Beep…

It was almost a dream, almost. Winter groaned in her state and she felt like a truck rammed into her, but she remembered what had happened before. The dead city she traveled through, the hardened people, and the violent creatures that dared to kill anything human. However, she remembered what happened before.

Then she heard the sky crack as the winds howled.

Awakened by the cries of jet engines, the specialist sat up and looked around to find herself in a much familiar place. Then she recognized the Atlesian designs within her quarters, it lacked color, but it made up for it with utility.

A door on her right had slid open as the imposing figure revealed himself into the room with his white uniform. "Specialist Schnee, I see you're already awake."

The woman straightened her back and saluted her superior, but was taken aback by his entrance. "General Ironwood!"

"At ease specialist, you have been missing for quite some time." He replied as his hands remained behind his back.

"Sir, what were you doing while I was away?"

The older man smiled. "After you were taken away, I was trying my best to find you until the project held abnormal power levels. For a moment, I feared the worst about what happened to you."

"General, you will not believe me if I told you what happened when I was gone. It's quite hard to accept that there is a new world on the other side." Winter explained. "Though I think we should be grateful that Remnant is not in a terrible state as those people."

"I've noticed your appearance was different from the last time I saw you. What happened to you?"

The young lady lowered her head as she recalled her moments with Artyom. From the tunnel fighting against the mutants to the firefight against the Nazis, she couldn't stop thinking that the Dark Ones sent her to eliminate her friend in the other world. Even though their time together was limited, Artyom's personality turned him out to be nicer than many of the people she met within the Metro. "In that other world, the surface was destroyed by some kind of great war where the air was unbreathable. I don't know how to explain it, but the world is almost similar to ours, but devastated so much that it's hardly unlivable."

"Is it that bad?" He asked.

Winter answered with a nod. "I would say so. Their entire economy is based around bullets just so they could exchange it for whatever necessities they needed. As for threats, they don't have any creatures of Grimm, but there are smaller versions."

"I see. Specialist Schnee, thank you for telling this to me." The general said as he smiled. "You deserve a long rest after all of the things you have been through." Then he turned away and headed for the door with his disciplined stride.

"General, before you leave, I have one more thing to say."

"Due tell."

"I finally found out who those creatures referred as him."

Ironwood stopped at the doorway and glanced over his shoulder. "You have? Do you know who he is?"

A small smile came on her lips. "A young man trying to defend his home."

"Winter, thank you for telling me. I finally understand."

After Bourbon and Artyom had bypassed through a nearby station, the two found themselves occupying a former service room on their way to Polis. Both men needed time to rest and recover from their time on the surface before they continued. While Bourbon was sound asleep in his bunk, Artyom held a clip of MGRs in his hand. One of these clips was given by his stepfather to be given to Winter.

When Artyom recalled his time with the woman, he remembered his first time when Hunter arrived with her at his side. She was one of the few people who carried a sword, but also held a power unlike any other. Was it magic or something born from the fires of the apocalypse? Artyom knew there was never an easy answer. Then the young man could not forget how she took the time to rescue him when she had every chance to leave him for dead. Her death did little to comfort him as he thought about her soft side when she reacted to the remains of the Dead City.

He knew better than to take someone's stuff without permission, but Artyom's limited interaction with the woman suggested she would be fine with him. After all, it was his stepfather who provided for her. The young man felt that Winter was special, someone who could not be deemed normal. While the Metro had its own people who were "special", they remained reclusive and worried about themselves.

Artyom closed his eyes with a smile on his face. He would have never said it up-front to her, but he liked her white hair. It held no color, but it was simply beautiful like the white lilies he once saw in his books. "Goodnight Winter, wherever you are."

He was relatively comfortable until a hand was placed on his mouth.

"What the-" He turned on his flashlight and found Bourbon standing over him.

The older man's finger was near his lips before he moved his mouth. "Look Artyom, I hate to wake you up like this, but we have to go."

"Go where? Bourbon, what's going on?"

"Apparently, we've been leaving a trail for the Nazis." Bourbon answered quietly. "Get your shit together, we have to move immediately. They won't dare chase us if we get into the Polis Station."

Artyom headed his words as he gathered his pack and bags while his Bastard gun was brought to his side. "Okay, I'm ready." When he walked out of the temporary bunk room, Artyom found Bourbon standing in the middle of the tracks as he gestured towards the right.

"Come on kid, we might end up run-" A gunshot echoed from within the tunnel as the guide dropped to the ground. "Son of a bitch!" He swore. "Fucking sniper." Despite the gun wound he received, the older man dragged himself off the tracks and besides the door.

The young man pulled out his orange case as he flipped the cover open. "Hold on Bourbon, stay still."

Yet, the notorious man took a quick glance at him. "Artyom, I doubt that is going to help. The Nazis have a heavy squad after us and I doubt a single man would be enough to hold them back."

"Don't worry, I think we can take them." Artyom said with optimism.

Despite his attitude, Bourbon grabbed him by the collar and talked to him face-to-face. "You need to give Hunter's message to Polis. You don't need me to guide you the rest of the way."

"You're hurt."

"I know I'm hurt, I took a fucking bullet. Look, I appreciate what you are doing, but you cannot stop on my behalf. Artyom, are you listening?!" He demanded with annoyance.

It was hard for Artyom could not stop looking at his wound.

"Artyom, listen to me, I'm dead weight to you. The Nazis will catch up to us even if you carry me."

"But Bourbon…

The man with the alcoholic name chuckled. "Don't worry about me, Uncle Bourbon can take care of himself." Then he pulled his Kalash out from over his shoulder. "Hand me your bastard, you need my Kalash more than you need that piece of junk." He stated, referring to the makeshift weapon of the Metro.

"Why are you doing this?" Artyom asked, but afraid of what may happen next.

Then a smile fell on his face. "You're a good kid and I know you wouldn't leave some SOB like me behind, but there are times you cannot save everyone." Bourbon released his grip on the man's collar as he readied his gun. "Run, I'll cover you."

A loud shot echoed in the tunnel, ringing to those confined to these walls.

"I said run!"

Afraid of gaining Bourbon's wrath, Artyom turned away with his traded weapon as he sprinted towards the path in the darkness. Never did he look back as the Nazis and Bourbon exchanged gunfire between one-another. The cries of men shouted between the single man and the mad men.

However, Artyom could not forget the man's final words from the man who lead him to his destination. "Come to Uncle Bourbon, I will make you all my bitches!"

A great explosion erupted as the force of nature flew throughout the train tunnel. The young man found himself flying off his feet before he returned to the ground.

A private channel was set up for General Ironwood as he straightened out his tie to make himself look presentable. His eyes focused on the display screen as it was powered to life by the electricity that flowed throughout Atlas. On the other side of the screen, he found the gaze of an older gentlemen in his white civilian attire looking back at him. "Mr. Schnee, I have great news for you."

The old man scoffed at his sentence/ "General, I am not in the mood for pleasantries. It has been days since Winter has disappeared from my family. Do you understand how much PR would be ruined if this continues?"

Ironwood's expression changed to a serious one when he brought up a related topic. "Do not worry about that, your daughter has been found and she is making a swift recover."

"You found her?" Mr. Schnee asked, sounding content with the response. "Very good, perhaps I am being paranoid about this matter, but you should know that my father-in-law was expecting her arrival earlier."

"My apologies, sir. However, you must also understand that between defending travel lines between the kingdoms and fighting the Grimm, it is difficult to find a single person."

Mr. Schnee straightened his back with his head held tall. "Well, thank you general, I owe you for finding my daughter."

Ironwood smiled. "Worry not, Jacques, your daughter is safe."

Artyom opened his eyes when he found a light shining in his face. "Look at this boys, we found ourselves the fucker who killed that patrol."

After the light was removed from his face, the young man found himself surrounded by five armored soldiers clad in black. However, he recognized the infamous symbol of the Fourth Reich thanks to their patches on their shoulders and one of them was standing beside him.

"He's finally awake." The stranger beside him commented as his revolver was in his hand. "We've been trying to find you and your friend for killing our kameraden, but we don't have to worry about him anymore." The barrel of his pistol was aimed at his face. "We'd love to torture you, but we wouldn't want to disturb the Polis guards." Then the Nazi cocked his revolver at the ready. "Pray to whatever fucking god you believe in, sub-human."

Was this the end? When he was so close to getting Hunter's message through, he fell so short of escaping. Now the Nazis caught up to him with their weapons at the ready. There was nothing he could do short of killing his executioner. However, Artyom knew the others would kill him on the spot. Would he become the same as his guide?

A green dot appeared on the Nazis gas mask, but it was bright enough to catch his attention. "What the hell?"

Bullets zipped through the air as Artyom witnessed the Nazi soldiers slump to the ground. One-by-one, their blood splattered on the ground as he remained still.

Then a voice spoke from behind his back. "Fucking Nazis, always picking on some poor guy." A man commented.

Artyom turned around, only to see the green beams of lasers attached to their weapons, but he also saw the green pairs of eyes looking at him. However, one of them removed these green away as he knelt before the man with his own eyes. "Who are you?"

"You're rescuers." The mysterious stranger said. "However, you may know us as the Polis Rangers. Now, what brings you to these parts of the Metro you seem to be a bit young to do a bit of traveling?"

These men were Polis Rangers, the guardians of the Metro who protected humanity from outside threats, the men who both the Red Line and the Fourth Reich feared. However, they were also the organization that Hunter was part of. The thought made Artyom reach for the man's dogtags out from his pocket as he showed it to the man who seemed to be talking.

"Holy shit, that is Hunter's. Alright kid, we are going to bring you into Polis and have a nice chat with Colonel Miller, but you better have a good explanation."