So this chapter is dedicated to wildirish, for her birthday, which I realize was two days ago. I apologize for the delay, my friend. I always think it will take me less time than it does to complete a chapter, but then I forget there's always some research that has to go into it as well. So Happy Birthday anyway and I hope you enjoy it! :)

I have to explain how I do the estimated time for walking. From everything I Googled, the average human can walk between 2 and 4 mph, depending on things like age, fitness level, terrain. And I realize that most of our people here are in relatively good shape. But I keep them on the lower end of the spectrum, at about 2 miles per hour, because I figure they are carrying packs and they aren't walking level ground over easy terrain. I imagine there's more than once or twice they have to cut through a field or stream or possibly even have to deal with roads or bridges that have completely washed away or are too broken to travel over. No one may even notice this, but I felt I just wanted to explain in case someone thought that taking four and a half hours to go 12 miles was ridiculous.

I've never been to Newark, Ohio, so I apologize to anyone who might live there if I messed up the layout or insulted it in any way. :)

Another day is ended

I remember when

My world came falling down

Out there the stars stopped dancing

Lost in my darkness now

The rain keeps falling down - Blue Train - Jimmy Page & Robert Plant

It was decided that they would stay in the amusement park to give Maggie an extra day of rest. She tried to argue against it, insisting that finding Danny was far more important than her well-being. But no one would hear it, not even Charlie. Miles decided they could use the time to finally question their unexpected prisoner.

Hauling Nate up by the collar, Miles shoved him against the wall in the admin building they were calling home for another night. "So, kid, it's time for you to finally tell us what you know."

"I don't know anything." Nate stared at Miles, turning the glare on Bass as he approached. Jeremy cocked his shotgun as he stood in the far corner of the room, an arrogant smirk aimed right at the kid. Nora's eyes were also on him, tapping a knife against her shoe as she sat nearby.

"You gotta know something," Bass said, stepping close to the young man. "Even the lowest man on the totem pole has some secrets to reveal. But you know what I know? A man put in charge of trailing after important people is never the lowest man on the totem pole."

Nate remained silent, his eyes focused on a spot in the far corner of the room. Bass and Miles exchanged a look; they knew when a prisoner wasn't going to talk.

"Okay, kid." Miles pulled out his knife. "I guess we have to do this the hard way."

"No, wait!" Charlie shouted, popping up from beside Maggie and rushing to her uncle. She grabbed his arm and pulled the knife away from Nate. "Don't."

"Charlie, why are you defending him?" Miles asked.

"I'm not," she insisted, her eyes moving from Miles to Bass. "I'm not worried about him. I don't want either one of you to do this. To torture someone. Please."

Rolling his eyes, Miles slid his knife back in its sheath. "Alright then, what do you suggest?"

Looking at Nate, she tried a new tactic completely. "If you know anything that can help us find my brother, you have to tell us."

"Oh, yeah, that's going to work," Miles said, turning away from Nate. Bass stepped in, arm pressed against the kid's chest to make sure he didn't escape.

But Charlie wasn't deterred. "Please. This is my family. I am begging you. Please help me."

Nate stared at her for a long time, long enough to make Bass want to let out a very possessive growl. But facing off with Charlie must have flipped a switch in the kid. "I'm sorry. But your brother will be gone. They're going to put him on a train in Newark, Ohio."

"Newark?" Bass asked.

"It's about 40 miles away," Nate said. "It leaves tomorrow afternoon, 2 PM sharp."

"No." Charlie backed away, her face a mask of sadness.

What happened next took only a matter of minutes. Bass took his eyes off of Nate for just a moment to check on his girlfriend, and the kid shoved him backwards, sending him right into Charlie. She and Bass both went down, toppling Miles as well as he rushed back towards them. Jeremy fired a shot, but the bullet missed the kid as he flew across the room. Nora flipped her knife, but it missed the kid's head by inches, embedding itself into a wooden beam instead. Bass and Miles leapt up and ran after Nate, who hopped up on top of an exposed support beam and right out a broken window. By the time they got outside, Nate was long gone.

As Bass, Miles, Charlie, and Jeremy re-entered the building, they found Nora standing helplessly over Aaron and Maggie, the big man's arms around the blonde as she softly cried. "This is all my fault."

Charlie crouched beside her stepmother, tears glistening in her eyes. "No, Maggie. We were too late even this morning."

Bass glanced at Miles, an entire conversation happening in a matter of seconds. "Charlie, what if the three of us left for Newark right now?"

Her head shot up. "I can't leave Maggie behind."

"I'm not talking about leaving anyone behind," Bass said, reaching a hand out for her. She grabbed it, and he pulled her up. "If the three of us go right away, we might have a shot at making it on time. We'd have to haul ass, walk into the night, but it's a possibility. Then the others can follow after. And if we stop that train, we can just wait there. With Danny."

Charlie glanced down at Maggie. Her stepmother smiled. "You should go, Charlie. We'll come later. Catch him, please."

Jeremy crossed his arms as he looked at Charlie. "She's right, kid. Actually, you guys should take Nora along. I'll keep an eye on these two."

"Keep an eye on us?" Aaron muttered. "That makes us sound like criminals."

"You need someone to look out for you," Miles said, his voice edgy. Danny's capture was weighing on all of them.

Ever the voice of reason, Maggie intervened. "And we'd be grateful for it. Thank you, Jeremy."

"Gotta keep an eye on my patient," he said as he winked at her. "Listen, I can look into getting a wagon. It might make it easier for Maggie to travel. It would also get us to Newark faster."

"Yeah, that's not a half bad idea," Bass said, turning to his girlfriend. "Charlie, we'd have to leave immediately."

She bit her lip; they were all leaving the decision in her hands. Forty miles pre-Blackout would have been a breeze, but in their world it could take days. Even if they walked all night, there was still a chance they would miss Danny. But they had to try. "Let's go get my brother back."

There were nods of agreement and quick hugs of goodbye as the groups prepared to separate once again. Charlie hated leaving Maggie and Aaron behind, but she understood realistically that they would slow the rest of them down. As it was, they were going to be pushing the limit and walking as fast as they could. She could understand a little how difficult making tough decisions must have been on the battlefield for two soldiers like Bass and Miles; sometimes, though, there was no choice. And she realized that she completely trusted Jeremy to keep her family safe.

They were out on the road within minutes. As the wooden carcass of the roller coaster faded from view, Charlie turned and walked backwards for a few seconds to keep an eye on the park. Bass slid up next to her. "You okay?"

She nodded, facing forward again. "Yeah."

Reaching for her hand, he pulled her closer. "You sure about that."

She sighed and looked up at him, leaning into his body as they walked. "We came so close to losing her. What if-"

"Charlie, we didn't. She's alright." He slung an arm over her shoulders as they continued to walk. "And I promise you, Jeremy will keep them safe. Did you notice Maggie's already got him wrapped around her little finger?"

Chuckling, she thought back to the way the tall blond man seemed to hover around her stepmother. "Any clue why that is?"

Bass smirked. "Well, it could be that Maggie's his patient. He takes that very seriously. Or...it could be that maybe Baker's a little smitten."

"Smitten?" she asked.

"Maybe," Bass said, winking at her. "But she did love your dad, Charlie. I think Jeremy might have to wait awhile if he actually is interested."

Her released her then, since their need to walk quickly didn't really allow for cuddling. Miles and Nora were up ahead of them just a little, lost in their own conversation. "Bass, do you think we'll make it there on time? If they put him on that train-"

"Charlie." Bass cut her off before her imagination could run too far. "We gotta try."

She nodded, granting him a small smile. It was going to be close, but she prayed that they would reach her brother before time ran out.

They traveled late into the night, their pace very quick; not breaking to eat, they snacked on nuts and dried fruits as they walked. When they did finally stop for the night, it was nearly 2:30 in the morning, and they were so exhausted they could barely speak. Bodies aching, muscles screaming for rest, they hunkered down in a small wooded area. Charlie curled up next to Bass, not even noticing that Nora had snuggled into Miles. They didn't start a fire, relying instead on the body heat of their respective partners to keep them warm.

Drifting to sleep, Charlie found a bit of peace in the knowledge that they were bedding down only 12 miles from Newark. If they rose early enough in the morning, they would reach town and the train about two hours before Danny was set to be on it.

Rising on only 3 hours of sleep, they continued on, more determined than ever to arrive before the train's departure. They were too tired to push themselves as much as they'd done the day before, but they walked on, silence settling over the group as they trudged on.

The trip took almost 5 hours, but they made it there in plenty of time, much to Charlie's relief, giving them a good chance to locate Danny. Entering the outskirts of Newark, Miles led them into an abandoned car garage. He and Bass did a quick sweep, checking for threats, and proclaimed the area a decent safe house.

"Alright, Danny's here somewhere. We've got maybe two hours to find him or he's gone," Miles explained. "We should check to see if they're keeping him on the train. Or outside that, they're probably keeping him in a cell somewhere."

"That's what I'd do," Bass added.

"We need to look everywhere, could be a walk-in freezer, a meat locker. I don't know." Miles stripped off his sword belt, stopping Charlie from picking up her crossbow. "No big weapons. Only the ones you can easily conceal. We have to keep a low profile."

"It's best if we split up," Bass said, dropping his machete and sword on the table, checking his knife before returning it to its sheath. "Canvas the town. Anyone catches a scent of Danny, walk away. Come find me or Miles. We only get one shot at this."

Nora and Miles nodded, turning to leave the garage. Bass turned to Charlie; he hated leaving her on her own, but she was more than capable of taking care of herself in this situation. "You gonna be alright?"

She shot him a little smile. "I'll be fine, Bass. I just want to find Danny. Get him back."

"I know." Pulling her towards him, he kissed the top of her head. "Just be careful."

"Always."

They left the garage, and headed towards the small downtown area, turning in opposite directions when they arrived. Charlie walked down the rather crowded sidewalk, trying to see inside the windows of various businesses. It wouldn't be a good idea to walk in and out of every store front she came to.

As she was attempting to peek into a building with paper covering the windows, a man approached her from the side, unexpectedly startling her. "Excuse me, Miss?"

She spun towards him and found herself staring straight at a member of the Neville militia. He wore the uniform and coat of all the other soldiers, except his was in a rich dark blue instead of the green most of the other men wore. Charlie wasn't sure, but it was possible he was an officer or some other high up in Neville's twisted little world.

"If you don't mind me asking, what are you doing?" He flipped an apple into the air. "Cause it looks like you're casing the joint."

Caught off guard, she faltered, her mouth dry. Shaking her head, she forced herself to calm down and answer the man. Come up with a plausible cover story, that was what Miles and Bass had always told her to do if she found herself in trouble. And sometimes, being innocent wasn't always the most plausible answer.

"I'm spying. Um, it's my boyfriend." The man's eyebrows shot up, and he removed his sunglasses, preparing to turn around to see the boy to whom she was referring.

"No! Don't look...in here." She motioned to the window of the abandoned store where they could both clearly see the reflection of a young man leaning towards a young woman. Charlie turned back to the dark-skinned man. "I think he might be cheating on me."

The smile he shot her was sympathetic. "What's your name?"

"Sarah Porter." The lie fell off her tongue with no effort. But she was not at all prepared for his introduction to her.

"General Tom Neville." He extended a hand.

"Neville?" It took every ounce of willpower she had not to attack him. It would be a losing battle, she knew. The man was bigger and stronger and he would have easily overcome her, but just the chance to scratch out the eyes of the son of a bitch who took her little brother would almost be worth it. Almost. She shakily placed her hand in his and shook it, praying that he would mistake the anger surging through her body for anxiety at meeting the president of the republic.

He leaned in close to her and whispered, "Yes, that Neville. But let's keep that between you and I, shall we? Don't need to stir up the masses."

Or have the masses attack you was more like it. She nodded. "Of course. Well, it's nice to meet you, Mr. President. Are you here for the train?"

He cocked an eyebrow. "How'd you guess that?"

She chuckled. "Everyone's here for the train. No reason to be in Newark if you aren't."

"I suppose so. You have a nice afternoon." She nodded, and he stepped in close, looming over her. "And if I may, that boy's a fool if he's two-timing you."

She lowered her head, attempting to act shy. "Thank you."

"Take care now." Neville turned and crossed the street, ducking down an alleyway.

Charlie breathed out, not even realizing how tense she'd been. He was here; not just Danny, not just members of his militia, but Neville himself. Glancing down the street in the direction Bass had gone, she knew she should go get him, or find her uncle, but by the time she did that Neville might already be on the train and out of their reach. She had to follow him.

Staying back as far as she could, she did her best to follow him, the same way Bass and Miles had taught her to stalk prey when they were out hunting. Turning the corner, she found herself facing an empty back street. She should have been more careful; she knew that the second Neville grabbed her and slammed her up against a wall, a knife pressed to her throat.

"You think I can't spot a tail? Especially one as clumsy as yours?" he asked, voice raw. "Who are you?"

She would never tell him, never give up the rest of her family. If she died here, so be it; her thoughts were on Bass and her hope that he would recover from her loss.

"Okay, suit yourself," Neville said, pressing the knife in to cut her throat. But before he could slice her skin, someone flew in from the side, shoving him away from Charlie and pushing her aside.

She looked up and saw Bass facing off with Neville, who looked shocked as hell to see his former general standing in front of him. Glancing towards Charlie, Neville seemed to put the pieces together. "So...this is the sister. Quite the family resemblance. She looks like Danny."

"Charlie, get the hell out of here." She hesitated, not wanting to leave him. "I said go!"

Racing down the alley, she left the two men behind. Neville lunged at him with his knife, but Bass's dagger was already up and at the ready, stopping the blade from plunging into his eye. "Sebastian."

"Tom." They stood there at a standstill, each blocking the other man's assault. "How's the wife?"

"Julia's great. Thanks for asking."

"How's Danny?"

"Oh, he's a spirited young man." The cockiness in the general's voice gnawed at Bass, and he swept his knife up and around, making another attempt at stabbing Neville. Yet again, the other man intercepted the attack.

"I should have known you'd come all the way out here to make sure you nabbed, Danny. You found a hell of a lot of incompetent idiots after Miles and I left."

Neville's face contorted with rage. "And I should have known you would never be far away from the Mathesons. I saw the way you looked at the girl. Robbing the cradle just so you can be a part of Miles's family."

Bass tilted his head, a threat to not go any further in his eyes. "Where the hell is Danny?"

"Yeah, Bass, that's just what I'm going to do. Spread my legs and show you everything." They circled each other, two vicious animals sizing each other up.

"We do this...we fight, I'm better than you and you know it," Bass said, just as Miles barreled around the corner, stopping when he saw the men. Bass smirked. "And now you don't stand a chance."

"Miles."

"Tom. Where's my nephew?"

"We already had this conversation," Neville said, raising his knife. "It's getting boring."

Before either of them could launch an attack on Neville, an entire squadron entered the far end of the alleyway. Without real weapons, Bass and Miles knew they were outnumbered; retreat was the only option for the moment. Bass cold-cocked Tom and they took off running.

"Sorry, Tom, we gotta go," Miles shouted as they disappeared.

They caught up with Charlie on the road back to their hideout. Miles was fit to be tied. "Hey, what did we tell you? What did Bass say? Do not get close...come and find one of us."

"Miles," Bass said, trying to calm his friend down.

"He bumped into me," Charlie shouted.

"And you followed him?" Miles was rarely so angry, and he was almost never that angry with her. "You were in over your head. You have no idea how dangerous he is."

"Okay, I get it. I screwed up." She stopped and turned to her uncle. "But it's Neville. The general, the leader of it all. And he has Danny. I just-"

He cut her off. "You got emotional. And you panicked and you blew it. Surprise was the only thing we had going and you pissed it away. This was already hard. You just made it impossible."

"Alright, that's enough," Bass yelled, stepping in front of Charlie. "Just leave her the hell alone, Miles."

"Yeah, of course you're going to defend her now. Bass, she could have ruined everything."

"I think she's already aware of that fact. But drop it and leave her alone," Bass growled. He loved Miles like a brother, but he wasn't about to let him attack Charlie.

"He's right." They both turned to her. Tears were streaming down her face, and she couldn't meet their eyes. "I may have screwed it all up. If we don't get Danny back, I'll only have myself to blame."

Bass wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a hug; grabbing onto his jacket like it was a lifeline, she sobbed onto his shoulder.

Miles sighed and walked a few paces away, forcing himself to relax. He listened to Bass whispering to Charlie and knew his best friend was trying to comfort her. Furious at himself for screaming at her, he stomped back over to the couple. "Charlie...I'm sorry."

Keeping her face pressed against Bass, she shook her head. "No, you were right. I met him on the street. I didn't even know who he was. But when he said his name...I thought I could just follow him, see where they were keeping Danny. If I went to find one of you guys, we might have lost him."

"He could have really hurt you, Charlie," Bass said, rocking her slightly in his arms. "The guy's a psycho."

"Bass is right, Charlie. We lost Danny. We can't afford to lose you too." Miles scratched the back of his neck, struggling to put together the right words. "But I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. I'm...worried for your brother."

Charlie glanced up from Bass's shoulder and saw the concern on her uncle's face. Pulling away from her boyfriend, she burrowed into her uncle's arms, then reached back and pulled Bass towards her, essentially forming a threeway hug.

"I'll try to be smarter," she whispered to her other two Musketeers. "I'm not cut out for this. All the training you guys gave me, and I'm failing at this."

"No, you're not," Bass insisted.

"Charlie, you're young. You're still learning. Nobody's that good out of the gate," Miles explained. "Hell, there were a few times I didn't think we were making it through boot camp."

Bass chuckled. "I literally got a boot stuck in the mud, fell over trying to get it out, had to pull my foot out of it to get free. And then my drill instructor send me back out in the pouring rain to dig it out. And clean it till it was shining."

Charlie giggled. "You never told me that story."

"That's cause he doesn't like being embarrassed in front of you," Miles said.

"That's bullshit," Bass said, rolling his eyes.

"No, it's not. You always liked being the hero. It only got worse in the last couple years," Miles said, leaning in close to his niece, "when he realized he had a thing for you."

Before Bass could protest, Charlie leaned over and kissed his cheek. Groaning, Miles pulled out of the hug. But Charlie yanked him back and kissed him on the cheek too. "I love you, guys."

"Yeah, yeah, enough," Miles said, although they all knew he secretly appreciated her affection. "We can sing Kumbaya later. Right now, we have to find Danny."

"We checked a lot of the streets in town and found nothing," Bass said.

"No," Charlie said and both men turned to her. "I didn't make it all the way down the street I was on. There was a bank. Didn't banks have vaults in them to hold money?"

Bass and Miles exchanged a look. "Jesus, Charlie, I can't believe we didn't think of this before. Let's go."

As they ran off, Bass glanced over at Miles. "Do you even know the lyrics to Kumbaya?"

They hurried into the Park National Bank, Miles and Bass leading the way, weapons drawn as they entered. The place was deserted, but they rushed towards the vault anyway. It was empty, but the half finished bottles of liquor littering the floor made it obvious that someone had recently been there. Checking inside the vault, Charlie saw a cup and a bloody handkerchief; she silently prayed the blood wasn't her brother's.

The whistle of a train split the air. "Damn it, they've already got him on the train. We gotta move."

"It can't even be two yet," Bass said as they ran outside.

"Yeah, well, looks like they're upping the timetable," Miles said. "Come on, the trainyard is only a few streets over."

Racing off, all three hoped they'd make it there in time.

Arriving just to see the train pull away, Charlie shook her head in disbelief. They'd come all that way, nearing killing themselves in the process, only to be a few minutes too late to get to Danny.

"I tried to stop it." All three turned to see Nora hunched on the ground, holding her stomach.

"Nora!" Charlie cried as she crouched beside her friend.

"Who did this to you?" Miles asked.

"Someone I thought I could trust." At Miles's glare, she continued. "A fellow Patriot. It doesn't matter. There's a bomb on the train...and so is your brother."

"No..." Charlie stood and backed right into Bass, who held her steady.

"The bomb's a hollowed out log. It's at the front of the tinder car, Miles." Nora looked at Charlie. "I'm sorry. I thought I was doing the right thing."

Bass turned to look at the train over his shoulder and saw something that caught his eye. Hands on her arms, he spun Charlie in the direction he was looking. "Bass?"

"I see something interesting," he whispered in her ear. That was when she saw it too.

Horses.

Shouting at Miles to tend to Nora, Bass and Charlie rushed off. Within minutes they were speeding after the train, chasing it down as fast as the animals would go. Bass got close enough to grab onto the back railing of the caboose. Stretching out, he hauled Charlie off her horse and into his arms.

They climbed up to the roof, holding hands as they carefully made their way towards the front of the train. Bass jumped to a lower car, then lifted his arms for her to jump into. Holding her close on top of the train as the world sped by, it felt like they were in a movie. He kissed her gently. "I'll get the bomb. Go and find Danny."

As he turned to go, she held onto his hand. "I love you."

"I love you too," he said, kissing her palm before rushing off.

Climbing down the ladder between the cars, Charlie glanced into the window of a passenger car...and saw her brother sitting at a table; Neville stood nearby, facing away from him. She caught Danny's eye and smiled at him. The look on his face was one of total shock; it was quickly followed by one of relief. Gesturing with her head, she nodded towards Neville. Danny understood, standing and leaping up onto the president's back, knocking him to the floor.

Bass, meanwhile, jumped over a few more gaps to get to the tinder car. Keeping low, he stayed out of sight of the engineer. The piled up wood made it hard to walk, but Bass stuck to the middle of the car, running fast to keep his balance. Jumping down, he spun the startled engineer around and punched him, knocking the man out. Sighing, he dug through the logs, quickly finding the one with the bomb.

Charlie was having a bit more trouble. As the two men rolled around on the floor, she struggled to get the door open. As she watched helplessly, Neville punched her little brother, then yanked him up and slammed him against the wall. Using the hilt of her blade, she pounded on the door handle until it fell off, surprising the hell out of Neville as she bolted into the car, flying at him, knife in hand.

Neville grabbed her, shoving her into the wall, hands wrapped around her throat as he choked the life out of her. Danny grabbed a glass and smashed it over his head. Grasping her brother's arm, she pulled him towards the door, only to be stopped by Nate and two other militia officers. Neville hopped up and held a gun to Danny's head.

"Alright, boy. Bring her to me...I'm gonna shoot the bitch." But Nate hesitated, holding onto Charlie. Neville's eyes widened as the kid disobeyed him. "That's an order."

"Shield your head," Nate whispered before flinging the door open and throwing Charlie from the train.

Bass saw Charlie rolling down the hill and looked over the tinder car. Within seconds, Nate stood across the low car from him, a definite challenge in his eyes. Hearing Charlie's screams and knowing she was alive, he glanced around for another way to get to Danny. But there wasn't one. The young militia man was blocking his only way. Not having another choice, Bass leapt off the train and hurried over to his girlfriend, wrapping his arms around her. She stood there crying, looking over his shoulder as she watched the train carrying her brother disappear.

I know Miles is the one who rescues Charlie from Neville on the show, but my little Charloe heart really wanted it to be Bass.

I know Aaron, Maggie, and Jeremy got a little sidelined in this chapter, as did Nora, but the whole gang will be back together soon.

And if it seems Nate/Jason got there awfully fast, that'll be explained eventually too. ;)