Thanks for all the kind reviews! And thanks to CosmicGunslinger for the edits. Enjoy this chapter!
"I'll search up here," Lara said, as they dispatched a lone biter in a bedroom. "You guys can search downstairs."
When Lara was alone she put her hands on her hips and looked around the room. They had resumed searching the houses again, though they had only found one more tube of ointment. She was tempted to just head back with the two tubes. It was late afternoon, and it would be too difficult to find any more. Every hour she was away from the camp made her more and more anxious about Mathias being the effective leader of the resort.
Lara chewed on the inside of her cheek as she thought about it. Roth might be fine without the medicine, and there was enough back at the resort to cure him if it came to it. Vladimir and his runners could find some more the next time they went for a supply run, so they could return to the resort now.
Lara sighed and started searching the bedroom. Those scavengers probably had medicine, it would have been easy to just kill them. Roth had forbade anyone from killing others for their supplies though, and Lara didn't want to kill anyone unless it was necessary.
There was nothing of use in these drawers. What had she hoped to find in here? Definitely not medicine. Maybe there was something else that could be useful?
This room was painted baby blue and the anime posters plastered over the walls suggested it belonged to a child. Lara found a roll of duct tape in one of the drawers, a packet of playing cards, a bag of chips in a wardrobe and, disturbingly, a switch blade under the bed.
Lara took them all. She could use the duct tape and playing cards to fletch her arrows and she could give the blade to Sam.
As she was about to leave the room, she spotted an Instax camera on the drawer next to the door. Lara picked it up and blew off the dust covering it. It didn't look old or broken, though she wondered if it still worked.
Lara pressed a button and was satisfied to hear a click and a piece of film slide out of the top. A picture of the bedroom was slowly developing on the film and she threw it on the floor.
Sam would like this, she thought. She wanted to be a videographer, didn't she? Although that wasn't possible anymore, maybe this would be a nice surprise.
Lara looked around the drawer in which she found it and spotted an extra packet of film. After that, she went downstairs, hoping that Sam would like the gift.
"Find anything upstairs?" Sam asked her. She was looking through the kitchen.
"A few things," Lara said. The camera was behind her back and she was suddenly nervous. Was this a stupid idea?
Lara looked around, realising that they were missing one person. "Where's Alex?" she asked.
"He went back to the mechanic's across the street," she said. "He said he remembered that he needed a few tools."
Lara frowned. Was that wise?
Then again, he was just across the street, and they had cleared the place out before. It also gave her a chance to speak with Sam alone.
She cleared her throat and Sam looked up at her. "Hey so…" she presented the camera to Sam shyly. "I found this upstairs. I'm…not sure if you're still interested, but I thought you might like it."
Sam took the Instax from her hand, a small smile on her face. "Does it still work?" she asked.
"Yes," Lara said, relaxing ever so slightly. "I found some film as well."
Sam looked through the eyepiece and took a few steps back. Lara folded her arms and watched her curiously. "Are you taking my picture?" she asked.
"Smile, sweetie," Sam grinned.
Lara raised an eyebrow, not moving.
There was a click as Sam took the picture. "I've always wanted one of these," she told her as she took the picture out of the top. "I was about to buy one actually, before shit went down."
"It's quite an expensive hobby," Lara said.
"Yeah but everyone would have loved it. I would have started a new trend and maybe could have become the school's unofficial photographer."
"Maybe," Lara smiled. Sam had been one of the cool girls back in school, and Lara could definitely see her getting everyone into buying expensive Polaroids.
"Wow, this is so you," Sam said, walking over to her.
Lara felt her cheeks warm as she looked at the picture. One eyebrow was raised and the edge of her lips were curled up as if she were amused. Her collar was dishevelled, her face was dusted with dirt and her hair was messy in its ponytail.
"Okay, that's not a good picture." She tried to take it but Sam pulled it out of her reach.
"Aww, I think you look cute," she grinned, waving the photo in front of her.
"Sam!" She was sure her face was even redder from that comment. She made a grab for it again but Sam skipped out of her reach. "Look, just give that back and I'll pose for a proper photo."
"I think I'm happy with this one." Lara glared at her. "But if you really want it," she tucked the photo into her bra and winked, "Come get it."
Lara covered her face with a hand. She hated Sam at that moment and she hated how red she must have been. "Fine," she grumbled, lowering her hand, "You win."
"Aww, don't look so glum," Sam said. She walked over to her and wrapped an arm around her waist. She lifted the camera in front of them. "Smile."
Lara did this time as she didn't want another bad photo. The film slid out the top and Sam plucked it out.
"Hey guys?!" Lara looked back and strode out of the kitchen. Alex ran into the house, looking dishevelled. "I umm…might have released a few dozen biters. We might want to leave."
"What?" Lara and Sam exclaimed at the same time.
Alex was already rushing out the back door. "If we hop over the fences we could lose them easily," he said.
Lara looked back and saw a biter enter the house, but could hear several more behind it. She cursed and followed Alex out of the house.
Alex and Sam were already pulling themselves over a fence. Lara ran up to it and vaulted over neatly.
There were two biters in this backyard, waiting for them as they climbed over. Lara drew her axe and dispatched one of them before it had a chance to grab her. She pushed the body onto the other one that was coming at her and then finished it off as it stumbled back.
"What happened?" Sam said when they were safely over.
"Shh!" Lara hissed, gripping the axe. There were growls on the other side of the fence and a moment later she could hear banging and scratching. "Come on," she said.
Lara walked over to the side gate and tugged on it. It was locked with a padlock, and although Alex could probably pick it, she didn't want to spend a minute waiting while there were biters banging on the other side of the fence.
Instead, Lara grabbed the door mat from the backyard and draped it over the fence's pointed spikes. Then she climbed up and pulled herself over carefully.
"Come on, guys." She turned around and kept an eye on the road as Sam and Alex climbed over the fence. The sun was starting to set, and they needed to find a safe house to stay in for tonight.
Lara led the way down the street and into a house which seemed empty. Luckily for them, it was, and she quickly decided that this would be where they would stay for tonight.
Alex had accidently drawn the attention of several biters at the garage whilst he was deconstructing the place for engine parts and tools. Lara could have smacked him upside the head for his foolishness. However, he did manage to find a clean roll of gauze in a first aid kit which had fallen down so it wasn't all for naught.
With a new roll of bandages and one tube of ointment, Lara decided they would head back in the morning. It wasn't much, but hopefully it would suffice until Vladimir and his runners went on their supply run.
There was a modern fireplace in this house, which would be good for staving off the cold. Lara and Alex quickly set to breaking down random wooden furniture and finding paper to use as fuel while Sam searched the house for anything useful.
The sun hadn't set yet when they got the fire going. Alex started heating up some cans of food they brought and Lara gathered some empty cans and strung them up across the balcony. For an extra precaution, she pushed the nearby dresser against the door.
"What do you think's going to happen when we get back?" Alex asked quietly.
Lara glanced at him then went to sit near the fire for warmth. "Hopefully Roth is fine and Mathias hasn't taken over the camp," she said tiredly. Reyes was there as well, and hopefully she would call Mathias out before he did anything drastic.
Alex frowned. "Do you think he would really do that?"
"Not directly. But he will gain influence and it will be easier for others to listen to him in the future."
Alex contemplated that as he chucked another chair leg into the fire place. "Would that really be bad, L.C? I mean, Mathias is a good surgeon and he seems to be organized and able."
Lara glared at him. "He's brutal, Alex," she said, annoyed that he would even consider something like that. "He doesn't help people. It would be a dictatorship, and those who fall behind will be killed. It's his belief in 'survival of the fittest'. Do you really want that?"
Alex flushed and looked away. "No, I guess not," he murmured quietly.
Lara sighed and leaned back against the couch. She would talk to Roth again when she got back, and hopefully he would do something about it.
"Well, the food is done," Alex announced. "You should go get Sam before I eat her share."
Lara stood and walked out towards the backyard where she had seen Sam go a while back. The rain had been reduced to a drizzle which fell lightly against the windows.
"Sam?" she said, opening the door to the backyard.
Sam had her new Instax out, taking a picture of a dead tree, which was silhouetted by the afternoon light.
"Hey," Lara said, walking over to her, "Dinner's ready."
"Just…" Lara watched Sam try several different angles of the tree. The scene was beautiful, but she didn't understand why it was necessary to take a picture of it.
Eventually Sam sighed and straightened. "It's too dark," she said sadly. "I wouldn't be able to get a good picture."
"I'm sure you'll find other muses," Lara said.
Sam turned to her and grinned. "Like you? You would make a fabulous model."
Lara blushed and shook her head. "You already have a picture of me. Two actually. I'm not doing it again."
Sam looked behind her and gasped. "Oh my god!" she whispered.
Lara turned and saw a bunny gnawing at the grass growing by the wall. She unhooked her bow. "Good find," she said, drawing an arrow.
Sam slapped her arm. "Don't kill it!" she hissed.
Lara lowered her bow. "We need to eat."
"We have food," she said, and slowly approached it, keeping low on the ground.
"Hey buddy," she cooed, making light kissing noises, "Hey…" The bunny froze and stared at her as she approached. "I'm not going to hurt you."
"Sam, what are you doing?" Lara whispered.
"Shhh!" She knelt down in front of the rabbit slowly and extended her hand. It leaned forward and sniffed it curiously. Sam reached up and petted it carefully on the forehead.
Lara watched as Sam carefully picked it up in her arms, stroking it gently. She was impressed that she managed not to scare it away, but it was still dinner, no matter what. They could use the extra protein.
"Sam, you know it's going to end up as dinner," she said.
"Shhh!" she hissed, covering the rabbit's long ears. "Don't say that in front of Mr Rabbit."
Lara raised her eyebrows. "You named it?"
Sam took her hand off its ears. "First of all it's a 'he' and second of all, yes. He's very cute," she said, smiling down at it. "He reminds me of the toy rabbit I had as a kid." She perked up. "Oh! Can you take a picture of us?" Sam asked.
Lara stared at her flatly. "Really?"
"Yes!" She pouted. "Come on Lara, pleeeeease?"
Lara sighed and picked up the Instax from where Sam had dropped it. She took a few steps back to take the picture.
Sam touched her nose to the rabbit's and the rabbit twitched its ear. Lara felt a smile tug at her lips as she took the picture and she had to admit that it was really cute. For that sake alone she wanted to keep the rabbit just so she could see Sam being so adorable.
Sam bounded over to her and looked at the photo. "Oh my god you're so cute aren't you?" she exclaimed, lifting the rabbit up again. "You're so fluffy!"
Lara smiled as she watched Sam gush about the rabbit. God, she hadn't seen anyone this enthusiastic about anything in a long time. It was infectious, and it made Sam absolutely glow.
She was beautiful, the way her features lit up when she talked about anything and everything. She loved the way she was cuddling with the fluffy bunny right now.
"Don't we look cute Lara?" Sam asked her.
Lara was looking at Sam. "Yes," she answered quietly.
She had answered so softly that Sam looked at her. Their eyes met for a second and Lara instantly looked away, feeling blood rise to her cheeks. Her eyes landed on Mr Rabbit and she latched onto it.
"Umm…uhh yeah!" she exclaimed awkwardly, leaning down to scratch the rabbit behind its ears. "You're very cute, aren't you?" The rabbit fidgeted in discomfort and bit at her fingers.
Lara pulled her hand back and Sam laughed. "Looks like he's going to eat you first," she remarked.
Lara glared at her but she was relieved that Sam didn't comment on her slip up. She put the Instax back in Sam's bag and stood again.
"We should get back to Alex," she said. "So the rabbit is either dinner or you can let it go."
Sam pouted at her and looked at the rabbit sadly. She knelt down and put the bunny on the floor. It hopped back to the grass at the fence and Lara sighed. That would have been a good addition to her dinner.
She felt a light peck on her cheek and turned to see Sam smiling at her. "Thanks," she said coyly. "You didn't have to humour me, but you did anyways."
Lara blushed and cleared her throat. "Yes, well," she said, scratching the back of her neck. "Let's go before I change my mind."
They headed back to the car and drove back to the resort as soon as the sun came up. Sam took the wheel this time while Lara sat in the seat next to her and Alex in the back.
"So when do you want these lock picking lessons, L.C?" Alex asked, leaning forward.
Lara shrugged. She was staring outside the window, watching the English fields past by. "Whenever you're not busy," she said.
"Cool, cool," Alex nodded. "How about tomorrow then?"
Sam resisted the urge to snort as she drove. Poor Alex. He clearly had a major crush on Lara but she seemed too oblivious to notice. He was cute, she guessed, and a nice guy, and maybe Lara would have gone for him before all this.
But would she have? There was that moment they had back in that house. She heard what Lara had said, about who exactly was cute.
Lara had always been private about her love life, so there could be a chance she was into girls. They had been getting rather close as of late, and maybe there was a chance Lara had feelings for her?
Nah.
Lara had told her before that she wasn't interested in a relationship. This was probably just their friendship, as they had been closer than most girls back in school.
She missed the end of that conversation but Alex seemed happy in the rear view mirror. Lara must have accepted, but she still seemed as indifferent as ever.
They arrived back at the resort in quick time. One of the guards opened the gate for them and Sam drove the car back into the parking lot. Lara and Alex headed for the infirmary immediately and Sam followed them, not quite sure where else to go.
She hoped Roth was fine. He was a nice man once you got to know him and Lara cared for him a lot.
Roth was sitting in the infirmary, Alisha at his side. His arm was in a sling but he seemed better. He and Alisha were talking about plants or something when they walked in. They were quite close, Sam noted, not as close as Lara was with Roth but they still hung out a lot. That was to be expected though when you were dating the mum.
"Roth," Lara said. She strode over and hugged him. "I'm glad you're okay."
Roth smiled. "It takes more than a knife to bring me down, girl. Alisha's been keeping me company while I've been in here."
Alisha looked at them. "He won't stay still despite Mathias' orders," she told them. "He keeps going out and trying to help, even though he can't do anything with one arm." She stared at him as she said the last bit.
"I need to keep everyone calm," he protested. "Mathias has been doing a good job, but I need to help."
Sam noticed Lara was frowning. She knew her feelings on the surgeon as she had been quite vocal about her displeasure in Bath.
"Anyway, how was your mission?" Roth asked.
Lara glanced back at them. "Not as well as we'd hoped…" she said, looking back. "We didn't find much, and I didn't feel comfortable being away for too long so we came back."
Alex bought out the two tubes of antibacterial ointment and the roll of gauze from his backpack.
"I suppose that will do," Roth sighed. "We'll need to have another supply run soon."
"How are things here?" Alex asked. "Were there any more attacks?"
"Everyone is on edge," Roth told them. "We've had no more attacks, but no one is going to be at ease until Vlad comes back and confirms that the rest have been killed. Mathias has reinforced the fences, secured the border, and posted more guards."
"You just let him do this?" Lara asked.
Roth gave Lara a patient look. "He ran everything by me first. He's done well dealing with the fallout. Would you have done differently if you were here?"
Lara was silent but Sam could tell she was simmering on the inside. She understood why she was mad: leaving Mathias with all this control would just cement the people's trust in him.
Personally, Sam didn't see why Mathias was so bad. He was a little creepy, but he seemed like a decent leader who would keep them alive. Roth trusted Mathias anyways, so Lara just seemed paranoid and jealous. But Lara must have known something that she didn't.
There was a knock on the door and Jonah walked in. "Vladimir and the others are back," he said. He looked worried. "But…they've brought the bandits back with them."
Roth was confused. "I thought they were going to eliminate them when they found them," he said. "Why did they bring them back?"
Sam followed them outside. People were stopping their tasks and heading towards the central area, where Vlad and his runners were unloading several people from the pickup truck. There were three men, all beaten and subdued, two women and a little boy. Someone dragged the thief which Sam had fought and dumped him next to his friends.
He looked horrible - his face was bloodied and both his eyes were swollen. He could barely move - he just lay there motionless on the ground as his friends stared at him in horror. What did Dmitri do to him?
Their hands were bound behind their backs and there was duct tape on their mouths. One of the women looked sick and pale, whilst the rest looked scared. There was one man with a rough beard whose eyes were hard and defiant.
Sam stood close to Lara, nervous about what was happening.
The tension in the camp was palpable. It reminded Sam of Swindon, where the tension between the militia and the people slowly erupted. First it was in small incidents; a fight here, a soldier or citizen killed there. Then, it just blew up in a full out revolt, where gunshots and screams echoed throughout the city.
Mathias appeared and walked over to where the people were being forced to their knees. He held a gun in one hand, and his expression was as cold as the air. Sam glanced at Lara, who was still as stone.
"These people," Mathias began, pacing, his voice resonating throughout the camp, "Came to our homes, and tried to steal from us. One of our friends died, because of them," he pointed at the bandits. "We cannot let this go unpunished, can we?"
Several people in the crowd murmured in agreement. What was happening?
Mathias stopped behind the thief, who was still lying on the floor, barely conscious. "Let this be a lesson to anyone who wishes to harm us."
He put the gun at the man's head and fired.
Sam flinched at the sound. No one else in the crowd reacted, save for some grim smiles.
What was this? Why was Mathias killing these people in front of them?
The rest of the bandits started struggling against their bindings, but Vlad and his brother kept them quiet with a rough kick. The boy had started sobbing quietly, his head bowed.
This was insane. It was cruel, excessively so. Why was Mathias doing this?
"Mathias!" Roth yelled, walking up to him. Lara followed him as well. "What are you doing?"
Mathias turned towards Roth, a calm fire burning through him. "Giving them what they deserve," he said evenly. "They killed Grimm. Don't you want them to pay?"
"Not like this," Roth hissed.
"This is cruel, Mathias," Lara growled. "You should have killed them at their camp, not brought them back here."
Mathias looked at Lara. His next words were too quiet to hear from this distance but Lara's jaw tightened and her eyes narrowed.
Mathias smirked - it was the smallest turn of the lips, the subtle crinkle of his cheek, but he smirked. "Well they are here now," he said, louder so the whole camp could hear. "Would you rather let them go?" He turned to the crowd. "Is that what you want? To let them go?"
A few people shifted uncomfortably, maybe five, but most of them started muttering in dissent.
"They need to die, Roth," someone said. Sam recognised her as Bethany. She hadn't talked to her much, but she seemed nice enough. "They tried to steal from us and they killed Grimm."
"Kill them!" Charlie said. "Don't let these fuckers go!"
Lara and Roth looked at the crowd, pained, and Sam felt for them. She realised what Mathias was doing - what Lara had been worried about all trip.
Mathias had told Vlad to bring the people back alive. He knew that Roth wouldn't want to see people killed in their home ground and that he would protest. And in protesting, he would seem weak, whilst Mathias appealed to the crowd.
This public execution was sending a message to someone, but it wasn't anyone who might attack them- it was to the people of the camp.
He had power. He had force. And he would kill anyone who stood in his way.
And in doing that he had swung several people over to his side.
Roth gritted his teeth and turned to Mathias. "Fine," he said. "Kill them."
Mathias presented the gun to him. "Would you like to do the honours?" he asked with his same expressionless face. "Our leader should be seen making the hard choices."
"Roth…" Jonah muttered next to her.
"Is he actually going to do it?" Alisha asked, a tremble in her voice.
The bastard. Now he was making Roth partake in the cruelty with him. If he wouldn't, he would appear a coward, but if he did, he would be violating his morals and possibly lose respect from the people who were still loyal to him.
Roth took the gun with a stony expression. He looked at the people kneeling down before him. Lara was standing behind him and looked frustrated. She muttered something to him but Roth didn't turn around and pulled the trigger on the next man.
Alisha turned away from the scene next to her. Sam looked at her and put a hand on her shoulder, not wanting to look either. Alisha flinched with every gunshot and she had closed her eyes. There were maybe two other children here, and she wondered how they were feeling watching this.
Sam counted five gunshots and then silence. She looked back up and saw Roth motionless behind the child. His teeth were clenched tight that she could see his jawbone, and Sam thought his hand was trembling. The young boy was crying freely, his eyes squeezed tight shut.
There was a silence in the camp as everyone waited to see what he would do.
"Come on then!" Charlie yelled.
He's just a kid, Sam thought with a heavy heart. What the fuck is wrong with Mathias?
"Hesitating, Conrad?" Mathias asked. Sam could hear the smugness in his voice from here.
Roth looked up at him with a steely glare. The gun didn't move from behind the boy's head, and the sobs rang ten times louder in the silence.
He didn't want to do it, Sam could tell, but he had to if he wanted to keep control.
Lara snatched the gun from his hand. BANG!
The sobs stopped, and the camp was still.
Lara lowered her arm and looked at Vladimir and his brothers, who seemed equally as surprised by the event. "Get this cleaned up," she demanded. "Bury them. Properly. Everyone else, get back to work!"
She tossed the gun back to Mathias and walked away.