I'm terribly sorry for the wait and the kind of short chapter ;-;

Chapter 3

The sunlight was blinding after the dim lighting inside the prison building. As Alfred stepped out into the courtyard, the man who had been clinging onto his shoulder hobbled over to the side of the prison wall and gingerly sat himself down. The soldiers placed around the wall didn't pay the man any notice, but the guard behind Alfred gave him a sharp jab with his gun. "Don't stop moving."

The man muttered quietly but slowly pulled himself to his feet and hobbled over to join the sluggishly moving circle of prisoners walking around the courtyard. Alfred sighed and giving the guard a look, walked over to the old man and offered his shoulder again. The man glanced sideways at Alfred cautiously before taking his shoulder and continuing his uneven shuffle.

While heavy fortifications lined the walls of the prison, Alfred was not discouraged in the slightest. He searched the surrounding walls for an escape route, but came up with little that was helpful, so he instead looked around at the other prisoners. He was going to need some helpers along the way, of course.

It didn't take long for him to zero in on Natalia, as she had a wide birth of empty space around her and she walked along with a prideful grace that contrasted the detected shuffle of the surrounding prisoners. See, Natalia had gained a reputation in the prison. She was seen as cruel and heartless, and by that point, they weren't entirely wrong. This reputation had caused some rumors to circulate that she was a Vostok spy here to stamp out their spirits once in for all. She never tried to stop the rumors, as they kept the other prisoners away from her, but even if she did try to stop them, it would be doubtful that she would succeed, for there was a guard that she often had conversations with as he circled the courtyard to keep prisoners in line. The brown haired, green eyed guard in question finally caught up with Natalia in line.

"H-hi Natalia. Nice day isn't it?"

"Just tell me the latest news already, Toris."

Toris gulped and glanced around nervously, "The West's best sniper was taken out. That's all I've heard."

Natalia scowled, "We will never win at this pace."

Toris shifted his gaze back to Natalia, "Are you sure you don't want me to tell your brother that you're still alive?"

Natalia glared daggers at him, "Ivan is busy enough. Me leaving was good, because now he can concentrate on the war. And in staying here I can gather information for Brother. Now leave my sight, I've nothing new for you."

Toris gulped and slowed his pace so Natalia was soon far ahead of him. Alfred watched this entire exchange with interest. Eventually he caught up with Toris and, despite the old man next to him, tried to talk to him.

"Howdy there!"

Toris glanced at Alfred with worry, "I don't talk to the prisoners."

"You talked to Nat."

Toris looked bewildered for a moment, but finally he seemed to understand who Alfred was talking about. "Err… She's… an exception."

"Really!? I knew there was something odd about her!"

"No! I just… knew her… before all this," Toris stuttered nervously.

"Hmf. Alright," Alfred responded, but he wasn't paying any attention to the guard anymore. He stared at Natalia with a mixture of suspicion and wonder. Who exactly was she?

Toris meanwhile found Alfred's sudden disinterest a blessing and slipped away to the wall of the courtyard. He watched Alfred as the prisoners were forced back inside the building and wondered how he knew who Natalia was. He sighed with worry. This couldn't mean anything good.