Leader of Mice and Men Chapter 1: Round 1, a lost world fanfic

Challenger's eyes widened, and his jaw dropped. A look of fear settled in on his face, and he gulped.

"No," he shouted, anxiety stricken, "not you, you can't be alive!"

"Come on, old boy," Roxton said with a smile, "time to pay the Piper."

Roxton cocked his pistol, and his finger started to pull the trigger as he smiled treacherously. A bead of sweat rolled down Challenger's face; he could not actually believe what his friend was about to do.

Just feet away, with only a few trees and bushes separating them from Challenger, were Veronica and Malone. Veronica heard enough to recognize the voice of George Challenger. Something was wrong, and she was ready to move fast and take action. Malone jumped back, as Veronica swiftly left his side and dashed off into the jungle brush.

"Veronica," he called, "wait!" Malone stepped through the jungle trying to find her again—instead he found something else.

"Going somewhere, Malone," Marguerite said, her eyes bulging wildly as she stuck the butt of her rifle into Malone's chest. Malone sighed and bowed his head, recognizing this behavior, and realizing his defeat.

Roxton threw his head back and laughed wickedly—pulling the trigger of his pistol ever so slowly, reveling in the moment.

Veronica came swinging from a vine out of the trees and into the clearing.

"Oh no you don't!" she shouted.

Letting go of the vine, Veronica swooped down and was able to knock Roxton's hand to the side, just as the gun discharged. The bullet narrowly missed Challenger's head. Challenger remained on the ground, breathing heavy, trying to regain his composure, but his old muscles wouldn't let him move.

"You lose!" Veronica shouted at Roxton.

Roxton's eyes widened, a scowl forming on his face. How dare this woman interrupt him. The old man could not get far, and Roxton would put this wily little thing in her place first.

"We'll see about that," Roxton responded bitterly to Veronica.

Seconds later, they heard a gun shot. Then Marguerite emerged from the jungle and into the clearing, cocky in demeanor and blowing the smoke away from the tip of her rifle.

"Malone," Veronica realized that Marguerite had just shot him, "No!"

This distraction was enough for Roxton to move. He quickly raised his pistol and fired at Veronica, aiming for her heart.

Veronica reacted quickly—working strictly off of instinct now, but she did not react quickly enough. She managed to dodge the fatal hit, but still took the bullet in her calf. She limped to run from Roxton who walked toward her cocking his pistol again. Marguerite kneeled down and began to take aim with her rifle. Veronica quickly pulled out one of her knives and threw it at Marguerite. Her accuracy was perfect, and the knife smacked into the wooden handle of the rifle, knocking it from Marguerite's hand.

Roxton was next. He fired a shot at Veronica head, but she was able to duck and avoid it. She quickly rose, pulled out another knife and threw at Roxton, but as she threw it, the pain from her wound caught up to her, and she faltered just as she released the knife. Roxton had cleverly arranged himself between Veronica and Challenger. The knife came at him quickly, but was a little off target, and easy for Roxton to side step and avoid. The knife kept going with a deadly velocity, and hit Challenger instead, right near the heart.

Veronica gasped, wincing in pain. Tears began to form in her eyes. She failed; Challenger and Malone were dead. She was too wounded to run anywhere, and she was fresh out of knives—while Roxton and Marguerite, had plenty of bullets.

Then, all of the sudden, as if in a fairy tail, everything changed; the sky became dark as the moon eclipsed the sun, and all of her friends vanished in the blink of an eye. Veronica was alone. She rose to her feet, her wound still there, but no longer hurting. She heard the faint sound of a flute playing. She strained her ears to figure out where it was coming from, but it seemed to come from everywhere. Then, as if not in control of her body, Veronica stared up at the eclipsed sun. Seconds later, everything went black, all became silent, and finally her thoughts simply shut off.

Veronica opened her eyes and yawned. She slowly sat up in her bed, and was surprised to see how bright it was outside. She had slept in, which was not too common. Not for Veronica at least. Marguerite on the other hand…

Veronica promptly got dressed and walked out into the kitchen to get some fruit for breakfast. Malone, who was sitting at the table, bolted up immediately when he saw Veronica.

"Veronica," Malone said excitedly, "I took your advice and made some abstract sketches to go along with my journals to add depth and all that stuff we were talking about. Wanna see?"

"Malone," Veronica said, "you already showed them to me."

"But I just finished them this morning," Malone said slowly and confused, "I haven't shown them to anyone yet."

Veronica blinked quickly, and thought about it. For an instant, she could have sworn Malone and her went over his work. But then she realized that while she tried to help his skills and gave him the idea, she had no clue what he had decided to draw. She couldn't visualize them either. It was strange though, like dejá vu. As soon as she put some real thought into it though, she knew that she had not in fact seen Malone's sketches.

"You're right," Veronica said, "I don't know what I was thinking. I must still be a little groggy."

"You sure did sleep in late," Malone commented, "any reason why you'd be overly sleepy?"

"No," Veronica said, "nothing I can think of. It's strange."

"Well," Malone told her, "if anyone deserves some extra rest, it's you."

"Thanks," said Veronica, munching on a peach, "now, let's see these sketches."

"Sure thing," Malone said joyfully as the two sat down at the table, "I've done three for now. Here's the first one."

"A tree," Veronica commented, "very simple." She studied the drawing more carefully. "But all these trees in the background, great detail. The clouds in the sky, the stream off in the distance, and the slight incline of the terrain… Hey, I even know this place."

"Not one of the most beautiful spots on the plateau," Malone told her, "but it's where I first picked up on that mutual attraction between us—right after we first arrived."

"Yes," Veronica said thoughtfully, "and I as I recall we had to sneak away from dinosaurs."

"That was my plan," Malone said, "we tried yours later, and diving through the legs of a T-Rex isn't something I'd care to do again."

Veronica laughed and Malone handed her his next drawing.

"The waterfall," Veronica said, her tone becoming grimmer.

"It's always meant something to me," Malone said, "and I feel I owe it to Summerlee somehow."

"It is where…" Veronica did not want to call him dead because they had never confirmed that, "…where he was lost. But I must say, Malone, you do a nice job at capturing the fall off. With this overhead view of the river, it looks like the water is actually flowing deeper into the paper. This isn't easy to draw."

"I did put in a lot of effort," Malone said.

"And it shows," Veronica told him, nodding with approval and satisfaction of the sketch.

"Here's the last one," Malone said handing it to her.

"A Raptor," Veronica said, "why a Raptor?"

"It seems like of all our dinosaur friends, we run into these guys the most," Malone said.

"Ah," said Veronica, "well, again you do a nice job of capturing the detail."

"I'm glad you like them," Malone said, "I couldn't have done it without your advice."

"I guess I'll take that as a compliment," Veronica trailed off, looking around the treehouse all of the sudden.

"Looking for something?" Malone asked, wondering why she had begun to look all around her.

"No…" Veronica said, facing Malone again, "Is it just me," she asked, "or is it unusually quiet around here?"

"Not just you," Malone assured her, "Challenger's observing some sort of bug in the lab, and Marguerite and Roxton went off together."

Veronica got up and began tidying up the breakfast clutter her friends had made. Veronica kind of took on the job of keeping the treehouse orderly, making sure everything was in its proper place, and that the general surroundings looked presentable for any guests that might stumble into their lives. She did it because no one else cared more than she did. Veronica did not mind the work. In fact, she felt that it somehow reflected well on her parents, since the Layton's were the ones who originally gave most of their equipment, books, and utensils a home.

Veronica began putting some of the coffee cups away, and asked, "I didn't know they had anywhere to go today?"

"It's not a matter of necessity," Malone told her, gathering his journals he had spread across the table, "they wanted to have a picnic."

"A picnic," Veronica repeated uneasily, "uh-oh…"

"What's wrong with that?" Malone asked sincerely.

Veronica paused for a moment, "I really don't know," Veronica said plainly, "I must just be remembering last time they went off on a picnic."

Malone chuckled, "I don't know if that's fair; that wasn't even them last time. Remember, they stumbled into that cave, where they were trapped and it was their duplicates that were high on the picnics."

"That's true," Veronica admitted, "but can you honestly say you think everything will go over smoothly?"

Malone, who had gathered all of his journals and drawings together now, tapped his pencil on the table as he took a moment to think about Veronica's question.

He stood up and said, "No comment," and then he walked away.

Veronica laughed, and continued tidying up the treehouse.

"Roxton," Marguerite screeched, "I can't believe you spilled all over me!"

"I've already apologized five times, Marguerite," Roxton said in a state of aggravation, "besides, I don't see what the big deal is, it's only water."

"Yes," Marguerite sneered, "but now I'm all wet, and with this accursed wind it's making me cold."

"Well," flirted Roxton, "maybe I can do something about that."

He leaned in closer to her and moved in to kiss her softly. Roxton patiently continued his lunge, despite Marguerite turning her head the other way. Finally, Marguerite pushed him aside and got to her feet.

"Don't you go getting close to me," she warned, "especially when you're breath smells like Raptor."

Roxton sighed, looking up at her from his knees.

"And who's idea was it to bring that, Marguerite?" Roxton snapped angrily.

"I only did it because I know how much you like meat," Marguerite revealed.

Roxton stopped yelling, and took a more gentle tone. He hadn't realized that Marguerite of all people went to the trouble of thinking about someone else other than herself. And the most amazing thing of all was that he was the person she was thinking about.

"I didn't realize that," Roxton said.

"Yes," Marguerite said, trying to remain bitter since she could still feel her wet shirt clinging to her clammy skin in the wild breeze, "and look how you repay me." Marguerite gestured toward her wet clothing.

Roxton found himself feeling incredibly guilty and was not certain how to proceed from here. However, the strangest of occurrences intervened, and both Roxton and Marguerite found that their attention shifted to a new sound that came fluttering onto their hostile picnic scene.

"Is that a flute?" Marguerite asked, hearing the high-pitched tone.

"I think it is," Roxton agreed, rising to his feet, "the question is, where's it coming from?"

"There's nobody around here is there?" Marguerite asked.

Roxton looked around. "Look," he pointed, "there's a cave over there at the base of that hill."

"That must be where it's coming from," Marguerite reasoned.

"Let's go find out," Roxton ventured.

The two walked toward the cave, but something was not right. At first, neither of them noticed it. Then they each got that sickening feeling in their stomachs, a natural warning of sorts. They stopped in front of the cave entrance, and Marguerite finally put their awkward feeling into words.

"The sound isn't getting any louder," Marguerite said, "it still sounds so distant."

"Yes," Roxton said, realizing she was right, "you stay out here, I'll go look around and make sure it's safe."

Roxton entered the cave. Not much of a cave. Off to the right was a large stalagmite that covered the whole area between the floor and the ceiling. The cave consisted of a small path that circled around this stalagmite, and that was all there was. Roxton reasoned that whoever was playing the flute, must be on the far side of the massive post. Roxton slowly began walking around the stalagmite; again the pitch of the music remained constant, giving no indication that he was closing in on the source. He circled the stalagmite, but nothing was there. He stood still, not understanding this phenomenon, but content to go back outside. That is, until a light shining behind him appeared out of the blue, and captured the hunter's attention.

Roxton circled back to reveal that a doorway had appeared somewhere in the stalagmite. Roxton could not see too far into the opening because of the strong rays of white light emanating from somewhere within the stalagmite's center. Inside the doorway, was a man playing a flute. He spotted Roxton, and stopped playing. The man was not very tall, a bit shorter than Roxton actually. He was plump to say the least, and wore a tuxedo, with purple pants, a purple bowtie, a purple jacket, and a fancy white dress shirt beneath it all, complete with wavy ruffles that added to the elegance of the outfit. He had a round face, dominated by a thick, black mustache. His head was half bald, and featured black hair that was thinning on the top.

"I heard your music," Roxton explained, "It peaked my curiosity. Who are you?"

"I am the Piper," the man explained, with a deep, commanding, powerful voice, yet it somehow put Roxton at ease instead of capturing an astute attention from him.

"The Piper?" Roxton repeated, thinking that sounded a bit odd.

"Yes," the man reiterated, "the Pied Piper. And you owe me now; one and three."

"One and three?" Roxton asked, not understanding what that meant.

"Yes," the Piper repeated, "one alive, and three dead."

Roxton did not like the sound of this, but before he could walk away, the Piper put his flute to his lips, and played five simple notes. Then his lips released the flute, and the Piper stared at Roxton, a wide grin stretching across his face.

"The music," Roxton said after a few seconds, "it won't stop… it just keeps repeating… those five notes, over and over."

"Yes," the Piper said simply.

Roxton became uneasy; he took a few steps backward.

"Make it stop," Roxton pleaded, "I can't… I can't take it. Make it… make it stop."

The Piper laughed. Roxton, becoming increasingly aggravated, covered his ears with his hands, and continued backing up until he bumped into the wall of the cave.

"Do not fight it," the Piper instructed Roxton, "embrace it. Let the music control you—guide you. You must pay; you owe me."

Roxton stopped fidgeting and regained his composure. But it was not like normal; he was emotionless, expressionless, programmed in some sense. Like a blind mouse following the enchanting sound. No longer did the notes from the flute pound on Roxton's eardrums, but they now danced across his mind, laying the foundation for the path that he would gladly follow.

"Yes," Roxton said, showing that he understood, "I owe you. One alive; three dead."

Roxton came out of the cave, very serious. He grabbed Marguerite's arm, and began guiding her back toward the site of their picnic.

"Come Marguerite," Roxton told her with a monotone voice, "we're going back to the treehouse."

Of course, Marguerite did not readily accept this. "What about the cave," she asked, "the flute music, what happened in there?"

"There's nothing to see here," Roxton said.

"Oh," said Marguerite, "I'm not so sure about that. There must be something to see, but for whatever reason you don't want me to know what it is. I have half a mind to go in there and take a look myself."

"I said there's nothing to see," Roxton insisted.

Marguerite sighed in frustration, "Haven't we argued enough for one day?"

Roxton just gave her a cold, blank stare, not backing down.

"Fine," Marguerite conceded, "there's nothing to see. We'll just pack up our things and head back to the treehouse."

Roxton and Marguerite arrived at the treehouse later that afternoon. Roxton spotted Veronica working on her garden, and sprang into action. He dropped his pack, and went through the gate, safely crossing the barrier of the electric fence. Marguerite, who was off balance due to the minimal conversation Roxton offered on their return trip to the treehouse, cautiously followed him.

Veronica saw them, and looked up, "Back already," she commented.

Roxton raised his rifle and pointed it at Veronica. "Get up," he instructed her.

Veronica did not know what was going on, but she identified the look on Roxton's face to be one not to mess with, and she quietly obeyed.

Marguerite could not believe what she was witnessing. For the first time since Roxton had come out of the cave, she realized for sure that something was very wrong.

"Roxton!" she exclaimed, genuinely appalled by his behavior.

Roxton quickly turned around, grabbed Marguerite's arm and flung her to the ground, stunning her long enough to move. He grabbed Veronica with one hand, some rope that they used as a clothesline to dry laundry was snatched in his other hand. He tied Veronica's hands and pushed her hard to the ground. Just as Marguerite collected herself after Roxton's blow, he had more of the rope in hand and tied her hands as well. Then, Roxton dragged them both to their feet, and drew his pistols, jamming each woman in the back with the tip of a gun.

"We're leaving," Roxton announced.

Veronica turned to face him, "Where are we going?" she demanded.

Roxton, pistol still in hand, smacked her on the side of the head. No cut because the blow was received far enough on the cap of the skull to be covered by Veronica's hair. Roxton dragged her back to her feet and pushed her forward.

"Next time," Roxton told her sourly, "no warnings, I simply pull the trigger."

As he led his captives away, Roxton picked up his pack again. Marguerite and Veronica silently allowed Roxton to escort them away from the treehouse and out into the jungle.

Malone watched, as Roxton, Marguerite, and Veronica disappeared out of sight. Roxton was not aware that Malone had watched this, and from what Malone observed, that was a good thing. He quickly got Challenger and described the events he watched take place.

"That is strange," Challenger agreed, "and I'm sure there is an explanation. But first things first: Veronica and Marguerite may potentially be in a very dangerous situation. Hopefully, we can still find where they are."

Challenger brought out one of their telescopes and began scanning the landscape. After several minutes, he stopped and smiled.

"There," he told Malone, "it appears they're resting."

Malone took the telescope from Challenger, and looked at them. Veronica and Marguerite were sitting back to back—Roxton was looming nearby, the threat of shooting them lingering on. Roxton was drinking some water, and began to give some to Veronica and Marguerite when Malone put down the telescope.

"We have to do something," Malone said.

"I agree," Challenger said, "let's quickly gather our weapons and some water, hopefully we can catch up to them before they start moving again."

Malone and Challenger both promptly began on this task.

"Any idea as to the extent of Veronica's injury?" Challenger wanted to know.

"It's hard to tell," Malone told him, "but it looked bad. She seemed to have trouble walking straight when she got to her feet."

"She may have gotten a concussion," Challenger revealed, "but hopefully it is more mild than that. If we're to capture Roxton without harming him, Veronica's help will be instrumental."

"If he hurts her…" Malone trailed off.

"It's best to wait until we can make a more accurate assessment of the situation, Malone," Challenger said, attempting to ease his friend's rage.

"I know," Malone said, and then he perked up, noting that the weapons and water had all been packed, "let's go."

Roxton set down his pack and supplies. He started walking past Marguerite and Veronica heading for the stream just a few feet away to refill his canteen. As he passed Veronica, she stuck out her leg. Roxton tripped, stumbled, but did not fall down. He stood up, pulled out one of his pistols, aiming it right between her eyes at point blank range.

"That," Roxton informed her, "was a very stupid move."

However, after that enraged comment, his demeanor softened, and he bent down to face her at eye level. He lightly brushed her cheek with the tip of his gun and spoke to her.

"Of course," Roxton said, "I can spare your life. All you have to do is make things a little easier for the both of us. You've got to admit, the only thing this trip is missing is entertainment."

Veronica spit in his face. Roxton closed his eyes, stood up, and wiped her saliva from his face with his forearm. He looked down at her, smiling, and putting his pistol away.

"I shall enjoy the moment of your death," Roxton told her, "You can't win," he added, "it is in my destiny to prevail."

"To the victor go the spoils," Marguerite said.

Roxton now turned his attention toward her.

"Come on," Marguerite urged, "I'll show you a good time."

A cynical smile formed on Roxton's face, and he shook his head. Apparently, he still had a lot of awareness when it came to who his friends were, and what they would try to do. Roxton was not about to allow Marguerite to seduce him into anything. Roxton diverted his attention back to refilling his canteen, and walked off toward the stream.

Marguerite stomped her foot on the ground in frustration. "Damn him," she shouted.

"Do you know what's gotten into him?" Veronica asked.

"Not totally," Marguerite said carefully, deciding not to mention the cave, "something happened to him on our picnic… it's like he's a different man."

"Yeah," Veronica said furiously, "well, this new Roxton, I think I might kill him."

"Is your head doing alright after that hit you took?" Marguerite asked.

"I'm okay," Veronica told her, "nothing serious; just a little bump."

At the stream, Roxton stood, his canteen full, and as his gaze wandered to across the stream, he saw Challenger standing there.

"Roxton," Challenger said, "don't get excited, I just want to talk."

Roxton was no dummy. If Challenger was here, but not Malone, then he must be freeing the women. Roxton ran back toward them. Challenger jumped over the shallow stream and followed.

Meanwhile, Malone had just finished untying Veronica and Marguerite, when Roxton burst in on the scene. Malone motioned for Veronica and Marguerite to stay back and move off to the side; they followed his lead, not knowing what to expect from Roxton.

"Roxton," Malone said, "take it easy…"

Roxton, with lightning speed, drew one of his pistols and fired at Malone. Malone jerked his head to the side, but the shot still managed to graze his ear.

Challenger saw no other choice; he raised his rifle and shot Roxton in the back. The impact caused Roxton to jump. He turned around and faced Challenger, who fired again, nailing Roxton in the heart. He seemed to take this bullet in as well, but before long, he fell to the ground.

"Roxton!" Marguerite cried.

Veronica was worried about Malone. "Is that ear okay?" she asked.

Malone touched it gingerly, and brought his hand away to find blood, but he did not want to worry about his ear right now. "It's fine," he told Veronica.

Challenger kneeled down and examined Roxton. After thirty seconds or so, he rose.

"He's dead," Challenger announced, "oh God, what have I done?"

"You did everything you could to try to stop him," Malone said, "he left you no choice."

Challenger was speechless.

"Stubborn," Marguerite said, tears in her eyes, "right up until the end, even when he wasn't quite himself."

Despite the treehouse being only minutes away, the explorers decided to bury Roxton there, and spend the night out in the jungle, with a campfire, and uncomfortable quarters. This night would serve as a chance to honor Roxton's memory, and it was fitting somehow, since all of them knew that in some sense Roxton enjoyed the nights out in the wilderness the most.

That night, after the others were asleep, Marguerite went over to Roxton's grave, marked by a little cross in the ground. She kneeled before it.

As she cried, Marguerite spoke to Roxton, "I didn't tell the others about the cave," she began. "I'm going to go there now. I know, I know, and it probably is a bad idea, but I have to find out what happened to you there. I have to know, John. I have to know what it was that led to the end of your life."

With that, Marguerite gathered a canteen and a rifle, and headed out into the jungle, alone at night, going to the cave where Roxton's alteration of some sort occurred.

Little did Ms. Krux know, that Roxton could hear her speech. None of them could have realized that the Piper's control of Roxton unlocked a mental discipline within him. His mind could heal injury hundreds of times faster now. In essence, he could not die. Even the bullet to the heart, was not enough to kill him. He was able to dig his way out of the crude grave the others had made for him without waking anyone.

The next morning, Malone woke up to find Roxton's grave dug up and Marguerite missing. Challenger had used part of Roxton's vest to provide a makeshift bandage for Malone. After noticing this, Malone woke up Veronica and Challenger, and brought them up to speed.

"I knew Roxton's death had to have more of a devastating impact on Marguerite than she was letting on," Challenger said.

"We'll just have to go find her," said Veronica.

"No," Challenger said, examining Malone's ear, "Malone needs to get a fresh bandage on this wound, and we should try to disinfect it as well. You take him back to the treehouse, Veronica, I'll track down Marguerite."

"I don't like this," Veronica told him, "she could be dangerous."

"There's no evidence that Marguerite was affected by the same forces that caused Roxton's irrational behavior," Challenger noted, "I'm sure she's just emotionally distraught, I'll handle it."

Without any further dialogue, Challenger gathered his things, and started heading out, looking for Marguerite.

After several minutes, Veronica had packed up the rest of their supplies.

"Alright," she instructed Malone, "let's start heading back."

"No," Malone said, "I'll be okay. Go help Challenger try to track down Marguerite."

"Malone," Veronica told him firmly, "don't try to be a hero."

"It's not that bad," Malone said, "I can walk just fine."

"We'll see about that," Veronica challenged.

"Yes we will," Malone said, "as we look for Marguerite."

At the cave, Marguerite had confronted the Piper. "Ah," he said, "I see Lord Roxton's provided one alive. Now you can help him bring three dead back to me."

"The only one dead is Lord Roxton," Marguerite told him.

"Don't believe all that you see," the Piper advised.

Once again, he brought his flute to his lips, and played five simple notes.

When Marguerite left the cave, Roxton was there. He kissed her.

"We're together now my love," he told her.

"Just like we always wanted," Marguerite told him.

"They'll come looking for you," Roxton said.

"Of course," said Marguerite, "that's what makes them weak."

"Let's go," Roxton said and they walked off to hunt down their friends.

Malone and Veronica walked along one of the jungle's paths. They were moving slowly for Malone's sake, but reasoned that they were not too far behind Challenger.

"What's your plan for when we find them?" Malone asked.

"I don't know," Veronica said honestly.

"I think we should stick together," Malone said.

"No," Veronica argued, "you're in no shape to put up a fight. When we find Challenger and Marguerite, you hang back and let me take care of it."

"What makes you think there's going to be a fight?" Malone asked.

"I've just got a feeling," Veronica told him.

Hidden within the thick flora around them was Roxton—watching carefully, sizing up the situation. He then glided his way through the mere feet of jungle between the path and a clearing on the other side of a long strip of towering trees. Foolishly wondering through the clearing was the scientist. Roxton instructed Marguerite to stay in the trees as he took out Challenger. Marguerite would then be able to attack Malone and Veronica if they heard the struggle from the other side of the forested area.

Challenger was walking along, when he heard a whistle. He stopped and began looking around. As soon as his back was toward the jungle, Roxton charged, smacking into Challenger's backside and knocking him to the ground. Roxton drew one of his pistols, and waited for Challenger to look up and get a good look at his face.

Challenger's eyes widened, and his jaw dropped. A look of fear settled in on his face, and he gulped.

"No," he shouted, anxiety stricken, "not you, you can't be alive!"

"Come on, old boy," Roxton said with a smile, "time to pay the Piper."

"Veronica," he called, "wait!" Malone stepped through the jungle trying to find her again—instead he found something else.

"You too, huh?" Malone asked her.

"Oh, shut up Malone," Marguerite instructed, "and get on your knees."

Malone began to kneel down, and Marguerite smacked him with the butt of her rifle once more.

"Hands behind your back," she demanded.

"Listen," Malone pleaded, "I don't know what's gotten into you, or Roxton before he died, but you don't have to act like this."

"Roxton's alive," Marguerite informed him.

"What?" Malone said.

Marguerite was not looking for more conversation though. Malone was in front of her, his back turned to her, on his knees, holding his hands behind his back. Marguerite raised her rifle, taking aim. Malone knew what was going on because he could see her gun being drawn by her faint and scattered shadow, barely there because of the thick cover the tropical trees provided. Marguerite had an easy shot at the back of Malone's head. Malone could do nothing, so he closed his eyes and braced himself for a quick death.

Meanwhile, Veronica faced Roxton, not knowing how he was alive, but determined to change that. Her first priority was to lure him away from Challenger, so that he would be safe.

Roxton was furious that Veronica had intervened at all, and he was hoping to shoot her up good. However, Roxton knew that it would be tough to do that because Veronica was a smart warrior, who moved quickly and could very well dodge a full round of bullets if he was not careful. When he heard the gunshot, Roxton did not care, but Veronica did, and as soon as Roxton saw Marguerite appear blowing the smoke away from the tip of her rifle, he knew his opportunity to get Veronica would be forthcoming.

"Malone," Veronica realized that Marguerite had just shot him, "No!"

As he anticipated, the distraction was enough for Roxton to try an attack. He quickly raised his pistol and fired at Veronica, aiming for her heart.

To Be Continued…