||DAY 60

She let him sleep on the bed that night. After what happened yesterday, she could tell just how worn out he'd become. So, she took to the floor and let him have her place. He took it easily- not in any place to refuse, or fight back.

She was glad for that.

However, sleeping proved to be difficult. She laid awake most of the night, with Matthew's soft breathing and the sound of the crickets outside as background music. Images of the past twenty-four hours raced through her mind.

How she'd left.

How she'd found someone to help her.

How she'd been assaulted.

But most of all, how Matthew had came to save her.

What was that all about?

Shaking her head, she got up from the futon to head outside for some fresh air. Sleeping at this point was near futile anyway. When she came outside, she decided to go behind the cabin instead- Matthew had never took her that way before. It's probably because there was nothing there, but it couldn't hurt to look.

Her suspicions were confirmed when all she was met with was more trees that led into a denser part of the forest. Right behind the house though, against the wall of the wooden cabin, there was something small that caught her notice. As she came closer, she saw it was two small sticks bounded together with a piece of string.

A cross.

Attached to it was a note.

For the beloved Adam.

His grave may not lie here, but he will always be a part of our hearts.

Lana's eyes began to prick with tears.

"So you found it then?"

She jumped up, wiping the tears away with the back of her hand.

He was standing beside her, just looking, most likely reminiscing.

"I may not act like it, but I really do miss him," he said.

"Of course you do, he was your brother."

"Yeah... We should get going."

She turned to him. His clothes— a simple shirt and shorts— were rumpled from sleeping, but he didn't look as tired as he did yesterday.

"Get going where?"

"Lana, we can't stay here any more. Those guys know about this place. This is first place they'll come looking."

She was about to agree, considering a run-in with six grown men wouldn't work in their favour, but then she realised something.

"How do you even know that?" She asked.

He looked down at the ground, and scuffed his foot into the dense terrain of mud, almost as if he was embarrassed. "I followed you. I was there the whole time."

Lana wanted to scoff in reaction to his reveal, but she wasn't truly sure that incredulity was how she was feeling at that very moment.

"Did you ever believe I'd escape?" She said, her voice suddenly low and soft.

"I couldn't have know for sure. But I had to follow you, just to be sure you were safe."

"And what would've happened if I got out?"

He looked at her, his eyes light from the rays of the morning sun. "Then you got out."

"You know, I would've told on you. The police would've found you out here and taken you away."

He nodded his head. "I know."

"And still, you let me go."

"I told you Lana," he said, sighing like she was a young child who couldn't fathom a new concept he was trying to teach her. "I wasn't going to stop you. But now you understand there's nothing good out there."

Lana thought back to the events of the past day- how her only hope of escape had been crushed because of the sickness of human nature. The only time she'd been in true danger ever since the day she woke up to find herself here was when she'd been attacked by Jackson.

She didn't want to agree with Matthew's words, but the strain in her heart made it harder to deny his sentiment. She'd thought that solely being able to escape from his grasp was what she had to do, but she was wrong. The nightmare hadn't ended regardless. Or maybe... the nightmare hadn't started until she'd left.

He touched her shoulder, and gave her a soft smile, the lines around his eyes creasing ever so slightly. "I'm going to pack."

Suddenly, an overwhelming urge overcame Lana- a single moment in which she felt compelled to say something that she knew would change their whole dynamic indefinitely.

"Thank you," she said, her voice clear and unmistakable.

A look of disbelief washed over Matthew's features. It was only for a mere few seconds- maybe it was just instinct for him to hide such emotion- but still, she knew that the dented clay of their relationship had now remoulded with those simple two words.

"For what?" He said slowly, even though they both knew full-well what for.

"For saving me... And then saving me again."

"Don't be. You know I'd do anything for you Lana." Then he turned around again to leave, and she let him.

Following him back inside, she grabbed one of the duffel bags on the floor. There wasn't much to pack, just a few pieces of clothes and the remaining cans of food.

"There isn't much food left," she said.

"It's okay, I know where to find more," Matthew replied, but his voice hitched in an unnatural way.

Lana looked at him. He was roughly throwing things into another bag, his movements stiff as if being compelled by some unknown force.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just really want to get out of here."

With their bags packed, Lana turned around one last time to look at the little brown cabin house. She didn't really know how to feel now that she was finally leaving this place for good, but maybe she'd underestimated the power of safety it brought. And to only think, if she hadn't tried to leave it in the first place, they wouldn't be in this situation.

They walked around the back of the cabin, heading off further into the forest- the opposite side being the way she'd tried to escape. She didn't really know where they were going. When she asked him, all he said was that he "knew a place".

She trusted that fact enough not to question more.

As they went deeper into the unknown, the layer of unease she'd felt when they first set off started to melt away. This place truly was empty. She doubted they'd encounter anyone else this far into the forest.

Eventually, the sun began to set, washing the cacophony of trees with a final splash of pinkish-orange light. The rays settled over the two of them and Lana revelled in the diminishing strands of heat before it was replaced with a sharp chill in the air.

"We should stop here for the night." Matthew stopped under a particularly large tree, putting his bag to the ground.

"How much farther?"

He sat down, looking up at her. "Not far. We'll get there tomorrow."

"What now?"

"Come. Let's eat."

She sat down opposite him, both of their duffel bags between them, and he produced a set of canned goods.

"I'm afraid we'll have to eat it cold. All the logs are too wet to make a fire."

"That's fine," she said, taking the can from his hands. However, his hand remained upheld in its position and he gave her a look.

"Are you okay?"

She was unsure as to why he'd ask her such a thing, but gave a moment to genuinely think of an answer.

She was okay.

No unease or worry or fear.

Just a sea of calmness that could've gently rocked her to sleep.

"Yes, I am. Why?"

"It's just... You're... Nothing- never mind."

They ate without saying anything, though Lana was convinced he was still brooding over what ever it was that was confusing him.

The silence that resided wasn't heavy. It was a silence that held an ambience of contentment, familiarity and ease. For the first time, it felt like old times.

Like there was nothing being held over Lana's head.

It was just him and her.

By the time they'd finished, Lana was a shivering mess. The wind had begun to pick up some time during their meal, and she only had the sole sweatshirt she was wearing to keep her warm. She had to wrap her arms around herself to try and contain the coldness wracking her body.

"Come here," Matthew said.

"Why?" She asked.

"Look, if you don't want to freeze to death, just come here."

She got up from behind the little barrier of bags that was held between them, and stepped over it one leg at a time. It was so cold she was numb from the inside out. The movement of her arms and legs felt non-existent, like some strange out of body experience.

Sitting down, he took her in his arms.

"Sorry I don't have any extra jumpers. We'll just have to keep each other warm."

Somehow he was warmer than she was, as if his skin was capable of retaining all the heat that she'd taken for granted back at the cabin house.

"I think I would've died of hypothermia if you weren't here."

He laughed. "It's not that cold."

Lana scoffed. "You're crazy. It's like bloody Antartica over here."

"There she is," he said lowly, almost like some after thought.

"What?"

"It's just I thought you would never be the same again. I was worried I'd... broken you."

Broken you.

The words sounded too harsh.

She didn't feel broken.

At one point she had been empty inside- nothing had meant anything anymore and she couldn't wish for anything but escape or death. But never had she been broken.

"I don't think you could've broken me," she said truthfully.

"I'm glad. I missed this- I missed you. I keep thinking about how things used to be, back when we were young. You, me and Adam... I even remember the day I fell in love with you."

The words were so far from what she expected to hear, she was stunned into silence.

"I was twelve back then, and you and me and Adam were playing in your back garden. You were laughing at some joke I'd said, and as you did, I looked at you. Like really looked at you and suddenly I was hit with some strange feeling... I went home that day, I asked my mum about it and I swear I'll never forget what she told me... 'That, Matthew, is the unmistakable feeling of love'."

"I had no idea."

"I don't blame you. I was good at hiding how I felt- especially when I found out that Adam felt the same way about you."

"He knew?"

"No, he didn't... I could've had you. You could've been mine in a second. But Adam was always too headstrong. I didn't want to lose him by trying to pursue you."

It didn't make sense to Lana how, after all these years, in his mind, he had his own story to tell that involved her and she had no clue about it. The only story she knew was of her, Adam and Matthew- the three musketeers who did everything together in their formative years. Then, the plot changed and suddenly Matthew wasn't as big a fixture in her life as he used to be.

Thinking about it all now though, it was starting to make more sense. At the time, she'd been distraught over how distant they'd become, but now she was coming to the realisation of how it was probably the only thing keeping the memory of their friendship alive. And the fact that he'd done all that to keep kinship with his brother was a plethora of emotions she couldn't even begin to imagine. Not being able to be with the one you loved...

"What about now? Do you still feel that way?"

"Lana, I never stopped."

Suddenly, she was crying.

The tears fell heavier than any storm that the nature of this world could conjure up and in that moment, there was nothing but an inexplicably excruciating pain that encapsulated every fibre of her being.

But the tears that fell weren't for her.

They were for Matthew- the man who suffered so that others did not.