She flew into action the second her proposition was accepted. Meanwhile, she listened, to identify the position and numbers of the infected, estimate where they were heading. The screaming stinkers raced towards the sound of the owl fight, not finding anything to attack, they spread, slowing down. Then, she heard them pick up speed again, close to the female soldier. She must have been spotted, attacked. She forbid herself to think about it. "Thanks!" She whispered, as she took the gun Utem had offered, while running towards the path.<br/><br/>When Derrick, once again all words and disobedience, both of the female soldier's and Utem's direct orders, headed back, she wondered about his priorities. He clearly had been the opposite of a team player from the beginning. Now, he left the one person the team needed to protect most, who he himself had seemed concerned about, with one less experienced soldier to defend her, in order to chase back to the soldier everybody else trusted to know exactly what she was doing, to give orders, to decide how things should be done.<br/><br/>Feeling gravel under her feet, she knew they were on the path. She had looked out for Ashleigh as best she could, making sure she could keep up, did not panic. She had accepted the team's idea that this woman was their weakest link and must be protected by all means, and acted accordingly. The path was almost free of deep holes, brambles and creepers, it was easy to follow, allowed them to speed up, and lead straight to the circle of rocks that would offer protection if they needed to make a stand. On the path, Franka resisted running as fast as she could, never going faster than she felt sure Ashleigh could keep up with.<br/><br/>The relative silence close to them did not last, as she had known it could not. A stray stinker crashed through the undergrowth in some distance, had heard the running group of humans, and howled, heading towards them. Others took up its cry and their pursuit. Franka cursed, sped up. She wanted to kill the creature, but knew she had no chance yet. She could tell where it was, more or less, but without seeing it, and over such a distance, for her to shoot it was impossible. Even if she aimed the gun in precisely the right direction, there would be trees between them, impossible to make out in the inky darkness for someone without night vision.