Roman wanted it to feel serious for Dean, but definitely not like this. Not like this.

"Since when does he even own a gun?" Roman wondered. One could still see in his eyes that he was frightened.

"This is not good. This is so not good." Seth was freaking out. Yet he made sure he was quiet enough not to enable Dean to notice him. But he couldn't pretend nothing was happening. The conditions had changed. He wasn't willing to go along with the plan. "We need to get out here," he said to Roman. "Dean has to see us before someone gets hurt." With all seriousness, this situation wasn't part of the game anymore. The risk was too high. "Come on," he persuaded Roman who remained in the previous position, kneeling behind a bush, hiding, watching Dean, now more carefully than before. "Let's go," Seth raised his voice. He didn't even look at Roman; he simply expected him to stand up and go with him. To surrender.

"No. We're staying here."

"You gotta be kidding me! He's got a gun!" How could Roman be forgetting about that? Or did not care? Was he willing to risk their lives just to prove his point?

"I know, I can see it, Seth. Now calm down, please." Roman's voice was surprisingly calm, even cold. As if this wasn't happening to him.

"How . . . what?! I'm leaving, now!"

Roman grabbed Seth's arm and pulled it, which made Seth get on the ground right next to him. "No!"

"You're seriously commanding me what to do?"

"I'm just taking care of you. With this attitude, you're gonna get hurt. Even without Dean's help. Besides, he's not gonna shoot us."

"What makes you so sure?"

Roman did not say anything. He smiled, though, which to Seth seemed as underestimating the graveness of the situation. He did not agree with Roman at all right now. If it was up to him, what he'd do if Roman let him, he would stop hiding, walk toward Dean – even with his hands up – and submit to him. Say the truth, that it had been them all along, and prevent something terrible from happening. Because Dean was dangerous even without a weapon. Now . . . this could end really badly. For all of them.

"You yourself said that Dean is unpredictable. That you simply can't know what he's gonna do. You don't think that anymore or what?" Seriously, what was Roman thinking?

"No, you're absolutely right. We can't know what he's going to do. But we know what he's not going to do. He's not going to shoot."

"I don't want to be part of this," Seth admitted to Roman.

Roman looked at Seth and told him, "Then stay here." Then Roman stood up, looked to the left and started running while screaming in a strange voice, "You're next."

Seth felt urge to go after him – to stop him, not to join him – but it seemed more logical to stay right there. He meant it when he said that he didn't want to be part of this thing. But Roman's attitude surprised him. Was he aware of what he was doing? Because right now he was running with Dean not that far behind him. Of course Dean heard him, but that was what Roman wanted. Did he want to get shot as well?

Think, Seth said to himself. There's no way you're staying here doing nothing. So you have two options; join Roman's side or join Dean's side. If you go after Dean, you'll be able to control his actions, make sure he won't hurt anybody. Of course only in case he knows it's you who's following him.

But while Seth was forcing his mind to come up with a plan that would counter his friends' plans, both guys gained significant lead. He wasn't able to see them anymore. So what the heck, the important thing now was to change that.

He ran for good five minutes but he was less and less sure that he was going in the right direction. Not only he couldn't see them, he couldn't even hear them. Just the noise of the nature, the animals. No human beings. But the silence was good, right? If something went wrong, they wouldn't be quiet.

Seth stopped to focus. Surrounded by trees he tried to hear something. He looked around, making sure he didn't miss anything. He wouldn't admit he had got lost for he believed if he had, they had too. And they had to be around. Just listen to the steps. He turned his head but it was yet another animal. A young deer. Another sound came from the other side. What was it? Seth ran toward the place where he thought he heard the sound coming from. Roman, Dean, he almost shouted but he managed to control the urge. If they were near, he had to find out without asking. And be careful, he reminded himself for that was the most important thing at the moment.

With the anticipation of spotting at least one of them he slowed down. He couldn't allow them to see him. Well, it'd probably be okay of Roman noticed him, but that was irrelevant since they weren't there. He kept on moving. Quietly. With great caution.

"Surrender!" somebody shouted. They had to be close now, but Seth wasn't able to tell to whom the voice belonged. Somehow it made sense for both of the guys to say it to the other one.

Okay, enough, Seth said to himself. Be brave, he encouraged himself and added, you need to take charge of the situation. And he did. Or was working on that. With all the braveness he could gather he continued and finally got close enough to them to be able to see them. Dean at least. But it was certain Roman was there too. Probably hiding, and that was a good thing for him to do. Dean was grasping the gun, pointing with it at something – possibly at Roman, hopefully not. Did Dean see something that Seth didn't? Seth kept safe distance, otherwise he might get in danger, but there was a chance Dean saw more – a figure perhaps that was in reality Roman. What would it take for Dean to open fire? An insignificant movement maybe. Seth couldn't let that happen. He was responsible, and if something went wrong, he'd be guilty as much as the other two. But what was there to do? Admit the truth. How, though? Yell, "Dean!" How experienced was Dean with holding a gun? That was an important question. Because he might simply get scared, annoyed, and shoot. Seth saw the worst possible scenario in every single step he might take. And that was understandable. He couldn't risk. On the other hand, the gun may not even be loaded, or it can even be a fake gun. But that's all what if.

His legs were not shaking and neither were his hands. He felt fear but he was strong enough not to let it take control of him. Roman and Dean were not scared; this appeared to be a game for them. Though youngest, Seth felt wisest of the three. Seeing the reality of it and the threat that Dean's instability presented.

"I'm counting to three," Dean said with a strong voice. Finally, it would end. But how?

"Follow the buzzards," the voice that wouldn't even Seth connect to Roman replied.

"Never," Dean refused. "One."

Don't be stupid. Seth wished to be able to send those thoughts to Roman. Surrender or run away. But nobody moved. The whole place fell silent. At least that's how it felt for them.

"Two," the counting continued.

The intervals were long enough for Roman to have chance to do as asked but not long enough for Seth to think rationally. He had to interfere, that's all he knew. Before he'd say three he had to do something. Anything. His instincts were what guided him in the end. When he picked up a small rock and threw it at his best friend to prevent him from doing something stupid.

Dean couldn't see him, he was focused on the unknown person in front of him and couldn't know that there was somebody behind him. He couldn't defend himself.

But the ticking bomb had been disposed of. The gun fell out of Dean's hand right after the rock hit his head. He fell to the ground. Unconscious.