A/N: That chapter was probably one of my longest ones and I actually really enjoyed writing it! I'm kind of starting to get really excited for the next chapters to come as well! Anyways I hope y'all enjoy!

EDIT/NOTE: ALSO! Please read the notes at the end of this chapter as they are somewhat important; thanks!

Doomagedon: Well, the CoD Zombies fandom isn't all that popular (it won't be until BO4 comes out, anyhow) and because my story is M rated people actually have to be looking for M rated fics in order for this to be seen. I also believe that people just don't like reviewing. They read and wait for the next chapter. Anyways, that's just my take on it. But thank you for your kind words!

Chapter Genre: Action, Romance, Angst

Chapter Rating: M

Rating Content: Use of Tobacco (Smoking), Mentions of Suicide and Self Harm (MAJOR trigger warnings!), Coarse Language, Suggestive Language


With the power having been restored, they could explore more of the castle without the cost of doors. Of course, there was a few doors they had to open but it really was no matter.

However, despite the amount of time that had passed, no zombies were coming around. There was no sounds of groaning or screaming, not even a little growl. The silence was putting everyone on edge, especially Edward.

Still, it was good as they were able to take their time in exploring the castle.

Despite his injury, Daren had still taken it upon himself to do some patrolling. However, without the use of his left arm, he was unable to use his sniper. He had gotten crafty, however, and used the scope of his sniper as a monocular. If any zombies were spotted, Scott would begin to fire and Daren would try and warn the others.

Meanwhile, Nikolai and Takeo were both exploring the lower area (the 'basement' as Vivian called it) of the castle. Lord knew what they would be doing down there but Nikolai stated it would be 'simple reconnaissance'. Edward was searching the castle in the hopes that the major supplies were not taken or destroyed. Tank was off doing his own thing (he didn't bother to specify what).

Vivian was exploring the castle more in depth. There was multiple stairways (some broken) and barriers that originally could not be explored just playing the game, so she decided to try and explore those areas. Of course she remembered that some areas were areas in which zombies would come from, but upon looking, she saw that those barriers were no longer in place. Were there no windows or doorways to be boarded up?

She had merely shrugged it off thinking that it could've been part of something that Samantha changed.

Vivian was currently checking up the stairway in a tower portion of the castle (left to the death ray, where she remembered a pot for the lightning bow was). The stairway was broken which would prevent players from jumping up and exploring more. However, this time, it wasn't the case. The stairway was intact and she suddenly became very excited to see what was up there.

The staircase creaked as she walked up the steps, creating an almost ominous air around her. It was very creepy, the old castle, but it was also very fascinating how the Germans were able to make such an ancient building into a working station.

Once she finally reached the top of the stairway, she found that it was an incredibly spacious bedroom area completed with a small dresser and a wood furnace. Of course, there was bloodstains on the floor and a few items strewn across the room. And a zombie pinned to the wall with a sword. Other than that, it was fairly clean.

Removing the sword from the corpse, Vivian pushed it over the wooden ledge so she wouldn't have to drag it down the stairways (and leave behind a thick trail of blood in the process). Swiftly running down the stairs, she then proceeded to drag the dead zombie out of the room.

"What you find, Blue?"

She jumped and whipped around to see Tank. She let out a breath. "A zombie. And a bedroom."

Tank's lips curled slightly in a mischievous grin and she tsked. "Don't get any ideas, hon."

Dragging the zombie around the outside of the tower room, she pushed it over the stone edge, sending it plummeting to the ground below. Wiping her hands off on her jeans, she turned to face Tank. "What you got, there?" She asked, gesturing to the small, rectangular crate in his hands.

"Something I found in the power room. Don't know what they are, thought you might though since you enjoy history."

She raised an eyebrow but she took the box. "Let's move inside where it's a bit warmer, eh?"

They walked into the tower and up the stairs, where she sat on the bed and gingerly removed the lid of the crate. She looked inside and her brows furrowed. "Why would they have these here?"

Tank leaned against the wall. "What are they?"

Vivian removed the Japanese weapons from the box and set it aside. "These are called Neko Te, or 'cat's claws'. Japanese ninja weapons, traditionally used by female ninjas or Kunoichi. If you want more historical information on that, you'd probably want to ask Takeo; he might know more."

Tank watched as she placed the metal gloves on her hands, the claws gleaming in the light of the moon. She giggled slightly as she inspected them. "This is so cool!" She said. "You know, these things are still really sharp!"

Standing up, Vivian looked around the room and saw a flag with a swastika hanging on the wall. Rolling her shoulders, she swung her one arm out, claws outstretched, and the flag ripped apart with ease. With a grin she removed the Neko Te from her hands. "Real sharp." She said.

She put the clawed gloves back in the box and she set it on the nightstand beside the bed. "That was a pretty good find, Tank! Was that the only box there?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "The only one with those kinds of weapons. The rest were medieval swords or some food supplies."

Vivian nodded slightly before she shivered. "We need to get the furnace going..." She muttered.

"What happened to you Canadians being built for this weather?" Tank joked.

"Shut up."

Vivian tore down the remains of the flag and she threw it into the furnace along with a few pieces of wood that was piled beside it. Tank was quick to hand her a box of matches, to which she raised an eyebrow. "Why do you have these handy?" She asked, striking the match against the side of the box. "You smoke or something?"

"Yeah. Why?"

She shrugged and threw the lit match into the furnace. She waited until it turned into a big flame before she closed the small door and stood. "Just wondering. It explains a lot."

"There's no way I smell like it. We've got the smell of the dead on us."

She turned to him and handed the matches back. "After you smoked a fresh one, yeah, I can smell it. And you smoke pretty frequently too, but how you found such a large supply of it, I'll never know."

Tank took a pack of cigarettes from a pouch on his belt and gave it to Vivian. "Why?"

"I know you smoke too. Saw some of mine went missing a few times." He walked past her and sat on the bed, pulling out his own pack of cigarettes.

Although she was not a heavy smoker, Vivian sometimes found herself taking a cigarette or two from Tank after a long day. Or whenever she felt she needed to use the blade. She tried her best to limit herself on how often she smoked as well, but most of the time stress outweighed health.

"You know, Blue," He said, lighting a cigarette. "You could've asked, I wouldn't have judged. Besides, I think you need them."

"Why?"

Tank blew a puff of smoke, sighing quietly in both relief and annoyance. He gestured to her wrist. "You know why."

Vivian sighed heavily before she sat beside Tank. "You've seen them too, eh?"

He handed her a matchbook and she took it. Taking a cigarette from the pack, she quickly struck a match and lit the cigarette. She took a few puffs of the tobacco before she sighed. "Look, it's not as big of a problem as it used to be, Tank."

"Then why do you keep doing it?"

"I went through a lot of shit as a kid. Even now as an adult I still went through a lot, although the worst problems were over. That's how I ended up picking up smoking."

Tank flicked some ash off the end of the cigarette. "Doesn't answer my question, Blue. Cutting can be pretty easy to quit, but you still do it."

She sniffed. "Like you'd know."

Tank paused for a moment before smothering his cigarette on the floor and suddenly removing his jacket. "I do know, Vivian." He then removed his shirt. "I went through what you're going through now."

Her breath suddenly hitched and he only sat there casually, as if there was nothing wrong. Of course, nothing really was, but most would be ashamed that they would turn to self harm. Either he wasn't, or he just didn't care what anyone thought. Absentmindedly, Vivian brushed her fingers along the scars that adorned his chest and abdomen. Some were barely there, most likely inflicted at a young age, whereas others were still clearly visible.

"Went through shit as a kid too, Vee." He muttered. "Grew up in an orphanage for as long as I could remember. Most of the kids didn't like me much, neither did the couples that came along every so often."

Vivian tossed the cigarette onto the floor and quickly smothered it, now fully intent on focusing on him and what he had to say. She guessed that he wouldn't show this to just anyone, so whatever he had to say to her, it had to be important. "Why?"

Tank shrugged. "I'm not white, simple as that. From what I was told, my mom was Cajun. Dunno what my dad was."

She hesitated for a moment, wanting to choose her next words carefully. "So... is that why you started cutting?"

"No." He hissed. "Look, I was constantly bullied and picked on by the other kids. It didn't bother me at first, but after a while, I got tired of it. Then I started getting beat on by the older boys and I couldn't fight back or I would be in trouble with the head of the orphanage. Once I hit maybe thirteen, I had enough."

His fist clenched tightly beside him. "I was at a low, thought that nobody would ever want me or like me. Managed to sneak out and find some rope in the shed outside in the yard." Tank shook his head and laughed slightly at himself. "I was too much of a fucking coward to go and off myself, so I took a knife from the kitchen instead."

Vivian felt the tears beginning to form in her eyes, which she fought to hold back. "You were only thirteen?" She asked, her voice choking slightly.

"I was a fucking stupid kid. These scars were my own fault, nobody else's. I inflicted them on myself-"

He heard Vivian sniff loudly and he looked to see she was furiously wiping at the tears in her eyes. "So that's what you fucking think?" She hissed. She was angry, but not at him, but he failed to understand why. "That you were just being stupid?"

"I don't get why you're so upse-"

"I am upset because I fucking know what you went through, you dick!" She shouted, taking him completely by surprise. Taking a deep breath, Vivian calmed herself enough to speak without raising her voice. "I was bullied too. I was abused verbally and emotionally, I had few friends, argued with my family constantly, I've been discriminated against because I'm Native, I've been lied to, I've had promises broken, my trust used against me; Tank, you weren't being stupid." She suddenly pulled him in for a fierce embrace (one that almost knocked the wind clear out of him). "You were in pain. You didn't have anyone but yourself. You did the one thing you could think of to get rid of the emotional hurt. I know this because that's what happened to me."

"Vivian..." Tank sighed as he wrapped his arms round her, holding her close. He struggled to find the right thing to say, opening his mouth to speak, but then closing it to rethink his words. He never was one for emotional situations, or emotional women. He just wasn't good with emotions at all.

Thankfully, Vivian had regained her composure and said, "Look, hon, if you ever need to just talk... I'm here, you know?"

A perfect moment to say what you want to, he thought. "The same goes to you. And you also have to promise me something."

"What?"

He gently pushed at her shoulders to look into her eyes. "No matter what time it is or where we are, if you feel like you want to cut, you come to me instead."

She shook her head slightly, almost as if in disappointment. "Tank, do you really think that'll work? I'll be angry, frustrated, I'll want to yell or something. I don't want to put that kind of abuse on you if I start lashing out at you."

"Vivian, promise me."

"Tank-"

"Promise."

Is he about to cry, she wondered. His eyes looked glassy, and she could tell he was gritting his teeth. He was visibly upset, and she understood why. He had cut too, but a lot more than what she had. He didn't want her to go through more pain then what he felt she needed to.

With a defeated sigh, Vivian nodded. "I promise."

Tank let out a quiet sigh before briefly kissing her lips, pressing his forehead against hers. "Thank you..."

For a few moments, they stayed like that, heads pressed together, arms wrapped around each other. It might not have meant much to others, but to them, it meant so much more. They felt safe, they felt cared for and loved, and they felt like they could truly trust one another.

Something truly rare in times such as these.

/ / /

Edward was becoming more and more on edge as time passed, his fingers tapping harshly against the wooden desk. Where were the hell spawns? Samantha wouldn't hold them off for so long! Unless this has now become part of her 'game'. She did change the rules, most likely, as Vivian had predicted. It wouldn't surprise him much either, considering how easy things had started to get since the three Canadians came along. Things weren't going her way, so she'd change the rules.

Stubborn child.

Daren's injury also had come into play now as well. Although now completely stitched and healing faster thanks to the Element 115, Edward had made certain to inform Scott not to take to the rooftops anymore, lest he suffer a possibly worse fate then his companion. Without their resident 'snipers' helping take out the hordes from a distance, they would be a lot more vulnerable to attack.

That wasn't what was bothering him however. What was bothering him was how severe Daren's injury was. Even from that height, he shouldn't have suffered a compound fracture. A broken bone, perhaps, but not a compound fracture. With the way Daren described how he landed, his injury should've been far from that.

Perhaps Samantha was beginning to increase the risk of death and injury, trying to send off a message to them that things would get worse. Edward scoffed.

As if things weren't bad enough already.

Briefly, Edward's eyes wandered to the dragon's head, still covered in stone. Still, stoic, and yet somehow fierce, full of wrath and anger. Despite that it could not and would not harm him, Edward still had a feared reverence for the ancient beast.

For a brief moment, he thought he saw the stone statue move, even if only just slightly, before he heard an ear piercing scream echo throughout the main room. There was no mistaking what it was, and in an instant he was on his feet, running through the main courtyard in search of the nearest people.

Hopefully nobody was too relaxed and hopefully he wouldn't have his arm bitten off if they were.

/ / /

Daren and Scott had been scouring the castle to find new spots for them to scout, to use (if not snipers) then mid-range weapons to shoot at the zombies. At first, it seemed almost futile, considering how open and yet not open the castle was. It was too spacious but at the same time, not spacious enough.

Now they really were beginning to think that not playing much Zombies with Vivian hadn't been the best of ideas.

"So, you still want that twenty bucks?"

"Yes!" Daren laughed. "We both made a bet! I expect you to live up to it once we get back home!"

Scott kicked at a piece of wood on the ground, kicking up both snow and loose splinters. "What if we don't? I mean, how are we going to get back after Revelations? I don't know if that Monty guy will even let us go."

Daren paused, now suddenly unsure of himself. He hadn't thought quite that far ahead, now that Scott had brought it up. Vivian had mentioned that they might not like what happened at the end of Revelations, but she didn't explain much more than that. She said they might be able to change things as long as they're careful and as long as they planned ahead. She didn't say anything much on the subject after that either.

Well, maybe she did. He couldn't really remember too well. Probably the 115 fucking with his head again.

It was weird, the sudden memory loss. He remembered a lot, but he also couldn't remember much from the past few days, even several weeks back. And he was also forgetting some things about home as well. So was Scott and Vivian. Vee had concluded that, because they were from a different dimension but also since they weren't used to such strong chemicals and elements, that the 115 wouldn't have as strong of an effect on them compared to Primis (who would sometimes experience memory loss as well as delusions/hallucinations), but it took a hold of them a lot quicker then it did on Primis. They had only spent a few days in France but their memories started getting fuzzy after being teleported through time and space. Then, after a year, they actually started forgetting things. By the second year, they had lost so many memories, both far into the past as well as contemorary ones. They forgot the simple things, like if they ate or if they had had a certain conversation. Sometimes they would forget key things, like where they lived before getting to France (they remembered their country and province but not specifically where).

It was rather bothersome.

Daren shook his head. "I actually don't know. Maybe we should ask Vee once we get the chance."

They started to make their way into the main courtyard when they saw Edward run out of the main room, gun in hand, and they both raised their eyebrows. "Something wrong?"

Edward skidded to a halt and looked up the stairway. "The Hellspawn are back!"

Vivian, who was still in the tower with Tank, heard Edward shout and she poked her head out the window. "What?"

Daren looked up. "The Zombies are coming back!"

Vivian reacted instantly and she along with Tank could be heard running down the wooden stairwell, guns in hand. "They're pretty late..." They heard Tank mutter.

Despite that she still seemed pretty relaxed, Vivian was suddenly kicking into full gear. "Okay," She pointed to Edward, "You find Takeo and Nikolai and tell them to help you feed the Dragon down in the ruins!" She then gestured to Daren and Scott. "You guys start looking for pieces for the DG4 Ragnaroks! One is found when using the Ray and the other is found when activating the lever down by the launchpad sequence area! Wait until the sequence is ready to start and then flip the switch and get to the teleporter, and flip the switch beside it once all lights are green!"

"What about you?" Daren asked.

Vivian smirked. "We'll take care of Stony."

Now equipped with a plan, everyone spread out to head to their respective areas.

Before Tank and Vivian could even get down the stairway, they already heard the death ray being activated. They were being especially quick, which wasn't bad, but they also didn't know the rest of the Easter Egg, so if they finished in a short amount of time they would be pretty lost. Well, they could kill zombies, but they needed them for one of the bows.

Having located the box inside the main room, Vivian quickly hit it up, kicking gently at it and tapping her foot as she waited for it to finish rolling the guns.

Landed on the XM-53.

Vivian kicked at the box and growled. "Fucking hate this." Despite that she could hardly lift the rocket launcher without almost hurting herself, Vivian took it and set it against the wall in front of the box before kicking it once more (this time with a bit more force). Having Perkaholic was handy, as she could very easily have two useful weapons and then trade around a third one if needed.

The guns rolled and just as she heard the zombies, screaming and tearing at the wood that boarded up the windows, the box landed on the LCAR. She groaned again and she quickly traded the gun with the XM. The rocket launcher disappeared as she grabbed the hand held weapon, cocking it and checking to make sure it was loaded.

"I think I could work with this."

Tank raised an eyebrow as he readied his Man-O-War (one of his more favourite weapons). "How?"

Vivian smiled and she cocked her Argus in her right hand. "Just watch me, sugar."

The zombies started breaking through the windows and, just as they all started rounding the corners, the pair immediately began to fire on them. With the spray of blood of the first zombie, the Dragon awoke, the stone melting away into molten fire and lava. With a mighty roar, the Dragon unleashed a heavy breath of fire, making Tank and Vivian's heads feel suddenly very warm.

"Hi, Stony!" Vivian shouted over the gunshots and screams.

The creature did not acknowledge her, and it only looked around the room, searching for a free meal. With a chuckle, Vivian began to fire at the zombies.

There was too many of them coming at them all at once, so there was no room for them to train. They both tried their best at keeping the undead from reaching them. With how close the zombies were getting, Tank and Vivian ended up needing to fight back to back. Despite the confined space, they were working very well together, needing very little callouts or warnings.

"You seem to be doing well with those guns!" Tank shouted, kicking a zombie away before shooting its head.

Vivian fired her Argus, quickly flipping it so she could cock it, and she also fired the LCAR, shooting several zombies at once. "All it takes is some swift and talented hands, hon!" She replied.

She heard him chuckle and she gently nudged his shoulder. "Hush, that was not an innuendo!"

She grabbed a Widowed grenade from her belt and held it between her teeth for a few moments, firing at enough zombies to give her a brief break. Spitting the grenade into her hand, Vivian threw it hard onto the ground a few paces in front of her. After three seconds the grenade went off, freezing several zombies in place. When she turned she could see Tank was having some difficulties and she repeated the same motion, but on his 'side' of the horde.

The semi-frozen zombies, being unable to reach out and grab them, provided enough time for them to squeeze their way through and away from the group. The now had full access to the doorway in case they needed a quick escape.

They fired at a few of the zombies and the Dragon continued to eat, practically swallowing the undead creatures whole. Tank visibly cringed at the sight. "I don't get how that thing even enjoys eating the maggot-bags. The smell alone is enough to make me gag."

The final zombie in the group (which had been headless thanks to the Widowed grenade) fell dead and they both audibly breathed. Vivian took her time in reloading her weapons and making sure that they were in good condition (firing guns for too long without breaks could cause some problems, she learned - Samantha wasn't going to make things easier as far as weaponry went). "They're made of stone, Tank. And they're possessed somehow, so I doubt they have taste buds. Or a sense of smell."

They both heard a few more roars and Vivian grabbed Tank's hand and lead him down the stairway, where the Wrath of the Ancients could be seen hovering over a chest. Vivian stopped, nearly making Tank run into her. "Blue, watch it!"

She nodded, barely even acknowledging what he had said. The Wrath of the Ancients, she thought, truly beautiful. The bones actually looked pretty realistic, and the red mark glowed with an almost menacing light. The arrow looked like it was carved out of some sort of stone rather than metal, very sharp but also looking very primal and simple compared to the arrows she was used to seeing.

They heard footsteps and Tank looked to see Edward, Takeo and Nikolai all coming up the stairway from the basement of the castle. "Is the bow here?" Edward asked.

Vivian gestured slightly with her hand, slowly approaching the Bow as if it were going to bite her. "Yeah, Ed."

It looked beautiful, but in a deadly sort of way. It was an instrument of death, but it was stunning to look at! For whatever reason, she believed that the red mark on the bow might've been some trapped soul, an angry soul, hence 'Wrath of the Ancients'.

She went to grab the Bow, eager to give it a try, before she suddenly retaliated, knocking her knuckles together much like how a nervous child would. "Does, ah, anyone else want it?"

Nobody replied and she let out a small, girly giggle before grabbing the Wrath of the Ancients, nocking the arrow on the drawstring. She lets out a small squeal, making Tank snort. She was acting like a damn kid who just got a Christmas gift. It was cute.

Vivian drew back the drawstring, aiming it at the wall opposite to her. "This is so fucking co-"

Because of the weight in which the drawstring had (and because she was slightly rusty with archery), the string slipped from between her fingers, releasing the arrow that was nocked onto it.

The arrow landed directly next to Edward, who seemed to be interested in some markings on the walls of the tomb, and the noise from the blast made the German shriek out of both fear and shock, almost elegantly leaping away from where the arrow had landed.

Everyone paused, looking at Edward as he straightened out his vest, before bursting into a chorus of laughter. Even Takeo was chuckling!

Edward stood there, red-faced, and he brushed back his hair. "Hush, I was not expecting that."

Tank wiped at a tear that fell from his eye, wheezing heavily as he laughed. "How far... did your balls retract, to make such a girly scream?!"

He wheezed again as Edward merely rolled his eyes. Vivian, although she was laughing as well, smacked Tank lightly on the shoulder. "Hush, you!"

As the laughter died down to a few chuckled, Edward suddenly shot at a zombie that had managed to sneak up the stairway, kicking away the body before it could fall forward and onto him. "Can we perhaps go outside so we do not get cornered?"

Vivian, with a small skip in her step, dashed over to the stairs. "Hell yeah! I wanna test this baby out!"

Once everyone was outside, only then could they see the reason why the zombies didn't seem to be coming after them.

Daren and Scott seemed to be trailing a whole load of them, slowly firing at them. Daren had a pretty weak weapon and Scott only seemed to have his sniper available to him. Vivian, seeing her opportunity, quickly pulled back the drawstring on the bow. Steading her (somewhat) shaky aim, she took a deep breath and released the drawstring.

The arrow flew across the courtyard, with almost expert precision, and it exploded upon contact with a zombie, killing off a large majority of the group. Both Daren and Scott appeared surprised and looked to see Vivian with a smug grin on her face, leaning almost casually against the Bow. "You're welcome!"

/ / /

The horde seemed almost endless, with no pause or break in sight. Samantha kept them coming, no matter how many they decimated, no matter how many died, they kept coming.

Perhaps this is what she changed. Send the hordes out in massive swarms, and then let them have a break for a few hours, letting them prepare for the next one. Or maybe it was so she could prepare her undead hordes. After all, you could only create so many zombies before having to find more.

That was just Vivian's deduction, however, and not actual proven science.

Whilst the rest of the boys went out to search for pieces of the shield and the DG4 Ragnarok, as well as finding the pieces and completing the steps for the other bows, Vivian worked on feeding the souls to the vases hidden throughout Der Eisendrache. The Kreema'ahm la Ahmahm (or better known as the Lightning or Storm Bow) was the bow she knew entirely off by heart. The others she generally struggled with but she managed to remember all the steps for them. She saw Tank moving around once or twice with the Ghost Wolf ahead of him.

The wall running was the most fun part for her, being able to simply float in the air, allowing for gravity (or lack thereof) to simply carry her. Zero gravity could work wonders on the human mind, relieving it of stress (even if only for a moment).

Seeing that she had a moment, Vivian tested the bow, pulling it back fully and letting it touch the vase. The tip of the arrow suddenly sparked with electricity and she quickly ran out of the bell tower room and, before any zombies could crawl over the ledge, fired the arrow at the burning tornado, creating a mic of flames and lightning. Nodding, Vivian then took off towards the weather vane. Taking the broken arrow, she set it on the ground where she had first picked the pieces up when she started the bow. A purple mist surrounded the pieces and they floated up towards the vane, which was engulfed in a mic of flames and bolts of lightning, and she watched as the arrow came together to form a single piece. It floated back down to her and she plucked it from the air.

Amazing, she thought. And to think that, for once, it wasn't evil or dark spirits that were doing these things. It was the friendly spirits of the ancients.

Now ready to complete the final step, Vivian dashed through the power room, through the Computer Room, and down the stairs and into the ancient tomb, where she saw everyone else was already beginning to collect souls on their bows. That's probably why she had a sudden lack of Zombies; Samantha had been sending them to everyone else!

Daren spotted his friend and he quickly addressed her, "What took you so long?!"

Holding out the bow and the arrow, the chest opened and the two items were taken from her, as if grabbed by an invisible hand, and they hovered over the chest. She cocked her RPK and began to fire at the zombies that started to attack her. "Y'all crowded down here; I had no zombies for the vase sacrifices!"

"Can't help that we're quicker than you!"

"Shut up, Tank!"

No more words were exchanged. No more words could be exchanged. Everyone was far too occupied in gathering souls for their Bows. It seemed that Samantha upped the ante on the zombies as they could hardly even catch a break to reload their weapons. She also somehow managed to up the mount of souls needed for the bows; Vivian had been keeping count and they had all passed the average required amount. Was the damn kid trying to kill them all?

Well, of course, but why would she try killing them this way? Why not when they were all separated, and when Vivian didn't have Near Death Experience ready?

Unless she was just trying to tire them out, wanting to remind them all who was in charge and in power. Who could kill them with a single snap of her fingers, if she so wished. But no, she wanted to fucking play her games, to torture them, make them endure suffering that no human should ever have to endure.

It was more than enough for Vivian to get worked up and completely pissed off.

However, before she could fully act upon her anger, an extremely loud sound, almost like a groan, went off making most of them cover their ears in pain. At once, all the remaining zombies died, taking most of them by surprise.

They all were completely out of breath, the tomb filled with pants and wheezes. Guns clinged and magazines clattered to the floor, everyone (although being somewhat exhausted) full of energy and waiting for the next horde to arrive.

But no such thing came.

Daren sniffed and wiped at his nose, which was runny from the cold, damp underground. "Well, that was anticlimactic."

"Shut up, Daren..." She said.

/ / /

Everyone lounged around the main computer room, huddled around the giant fire in the fireplace. Thanks to some spare wood they found around the map, as well as Tank's matches, Nikolai was able to get a fire going while everyone carried out food from the main storage area in the castle. Although the food was rather plain, at least they were able to have bigger meals compared to a single can of beans. And it was warm, which was a bonus.

Edward, who had long since finished his own meal, scrubbed at his blood-soaked arms. "I am in desperate need of a shower..." He muttered.

Tank scoffed. "Good luck finding one, Richtofen. Maybe while you're at it you could find us a fucking unicorn."

Edward stood from the floor, his knees cracking as if in protest. "Although I cannot find you a unicorn, Dempsey, I can certainly find you a shower. Heaven knows you need it."

Scott looked up in shock. "Wait, you're kidding!"

Edward smirked and shook his head. "Nein, my friend." He then gestured with his hand for them to follow. "Come, allow me to show you."

Scott was the only one to react instantly, and it took everyone else a few moments to follow along. They all really wanted to see for themselves if there really were showers, and if they'd actually have a full, proper cleaning.

/ / /

It was deeper into the castle that the shower area was. There was several of them, meant for a large group of people (most likely the people who had worked at this station). Each shower had its own set of cleaning products, soap and all! Edward approached one shower, tapping at the showerhead. "They had installed their own water system here, so the workers could stay clean. It also has its own heating system."

Edward turned the dial and water instantly came out, steam rising from it. Everyone looked at each other, excitement clearly written on their faces.

Vivian looked around the large room, seeing that there was no covers of sorts. It was a completely open room, and she gathered that it was because men had worked at the station and not women. She cleared her throat and rubbed at her arms (which were beginning to feel scratchy from the blood coating them). "Y'all can shower first, I'll shower once you guys are done."

"We can wait." Daren offered.

She quickly turned on her heel. Lord knew that a 'Canadian Standoff" as she called it (in which two or more Canadians battled for the right for the other person to go first, or have the privilege of doing something or being the most polite etc) would last forever. "I'm already gone!"

/ / /

Vivian carefully walked down the stairs, as if being heard would result in something bad. Really, it wouldn't, but she didn't want to go barreling down the stairs to find a naked man still down there. It was hard to hear if a shower was still going and the moist smell of steam along with soaps still lingered in the air, making it harder still.

She peeked around the corner and sighed in relief to see that nobody was showering still. Most of the men had made it known to her that they were done, but people like Takeo, Edward and Tank just went off without letting her know. so she had to be careful.

Satisfied that nobody was in the shower room, Vivian quickly stripped out of her clothes and hung them over a shower head, not wanting for them to get wet. Taking the shower next to it, Vivian turned the dial and water poured from the shower head, and she tested it to make sure it wouldn't scald her as soon as she stepped under it. Lukewarm, which was perfect! Satisfied that she wouldn't get burned, she ducked under the water, shivering slightly from the contact. She then groaned as the warm water washed over her, rinsing off the several days, weeks, of sweat, dirt and blood. The water ran slightly murky as it creeped towards the drain and she shuddered to think that that much dirt had accumulated on her skin and in her hair.

She ran her fingers through her hair, turning in the shower so she could crane her head back comfortably so the water would run down her back rather than over her face. She then grabbed the soaps and the brush and started scrubbing along her body, scrubbing off the remaining dried blood, creating a deep clean. God, this felt amazing!

Because she was so caught up in getting rinsed off, she was unable to hear that someone else had entered the shower room and had removed their clothing as well. She was also unable to hear them approaching her.

Vivian went to grab what she assumed was the shampoo but jumped and nearly squealed as she felt hands coming to rest over her breasts, giving them a slight squeeze. "Guess who?"

Tank chuckled as she let out a relieved breath, kissing her shoulder. "Sorry to startle you, kitten."

"My eyes are up here, Tank..." She said, a small grin on her lips.

Another kiss to her shoulder. "I know."

She leaned her head back against his chest as his hands traveled down further, slowly, almost as if trying to tease her. "Tank... here?"

"Mhm. Problem?"

"What if someone saw?"

"And why would they come back down to the showers?"

He had a point there. Despite that they were still technically out in the open, she relaxed herself a bit more and Tank continued to let his hands travel along her body and she shivered in response, slowly losing herself to the sensations.

They had time to themselves, and although there was risk to being caught, they still had some good privacy in the showers. Tank knew this, but he still had to make sure nobody saw him go back down or people would've been suspicious.

His deft fingers slipped between her legs and she moaned in response, her lips parting slightly as she gasped. "God, Tank!"

The Marine licked at her neck, gently nipping at the soft flesh there. "Just relax, baby..."


NOTES: I have decided to end the chapter here as there WILL be smut coming up and I know some people are here for the action aspect of this story and most likely not the romance. The smut will be an entirely separate chapter and no I will not be posting it ONLY to AO3, Imma post it here too. I just wanted to keep the smut separate in case some people didn't wanna read it and end up having to skip over it to get to the next sequence. Anyways, I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter!