Note: This is the longest chapter yet at over 12k words.
Chapter Twelve:
Raid on Saltpans (2016)
Weasel, now in a state of constant terror, looked down at her dirty, grimy hands. She shifted a little, moving to a ball position. She was currently in a cell in Saltpans in what used to be a jail. There were four separate cells, and hers was one of the only two left. There had been others in the nearby cells, but every day, a new person had been taken out, dragged out by a few members of the Brave Companions, and had never been seen again. The first prisoner had been dragged out, and they were silent. The second tried to fight, but Weasel watched as they had some teeth knocked out before being dragged away.
The whole situation terrified her. After Biter had dragged her out of the basement of Jeyne and Willow's house, he and Rorge and Shagwell had taken her back to Saltpans. The whole drive there, Shagwell had a knife to her throat and loudly promised to kill her if she tried to escape. Weasel had tried to summon as much courage as she could when Biter found her in the basement. She had even stabbed him, but dropped the knife when Biter growled, grabbed Weasel by the front of her face, and slammed her against the bottom of the stairs hard enough to make her bleed by splitting open the back of her scalp a little.
In Saltpans, Weasel got a look around at the Brave Companions's compound. It was once part of a small town that they had converted into a miniature stronghold of sorts. It smelled of death, and Weasel was dragged by Shagwell to the jail as Biter and Rorge went to have their wounds tended to by the medic of the Brave Companions, a kindly-looking old man named Qyburn.
Weasel's wounds were not tended to, however. Instead, she had literally just been thrown into the cell, loudly threatened for several minutes, and then left in the darkness, a small window made of three iron bars in the back of the cell being her only source of light. And that was during the day. At night, she had no light at all and had to sleep on the floor. Her first day waking up in the cell, she awoke to shouting and someone begging for their life from outside. A cockroach had been scuttling around the floor, but it was the least of Weasel's worries. Instead, she listened to what was going on outside.
She was too short to see outside of the cell window without repeatedly jumping to see what was going on, so she just stood and listened. She didn't see what happened out there, but her mind filled in the details. She first heard louder screaming, followed by meaty noises, like someone was being hit or stabbed, followed by gurgling, followed by laughing accompanied by more hitting noises. A few minutes later, Weasel smelled flesh burning. She knew the smell, and it reminded her of when Lommy had used a Molotov cocktail in Fairmarket to burn several wights.
Food and water were finally delivered a number of minutes later. Each prisoner was provided food by a Dornishman named Timeon. Weasel looked down at her food and water when it was delivered. Her food consisted of three poorly-cooked strips of venison, and the water came in a styrofoam cup with some dirt in the water. Frowning, Weasel didn't think the dirt was enough to make her sick, so she ate the venison and drank. She did not get sick.
Timeon delivered food every two days. In that time frame, she heard the sounds of more people being tortured and killed outside. It never got easier for Weasel to listen to it. One of the prisoners nearby her, who could hear it as well as everyone else, began to thrash and scream while flinging themselves against the bars of their cell, begging and screaming that they couldn't take anymore. Timeon had been delivering the food that day at that time, and the scene quickly caught his attention. Slamming down the food he was about to give to the first prisoner, he dragged the screaming prisoner out of their cell, grabbed his spear, and rammed it through the prisoner's throat. Afterwards, an enraged-looking Timeon screamed at everyone else in the jail and said that no one would eat for the day. It was true; no one got any food that day. A replacement captive was put in the cell a day later.
One day, Weasel heard some talk outside of the cell. Deciding to listen in on what they were saying, Weasel heard two men talk. One had a lisp, and the other didn't.
"Urswyck, this is bad for us," the man with the lisp said. "If the Brotherhood Without Banners is around this area, they're going to get in here sooner or later!"
"Vargo, you must calm yourself," Urswyck replied. "The Brotherhood does not directly attack anyone. They've only chipped away at us little by little. If we really wanted to, we could find them and wipe them all out. Our numbers are greater than theirs. We're more armed."
"They've got more people now," Vargo countered. "I got a report from Zollo, who did some scouting with Shagwell earlier. It looks like four or five more. Shagwell says they're the people from the house he ransacked with Rorge and Biter."
Weasel could hear the annoyance in Urswyck's voice. "They aren't much. If I recall correctly, only Pyg and Iggo were caught by surprise. The girl that cut Rorge's nose off, he threw into the river. There's no way she survived. The head of the snake has been cut off."
Weasel's heart sank when she realized who he was talking about.
"Beric Dondarrion is still alive," Vargo hissed. "That group has a new head. Plus, we are also wrapped up in this situation with Harrenhal."
"Harrenhal? What would Gregor Clegane want with us?"
"You know how they snoop around here, Urswyck. They're eyeing us. One of our walls is weak."
"Meaning?"
"They're going to come after us eventually. They just need an opening. They have superior manpower to us, and you know that!"
"Then why not break down our gates and kill us all right now?"
"Like I say: waiting. They can come in here and wipe us all out in a night. I suspect that Clegane's got some other purpose in holding off for so long."
"Why is all of this on your mind?"
"More scouting reports have come in. Clegane's people have been seen around here lately."
"So what do you want to do?"
"We need to wipe out the Brotherhood soon. I'm gathering a group to stage an attack later on. Maybe today, maybe tomorrow."
The conversation between Vargo and Urswyck ended shortly afterward. Weasel remembered Jeyne talking about how the leader of the Brave Companions was a man with a lisp, and Weasel just then understood who had been talking. Still, Weasel was crestfallen about Arya.
Arya had been there ever since Weasel was a toddler. Arya had been the one to take care of her, feed her, and make sure she was well. Weasel understood that, based on the story she had been told by Arya of when they first met, Weasel would have starved to death long ago if she hadn't been found. Weasel did not have very many memories of the early years with Arya and the others. She had pleasant memories of most of them, though Elmar and Lommy (the latter only really in the early days) were the exceptions. Gendry, Edric, and Elmar had been gone for so long, either via leaving to join the Brotherhood Without Banners or death, that Weasel didn't remember what they sounded like.
For the past few days, one prisoner at a time had been removed. Understanding what happened to them after listening to people being tortured to death outside, Weasel knew she would be the final one. She was terrified, and she hoped that Beric, accompanied by her companions and the rest of the Brotherhood Without Banners, would stage a rescue sooner or later before she was set to be killed horribly. With Arya gone, Weasel knew that Willow Heddle would be in charge of the group. And sure, while Weasel liked Willow, it wasn't the same. It also made her wonder about Nymeria. Nymeria did not listen to anyone outside of Arya, and she recalled a moment from several months earlier when Hot Pie and Lommy had tried to get Nymeria inside the house by dragging her leash, but she wouldn't budge until Arya had come out of the house and ordered her inside.
In her cell, Weasel watched as the sole other prisoner was dragged out of the cell next to hers without a fight. It was likely that they knew what they were about to face and saw no reason to fight. Weasel watched with an emotionless face, understanding that what was happening to the prisoner was going to happen to her the next day. If she were doing her math right, Timeon was supposed to feed her that day. However, he did not show up.
That makes sense, Weasel thought. Food shouldn't be used on someone who's going to die anyway.
Weasel, defeated, just crawled over to the corner of her cell, curled up in a ball, and wept silently while sitting up against the wall.
"Your eye should be fine," Thoros explained as he put Arya's eyepatch back on her head, covering what remained of her left eye. "Try not to irritate it too much."
Arya nodded. "I understand."
Thoros and Jeyne had just finished treating Arya's infected eye. It was sore, but she was relieved that she wouldn't die of an infection. They were in a large tent which the Brotherhood Without Banners had set up for Thoros to do his work in. Arya understood that the Brotherhood Without Banners were nomadic like the Faceless Men, and she understood why; they were at war with the Brave Companions, and they didn't want to be in the same area where they could get attacked. Therefore, they had to move around.
Arya hopped off the tree stump that she was sitting on that the tent had been pitched over and left with Jeyne. They walked closely together, and Jeyne seemed very happy to have Arya back. While they walked over to where the others were, Arya noticed Jeyne's pleased demeanor and decided to ask her about it.
"You're happy I'm back?" she asked.
Jeyne nodded. "Yes, and so is everyone else. We're all happy to have you back."
Arya and Jeyne made it over to the others. Arya observed as everyone watched her walk over to them, and she sat down in a circular formation with them. Arya was saddened that Weasel wasn't there with them, and she also felt bad about Nymeria not being there as well. She hoped that her dog was faring well in the woods somewhere near the Heddles' home, but she didn't know for sure. It seemed to her that the group was progressively getting smaller.
We'll get you back, Weasel, Arya thought. Just hold on.
Lommy, who was sitting in between Jeyne and Hot Pie, was the first to speak. "So what happened?"
"I cut Rorge's nose off, and he threw me into the river," Arya explained. "He took my machete, too. I heard about Weasel and how they took her."
"Yeah, the lunatics ran off with her," Willow said, sounding angry. Arya was angry as well, though she didn't show it. However, deep down, she wanted to disembowel Rorge, Biter, and Shagwell after they took Weasel. It made her livid that they were likely torturing her at that moment. She wanted to kick their teeth down their throats, and she wanted to see them all die horribly.
"Anyway, Hot Pie, do you remember Jaqen?"
Hot Pie looked up. "Yeah?"
"He saved me, and he took me to stay with his group, called the Faceless Men."
"Is that where you lost your eye?" Lommy asked.
Arya nodded. "Yes, one of them hated me. She's dead now, so don't worry about her coming after us. Jaqen took me to Harroway, and I met Sandor there after putting my eyepatch on for the first time. You know the rest."
"Regardless of how it happened, we're glad to have you back," Hot Pie said.
"Arya."
Arya turned and saw Beric approaching after he had addressed her. She stood to face him. "Yes?"
"You are in charge of this group, right? And Willow has been taking your place in your absence?"
"That's correct," she answered.
"Then when we attack Saltpans, you will be commanding your companions. Your leadership has helped them live this long, and it's likely that you will continue to live through this madness while you're at the helm of their group."
Beric's words reminded her of Gendry and when he was once in charge of the group. In all honesty, Arya missed him and even Edric to an extent. Therefore, she decided to ask about them.
"Are Gendry and Edric around?" Arya asked Beric.
Beric chuckled. "You're eager to see them again, aren't you?"
"Yes."
"You will in due time, but for now, they are scouting Saltpans right now."
Arya then brought Sandor to mind and how he had spoken to Beric and a few other men from the Brotherhood Without Banners. She decided to ask about him.
"What about Sandor?"
"Sandor will be staying with us until this business with the Brave Companions is over," Beric explained. "We're not going to throw away an extra man to use in this fight."
Now Arya was curious about what they were going to do.
"When are you planning all of this out, and when will you attack?"
"Later tonight," Beric explained. "We'll attack in the morning. We've got battle plans being prepared, and since you are head of a smaller group that has temporarily joined with ours, you will be involved with the battle plans as well."
At night, Arya had pulled Lommy and Willow aside and had spoken to them about discussing the battle plans. Arya had picked Willow because she was her second in command, and Lommy had been selected due to being the weaponry guy of her group. Therefore, he would likely know how to hit the Brave Companions where it hurt. Both had agreed to help. Arya, when she had spoken to Beric earlier, had learned that Lem, Tom, and Thoros would be discussing the battle plans as well. However, it was not time yet.
Currently, she and Willow were near the outskirts of the Brotherhood Without Banners's camp. Though they were a short distance away, Arya could still make out the light of the fire that they'd kept going all day.
"Honestly, Arya, I'm mentally preparing myself for tomorrow," Willow said.
"What do you mean?" Arya asked.
"A lot of us might die," Willow answered.
"That's been the same for years," Arya replied.
"This is different to me, though," Willow said. Arya noticed the distinct difference in tone with Willow when she spoke to her in private rather than as an authority figure among the rest of the group. Arya was flattered that Willow was willing to let her guard down around her. "Can't you feel that?"
Arya did feel something. "Yeah, but could you explain further?"
"Isn't this… how you and the others felt when you were surrounded by wights at Fairmarket? I mean I think you all thought you were good as dead."
"Willow, Fairmarket was a fluke–"
"But you still all thought you'd die, correct?"
"I did. Weasel told me she did. Hot Pie definitely did. One of us didn't make it out, you know, and got bit."
"What was his name again?"
"Elmar–"
Willow suddenly stuck her arm out to get Arya to stop moving. Arya stopped, and she looked at Willow, confused. "What?"
Willow spoke, whispering. "You hear that?"
Arya paused. She didn't hear anything. She, however, took Willow's lead by whispering as well. "Hear what?"
"That noise," Willow answered. "It sounds like… people."
Arya paused, and then she heard it. It definitely sounded like people walking and whispering amongst themselves off in the darkness. How many were there? It sounded like seven at the least and fourteen at the most. Regardless of how many there were, Arya and Willow remained ramrod still.
Then a gunshot and a bullet embedding itself in a tree inches from Willow's head caused them to scream and run. Arya and Willow, now understanding that they were being attacked, began screaming for help as they ran back to the camp. From behind them, a dozen shouting men gave chase and emerged from the darkness. Arya knew without having to ask that these men were with the Brave Companions.
Almost immediately, Beric grabbed his rifle and started shooting back.
"EVERYONE GET WEAPONS," Beric screamed. "WE'RE BEING ATTACKED!"
Arya and a number of others ran for the weapons stash in a larger tent. She was aggravated that she didn't have her machete thanks to Rorge, but she instead went for a large knife. Nearby, Lommy grabbed his new spear, and Sandor grabbed his ax. Running outside, Arya looked to see what was happening. The only light provided came from the bonfire in the middle of the encampment, so Arya knew that the Brave Companions would try and use the darkness to their advantage.
Arya hid behind a tent as she watched some of them advance into the camp. Now that she could see more of them, there were likely twenty-five attackers in total. All of them were armed. Some had firearms, but most had melee weapons. Case in point, the Brave Companions member currently running at Arya with a crowbar. Arya ducked out of the way of his swing, then jabbed upwards with her knife. She missed, and the attacker swung his crowbar to the side, nearly hitting her in the head. Arya scrambled to her feet as she heard gunfire nearby and stabbed her attacker in the side. He let out a yell, then fell after Arya jumped upwards, stabbing him in the chest and then the throat.
Nearby, Jeyne began loading her crossbow as she and Lommy ducked behind one of the motorcycles to avoid being shot by someone out in the dark. Hot Pie whacked someone across the face with his own crowbar and dislodged some of their teeth in the process. Willow, armed with a revolver, shot at someone and hit them in the shoulder, knocking them back. Beric was bleeding; he had taken several shots already, but was still standing. Amid the loud sounds of yelling and gunfire, Arya heard someone fire up a chainsaw. However, she couldn't tell if it was Thoros or someone on the Brave Companions side.
Arya ducked behind another tent as someone on the Brave Companions side ran by. This same individual had their heel sliced open by Arya, and he fell and face planted in the dirt before Arya drove the knife into his eye straight through to the brain. Nearby, Harwin and Jack were doing battle with three people, Willow was reloading her gun, and Notch was in the process of grappling on the ground with a man who was armed with a knife.
As Jeyne fired a crossbow bolt at the man who'd been shooting at her and Lommy, Arya quickly turned to see Sandor cleaving an attacking man's forearm off with his ax in one blow. Beric was nearby, and he fired his rifle at someone and hit them. As he began to reload, a blast of gunfire from the Brave Companions side hit Beric in the chest, and he fell dead.
"BERIC'S DEAD!" Arya heard someone yell. However, she didn't have time to learn who it was. She was tackled by someone and wrestled to the ground. She tried to move to stab him, but her attacker punched her in the face, causing her to drop the knife. Instead, Arya lurched forward and bit deep into his arm, yanking backwards hard and ripping out flesh and blood. Her attacker screamed, and Arya picked up her knife and slit his throat after a few moments.
She was now near the bonfire. It seemed like both sides were in a stalemate. From Arya's perspective, it looked like more Brave Companions had died, but they had the advantage of the dark surroundings on their side. Therefore, Arya hoped that they didn't have to blindly shoot into the woods. Just then, she noticed it: a nearby fire. The Brave Companions had set some of the tents on fire. On one hand, part of their supplies would likely be destroyed. On the other hand, it would provide more light for them all, so the Brave Companions had actually shot themselves in the foot a little.
Nearby said new fires, Arya watched as Thoros cleaved someone in half with his chainsaw. He swung to the side and cut a Brave Companions member's head in half while nearly hitting another. Shouting and gunfire still happened around them all, and Arya was genuinely amazed that no wights had been drawn to them because of the noise, and she hoped that none would arrive.
She had no time to think about it. Just then, an Ibbenese man ran from nearby the fire, ax in hand. Arya braced herself for a fight, and she dove towards him with her knife in hand, yelling loudly. Arya ducked out of the way of the man's swing, then dove forwards with her knife. She slashed down, cutting open a bit of his shirt and making a small cut. The Ibbenese man retaliated by swinging the ax again, grazing the side of her forehead.
Any closer, and he'd have shattered my skull, Arya thought. She didn't let this deter her; she kept fighting him by swinging her knife around. Just as she was about to puncture a vein in his neck, she was yanked off to the side by a man with a dagger.
"You shall not prevail!" the man with the dagger shouted. Just as he was about to drive his weapon down to stab Arya, he began yelling and fell. Arya did not see who saved her, but she began to focus on the Ibbenese man instead. Growling, the man charged her with his ax, swinging upwards and then down. He missed, and the head of the ax went into the ground below with a puff of dirt coming upward upon impact.
Before he could do anything else, Jeyne appeared from behind, fired her crossbow, and hit the Ibbenese man in the chest. It wasn't fatal, but it was excruciating enough for him to yell and step back. Arya, noticing her chance, charged and rammed her knife into his gut, stabbing in several places. With one of his hands, the man grabbed Arya by the throat and threw her back. Arya landed on her back and began to get up as she saw him running over to her, reaching for his ax. He was bleeding badly, and Arya thought he would die if he did not get treatment.
As soon as he reached for the ax, two things happened which Arya noticed. The first was that Arya heard more people yelling and shooting. The fires had spread, and thus more in the surrounding area became visible, which helped the Brotherhood Without Banners see more of the Brave Companions and fight back more effectively. The second was that, as the man grabbed his ax, the head of Lommy's spear burst out of his chest from behind him. The man screamed and fell as Lommy ripped the spear out. Arya, noticing her chance, tackled her assailant and drove the knife into his heart.
As Sandor yanked his ax out of the skull of a man he just killed, Arya heard some of the Brave Companions begin to shout.
"Cut our losses!"
"Fall back! Fall back!"
"PULL IN, AND FALL BACK!"
The remaining Brave Companions turned to run away then. Within minutes, they were gone, and Arya could hear them shouting off in the distance. With the Brave Companions gone, Arya decided to walk around the encampment and get a look at the damage. Beric, Mudge, and Dennett had all died. Notch had nearly been killed, but Hot Pie had slain Notch's assailant before Notch himself had wound up dead.
More Brave Companions had been killed than Brotherhood Without Banners members. The tents were still burning, and Arya and everyone else avoided the burning tents. Everyone had wounds in various places, though not many were seriously injured. Most of the Brave Companions members who had attacked them had died, and Arya now felt confident that, even though they'd lost three people, they would make it through the soon raid on Saltpans alright and get Weasel back.
"Are there any left?" Lem asked Arya as he approached her.
A groaning noise from nearby let Arya know what her answer would be.
"Just one."
The man with the dagger, a Brave Companions member whom Lommy had speared in the leg to save Arya from being killed, groaned as he struggled to crawl away. However, his eyes filled with dread as he noticed that he was in the process of being surrounded by Arya, Lem, Sandor, Hot Pie, Lommy, Willow, Jeyne, Thoros, Tom, and everyone else.
"So how are we doing this?" Sandor asked Arya as they approached the tent where they kept the captive Brave Companions member. The group had learned that his name was Utt, and they had tightly tied him to an armchair with rope. His arms were tied to the arms of the chair.
Earlier, after Utt had been moved into the tent after being restrained, the group had a discussion about what was to be done with him. It was agreed that they would interrogate him for more information about the Brave Companions, Saltpans, and Weasel. It was also agreed that Arya and Sandor would be the ones interrogating Utt. Arya thought that it was because everyone knew they weren't afraid to hurt people to get information. Arya wanted nothing more than to sink a knife into Utt's throat, but she knew that they needed him alive for a while. They hadn't discussed what was to be done with Utt after the interrogation, but Arya figured that since he was involved in a raid that got Beric killed, he himself would be killed as well.
"Start roughing him up if he doesn't talk," Arya answered. They remained quiet as they entered the tent with Utt inside of it. An oil lamp was the only source of light in the tent, and Utt noticed them enter. His leg was still bleeding where Lommy had speared him, and Arya theorized that he'd bleed out if they didn't get enough information out of him quick enough.
"Oh, hello…" Utt said. "What are you here for?"
"Information," Arya said, trying to sound serious. "Tell us everything."
Utt chuckled softly. "I've got nothing to say to you. You know, that was quite the performance you made out there, you and two of your friends killing Togg Joth out there like you did."
Arya and Sandor shared a glance after the former realized that Utt was talking about the Ibbenese man she, Jeyne, and Lommy had worked together to kill. Sandor approached and punched Utt in the face. Arya noticed a part of his right cheek that'd split open where Sandor had hit him.
"I'm afraid you do," Sandor growled, "and if you want to keep your life, you'll tell us everything we need to know about you, your people, and what it is you're planning."
Arya knew that nobody in her own group had any intention of letting Utt live after this, so she theorized that Sandor's false promise of letting him live would persuade him to talk more. Nearby, there was a small tray set up with several weapons and tools on it. Arya knew that they were most likely going to have to be used as instruments of torture in the very near future. She wouldn't have felt anything for Utt if she'd killed him earlier, but now that he was at her and Sandor's mercy, it seemed different. Part of him looked pathetic to Arya, and it seemed like something was holding her back now that he was at her mercy.
"What… I've told you, I'm Utt, I'm part of the Brave Companions…"
"How many people are with you?" Arya asked.
"After what happened out there? Less than one hundred now."
"How well-armed are your people?" Sandor asked.
"Like you."
Arya felt like Utt was holding something back. Sandor must have known, too.
"Tell us," he hissed. "Tell us how armed."
"I've already told you–"
Sandor didn't let Utt finish. He grabbed a metal pipe from the tray and drove it downwards a few times, hitting his bleeding and speared leg repeatedly. Utt screamed, Sandor threw the pipe away, then punched him hard in the chest. As Utt coughed, Sandor shouted, "HOW ARMED ARE YOU ALL?!"
"We have enough for a few more raids…" Utt said, wheezing.
Arya approached. "Do you have any prisoners right now?"
Utt grinned through his pain. "Yes, a little girl we took from your home."
Arya's eye narrowed. She needed to hear about Weasel and how she was doing and where she was. Getting Weasel back was Arya's main priority in regards to dealing with the Brave Companions, and she would carve through hundreds of people to get her back. She had no doubt that others in her group knew that she would be out for blood if Weasel were ever put in harm's way, and now she definitely was.
"Where is she?" Arya demanded, taking a step forward.
Utt laughed. "She's such a cute little thing… so small and innocent…"
Arya began getting more angry. Not only was Utt saying these things about Weasel instead of answering her, she felt as if she were being pushed farther away from getting Weasel back. Arya remembered her fight with Rorge and how powerless she felt then. She would not let it happen again.
"Where is she?!" Arya demanded, speaking more loudly than before.
"She won't be there for long…" Utt said, grinning. "She'll be dead tomorrow morning."
Arya was approaching her breaking point. Utt was still withholding vital information about Weasel, and she was getting ready to hurt him. More memories came back–all the times Arya had protected and taken care of Weasel and inwardly crying about her potentially being dead when she was with the Faceless Men–and Arya's forearms and hands began to shake. Arya turned, grabbed a hatchet from off the tray, then approached.
"One last chance," Arya said, staring hatefully into Utt's eyes. "Where do you keep your prisoners?"
Utt chuckled. Every word he spoke in that evil tone he used, Arya became more angry. "First, we'll rip her fingernails off. Then we'll gouge out both of her eyes. After that, she might lose a hand or two. Then we'll sever her legs. And when she's on the ground, crying her eyes out, we'll hammer her teeth in before ramming a spear straight up he–"
Arya didn't let her finish. She raised the hatchet, swung down hard as possible, and severed two of Utt's fingers on his left hand. As Utt screamed, Arya noticed that there wasn't even bone or a strip of flesh connecting the fingers to the hand. Sandor stepped back a bit as Arya moved to kick his speared leg a few times and stamp down on it three times. Arya heard something crackle and splinter. Fresh blood poured from the leg wound, and Utt continued to wail.
Arya, now feeling nothing but sheer inhuman rage, grabbed the hair at the back of Utt's head, yanked back, and put the blade of the hatchet to his throat. "WHERE DO YOU KEEP YOUR PRISONERS?!" Arya screamed as loudly as possible. Utt tried to look threatening in the heat of the moment, but failed as Arya kept screaming and moved the knife closer to his throat. "WANT ME TO KEEP GOING?! YOU'VE STILL GOT EIGHT MORE!"
"OKAY!" Utt yelled. Arya stepped back as he kept talking. "We keep our prisoners in the old jail in Saltpans… it used to be the jail of the town before the dead started walking… when we need more space before a raid, we usually… we usually take the prisoners out one by one and torture them to death for the fun of it…"
"Where is the jail?" Sandor asked.
"In the middle," Utt wheezed.
"Where is your weakest wall?" Arya asked.
Utt frowned disapprovingly. "No, I won't tell you. I can't."
Arya wasn't amused. "You CAN'T, or you WON'T?!"
Sandor didn't want to wait. He approached, and with one hard punch, he hit Utt in the mouth once, twice, then twice became five times. Blood poured from his mouth, and Arya noticed that Sandor had knocked in a number of Utt's teeth. Arya took a little pleasure in this; the sight reminded her of Utt's words regarding mashing Weasel's teeth in. For a second, Arya wanted Sandor to finish the job.
Utt spit up blood and teeth. Utt's eyes narrowed. "No, I won't."
Before he said anything else, Arya rushed forward and rammed the hatchet into his face. Utt screamed as Arya wrenched the hatchet out of his face. It was then that she noticed she had cut his left eye in half. Noticing this, she decided to use it to her and Sandor's benefit. "TELL US, OR I MAKE YOU COMPLETELY BLIND!"
"THE EAST!" Utt screamed. "THE EASTERNMOST WALL! WE WERE GOING TO ADD MORE DEFENSES IN THE COMING WEEKS!"
Arya stepped back. "Thank you," she said. She then grabbed a knife from off the tray and dropped the hatchet. Utt saw this with his remaining eye and, before he could protest, Arya swung and slashed his throat open. As he died there in the chair, Arya and Sandor watched. When Utt twitched for the last time, they both left to leave the tent to find Lommy, Thoros, and the others to plan the attack on Saltpans.
"Where's Utt?" Lommy asked as Arya and Sandor entered one of the larger tents.
"Dead," she answered bluntly.
In the tent were Arya, Sandor, Thoros, Lem, Tom, Lommy, and Willow. Arya was disappointed that Beric was not there to fight and plan alongside them, but she knew that she was not the only person who had people she knew and cared about hurt by the Brave Companions; she had no doubt that the remaining Brotherhood Without Banners members would all be out for blood after Beric's death. Judging by the looks in the eyes of Thoros, Lem, and Tom, that was likely the truth.
"What did you find out, then?" Lem asked.
Arya and Sandor approached a table that'd been set up in the tent. There was a road atlas on it, and Saltpans had been circled. Everyone gathered around in a circular formation, and Arya spoke. "They keep their prisoners in the town jail, and Weasel is their only one left. Utt said they torture their prisoners to death for fun, so we've got until later on tomorrow morning. Utt also said their easternmost wall is the least fortified and have enough weapons to do two more raids."
"I suppose something could be done about that wall, then," Thoros commented.
"Yes," Arya replied.
Lommy's eyes seemed to light up. "I know!"
Everyone turned to look at him. "Yes?" Sandor said. Arya immediately knew what he had in mind.
"Arya, you were at the house, right?" he asked.
"Yes, Sandor and I were," Arya answered.
"Was my workshop in the basement damaged much?"
"Not much, only a little," Arya explained.
"Then we'll have to stop by there," Lommy replied. "I'm getting my stuff and making a bomb tonight to use tomorrow."
"How fast can you make one?" Arya asked.
"A few hours," Lommy answered. "If most of my stuff is undamaged, then it'll get done pretty quick."
They spent the rest of the meeting discussing who would be doing what in the morning.
After the battle plans for the attack on Saltpans had concluded, Arya and Lommy got on the backs of the motorcycles respectively belonging to Anguy and Jack and went back to the house. Dismounting the motorcycles, Arya and Lommy went inside the house. Lommy had his spear, and Arya had a knife. They had come armed in case any wights were in the house.
"How long will it take?" Jack asked as Arya and Lommy began to walk towards the house.
"A few hours," Lommy answered. "Maybe less."
They went in, and they didn't find any wights. Arya found a flashlight in a cabinet in the kitchen, turned it on, and followed Lommy into the basement. She was about ten steps behind him, and she watched him enter the basement first as she followed in after him.
"Arya, shine the light around the basement. I need to see."
Briefly wondering why they didn't just turn the light on, Arya decided to just stick with the flashlight for the time being. Nearby, Lommy got to work with gathering a bunch of supplies onto the table. Present there were fertilizer, a new propane tank, and some other materials Arya didn't recognize very well. Lommy got to work almost immediately.
"Keep that light on me," Lommy requested, not taking his eyes off of his work. "This'll be lighter than La Diabla, but it'll still pack a punch."
"Arya," Jeyne said as she shook her group's leader awake. "Arya, get up. It's time."
Arya, rubbing her right eye, got up and looked at Jeyne. She could already begin to feel her heart beat, already anticipating what was to come at Saltpans later on in the morning. Arya knew they couldn't lay around and hesitate; Weasel would die if they waited too long, and they needed to get over there.
Arya grabbed a knife from the weapons tent, and she soon found Jeyne with Willow, Lommy, and Hot Pie. Lommy was holding his completed bomb. Arya noticed its name scribbled on the side of the propane tank with a thick black marker.
"FLAMES AND GLORY"
During the previous night, Lommy had finished the bomb in only an hour and a half. Taking it back to the Brotherhood Without Banners's camp, the members of Arya's group gathered around to take a look at it. Lommy was insistent that the new bomb be named, and various suggestions were thrown around. The two that Arya remembered the most were "Glorious Strike" and "Lommy Junior". Hot Pie and Willow both liked Glorious Strike, but Jeyne liked Lommy Junior more. Jeyne tried to comment in an anticipatory tone that the name "Lommy Junior" was most certainly a "precursor" to something in the future, but her words fell mostly on deaf ears. Arya, personally, did not care for either name, and neither did Lommy himself. He told the others that he would pick a different name, and he disappeared into one of the tents with his creation for the night.
"Do you remember what our plans are?" Arya asked Lommy once he noticed her in front of him.
"Yeah," Lommy replied, nodding. "I light this thing, it goes off, and then we go in through the hole with Hot Pie, Jack, Sandor, and Anguy."
After a few more brief discussions, Arya was off with the others, riding on the back of Sandor's motorcycle towards Saltpans. During the previous night, a few members of the Brotherhood Without Banners went to find Gendry and Edric where they had been scouting and filled them in on what was going on. They would apparently be taking part in the attack as well. Arya just hoped that Weasel hadn't been harmed yet. Arya looked into the distance, and she saw a massive manmade wall nearing. The wall was made up of metal sheets, rebar, wood, and cinder blocks, and it looked to be fifteen feet high.
Sandor and the others deliberately avoided the front entrance of the wall, and Sandor, Jack, and Anguy directed their motorcycles to head to the easternmost wall. The plan was that the others would come in through the front after the noise of the explosion from the east distracted the Brave Companions who were within the walls of Saltpans. The riders of the motorcycles killed the engines of said vehicles, and Lommy approached the weaker-looking parts of the wall with Flames and Glory in hand. Slowly, Lommy placed the bomb down, grabbed the wire attached to it, then set it on fire with a lighter. Lommy turned to run back to the motorcycles and swiveled around, eager to watch. Arya knew he wouldn't miss this for anything.
Arya braced herself for what was to come. Flames and Glory went off, and a large hole in the eastern wall of Saltpans was formed in the process. Arya then realized that Utt had told the truth about the weakness of the easternmost wall, and this allowed them a way in. Without further ado, they ran in, Arya hoping to reach the middle of the settlement to rescue Weasel. Almost immediately after they ran into Saltpans, Arya heard a number of angry shouting men, which prompted Arya to draw her knife. Off in the distance, Arya heard more shouting and the sounds of gunfire.
Several Brave Companions members neared Arya and those with her. One had a large knife of his own, one was unarmed, and another was loading a shotgun. Anguy noticed that last of the three and fired off an arrow before he could shoot anyone, the arrow going through the front of his throat and into his spinal cord. Arya charged forward, and she dove for her attacker, stabbing him in the chest before she herself could get stabbed. Nearby, more Brave Companions members charged towards them all. Jack blew one's brains out with a rifle while Sandor nearly decapitated another with his ax. Lommy speared one through the abdomen after his left cheek was grazed by a dagger. Nearby, Hot Pie, wielding a revolver, shot down another attacker.
Moving forward, Arya realized that due to the small amount of people they were fighting coming from the east, either most of them were focusing on the larger group up front, or their forces were split. Arya hoped it was the latter. Still, her focus was on finding the jail to get Weasel back.
After a while of fighting off Brave Companions members, they were nearing the middle, and the sounds of battle were closer. Arya could have sworn she could hear Willow and others yelling nearby. Arya felt like they were all doing a good job. She nearly leapt out of her skin when she suddenly felt a strong hand on her shoulder.
It was Jack. "You break off from us three," he said. Hot Pie, Lommy, Sandor, and Anguy were now paying attention as well. "If we split up, they'll be divided even more. You have a little girl you need to find, correct?"
Arya nodded. "Yes."
"Then go find her!"
They broke off from each other then into two groups of three. Arya, Lommy, and Hot Pie went deeper into Saltpans to find the jail while Sandor, Jack, and Anguy helped the others wipe out the Brave Companions. Before Arya got further away from Jack, she thought she heard Willow's loud, commanding voice yell again.
Regardless, they continued on to wherever the jail was located. Arya hoped to find it soon, partly because she didn't want Weasel to die and partly because she didn't want to lead Hot Pie and Lommy on a wild goose chase through Saltpans. After a while, they found it thanks to a sign. And outside of it, they found a number of people waiting for them.
Outside of the jail were Rorge, Biter, and two others. It had been apparent that they had been doing battle with the others, but now that they found them, Arya immediately noticed a look of recognition in Rorge's eyes on his noseless face. What was also notable was that he had her machete in his right hand. Both groups paused to stare each other down as the sounds of battle raged in the distance behind Arya, Hot Pie, and Lommy.
"You," Rorge growled. "I should've killed you back in Crossroads."
"You didn't," Arya replied. "And you won't do it now."
Rorge's eyes narrowed. "Do you want to find out? Because I'll pop that eye out and make you eat it, then I'll rip your teeth out one by one. You want a nose like mine? Fight me, and you'll get one–"
Rorge was cut off by Hot Pie firing his revolver at Rorge's chest. However, he wasn't able to aim very well, and he hit Rorge in the left shoulder instead of say a lung or the heart. Rorge fell on his back, and Biter and the other two Brave Companions charged at Arya, Hot Pie, and Lommy. Arya knew that Hot Pie had a melee weapon, a crowbar, strapped to his back to use in case he ran out of ammo. Rorge, though wounded, was back up on his feet in seconds, and Arya was rushing right towards him. Arya swung her knife at him and had to roll out of the way as he swung the machete at her. Arya got in a quick slice at the leg before Rorge shouted again and swung his free arm at her in a wide arc. He hit her and sent her sprawling.
Makes sense, Arya thought. He had hit her in her blind spot thanks to her eyepatch. Instead of whining, Arya climbed to her feet as Rorge charged over. Nearby, Hot Pie's revolver went off twice. Lommy swung his spear at Biter. Biter had several large, bleeding gashes because of Lommy, but it didn't seem to deter him. Arya, focusing on her own fight with Rorge, charged forward and rammed the knife into his side. Rorge grunted, grabbed her by the throat with his free hand, then hurled her towards the outside wall of the jail. Arya made contact, fell and began coughing as Rorge ran over and stamped his foot down into her chest. Arya coughed again before Rorge stamped down on her face, causing her to hit the back of her head on the pavement below.
Before Rorge could do more damage, two more gunshots from Hot Pie fired off as Rorge raised the machete to swing down. He screamed after being shot in the back twice, staggering back. Noticing that her knife was still in Rorge's side, Arya climbed to her feet, hurried over, then ripped the knife out.
Rorge looked like he wanted to kill someone. "DO YOU EVER GIVE UP!?"
Arya didn't answer. Instead, as Hot Pie was put in a headlock by one of his attackers, Arya swung the knife down and opened a massive vertical gash in Rorge's torso. He swung both of his arms again and missed as Arya dove for Rorge's feet as he stumbled forward in an attempt to catch her. Rorge fell. There was a yell and then a thud as Rorge hit the pavement. Noticing her opportunity, Arya reached for her machete, ripped it from Rorge's hand, then jumped back as he got back up.
Rorge and Arya charged towards each other at full speed. Arya knew that if she missed this chance to finish what she started back at the house, she would likely never get it again. As a now unarmed Rorge reached for her, Arya leapt forward, pulled her arm attached to the hand with the machete back, then shoved it forward when she got close. The machete, in a few moments, was buried up to the handle in Rorge's body.
Rorge screamed and reached down for Arya's face. Arya, figuring that Rorge's mind was moving into "fight for your life" territory, theorized that he would not be fully thinking rationally as a result of operating on adrenaline. Therefore, she drove the knife into his hand, straight through the palm. Rorge screamed again and desperately jerked his hand back. Blood was pouring over Arya's other hand, which was still wrapped around the handle of her machete. Nearby, Arya heard another gunshot as Hot Pie's remaining assailant fell. Lommy was still grappling with Biter.
Arya ripped the knife out of Rorge's hand as she yanked the machete down. Rorge screamed and sank to his knees as Arya went down with him. Rorge, with both of his hands, wrapped said hands around Arya's throat and began to squeeze. Arya let out a loud cry herself as she lurched forward and drove the knife into Rorge's right jugular vein and into his throat. Rorge began to choke and spit up blood, and he released Arya and fell. As Rorge continued to die, Arya moved to rip the machete out of him, but was suddenly sent rolling across the pavement as a massive force made contact with her.
Arya tried to get back to her feet, but was suddenly tackled again by a heavily-bleeding Biter. Biter hissed in Arya's face as he held her arms down. His weight kept her from getting up and, Arya noticed, he did not have a tongue. He dove downwards and bit into her face, biting hard enough with his sharpened teeth to draw blood. Biter rose up with a clump of Arya's cheek in his mouth. Arya watched as he swallowed it.
He's eating me, Arya realized.
Before Biter could do anything else, Arya heard Rorge's life end as he finished gagging on his own blood as someone new knocked Biter off of her. Biter, who had a red, bloodied eye thanks to the new attack of blunt force, hissed loudly as he looked at his new attacker. Before he could do anything else, the attacker hit him again, and as Arya got up, she realized who it was as he swung his sledgehammer a second time.
Gendry made contact again, hitting Biter atop his bald head. Gendry kept smashing a now unconscious Biter's head in with the sledgehammer as Arya moved to yank her machete out of Rorge's corpse. Nearby, Hot Pie and Lommy watched. After a few more swings, Biter was dead, and Gendry looked over to see Arya watching.
"Hello again, Arya," he said.
Arya ran over and briefly hugged him. "You have NO IDEA how relieved I am to see you."
"What is your goal here?" he asked after she let him go.
"We need to save Weasel," Arya explained. "She's trapped in that jail here."
With only saying a few more words, Arya, Gendry, Hot Pie, and Lommy all ran to the front of the jail. Gendry tried the door.
"It's locked."
"What are you gonna do?" Lommy asked.
Gendry stuck out one of his hands to urge the other three away. "Stand back."
He began swinging at the door with the sledgehammer.
For a moment, Weasel couldn't believe her ears. Arya was still alive, and she was here to rescue her. The only problem was that Timeon was in the jail as the sole guard inside. He was armed with his spear, and he kept a sharp eye on the exit. Weasel knew that her death had been postponed by the Brave Companions; she was likely minutes away from being dragged out of the building and subsequently tortured to death before Arya and the Brotherhood Without Banners attacked Saltpans.
Both Weasel and Timeon remained quiet until they both heard a loud slamming noise coming from the entrance to the jail. It sounded like someone trying to batter the door down with something large. Timeon, frowning, approached with his spear, shouting threats to whoever was on the other side of the door. Weasel knew that someone, likely someone she knew, was there to rescue her. She had overheard Arya's fight with Rorge outside, and she knew that Gendry had arrived to save her from Biter. Now Rorge and Biter were dead, and Weasel was likely to soon be rescued.
Gendry broke the door open with his sledgehammer and ran in with the others. Timeon yelled loudly and charged with his spear. He tried to impale someone with it, but was soon overwhelmed and killed by Arya, Gendry, Hot Pie, and Lommy all ganging up on him at once. When Timeon was deemed officially dead, they noticed Weasel. Weasel called to them, "Please help me!"
Gendry, walking over to the door, prepared to break it open with the hammer. "Stand back," he instructed.
Weasel hurried to the back corner of the cell as Gendry began swinging the sledgehammer. After a number of hard swings, the door was broken open. Gendry flung it open, and Weasel ran out, past Gendry, and straight to Arya. Arya dropped her two weapons and embraced Weasel in a tight hug. After a few moments, they let each other go.
"Take the knife I dropped," Arya said. "You'll need to protect yourself."
Arya picked up her machete as Weasel picked up the knife. Lommy seemed to have ideas that differed from the others. "Let's search the jail," he said. "They might have something we can use here."
The others agreed, and they got to searching. Weasel stuck by Arya's side throughout the whole thing, and they didn't find much. And then Lommy started yelling from the back. "HEY! BACK HERE!"
They hurried to the back of the jail. There they found a massive weapons stash–Weasel realized that the jail was likely one of the Brave Companions's weapon stashes in Saltpans–and inside was a sizable amount of firearms, ammo, and other forms of weaponry. Weasel was surprised that none of the Brave Companions had been there yet to arm themselves, and she was also surprised that Timeon hadn't thought to go back there himself.
Lommy and Hot Pie immediately began to head for the larger semi-automatic rifles there. Lommy, grinning, spoke to himself, saying, "There's gotta be a full auto in here somewhere."
Hot Pie turned his lead to look at Arya, Gendry, and Weasel. "You guys go on ahead and get Weasel out of here," he said. "We'll catch up with you."
Weasel, though she was armed, knew that she could be easily overpowered. She was small compared to Arya and Gendry, and she knew she would have to rely on quick reflexes to actually do some damage if she were to be suddenly grabbed by someone. Everyone in Saltpans knew that she was the prisoner of the Brave Companions, and now she was escaping amid an attack made by the Brotherhood Without Banners.
"The front is jammed with people shooting at each other," Gendry said to Arya. "Do you have any idea where we can go as an alternative?"
"Lommy blew a hole in the east wall," Arya explained. "That's how we got in."
"And that's how we'll get out," Gendry replied.
They ran for the hole then. After a few moments, Weasel looked and saw it first. Arya, Gendry, and Weasel had to stop when they saw a steady stream of wights pour in from the hole. It became very clear that all of the noise coming from Saltpans had attracted them there.
Gendry sighed before the three turned to run. "Me and my big mouth."
"Where are we going?" Arya asked as they ran.
"Only one way we can go," Gendry replied. "Through the front."
Weasel, though she didn't say anything, was concerned. From what she could tell, most of the fighting was taking place up front. There were wights spilling in from behind them, and they were stuck in the middle of both. However, Weasel would much rather be accidentally shot and killed instantly by a stray bullet rather than feel everything while being ripped apart by a wight. The sounds of the gunfire got louder as they approached, and Weasel realized that they would likely have to fight their way out.
The three of them made their way from building to building, trying not to be seen. The sense of urgency regarding the wights coming from behind made them move faster, and they wanted to keep away from the front until the fighting was over and they had an opening, but none made itself known. As they got closer to the front entrance, it seemed like there was less action there. Weasel hoped that it meant more of the Brave Companions were being slain. As they got closer and closer, Weasel heard what was unmistakably the sounds of wights growling coming from behind.
They're getting closer, she realized with horror.
They ducked behind a building as a Brave Companions member with a shotgun hid nearby them. He was bleeding pretty badly out of a wound in his chest, and Arya, Gendry, and Weasel watched in silence as a wight, half skeletal with bloated, rotting flesh in various places, appeared ten feet in front of the wounded Brave Companions member and smelled blood in the air. It growled, then charged. The Brave Companions member could hardly raise his weapon before being tackled and having his throat bitten into. As the wight attacked, the three noticed their chance. Weasel stabbed the wight in the back of the head before Arya drove her machete into the head of the dying man below to prevent him from turning.
"Where to now?" Gendry asked Arya.
"Keep moving forward," she answered.
Arya and Gendry turned to run. Weasel, who was behind the both of them, started to hurry after them. However, before she could get two yards, someone with a strong grip reached out and grabbed the back of her shirt.
"GOTCHA!" Weasel heard a familiar voice shout.
"ARYA! GENDRY! HELP ME!" Weasel screamed, and Arya and Gendry turned to see her being dragged away.
Weasel looked up as best as she could and saw that she was in the grip of none other than Vargo Hoat himself. He was dragging her away with his left hand, and in his right was a machete of his own. Weasel tried to move to stab his leg, but her arm was grabbed by Urswyck, who along with Zollo, a fat member of the Brave Companions, was accompanying Vargo. Urswyck took her knife from her, threw it away, and then listened to what Vargo had to say.
Weasel noticed Zollo's ax in his right hand, Urswyck's spear, and Vargo's prominent lisp as he spoke. "I'm using her as bait. Kill the others when they arrive."
Weasel began to thrash violently and scream in an effort to get away. Part of her hoped that the screaming would attract a wight to grab Vargo to help her escape, but none came. Instead, the screaming just made Vargo more aggravated.
"SHUT UP!" he screamed as he dropped his machete, grabbed Weasel, and began slamming her head into the side of the building they were next to. Weasel's face made contact with the brick wall once, then twice, then three times. By the end of it, she had stopped screaming and fighting, and Vargo dropped her bleeding and whimpering form to the pavement as he reached for his machete as Arya and Gendry reached Zollo and Urswyck.
Zollo, not wanting to hesitate, swung his ax down and tried to cleave Gendry's skull open. Gendry noticed and jumped back, the blade of the ax grazing his cheek instead. Urswyck tried to spear Arya, and he punctured her right shoulder. Arya screamed and jumped back, yanking the weapon out of herself, and she readied herself and tightly gripped her machete.
Weasel was still mostly lucid. She realized that Vargo had slammed her head into the wall likely to disorient her so he could help fight Arya and Gendry without having to worry about her running off and escaping somewhere. However, he hadn't hit her hard enough. Weasel, though she was disarmed, knew she had to do something. As Vargo hurried over to Zollo and Urswyck, she ran at full speed from behind him.
When she got close, she leapt, latched onto Vargo's back, climbed, and, not knowing what else to do, she bit down onto his left ear. Vargo screamed and reached backwards, trying desperately to wrench Weasel off of himself. Weasel could feel blood beginning to pool in her mouth. She bit down harder, her arms wrapped around Vargo's throat.
"GET HER OFF!" Vargo screamed as he began to stagger around. Urswyck turned to help his group's leader as Zollo swung his ax at Arya. He missed.
Urswyck ran, spear in hand, and chucked it at Weasel's head. Weasel, who had bitten down a little harder before the spear had been thrown, planted her hands and feet on Vargo's back and yanked backwards, propelling herself off to avoid getting hit by the spear. The spear missed, and she felt part of Vargo's left ear rip off in her mouth. She rolled as she hit the pavement, then spit the half of the ear out of her mouth.
Nearby, Gendry landed a direct hit on Zollo's head with his sledgehammer as Arya drove her machete into his side. Zollo fell, and Arya drove the machete into his head, killing him. They ran to help Weasel as Vargo and Urswyck headed over to her. Urswyck went for his spear just as a loud noise that almost sounded like an explosion came from near the front.
Vargo screamed and began to swing his machete, but was tackled by Gendry. They began to grapple around on the ground as Arya leapt and impaled Urswyck through the chest with her own machete, killing him in moments. Arya ran to help Weasel up as Gendry began to smash in Vargo's head with his sledgehammer, like when he killed Biter. After Gendry was sure he was dead, the three grouped up.
"Same way?" Gendry asked.
Arya nodded. "Same way."
They figured they didn't have time to search for Weasel's knife. They just ran for the front. Weasel wondered if the massive noise that she'd heard was on the minds of Arya and Gendry as well. They didn't get far. After a short while, the three ran into Sandor, Anguy, and Jack.
"You got her out?" Sandor said. "Where's the other two?"
"They're back at the jail," Arya explained. "They said they were going to take some of the weapons."
"Then we'd better hurry," Anguy replied. "We beat a bunch of them back, but we need to leave."
"Why not finish them off?" Arya asked, sounding aggravated.
"My brother and his pet rats are here now," Sandor explained. "I saw them, men from Harrenhal. We need to leave before they kill us all."
"Where are the others?" Arya asked.
"They're heading towards that hole your friend blew into the eastern wall," Jack answered.
"Wights are coming in from there!" Arya replied. "They'll be torn apart–"
"Then we fight through them!" Jack shot back. "Now go!"
The six then began to make their way back to the hole. Along the way, they quickly ran into Lommy and Hot Pie. Lommy, grinning from ear to ear, was wielding an M-16 rifle. Hot Pie had an AK-47.
"I found a full auto!" Lommy said, almost giddy. "We didn't find anything for this one, though."
Hot Pie nodded. "Yeah!"
"Alright then, Fat and Skinny," Sandor replied to both Hot Pie and Lommy. "We need to get out of here! Now MOVE!"
The group, now larger, began to make their way towards the hole. The closer they got, the more wights they saw and had to fight off. The group grew larger as they kept heading towards their intended exit. All the while, Weasel heard loud noises coming from behind. Because of this, she recalled what she'd heard about people from Harrenhal being spotted around the area, and it became apparent that they were using this as an opportunity to finally strike.
As the massive group neared the hole in the wall, more wights appeared to them. They were all dispatched, and there had been a few close calls here and there. As Weasel ran by a building, she got a quick, few second look at a scene of the men from Harrenhal doing away with the remainder of the Brave Companions. Shagwell lay dead at the feet of a group of five people, who were in the process of surrounding Qyburn, who had his hands up as if to suggest surrender.
Weasel had no time to watch and see if Qyburn would be killed. One person in the massive group that was leaving–Jeyne Heddle–grabbed Weasel by the right forearm and dragged her along. Weasel, understanding that she would most likely be killed in some way if she were to be left behind, understood Jeyne's gesture.
They would have all had a straight shot to the hole which Lommy had made in the wall of Saltpans if it weren't for the wights which were still pouring in. Lommy and Hot Pie, who were up front, gathered in a line with other men armed with firearms, and they aimed their weapons at the dead as they took notice of them.
They opened fire almost at the same same time. In seconds, lines of the dead fell. When a third of them were gone, the massive group ran closer, some with firearms beginning to reload. The same thing repeated, and more of the dead fell. By the time they got closer to the hole, those with melee weapons ran up and began carving through the mass of wights. It reminded Weasel of Fairmarket.
They made it to the hole. Lommy and Hot Pie were the first few out, followed by the rest. They ran for the motorcycles and didn't look back once.
They regrouped back at the encampment of the Brotherhood Without Banners. Arya, riding on the back of Sandor's motorcycle, was among the first to get there. She was still bleeding out of her shoulder where Urswyck had speared her, but alive nonetheless. They waited there for a while, and then everyone else arrived.
There was a period of a few hours where Jeyne and Thoros cleaned and bandaged everyone's wounds as best as they could. Arya was thankful that Urswyck hadn't severed any nerves in her shoulder, and Jeyne agreed.
"That could've been very bad, Arya," Jeyne commented. Arya didn't disagree.
Afterward, they all gathered in a circle as Arya, Lommy, and Willow spoke to Thoros, Lem, and Tom. Now that the groups were parting ways, Arya understood that there needed to be some final talk between her own group and the remaining members of the Brotherhood Without Banners. Arya figured that with Beric gone, the latter group would have to be led by Lem, Thoros, and Tom since they seemed to be the only authority figures left.
"So this is it, then?" Lem asked. "Where we split apart?"
Arya nodded. "Yes, though I would like for the trade between our two groups to continue."
Thoros put a hand to his chin thoughtfully and nodded. "Yes, yes, that would be beneficial."
They continued to speak for a while. Finally, Lem spoke to everyone in the observing crowd at the end. "Does anyone here have anything they'd like to add?"
Gendry stepped forward. "I do."
"What is it then, Gendry?" Thoros asked.
"I'd like to join her group again."
Arya's eye widened. Was this really happening? Was he really going to come back after so long?
"You're serious, then?" Lem asked.
Gendry nodded. "Yes."
Another familiar face Arya recognized, Edric Dayne, stepped out from the crowd. This was the first time Arya had seen Edric. To her, it was a similar feeling to when she saw Gendry for the first time in a long time earlier in the day, though she was more relieved to see Gendry because he had saved her from being killed by Biter.
"I agree with Gendry," Edric said. "He should go with them."
"You think so, Eric?" Thoros asked, turning his head to look at him.
Edric nodded. "Yes. He should go back with them."
Arya got a look at Gendry's face, and she could tell that he was surprised that Edric was saying this about him. However, she herself figured that she was the most surprised of everyone there, especially when considering everything that happened between Gendry and Edric after Elmar had been bitten years earlier. Therefore, Arya suspected that Edric and Gendry had grown as people and grew to respect each other as time went on during their time in the Brotherhood Without Banners together. Arya hoped that this meant Edric didn't want to tear Gendry's throat out anymore over what happened with Elmar.
There was some discussion, and Lem was among the final people to speak. "That settles it, then," he said. "Gendry's out. And what of Sandor?" He and everyone else turned to face him then. "What about you? You're heading on out, right?"
Sandor frowned. "I guess I'll have to join you," he said. "It's not like I have a choice now, do I? I've got nowhere else to go."
It was dusk out when Arya, Gendry, Hot Pie, Lommy, Weasel, Jeyne, and Willow all returned to the house. They had gone on foot, and Arya was relieved to be back after all that had happened. Arya just wanted to sit down and take a breath after all that had gone on during the past week, and she was sure everyone had felt the same way. Hot Pie and Lommy still had the weapons they had found in the jail, and they expressed interest in going back to get more supplies from the wreckage of Saltpans. However, Arya and Gendry talked them out of it; everything left behind had likely already been scavenged by the men from Harrenhal. Hot Pie and Lommy were disappointed.
Gendry got a look around the living room after Iggo and Pyg's bodies were dumped in the river. A few members of the Brotherhood Without Banners had followed them hours later to collect Watty and Alyn's bodies to bury them alongside Beric. Gendry looked around, and then spoke to Arya, who was to his right.
"It's bigger than I remember," he said. "Do you have any vacant rooms?"
That caught Arya off guard. She had been so caught up with everything that'd been going on that she hadn't thought of where Gendry would sleep if he came back to the house. Arya had her own room with Weasel, Lommy mostly slept in the basement, Jeyne and Willow had their own room, and Hot Pie had his own room (which was too small for more than one person). Therefore, she had no idea where Gendry would sleep.
He must've noticed. "Nevermind. I'll sleep on the couch."
Gendry walked away to speak to Willow and Jeyne. When he was gone, Arya felt a familiar tug at her shirt. She turned and saw Weasel standing there.
"Yes?" Arya asked.
"Outside," Weasel explained, then taking her by the hand and guiding her outside.
"Weasel, what is it?" Arya asked. Weasel pointed in the yard.
"I saw her coming out from the woods and called her over."
Arya's eye widened. "Nymeria! Come over here!"
Nymeria, who had been sniffing the hole La Diabla had made, perked her head up and hurried over to Arya. Arya knelt and began petting her dog and scratching her behind her ears, pleased to see that she was okay. Nymeria looked a little malnourished, but otherwise fine. Arya looked over her shoulder at Weasel. "Weasel, go and get some food for her."
Weasel disappeared into the house. As Arya continued to pet Nymeria, Gendry stepped out and watched them for a moment. "Found your dog?"
Arya nodded. Gendry knelt down and looked over Nymeria. He glanced at Arya. "You mind if I pet her?"
"Go ahead," Arya replied.
Gendry paused before gently stroking Nymeria's fur. They continued to pet Nymeria for a while until Weasel came back with a fish. As Nymeria began eating after Weasel put it in front of her, Gendry spoke to Arya.
"I guess it feels pretty weird to see me again after so long."
"Honestly?" Arya said, facing him. "It's nice to have you back, Gendry."