Alison's expression turns hopeful as she looks between me and Leon, and Leon's expression hardens. "Had we the time and resources to hold a proper funeral for over two dozen lost souls, we would. Unfortunately, however, we are in a unique position where we are not given an option to honor those who have passed. We cannot afford to expend energy on digging graves while we attempt to flee a warzone. My answer will not change." 

"It doesn't have to be a proper funeral," I argue. "At the very least, some shallow graves and a few minutes to pay respects. Doesn't that mean anything to you?" 

Leon sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I appreciate what you're trying to do, but we simply lack time to spare. We will have to leave camp as soon as we can." 

"It's a few graves, Leon," I press further. "Not everyone here is military; they aren't soldiers you can just order to move on with their lives. Good people died last night; the least you could do is pay respects to them." 

His gaze is intense as he watches me, his eyes flicking between the people gathered in his office, and beside me, I can feel Dani slowly begin to relax, though she watches me warily. Several seconds pass before Leon finally sighs and directs his attention to Alison. 

"You have twenty-four hours to bury and mourn our dead," he relents. "Gather some non-essential volunteers to help you with the burial, but afterward, we will be wasting no time preparing to move out." 

Alison finally lets go of Dani's arm as she profusely thanks Leon for allowing the funeral to occur before turning to me and squeezing my hands. "Thank you so much; you have no idea what this means for us," she says as tears gather in the corners of her eyes. "You kids fought bravely in defending everyone last night; my nephew and I owe you our lives." 

She gives Dani a quick pat on the shoulder, though Alison's expression borders on disappointment, and Dani can't quite look her in the eye as Alison thanks her as well before ushering her nephew out of the office and leaving us in Leon's presence. 

Leon leans against his desk, watching my family and his crew with hardened eyes. "I would appreciate it if you didn't incite my people." 

I bristle at his comment, biting back, "With all due respect, denying your people the ability to properly mourn will result in a drop of trust, sir." 

Dani blinks at me, bewildered, before turning to Leon and clearing her throat in an attempt to defuse the tension. "You wanted to see us this morning about our jobs, sir?" 

Apparently satisfied with the interruption, Leon straightens up as he nods. "I did, yes," he answers, reeling in his irritation. "I had sent a scout to the location a captured Widow told us their camp was hidden, and we have confirmation on their presence. If we want to move the camp down south without the Widows knowing, we'll need to give them something to chew on while we escape." 

Dani looks perplexed at the mention of the camp location and glances at me, confused. I simply shrug, hoping she can understand from my expression that I will tell her about it later when we aren't in front of Leon. 

He continues. "We also have confirmation that Cottonwood is being watched, so we must be careful about our next moves. I wanted to speak with the lot of you to see if you had any outside ideas on the matter." 

The way he asks makes me think Leon already has a plan in mind but either doesn't like it or wants to test us to see if we would come up with something similar. Regardless, I start speaking before I can stop myself. "What about copying what the Widows did? They want to go big with an all-out assault using the infected; why don't we do something similar?" 

Leon raises his eyebrows at me, his attention focused as he prompts me to continue. 

"Before Dani and Josh found my siblings in the woods, we were staying in a lumber mill not far from us, not far from the Widow camp," I explain, and my siblings shift uncomfortably at the memory. "We had to leave in a hurry because it got overrun by infected, but I imagine that most of the herd is still there." 

My sister clears her throat, shifting on her feet. "Well, there was also a Banshee there, I don't think it would be a good idea." 

Leon raises his eyebrows at that. "A Banshee?" 

I nod. "Another one of those mutated infected. Big, lanky, tough, blind, but highly aggressive and territorial. Hella fast, too, so it's hard to pin down."

Leon asks, "And you want to use it against the widows, like how they did with the large one they drove into camp?" 

I nod again. "While it likely wouldn't cause as much structural damage as a Titan would, it would be just as unpredictable and easy to lure, giving the Widows something to 'chew' on while the camp escaped. Even if we can't get the Banshee to follow, the number of infected in that place should be enough distraction to keep them occupied." 

Leon nods thoughtfully. "And how would you lure the Feral's and this Banshee?" 

"Noise would get the Widow's attention too easily," I note as I consider the question. 

Sparrow chimes in with a grin, however. "What about the carrot and stick method?" All eyes slide to Sparrow, who quickly stiffens up at the sudden attention he's gathered. Chuckling nervously, he continues. "Like, what if we use some of the horses and use ourselves as bait until we're close enough to their camp that we can slip away while the Ferals have lunch?" 

Josh nods, adding, "It would need to be a small strike force with the number of horses we have, but I don't think they would be fast enough to get out of the chaos once the Ferals start doing their thing." 

"What about the dirt bikes?" Dani asks. "We can walk them to where we would need to escape and use them under the cover of the chaos once the Feral's are lured to their camp." 

Leon eventually calls in three more individuals into his office while we plan - one of which being a less-than-pleased Ethan - and hammer out the finer details. Though Ethan and his friend that Leon called in were less than pleased with my and my family's presence inside Leon's office, planning the most crucial details of an attack that would either save or kill everyone, he was much happier knowing that Leon was the one dishing out the orders. Most of the morning was spent meticulously planning and plotting based on the reports coming in every half hour by the scouting team Leon had sent earlier this morning, but by the sound of things, the Widows are gearing up for another attack in the next few days. 

"Now, once you have the Feral's heading for the Widow encampment, make sure you don't break off too soon. Otherwise, we'll bring every one of those bastards our way," Leon informs us. "I want Ethan, Jones, Danielle, Sparrow, and Cassandra on the lure. Make sure you get the attention of as many of the Ferals as you can before splitting off." 

We nod, though Felix and Octavia protest my involvement. "Wait, why Cass?!" Octavia demands. 

Leon opens his mouth to respond, but I quickly jump in, knowing his words would only irritate her further. "Because the three of us know where the lumber yard is, and between the three of us, I'm the fastest." 

"But-"

"Octavia, please," I interrupt. "I'm not going to let either of you anywhere near that Widow camp if I can help it. Besides," I smile at my sister, "I'll be with Dani and Sparrow, I'll be safe enough." 

Sparrow looks genuinely surprised to have been deemed someone safe to be around, while Ethan and Jones look indifferent. 

Ethan snorts. "Don't know why we're letting some kid do this when a mission of this caliber requires more experience." 

I scoff. "Yesterday, you were all set and ready to blow this kid's head off simply because you thought I was working with the Widows. You should make up your mind on whether or not you want me dead." 

Ethan glares down at me, straightening his spine and squaring his shoulders, and I refuse to back down. 

A sigh breaks the tension again, making Ethan and I glare at the source. "Military experience is one thing," Leon says, "but Cassandra has more experience out there with the Feral's than any of us, and she knows where the lumber mill is. While the Lure Team is handling the Ferals, I want Josh, Felix, Murphy, and Octavia here at camp, getting everyone loaded up and ready to go. We'll rendezvous at the rest stop outside Crandall, just off 411. We'll wait for the Lure Team for twenty-four hours, but after that, we head south for the coast." 

Though he had been quiet since we called him into the office, the young blonde man straightened when his name was called. 

"Excuse me, sir," the blonde drawls, sounding bored. "But you called me here because you said it was an emergency. Are you putting me on babysitting duty?"

"I'm putting you in charge of making sure no one panics and alerts the scout watching our camp that we're about to mobilize," Leon reiterates. 

The blonde sniffs, obviously irritated with the job given to him. He's tall and bulky, with curly platinum blonde hair poking out from under his baseball cap, and even the leather jacket he wears does little to hide just how broad his arms are. He reminds me of the football jocks that used to make fun of my sister back in high school, and when he catches my irritated expression, he gives me a quick look over before rolling his eyes, obviously seeing me as more of an irritation than I see him.

Ignoring the rude blonde, I ask, "And when are we doing this?"

"In forty-eight hours, first thing the morning after next," Leon replies. "For now, we're going to work on bolstering the front gate so none of the infected take us by surprise until then. Cassandra and Ethan, I want the two of you to collaborate on the gate's defenses to ensure that no Feral nor Widow will be able to bust through until we are ready to leave." 

I blink, and Ethan and I exchange bewildered looks. "Wait, what?"

Leon continues, ignoring my growing outrage. "Danielle, while Cassandra is staying with Cottonwood, I am putting you in charge of her and her family's safety." 

Equally dumbfounded, Dani blinks, and for once, she speaks out against Leon. "Wait, what?! But, sir-"

"The campers are already wound up from last night's attack, and they are looking for someone to blame," Leon interrupts. Josh and Murphy will be in charge of crowd control until we leave, but for now, we need to ensure that the tensions don't lead to in-house violence against our guests." 

Sputtering, I protest, "I don't need a babysitter to watch over us; I am more than capable of making sure my family and I can stay out of trouble." 

Ethan snorts at that as Leon answers, "Not a babysitter; a bodyguard. The people of Cottonwood show no mercy to Widows or newcomers, and many likely suspect you to be a Widow spy. Danielle has enough credibility with the campers to help deter any unwanted violence against you and your family, and with tensions as high as they are now, leaving Cottonwood on your own would only serve to give them a reason to act on their suspicions." Leon stands and stretches, waving a dismissive hand to the group of us that have gathered in his office. "Now, I believe that everyone has quite a bit of work on their plate to handle before tomorrow, so I suggest you get to it. I'll send word to the scouts about the plan in the meantime. You're dismissed."