"By the skin of our teeth," He responds frankly, arms crossing a little more tightly. It's a miracle, every single day they scrape by. Every single day they go without losing a life, fourth or fifth or otherwise. Every day they have enough food to eat is a blessing, every day it's quiet is a godsend. "The resistance hideout's still invisible, and it's remote- enough to keep us off radar. We run patrols, we stage diversions- anything to keep it's attention elsewhere. If it gets bored, it starts coming the forests. There's know telling how long we've got before it figures out where we're holed up."

As for why it's still alive when Wonderland's lost every scrap of other living magic it can hold? Well, there's no good answer, and frankly? Dean doesn't care. Knowing the reasoning behind it doesn't change the facts, and the facts are they've got to get that sword before it's lost- or stops existing, if that's the case.