Author's Note - So I've been doing Former research, a lot of it. Which mostly means watching and playing the Brothers to the End chapter in Gears 3, meaning I simultaneously freak myself out and break my heart. Nothing scarier than the reveal of those Formers, seeing those buildings all marked off with red crosses, and watching the way they charge at you from the darkness. We're talking exploding zombies now guys. Lambency is a scary when it jumps to humans.

At the same time you can't experience Formers for the first time without watching Dom making his sacrifice for his brother (spoilers for anyone who has never even played the franchise, but then if that's the case, why are you even here?). My heart, I still can't get over losing Dom. Poor Dom.

Anyway back to Wilks and his unfortunate squad...

Chapter Twelve - Freedom

Angelo had taken to staring at the Formers in their cages, he watched as they flinched away from the Professor when he went to take another one for his experiments. He saw them weep to themselves in their own horrific kind of way when the darkness fell over them. Angelo had grown to feel sorry for them, it wasn't their fault that they had become monsters.

He couldn't help noticing that the closer the Professor and Lem got to their coveted cure the more the pair were starting to resemble monsters themselves. They were closed out to everything else around them. Cutting up humans whilst they screamed for mercy and they didn't even flinch.

Which made it so easy for Angelo to do what he did.

He slunk passed Luicie one evening as she lay panting in thirst, he stopped and scratched at her cage to gain her attention. She gazed blankly back at him as she watched him in silence. He pulled himself to a stand and slipped the ring of keys from their hook on the wall, dropping back on all fours and scurrying over to her cage. He sat for a while fiddling with the keys, trying to work out what each one did. He stopped at a key with a skull over the top and shakily slipped it into the lock on Luicie's cage. He turned the key until he heard a click in the lock and the door swung open. Luicie's eyes widened in curiosity, pushing the cage open with one hand and watching as freedom became available to her. She crawled uneasily over to him and rubbed affectionately against him as a thank you. Luicie used her claws and razored teeth to detach Angelo's muzzle, letting it drop to the floor and freeing him from his own prison. He looked back at her realising how similar they were and knew then where his priorities now lay.

He turned and scampered away with the key, Luicie now following closely behind. He headed towards the cells that held the Formers. Using all the energy inside him he pulled himself to his feet and limped unsteadily to each cell where he used the skull key to free each prisoner.

At first the Formers huddled in the corner, for fear that the Professor had returned for them, but eventually they took in Angelo's disfigured outline and they cautiously made their way towards him. Luicie stood behind him, watching loyally as he stepped back to give them their freedom. The Formers seemed uncertain, following him closely as he went about freeing each subject.

As they all assembled in the tunnels they realised how many of them they numbered, hundreds of creatures created to satisfy mankind's whims. Each one of them horrifically disfigured from the Lambency flowing freely through their veins, all of them glowing like the Imulsion that had mutated them.

The scent of human nearby filled their senses. They hissed at each other in a sudden sense of excitement, rippling through them like wave of hunger. They checked with their new leader whether it was okay to go hunting. He yipped and nipped at them in encouragement, thinking of the pain that had been inflicted to him at the hands of the humans around them. These were his family now.

A few Formers had started scratching at the bars of a cell where some of their dead lay slumped in a heap, they had picked up the smell of human. Angelo snapped at them to keep them back as he unlocked the cell to investigate for himself. Five dead partially mutated females had been stabbed to death, in the corner two humans huddled together, one cradled a tiny baby the other shook nervously in fear. By the time the Formers had started screeching in warning, Angelo was in the middle of the cell and the door slammed shut behind him. He whirled round to catch sight of Aidie who had been hiding under one of the bodies. The hair that had previously brought back distant memories was now dirty and bloodied hung in straggled rats tails, her clothes had been ripped over one side. It was clear that she was injured, blood dribbled down her arm which she held close to her chest in protection. In her other hand she held a blade out to threaten him.

"Angelo," she breathed nervously, then glanced around at the Formers outside the cell, "keep away from us Angelo and let us walk out of here. I don't want to use this on you."

"Free," he mumbled, shifting to one side to allow her access to Sofie, Emma and the baby.

She helped them to their feet and guided them carefully to the door, backing them out as Angelo followed behind. She bashed on the bars that housed Freja, urging him to unlock the cage to free her. The Formers starting pushing forward hungrily until he stopped them. Gazing back at Aidie sadly he pointed towards the tunnel that twisted into the darkness.

"Free," he asserted loudly to them, "Run."

She gave him a lingering look as she protectively took the women by the arm and led them down the tunnel into the darkness.

Angelo turned to Luicie and yipped at her, scampering down the tunnels in the hunt for his next quarry.

The Leader let out a howl of frustrated anger as he thrust his blade across the room, letting it clang as it hit the floor loudly.

"He fucking married her Thaw!" He raged as his second in command watched him in confused silence.

"I don't understand what's going on,"

"I had 'em, the lot of them were stunned. Starting with the Locust corpse, then bam rolling head so they all could see. She was bloody related to the guy on the end which made it perfect. They were starting to fall apart, I could see the cracks forming. I threw in her COG tags and I could visibly see that bastard's heart split apart. My mistake was taunting him about the name because he casually drops in that bombshell. Who the hell marries these days, it's a dead institution!"

"I'm assuming you're talking about the girl," Thaw tried his best to follow his Leader's train of thoughts, "she's dead now so surely it doesn't matter what happened between her and their Sergeant."

"It mattered to me," the Leader threw a fist at the wall, withdrawing his hand to stare back at the blood oozing from the cuts on his knuckles.

"I don't get you, you spent ages telling us that our pasts are our pasts and no longer part of who we are now. And yet here you are whinging about two people from your past, who, at your own orders, should have been assassinated the moment we captured them. Freja would have sorted this stupidity from you."

"My mistake was not killing them both on site,"

"Well you know what you have to do then," Thaw glanced upwards at the cells overlooking their hall.

The Leader nodded in agreement, staring up at the cells in the darkness on the balcony above them. As he lowered himself to a chair opposite Thaw they were both alerted to a screeching sound from the tunnels. They glanced at each other in confusion, both on their feet in minutes as two of their men came running towards them, alerting the slumbering Nightmares from their beds.

"The Formers are lose! Someone let them out!" one yelled.

"What?!" The Leader bellowed, reaching for his knife in readiness.

"They've swarmed the courtyard, we're trapped!"

A sound of hissing echoed through the corridors as the Leader approached to assess the situation. He silently signalled for the Nightmares to ready themselves and waved for Thaw to assess their exit strategy.

One Nightmare let out a surprised cry just as a group of Formers approached from a side entrance. They let out a screech of pleasure as they caught sight of him and charged quickly. They moved awkwardly and floppily but they were quick and massed rapidly. One grabbed his arm whilst another lunged at his other one, they kept pulling and pulling until both arms made a popping sound and ripped out of his sockets. The Nightmare screamed just as another Former descended upon his throat.

In that moment of massed madness, where the Formers surged, clawing and snapping to get at the fresh blood of their first kill. The Nightmares charged forwards to utilise on their deterred attention. As they threw the first blow more Formers approached from behind, taking them down before they even realised they never had a chance.

The Leader watched in horror as he tried to pull one Nightmare back, retrieving only an arm stump. He fell backwards in shock, shuffling away from the chaos with no answer to the creatures. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to find one of his own men helping him to his feet. He indicated in the direction of Thaw who stood beside a curtain leading to the hidden exit behind the staircase, waving his arms frantically to anyone who could see him.

"Fall back!" The Leader hollered as he sprinted towards Thaw and their only chance of escape.

The majority of Wilks' fight had drained from him after the Leader's revelation of Aidie's death, a part of him didn't want to believe him but another part knew the entire escapade had been futile from the start. He had been foolish to bring her knowing how badly Tate had been injured. There was no amount of training he could have given her that would have prepared her for the monsters that lurked in the building they were being held.

His squad seemed at a loss as what to do now that Wilks had retreated inside himself. Slumped in the corner of the cell head buried in his knees. Completely silent.

"C'mon kid," Cam spoke carefully to him, "you gotta snap outta it."

Miles faced a similar situation with Archer, except the Stranded refused to grieve in silence.

"This isn't right," Archer muttered hammering his hands against the bars of the cell as he stared back at the lifeless eyes of his Niece's dismembered head, "she was only a kid."

"Archer, mate, we're gonna get out of here so you can kill the bastards that did that to her," Miles tried to console him from the neighbouring cell.

"What's the point they'll all still be dead? Me killing them will never bring them back. I still have to return to our village to face Burn and tell him his wife and daughter are dead, to achieve what? So some mad scientist could run tests on Lambent humans. It sure makes me feel so much better that their deaths helped him achieve his goals,"

Miles leant against the bars to catch a glance at Cam who knelt down quietly talking to Wilks.

"C'mon kid," he soothed, "yer stronger than this. Yer can grieve for her later but we need yer right now. We need yer to get us outta here."

Wilks let out a heavy sigh, deliberating his duties over the pain of his emotions. Reminding himself of the times his father used to berate him for showing any emotion on duty. He was a Wilks, he was better than that. He sat up and stared silently into space, refusing to meet Cam's expression.

A disturbing sound came from the hall below, a hissing shriek followed by the frantic screams of the Nightmares. Gunfire rattled erratically before ceasing with a curdled screech. The prisoners took to their feet in alarm. Wilks took hesitant steps towards the front of his cage just as Angelo bounded victoriously up the stairs. He held out the keys for their cells, swinging it around his bony finger. He beamed from ear to ear and was glowing a fierce Imulsion colour.

He turned the key in the first lock to free Wilks and followed suit with the others, stepping back to watch them taste their freedom. Wondering whether the situation would be similar to that of his fellow Formers.

Wilks was the first to emerge, fists clenched, his breathing rapid with anger as he approached Angelo.

"You should have told me she was dead," he seethed as he stood face to face with the creature that had released them.

Angelo was unsure as to what was going on, he had been expecting relief and joy. Not anger. These humans definitely did not view him as their own.

He bore his increasingly pointed teeth in defence and hissed at Wilks to keep him back.

"No!" he hissed back sizing himself up to Wilks' height, "baby."

"You make no fucking sense Angelo!" Wilks snapped back at him, grabbing him to shake him. His grip was so tight Angelo thought his arms were going to snap in half.

Cam and Miles ran forward to grab their Sergeant and pull him back. Angelo was screeching at him now, eyes filled with terror. He had never expected such aggression from the man who had once pledged 'friend' to him.

"Woah woah woah!" Cam stepped between them as Wilks stepped back away from him, "C'mon kid. Let's remember who has the power here."

"I don't fucking care anymore," Wilks spat.

Angelo panted, standing wide legged and awkward, the whites of his eyes flashed fear and yet something triggered inside him. An anger and aggression that he felt obliged to feel as well, he wanted to rip as many humans apart as he could just like his new brothers and sisters were doing downstairs. And yet as he stood in front of the group of unarmed humans, he could only see their pain and despair.

He limped past Cam towards Wilks and took his hand, the Gear frowned in confusion as he drew his fingers so they were palm to palm. He tilted his head to stare him back in the eyes. Despite everything that was happening to him there was some part of him that remained human and he clung to that feeling for these men.

"Free," he told him firmly, fighting the part of his brain that wanted to lash out.

Wilks' eyes widened in recognition and nodded slowly, a errant tear escaped from his eye and slipped down his cheek. It made Angelo frown and reach out to wipe it from the Gear's cheek, he gazed at it on his finger before licking the saltiness in curiosity. After a thoughtful moment he opened his mouth and spoke again.

"Guns,"

Daylight streamed into the tunnel as Sofie pushed open the door to their escape releasing them into the Seran wilderness. Emma and Freja stumbled closely behind her as Aidie pushed the door closed after them. They turned to take in the wasteland around them trying to gather their bearings and let out a gasp. In the time they had been in captivity the ground had been ripped apart by towering Lambent Stalks, pools of Imulsion seeped through the ground letting out the deadly fumes into the air.

"Oh God!" Aidie gasped.

"Shit!" Freja cursed.

"What happened?" Emma asked.

The baby started screaming forcing Sofie to find somewhere to sit where she could feed her. She nestled herself down on a rock and turned her back to the Stalks, closing her eyes to force herself from going over the edge.

Emma kept close by to her Grandchild, watching as the baby fed eagerly, oblivious to her absent mother.

"How's she doing?" she asked cautiously.

"She's surviving, considering," Sofie chose her words carefully.

"Thank you for looking after her,"

Sofie glanced down at the child and felt a pang in her heart realising she should be nursing her own son not some dead woman's daughter.

Aidie cautiously approached the stalks, assessing for any movement as she prodded at it with her boot. She looked it up and down before taking in the vast decay around it. The stalk was dead, but the many others that had sprouted around it certainly weren't. She continued to walk through the newly sprouted forest of twisted stalks, the sound of the vines cracking as they swaying signified that they were far from safe.

"How far do you think these things have grown?" she asked, half to herself but aware that Freja was also taking in the monstrosities with the same feeling of dread.

"I wouldn't even know, but they weren't here before,"

"We need to get back to the Village," Aidie suddenly came to the conclusion.

"No look at you, you're in no fit condition to be travelling," Emma interjected.

"I'm fine," she pulled at the ripped shoulder of her vest and shook her head, "it's superficial injuries, nothing I can't bandage up."

Aidie dug through one of the pouches on her hip and retrieved a roll of bandage, pinning one end down with her arm as she wrapped it around the bleeding wound until she had fully dressed it.

"Freja you are free to do whatever you want, or you can join us. Our home is in danger and we need to get back immediately,"

Freja nodded, "of course I'll come with you."

"The baby needs feeding Aidie, we're going to have to wait a while," Sofie snapped slightly, facing the wall.

"Okay, but I'm gonna need you ladies to do what I tell you to do," Aidie knotted the straps of her vest together, wincing as she did so. She hooked her armour back in place and tightened the connections on her shoulder. She adjusted her knife, now slotted between her belt and the waistband of her jeans. She felt naked without a gun to protect them.

"So what is our plan then?" Sofie twisted in her seat to fix Aidie with a glare.

"I'm gonna have to get a weapon somewhere, a knife is great close quarters but I don't want to get anywhere near to these Lambent creatures,"

"The Allfathers Church has a small collection of weapons if we could get that far undetected," Emma suggested.

"No way, I'm not going back to that place again," Sofie swore, "not where my poor babies lie rotting."

"I did bury them Sofie, I even put their names on each of their graves to mark them out," Aidie offered, although she doubted Sofie would appreciate anything she said to her.

Sofie sent her a look, her brows furrowed, eyes darkened in hate. She had never liked the young COG wannabe from the moment she turned up alongside Wilks, the kid had no clue about the pain she was going through. She opened her mouth to respond just as she caught sight of Emma who had been carefully watching her own grandchild carefully held in this stranger's arms. Emma, who had also lost her daughter. Realising that her feud with Aidie had to be put on hold for the sake of their survival, she swallowed back the bile in her throat.

"Thank you," she finally answered, "I know Tate would have appreciated it."

"Okay, I don't think the Church was that far from here, but we're going to have to keep a low profile if we see anything. Do you ladies think you're ready for this?"

Sofie gave her a sly smile in response, "Oh my dear, you forget I was a Stranded a lot longer than you've been a Gear, surviving is my strongest attribute."

The Gears followed closely behind Angelo as he led them down into the Grand Hall, revealing the bloodied remains of the unfortunate humans that had been caught by the Former advances. Luckily for them the creatures had retreated back to the darkness, whilst they awaited the return of their new leader. Few surviving Nightmares remained in the building, most had escaped so they could regroup and decide on their next course of action. It gave Angelo a perfect opportunity to lead the humans safely through the hall to a small side room where the seized weapons had been stored.

The Gears dug through the piles of weapons in search of their own guns whilst Angelo sat outside the room keeping an eye out for anyone who approached.

"And I thought my weaponry room was big," Archer marvelled at the shelves of ammunition and pocketed a few extra rounds for his pistols, "goes to show what is still out there to be scavenged."

Cam assisted Miles with his Scorcher as his broken arm prevented him from handling it with both hands. He strapped it to his back and picked out a lighter weapon for him to handle single handed.

Miles pulled a face, "oh Cam c'mon, I hate Snubs, surely there's a weapon better suited to me amongst this crap."

Cam gave him a sceptical look, "Not unless yer know how to handle a Lancer with one hand."

Wilks' Lancer, identified with his own personal graffiti along the sides, was pretty easy to find and he looped it to the webbing attached to his spinal armour plates. He hesitated when he caught sight of Aidie's Longshot, slightly tattered and bent in certain places from her lack of attention to gun maintenance. But it was hers all the same and he felt duty bound to bring it home in her honour. He picked it up and hooked it between his Lancer and Gnasher. His shoulder slings were made to only carry two larger weapons but Wilks was determined to bring it back. He also opted to holster her stolen Semi Automatic Gorgon with the words 'Belongs to Wilks' scratched onto the side. He had missed his weapon at times, but it had been worth it knowing that she had made good use of them. He stuffed his hip pouch with extra rounds of ammunition for all weapons and turned to take in the rest of his squad.

"Are we ready?"

"As we'll ever be," Cam responded holstering his prized Pistols and adding a Sawn off Shotgun to his collection.

"Let's get outta here Wilks," Miles confirmed, "I'm ready to go home."

"I don't think I'll ever be ready to face Burn and the rest of those families," Archer said sadly.

Wilks pulled out his Gnasher and stocked the chamber with bullets, "Which is why we're gonna kill every last fucker in this building,"