¬ Last One Standing ¬
Chapter Three:
Back to the Start

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing of Anthony Horrowitz's characters. Here's just an ordinary 14 year old girl wishing she does. Hope you enjoy the story!


Wolf was not having a good day.

The blow Alexei had hit him still stung, so did his pride.

That morning, when he woke up stiff and sore, he had the luck of his life- to bump straight into Alexei, who had worked half the night trying to pitch his tent in the forest beside theirs. Needless to say, Alexei looked paler than a ghost, and the dark circles beneath his eyes made him look like the vampire Edward Cullen/ Robert Pattinson from the Twilight movies.

Normally, Alexei would have nodded in his direction; acknowledged him at least, be it mocking or not. Discipline and respect for the Unit Captain was essential in the SAS soldier team. But no, Alexei just walked past him as though he were made of glass.

Just to strike up a conversation, Wolf approached the youngest unit member of their team.

"Hey Horse, show some respect to the Captain will you?" he had barked in Alexei's direction.

But Alexei just brushed him off. Like an irksome fly. "You haven't earned my respect yet."

And just like that, he left. Left! So irritatingly quickly that Wolf didn't even get the last word in. Gah.

"Wolf."

Snapped out of his reverie, Wolf tended to be as snappy as possible.

"What?" he barked again.

It was Fox, and he was looking at him with a weird expression on his face.

"Just out of curiousity, what happened between you and Horse last night?" he asked, his eyes piercing.

Wolf was prepared for this. He glared right back, his voice unwavering as he said, "Nothing."

Fox shrugged and looked away. "If you say so. But just a tip for you- don't sound too defiant when you're lying. You'd give the game away immediately."

And for the second time in the day, Wolf didn't manage to get the last word in.


Alexei had a nice surprise waiting for him at breakfast. The moment he stepped into view, Eagle and Snake jumped out from behind a tree, holding huge buckets of ice cold water.

As they upended the two huge buckets all over Alexei, Wolf obligingly went to fetch one himself, and soon Alexei found himself in a drenched mess, hacking and coughing up water in the mud.

Sometimes, Alexei wondered if the Sergeant was in league with Wolf and the rest as well. At that precise moment, the Sergeant strode over for inspection.

The four others immediately leapt to their feet- the buckets stood innocently behind the trees, their uniforms neat and smart. Cursing inwardly, Alexei pushed himself to his feet and brushed his bangs back.

"Horse!" barked the Sergeant. "What are you doing in that state of-..." He trailed off as he glanced at Alexei's ruined uniform.

"I warned you, Horse," he said, wagging a finger threateningly in Alexei's direction. "One more chance, and you're out."

"I'm sorry, sir," said Alexei through gritted teeth. "I'll be careful not to let it happen again."

"Sorry?" exploded the Sergeant, as expected. "Sorry doesn't cover it, Horse. Not in the field. What if you accidentally kill someone with a shotgun? One of your comrades? And you'll just say sorry and expect everything to be all right again?"

Sergeant rolled his eyes, then grabbed Alexei roughly by the collar. "Five rounds, up and down the river. No negotiations. Now."

Wolf wagged his finger in immitation of the Sergeant behind his back.

"That's your punishment," continued the Sergeant. "Any opinions you would like to offer?"

"No sir," replied Alexei.

"Then in the river you go then," smirked the Sergeant. "You might as well swim in your uniform- wash off the mud while you're at it."

Alexei said nothing. He just turned to the river- and jumped, much to the surprise of the other K- Unit members, who expected more of a fuss.


Alexei vented his anger with every stroke he swam, upriver and downriver. There was a strong undercurrent, but Alexei was a good swimmer, so it didn't pose much of a threat.

Just thinking about yesterday night made Alexei want to strangle the K- Unit Captain, as well as himself. What had he expected from K- Unit? What indeed? Didn't he know better?

But truth to be told, Alexei never expected them to be double-crossing fiends- just mean and cold, but always loyal to each other. The last time he had been here was when he was fourteen. He had thought that they were that mean to him just because he was a mere boy- but now it just proved that Wolf and the others were just mean to every single new unit member they had.

It was just his luck that he had to meet them again in a new identity now that Cub a.k.a. Alex's relationship with Wolf had been slightly less rocky than before.

Stupid backpack. Stupid Wolf. Stupid Sergeant.

The water was bitingly cold, and his Unit uniform was dragging him underwater, but still he plunged on, determined to finish the rounds he was assigned. Once or twice, he swore he heard Wolf's haughty laugh, or Eagle's evil cackle- but it could have just been the crickets.

He was panting and out of breath when he finished his fourth round. That was when Wolf and Eagle crawled out from behind a tree, their surprises ready.

As Alexei surfaced for breath, Wolf and Eagle seized their chances. With lightning speed, they grabbed Alexei by his shoulders and pushed his head underwater again. Classic soldier bullying style.

Alexei was strong, but he was no match for both Wolf and Eagle, who had spent half their lives training in the SAS soldier unit. No matter how he struggled and bucked, Eagle and Wolf's hold remained firm.

Time for a little trick.

Alexei gave one last desperate kick at the surface, then allowed his leg to drag the water. He pushed in his spine and his body automatically floated to the surface- though admittedly, face- down. That was when Wolf and Eagle began to get slightly alarmed.

"Has he fainted?" asked Wolf.

"Sure looks like it," replied Eagle, slowly releasing his hold as he prodded Alexei's body. "We'd better go."

Eagle splashed to the shore quickly, but Wolf lingered behind for a moment.

"Should we turn him the right way up, just in case he drowns?" asked Wolf, eyeing Alexei uncertainly.

Eagle rolled his eyes. "Who cares? We've killed before, haven't we?"

But he made his way back into the water all the same, and together with Wolf, heaved Alexei the right way up.

For a moment, their eyes met Alexei's dangerous blue ones, then a spinning kick was delivered. The blow itself wasn't strong, but shock sent Wolf falling backwards. He splashed into the water with something that sounded like a wail, and dragged Eagle down in the process- which was a bonus.

"What the devil is going on there?"

Ah, what a familiar voice.

Alexei straightened himself and waded to the shore, the Sergeant's suspicious gaze trained on him as he did so.

"I was merely carrying on my assigned duty sir," answered Alexei innocently. "I think the other two were too interested in my doings. They leaned in too close to the river and fell in."

Wolf had emerged from the river, and his face was as red as a tomato. "He is a liar! He dragged us both down!" accused Wolf, pointing at Alexei.

The Sergeant looked Wolf up and down, then at Eagle, lastly at Alexei.

"Doesn't seem very probable to me," he said.

Wolf tried to look pitiful and bullied, but his facial muscles couldn't quite pull off the stunt. Eagle just grimaced, as though bracing himself for the worst.

"You're the Captain, Wolf," said the Sergeant, casting a severe eye on Wolf. "I expect better from you."

Then he stalked off, leaving a spluttering Wolf behind. When the K- Unit Captain finally looked around him, Alexei was already long gone.


Alexei soon caught a cold after the early morning swim, much to Wolf's delight. At first, it had been nothing serious- just a slight headache, but it soon intenstified as noon slowly approached.

Alexei was in the middle of their training exercises- this one including a hundred mile hike up to nowhere, as far as Alexei was concerned. As usual, the K- Unit members soon left Alexei behind, for his speed compared to theirs was like comparing a racing horse to lightning.

The cold was definitely worsening. The higher he climbed, the more excruciatingly did his head hurt, and his watering eyes was not helping either. For the second time that day, Alexei's foot slipped on the rocky edge, which nearly resulted in him tumbling to his death, but the luck of the devil remained on his side.

Three hours later, Alexei felt as though his entire body was made of lead. Ironically, he saw a snail crawling past him, and his tired feet somehow couldn't bring him to go faster than the snail. Staying on his feet seemed such a difficult feat now...

His forehead now felt alarmingly hot, and when Alexei checked his watch- it was to his horror to find that it was already past five o' clock.

How could it be? Surely only three hours had passed, at the most?

But immediately he recalled stopping by a tree to rest what felt like decades ago, and falling into a feverish trance before waking again.

The wind was bitingly cold... the world was getting darker. Was it just him or was night really approaching?

'Just keep on going,' he told himself. 'A hundred miles left, at the least.'

What an encouraging thought.


Brecon Beacons- K- Unit Tent- Somewhere Between Eight and Nine- Night.

"It's been three hours, Wolf."

"What?"

"Three hours since all of us reached the finishing line, dressed, ate and rested. Yet there's still no sign of Horsey."

"You worried, Snake?" scoffed Wolf.

"No. I was just wondering if you had set up some traps on the way for Horse," replied Snake, eyeing Wolf curiously. "Did you?"

Wolf sighed dramatically. "No, we didn't get enough time. I would have stayed back and set up a few tricks, but Sergeant G wasn't happy with my last training results, so I figured I should make some effort to impress him today."

"Did you break old Reed's record?"

Reed was a former SAS soldier- the most brilliant M16 had ever had. Wolf was still having difficulties trying to beat his records, but so far no avail.

"No, but I came close," said Wolf, a touch testily. "I was only ten minutes later."

"Only," said Snake scathingly.

"Whatever," said Eagle, who had came in last. "Where is old Horsey anyway? Do you reckon he got lost?"

Fox looked out of the window. "Maybe. It's getting dark."

"Maybe we should prepare our next surprise for Horsey," said Eagle nastily.

"Maybe we should chuck cold water all over him again," supplied Wolf. "After all, that is classic soldier- bullying style too. And it'll worsen his cold."

"Or maybe we should go out and look for him," suggested Fox, but Eagle silenced him with an annoyed look.

"He'll get back," reassured Wolf. "Soon you'll be wishing he never returned. After all, he has a compass."

Eagle rolled his eyes. "We spoilt his compass, remember?"

"Really?"

"I smashed it in your face, Wolf," said Snake, mimicking Eagle's eye- rolling.

"That means he won't be getting back tonight," said Fox, feeling annoyed, too.

"Who cares?" three voices chorused together.

"I seriously don't know what's up with you guys," said Fox, shaking his head. "Everytime there's a new member in K- Unit, you guys will make his life hell."

"Hey- we don't want others butting in, do we?" roared Eagle with infectious spirit. "K- Unit is only for us four, no outsiders allowed. No Cub, no Horsey."

"I'd prefer Cub over Horsey anyday," said Wolf, scowling. "Horsey's ruder than Cub. And his training results are giving us a bad name. He's over twenty but his standards are only slightly better than Cub's standards."

"Talking about Cub- he's dead, isn't he?" asked Snake. "I overheard some news from L Unit- they said they saw his multiliated body lying in front of M16's Headquarters' door step. Said it was horrible, his blood was splattered every where."

"SCORPIA has a way of torturing people," said Fox.

Eagle shook his head sorrowfully. "The good die young."

"I hope the same happens to Horsey," said Wolf, never missing out a chance to be nasty to Alexei.

"You really hate him that much?" asked Fox, cocking an eyebrow in Wolf's direction.

"What do you think?" shot back Wolf, almost spluttering.

"Remember, I've interrogated many convicts before," grinned Fox, tapping his right eye as he made a great show of studying Wolf's face. "I can see through words, expressions and mannerisms, you know."

"Gah," said Wolf a little self- consciously. He slapped away Fox's peering face, but somehow Fox's words managed to make him remember what Alexei did for him yesterday, and for the seventh time in that day, he glanced guiltily at the corner of their tent, where his backpack stood.

Eagle noticed the action and coughed awkwardly. He had been suspicious of Wolf's lateness yesterday, but whenever he asked Wolf just brushed him aside. He was beginning to fear that Wolf would somehow start to like the Horsey guy, like what happened with Cub. "Come on, let's go get a campfire burning," he suggested. "It's been such a long time since we last did that."

"We couldn't do it the last time we were here because the rocks were wet," said Snake, remembering all too well how they had spent that frozen night.

"I wish Cub were here. He could've nicked the Sergeant's matches for us again," sighed Eagle, leaning back.

"I'll go collect some firewood," said Fox, jumping to his feet. "Anyone else in?"

Snake rose to his feet too. "Alright, I'm coming. Don't think you're the only one who knows how to read expressions- I can tell you're going to look for Horsey instead of firewood- aren't I right?"

Fox shrugged in reply.

"Stop doing the shrugging thing," snapped Wolf sensitively. "You remind me of Horsey."


Brecon Beacons- Forest; somewhere between eight to nine- Night.

One step.

Two.

Three...

Like a walking corpse, Alexei forced himself onwards, cold perspiration forming on his forehead. Walk on... on...

He drew out his compass again and gave it a half- hearted shake. But he knew it wasn't going to work- the glass had been shattered, and where the alphabets 'E', 'W' and 'S' were engraved in his compass- someone had written 'Eagle', 'Wolf' and 'Snake' instead. Needless to say, he knew who were the culprits. They had even dug out the needles of the compass.

Alexei glanced at the compass, then threw it over the cliff. He watched it as it hung, silver light glinting off its surface as it suspended in mid- air, before plunging downwards into the darkness.

It once had been a treasured gift- the first and last birthday gift he had ever received from Ian Rider- but now it was just a useless, broken object. Why keep what he didn't need? He tried to assure his pang of loss.

Move on.

He stumbled another few steps.

All of a sudden, his foot sank into emptiness. If there had been enough light, or if he had been looking properly, he would have noticed that there was a gap in between the two rocky cliffs which he had to cross. Unfortunately, he had been in a derilous trance for the past six hours or so.

He barely struggled to right himself again- he felt hopeless. Then gravity claimed him for its own.

A crash. Pain. Darkness.

He heard a soft voice tutting in a Russian accent, "Riders never listen," before he passed out. In his feverish sleep he dreamt about the voice again and again, wondering why it sounded so familiar, yet he couldn't place it.

A/N: Sorry, this chapter is shorter than what I intended it to be, but I thought I'd update faster.

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Take care,
Epsilon Scorpii