Alyx was in the middle of counting their food supply for the tenth time when she heard the loud splintering of wood.  She was immediately on the defense and ran toward the sound.  It probably wasn't the smartest thing to go running toward potential danger on her own, but she figured she could handle whatever it was.  She slowed to a halt when she saw Jack standing beside a tree, which had a very large, clearly fresh, hole in it.  She felt a bit of relief, but was still on guard.  

"What happened?" she asked, looking around to see if there was any imminent threat, or if it had just been an accident.  She didn't want to let her guard down in case Jack had been reacting to real danger, but she didn't see anything.  She let herself relax a little.  

------

Josh shrugged.  He was completely different; he had always enjoyed the silence.  When he was alone, watching the water, or the trees, or squirrels and birds, he felt like time stopped and he could escape for a while.  "If I'd been able to spend my time just watching nature when I was a kid I would've been pretty happy," he said.  "I think it's peaceful."  Any moment of peace was a relief to him as a child, since there was usually a lot of yelling; first directed at his mom, then later on at him and his twin sister.  He found the silence and serenity of doing nothing to be a luxury.  

The loud sound caused Josh to jump and turn his head quickly to locate the source.  He didn't get up to investigate.  He figured if there was a problem he wanted to stay away from it. When it came down to fight or flight, he always chose flight.  He didn't see any point in risking your life, and if people thought he was a coward he could live with that.  When he didn't hear any other sound to indicate danger he relaxed.  It was probably nothing, and someone would have come to warn them if there was a problem.  

He glanced at Blake and couldn't help but smile a little bit, almost laugh.  Most people wouldn't have reacted the way he did, but he didn't seem to be too alarmed by the sound.  Maybe he was just super optimistic.  That could be a good trait, or a dangerous one.  Either way, his calm was reassuring.  "Yeah, it probably was," he laughed.  "I guess this lot hasn't mastered the art of stealth just yet."