Valerie stood up in her seat, holding onto the frame of the windshield for support as they sped an easy 60 MPH through the jungle in pursuit of their prey. She enjoyed the wind in her face, and imagined herself having beautiful "Pocahontas" windblown hair. However, with every one of Eddy's men passing them on an ATV, her hair was whipped in a different direction, and she was suddenly feeling less whimsical. She reached for the RPG she had previously loaded in the back seat, and with her posterior resting on her head rest, right knee and foot bent and supported by the back of her seat, left leg standing on her seat, she took aim.

"I'm gonna end this with one shot," she said with complete confidence. Aiming for a cliff overhead, hoping to cause a rockslide that would block their path. However, just as she pulled the trigger, Eddy swerved to avoid hitting a fallen tree in the road. Valerie's heart stopped as it appeared to happen in slow motion, her jaw dropped and arm outreached as if she could stop it. Instead of hitting her target, she hit one of their own men. There was an explosion, and the ATV was engulfed in flames and propelled into the air, appearing to be suspended for a brief moment. Valerie ducked down as they drove under the ATV as it continued to fall.

"Holy shit," she gasped in disbelief. She then looked at Eddy, who seemed way too calm about what had just happened. "That's on you," Valerie said angrily as she punched him in the shoulder.

"Hey!" he yelled and looked at her like he couldn't understand what she was upset about. "Relax. He probably would have died anyway," he reasoned. He held a smile on his face until he saw how shaken Valerie still was. His tone quickly became more somber. "You get used to things like this in my line of work," he explained, looking off in the distance ahead. Though, he seemed to be lost in his thoughts rather than paying attention to the road. "Can you man the machine gun in back?" he asked after he seemed to snap back into reality.

"Sure. Of course," she answered quickly and hopped in the back without a second thought. Valerie thought it was strange how he asked her instead of telling her like he normally would. He didn't seem to be asking if she was competent, but rather if she could bare the emotional burden.

"Hey," she began before she fired up the gun. "If I can't kill, am I still useful to you?" she asked out of curiosity. She could see the look he was giving her in the rear-view mirror, as if it was a stupid question.

"Of course," he answered. "Are you sure you're okay back there?" he asked, a bit concerned.

"Oh, yeah. I'm aiming for their tires as best as I can. If I hit one of them by accident, I think I can handle 'voluntary manslaughter'" she answered, and began firing. "So, what's your history with this guy, anyway?" she yelled over the sound of rapid gunfire in her ear.

"We were business associates once! We go way back!" he yelled back to her.

"Yeah? What did he do?" There was a long pause before he answered again. She wondered if he had even heard her.

"Well, for starters, he slept with my sister!" he yelled. Valerie stopped shooting to hold her hand to her mouth, struggling to suppress her laughter. Her stomach was quivering from all her effort. Eddy raised one eyebrow at her in the rear-view mirror.

"I can see you, you know," he said.

"I'm sorry! It's just- I didn't know you had a sister. I wasn't expecting that to be your answer," she said with a huge smile spread across her face. "Was she bad?" she asked after a brief pause.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"You know. Bad," she said with emphasis.

"You're sick; that's my sister!" Eddy said in horror, and Valerie couldn't contain her laughter anymore. She could see Eddy shaking his head, but in the rear-view mirror she could see a small, shameful smile on his face. His sense of humor was just as twisted as hers. "She did end up betraying us though. So, yeah, I guess you could say she's pretty bad. I haven't seen her since."

"God, your life must be so messed up. I don't even wanna know," she joked and began shooting again. "Hey, could you stop jerking the wheel like it's your dick? I can't get a good shot!" She said, frustrated that she couldn't land a hit. With all the constant swerving and trying to avoid hitting her own men, it was nearly impossible.

"Deal with it!" Eddy snapped.

"Well, at least go faster and get me closer!"

"Do you wanna drive?" he shouted back at her. Valerie quickly became frustrated as she saw one ATV after the next whip past them with ease only to become engulfed in flames.

"As a matter of fact, I do!" she answered as she leapt from the jeep and onto the back of an ATV coming up next to them. "Official business," she grunted as she forcibly threw the man from the ATV and into the road behind her.

"What the hell are you up to now?" Eddy asked with a look of concern on his face.

"Well, I'm definitely not enjoying this bumpy road and the engine vibrating between my legs, if that's what you're thinking," she answered sarcastically with a smile on her face.

"You're twisted. Seriously, if you're doing this, be careful. I'll cover you."

"Thanks, that makes me fell so much safer knowing that," she answered again with sarcasm before revving the engine and taking off ahead of him. She zipped through the forest at high speed, dodging gunfire and grenades with amazing success, and never once feeling afraid. Maybe it was because she had faced death so many times already, or maybe it was this overwhelming desire she felt to be something she wasn't- that being strong. No matter where this newfound surge of courage came from, she wasn't going to waste it; she was going to use it to do something right for once.

One ATV after the next blew up in a raging inferno as she approached the enemy jeep. The heat was almost too much for her to bare; even with the biting wind in her face, she was able to work up a sweat. As she got closer, she pulled out her handgun and began shooting at their tires but still couldn't land a shot.

Fuck, this is annoying. I almost actually want to shoot someone, she thought to herself. A sudden wave of anxiety washed over her as she realized they were driving on a stone bridge now, with nothing but water-and death- beneath them, cutting her moment of aggravation short. Her heart stopped when she saw the jeep drop off out of sight in front of her. She braced herself and let out a scream as she drove over the edge of the broken bridge and flew through the air for what seemed like forever. She landed violently, yet safely on the other side of the cliff. Her heart seemed to be beating out of her chest, but after the fear wore off, only anger remained. She took a deep breath and aimed carefully. She had the shot; she pulled the trigger.

Suddenly the jeep in front of her made a sharp left turn to avoid driving off a cliff. "Shit!" she yelled aloud. Unable to make the turn, Valerie ditched the ATV and sent it flying over the cliff. Her body slammed hard into the ground and continued to roll and skip for some feet. She let out a scream in all her panic as she desperately clawed at the ground, trying to gain some traction and keep from falling as she skidded across the ground. Her heart dropped into her stomach as she felt the ground disappear beneath her feet as she slid over the edge. She gripped the cliff as tightly as she could and began pulling herself up.

A jeep pulled along the edge, and the passenger door flew open, followed by a hand reaching out for her. She carefully reached up and took the hand, and Eddy quickly pulled her back to relative safety.

"So, how did it go?" he asked, a cocky grin on his face. Valerie glared at him, unamused. Out of anger and frustration, she could feel tears welling up inside her. The fact that she almost just died wasn't what bothered her. It was the fact that she screwed up yet again. Eddy could see she was struggling with her thoughts and quickly changed his tone. "It could have happened to anyone. At least you're not dead. Get ahold of yourself and focus," he said firmly before starting the engine and taking off again. Though she was still upset with herself, she had no reason to take it out on Eddy. She gave him a weak smile.

"You know you're going to have to stop saving me. I might feel obligated to give you the goods if you keep it up," she joked. There was an awkward and unbearably uncomfortable silence, and neither of them knew quite what to say to diffuse it with the least amount of awkwardness. "I was kidding, you know," she finally clarified.

"Of course," he answered quickly. "Could you imagine? That would be ridiculous," he said with a laugh. Valerie raised an inquisitive eyebrow at him. She didn't happen to think it was that ridiculous.

"Well, actually-"

"Hold on- they're stopped." He interrupted her. She turned her attention from him to the road ahead, and sure enough, their jeep was now turned towards them, and they were stuck. The man was frantically trying to start the jeep as they pulled up and approached them on foot, Eddy laughing and hitting them with a condescending slow-clap as if to say "Nice try".

"Going somewhere?" he asked with a laugh. "Did you really think you could escape from moi?"

"Oh, no, I was just giving the lady the ten-dollar tour," Drake answered.

"Shut it!" Eddy commanded, clearly done with the quips and the games. "I bet you're working for them too. You thought you could set me up and keep everything for yourselves, hm?" he asked as he aimed his shotgun at them. They were just barely able to duck before he fired and blew away their windshield. Valerie quickly stepped up and put a firm hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, what the hell's wrong with you? Do you even hear yourself? There's no way any of that can be true," she explained. "Relax. Please," she implored. He looked at her with anger clear all over his face, but his expression softened slightly when he saw her worried visage, and he seemed to be ready to cool off.

"Listen to her, Eddy. Take it easy, buddy," Nate said, still in cover. Eddy and Valerie exchanged a quick look before she backed away with both hands slightly raised, as if to say she was giving up. This man just seemed to bring out the worst in Eddy, and she didn't blame him.

"Well, you're out of luck now," Eddy started, ignoring everything that had just been said, "And out of road. Now, give me that map," he commanded, as he reloaded and aimed his shotgun at them as motivation.

"Alright, Eddy. You got me fair and square," Drake said as he began fumbling with something out of their sight.

"Hey! Don't move," Eddy warned him. Valerie kept a watchful eye on the situation, wary of any danger there might be.

"Relax. I'm just getting the map," Drake said calmly.

"Well, hand it over!" Eddy commanded again, become impatient.

"Well, now, you told me not to move! Looks like you're gonna have to come and get it," Drake answered. Valerie bit her lip, trying not to crack a smile.

If I'm half as annoying as this guy, I can't even blame Navarro for hating my guts, she thought to herself.

"Tai kamu," Eddy said under his breath, clearly having reservations about the whole situation. Valerie gave him a pat on the back.

"Don't worry. I'll go," she offered, and began approaching them. She could have sworn she heard the man mumble something to the woman, but she couldn't be sure what. "Don't try anything," she warned him, now right beside him. The next few seconds seemed to happen in slow motion. The man threw the car into reverse, and slammed on the gas. "Hey!" Valerie yelled and grabbed onto the windshield frame out of impulse, as if her strength alone was enough to stop the jeep. The next thing she knew, she was falling with the jeep, headed for the water below.

Valerie let go of the jeep and braced for impact, taking a deep breath and shielding her face with her arms as best she could. The cold water took her breath away, and the impact left a sting that was sure to linger. Not only did the water leave its mark, but her arms were sure to be bruised from colliding with the hood of the jeep upon impact. Valerie felt a panic attack rapidly coming on as she tried to kick herself free from the undercurrent dragging her down deeper into the depths. She desperately kicked her legs and flailed her arms with all her might, but she was a weak swimmer, and the current was too strong for her. She was positive she was going to die.

Thankfully, the water wasn't too deep for her to make the swim back to the surface. When the jeep hit the ground below, she pushed off with her legs with all the force she could muster and swam for her life. She was almost halfway there when she couldn't hold her breath anymore and her vision started to go dark. Still, she continued to push, her lungs feeling like they were ready to burst, and her arm and leg muscles burning. Finally, she emerged from the water and immediately began gasping for air and coughing uncontrollably, still kicking and flailing her arms, desperate to make it to dry land. All the while, two of Eddy's men were shooting at them from the cliff above. Valerie winced in pain as a bullet grazed her arm. She grabbed onto the stone ledge and pulled herself up, continuing to roll herself until she was lying flat on her back. Another bullet flew by her face, thankfully missing. She struggled to sit up and pulled out her handgun.

"Idiots!" she grunted as she began firing aimlessly. Both men fell one after the other to their deaths, landing with loud splashes in the water below. She let out an exasperated sigh as she collapsed on her back again. "Is there anything more fitting than a watery grave for a pirate?" she pondered aloud, too exhausted to feel emotionally burdened by the fact that she just killed two men. She had only closed her eyes for a moment when she felt a presence over her. "Oh shit," she muttered, her eyes still closed. She then opened them, and sure enough, Drake was standing over her with a gun pointed at her head, and the woman right behind him with a gun pointed at her. "If you're not actually going to shoot me, could you get that thing out of my face? It's pretty rude," she said as she folded her hands behind her head and closed her eyes again. Not that she could have seen, but Drake and Elena exchanged confused looks.

"Who's side are you on?" Drake firmly inquired, still pointing his gun at her.

"No need to be dramatic. We're not in a movie," Valerie answered, ignoring his question.

"I'm serious," he stated firmly. "One minute you're shooting at us, then you're gunning down your own men. What's your deal?" he asked.

"Well, that would suggest I'm on no one's side," she answered, becoming slightly agitated. She opened one eye and saw them both waiting expectantly. She sighed and sat up. "Look, if I wanted to kill you, I would've. I was never aiming to kill or even injure you. And as for those two losers, you said it yourself. If someone tries to kill you, you try to kill them right back. I don't care about…whatever it is that's going on here. I'm just an archeologist. I'm not even getting payed to work for these assholes. It was either work for them, or die." As she explained her side of the story, she began to feel more and more depressed. She hardly recognized herself anymore. "I don't want to die on this island. Everyone has a right to fight for their life," she said, quoting Eddy.

A light then went off in her mind. She remembered her plans with Eddy, and how happy she had been with herself then. She remembered feeling so adequate, and she remembered how Eddy never once doubted her abilities the way she always did. Valerie saw an opportunity to get out of the horrible situation she was in, but she wasn't sure if she could bring herself to betray Eddy like that. He had grown on her in their short time working together.

Realizing she had gotten lost in her thoughts, she looked up at the others to see if they were still paying attention to her. They had put their guns away- a definite good sign.

"Can we agree to a truce? I really just want to get off this island and home to my dogs," she said with nothing to lose. He held out a hand to help her up off the ground. Taking that as a "yes", she took his hand.

"I'll have my eye on you," he warned her. Valerie shrugged.

"So would I if I was into chicks," she answered with a smile.

"Oh, god, are you going to say things like that the entire time?" he asked her.

"You get used to it."

"Do you at least have an off switch?" he joked, as they now began walking together.

"Sure. Up my ass and to the left. Or is that the on switch?" she answered sarcastically.

"Christ," he muttered to himself. "You got a name?"

"Valerie."

"Nate," he answered, "and that's Elena."

He suddenly stopped walking to look at his map, and both women stopped behind him. Valerie leaned against a stone wall and took a moment to look at the scenery. She quickly surmised that this city had been flooded centuries ago, and the historian inside her quickly became excited. She gently touched the wall closest to her, running her fingers along the cold, jagged, withered stone and imagining what it must have been like to live through the tragic events that brought down an entire civilization.

"It must have been horrifying," she said out loud, speaking to herself. "I wonder if they even saw it coming."

"What?" Elena asked her.

"Oh, just thinking out loud," Valerie said as she tousled her hair, a bit embarrassed. "The people that built this city and lived here. They must have been so scared. I wonder what happened to them. There could be hundreds, maybe thousands of corpses in the water." Valerie then sighed wistfully. "I would love to find one completely intact and bring it back to my university to examine. If I were more optimistic, I'd wish for one with some decomposing flesh still remaining, but that's just unrealistic."

"Wow, you're a real nerd for history, aren't you?" Elena asked with a smile.

"Well, I have a doctorate in archeology, and a masters in both anthropology and history, with an emphasis in ancient civilizations, so yeah, you could say that," Valerie answered with a laugh.

"Shh! Get down!" Nate suddenly said in a hushed but urgent tone. Both women immediately did as he said, and they soon realized why. They could clearly hear several male voices that obviously belonged to Eddy's pirates. They all knew without a doubt they were going to have to fight their way through this drowned city. Valerie reloaded her Wes-44 handgun and took a deep breath. She quickly wondered to herself how many men she would kill before the day was over. She wondered if she would survive the day, and she wondered when or if she would see Eddy again. Moreover, she wondered what she would do or say when they finally met again. A feeling of absolute dread overcame her when she thought about it.

Oh, the explaining I'll have to do. It'll be so fun, she thought to herself.

"You girls ready for this?" Nate asked them. They both nodded. "Okay. I'll go ahead and get rid of as many as I can without being seen. You cover me if I need you," he explained quickly and quietly. Both women again nodded. Without another word, Nate creeped around the corner and made his way toward the group of pirates on patrol. Valerie and Elena gave him a few seconds before they followed behind, always remaining out of site, keeping low to the ground.

Valerie's heart stopped when a sudden gunshot went off that echoed through the city and rang in her ears, followed by nonstop rapid gunfire.

"A little help here!" Nate yelled over the noise. Elena was quick to pop out from their cover, but Valerie hesitated. She took a few slow breaths and repeated the same phrase in her mind over and over before she joined Elena and began firing.

Everyone has the right to fight for their life.