Before the sun was up, Scarlett, Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow, Priest, Weaver, and Kitty were strapped into their seats. Wild Bill was flying them out in one of the quietest aircraft Weaver had ever ridden in. Wild Bill called it a Falcon Glider.

They all listened closely to Scarlett's instruction. "Our intel shows that Duke's captors were none other than the Dreadnoks. Not only do they have him, but they've already taken him to the swamp."

Priest and Weaver shot each other a look. They knew who the Dreadnoks were, and all about the swamp. A god bit of Joes had gone in there before, and hadn't come out.

"We don't think he's made it to their base yet, which means he could be anywhere." Scarlett explained. "Me and the ninjas are going to head straight for the base, make a diversion. You and Priest will take Kitty, and find Duke."

They nodded. Kitty barked.

Wild Bill managed to find a clearing big enough to hover down. Parachutes were unnecessary. Scarlett tossed Weaver a shirt in a zip lock bag, and just like that, the three of them were gone.

Priest scanned the horizon as Wild Bill left, promising to come back at the agreed extraction time. "I don't get what all the fuss is about. I get that the Dreadnoks are tough in groups, but at the end of the day, they're just a biker gang. As long as they don't all come at us at once, we'll be fine."

"You can stop trying to calm me down." Weaver said, holding the shirt out to Kitty, who thoroughly memorized the scent.

As soon as the shirt was taken away, Kitty stuck his nose to the ground, briskly walking towards the tree line. Priest had seen the dog do this many times, but never quite got used to how fast he managed to do it.

Weaver trotted behind Kitty, giving him space to work, but keeping him in her sight. Priest followed, but tried to focus more on checking for traps and listening for any Dreadnoks.

Kitty leads them through mud, around cliffs, and down towards a ravine. When he got to the edge, he leaned off, sniffed, and then sat down.

Weaver groaned, "Down the fucking ravine? Fucking really?"

Priest took off his backpack, pulling out his paracord and tying one end around a tree. He hooked the other end to his vest. Weaver followed suit, but she had to clip Kitty's vest to hers so she could climb down with Kitty hanging off of the front of her vest. They climbed down the edge of the ravine, slowly, carefully, one inch at a time.

At the bottom, they unhooked themselves, and Kitty put his nose to the ground again. He walked down, further into the ravine. Weaver followed, idly wondering if Dreadnoks were watching from above.

Priest instructed her to follow Kitty, but to stay close to the edge, under a small overhang that might be just big enough to hide them from any prying eyes.

Kitty lead them to the mouth of what seemed to be a small tunnel, waiting patiently for them to catch up. Priest shook his head, "I don't think we should go in."

"Duke is in there." Weaver insisted.

"I know." Priest whispered. "But so are Dreadnoks. I don't think we should go in. I can try to draw them out by making a commotion. I'll lead them off, and you and Kitty slip in."

"What if they don't follow you?" Weaver hissed, "Or if only two or three follow you, but there's a dozen in there?"

"I'd rather take that chance than just rushing in blindly." Priest argued.

Weaver sighed, "Alright, let's do it."

Weaver took Kitty, pulling him behind a rock as Priest started shouting for Duke. "Duke! Duke! Your rescue party is here! Duke?"

Almost instantly, about six Dreadnoks rushed out of the cave. Priest didn't waste any time in running for his life, and each and every one of the Dreadnoks followed him. She waited until they were out of sight, and then followed Kitty into the cave.

She almost slipped on the slimy ground, but managed to keep her footing by keeping one hand on Kitty. The further they went in, the more burned out cigarettes and broken beer bottles she saw. She could barely smell weed under all the cigarette smoke. No wonder all these thugs just rushed out at the first sound of a Joe. They were high as fuck.

Kitty picked his nose off of the ground, and bounded forward, barking his head off while pointing his nose at one particular crate. Weaver stepped in front of him, lightly tapping on the crate, "Duke?"

Something moved inside the crate, and the sound of a boot thumping against the wood was one of the loudest sounds Weaver had heard. She jumped back, looking around wildly for a crowbar, or a pipe, or a saw. Seeing nothing, she groaned, hoping Priest was doing better than her.

WITH PRIEST

Priest panted, falling onto the ground as the last Dreadnok fell. All six of them, scatted around him. Two dead from the blood soaked knife in his hand, one dead from being tossed head first into a rock, one with a broken neck, and two dead by three bullets from his gun.

He let himself lay down, staring up at the cloudy sky. His breathing felt like an earthquake in his chest as he gasped, the heat of the swamp settling over him like a thick blanket.

"Fucking… shit." He mumbled, closing his eyes.

WITH WEAVER

"I'll get you out." Weaver promised, pushing bags and tarps aside to find anything useful. After moving a tarp aside, she found a sledge hammer. She grinned at first, finding triumph in it, but it quickly turned to a look of disgust when she grabbed the handle, and saw that blood was nearly caked onto it.

She had to stop herself from gagging as she lifted it up, and swung it at the edge of the crate. The wood shattered, and there was a muffled grunt from inside. Weaver tore the edge away, and nearly screamed when she saw Duke.

Half of his face was covered in blood, his legs were twisted in an impossible way, and his breathing was so labored Weaver feared that he would faint. She was to afraid of all the blood soaking through his pants to try and pull him out by his legs, so she reached around him, and cut through the ropes that had been tying his wrists together. He slumped forward, mumbling something unintelligible through his gag.

She quickly cut the gag away as well, "Duke, can you walk?"

He groaned, and tried to move his leg, but the shin flopped to the side. Weaver took a deep breath, "Don't worry, we'll get you out."

Her mind drifted to the ravine edge, and knew that there was no way she or Priest could get Duke out without hurting him more.

So, she ran out of the cave, and took a small metal box, no bigger than a cigarette box, out of her bag, and twisted the knob to the right, activating the distress signal. "I sure as hell hope that Wild Bill can land a Sky Striker down here."

WITH PRIEST

An annoying beeping sound woke Priest up. He reached into his back pack, and pulled out the distress signal that they all had. Someone had activated theirs. "Fucking… damn it Weaver."

He stumbled to his feet, and took off towards Weaver.

WITH WEAVER

Dragging Duke out was the most painful thing Weaver had ever done. Ever tiny bump or hole made him groan with pain, curse, or even scream.

She had grabbed him by his underarms, dragging him along the ground behind her as gently as possible, but it didn't seem to help much. Regardless, she managed to get him out into the open area of the ravine, when Priest jogged up. At the sight of Duke, he nearly vomited. "What the hell…"

"They beat him with a sledge hammer." Weaver managed to whisper. Upon sensing her unease, Kitty nuzzled Weaver's side, offering comfort.

Priest chuckled as the Sky Striker came into sight. "Your dog is a god send."

Snake Eyes and Scarlett jumped out of the Sky Striker, helping to load Duke on.

Weaver held Kitty on her lap, burying her face in his fur coat so that no one would see her crying. It didn't seem to help, because Priest rested his hand on her shoulder, "It's over now."

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