Welcome to The Human Within, those who may want a little background history in these main characters I would suggest you go and read Nowhere to Run as this is the Sequel based on the Original Characters created within that Gears World. Whilst Nowhere to Run ran alongside Gears 2, this story runs parallel to the events of Gears 3 during the Lambent invasion, because lets face it even though Marcus' story has already been told it doesn't mean that the other Gears don't have other equally fascinating stories to tell.

So please read and enjoy, this will be an ongoing story which I plan on slowly realising on a monthly basis which means I need to get my ass in gear and work on the following chapters. I appreciate all comments and predictions.

Welcome to the World of Ollyvar Wilks.

Chapter One - An Uneasy Alliance

-Two Years After the Sinking of Jacinto-

A heavy fist grabbed Sergeant Ollyvar Wilks roughly by the throat and slammed him hard against the wall. Wilks heaved in a breath gripping hold of his attacker's hands and took in the towering giant before him.

"Burn," he chokingly coughed, feeling the crushing pressure on his windpipe, "what a pleasure, what can I do for you?"

Burn was a brute of a man and a notorious Stranded Leader. He wore a patch over one eye and half his ear was missing. Over the same damaged side of his head a metal plate had been nailed to the remnant of his existing skull. Wilks' own disfiguring scars that ripped down the side of his face to his chest were meagre in comparison. He had learnt never to cross the wrong side of him.

"That girl of yours," Burn gruffly snarled breathing an odorous mixture of tooth decay, alcohol and fish over him, "She's been raiding the ammo cache again. Reel her in Sergeant before I am forced to do it myself."

Wilks nodded, silently cursing the object of Burn's ire.

"Of course, I'll send her a friendly reminder to return her weaponry to you once she has finished her shift for the night. She is after all protecting the civilians within your perimeter."

Burn eyed him up suspiciously as he released his fist from Wilks' neck. He was an older man with a reputation as a ruthless leader, the fact he was Stranded added to the tension between them. The Sergeant and his squad had turned up at his gates begging for sanctuary along with a few remnant from Jacinto's refugees. Wilks had offered themselves as protection for his Village in return for their own safety. As much as Burn detested the COG he knew the small battle worn group of Gears would provide invaluable safety to his own people. His own personal vendetta against the COG would have to be put on hold whilst he utilised their abilities first.

"Be sure she toes the line Wilks, she has a habit of getting on the wrong side of people,"

"Don't I know it," Wilks muttered between clenched teeth.

"I'd hate for something to happen to her," He pointedly added, "You know how accidents occur out of nowhere around here."

Wilks cautiously watched as the Stranded leader stalked moodily away, his band of protective guards following closely behind him. When he knew it was safe to do so he let out a heavy sigh and ran a brusque hand through his dark hair, tugging on the longer strands as he deliberated his next move. Nothing was ever simple.

Slowly he plodded back towards his sleeping quarters, his squad had been placed in several shared domiciles dotted strategically around Burn's Stranded village. Wilks had very little say in where they were located, his main concern was getting his extended family to safety regardless of what it meant for him. The village was overcrowded, filled to capacity with the extras from Jacinto desperate to find a secure place to take refuge.

In the years since Jacinto had fallen the majority of the city's occupants had fled to an island called Vectes along with most of the COG's army. For others however, they clung to the mainland drawn to the security of a vast Stranded Stronghold overlooking the ocean. It commanded several fishing vessels and conducted vast hunting expeditions so the village took care of itself. Although it had a disorganised protection team, it lacked the strength and unity that Wilks was able to provide with his Gears. So now Wilks ran the unit in charge of protecting the civilians in Burn's Village.

Two years Wilks marvelled at how much his life had altered, as he negotiated his way between the rows of grubby washing hanging from lines between slats in the buildings. He had gotten used to the daily dance of darting between the villagers to get to where he wanted to get. The whispers and unkind glances in his direction as he passed them had made him feel relieved at his own private sanctuary to escape them all.

He ducked under a damp sheet and felt for the door handle to his lodgings juddering the door open and pushing it shut after him. Although the village had avoided a direct hit on the Hammer Strikes many years ago, some buildings on the outskirts had been classified unsafe for habitation. Most of the newer construction had been put together with scavenged scrap, what little was left lying around. So he appreciated the roof over his head, even if it meant he also had to share it with someone else.

They had been given a small room with two rickety single beds and one large blanket. When Wilks had asked for another he was told to push the beds together and share, there were very few spare resources especially with the influx of new citizens. His roommate had done their hardest to add that extra homely touch to their cramped shared space and he had been grateful for it. He had never gotten used to living with someone in such close confines before, despite growing up in Army Barracks and Mess Halls. But somehow they had reached a compromise and opted to work opposite shifts to give the other the space they needed.

It wasn't as if they were the only ones that had to compromise on their living situation, the rest of his squad had been allocated equally as awkward conditions. His second in command and medic Cam Ceorl had been given a room with his engineer Miles Walden. Generally Cam and Miles would have welcomed their new environment, as they got on well with one another. Except their reality presented them with a room that could only be constituted as a child's bedroom; a small cramped space with a rickety set of bunk beds that would have barely held for teenagers let alone heavily built Gears. Neither men were particularly happy with either sleeping position.

The only one of his squad who had been given a decent living arrangement was Tate Farr and his long term girlfriend Sofie. Since fleeing Jacinto it hadn't taken the pair long to produce their first child, with a new one born every nine months give or take. As an incentive for keeping the human population afloat almost singlehandedly they had been allocated a small shack located amongst the other families in the village along with whatever provisions they demanded to assist with their growing brood. They were expecting the fourth child any day now and the village citizens had been eagerly awaiting the sounds of another newborn to add to the growing future generation of Stranded Seran Citizens.

Wilks dropped to his bunk and felt it creak under his weight. He reached down, unbuckled his boots and kicked them off his tired feet. He peeled his shirt over his head and felt himself drop to the bed. As he lay back staring at the dark decaying ceiling above him he ran his fingers across the scars that marked his body and had changed his life. Most significantly was the long arching claw marks that had seared its way from his face down to his belly. No one outside his squad had witnessed the full extent of his injuries, most were too scared to question it further. His scars had secured him as a formidable member within the Stranded community. As an unfamiliar COG Sergeant who held control over the few weapons inside the Compound, no one wanted to cross his path in the dark. His fingers rested on a more recent stab mark on his shoulder and it made him wonder how often he had nearly lost his life. He lay for a while listening to the people in the structures around him. The muffled chatter reverberated around him whilst the odd squeal of laughter from a child drew him from his repose. So much innocence completely oblivious dangers that still threatened their existence.

In the two years they had lived as Stranded the appearance of Locust had diminished significantly. He knew they were still there somewhere, he guessed they were doing what the humans were doing, finding places to just survive. What had unnerved him was the increase in glowing creatures. Spider like Polyps were a frequent visitor in the wasteland, skittering around in the barren earth seeking out stragglers. More recently huge Lambent Stalks had appeared in the ocean bearing pods filled with Polyps, some onto unsuspecting boats blowing it sky high. Not that the civilians here knew about it, yet.

Wilks wondered what it would take for it to ever end.

An eerie mist crept low over the silent long deserted streets. Thin wispy tendrils reached out to infect any human life with its cold dank presence. Some distance below waves gently caressed against the sharp jagged cliffs kissing the rocks before receding momentarily and rushed to meet the cliff again.

Perched on the roof of a decaying church bell tower sat a young female Gear. Night had lulled her as she watched a pack of dogs stalk for prey outside the walls of the village along the derelict streets. She followed the animals through the scope of her Longshot, watching as they sniffed around the walls in interest. She tracked them as their attention drew to skittering in the darkness, thundering down the streets in pursuit. The dogs were quick to draw out a Polyp that had gotten separated from its pack. Howls of glee echoed through the darkness as the beasts took the creature down before it even realised it was being chased. Ripping apart its spindly limbs from its torso, it partially exploded with a splatter of Imulsion spewing forth over the dogs. With an undisturbed shake the Alpha sniffed at the dead creature, stepping back in disgust before cocking a leg and peeing over the corpse. Not even wild dogs ate Lambent Polyps.

She usually followed the antics of the dog pack at night. The animals, although a danger to the inhabitants of the village, also did a good job at flushing out any errant Locust or Lambent.

She dropped gently to the roof, resting her eyes for a moment to take in the sound of the ocean. She had gotten used to the change in her life not so many years ago, although she just hadn't expected every day to be a struggle for survival. She placed her Longshot at her feet as she rubbed roughly at her head with both hands. Loose blonde strands jumped wildly from their restraints and tumbled against her face. She untied her hair to let the gentle curls fall loosely into a messy bob at her shoulders. It was times of such solitude and silence that she relished the moments to just be herself.

Voices down in the streets below alerted her and she angled herself to watch a group of men arguing. The Stranded argued about anything these days so she took their scuffles lightly, plus it wasn't her job to protect the civilians against themselves. She continued to watch as one man pulled a knife out and held it to the throat of another, his friends cheering him on. Cautiously she angled her Longshot to gain a clearer view of the encounter. Aware that the situation could quickly spiral out of control, she slot a bullet into the chamber and aimed at the guy with the knife, firing into the wall inches away from his head. He leapt backwards and looked around for the offending sniper. She saluted back at him from the safety of her tower. He pointed at her then at his eyes before stalking off into the darkness.

She'd be regretting that later.

Tate relieved her from her duties a few hours later. Clearly still half asleep he plonked himself heavily next to her.

"One of those nights eh," she commented as she nudged him playfully.

"Just spent half the night awake with Carra, as soon as she settles Mikki takes it as his cue to follow the chorus. The moment he goes down Arlo decides to one up his twin and we have projectile vomit everywhere, took me the rest of the night to clear that up with Carra yelling for me from the nursery. I'm trying to let Sofie rest as much as possible with the new baby due any day now, but sometimes nights just get to me."

"You know the answer to that Tate," she responded, "Stop having children."

He sent her a look, "I don't appreciate your humour."

She smiled at him as he stretched his legs out. Tate was an attractive young man and worked hard to maintain his fitness despite the long hours he spent dedicating his time for his young children. He was a similar age to their Sergeant but had developed a strong working bond with her after several months of a joint training schedule. He was a good soldier with a penchant for attracting injuries, but within recent years the arrival of his family had kept him away from any serious danger and into more of a training role. Their biggest threat had been Tate's girlfriend Sofie who had instantly taken a dislike to her the moment they had first met, made worse by their regular shifts together and Sofie's advancing pregnancies.

"Anyway it's not my fault Sofie falls pregnant the moment we sleep together."

"Pretty sure it is,"

"Don't even know what fun is any more,"

She raised her hands up in surrender, "Don't come anywhere near me with your super virile man parts."

He let out a loud laugh as she scrabbled to her feet, "If only I had met you before Sofie."

"As if she needs another reason to want to knife me in my sleep, Tate," She strapped her Longshot across her shoulders and tied her hair back in a knot. Tate thoughtfully watched every move she made.

"I think she has enough on her plate right now rather than plot against you,"

"You thought of a name for the upcoming offspring yet?" She asked quickly, chancing a change in subject before he continued.

She watched as his eyes glazed slightly as he considered his options, "Sofie wanted to call it Ippo."

"For a boy or a girl?" she frowned at him.

"Either,"

"Do me a favour Tate, give at least one of your children a normal name," She headed towards the steps then turned back to him, "before Sofie has you well and truly under her thumb."

As she had rightly expected he had been waiting for her in the shadows at the foot of the steps. He grabbed hold of her and thrust the knife against her, pressing it lightly against her neck.

"You think that was funny back there," he spat at her.

"Actually what I saw was you attempting to slice someone's throat," she responded calmly.

"You know nothing,"

"I know plenty Archer," she eased her fingers over the knife and pushed it away from her neck.

Archer was Burn's second in command and had pretty much made it his duty to make their lives as difficult as possible. From the moment they had taken up residence he had stationed men to track the movements of the Gears within the confines of the village. His presence alone had delayed the allocation of their living arrangements, a quiet word in a certain ear had prevented them from bartering for provisions for a full week. Fortunately Wilks had been equally as distrustful and had withdrawn his squad during a raid until Archer had agreed terms for a more agreeable living standard.

"You care to share?"

She tightened her hold on his knife and twisted it from his hand so his precious genitalia was now held at delicate blade point. He swallowed looking back uncertainly at her.

"You wouldn't,"

"Maybe," she playfully pressed the knife a little harder than he would have liked against his crotch. He flinched backwards from her, "I'll keep hold of this for insurance."

"I'm watching you," he threw a final word of caution, "this will be reported in the morning."

She turned to him and sent him a middle fingered gestured, "report away Archer."

She noted the flicker of light coming from her sleeping quarters as she darted between the hanging sheets to reach her room, it seemed that everyone had been waiting to confront her these days. Quietly she opened the door, it creaked loudly back at her in contempt, inside Wilks sat on the bed with a disassembled Lancer scattered around him. He looked up from the bits of gun and sent her an expression.

"Who'd I piss off now?" she asked as she closed the door, locking it securely after her.

"The last person you could possibly want to piss off; Burn," he looked unimpressed.

"You might need to remind me what I'm accused of now," she turned her back to him to strip her squad uniform off and dress herself in scruffier casual fatigues.

"You were caught raiding the ammo cache,"

"I was not," she whirled round to him as she pulled a vest over her revealing features, "they must have been spying on me again."

Wilks watched the biggest secret he ever had to live with. Before him in a state of undress and very likely wearing one of his vests stood Aidan, a survivor from a Compound he had saved shortly before Jacinto had sunk. In order to protect her from the threat of birthing farms he had become her guardian until she came of age. But shortly after Jacinto fell apart events occurred which forced Wilks to take his squad family into refuge, along with a few fleeing Jacinto civilians. Aidan became Aidie Wilks completely out of bounds to anyone who went near. During his guardianship he spent every waking moment training and pushing Aidie to be a faster, stronger Gear. It put a strain on their friendship and she very nearly walked away. But now at the age of eighteen Aidie was free of Wilks' guardianship and able to leave if she desired. For the meanwhile they still shared a rickety bed pretending that neither had feelings for the other, whilst Wilks waited for the moment that she would decide that she'd had enough.

"That's the point, regardless of whether they were spying on you Aide, you shouldn't have been helping yourself to the ammo,"

"So how else am I supposed to protect these people if they won't give me the bullets to do so," she slipped her jeans down her thighs and wriggled out of them till they were bundled on the floor around her feet. She kicked it away from her and stood with her hands on her hips staring back at him, hair ruffled in various directions as her challenging icy blue eyes met his.

"You forget how little control I have here Aide, we are nothing more than security dogsbodies to these people," he half turned almost shyly away to suppress a blush that bloomed over his cheeks, clicking the last part of his Lancer together as a diversion. He was a grown man and her Sergeant, he would never allow her to see the feelings he truly felt for her. She meant too much to him to jeopardise their relationship any further.

"So what, I protect these people with stones?" She had a strong stubborn spirit which had only grown as she had developed as an adult.

"If you need bullets you'll have to request them from Archer, he has control over ammunition distribution,"

"You have to be fucking kidding me," she kicked at the foot of the bed revealing a scar etching its way up her leg starting with a bite mark around her ankle, "Archer? seriously! I just caught that asshole trying to slice someone's throat, I nearly castrated the bastard."

"Aidan," Wilks sighed as he massaged his temples, "why is it so hard for you to just toe the line once in a while."

"If toeing the line means watching Archer slice people up, I'm out,"

"Then leave," he rose to his feet and padded towards her, "no one asked you to stay longer than you had to."

A mixture of hurt and anger flashed through her eyes as she looked up at his towering muscular form. "You don't mean that."

"Don't I?"

They stared each other down for what seemed like hours, the only one who could challenge her stubborn nature. Since living in such close quarters they had frequently clashed over pointless specifics. As her Sergeant he did as much as he could to push her away to make her a better soldier, but her individuality pushed him back. He had never been challenged so much by one person. Recently their confrontations had become charged with tension as they pushed the other further to the edge. Their clashes felt like a drug that both were drawn to the more they experienced it.

"Tell me you want me to leave and I'll go," she turned from him to pull on a pair of shorts, "your life would be so much better without me anyway."

"So much easier without having to make sure one errant troublemaker does what they're told," he growled huskily, "and this entire room all to myself."

"Do I mean that little to you?"

"Why not?"

She raised her hand to strike him but he gripped her wrist in time, drawing her closer to him. Her free hand pressed against the scars on his chest feeling the rapidly tapping of his heart against her fingers.

"Why are we even here?" she quivered slightly.

"You know why," his voice barely a husky whisper

"We could have survived on our own, we could have protected ourselves,"

"How long do you think that would have lasted? We needed medical help. We needed protection, "

"Is this really any better? How desperate were we?"

"They are protected Aidan and that's all that matters,"

"At what cost?"

His stormy dark eyes cast themselves over her, the only woman who had witnessed his scars in their entirety and had never shied away from them. It scared him that he had become so fully reliant on her and he doubted he would ever fully recover should she choose to walk away.

"Tell me to leave then," she pushed.

He leaned in closer to her, his lips drifting across the tiny hairs of her neck, sending a shudder down her spine, till they reached her ear. His other hand pressed against the small of her back.

"Never," his words teased at her.

He heard her exhale, he shifted to lean his forehead against hers forcing her to meet his dark eyes. Such honesty reflected back at her.

"Never," he reaffirmed.

A sharp rapping on the door drew the pair apart as a voice urgently called to them.

"Sergeant Wilks, you're needed now," it yelled against the door.

Wilks grabbed hold of a t-shirt before opening the door, Aidie stood back to wrap a tattered cardigan over her quivering limbs. One of Burn's men stood splattered in a mixture of mud, soot and blood.

"What the..." Wilks exclaimed as he took the Stranded in, "What the hell happened?"

"Burn needs you Sergeant," he stuttered as he peered around Wilks to take in Aidie, "he needs all of you."

They followed the Stranded as he sprinted towards the harbour where the entire area was ablaze. Tate had coordinated a group to assist in fighting the fire that was rapidly tearing down the wooden shacks across the front of the harbour. Cam and Miles who had not long joined the fray had jumped straight into the action, Cam tending to the burn victims and Miles passing buckets of sea water up a line of civilians to the buildings. Out in the shallows of the sea, swishing and swaying a Lambent Stalk filled with swollen pods full of Polyps, an impending sense of doom. Another Stalk hung over the harbour with its now empty pods squirting Imulsion over the burning ruts of the jetty.

"Shit," Wilks exclaimed as they took in the scene.

Burn silently approached him, "we need your help Sergeant. Those glowing creatures appeared from nowhere. They've killed at least six people with countless more casualties. The boats are destroyed. If that lad of yours wasn't on shift I dread to think how many more would have lost their lives."

"I can't deal with this without the ammo Burn," Wilks responded sharply, choosing his moment perfectly, "My Gears cannot protect you from the Lambent without a way to take them down. Give me unrestricted access to your ammo cache and we are at your disposal."

"You are not in a position to argue COG," he spat.

"And neither are you it seems,"

Burn turned to him and clenched his fists, deliberating his options. He glanced back at the carnage in the harbour.

"You're a bastard, have the ammo but if you don't fix this you're out, the lot of you,"

"Of course," he nodded at the Stranded Leader, "Aidie you heard the man, go get us some ammo so we can sort out that other Stalk."

She gave him a half serious smirk as she fled towards the direction of the ammunition cache.