Chapter 9

"Blake, focus."

The raven-haired girl kept eying a cute white rabbit as it wriggled its nose. She didn't understand how anyone could experiment on such an adorable little thing. "Don't worry girl, you won't be in that cage much longer." She turned away to face her foster brother. "What is it, Adam?"

"We need to hurry. The guard will be waking up soon."

"Right." She began to load cage after cage into the side of her van. "You know, you didn't have to tase him."

"I did if we wanted to save these animals."

"We can't let them harm the animals, but it's okay to hurt the guard?"

He turned in her direction, his hood shadowing his eyes as he towered over her. "He is intentionally part of the industrial complex that ignores the rights of animals and brings harm to them. He deserves anything that comes to him."

Blake glared up at him. "Two wrongs don't make a right."

"No. But these wrongs make justice." Adam loaded the last rabbit into the van, slamming the door shut with his considerable might. Quiet squeaks and squeal could be heard from within. "This isn't the time to be getting soft, Blake."

Blake circled around to get into passenger seat, flopping in and crossing her arms. Adam popped in beside her, started the car up and took off down the road. They were headed for a White Fang safe house, where their fellows would be ready to house their new little friends.

"Is there something on your mind, Blake? You've been distracted all night, and that isn't the safest thing on a mission."

"Now is exactly when we need to be soft," Blake said, her eyes locked with a hard glare at the road.

"What?"

"You said we shouldn't be getting soft. I think we need to reconsider the plan."

"No."

"That's it? Just no? We're about to ruin their lives. Take their lives. It's too much. It's one thing to save animals and another to attack people."

"They are the worst of the worst. You know that."

"So they don't deserve to live? What if their kids are caught too? Are you still going to feel like this is justice?"

"Yes."

Blake shook her head. She didn't even know what to say to his black and white views. There was no arguing with Adam; he was far too bull-headed. But what they were about to do– there was no way to justify it.

"Blake. This is what we have to do. How are we ever going to exact real change in a world where they have all the money and power? This is what White Fang has to become."

"Then maybe I don't belong with them anymore."

"You'd abandon us? They're the ones who took us in when we had no where to go when you got us kicked out of our last foster home."

"That wasn't my fault. I am who I am."

"It was your fault." He cast her a sideways glare as he pulled the van over to the side. Blake got out of the van to help the masked men who had started to unload the animals into their impromptu shelter.

"Come on, let's get back," Adam commanded, smacking his hand against the door of the van.

"I'll walk."

Adam shrugged. Blake watched as the van drove away, hoping that her brother wouldn't be too mad that she wasn't going to make it home. "Goodbye, Adam. I just can't do it."


Yang's eyes didn't stray from the moon that hung low in the early night sky. She took a deep breath of the cool night air. Another day in the world of the living dead had passed, and not without another dose of pain. Her brain was in a jumbled mess. She wanted to hate Weiss. But she couldn't.

Her eyes fell down to where Weiss lay deathly still, her eyes closed and with a look of contented peace.

"I don't know what to say," Yang started, her voice quiet. "Thank you. I can't believe you did something so– selfless. I guess that's a rude thing to say. If it weren't for you, Ruby might have… you saved my sister's life. I can't thank you enough."

Yang hesitated, then lifted the other girl up off the ground into a gentle hug, careful not to disturb her back. Three whispered words ghosted over her ear as she started to lay Weiss back down.

"Really?" Yang asked, unceremoniously dropping Weiss onto the ground.

Weiss hissed as she hit the concrete of the roof. "Jeez, what the hell is wrong with my back?"

Yang relaxed, her hand over her chest. "You have a bruise, and maybe a fractured scapula. We won't be able to tell until we can find you an x-ray machine."

Weiss shifted until she was mildly comfortable. "Do any of us know how to take or read an x-ray?"

"Oh. Right. Well, I guess we're just going to treat it like it's broken then."

The dull ache was spread over Weiss' whole back. "Right shoulder, I hope."

"Yeah. Ruby ran to get you a sling and some stronger painkillers. When you said that you–,"

"I do."

"You've known her a week."

"And she didn't shut her mouth the entire time."Weiss wiggled a little on the ground. "So no one bothered to get me a pillow?"

"We weren't really concerned about your comfort, since you were, you know, knocked the fuck out." Yang smiled lightly at her. "I'll go find something." She gave Weiss a wink as she started to strut away.

"Good. My back is killing me."

"Be glad that's figurative, Ice Queen."


"Okay, marry, boff, kill– me, Blake and Ruby."

Weiss rolled her eyes. Ruby had finally stopped talking, and Blake was, as far as she could tell, just being Blake. But Yang was being friendly– and it was freaking Weiss out a little.

"Well, marry Ruby." She glanced over, but the young girl's mind was in the clouds. "I guess I'd sleep with you, then kill Blake. No offense Blake."

The raven-haired girl just glared at her, then shook her head in silence.

"I thought you hated me," Yang said with a smirk.

"I like me some lady abs."

"Oh?" Yang reached over and pulled up Blake's shirt, revealing her taut stomach.

Blake smacked her hand away and scrambled back, her face dyed red. "What are you doing!?"

"Not bad at all. But I'd still have to pick Yang. Now you answer."

"I'd marry Blake and then– eww, this is why you should never use your own family members. I guess I have to sleep with Ruby."

"She's your sister," Blake said, clearly disgusted.

"Half-sister. It's not like I could kill her. I have no other choice! Well, I don't think Blake wants to play," she said, glancing over at the girl whose eyes could kill, "so, Ruby?"

The girl marching at the head of their column stayed silent, then turned back to them. "I'm going to scout out the area." She pointed up at a nearby building, the tallest in the large business park they were moving through.

The other three girls just stood dumbfounded as Ruby stomped away.

"What was that?"

"I think she's angry." Yang said, patting Weiss on the back, causing a sharp sting of pain to shoot through her. "She kept going on and on about it. Ruby didn't like that you got hurt saving her."

"What an idiot."

Yang shrugged, then wandered over to a little concrete ledge and sat down. After a few moments, the other two girls both walked over and made themselves comfortable. They passed the time in relative silence, aside from the wailing of zombies on the air. Until a soft whine began to echo out. All three girls glanced back and forth at each other. The acoustic guitar and terrible singing of some indie music began to echo out over the muffled sound of a tiny engine. Yang popped up and walked over to the street.

"Hey, get back here!"

"That's a car! Just because they have terrible taste in music doesn't mean we shouldn't talk to them."

Weiss darted out and tried to pull Yang back. She knew that just because there were other survivors didn't mean they could be trusted. But the bigger, stronger girl wouldn't budge. Yang just smiled and waved as a Smart Car full of hipsters pulled up beside them.

"Ladies," the driver said. He pantomimed a little tip of his beanie at them as his lanky frame emerged from the car. His awkward movement didn't match the smoothness in his voice.

On the other side, a 'big boned' girl stepped out of the passenger seat. At least that was how any person other than Weiss would have described her politely. She had to keep from laughing when the car raised an inch as the girl got out. The trunk popped open and a very short little 'dude' slowly slid out, circling around in a sluggish shamble.

"Good to see some living people. We haven't run into anyone else around since we left the Forever Fall," Yang said as she approached them.

Beanie guy nodded. "We've got an entire camp. We we're actually out looking for other survivors." His eyes darted over to Big Bones.

She held out a little plastic pack. "You girls must be tired and hungry out here all on your own. Have a piece of a jerky."

Weiss eyed it with an air of caution while Yang pulled out an exceptionally sized chunk and chomped on it without a second of hesitation. The heiress glared into Big Bones eyes as she pulled out a little piece and took a bite. The stranger held out the package to Blake, who held up a hand in refusal.

"Take some, I insist."

"No."

Big Bones lips shifted into a smirk. "I see. Don't eat meat?"

"Maybe."

Weiss was too busy keeping her eyes locked on Big Bones to realize what was happening behind her. But she couldn't ignore the niggling feeling shooting up her spine; these weird hipsters cared too much about a few pieces of jerky. While the girl was talking to Blake, she started to reach into her jacket. It wasn't until something cold and metal pressed against the back of her neck that she remembered there was a third stranger.

"Now let's not do anything stupid there, missy," Beanie said in an odd gruff voice.

Weiss glanced over; he had a gun pressed into Yang's back. Weiss growled as she moved her hand away from her revolver.

"That was awful," Big Bones said as she drew a gun on Blake. Weiss wasn't sure where it came from– she assumed the girl's folds and flaps.

"Hey, we're doing this, so we're going to do this right. Now I have to get back in character," Beanie said.

"I know you're an actor, but that doesn't mean you have to ham up everything," the shortest stranger said from behind her.

"Ham is important. Hell, it's why were killing them, right?" Beanie said with a big smile. "Eh? Ham? Get it? Because they eat meat?"

Yang actually laughed.

"Just shut up or you're next, you moron," Big Bones said.

A thousand thoughts ran through Weiss head. Then a plan formed. "You're killing us because we ate the jerky."

"Yeah." Big Bones had, in Weiss' opinion, a classic 'big girl' smirk. The type of smirk that said she was belligerently socially conscious and politically correct. She coughed into her hand before starting what was clearly a practiced speech. "Veganism is the way of the future. Zombies are your punishment– they are what you carnivores have brought upon this world. The evolution of your terrible ways. While the infection spreads among your trophic level, even the gentlest of herbivores are spared. White Fang has taken it upon themselves to cleanse the world of all meat-eaters. Living and dead."

"White Fang," Weiss hissed under her breath. She rolled her sore shoulder and began to execute her plan. "Just shut up and shoot me now. I can't stand listening to any more of this social justice bull crap. Manatees like you should just learn to shut their gaping blowholes."

"Dude," the guy behind her said slowly, "manatees don't have blowholes."

"My mistake. I guess that makes her a whale."

Whale smiled a sinister smile and her eyes narrowed into a slits. "You know what, I'm going to kill you myself. I went to high school with a lot of bitches like you. This is going to be fun. Make sure– are you kidding me? You're going to do that now?"

The strong smell of smoke drifted across Weiss' nostrils. She turned and saw that the little dude who had her at gun point had a blunt in his mouth.

Toker shrugged. "Eh, this is a tense situation, man. I need to relax."

"You're always relaxed, you idiot," Whale hissed. "Just make sure this one doesn't do anything," she said pointing a thumb at Blake. The girl circled around behind Weiss.

"Just curious, how do you even get that large without eating meat? I'm sure vegan cake is all you ever eat, but shouldn't it be fat free? Which you clearly are not."

Whale shot her gun into the air. "Keep this up and you'll regret it."

Weiss smirked. A rich bitch smirk that was met with a big girl smirk as the two stared each other down.

"Uh, Weiss, you might want to stop. It wouldn't be Weiss to keep pissing her off," Yang said with a smile.

Her and the man with a gun in her back both cracked up.

"Ugh. Can I be the one to shoot her?" Weiss asked.

Whale glanced back and forth between them. "I'll think about it. We'll at least kill her first so you can watch."


When a gunshot rung through the air, Ruby's eyes went wide. She darted up the last set of stairs and threw open the door. In a red flash her climbing axe ripped through a pair of skulls before she sprinted over to the edge.

She looked down and saw her team being held at gunpoint. She slung Crescent Rose out to use the scope.

Blake looked terrified, Yang was laughing, and Weiss just looked haughty. If she was trying to negotiate, she wasn't doing a good job. The woman behind her was screaming. Ruby could see the bits of flying spittle even over the great distance.

She bit her lip. It would be an easy shot for her. She had a safe angle from so high up. She could take out two targets, but the second was a gamble and the third would be impossible to hit without some sort of reaction from their captors. But she had to do something.

Suddenly, the three strangers pulled her teammates against themselves. Ruby pulled back and saw three more people approaching. They were dressed like military. They didn't move like military, but they wore the right clothes.

They had their guns out too.

Ruby shifted back over to the others. Most immediate threat first. She put her crosshair over the man wearing a beanie who was holding her sister. Then over to the oversized girl squeezing Weiss. She would probably be able to save both. But the first shot would determine which person would be the safest.

She bit her lip and pulled back. 'I have to save Yang. Of course. She's my sister. But Weiss– no, come on Ruby. Family first.'

Her heart and her brain and her other parts were all still wrestling when the door slammed open behind her. She wheeled around, readying her gun.

"I'm sorry!" The red-haired girl lifted her hands in the air and gave Ruby an awkward smile. She had a beige tank top and a military jacket wrapped around her waist like a skirt. The girl seemed to examine her. "You're Yang's sister, aren't you?"

Ruby nodded. Her finger left the trigger but her gun was still aimed at the other girl's heart.

"My name's Pyrrha. I went to high school with her. I'm with the army, and I want to help."

Ruby lowered her weapon. "Is that you're squad down there?"

"Yes," Pyrrha said as she moved beside her. She lifted her weapon, looking down the scope.

"Can you make the shot? I'll take the one with the white-haired girl."

"I should be able to."

"Okay. On three."


"Will everyone just calm down for one second!" Yang yelled, struggling against the arm around her neck.

A silence fell over the standoff.

"Okay, thanks. I'm grateful that you're mounting a rescue operation, and I'm sure that you know what you're doing, but I'd feel a lot more comfortable if there wasn't a grenade launcher pointed at us."

A black-haired boy glanced over to his female squad-mate. "Nora, pistol."

"But Ren–,"

"Pistol."

"You never let me use the grenade launcher." She kept grumbling under her breath as she put it away and drew her sidearm.

"Okay. Continue," Yang said as she relaxed a little.

Weiss rolled her eyes and contemplated what to do. Her revolver was tossed to the side. Myrtenaster was still on her hip, but she couldn't draw it in any sort of stealthy fashion in her current position. All she could do was hope that Ruby had heard the shot and would save their bacon from these vegan idiots.

The two sides began to squabble and shout various things, virtually unintelligible in the din. It seemed negotiations were at a standstill.

Until the sound of a gunshot cut through their argument.

Weiss felt the arm around her neck go limp, then fall away. Suddenly, all hell broke loose. She nearly dashed for cover, but then she stopped as she realized how safe she was. Across from her, Nora was wildly shooting the pistol up in the air and giggling like a madwoman. The blond boy was firing his rifle but it looked like the recoil got the best of him and he couldn't rein it in. He was making a neat little pattern in the second floor of the building behind them though. Ren had darted for cover and was actually trying to get a good shot on Toker. Fortunately, the dazed, blazed little guy had barely reacted. He blinked a few times, unsure of what to do. He held his gun out, sideways like a fool, and let out a few shots in the right general direction.

Weiss groaned as she stormed across the battlefield. Yang, whose captor was also on the ground, was headed in the same direction, but Weiss bumped her out of the way and unsheathed Myrtenaster.

With an elegant swish and what was just barely a shrug in her shoulder she dug the tip of her weapon into his neck. The blade was buried between the two arteries that would have instantly knocked him out and killed him and stopped right before his spine.

He dropped his gun and grasped at the rapier, but Weiss pulled it out and kicked his legs out in one smooth motion. He fell to his knees, then Weiss put a boot on his chest and drove him onto his back.

Weiss just stared down at the dark crimson blood flowing from his throat. There was a swirling, nasty feeling in her gut until she spotted the White Fang logo on his t-shirt. She pressed a foot onto the mark, her face neutral. He struggled, beating at her leg, but he was too weak to free himself.

Weiss felt hands tugging on her. Blake was trying to pull her off.

"You can't do this!"

Weiss glanced back down at Toker, who was grasping at his neck and trying to twist onto his back. "He was going to kill us."

"That's true– but that doesn't mean you can make him drown in his own blood. That's just horrific"

"He deserves it." She glanced back down, seeing the fear on the young man's face. She pulled Myrtenaster across, leaving a cut over his left eye. "White Fang is the reason I have this scar. They're the reason my sister is trapped in a wheelchair." Her voice dropped into a growl. "They're the reason my mother is dead."

Yang came out of nowhere and tackled her off of Toker's chest, sending her to the ground. Weiss watched Blake just panic as the man gurgled. It was too late; he had already breathed his last breath.

Weiss disentangled herself from Yang, stood up, and dusted herself off. Her eyes glanced down to her revolver, just sitting there on the street. She sheathed her rapier and picked it up. Weiss sashayed beside Blake, who was trying to press her hand over his neck. The heiress to the Schnee Corporation took a deep breath, and then put the White Fang animal out of his misery.

Blake fell beside her, clutching her ears. She looked up at Weiss with wide wet eyes.

"They think animal's lives are more valuable then human's. So I shot him like a dog in the street. I'm sure he would be happy."

"Man down!" A girl shouted from behind her. She glanced over to where Nora was crouched down beside a writhing, screaming blond boy.

Weiss watched Blake run over to his side. The ache in her shoulder started out dull, but after a few moments it felt like someone had impaled her. She thought it hadn't hurt because Whale had so much cushioning when she got pulled in. But as the liquid power drained from her system, she realized it was adrenaline that let her ignore it. But that was gone– and she collapsed onto the cold concrete sidewalk.