Chapter 10 – Mind Games.
"Take a break guys, we're here". All six of the other travellers breathed a simultaneous sigh of relief as Knuckles made this statement. Cresting the slight rise he'd been travelling up, Shadow saw what the echidna had led them to and gave a low whistle.
"You build this yourself?" Knuckles nodded, a tinge of pride flavouring his tone as he answered,
"Yeah, I don't use it much but it should be safe for now. It'll be a squeeze, but it's better than being outside" he said, gazing at the small building he'd made with a firm nod. The low log structure had a wooden roof, made waterproof with tree resin, the cracks filled up with moss to prevent drafts. Everyone except Sonic and Tails, who had known of the shelter's existence even if they'd never actually visited it, complimented the echidna on his construction, even Rouge, well, in her own way at least.
"Nice digs Knucklehead; maybe those hands of yours can do more than just punch".
"That which destroys can also create" the echidna quoted, solemnly leading the group towards his shelter, ignoring the bat's sarcastic glance at the back of his head. There was a shuffle as Sonic strode forwards, clearly stamping his feet as he motioned to Knuckles,
"Yo red, the ground round the back clear as well?"
"Er, ye" Knuckles began, but by then it was too late; Sonic had simply taken off, covering the ground between them and the makeshift house in microseconds. There was simply a blur of movement as the hedgehog lapped the building nearly sixty times a second then simply reappeared in front of Knuckles, panting slightly but otherwise fine. The bemused looks he was getting simply encouraged his grin,
"Sorry, just had to let that out; two hours without a run, that's like torture". With an effort Knuckles suppressed a smile and simply walked past the hedgehog, calling behind him,
"Amy, control your boyfriend".
"Ah, my eyes, my eyes!" Tails mock-shrieked as the hedgehog's cheeks flamed and Shadow, Rouge and Nack let out a couple of snickers as Amy smiled, secretly wishing the echidna's words were true. Needing revenge, Sonic turned and hissed,
"Watch your mouth, dread-head". Rouge yawned to hide a smile; she'd have to remember that one as Knuckles paused for a second before giving a shudder and pressing on, refusing the opportunity to retaliate to the taunting hedgehog. Realising he wasn't going to provoke the echidna, Sonic sighed as his blush receded, watching as Shadow and Nack followed Knuckles into his shelter. Tails gave him an expectant look before moving on as Amy perked up, smiled slyly and said,
"Don't worry; he's only jealous he doesn't have one". The blue hedgehog shrugged before her words truly sunk in and he stuck his tongue out at her,
"And who said I did?"
"Aw, you love me really".
"You ain't gonna grind me down on this one Ames" the blue blur asserted, wagging a finger at the pink member of his species. Amy scowled again but then smiled,
"Drat, foiled again", she spoke in a villainous tone, "come on, let's get inside; you coming Rouge?"
"Hmm, er yeah, let's go". The question had caught the bat a bit off guard; for the oddest reasons, when Amy had mentioned about Knuckles being jealous, she'd felt a slight twinge of, of something inside herself. She mulled it over as she walked – what the hell could that have been?
Targets and protectors in building. Let the games begin.
The interior of the log building belied the fairly ramshackle outside; enough light leaked through small cracks in the wood to show off the qualities of the log house. It appeared to be simply two rooms, a large spacious area with a table and a single chair – there was that twinge again – and a door that led to a bedroom with a bed big enough for one echidna to fit on comfortably. Nack gave an appreciative whistle,
"Nice place".
"Thanks", Knuckles was shunting the table to one side of the room to maximise floor space, "don't use it much, but it's an okay retreat if I need it". Having finished his labours, he straightened and spoke up, scratching the back of his head,
"Right, this is going to be uncomfortable but it's the best I can do. Hands up if you've got a sleeping bag?" The quartet who had arrived on the Tornado raised their arms and Knuckles entwined his gloves, "good, that makes it a bit easier. I think the girls aught to take the bedroom and the rest in here; that's privacy taken care of".
"Sounds fine to me Knucks" Shadow said, his answer supported by Amy and Sonic. Rouge looked a little disproving, but as that was the way she always seemed to look at the echidna everyone let it lie. That was when Nack raised a question,
"Er, Knuckles…"
"Don't worry, you can sleep on the table".
"No, no, sleepin's fine as is", Nack gave a wry smile, "jus' wanted to know; where's the, er, restroom?"
If there was one instant, on infinitesimal second that Rouge could have pointed to and said 'I have self-control; this proves it', it would have been the second where she stopped herself cracking up helplessly as Knuckle's expression plummeted right through the floor. Sonic, of course, had fallen apart completely, Shadow was having to turn his back and pound a nearby wall while Amy shoulders were heaving with repressed laughter; even Nack chuckled as the echidna simply shuffled his feet and mumbled something about an outside building.
"So, so you're saying", Sonic managed to gasp, chest nearly bursting, "you built this b,beauty and forgot to make a,a,ahahahaha". He lost it again as Knuckles scrutinised the floor as though daring it to try and run away. Knuckles eventually looked up and Rouge was filled with triumph; he could blush, she could see the skin under his fur was red as a beetroot. Tails put his hand on the echidna's lower arm, trying to offer a crumb of support, but she reckoned it must have been hard when you were biting your glove to stop crumbling. She had another twinge but this time it was definitely obvious what of – you'd have to have a heart of solid stone not to feel a touch of pity for the poor chump. Shaking her head, she smiled at him; not a mocking grin but a small, supportive gesture to try and help him out; typical Knuckles, he either didn't notice or ignored her. Sometimes I don't know why I bother.
Did she smile at me? It didn't look like her normal shark smile – why isn't she plunging the knife in? Knuckles concealed his internal struggle by smothering it with shame; like it was difficult at this moment in time. In the history of Knuckle's life of embarrassments this one was right up there, just underneath realising he'd been played like a fiddle by Eggman during the Death Egg saga. Eventually, however, seriousness sort of reasserted itself and Knuckles realised this was potentially a serious problem; he'd better address it quickly, preferably before he asked the ground to swallow him up.
"Umm, okay, settle down, this is a big problem…"
"Ah, just drill a hole in the wall, we'll be fine" Nack grinned, going to light up a smoke but stopped by a clout on the back of the head by a none-too-pleased Amy. The pink hedgehog scowled,
"That's disgusting, and don't smoke in here; the building's wooden, one false spark and we'll be kipping out in the cold".
"He's right as well", Rouge was looking a little pensive, "Seraph isn't going to care too much about social niceties like privacy; if he can strike, he will. I suggest if one needs to go, someone goes with them and waits outside, just to be on the safe side. And anyway", she gave her traditional smile to Knuckles, "you can't expect Knuckles to think about sensible things like an inside loo; he is a knucklehead after all". This just set Sonic off again, though he was trying to apologise to the echidna when he could force air to stay in his lungs. Just as the guardian was thinking of if anyone would mind if he left Rouge out for Seraph, he noticed something.
"You O.K. Tails?"
What is it; there's something wrong in here but I can't see it. Come on, focus; just block out the noise and others and…hmmm, oh Knuckles. The echidna's question derailed his chain of thought as he realised he was being spoken to.
"Er, yeah fine". Unsurprisingly, no-one brought it, Sonic sobering almost immediately,
"What's up, little bro? Don't worry, we're not going to laugh at you; we've got Knuckles for that". The kit licked his lips as Knuckles ignored Sonic with no small amount of dignity. After another couple of seconds, he shook his head,
"No, it's not there. I just think something's up, but I can't say what; it's probably nothing". A hand pressed on his shoulder and Tails looked up to see Nack regarding him with a knowledgeable look. The weasel spoke carefully,
"Listen kid, always trust your gut – if you think something's wrong, chances are something is. Just give it time and you'll see it in the end". The fox weighed the statement up in his mind and eventually brightened up a bit as Shadow escorted Amy outside, the pink hedgehog complaining that the walk was finally getting to her. Immediately the fox realised there was something wrong there,
"Wait, you forgot the paper" he blurted out without thinking. Not even Rouge could help herself that time as everyone promptly and utterly cracked up.
"D,Damn, kid; thanks I needed that" Nack eventually said, wiping the tears from his eyes as the others sort of picked themselves off the floor. Tails himself had originally been embarrassed but the hysterics had been the worst, most contagious kind available and had afflicted him as well. As Amy and Shadow reappeared, the black hedgehog looking like he'd spent most of his supposed 'guard time' rolling on the floor laughing, there was a low growl from somewhere. Tails desperately tried to get through to Nack that his name was Tails while Shadow winced, holding his stomach.
"Man I need some juice; my belly thinks its throats been cut". That was true, it was pressing on towards mid-afternoon and he'd only had a cup of coffee all day. By unspoken agreement everyone dug into their packs for some food to share; Knuckles' observation that they should bring supplies having come in useful. Rouge casually sauntered towards the table, reaching for an apple and raising it to her mouth; she'd eat other food on occasion, but mostly you just couldn't beat a juicy bit of fruit.
Nah, it's still not there – Nack said trust it, so I'll keep looking. Hmm, wonder if I could bribe Sonic for half a chilli-dog. How can Shadow get by on just soup; I suppose it's the same as Rouge just eating…that's it! Quicker than a flash, Tails had dropped the bag of crisps he'd been about to open and rushed over to Rouge, slapping the apple out of her hands with a big sigh of relief. The bat's face darkened but before she could scold him, Tails turned to Knuckles, gabbling at top speed,
"Knuckles, when was the last time you were in here?" Not quite believing what he'd just seen, the echidna answered slowly, under the impression Tails was over-excited from the laughter they'd all just had.
"Umm, about a week ago; Tails, what…"
"That's it", the kit was right and subconsciously thanked Nack for not letting it drop, "you've been gone a week. In that case", he pointed at the table and the full fruit bowl, "who left the fruit there?"
Most observant. Rest now. Move at night
Silence pervaded the cabin as the fox's observation sank in; after a week, most fruit would have been mush; that had been done recently. No-one said the name but no-one needed to as Rouge kicked the fallen apple out the door before facing Tails.
"You little genius" she breathed, wondering how he'd managed to spot a detail as tiny as that and being all the more grateful for it. If that had been poisoned or drugged, she'd have simply gone under and nothing would have helped her. Without a word Sonic, who was closest, picked up the fruit bowl as if it were a time bomb, hurried to the door and simply chucked the offending comestibles out of it, face serious. The previously happy atmosphere was drained away as things turned deadly. The remainder of the day was spent devising guard duty for the night; there were seven, so it was decided that one Mobian could have a full night's sleep; after drawing straws, it was decided Amy was first (if Shadow realised Sonic used super speed to switch his straw with hers, he didn't let on). Just as dusk was falling, Knuckles, Nack and Tails went out to try and get some provisions for the morning; luckily, they came back unscathed with armloads of precious sweetberries and hickory nuts; there were groans of distaste at these bitter things, but these were quashed when Knuckles pointed out how good they were for you. As darkness descended, everyone began to bed down for the night and, by mutual agreement, Rouge and Shadow took first watch.
"Why did you say that earlier?" the hedgehog questioned when he was absolutely certain the others were all asleep. Rouge, not having the faintest clue what he was on about, looked suitably bamboozled until he added,
"You know, when you said that claptrap about Seraph wanting you alive so you jumped in the way". In the moonlight, Shadow's eyes were the only visible aspect of where the dark hedgehog actually was; even with her enhanced night sight Rouge really had to squint to pick him out.
"That wasn't claptrap it was true – if Seraph wanted Nack and I dead, he would have used that knife on Nack's back rather than just his gun strap". Rouge turned away, hoping against hope that he'd just let it drop. Shadow was silent for a few minutes and Rouge began to breathe a little easier, until, of course, he spoke again,
"Maybe", he partially conceded the point, "but that's not the whole truth is it? Be honest" he said at the last possible second, stifling her protests just before she built up a full head of steam. Wilting under his unnatural red-eyed gaze, the bat tried to deflect the question,
"What makes you think I'd do anything to help him?" To her surprise, Shadow started to laugh, eventually doubling over in a dry paroxysm of laughter, trying not to wake the others as Rouge flushed, grateful for the darkness concealing her shame.
"I trust you had a reason for that little outburst" she said quietly when he regained control. Shadow looked directly at her, eyes sparkling with mirth,
"You're asking me how I can tell? Me, who lives with Sonic 'I-don't-really-care-for-Amy-honest' Hedgehog and you ask how I can tell when Mobians actually care for each other under the surface?" the black hedgehog shrugged and then continued "and even if it wasn't for my training, as it were, throwing yourself in the way of a maniacal killer to protect someone is a pretty good indication you like them".
Two guards, one a target. Impossible to cover entire parameter; just guarding front entrance. Maniacal is an incorrect term – desensitised is closer.
Much as she tried to twist and squirm away from the issue, Rouge realised this was it; Shadow had pierced her façade of nonchalance and had the remorselessness necessary to grind the truth out of her. At least, worst come to worst, Shadow was discreet.
"I'd be lying if I said I didn't have feelings for him, but he's such a knucklehead, and anyway, it doesn't matter". An invisible eyebrow was raised,
"What makes you say that?"
"Um, let me fink", Rouge put on a quiet, yokel voice as she counted out on her fingers, "er, I tried to steal the Master Emerald more than once, I've been fighting him almost as long as I've known him, we constantly insult each other and he's …"
"Perfect", Shadow cut in and continued before she could retort, "face it Rouge, you like the guy, but you don't know if he likes you and you're afraid to ask". The last part wasn't accusing, merely factual but to Rouge it felt like someone had taken a whip to her ego. A large whip. Dipped in acid. Well, that was it; it was out now, nothing she could do about it. Only one thing for it,
"Fine, I like him, okay. Happy?", strangely, it actually felt good to say out loud what she'd kept inside for, she wasn't really sure how long, "what about him though? If he likes me, why doesn't he ask me?"
"He's just like you; afraid of asking for fear of getting hurt". Shadow looked up for a minute, seemingly stargazing as Rouge assessed what had been said, logically dissecting it and, she cursed, unable to find a hole in the points Shadow had raised. The only question now was; she had finally admitted she liked Knuckles, what should she do now?
Time correct; sleep would be deepest. Disruption maximised and possibility of inducing mistakes optimal.
As the two guards quickly disappeared to wake their replacements, there was a shuffling noise from one of the tallest trees nearest the cabin. Had there been any windows in the cabin itself, there would have been an opportunity to see a fleeting shade leap from the branches of that tree towards a target that was all too easy to hit.
"Hey Nack; c'mon, wake up" Shadow gently nudged the slumbering weasel, wanting to sleep desperately as Rouge tried to rouse Tails, the foxboy blearily coming to under the bat's prodding.
"Is, is it my watch?" Shadow choked back his own expression of tiredness as Nack let out a fearsome yawn before groping for his hat. Before Shadow could reply, a heavy thump caused them all to jump bolt upright. Rouge voiced the fear first, the urgency in her voice tangible as the others were swiftly woken.
"He's on the roof!"
Noise level high. Maximise fear and confusion factors. Begin.
All seven Mobians in the shelter listened intently with baited breath, each and every impact on the log cabin roof matching the frenzied beating of seven hearts. Anxiety and fear were etched on every face as the assassin probed the roof for a weak spot, the strong footfalls trying to cave in the timber above their heads. Adrenaline was pumping and singing in veins but not a single sound was uttered, not a peep was raised as the noise continued, primitive biological urges demanding silence as the beat went on. The space near the door was deserted in case Seraph still had Nack's stolen gun and decided to use it on its previous owner. Tension was palpable and the silence stretched to unendurable, but silence still remained nonetheless. Time was immaterial; it could have lasted ten seconds or ten hours, but eventually, there was a final flurry of rapid footsteps and then…silence.
Training concluded. All opponents awakened. Sleep deprivation increases opportunities for error exploitation.
"Do", in the unnatural stillness, Amy's voice sounded alien; she took a second to collect her courage and tried again, "do you think he's gone?"
"Yeah", Rouge's answering whisper was quick, "I can't hear anything at least". The sudden noise of flesh pounding flesh sent strained nerves snapping as Knuckles smacked a fist into his palm, face scowling,
"Only one way to find out", he stood up, pointing at Sonic and Tails, "back me up if I need it". The two mirrored the echidna's movements as Knuckles moved towards the door, edging towards it and finally, hesitantly, nudging it open. Taking a quick glance, the echidna nodded once and opened it more fully, dropping into a crouch and trying to look in all directions at once as he cautiously sidled under the doorframe itself. Everyone waited, tensed to spring into action at a second's notice if anything happened, but thankfully, Knuckles swiftly reappeared and breathed,
"It's clear".
Those words seemed to earth the tension and underlying concerns; in a split-second, the atmosphere was flooded with relief and everyone started talking at once. Eventually, however, Shadow stood to his full height, and his imposing posture quietened the hubbub. Speaking slowly, the black hedgehog began,
"From what I can tell, what just happened shows Seraph knows we're all here and he's trying to scare us. Question is; why is he doing it and what can we do to stop him?" The black hedgehog sat back down, aura of impressive seeming to diminish as his size was reduced. Tails spoke up next,
"I, er, I might know why – it's psychological warfare", the kit continued as Amy, Shadow and Knuckles looked at him in a confused manner, "he's trying little tricks to try and wear us down and make us more irritable, more likely to snap at each other and split up. That's when he'll go for us".
"Divide and conquer", Rouge chipped in, the bat massaging her eyes as a lack of sleep began to make its presence felt, "he can't attack us physically because there are too many of us, so he's trying to weaken our resolve by pulling stunts like that".
"You mean like keeping us awake at all hours?" Amy yawned, barely able to keep her eyes open as Nack nodded, fang gleaming in the moonlight,
"Yeah, and if I'm any guess, it'll get worse 'fore it gets better", the weasel cursed, glaring at the ceiling as though it was somehow responsible for their predicament, "if only I still had me gun, I'd have been able to cap him from down here".
"Yo newsflash", Sonic broke in with his typical lack of tact, "the creep probably already knew that; that's why he got rid of the damn thing".
"Sonic, stop the sarcasm; we're all tired and more likely to snap", Shadow said, noticing the look on Nack's face, "snap leads to anger, which leads to argument…"
"And Seraph just waltzes in and does what he fancies", Sonic concluded with a frown, "right, okay; sorry dude". He gestured towards Nack, who gave a tight smile,
"No problem; at least not yet", the weasel said with a heavy sigh, "he can probably keep this up as long as he needs to and wear us down. We need to strike back, and fast".
Unwise. No guard following distraction. Grenade invalid – risk of injury to innocents unacceptable. Proceed with games.
No sleep was had that night, either by the hunter or the hunted.
Morning dawned, but brought with it only a second discovery that only seemed more terrifying than the noise of the night before – as Tails was escorted to the bathroom by Rouge, they were both stopped dead by the sight that awaited them on the end side of the log cabin. Urged by Tail's panicked shout, Sonic was at his shoulder in seconds, gazing at the black mark painted on the wood. The outline was that of an angel, a single, unbroken black outline that seemed at once beautiful and undeniably sinister. However, to the Mobians who gazed at it, this was a portent that simply stated I got this close, I can get closer. With a little help from a nearby spring and the water it provided, the mark was scoured off the side of the sanctuary, the wood washed clean of defilement. If only it were that easy to scour the mark from the minds of those who looked upon it.
Two nights followed; each with slightly different patterns but the same result; little or no sleep was had by those Seraph deemed prey. On the first, Tails rigged up a crude but effective net of low tech alarm systems and accompanying traps, each one primed and set with the help of Knuckles, who's practised eye helped pick out the best locations for each trap. For the first three hours of darkness there was nothing, but just as the two guard at the door (Amy and Nack) were daring to breathe a sigh of relief, there was a second impact on the roof and the nightly beat continued, this time longer and more frenetic, as though the macabre dance of the dangerous angel would speed up the process of sending his opponents mad. To add insult to injury, not a single one of the fox's traps had been sprung or alarms set off, a fact discovered when a blaring of a klaxon caused Shadow to nearly break down into a gibbering wreck as he broke an almost invisible tripwire. The third night may have been even worse; Knuckles, Sonic and Rouge volunteered to spend the entire night on the roof in waiting for Seraph, but again, just as sleep became deepest and most sweet, the silence was broken by a blinding flash and loud explosion just outside the door. The concussion grenade failed to do any structural damage bar scarring the wood, but again, all seven were jerked back to wakefulness. It was a slow and drawn out way of making progress, but all that mattered was that it got results. And slowly but surely, it was getting them.
I need to run Sonic was thinking hard, head down and trying his damnedest to stop wrenching the door free and taking off, I can't stay still any longer – damn you for doing this Seraph.
Prisoner in my own home Knuckles thought with a twisted smile, the bitter irony sinking in as he wrung his hands together, trying to avoid lashing out at the tiniest things.
How can he avoid all my traps, am I really that bad a mechanic – no, the Tornado, you built that – and what good's it doing now, none Tails shook his head, trying to think of something positive, but finding it increasingly difficult.
This is all my fault, I should never have come Rouge looked over at the Mobians who had volunteered to help her, for no reason save it was the right thing to do, right thing to do; might as well let Seraph take me, it'll… she shook her head, turning away to stop her tear-stained eyes showing.
I'm no good, why am I even here Amy looked at the hammer in her hands, shaking her head, even with it, I can't do anything like what any of others can. I'm just dead weight.
Damn it all to hell; I screwed up not once but twice – I'll never get a better shot and I blew it and look at us now Nack twisted the hat in his hands, straining not to crack under pressure.
You won't break me Seraph Shadow silently swore; the black hedgehog was acutely aware of how close to the edge they were all coming. At the deepest level of his heart, he also doubted his ability to hold to that vow.
No more than two stone's throws away, Seraph nested – from the information he was receiving indirectly from Knuckles, his strategy was paying off. This would be the final night; he would repay his debt to one target tomorrow evening and complete the take later that night should the opportunity arise. The gibbous moon peeked out from the clouds as though calling to his agent on Earth; as the dappled silver light fell on his mask, the blade of darkness moved on, inexorably closer to his targets and final vengeance.
"We've got to do this tonight", Knuckles was pacing around the interior of the cabin, the strain of three mostly sleepless nights showing in his slow, trudging stride, "if we don't we'll be at each other's throats after another couple of days".
"Knuckles, I understand your concerns, but at night, Seraph is going to have the advantage", Nack stood up as well as he answered the echidna, "he's going to be rested and expecting us to fight. He's also armed". The weasel let that point sink in as Amy joined in,
"Nack's right, we can't fight him; one of us could get hurt or worse". Knuckles stopped and stood still, rubbing his head as he saw the logic in their arguments.
"Sorry…"
"Don't apologise man", Sonic looked over from where he was stretching his legs, "we're all feeling it; you think I like being cooped up in here when I can hear all the free space on the island calling me?", the hedgehog cupped his ear with a hand, "I can hear it and it's pure torture, but there's just no way…"
"I'm sick of that…!"
It begins. Rest and listen to opponent plans.
"…All this 'there's no chance'", it had finally boiled over for the echidna; he was tired, sick of too many people being in his space and angry at being held captive in his own territory, "how do we know that? I say we pile in and deal with this son of a …"
"Knuckles!", Rouge strode over and looked straight into the echidna's deep purple eyes, trying to stare the warrior down, "listen to yourself. Pile in against someone armed with a knife, or even a gun? That's plain stupid and you know it. Please, just try to cool off and see it from our point of view". The bat was so close she could feel the echidna's breath and see his dreadlocks move slightly as he calmed down with a visible effort. With his anger dissipated, he looked a lot less threatening and he raised tired eyes to the rest, smiling wearily,
"Sorry guys, I shouldn't have blown my top like that".
"I thought the faker said not to apologise" Shadow replied sardonically as Sonic did the bunny ears behind his head and Nack smiled, adjusting his hat,
"Aye, don't sweat it; Rouge said you had people problems so I was kinda expecting this".
"Oh she did, did she?" Knuckles raised an eyebrow at the smirking white bat as she struck her victory pose, "well, did she tell you about her…"
"Got it", Tails leapt straight up, eyes shining with triumph as he rummaged in his backpack, "maybe we can do both". As the other six Mobians waited, the fox called over his shoulder,
"We'll have half in here to bait him in and half outside to surprise him, these'll let each group stay in touch" he declared as he produced a pair of hand-held radios, waiting for the reaction. There was a murmur of assent, which grew into a consensus, which finally matured into full blown acclaim for the fox's ingenuity. Swiftly, the plans were drawn up and the group split into the bait and the ambushers. Amy, Shadow and Tails remained inside as Rouge, Knuckles, Sonic and Nack arranged themselves outside, waiting for the angel to fly right into them.
A sound strategy. Speaking to planner a priority. Inappropriate tool selection – more sleep grenade should have been selected. Restock impractical – use tools available.
The darkness deepened as Seraph moved on, consciously reminding himself of his new plan of attack in the light of this new information. The assassin remembered, filtered and catalogued his memory, eventually settling on the plan that had the highest chance of success and the easier route of escape should anything go wrong.
