A/N: Alrighty guys, here it is! We're finally back to Seattle. First things first, this chapter is deliberately written short as some kind of a "prologue part 2" because we're back with our main character. Second, some things might not seem clear as of right now, but any confusion that might follow will be gone with the next few chapters.

Also, I want to apologize for my last chapter. There's that little detail that I wrote wrong, and it concerns Ellie and the lack of her fingers. I wrote that she lost the fingers on her right hand, when it was actually supposed to be her left hand. I corrected it, just so you know.

With that said, enjoy the comeback of the main character and cheers!


Chapter 22 – A bound wolf

Hands. Bloody hands. Fingers. Encircled around him. Dozens of them. Moans and screams. Click. Click. Click. Sky was bright, yet there was no light. Everything was red and black. Death. At least it was what was supposed to be. Willing to grasp it, at long last. Death. It never came. Pain in the right side of the hip. Too painful. Voice from above calling for a name. His name?

Another scream. Human scream. Then an explosion. Everyone and everything was blown away like fallen leaves that were carried by the autumn wind. The explosion was close, very close, but he was protected by the infected, rotting bodies in-between. Pipe shattered when a body hit it. Not his body, no, but someone's body. It was a big pipe, more like a tunnel, one of those usually seen in the sewers, pipes that branched like trees. He fell through that pipe and kept going down and down until he hit a hard surface.

When he woke up, Ben saw a fire in front of him and two men warming themselves next to it. In the meantime, they tied him to a pole, cold and hard under his back. He felt blood on his lips and licked it, using his tongue to remove the layer of glued earth from his lips. His hands were tied behind his back, but he didn't try to feel the strength of the knots. Neither of these two would leave a loose rope that would allow the prisoner to untie it. Darkness had long since fallen on the city of Seattle, engulfing the tall remains of the metropolis deeply in its grasp. Two soldiers made sure to find a location easy enough to defend to light the fire and spend the night. The infected were the only danger, ever since the Wolves won the war against the Scars.

Ben watched Mike, the man who had captured him. He was a middle-aged man, the gray hair was already noticeable on his head. He was a brave fighter and a good soldier, who obeyed orders no matter what they were. Connor was sitting next to him. Younger than Mike, he was only eighteen years old from what Ben managed to overhear. Leading in strength and size, many shunned his temper as much as Ben had a chance to notice before he was captured.

He felt blood trickle down his throat, and started coughing. The Wolves turned their heads toward him.

"I told you we'd find you." Connor exclaimed cheerfully.

Ben stared at the young man he had seen killing the family before his eyes a few weeks earlier. He killed them without a blink. Connor's arms and legs were disproportionately large in comparison to his body. Ben spat blood on the ground, and noticed that Connor's face darkened. A knife appeared out of nowhere in his hand and Ben saw Mike rising abruptly from the fire.

"Our leader wants you alive." Connor continued, "but I could dig out at least one eye of yours, just to charge you for a chase. What do you think of that? Or cut your tongue, like a snake?" He jerked his hand, making a motion as if to grab Ben's jaw, then laughed, enjoying his superiority.

"When I remember the time Isaac sent me to chase you. You were a real thorn in his side, you know. We thought the trouble would end with the Scars, but you had to show up to rock us again." Connor continued, waving around with a knife in front of Ben's nose. Black hair was tied in a short ponytail behind his head. "Did you know that I'm one of Isaac's favorites? Over the past few months, I've realized what makes a real man, what makes a servant and what makes a leader. And that's here." he patted his chest, his eyes glowing and dark.

A real man, you say? Does a real man kill helpless children and women? Does a real rape a mother in front of his children?

Ben arched an eyebrow. The smell of sweat was too strong, and as he inhaled it, he imagined a falcon flapping its wings around his face. He felt as though he was floating, and the fear suddenly disappeared.

"Not here, Connor, and not in you." he replied slowly, looking up at the giant who was threatening him. "You're just a stupid ox, good for towing."

Connor swung his hand and slapped him, so hard that Ben's head turned the other way. The pain was unbearable, and Conor's palm was bloody. Ben saw his eyes glow viciously, not knowing if he'd stop at one stroke. But in doing so, he was interrupted by Mike standing behind him, surprising him with his closeness.

"Let him go." he told him softly. "Bad luck accompanies those who hit a bound man."

Connor snorted and shrugged, "Then he has to answer my questions." He gasped, turning to look at his older comrade. Mike didn't answer him. "Where are the others?"

Ben was silent. He knew there was no salvation for him. All he could do was try to prepare for the beatings that followed. He put a cold mask on his face.

"Take care, Connor. I want you to be strong and healthy when I come for you." he surprised himself when he said that, and he almost showed it. It was as if some voice in his head, which was not his, got out of control and made him say it. Connor looked at him in astonishment, unsure whether to laugh or strike him. In the end, he decided on the latter and buried his fist in Ben's stomach, smirking on the display of his strength and the pain he was able to produce, while Mike looked gloomily behind him.

He had restless dreams again that night. Those dreams seemed more like memories than real dreams. Intermittent memories of how he survived the sewer, by some miracle, without a single bite of the infected. Manny detonated a bomb that blew up both him and half the infected around him. Luckily for Ben, a whole dozen runners were in-between, serving as a shield. The explosion sent him flying straight into the pipe into which he fell and sank deeper into the sewer. Somehow, he managed to reach the surface, but there he lost consciousness. He woke up and realized that the strangers had taken care of his wounds. The family, a mother and her two children. The daughter was a year or two younger than him, and the son was only slightly older than the baby.

He spent the next few days battling fever and nightmares. Tommy was shot in front of his own eyes, and Khan ... the white wolf was gone and a desire for revenge was growing inside him, but Manny was already dead. He blew himself up with his own bomb while the infected ate him. He didn't eat, he didn't drink. But that family helped him get through those difficult days as much as possible. Finally, when he could walk on his own, he looked for Ellie and the others. He was hopeful when he never found their bodies. He even tried to escape from Seattle with that family, but he could not find a way out. The gate through which he entered was tightly closed and surrounded by a high wall over which they could not pass. He just wanted to return home, to live his life in peace and to provide the same for the family that saved him. The daughter seemed to warm up to him and often whispered to him when her mother fell asleep. She was very pretty with long dark hair, and they talked a lot, about many things. On one occasion, she snuck in to lay down next to him, and he got so nervous that he started stuttering. Still, those nightly conversations and whispers pleased him greatly. But Ben never stopped thinking about Ellie.

Everything changed when a group of Wolves found them, led by Connor. They captured the family and took turns in raping the mother, and then her daughter. Monsters.

"Trespassers killed on sight" was all Connor said in the end before he killed them. Ben slipped away from him and hid. He couldn't take it anymore. The injustice. For the next three or four months, he wasn't even aware for how long, he spent waging his own war against the Wolves. Numerous groups of "trespassers" and Scars who lost the war were hunted. And Ben helped them as much as he could. He learned the frequencies that the Wolves used to communicate via radio and thus was always one step ahead. He built shelters, gathered refugees and helped those who did not have the means to survive. Only rarely would he kill Wolves, just when completely necessary. That way, he thought he somehow redeemed himself for all the murders he committed when he came to Seattle looking for Ellie. He saved more lives than he'd taken. It was a way to redeem himself, it had to be!

Eventually, he fell into a trap. The Wolves lured him right into it and captured him. Mike and Connor, two men who were taking him to the leader of the Washington Liberation Front, Isaac to face justice for his crimes.

Connor beat him again when Ben woke up. The young soldier was almost comically enraged by the boldness of Ben's comment the night before, that even one careless smile from his prisoner was enough for him to vent his anger on Ben. Mike did not intervene, but exhaustion and frustration took their toll, which was why Ben hovered in a state between consciousness and unconsciousness for several hours before dawn.

For the first time, Ben looked at the world from a different perspective. Instead of hating it, maybe he should accept it as it was. But he still dreamed of a better world, where people lived safely and without fear. If he renounced that, he would dishonor his father and his struggle before he died. Despite the circumstances, Ben was aware of one simple truth. One day, he will change the world.

As he drank the water from the river that stretched below the street, Ben almost laughed at the idea of a better world. But before that, he had to avoid the fate that Connor and Isaac intended for him. He dreamed of freedom as he trotted, following the long rope that bound him. Two soldiers rode horses, watching him from above from time to time. He thought about rushing forward to wrap the rope around Connor's neck, but the giant was always on guard. Even if given the chance, Ben doubted he would have enough strength to break that thick neck.

Not yet, those murderous thoughts that appeared out of nowhere always surprised him. A day will come, Connor.

The two Wolves triumphantly entered the WLF main base with their captive. It was basically a huge stadium that was turned into a habitat, with all the living conditions. Good defense and high walls protected the base and its people. Soldiers patrolled regularly. Inside the walls stretched small huts, made right in front of the stadium, but people also lived inside the huge building. A market stretched on the green field, and the athletics track was used for various purposes. In the very center of the stadium, on a small clearing in the middle of the market, stood soldiers, surrounded by a crowd. Connor pulled Ben's rope with a smug smile on his face, doing it whenever his prisoner prisoner fell behind.

The journey was cruel for Ben, but he stood as upright as he could, waiting for his fate. He looked at the crowd that had gathered around him and was looking at him with great interest. Soldiers and civilians, men, women and children alike. Old people as well. There was no doubt that the Wolves blamed all the recent misfortunes that befell them on him. For them, he was the greatest enemy they had at the moment. An enemy they defeated.

A dark-skinned man with gray hair, quite tall, stepped in front of the other soldiers. His demeanor and determined look showed that he was their leader. Despite the fear he felt, Ben looked at him with a resolution, not looking away.

"This is the one that cost us three bases and over a hundred prisoners?" he said, his voice deep and hateful, yet he smirked. "This boy?"

The crowd stirred nervously around him, but he didn't seem to notice.

"Took us three weeks to track him down. Anaya played a damsel in distress. He bit the bait like a fish." Connor explained, a smug smile still pinned to his face, looking eagerly as if awaiting a reward. Ben hadn't met the person he hated as much as he had in a long time. Compared to him, Manny could be considered a friend. He could barely contain his ironic laughter.

"Well," Isaac began, as if everything he said just a few moments before didn't matter "..he's here now. Now, what to do with him? We'll have to figure something out. In the meantime…"

"So I'm a guest now?" Ben challenged. "Until you figure something out, I'd like some food for starters, and a drink. Yeah, something cold that's not water would do it for me."

The crowd stirred again, this time even more nervously. All eyes were on him, shooting him as if he had provoked the devil. Everyone was whispering something to someone, but he tried not to let it sway him.

Maybe I shouldn't have said that.

"Connor, tie him to a horse." Isaac commanded in a cold voice, his eyes narrow. "Drag him until he bleeds and then take him to the cell."

Connor was ready to bring his brown horse and tie Ben's rope to the saddle. The people excitedly separated, and turned their heads because they didn't want to miss this cruel sport. As soldiers fastened the rope on his wrists, Ben turned his head, looking contemptuously at Isaac for a moment, then at Connor. Connor grinned broadly and jumped into the saddle with undisguised malice on his face.

"How fast should I ride?" Connor asked.

"We'll see." Ben replied, licking his chapped lips. He felt a new sweat break out from under his armpits because until recently he had gathered the courage to stoically endure the execution. The thought of being torn apart by a galloping horse was more than he could bear.

He closed his eyes and tried to prepare for what awaited him, but Connor buried his heels in the croup of a strong horse and screamed wildly. The rope tightened, forcing Ben to run. His weak legs stumbled as Connor rode wildly and enjoyed every moment. This stunt didn't last long as Ben soon fell, letting the horse drag him across the dusty clearing.

When Connor finally finished the bloody sport, Ben was a lifeless body at the end of the rope. It was difficult to spot a piece of skin that had not been peeled or covered in blood. When Connor cut the rope, Ben's clothes hung in shapeless rhythms, dusty and covered in blood. The prisoner did not feel even when he was thrown into a cell. His hands were almost completely black and bloody saliva dripped from his open mouth on the side where he bit his tongue.

Through the bars of the cell, through the half-closed eyelids, Ben noticed Isaac approaching Connor to congratulate him, amusedly looking at the torn figure that he, for some reason considered so important to leave alive. Connor was in the peak of his mood and joked with Isaac for a moment before the older man sent him to enjoy his well-deserved reward.

Ben sat in the icy dirt of the cell, barely aware of his surroundings. He found a tooth on the cold concrete floor, big enough to belong to a human. He didn't know how long he sat and stared at it. Maybe he was asleep, he wasn't sure. The pain and despair of exhaustion dulled his senses to the point that he no longer knew if he was dreaming or awake. Every bone hurt him, and his face was so swollen that he could barely see through the slit of one eye. The other was completely glued to his blood, and he did not dare to touch it. He had no desire to move because the pain from cuts and blows was unbearable. He had never felt so beaten up and tried his best not to cry. He was determined to endure this suffering in silence, when he found the strength in himself that he did not even know he had until then. Maybe he drew it from the hatred he felt at that moment and enjoyed the feeling that his spirit did not yield yet.. He guessed what else he could endure and stay alive.

"Where are the others? Are they alive? Are they okay?" he muttered to himself, his face convulsing with immeasurable sadness. He didn't even realize if he meant the refugees he rescued or his friends from Jackson. Then he remembered the kindness of the family that saved him when he was wounded, and for a moment he could not bear so much injustice. He stood up and leaned against the wall as his thoughts flowed slowly like ice on the surface of the river.

Then he heard a low moan, followed by a jet of some liquid in the next cell. He remembered that he was not the only prisoner in that ... wherever he was. His neighbor in a cell took a piss. After that, he heard the moan of a man in a cell on the other side. He tried to pray, looking at the moon that could be seen through the cell window, as the shadows of the bars stretched across his face. To his surprise, it gave him strength as he squatted against the cold and hard wall. He heard footsteps in the hallway, but turned around even though he knew it was probably a guard. They just passed by the cells, watching and making sure that the prisoners did not make any noise. It was nothing unusual, until that person stopped in front of his cell and watched him from the other side. The prison was not lit, so he could only see the female silhouette, but when she pointed the flashlight at him, he couldn't see her anymore

For a while the lamp was pointed at him, and his hand began to ache as he held it up to shield his eyes, which had long been accustomed to darkness, from the light. With the dull sound of footsteps, the person walked away from his cell without a single spoken word.

Before dawn, he heard a voice whispering something incomprehensible. It took him a while to realize that voice was speaking to him. At first he thought he was imagining it, but then he realized that it was actually a prisoner from the next cell. He couldn't see him, but he heard him, his male voice, hoarse and quiet.

"Who are you?" neighbor asked quietly.

Ben didn't raise his head, "No one."

Every part of his body hurt, and burned and it was difficult for him to move. Every jerk or movement would bring back that unbearable agony he had to endure.

"What did you do to get captured? Are you one of them or one of those Scars?"

"Be quiet there!" growled one of the guards who was passing through there, hitting the bars with a stick, producing a loud and annoying noise. There were a few moments of silence until the guard walked away, and the voice on the other side told him. "Don't despair, they won't pick you right away."

Pick me for what?

Ben hugged his knees, waiting for dawn. "Who are you to tell me not to despair?"

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