[color=red][i]November.  Missouri Forest.[/i][/color]

Will's eyes flickered between Jon and Austin as they both shifted in their own way, the soft sound of him sniffing audible over the distance between them. Quite casually, his free hand fell to the string of his bow- Though he didn't draw it yet, or lift it up towards one of them. A wary motion, and nothing more. Quite clearly, the boy was used to dealing with people that liked to shoot rather than talk- Even if he himself wasn't so keen on doing so.

"[color=00a651]Be still. If you are, so am I. And you're wrong- the clearing is the heart. A safe place. Close to the core of the forest. The creatures that wake during winter forage in and around it, there are three running streams nearby, the trees at its border are dense. A natural fortress for one that can listen, can smell. No foliage to block the snowfall- Plenty soon to burrow beneath, as the critters do. A snowy cave to keep you warm, unseen.[/color]"

Briefly, he glanced upwards, through the near-bare branches to the sky.

"[color=00a651]Snowfall comes, soon. Enough. Waiting would make things more difficult than necessary. So I want you gone. Don't trust other people- Rotten ones, predictable. Run, eat, bite, gnash. Put something through the skull, and they die. People are not. The violent ones are smart. And fast. They have metal-spitters like yours that burn and hurt.... Guns- Guns.[/color]"

After a moment, a sound disturbingly akin to a growl escaped the boy. However long he'd been out in the woods, he was most certainly losing his grip on the more 'human' things, closer to an animal than he was a human. Perhaps it was trauma- Perhaps he couldn't remember life before the rising. But he was definitely unstable.

"[color=00a651]You smell like blood, like the violent ones. So you can't stay. People bring the rotten ones, and chaos. Trees don't like it. Creatures don't like it. Will doesn't like it.[/color]"

Jon shook his head slightly as the boy went on.  He seemed feral.  Jon took to wondering how long a kid could be out here, isolated, and succumb and revert back to something more primitive.  He shook the thoughts away as ultimately, it didn't matter.  

"[b][color=00aeef]We smell like blood AND smoke.  We were in a crash.  I don't like being in that, yet here we are.  Anyway, I'm not going to get into a pissing contest about the forest and who it does and doesn't belong to.  But.  I suggest you start moving too.  I know you think this forest is yours, but the truth is, you need to start thinking beyond the heart here.[/color][/b]" 

Jon left the comment there, curious if the boy would understand or not.  "[color=00a651]And what's your name?[/color]"

Will gave something akin to a huff, blowing a sharp breath through his nose.

"[color=00a651]Crash. The metal bird that burned the trees to the south. I remember- But it makes no difference.[/color]"

With light, even steps that barely made a sound on the forest floor, Will slipped forward until he was just out of Jon's arm's reach, pulling the arrow from his bowstring and returning it to his quiver as he went. Up close, he barely looked any more than seventeen or eighteen, though the feral glint in his gray eyes was nothing less than offputting, if not downright frightening. He sniffed again, brow furrowing.
"[color=00a651]Fresh blood. Not yours. Not his. None of theirs.[/color]"
His gaze flicked back towards the clearing, apparently implying the others of the group.
"[color=00a651]Strangers. And something else- gunpowder? Gunpowder. Stronger on you than the others. You kill. Have killed. Don't trust you.[/color]"
He cocked his head in a sharp, birdlike motion, staring hard at Jon's face.
"[color=00a651]But I am Will. Will is me. It's what the little card said.[/color]"

At this point, Austin raised an eyebrow, not understanding the talk about a card and he looked over at Jon.  He wanted to speak to calm Jon as he seemed visibly agitated, but before he could say anything, Jon spoke up.

"[b][color=00aeef]Like I said.  Trees, forests, you, us.  Me.  Lots of things have happened that we don't like.  It doesn't change what is.  Anyway, I'm not sure if you're going to like this or not, but the explosion brought a shit ton of undead towards us, and we've been limping ahead of the herd.  Now, even if they miss this place, which I doubt they will because if we spend too much time sleeping, they're on us within a few hours, either way we're leaving because we have some injuries and need some antibiotics and the such.  I don't want to, but the truth is, we need to find a village or some place with a doctor's office.[/color][/b]"

Jon looked behind him towards where the group was starting to wake up and go about their business.  "[color=00aeef][b]You can come with us, or you can stay.  Either way, we're leaving this place like you want[/b][/color]."