So it turns out that I've got a bit more free time than I thought I had, so I thought I'd use that to give you all another chapter. As for those of you still waiting on Scavengers: still waiting on a few excerpts from Wandering Letters, but those of you who know him will also appreciate that he's also got his own stuff he'd like to work on so sorry but I think you're all in for a bit more of a wait.

On a more unrelated topic, I'd like to (shamelessly) advertise an absolutely bloody fantastic series of novels by one Jonathan Maberry. The series in question is referred to as the Joe Ledger series and good God it's one of the greatest feats of modern literature I've ever had the pleasure of reading. It's smart, shocking, fast and Ledger is an absolutely fantastic character whose every line makes me smile (alright, slight exaggeration there but pretty damned close to it). If you like Techno-thrillers; do yourselves a favour and pick up Patient Zero, then go read the other books in the series, then when that's done, go pre-order Extinction Machine and let the magic roll over you.

That is all.

The Pelanoi Accounts

Chapter Eight: The Snake In Our Midst

The Survivors

They hauled out of town like the devil himself pursued them. In a manner of speaking it wasn't entirely incorrect to say that might well be the case.

They ran and didn't stop running until they were a mile out of that death infested hive, stopping inside an isolated gas station. The check-out was clear, though a significantly sized crimson stain told them all that someone had met a grisly end here.

'I'm not seeing anyone out there,' Ellen said after a few minutes observation, turning away from the window.

'Would you? It's still dark out; you saw how that guy was decked out. They're probably all in black creeping up on us right now,' Ethan said in between mouthfuls of chocolate. He'd taken a few candy bars from the various displays and the others had done the same.

'I don't think so,' Tiffany murmured. All eyes turned to her.

'That guy had us then. If his orders were to kill all of us then that was the perfect time to do it, then or riddle us when we were all funnelled into that back alley with our backs to him. Letting us go and putting us on our guard wouldn't help achieve that goal… no, I think he was the real deal.'

'Okay,' Randolf spoke up to add his own two cents, 'as nice as that is – was – that still doesn't change the fact that there's still probably an entire team of lethal motherfuckers who want all of us dead. I don't know about you but I'd really like to know why they've singled us out of everyone else on this damned place.'

The group fell silent as they pondered the idea. It was certainly strange. If this was an effort to silence the entire island then far too many people had escaped for that to work. Maybe they were hunting for someone in particular?

At that moment Cassidy felt the memory stick jab her in the thigh, at the same time her blood ran colder than ice as she connected the dots. She prayed her face didn't show her sheer terror and that she hadn't paled too noticeably.

They know about the memory stick.

She didn't know how they knew, but it was the only answer that made any sort of sense. She was a marked woman, and all of a sudden she felt certain that her life was well and truly over. Even if she escaped Pelanoi with the others she was probably marked, and as that line of thinking grew ever more morbid she realised that simply by associating with everyone here they were probably all targets as well. She fell deeper into despair as the thought that she had doomed everyone present to an early grave lapped at her mind.

There was no way out, not unless…

Unless…

No. There was a way out. She had to escape the island and bring the memory stick to the authorities, no, better yet – the BSAA. Surely they of all people would spring into action at the news that Grant & Glukhovsky were dabbling in illegal biological science, science that the defunct and corrupt Umbrella Corporation had pioneered no less. The ray of hope was small but Cassidy snatched at it, feeling her spirits lift her out of the spiral of depression. She had a mission now, and she'd see to it that it was done and the data on the memory stick saw its way to the right people.

Strength of purpose flushed her with fresh energy and she got to her feet.

'Are we going then? Surely we should make a start before the rest of the goons catch up?'

'I'm tired,' the little girl, Mary, groaned.

'No, she's right Mary. Don't worry, I'll carry you so you can try and sleep,' Nick said to her softly.

'I think that's a good idea too,' Kit said as he picked himself up from his sitting position, 'More ground we put between that town and us is more time it'll take for the rest of that black ops team to find us.'

'So what, we're all fine with the fact we're being hunted?' Leah asked incredulously.

'Course not,' Ellen snorted.

'No,' Tiffany agreed, 'but they're right, we need to put some distance between our two parties. We can all brainstorm this later, right now, moving is probably the best idea.'

She turned towards Ethan and Randolf.

'You two know the fastest way to New Rynns from this part of the island?'

Both men appeared deep in thought for a moment, before light bulbs seemed to go off in Randolf's head.

'I think if we follow the road we'll go through a rainforest. There's a preserve in there and the folks running it have an entire stash of vehicles. If we're lucky there'll still be some there cause – let's face it, no one would run deeper into the island when the shit hit the fan.'

Ethan nodded in affirmation.

'All right. Nice work Randolf, you've surprised me today – and if that next word out of your mouth is a pick-up line then I will hit you.'

Randolf shut his mouth and held his hands up in a placating gesture.

'Okay, take some extra food and water, then we're hauling ass to the jungle.'

'Boy, this'll be fun,' Ethan grumbled to himself, 'go to the place with the freaky plant life and the bugs and animals that'll tear your insides out quick as…' Tiffany shook her head at his grousing and turned to the bottled water stand, almost bumping into Kit.

'Sorry,' he murmured as he stepped out of her way. Tiffany felt herself flush as she remembered their session in the manse. It was barely half an hour ago but it seemed more like a year with adrenaline and fear pulsing through your system. She still didn't quite know what to say to him about that. She wondered what he thought of it, what he thought of her.

Ellen brushed past her to take a small bottle of water, stuffing it into a pocket and the contact brought Tiffany out of virgin school-girl mode and back into reality. Much as she wanted to address the issue of her and Kit; now was not a good time. She screwed open a bottle of still water and glugged half of it in the span of a few seconds, gasping as she realised that she was actually far more thirsty than she realised. She finished the rest of the bottle off and pocketed another.

The group left the station a minute after, the eleven survivors making a beeline for the rainforest.

The Mercenaries

The dead man's skull snapped with a crack that might have made an ordinary man wince. Elias had heard the sound so many times that it was beyond funny.

Not that the business of death was something to laugh at. That was for psychos and unprofessional thugs, high on all sorts of substances and convinced of their own immortality. Elias had put plenty of bullets into people like them, not as many as he'd snapped necks but a considerable number nonetheless.

There were at least a dozen of the walking dead ambling towards him on the street and if Elias were a weaker sort, he'd have simply unloaded on them with his weapon. Ammunition however, was finite, and besides, none of the others were in a position to block his path.

He wondered why films such as Dawn of the Dead portrayed the undead horde as something unstoppable. Certainly they were dangerous in large groups and they never tired but the zombie was slow and stupid. Depending on how long it had been dead for it could also be physically weak to the point where even a pubescent boy could fend one off without significant trouble.

Elias frowned at a sudden burst of gunfire that came from Burke's direction. Much as he wanted to check on things the press of undead had other ideas. Drawing a wickedly curved blade he rammed it into the empty eye socket of one approaching walker and was about to plant it into the forehead of another when his target's head suddenly exploded.

Elias paused a moment, his instincts already judging that it was safe to do so.

Viper stood a few metres away, G36C in hand. He greeted his commanding officer with a curt nod before unloading into the undead. Double tap for each target; one in the sternum to stun them, the next to finish them. The dead were scythed down methodically in the space of five seconds.

Elias gave a nod of gratitude. Though he didn't quite need the assistance, he'd learned long ago that it paid to show an occasional nicety every now and then to make your squad think you appreciated them. It generally improved performance. Part of him though, doubted it would have much of an effect, if any, on the enigmatic Viper.

Another burst of gunfire from Ghost's area brought Elias back into the game. He keyed into the comms.

'Grey Lead to Ghost, have you made contact with the subjects?'

Ghost did not respond, not immediately, which probably meant trouble.

'Grey team form on me, Ghost may have made contact with our quarry, we will provide support,' or do the job ourselves, he thought to himself. He still wasn't entirely sure Burke was committed to the mission; he frowned to himself as he considered calling his employers but decided against it. If Burke had done something to jeopardise their task Elias would execute the medic then and there. He doubted they'd miss him much seeing how almost any wound from the monsters on the island appeared to be fatal.

"Ghost to Grey Lead. Negative, have not made contact; just a bunch of these walking freak shows who almost got the drop on me. Ghost out," Elias frowned, letting something like that happen was sloppy and Ghost was lucky to be alive. The hulking merc considered chewing him out for it when they met up but decided against it.

Viper and Elias found Ghost five minutes later. True enough, several foetid corpses littered the ground. Elias raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything; Viper studied the scene, his posture changing. Had Elias been paying attention he might almost have said the man was curious.

'Have you seen the subjects?' Elias asked Burke bluntly.

'No sir,' Ghost shook his head, 'are you certain they were headed this way?'

'Jäger informed us himself; and considering he's our designated marksman I'd imagine his eyes are sharp enough for him to rely on them,' he fixed Ghost a pointed look through the special reinforced glass of his respirator mask. To his credit, Ghost returned it; maybe he did have a backbone. Elias broke the eye contact and thumbed his comms again.

'Grey Lead to Grey Team, Viper, myself and Ghost have rendezvoused at Ghost's position. Form up on that location and prepare to move, Grey Lead out,' he cut his transmission and shortly heard affirmatives from Jenkins, Brookes, Jäger and Tech. He glanced at Viper, who was standing up after examining a body of one of the dead. He shook his head and leaned against the wall of a deserted convenience store.

Jake had almost sighed in relief when Elias had turned away from him. His heart hammered inside his rib cage and sweat made him more uncomfortable as he feared he was only a second away from being shot in the head.

It hadn't happened though. Elias had bought it. He honestly thought it might be more difficult to convince him. Now all he had to do was think of a way to get Grey Team to go in the opposite direction to the group of survivors. He didn't know where they were headed, but he figured that anywhere away from there would be the best way of keeping Elias and the rest of the mercenaries away from them.

He was considering ideas when he noticed that Viper appeared to be staring at him. The visor of his helmet concealed his face entirely so Jake wasn't entirely sure that Viper was looking at him directly… but there was nothing else worth looking at in his direction was there? He turned his head around. Nothing.

When he turned around Viper was closer, strolling casually up to him as if he were about to greet him like an old friend. The mercenary turned his head towards the scattered bodies of undead.

'Rather a lot of shell casings on the floor… lot of marks on that wall over there too,' he motioned towards the wall of a house that he had unloaded on when he'd fired at the survivors. As usual his accent and tone of voice were impossible to pin down because of that damned helmet and whatever contraptions lined its interior.

'Not many wounds on the dead either,' he observed, 'someone might think you were shooting at someone else,'

'Someone hasn't been jumped and almost killed by a mob of dead people trying to eat you,' Jake retorted angrily, 'I told you, those dead guys came out of nowhere. I panicked okay? That what you wanted to hear?' he felt his pulse quicken.

Viper said nothing for a moment; he tilted his head like an inquisitive dog, then set it back to its natural angle.

'So, how are William and Liza?' he asked suddenly. Jake felt his blood run cold. Those were the names of his–

'I imagine they're sitting pretty back in the States, enjoying their afternoon walks, utterly ignorant of the fact that both their sons are paid murderers,' Jake almost slugged him, but restrained himself. Acting out would only prove any suspicions he had.

Instead, he grit his teeth – if only to prevent them from chattering – and ground out a question.

'What the hell is your game?' Jake was not a particularly violent man by nature, but every fibre of his being was screaming for him to take action against this dangerous individual.

Viper said nothing. In fact, he simply turned away from Jake and took lookout, standing behind an abandoned Ford car, his attention turned outwards. It took all of Jake's willpower not to pursue him and demand some answers.

Even when the others arrived several minutes later, Jake's attention was still fixed on Viper. He wondered at first, but now he knew for certain that there was much, much more to the mysterious mercenary than a mere killer of men. As Grey Team moved out South-West in the direction of the group of survivors, Jake felt a knot in his gut when Viper looked at him again. He'd almost swear the bastard was smiling at him.

-X-

Breather chapter. As always C&C is appreciated and encouraged.

Zips out.