alright." The man says in a strangely peaceful voice as he takes out the cloth. I look up at the man, hiding my fear well.
"That's better. Now, the question is, are you food or a friend?" He grins evilly. I decide not to answer, so that he might want me as a friend a bit more.
"You're pretty quiet." He says as he caresses my cheek. He then leans close to my ear, sending chills up my spine.
"But, you'll learn to answer me when I talk to you." He says in a hushed voice. He backs away from me, his terrifying grin placed on his face still there.
"So, I ask you again, are you going to be a friend or food for my friends?" I shrug,
"I have a big group. They will come here looking for me. If you kill me, they will kill everyone here, including you. I think you shouldn't make me food, because I know that they will find me, and if I'm dead, you are too." I say intimidatingly, hiding my fear even more.
"Oh, you mean that guy with the dark hair who looked like he wanted to kill me? Or his friend with the blue eyes who looked like he wanted to do the same? Yeah, they're already here. They'll be food, just like you." The man laughs lightly.
"I swear I will kill you if you touch a hair on their beautiful heads! I'll kill you all myself!" I shout angrily.
"Good luck with that. I'll watch you kill us while you're tied to that chair." The man chuckles as he walks out of the room.
"I swear to god, if you hurt them you'll be dead! Do you hear me? You'll be dead!" I scream as tears come from my eyes. The man walks out of the door and closes the door behind him.

*Jacks POV*

I follow Mark around the town, trying to calm him in any way I can.
"Where did that smug asshole go?" Mark asks, turning corners looking for the man from the entrance.
"Mark, we will find her. Just, calm down." I assure Mark spins around to face me.
"I know, I just worry about her. I I know these people are hiding something, it could be her." Mark says. I sigh heavily, I'm not sure why Mark is so sure that she has to be here. I want to find her, but I'm not going to get too focused on this place.
"Let's take a break. Come on, there's a whole town to talk to and see. We'll cover more ground." I explain as I tug on Marks dirty sleeve. "We might be able to get you a better outfit too." I laugh, finally Mark gets a small smile as he follows me to the town square. We find the rest of the group sitting around a water fountain in the square talking to one another.
"Hey guys." I say sitting with them. "What you guys up to?" I ask, looking at Bob who will probably be the only one to give me a strait answer.
"They're preparing showers for us. We told them to save both is you and Violet one too." Bob explains giddily. My jaw drops.

"Showers?" I ask, just making sure it's true. I haven't showered in months, I can't help but be excited. Bob nods, a smile spread across his face.
"I think we have bigger things to focus on first. We still haven't found Violet." Mark reminds me. I nod at his statement.
"We do need to find her, but if we blend in and stay here for a while. We have a bigger chance of finding her. Just, calm down and at least try to blend in." I say with my accent thickening at the end of my sentence.
"Fine. I'll wait." Mark mumbles.

*Violets POV*

I squirm in the chair while rubbing my fingernails over the rope tied around my hands. Suddenly the man from before walks into the room.
"Come with me dear." He says, trying to be nice with his tone. I laugh lightly at his statement.
"How am I supposed to do that when I'm tied to a chair?" I chuckle. The man rolls his eyes and unties me, that was his first mistake. I stand up from the chair and then immediately pound my knee into his crotch. He wails in pain and I run out of the room, dashing around corners, searching for an exit. I find a door and run through it. I find rows of... Showers? I bolt inside one of the rooms and lock the door. I guess I'll have to hide out here while I can. I bet Jack and Mark will come find me any second. I then hear a loud door open and footsteps come near me. I then hear a strangely familiar voice shriek with joy.
"I can't believe this!" I hear a few of them say. Then I realize where I recognize those voices from. I quickly stand up and open the shower door and run out towards the voices. I then see Jack standing there in shock, all of them with shock plain on their faces, slowly turning into bright smiles as Jack runs at me pulling me into a tight embrace. I then feel another pair of arms wrap around me. Mark. Tears spring from my eyes in joy of seeing them again. It almost feels like I never saw that man and I was never trapped in that room. Wait. We need to run, we need to get out of here before he hurts us. I try to take their arms off of me and get out of the embrace, but it doesn't work.
"We need to run. We need to get far away from here." I yell, terrified at what he may do to us. They release me from their embrace and look at me with puzzled looks on their faces.
"What? Why?" Jack asks, confusion obvious on his face.
"The man. He kidnapped me and knows about you, we need to go." I say, suddenly out of breath.
"What man? Violet, this is The Serene. They have working water, clean clothes, farms with tons of food. We can be safe here." Jack says, putting a strand of hair behind my ear. I shake my head, knowing he must be wrong.
"No, it can't be. They kidnapped me and talked about making us their food. This place isn't safe." I pause, a devilish grin spreads across my face, "but, if they do have all those things, we can make it safe. It will be our town now." I say.