Author's Note:

Hi everyone, apologies for the awaited update. :( This was originally going to be the final chapter of Season 1, but I decided to split it into two halves - so this one will focus on the Garrison and the next will focus on the Pit. :) This may be a tad rushed too, which I apologise for :(, but I hope you all will still enjoy it. :)

As always, feel free to leave your thoughts in a review! :)

Chapter 29: Guilt - The Garrison

(Rais' Garrison in the Slums, Harran, Turkey, The Middle East, Europe - 11:40am...)

"Are you sure you're up for this?"

"Yes. I mean, how else are we going to get Imran back without risking the possibility of Rais coming after all of us?"

"Well, I'm not going to argue. You and Rahim are both growing up a lot faster than we would have liked, but... you get where I'm going with this, don't you?"

"Course I do, Brecken, don't worry," … "Henry?"

"Yes?"

"Do you know what Rais' pit is like?"

"I do. I've fought in there twice and... it's not spectacular as he thinks it is. I'm coming with you as well, so you won't be alone,"

"O-Okay. I... I know this is dumb of me to ask, but can you do us a favour and not die whilst we're there, please? Yes, we can't avoid funerals like you said - but...!"

"Libby, it's okay - I get it. Look, how about this? If we both fight in the Pit at once, we team up and if Rais decides to make us fight each other - which I hope won't happen - we turn on him and we get out,"

"Alright, let's do it,"

...

I honestly can't see myself forgetting the look of sheer alarm on Libby's face, when Henry told her that there would be a possibility that Rais would make them go against each other.

Also, I don't... I don't think I realised how much of a cruel monster Suleiman had turned into. You're probably thinking something along the lines of: Well, didn't you get enough hints already, you dumb*ss?! and if you were, then I wouldn't blame you. In fact, let's just say that my reason for that is... essentially my heart winning its' never-ending battle against my head. If someone you love is in danger, you don't think for one second. You act and... during Henry and Libby's conversation, all I wanted to do was to give myself up in order to save them - but then again, they, Jade, Rahim and Brecken would turn around and pull the protective card on me.

Despite it being slightly annoying, I would have understood why.

We then suited up via acquiring at least five Antizin vials and an injector for a worse case scenario (Good thing Libby's in charge of those.), followed by some melee weapons and firearms from a stack belonging to runners who had died before my big entrance, and that knowledge in particular didn't help in keeping our spirits high - myself especially because my guilt over Amir's death was now even f*cking stronger, now that I knew two kids had died with him. Children dying was a red line for me and... even though I was thankful that my girlfriend, surrogate daughter and brothers didn't blame me - at least, not anymore - I still felt like I taken three loved ones away and words couldn't describe how much the need to redeem myself had increased.

Only, how the f*ck am I gonna do it?!

"Are you okay?" Jade's concerned voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Y-Yeah, yeah," I answered solemnly. She, Rahim and I were hiding a decent enough distance from Rais' Garrison, where Libby and Henry had just entered. Those two are bad*sses, buddy. They'll be fine.

"Worried?" Rahim butted in, equally concerned.

"It's..." I found myself trailing off with a sigh, mentally beating myself up because of the reason why I had entered Harran in the first place. "It's not just that, guys. There's something you all need to know about me, but it can wait until this is over,"

Hearing this, the kid flashed a confused look - whilst my girlfriend remained calm. "Kyle, whatever's bothering you - we'll help you get through it, okay?"

"Yeah," He agreed hopefully. "I mean, it can't be that bad,"

Oooooh, I think it is!

Despite my anxiety, I flashed the Aldemir siblings a small appreciative smile. "Thanks, guys," After this, I surveyed the front of the Garrison to see if there any bandits roaming around and the result: nobody in sight. "Okay, I think it's clear - let's roll,"

Jade, Rahim and I then began made our way towards the entrance, vaulted over the truck and across the metal barriers. Once we were in, the first thing I noticed involved the path inside was shut - which prompted me to tug on the door's handle in an attempt to pry it open, but to no avail. "F*ck!"

"What's wrong?" My girlfriend asked worriedly.

"This door's sealed off," I informed her with annoyance directed at Suleiman. "I don't know if there's another way in, either. Do you guys have any ideas?"

I could radio Henry, but we all know how well that will end. Argh, why didn't he stay with u— He's looking out for Libby, you idiot!

"There could be a way in round back or on the roof?" The kid beat his elder sister to suggesting. "I don't know if I'm right, but we could check it out - just to be sure?"

"Okay, that's not a bad idea," I commented.

"No argument there," Jade agreed, addressing me with: "And do us a favour and not take any stupid chances, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am," Of course she'd throw in that comment.

And back we went over the truck and metal barriers. Alright, try the left side of the Garrison first. Bearing this in mind, the three of us trekked round there whilst avoiding the drunk biters and once we had done so, I took to surveying what we were up against. Okay so, we've got a line of red trucks - we might be able to jump off those and climb up, maybe? Sounds about right.

"Do you guys think there are supplies in those trucks?" Rahim somehow echoed my thoughts as we vaulted onto said vehicles and jumped onto the building, securing a tight grip.

"There might, but it wouldn't be a good idea to look right now," His older sister answered calmly. "Not when three of our own are on the line,"

"Yeah, but it also would have been an extra F*ck You to Rais for what he's putting them through," I remarked, hiding my disappointment. "Payback goes a long way,"

"Tell me about it," The 19 year-old agreed.

"See?" I asked my girlfriend. "Even Rahim's on it,"

"Calm down, boys," Jade told us firmly, holding back an amused smirk. Yep, we deserved that. "Look - if it makes you both feel any better, we could snatch anything useful whilst we're inside, you know?"

"Fair point," I responded. There we go, problemo solved!

After this, it didn't take long to climb up to the roof and once we had, caution quickly took over when we spotted at least five bandits patrolling with military rifles in hand. F*ck! And cue us scrambling for cover behind the nearest smaller building, followed by Rahim quickly darting round to see if he could bust the door open.

"Locked," He grunted with annoyance, rejoining us and fishing out a pistol with an equipped silencer. No, no, no, sh*t!

"Okay," Jade took note as she and I also got our silenced firearms at the ready, completely unfazed by the knowledge that we had to take on five dudes. There's no way we'll be able to beat them if they turn round and f*cking spot us! "Follow my lead,"

Yes, ma'am.

(Meanwhile, inside the Garrison...)

K-H

Well, here we are again.

Looking back, I can honestly say that my respect for Libby had increased a lot when she voluntarily gave herself up for Zere - despite feeling terrified over the thought of having to face Rais and I don't think any of us could blame her, considering how he acted towards anyone who came within ten feet of him. I also imagine you're probably thinking: It's good that you're making sure that Libby's okay - but why are you risking getting yourself killed too?! and... I was secretly okay with that, having figured that my former boss was certain to put a bounty on my head for ditching my mission.

I mean, it was only a matter of time, anyway.

"I must say, I'm glad to see that you both are well prepared for the Pit,"

"Why would you think it was the opposite?" I growled as Rais happily led Libby and I through his empty Fortress (Everyone else is probably at the Pit already, I'm assuming.), as always accompanied by the loyal Tahir. Why am I not surprised about that?

"That's quite the temper you've developed," Rais proceeded to taunt me with a chuckle. "What happened to the man you were before?"

You f*cking *sshole!

I opened my mouth to scream at him when I caught Libby shooting me an alarmed look, whilst shaking her head as if to tell me: He wants you to lose your temper. Don't do it and... I'm quite glad that I listened, because I think she was right. But before I could calm myself down and change the subject, our adversary had already beaten me to it. "So Henry, the young lady has already told me her terms of arrangement. Is there anything you would like out of our deal?"

"Yes, in a manner of speaking," I calmly answered whilst silently fuming, tightening my grip on my machete. Don't lose your temper, buddy! "Those women you've been dumping into the Pit and passing onto the other bandits? Let them go,"

Hearing this, he paused in his tracks and slowly turned to glare at me. "And why should I do that?" F*ck, that's creepy!

"I think you know exactly why," I scowled icily. I've seen what you've put them through, don't you think you should show some consideration for once?!

My former boss stared me down hatefully with a slight tremble, almost like he was ready to lash out and have a massive tantrum for not getting his way. Pfft, tough. Sensing this, I confidently raised an eyebrow. "Go on. Get on with it, the—"

"May I suggest you keep your mouth shut, if you want to keep breathing?" Tahir swiftly interrupted by raising his pistol to my forehead, earning a horrified glower from my 18 year-old friend before she thankfully stepped in with a panicked yet calm "Guys, guys, can we please be civil? This isn't why we're here,"

"I would agree," Rais shockingly added, earning a baffled glare from her.

Now, I would have reacted the same way if I hadn't responded with a sly smirk. "Alright, shall we move on?"

Hearing this, he held back a sigh. "Tahir, lower the gun,"

Cue said man to reluctantly do so and off we went, but not before I briefly caught a dumbfounded Libby out of the corner of my eye mouthing: What the hell was that?! to which I responded with a shake of my head to tell her: Don't worry about it. The rest of the walk was relatively quiet with Tahir constantly sending sh*tty looks at the two of us, whilst Rais proceeded to throw frequent insults in my face to get under my skin. Every time, Libby was ready to defend me but I signalled her no, because I was used to it.

So, go on ahead Rais. You've done a great job with making me hate myself since the Outbreak, why stop now?!

We soon reached an elevator and just as we were about to enter, a scream and a distant bang echoed - prompting our two adversaries to exchanged confused looks and Libby to glance behind us with mild fright, whilst I remained stoic. Okay, they're in.

"Do you want me to investigate?" Tahir asked his boss.

"It could some of the guys getting drunk off their *sses again?" I addressed him calmly. Please buy it, please buy it, please buy it! "Maybe you should just leave them to it?"

This earned me a fierce glower from him (Wow, you sure do know how to hold a grudge!), but Rais interrupted before he could come back with a potential insult. "Let us proceed. Those two have an audience to dance for, so why don't you consider that something to look forward to?"

Okay, did you really have to say it like that?!

We then piled into the elevator and Rais pressed the button for the basement, whilst ignoring more distant bangs and yells. I'll admit that I wasn't particularly too fond of that place, because that combined with the Pit were enough to make a grown man mentally sh*t himself. The former was mostly a dimly lit garage where the bandits would go to either train by fighting each other (Our piece of sh*t boss would often make them do so, until someone just gave up and bled out) or keep his prisoners locked up and knowing that meant Zere couldn't be too far away.

Either that or he's already at the Pit too...

"Libby?" I quietly managed to get my friend's attention, whilst Rais and Tahir stood in silence.

"Yes?" The woman asked with concern.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm still alive,"

"Good, good," I replied, going on to nervously yet firmly tell her: "I feel like I should warn you that you're not going to like what we're about to see, once we're in the bas—"

"I, um, I'm going to have to interrupt you there, sorry about that," Libby apologetically butted in, understanding where my point was headed. "And I know you mean well, but there's no half-way with this. Let's just get this done, so we can head home with Zere, oka—"

"Boss, Boss, do you copy?!" A frantic voice from Rais' radio caught our attention. Oh sh*t... By this point, the elevator had slowly slid to a halt and the doors opened to reveal pitch-black darkness (except from the flickering lights, which helped illuminate the place decently enough), prompting the four of us to resume the miniature trek and me to spot a baggily-clad woman watching a group of bandits nearby. Okay, here we go. Just be calm, just be calm for Libby.

My former boss sighed with a hint of annoyance, before he switched his radio on. "We're about to witness a showing of effort in the Pit and you're drinking yourself to death - do you realise that you have more important things to worry about?!"

Meanwhile, neither of them were aware that something had caught Libby's attention and she froze in her tracks. Huh?

"Mind moving along, young lady?" Tahir snidely questioned. Oh, f*ck you!

"Just hold on a minute, alright?" I told him sternly, turning to face my friend worriedly. "Libby, what's wrong?"

"I-I...!" The 18 year-old struggled to stammer, violently trembling in shock. "I thought...!"

"Make it quick," Cue an impatient remark from Rais' second-in-command.

"Not now," I icily turned round and jammed a finger in his face.

It turned out that the source of distress happened to be the baggily-clad woman, who appeared to be at least Rahim's age. Her short red hair was messy, whilst her grey t shirt and dark pants had rips and tears - which also exposed the slowly healing bite on her right forearm. The girl's state wasn't very promising either; angry purple-red bruises spread all over her neck and face, accompanied by fierce ones dotted all over her arms. Bonus points went to her bare feet which were soaked in blood and her bloodshot blue eyes, the latter widening when they connected with my friend's equally horrified ones.

I managed to put two and two together in seconds. "Oh, dear god...!"

The two women had done the same ... and before either of them could act, f*cking Rais had to step in and ruin everything - having finished his conversation over the radio. "Tahir, take them to the doctor and bandits, get into position - because we have company!"

F*CK! Oh nonononono!

Said second-in-command immediately raised his pistol to my head and knowing that we had no choice, Libby and I reluctantly resumed our walk - with the former frantically looking back at the redheaded woman with a terrified glance. She's going to be okay, Lib. We'll see if we can get her out of here too. Meanwhile, Rais had left the bandits who had gathered their military rifles together and were now poised at the ready.

Kyle, Jade, Rahim - please for the love of god, tell me you're not going to get yourselves killed!

"In here," Tahir ordered us after he had shortly opened a singular door on the left side of the basement - which revealed a small dark room with only a single mattress where a frightened but alive Zere was sitting on. Oh, thank god he's okay. A couple of seconds later, Libby and I were in and the door was shut behind us.

"Libby, Henry?! They captured you too?!" Imran gasped fearfully as I hurriedly approached him. Okay, a few scratches here and there. But he's fine nevertheless. "No, we came to get you out. Kyle, Jade and Rahim shouldn't be far behind either, so we're going to break out and meet up with them,"

"Oh, thank goodness," The good doctor breathed a sigh of relief, whilst Libby joined us with a forced yet kind smile. Still shocked, I see. "Listen, this is important. I'm not safe anymore, obviously, but my research must not die with me!"

"You're not going to die, Doc," The young woman reassured him ... only to slightly jump when gunshots, yells and thuds began to echo outside. They got to be close, by now. "L-Look, do you still have your research on you?"

"Yes, I do - I'm quite surprised that those men didn't pry it off me," Zere confirmed, glancing at her with concern - when he noticed that she was still trembling. Poor girl. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Y-Yeah, yeah, that's not important," The 18 year-old replied, pulling her bag off and kneeling down to unzip it. Actually, it is important. "How about I pop your research in my bag for safe keeping, until we're back at the Tower?"

"That would be such a help," The elderly man thanked Libby appreciatively, fishing two silver discs out of his pocket and handing them over to her. "All of my research are on these two, make sure that they reach Dr. Camden, okay?"

"Got it," Libby affirmed, taking said discs and placing them in her rucksack. Once she buttoned it back up, she slid her arms through the straps and rose to her feet with a determined "Right, I'm going to see if I can bust this door open real quic—"

A sudden thud at said exit interrupted, which prompted Libby and I to both fish out our pistols and rapidly take aim with caution. I think someone just beat you to it, though. Rince, repeat - and a familiar grunt was followed by a violent kick, which sent the door falling down to reveal a mildly bruised but generally okay Kyle, Jade and Rahim, prompting the two of us to lower our firearms with relief. Yes!

"About time the three of you got here," I remarked with a grin, before I gently helped Zere up to his feet with Libby's assistance.

"Are you all okay, though?" Kyle questioned, letting us through and joining us back out in the basement - where the bandits were thankfully bleeding out. And why did I worry about this, earlier? "Did you fight in the Pit too?"

"Yeah, we're all still in one piece," I reassured him. "And no, we were just thrown in here,"

"Well judging by last time, Rais isn't gonna hold his end of the bargain - so, let's just get outta here before we wind up dead,"

As the six of us began making our way out with Kyle and Jade taking the lead with their pistols at the ready, Rahim decided to hang back and check on Libby, having too noticed the hidden state she was in. "Lib, what's wrong? You seem upset,"

"I'll explain when we're in the clear," She replied cautiously, secretly annoyed by the constant pestering.

"We already are," The young man told her. "Talk to me,"

Hearing this, she ultimately gave up. "Fine," A nervous sigh. "I, um, do you remember when Kyle first showed up?"

"Yeah?"

"Well," Libby continued, her face a picture of guilt. "I... I may have seen an old friend who has been kept here right under our noses, the whole bl**dy time,"

Rahim stared at her with a dumbfounded glower, whilst they had unknowingly caught our attention. "What?" A split-second of stammering. "W-Who was it?"

"It was a girl, close to your age," I stepped in for her, mine and Kyle's hearts both giving painful lurches when we saw the distressed glances shared between the two kids, Jade and Dr. Zere. "Look, if we see her on the way out - we'll take her with us or if we don't, then I'll come back and find her,"

You have my word on that.

But before one of them could respond with a Thank You ... the lights suddenly shut out in a blink of an eye. Chaos erupted seconds later. My air supply was cut off by a strong arm violently wrapping itself around my throat and viciously holding me in place; same went for Libby, Jade and Rahim. All we could do was wheeze painfully and desperately try to pry our respective assailants' arms off. Nonononogethef*ckoff! GETTHEF*CKOFF!

Zere was the only one who could scream, as he was forcefully grabbed from behind and had a pistol aimed at his forehead, prompting a confused yet fearful Kyle to call out: "Guys?"

Cue the lights to go back on, and ... surprise, we had been caught again! Numerous bandits circled the six of us with military rifles at the ready, leaving us feeling utterly hopeless. What's the one thing that could make this worse?

"So," Rais' bitterly pleased voice cut through the silence like a knife. There's your answer. "Glad to see that all of you could make it for the special occasion we are about to have,"

Kyle whirled round to stare him down hatefully. "Let them go, you *sshole,"

"Or what? You'll kill me?" My former boss taunted him with a chuckle. "When are you going to realise that you can't protect those you hold close to you forever?" He then drew closer to a terrified Zere, pointing a bony finger at an equally frightened but tough as nails Libby. "I mean, yes, you protected the pure maiden here," You creepy f*ck! "But she will die eventually, as will everyone else in your little group,"

"Get to the point," My friend ordered icily.

"Oh," Rais shot back, brandishing a knife. "I believe I just did,"

And in a minimum of seconds, he brutally plunged said weapon into Imran's leg and twisted before he ripped it out in a flash - forcing a scream of agony from the poor doctor's throat. NO!

"You sadistic f*ck, he's an old man!" I protested angrily, fighting to break free from my assailant's grip.

"Give the doctor some first aid," Rais ignored me by addressing one of the bandits. "Find the girl and take these people to the Pit," Oh no, nonononon—

One hard blow to the head was all it took.