Wow, I'm going to be totally honest with you guys, I wasn't expecting this to get positive feedback, I was writing it at like, 12:00 in the morning and I was falling asleep, so I wasn't expecting much.

Thanks to Wepul for the review, I'm going to work on what you suggested!

Anyway, I'm a little more awake now, since its 11:42am, and I want to get this chapter at least started before I go out.


The Betrayed

Chapter Two

Destroyer Destroyer

Words; 3,841


BLU Scout grimaced as the cat's head repaired itself, with the help of the RED Medic's Medigun, of course.

"vell, her head is healed, but zhere is no telling vhen she vill wake up..." Medic sighed.

"If she wakes up," RED Engineer added.

"Ja," The Medic stood up, picking the cat up as he did so. "I get zhe feeling she vill be unconscious for a little vhile yet,"

"Is there anything we can do for her?" BLU Scout suddenly erupted. All the RED Team and BLU Sniper stared at him. "What? I was just askin'"

"Zhe only zhing ve can do is hope she'll vake up, before her body decides to give up," Scout wondered idly whether this cat was going to pull through, not that he cared too much, she was a RED cat, and they already had Wrath, and he was a handful on his own.

"Gentlemen," Spy suddenly spoke up. "We have a problem," Each Mercenary faced him. Calmly, the Spy pointed towards a huge horde of zombies heading up the river. "Shall we?" Without hesitation, BLU Scout and Heavy gathered up their items – mainly consisting of weapons and a sleeping bag each – and waited for their Sniper. The REDs already had all their stuff, meaning BLU Sniper was the only one slowing them down.

"C'mon Snipes!" Sniper mumbled insults under his breath as he replaced Wrath's harness. He stood up straight and nodded. "let's go,"


I mewed pitifully as my father stood over me and my siblings. I was terrified. I already knew most of them were dead, only my two brothers and I had survived, and the youngest was already dying. I heard my father hiss angrily and crouch lower. I couldn't tell what was attacking us, but I knew it was stronger than mother, she was already lying on the ground, mangled and bloody. Hearing a blood-curdling yowl, I crawled over to my eldest brother and buried my face in his fur. I felt him nuzzle my head softly. I mewed in surprise as I felt jaws close around my scruff. I opened my eyes and looked up to my carrier. Relief washed over me as I identified the cat as my father. I was still scared though; he had a huge gash over his right eye and his left ear had been torn off. I was joined a second after by my two brothers. I turned to my youngest; He was already dead. Did father even notice?

My eyes dragged themselves open as I felt my body shaking. I was being carried again. I looked up weakly, and saw I was being carried by Engineer again. I mewed weakly, effectively gaining the Texan's attention. He must have run for a while; his face was red and he was breathing heavily.

"hey doc, she's awake!" He panted.

"Gut, keep hold of her zhough, she's still too veak," Medic replied. I felt a sense of dread and relief wash over me. Dread, because he sounded just as tired as Engineer. How long had they been running? I looked past Engineer's arm and almost yowled. Behind him there were at least six undead wolves, each with a different injury. I dug my claws into Engineer's arm instinctively, but let go again as I heard him wince.

"Ow, y'all got a sharp grip there," I looked up at him apologetically. He gave me a small smile before concentrating on where he was running. I looked in the direction he was, he was at the back of the group, not far from two Heavys, a RED and a BLU. I cocked my head. "We're joinin' with the BLUs for now. The bigger the group, the more chance of survival," I nodded once, although I still didn't understand. I looked up again to see the sky cloud over with thick snow clouds, if it snowed, it would be so much harder to see where to go, but it could also be harder for the Zombies to catch us. I shivered at the sight of the gathering clouds; My fur was very thin, what with being in a laboratory for most of my life.

I cowered in the corner of my cell as the giant hand reached in. My ears pinned back and I pushed myself further into the corner. I yowled in protest as the hand closed around my head and dragged me out. I dug my claws into the bottom of the cage in vain, the human yanked me out and carried me into another room by the head. I yowled in pain, wriggling in his grip.

"Stay still you blasted freak!" The human roared as he threw me onto a cold, metal surface. I cowered, too scared to move. Another human entered the room with a large syringe. I whimpered as the first human forced me onto my side.

I shook of the salty memory, I didn't want to remember the tests and experiments I was put through. I sighed heavily. What I couldn't understand was; why did I still trust humans? Or was it certain ones? And, did I even fully trust these? I pushed the thought to one side, concentrating on not falling out of Engineer's arms. Easier said than done. As soon as the thought of falling entered my mind, Engineer's footing slipped up, causing him to trip. My eyes widened as the ground moved closer. We were saved by the hand of the BLU Heavy and I released a sigh of relief.

"RED Engineer, okay?" He asked.

"Yea, thank y'all," Engineer thanked. I meowed in agreement. I looked over Engie's shoulder as he raced to keep up with the others. I noticed a different form of those zombies, and these were faster! I frowned and looked down at my collar. My eyes widened as I saw what looked like small crystals form either side of the tag. I shook my head and looked back down. I wasn't dreaming at all. A loud, hight-pitched roar drew me from my thoughts; one of the zombies had caught up. I growled, bristling my fur. "These dang things are getting' faster," I hissed in agreement, unsheathing my claws. "Now don't y'all think about going for them things," I winced internally at the scold.

"MOVE IT GREESE MONKEY! YOU'RE MAKING THE HEAVY LOOK FAST!" Soldier bellowed. Engineer sighed heavily. I mewed and climbed onto his shoulder.

"Maybe you should try carrin this cat!" he shot back. I turned back for a second to see where zombies where.

Big mistake.

I yowled in fear, inadvertently into Engie's ear, and my ears pinned back.

"AAGH!" I growled and leaped from Engie's shoulder onto the zombie, ripping it's head clean off with my jaws. I skidded to a turn as the blood splattered from the zombie. "You're quite the fighter!" I puffed up my chest proudly as I waddled, yes waddled, over to Engie. "We best catch up before it's too late." I nodded and walked by his heel.


"Hold up," RED scout stopped suddenly. "Where'd Engie and the fluff ball go?"

SLAP!

"Rajan is nein 'fluff ball'!" Medic snapped, smacking the irritation on the back of the head. "You haven't seen her fight,"

"Rajan fight?" BLU Heavy inquired, arching an eyebrow. Medic sighed.

"Ja, she grew up fighting, after all, she vas in a science lab for veir years,"

"four whole years?!" Sniper repeated, all sense of surprise in his tone. Medic nodded.

"No wonder she wasn't afraid of those frickin' zombies,"

"Can she do anythin' else?" Demoman spoke up.

"ja, she can do a lot of zhings,"

"Like?" Medic sighed in frustration, pushing his glasses up.

"Vell... Her collar holds several secrets, as does her blood. Vhen provoked, she is very dangerous and could rip a man apart in seconds," both Heavys winced. "But zhat's not all," a small smirk formed on the German's lips. "under certain circumstances, her collar vill dose her vith a chemical with no name, zhis chemical changes her DNA," He paused at the dramatic silence, and the strange noise that came from the BLU Sniper. "I vont tell you any more zhan zhat, you vill have to vork out zhe rest on your own," The mercenaries shared the same confused glances among themselves.

"How does work?" RED Heavy asked.

"Zhe Chemical? I don't know," Medic shrugged. "But, all I know is zhat it killed every ozher animal zhat was does with it, and Rajan can sustain zhis chemical." A sudden roar shook the group from their thinking. "ha!" Medic began to laugh, not necessarily out of humor. "Its happened," Without another word, he ran towards the direction of the roar. The others shared a look of confusion, before running after the medic.

"Holy frickin' pancakes!" RED Scout called as he skidded to a halt beside Medic. "That's fricken'... awesome!" He looked to his counterpart, who was gawking like a fish out of water. The other BLUs didn't know how to react. Their Sniper was staring wide-eyed, while the Heavy blinked slowly. Engineer suddenly emerged from behind a tree and ran back to the team. "How did ya not get crushed?!" RED Scout grinned.

"I guess she can tell who's on her side,"

"Ya can say that again," Scout grinned at Medic. "So, this is what ya were talkin' about earlier, 'ey doc?" Medic nodded once. Scout watched with an eager grin as the massive lion-like creature sliced several zombies to pieces. A roar thundered from the creature as she slammed her paws on two or three of them. There was no mistaking who the creature was; the red and grey markings clearly resembled Rajan. Medic ducked as her tail swooped past, almost taking out his head. Aforementioned tail sliced the torsos of at least 11 zombies in half, before planting into the head of a larger, but slower, one, ripping out the brain as it was removed. For a new member to the team, Scout had to admit that Rajan was damn good fighter, even though she was just a 'harmless' kitten. In his eyes she was anyway. He winced as she thwacked a zombie into a tree, the force splitting it in half. "What got her mood in a twist?"

"Like I said, zhe vorse zhe situation, the more dangerous she is,"

"That didn't really answer my question, doc,"

"Does this explain it?" Engineer raised his right hand. On the back of it, there was a deep, dark and bloody wound, obviously from a bite.

"Ahh piss!" BLU Sniper suddenly cursed, grabbing Engineer's wrist. "You got bitten by one of those bloody things, didn't ya?!"

"Well done, you deserve a medal," Engineer scoffed, snatching his hand from the bushman. He looked around at the others. "What?"

"Ve have to remove your hand before you turn into one of zhem!" Medic growled. Engineer's face turned pale.

"Now hold on doc, this is my only good hand!"

"I'm sorry Herr Engineer, but if zhis wound spreads, you could turn!"

"It's your hand or ya life," BLU Scout folded his arm's over his chest. Engineer sighed in defeat.

"Herr Heavy, assistance?"

"Da," Heavy took hold of Engineer's lower arm and held it tightly.

"Ow!" Engineer winced, glaring at the Russian.

"No pain, No gain Tex," BLU Sniper scoffed. The -clearly pissed- Texan glared daggers at the Sniper. His gaze shifted to Medic, and his face went completely white as said Medic equipped his bone-saw. This was going to hurt. A lot.

"Verdammit!" Medic growled. "I don't have enough hands! Zhis is vhy I prefer to vork in my lab,"

"Lemme help," Scout offered. Medic looked dumbfounded.

"All right, Hold zhis, vould you?" He slammed the Medigun in Scouts arms. "And don't forget to aim it at Herr engineer," Scout nodded and complied; switching on the Medigun and struggling to hold it. A strange coloured beam shot from the device and surrounded the Engineer. "Gut," Without waiting for Engineer's permission, Medic sliced off the poor Texan's hand. Said Texan grimaced, although he couldn't feel the pain, he knew he would soon. Before his arm even had a chance to bleed, the gap on his arm skinned over with the help of the Medigun. Scout shuddered; he'd seen the whole thing, and hopped to hell he wouldn't get bitten himself. He switched off the Medigun once he knew it was safe to, and handed it back to Medic. A small 'Mew' could be heard and as Scout looked down, a smaller Rajan looked up at him with saucer-shaped eyes. A small smile crept across his face. How could he resist this ball of fur? He had to admit, she was very cute. Not that he'd say it out loud. Rajan turned to Engineer, who seemed to be struggling to accept that his good hand was no more.

"We should leave, after all, we do not want to be killed by them," Spy pointed an accusing finger to another hoard of Zombies.

"Ack, does zhese zhing's ever go?" Medic growled. Apparently not. Two of the mentioned zombies roared and picked up speed. Without waiting, Engineer was the first to flee, followed shortly by Soldier, then Demo, and finally the others. Rajan remained behind though.


I glared at the Zombies running towards my family for a few moments, before turning and following after them. I could feel how healthy I had turned; My blood pounded through my body, my muscles were warmed and ready to run very fast. I dashed past the two lagging Heavys, weaved between the two Snipers, leaped over the Scouts, Darted past Pyro, easily overtook Soldier and Demoman. I had no idea where Spy vanished off to, but I wasn't worried at all. I shook off a memory threatening to hit me and darted between Medic and Engineer. I felt free for the first time in years. Okay, I had a family of 9 rowdy mercenaries plus an extra 3, but I still felt free. The wind blew through my fur effortlessly, the ground seemed to fly past my paws on its own accord, and the skies began to rain down soft, white snow onto my pelt. It was cold, but it felt fresh. I closed my eyes as I ran, using my whiskers to navigate, revelling in the freedom. For a long minute, I felt as though I was flying. Until the ground below me changed gradient. My eyes shot open as the ground steeped and hardened. I found a mountain. Maybe it was safe? I had to check it out first. I skidded to a halt and Looked behind me. The others were still some distance away; I had enough time. I nodded to myself and began to sniff and paw at the mountain. I scaled a few rocks, stopping when I felt oxygen levels drop. I looked down the mountain and swayed. I'd wondered too high. I clambered back down to a sensible level. It was lucky I had; I found a flattened area covered in grass, fresh from the foul stench of rotting flesh. I sat up on my hind legs. I was about to yowl, when I heard the soft cooing of a familiar dove. I sat down as Archimedes landed beside me.

"Archimedes?"

"That's me," Replied the dove. I grinned, seeing some amusement in his beady eyes.

"I'm going hold point, can lead others here?" Thank god I knew how to speak bird. It might be simple, but it was enough. The nod from Archimedes proved I had made sense, even if it was a little. The bloodstained dove flew into the air and down to the others.


"Getting... Too... old... for dis..." RED Heavy panted, resting against a tree. "Where Rajan go?"

"Up zhere," Medic pointed up to a nearby mountain.

"I guess she went to find a shelter," Engineer grinned.

"Very well-trained pet you have there, mon ami," Spy chuckled.

"Mphh frmm!" Pyro exclaimed, pointing at a familiar shape getting larger.

"Well I'll be,"

"Archimedes?" The small dove landed gingerly on Medic's shoulder and ruffled his feathers with a coo. "She's vhere?" Archimedes cooed again. "A shelter?" Another cooing. "Ah, I see," One final coo and Archimedes flew into the air.

"How the bloody hell do you understand 'im?" RED Sniper frowned.

"Experience," Medic replied over his shoulder; He was already walking away. A groan of self-pity sounded from RED Heavy as he started after his friend. Before long, they were all dragging themselves to keep up with the eager German. How he kept his speed at his age was beyond Heavy. The Russian groaned again as he realized how high they had to climb.

"Doktor, this is not good idea," he finally spoke.

"Und vhy do you say that?" Medic asked sarcastically, already starting the long ascent up. Heavy groaned. Both Scouts climbed up the side and overtook Medic; No surprise there. "Hurt mein Katze und I vill saw off your hands!" Said Medic bellowed. It was clear to Heavy that he was very passionate about his animals, no matter how small. Amused by the thought, Heavy decided it was time to start climbing the mountain himself. The first few meters were agonizing; Most of the rocks couldn't support his weight and tumbled, taking him with them. By the time he'd gotten half way, the others were almost at the top. No surprise who got there first.

"Doktor!" Heavy bellowed, fed up of being last to be up. The BLU Heavy had managed to overtake him somehow.

"Ja!"

"Dis mountain too steep, wont make it up!"

"Have faith Mein freund! You vill make it, I know you vill!" To anyone else, Medic's words would be encouraging. But not to Heavy. He was tired, kept slipping and to top it off, he hadn't eaten a sandvich in so long, his stomach was rumbling like a lion.

"Da, Da," he grumbled, correcting his footing as yet another rock slipped from below him.

"Mph, mphmm mphf hpmf fpmmm," Heavy jolted at the sudden muffled voice beside him. Pryo had climbed back down to help Heavy. The fire-bug heaved heavy up a couple of rocks, before climbing up the same distance. Eventually, they both made it to the top, out of breath and very tired, but they'd made it.

"You took yer time," BLU Sniper mused. Heavy scowled.

"Thank You Pyro," Heavy shook the Pyro's hand.

"Mphh Frphm mphm!" it replied.

"He said it was no bother," Engineer translated.

"She," Soldier corrected.

"It," Scout corrected again. Pyro slapped his gloved hand to his mask. Heavy laughed at the gesture and sat up. To his surprise, there was already a campfire lit up, and each mercenary had their own food cooking on the flames. Soldier had a couple of ribs, both scouts had shared a packet of marshmallows; a rare sight, Demoman had what appeared to be a fish, where he got it from was a question to be asked later. It also raised the question of where Medic got his hands on a Pretzel. In fact, where did everyone get their food? Heavy was drawn from his thoughts as the sound of a Sandvich wrapper rung in his ears.

"Here," Medic held out the delicious sandvich to the Russian. "I've saved it for you," Heavy grinned and took the Sandvich from the Medic, slapping him on the back in thanks. "Ah, No problem," Medic chuckled, pushing his glasses back up. He took a bite out of his sandvich, only to pause in his chewing. Rajan was staring at the fire. It became clear that she had nothing to eat.

"Doktor,"

"Ja?"

"Rajan has no food," Medic looked at the cat, his face suddenly concerned. "What will she eat?"

"Normally, Cat food," Soldier butted in.

"Nein, nicht Rajan..."

"Then what does yer cat eat?" Sniper questioned.

"Anyzhing but cat food," Rajan seemed to wretch at the mention of the word. For a moment, it was silent. Until Rajan's stomach growled like an angry bear. She looked down at her stomach, showing somewhat embarrassment.

"Here," Demoman ripped off some of his fish and offered it to the hungry cat. "ya need somethin' to eat jus' as much as we do," Rajan purred and gently took the fish from the demolitions expert and immediately started eating eat.


After listening to a long conversation, I let out a loud, but cute yawn.

"Someone's a wee bit tired," Demoman chuckled.

"Da, we should all sleep," Heavy said, stroking my head. A loud purr rose from my throat.

"Agreed," every other mercenary nodded in agreement. I watched as they all lay down beside the fire in a very deformed circle; Heavy had moved from the end of the mountain to avoid falling off while he slept. I cleaned my paw as I tried to decide who to curl up to. Archimedes had already layed a tax on Medic and was curled up beside him. I thought long and hard. But still couldn't think. I sighed and lay down where I was. I decided to wait to see who didn't snore the loudest.

Oh how wrong that decision was.

Every one of them snored louder than humanly possible. Demoman was a no-go, his snores were like a thunderstorm. Soldier began yelling in his sleep, Scout was grumbling about baseball, Pyro kept making strange noises, Heavy was as bad as Demoman. Spy was no where in sight; as usual. The only ones left were Sniper and Engineer. Or I could sleep alone. I shuddered; too cold for that. I padded silently over to the two aforementioned mercenaries, who so happened to be sleeping fairly close to each other. They were both snoring, but they were barely audible over the other snores and bellows. So, noise wasn't the problem this time. It was comfort. Whether I curled up to Sniper or Engineer wouldn't make that much difference, they were both more comfortable that the ground. I narrowed my eyes as I thought. My ears pricked as I heard the BLU Heavy yell about his Sandvich and then Wrath, who hadn't done much since he arrived, barked and whined in his sleep. I found it rather amusing the way he tried to run, despite lying on his side. I rolled my eyes. Dogs, they were all the same. Sniper stirred and rolled onto his back. I noticed Engineer had held of that big, head-smashing wrench and decided not to get on the wrong end of it. I padded up to Sniper and curled up against his side with a small purr. I felt him stir again, only this time, he lifted his head. I unfurled a little and looked up at him.

"Awww, for a dangerous animal, yer cute when ya wanna be," he chuckled quietly, stroking my head. I purred as he lay back down again. I closed my eyes slowly and drifted into a sleep.

Little did I know how much of a Nightmare that dream was going to be.


I really got into this chapter after a short break. See what being ill does to your brain?

The scene with the zombie-slaying-lion-thing was a friends idea and I had to use it.

Writing that last paragraph was so much fun with trying to think how the classes would sleep. Figuring out who Rajan was to curl up to was VERY hard though, the main reason I chose Snipes was really because almost all the Australians I know have a soft spot for Animals. (I don't know that many Aussies so, forgive me for being a stereotype)