She woke to the quiet humming of an engine and the autumn breeze cooling the side of her face. She stirred quietly, and yawned, gazing out of the open window to the beauty that somehow survived the storm that was the Cordyceps pandemic. She'd never truly had a chance to admire the elegance of nature; there was always a crisis or a disturbance that took priority.

The trees that couldn't survive the harshness of winter were slowly perishing, their leaves wilting and falling to the ground. Those who were resilient, however, flourished in the absence of their peers. Evergreens grew tall and majestic, not stopping for the weather or the seasons. They endured and survived, like her. It gave her hope.

Joel was an evergreen. Regardless of the beating he'd received – both physically, and worse – he stayed steadfast; always there to protect her and give her a helping hand. She hoped he'd survive, but part of her was utterly confident he would.

This new man, Adam, was something else. He was also strong, and kind and resilient, but not in the same way. Just by looking at his mannerisms and his behaviour, she could tell there was a hurt nestled deeply inside him. His overly optimistic and cocky attitude reminded her of herself; but she knew that it was just a façade, concealing something deeper within him. She thought that she would feel at unease around him, but for once, the only thing she felt was security. She and Joel hadn't seen any people in at least 8 months, and those they had met before were just like Dubrovnik and his hunters. It was reassuring to see a change.

Desperation makes animals out of most men, she remembered someone telling her. Only the most vicious animals survive.

The face she saw in her memories she couldn't place, but it wore a warm smile.

However, the face continued, all of the animals, no matter how strong, are weaker than the men that are left.

She thought about how long they'd been travelling. She glanced in the rear-view mirror to put her mind at ease and take solace in the steady rise and fall of Joel's chest. She wondered what awaited them at Adam's home.

"Good morning, sleepy." Adam said, glancing over to her and smiling. She saw for the first time in the daylight just how haggard his face was – sharp white cheekbones framed pained eyes that carried purple bags underneath. The hunters obviously hadn't treated him hospitably.

"We're almost to the halfway point." He said. "Soon we'll be able to lose this rust bucket and make better time."

He gestured to Joel, lying across the back seats.

"How's he doing?"

"He's fine." She replied, the relief evident in her voice. "He's doing fine."

"Good."

She wanted to ask the question that had been burning into the back of her mind, as intensely as the fire that was roaring when she heard the sniper yell. She wasn't sure how he'd take it, whether he'd answer her with anger, frustration; or just huff and puff and shrug the query off, like Joel used to. She asked anyway.

"Back there… when I killed Marcus? Before he charged, he said something about a 'Watcher'."

Adam sighed slightly, bracing for what was about to come. He wasn't too keen on discussing his past. Ellie, it seemed, was all too eager.

"I also heard it from Fitz, and that Russian bastard. What is it?"

Adam looked at himself in the rear-view mirror, remembering.

"Krass and his lackeys thought they'd hit the jackpot about ten days ago. Basically, he got the drop on a vigilante who'd been sabotaging his group's hunting efforts and killing their members in retaliation for slaughtering innocents. They captured him, and took him back to their base."

"So what?"

"So, what they didn't know was who the Watcher was. They'd only heard tales from rag-tag survivors of other hunter groups that some geared-up military sniper was murdering everyone and releasing their hostages. They said he was a vicious, psychopathic murderer who'd been killing their friends and comrades, and that he'd become so legendary that the people he rescued had taken to naming him and tagging areas around bandit camps. 'The Watcher sees all', and shit like that."

"He sounds hardcore."

"Their perception of him is as twisted as they were. The truth behind the Watcher is that he was once one of them. He had someone he cared about, and he took the steps needed to survive, regardless of how corrupt they may've been."

Adam cut off, still recalling the narrative he was telling Ellie. He lowered his voice, and quietly continued.

"Despite his efforts and his perseverance, he failed, and the person he cared about was killed by a man he though was his friend. It almost drove him mad. Since then, he dedicated his life to preventing hunters killing innocents. He'd gather intelligence, recon the groups, and eliminate them as he saw fit. He maintained a high integrity and personal strength, always keeping strong values, but… it was almost impossible for him to cope with the loss he'd suffered."

"What happened then?"

"He met someone new. Someone brilliant. Someone he saved that could pull him from his sadness, and spare everyone from Cordyceps. Unfortunately, he hasn't seen her for about two weeks."

That saddened her a little, but it was hardly surprising. People were always splitting up and getting lost in this new world, and not always voluntarily. It had happened with Tommy's; she didn't want to leave, but Joel insisted. She always followed Joel, no matter what. She kept pressing for information from Adam, intrigued by his knowledge of this man.

"Why not? Why's he been away for so long?"

"Like I said, Krass got him."

"Did he get out?"

Adam smiled dully, and looked at her.

"I don't know for certain, but last I heard, he escaped from an outpost with a little girl and a man in a stolen truck."

Realisation came to her and she scolded herself at how stupid she'd been. Everything Adam said about the Watcher was talking about himself.

"No way! You're… you're? Holy shit, I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"It's fine. My fault for not telling you."

Still, Ellie wanted to hear more.

"The person you lost…" She began, "What was their name?"

Adam didn't reply. He didn't even look at her; he just sat there in silence, keeping his glass-green eyes locked on the road.

"Not yet?" Ellie asked.

"No, not yet." He replied. "Maybe sometime, but not yet."

He pointed to a clearing in the pine forest just up ahead.

"We're almost there."

The car hummed and popped, and Adam gently swung it around a corner and began driving down a rough dirt track. They rode the track for what seemed like an age, and finally pulled up outside a dilapidated and moss-covered hunting lodge. Adam flicked off the engine, and without giving Ellie a second glance, moved across the courtyard through foot-high green grass and shrubs until he came to a halt by a tarpaulin. In a swift movement he threw the musty green canvas off of what it was concealing, revealing a gleaming jet-black coupe that'd been adjusted to have wire-protected windows and raised, off-road tires. Ellie got out of the car carefully, still aching from her ordeal, and stared in awe at the vehicle in front of her. It made the bandit's makeshift flatbed look like a drivable toaster.

"Whoa… that's your car?"

"Yep. She's my baby. This place is kinda like my field-base, I was stopped here before I went to interrupt Krass' operations."

"Did you build her?"

"No, just modified her. Rest assured, she'll get us home in one piece. Anyway, we'll bring Joel into the lodge. I'd rather patch him up in there."

"Are we gonna stay the night here?"

"We should keep moving. We don't know who followed us out."

They walked together through the meadow, pine trees soaring all around and birdsong being the only noise alongside the wind. She brushed her fingers lightly over the tops of the grass that sprouted out around them, and revelled in the feeling of cool morning dew on her fingers. For once, she felt free.

"This place is beautiful."

"Yeah," Adam replied admiringly, "it is. It's funny how if you come far enough north, you mostly get away from Cordyceps. No one was here when the shit hit the fan, and so this place has remained untouched. It's almost like nothing ever happened."

They arrived on the porch, and the dull creaking of old wood accompanied them as they walked inside. The room was cosy, and well fitted, with clean supplies and a tidy set-up. A musky and comforting smell of habitation filled it, but it was obvious that no-one had been here for a couple of weeks by the fine layer of dust lying on the objects around the house.

Adam moved Joel into the middle of the room and laid him gently onto the large mahogany dining table placed there.

"Right, let's have a look. There's a medical kit over there, grab the bandages and bring them here."

Ellie did as bid, and rifled through a nearby set of drawers until she eventually came upon a small, red satchel with a faded white cross emblazoned on the front. She gently opened the flap and withdrew a large spiel of bandages, and took them over to Adam. By the time she'd gotten over to him, he'd already removed the old tourniquet and was inspecting the two large lacerations in Joel's stomach. She looked too, and was pleasantly surprised by what she saw. Instead of pus-filled crevices, the cuts were two pinkish lines in his stomach. The bleeding had stopped a while ago.

"Looks like that vinegar did the trick. His wounds are clean. Good initiative." Adam said, genuinely impressed by the results of their efforts.

"I'll tie another tourniquet to prevent any further bleeding, but his wound won't heal properly until they're closed and dressed properly. I don't have the expertise or the ability to stitch them up."

"How far away is this home of yours?"

"From here? It's another eight hours north, there or there abouts. I don't know what'll be there, though; I've been gone longer than I should've been."

"How long did your friend expect you to be away?"

"Three days. I've been gone two weeks."

Adam finished wrapping the bandages tightly around Joel's torso and pinned them together tightly. He took a brown leather pouch out of his backpack and drew out another syringe filled with that same viscous orange liquid. He lifted Joel's arm, gently pushed the needle into his vein, and pressed the liquid into his bloodstream. He stirred slightly and groaned, but stayed asleep.

"There you go, he's coming back. He's not going to wake up any time soon, but at least his brain is functioning. I was worried that we'd taken too long."

"Same." Ellie replied.

Adam made for a stationary radio communicator nestled into the back of the farthest wall. He picked up the handset, and spoke clearly into it, broadcasting to some unknown location.

"This is Watcher, calling in. Anyone there?"

There was only static. He tried again.

"Repeat, this is Watcher. Evelynn?"

Only static responded to him.

He sighed and replaced the handset into its holster.

"Don't know why I thought that'd work." He admitted solemnly. "To say the radio communication around here is dodgy is a pretty major understatement."

He walked back across the room to Ellie, and scooped Joel off of the table and into his arms.

"Who's Evelynn?" She asked, reluctant to meet any more people.

"You'll see." He said, continuing towards the door. He stopped briefly and turned to her. "She's like you. I think you two'll get on well."

Ellie took his description as fact and her feeling of unease at meeting another new person was slight subsided. They re-entered the cool morning air, dampened by the mass of fauna surrounding them. Adam bolted and padlocked the door to the lodge, then moved over to his coupe. He quickly opened the door and stowed Joel on the backseats, lying him as straight as possible. The inside of Adam's car was incredibly clean, with a grey-ish leather upholstery that smelled almost new and looked even better. To her surprise, Adam didn't get in the car.

"What're you doing?" She asked, turning to watch him move back over to the bandit's truck. "Haven't we gotta move quickly?"

He grabbed the top of the mounted LMG and pulled.

"Yep," he said as he strained, "but the whole point of this place is it looks abandoned. We're gonna get rid of this car, then move on."

The turret finally gave in under his strength, and the LMG snapped free of its makeshift bipod.

"Plus, this is a nice fucking gun." He cut a smug grin.

The next hour consisted of the two pushing the bandit car into a nearby river and watching it become overwhelmed by the water. They sat on the riverbank, watching the current claim the car, and sat soaking in the beauty of the surrounding area as they filled each other in on how they got caught by Krass' red-ringed hunters.

"… So he rescued me from the Fireflies. He said there were lots like me, dozens actually, and that the Fireflies were only using them as lab rats… but, I don't know. Why would they go through all that effort just to fuck us over? Doesn't make a lot of sense to me."

"That's fair enough." Adam countered, "I've heard mixed things about the Fireflies. Haven't ventured far enough south to have a run-in with them, though."

He turned to face her, and looked in her eyes. In his, she thought she could now see a dull sense of hope after she told him what she was.

"So, you're immune?" He began. "Not like a carrier, but actually linked to the affliction?"

"Yeah. The bite I got healed super quick, and apparently it's in my brain or some shit, but it's co-existing, and safe."

"Interesting." He said thoughtfully, staring deeply into the rushing blue-green water of the river. "And then?"

"We stayed at Tommy's for a couple years, but Joel said we had to leave. I go where he goes."

Adam huffed, and continued.

"It's rare to find comradery like that nowadays."

He picked up a small, rounded grey pebble, and lazily flung it towards the water's edge. It struck the water at just the right angle and skipped a few times across the surface before plunging under halfway across.

"Yeah. Well, I owe him and he owes me."

"I get the feeling it's something more than that."

She contemplated momentarily.

"Yeah, I suppose it is."

The sun was almost high in the sky now – it was nearing midday. They'd only been gone for just over an hour, but she felt the need to return to Joel. Adam obviously did too, as he spoke up first.

"Right. Let's go back to the car. We can talk more as we walk."

The two stood and carefully scaled the riverbank, ascending back up into the pine forest. The smells of nature were all around – the wet of the trees, the dry of the sun, the musk of the dirt. Ellie let the scents fill her lungs and breathed deeply, wallowing in the contrast between this place and Krass'.

They wandered over fallen logs and fences, taking a shorter route back to the lodge.

"So, why were you out that day? Why were you after the red-rings?"

"I'd got a lead and had been following a recon group of five guys for a few days before hand. Marcus was one of them. Saw them capture a couple of survivors and kill them on shortly afterwards. Shot the bastard in the leg as a deterrent. The subtle irony of it was that they killed three people, but only took a penknife, a pistol and a watch. They didn't even bloody eat them, which is what I thought they were going to do. They just left the corpses there; a pointless waste of life. Anyway, I followed them for a few days, waiting to strike properly. That's when I found they'd set up a town as a lure for more survivors."

"Damn, with a general store in the high-street? That's where they got us."

"Their plan worked, then." He said with frustration, before continuing. "After I found their little ploy, I headed back home and got kitted up. Got back down there a few days later to find their operation in full swing. I killed four of them before Dubrovnik flanked me, but it seems they kept at it anyway. I even lost my bloody sniper rifle."

"Joel killed one of them, too."

"Good. They didn't deserve to live, hunting people for food… times may get hard, really hard, but you at least think people would have a little fucking integrity."

"I'm guessing you'd steer away from human burgers, then?"

"You know it."

They walked for about another five minutes under the canopy of the forest, watching the birds and listening in silence. Eventually, Adam piped up again.

"These red-ring bandits… they're not like the others, Ellie. They're an organised syndicate, being run by some commander who actually knows what he's doing. I assure you, Dubrovnik's base was only the tip of the iceberg. If we run into any more of them, don't engage them. Don't even talk to them. Just leave them be. If they do anything drastically out of line, that's when we step in."

"Gotcha. What if we don't have a choice?"

"I'm sure you know what to do if you don't have a-"

Adam froze, and stood completely still. Ellie, seeing his reaction, did the same.

"Get down." He whispered.

She did as she was told, and the two lowered themselves down into the carpet of leaves, shadowed by the side of the lodge. By the car, there were two people, peeking in at Joel. There was a third trying to get the door of the lodge open. She saw only one of them had a gun – one of the 9mm pistols the bandits carried – holstered in his belt.

"Ramone, come look at this!"

"Damn, that's a nice car. That thing's being cared for."

"Yeah, I know. There's a guy in the back, he's wounded and asleep by the looks of it. What do you want to do?"

"I know what I'm gonna do." Adam whispered to Ellie.

He silently got up, deftly for a man his size, and drew the machine gun from his back. He moved over to the wall of the lodge, and beckoned for her to come over. She moved with equal silence, and he once again handed her his 44. Magnum.

"We go round the back. I raise my gun, you don't. You don't touch that trigger unless I tell you. Clear?"

"Y-Yeah." She said, slightly taken unawares by the bluntness of his statement. It was almost like the caring, eloquent Adam was gone, and business Adam had taken his place.

The two skirted quickly around the exterior of the lodge, and moved around the corner. Adam raised the machine gun and moved into the open.

"Mike, c'mon. Stop trying to get into the lodge and help us-"

"Oh shit!"

"Everyone on your knees!" Adam commanded as he moved forward. "Now!"

The two by the car did as they were told, and the guy by the door raised his hands but stayed standing.

"Calm down, son. We're not looking for any trouble."

"I'm not planning on causing any." Adam said back, still raising his gun. "But we can never be too sure. You two by the car, stay there. You, by the lodge – Mike, is it? – on your knees. Ellie, get his gun."

She followed his orders an approached the man now kneeling on the porch of the lodge. She didn't make eye contact with him, but she could see the blatant surprise in his face from the fact a 16 year old girl was holding a gun to his head. She plucked the 9mm from his belt, tossed it at Adam's feet and then moved back over to him.

"You. Over here."

The man moved away from the lodge and kneeled next to his two friends. One was a woman, and looked to be around twenty, with blond hair and a large cut on her lip. The second was a man with dark skin, almost as big as Adam, but much younger. The third man, the one who was by the lodge, was haggard and old, and looked to be at least a decade Adam's elder. None of them wore a red circle.

"Why're you here? How'd you find this place?"

The old man spoke for the other two.

"Son, we just stumbled across this place. We've been wandering since someone let us out of the hunter base we were trapped in. the guards were all dead, and we slipped out past the infected."

"They're saying it was the Watcher who let us out!" The woman blurted.

Adam hesitated for a second, and then lowered his machine gun.

To Ellie's surprise, he didn't reveal that it was him who rescued them.

"Alright. You're not red-rings."

"No, damn right we're not!"

He offered the old man his hand.

"Are you hungry?"

"Yes, of course."

He whipped out a key, and placed it in the old guy's hand.

"Here's the key to the lodge. There's food in there; a couple of deer I got a few weeks back. They should be fine. If not, there's a river a couple of kilometres that way." He gestured into the forest, and then continued.

"Stay here as long as you want to. Just lock up when you leave."

He smiled kindly, but the old man just stood there, speechless. The dark-skinned man, Ramone, stood and put his hand on Adam's shoulder.

"Shit man, thank you so much! We've been walking for almost two days. Joan's doing okay, but I'm not so sure about the old guy. You cool with us staying here?"

"Yeah." Adam replied. "We were heading off anyway. We've gotta get the guy in the car some medical attention."

"Shit, yeah… he don't look so good. Anyway, thanks man. Ain't had anyone be this kind before. Be careful out there."

"You too."

Before he got in the car, he had a last-minute thought, and doubled back.

"Hey!"

Ramone turned around as well.

"Yeah?"

"There's a radio in there that has a direct line to my base. It can also be used on other frequencies. It's a little dodgy, but if you need anything, drop me a line."

Ramone nodded, and led the other two inside the lodge.

Adam got in the driver's seat and put the machine gun in the back with Joel. Ellie took shotgun again, and leaned back, in awe at the comfort of the leather seats. It was a massive step-up from the ridiculously thin foam-cushions on the seats of the bandit car.

He shut his door, and started the engine. The coupe easily reached ignition and purred quietly, not choking or spluttering like the bandit's shitty flatbed had. They pulled off, and drove up the dirt track in silence. After turning left back onto the highway, Ellie spoke up.

"Why did you give them your lodge? I thought you used it often."

"I do." Adam countered, "But they had an old man and a young woman. They needed it more than I do. So, they got it."

They sat in silence for a little while before Adam continued.

"It's… it's what I do. It just seemed right."

Ellie didn't respond, but admired him more for that.

"You might want to try and sleep again. There's a long journey ahead."

"Will do."

She would sleep later. For now, she was content to sit and watch Joel's steady breathing.