1
The moment Evelyn and Jake had emerged from the labs entrance, she had known something was amiss. Evelyn had turned her gaze upwards, focusing on the ridge that overlooked them. It took her mere seconds to see that flash of movement and she had acted quickly, ordering the group of divide up and keep low. "Militia!", she yelled, motioning up the ridge. The sound of gunfire suddenly rang out, forcing Evelyn and those closest to her to hit the ground. She rolled onto her back, grasping her weapon tightly against her chest. "Jake!", Evelyn turned to face Jake who had pinned himself against the broad trunk of a tree. "We need to take them out!".
Jake nodded and motioned to on of the Na'vi who stood at the other side of the clearing. Quickly the warrior began to make their way up the ridge and Evelyn watched nervously as they moved easily through the dense foliage. "We only have five minutes Jake!", she yelled again. She glanced around, trying to see where her team were and let out a quick sigh of relief as she saw them standing on either side of the clearing. The only one left in the open was her and Evelyn knew there was no way she could outrun the hail of ammunition fire.
"Get them out of here!", Evelyn set her green eyes on Jake. "I don't want my team here when this place goes up".
"But that means leaving you behind", Jake shook his head. "We can't do that!".
Evelyn saw Damon appear from behind Jake, his weapon raised up and eyes fixed on her.
"STAND DOWN LIEUTENANT!", Evelyn roared over her comms unit. "Stand down and get back to Hells Gate!".
The young soldier staggered to a stop as Jake grabbed his arm, "Colonel Mam, we cannot leave you behind!".
"Retreat back to Hells Gate! That's a bloody order soldier!".
Damon and the other SecOps members gave her a firm salute and nodded, "We'll see you back at Hells Gate Colonel!". One by one they turned away and ran into the forest, leaving Evelyn alone.
"Yeah", she hissed to herself. "I'll see you back at Hells Gate".
2
Evelyn glanced at her watch and let out a loud sigh. "Only two minutes to go before boom time". She ran her fingers through her hair, "Well Colonel, it's been a blast". She glanced around, wishing for some kind of miracle. "A knight in shining armour would be fantastic right now". As if in reply a flicker of movement caught Evelyns eye and for a moment, she couldn't believe what she was seeing. A large, dark mass suddenly emerged from the forest, running at full speed towards her and skidding to a halt at Evelyns side.
Those deep, almost black eyes, gazed down at her and Evelyn felt her heart race. "Stonewall!". The massive Thanator let out a loud huff and gave Evelyn a firm shove. 'Stop staring and get on his damn back woman!' Evelyn heaved herself upwards and tucked herself behind the small plates around his neck. In an instant Stonewall had spun around and bounded back into the safety of the forest.
3
He had lost her, the one woman he desperately needed to have in his possession and that only served to infuriate Banks. His team had watched in utter disbelief as that massive Thanator had emerged from the forest, each certain that it was going to attack Colonel Quaritch. She had lifted herself onto the creatures back, heading into the forest and safety of its dense foliage. Only moments later the lab had exploded, those well placed bombs shattering it from within, leaving no trace of the lab or virus.
"Sir?", one of his men had asked nervously. "Now what? We don't have the virus and who knows where Quaritch is going".
Banks fell silent for a moment, his thoughts running wild as he tried to figure out their next move. 'Where will she go?', he thought, gazing into the dense forest. 'Hells Gate is too far, even with that blasted Thanator'. He tapped his fingers on his belt and let out a loud groan. 'If her husband was here, she'd head to him'. Banks' eyes widened and he spun around to face Thomas, giving the man an icy, thin smile. "Do you have co-ordinates of where Miles died?".
Thomas pulled out his hand held computer and flicked it into life. "Yes Sir. The site is only a few clicks from our current location".
"Excellent", Banks hissed. "Captain Blackwell, gather the men together. We head out in five". Thomas quickly saluted and spun around to convey the order, leaving Banks alone. "You are far too predictable Evelyn. And that will lead to your utter failure".
4
Stonewall skidded to halt, his chest heaving at the exertion he had put himself through to escape the battle. They had been running for what seemed like hours, but Evelyn knew better. She gazed around their new surroundings and let out a loud sigh. Before her was the old module, now covered in vines and the AMP suit she had seen only days before. Evelyn slid slowly down from Stonewalls back, giving him a gentle pat as she hit the ground. "You had to bring me to where Miles died". She turned and offered him a firm gaze, "Couldn't have taken me to Hells Gate". Stonewall let out a gentle huff and kicked the ground with his massive foot.
"Sorry old boy", Evelyn sighed, moving towards him to give him a rub on his nose. "You just followed his scent. It's not your fault". She moved around him, running her hand down his broad side. Several large scars were etched into his skin and Evelyn leaned in closer to inspect them. "My poor man. Did the mean Na'vi try to hurt you?". She began to move away, but stopped as something about the scars caught her eye. On either side of them were what looked like small pinpricks and Evelyn knew instantly what they meant. She narrowed her gaze and peered intently at one scar, "Someone stitched you up", she murmured. "And really quite beautifully too".
"I did try my best", a mans voice broke through the jungle, making Evelyn spin around with her sword raised. "But he's a wriggly bastard", the voice continued, this time more firmly.
"Who the hell?!", she hissed, gazing into the dense foliage that lay around the clearing. "SHOW YOURSELF!". Slowly a figure emerged from the other side of the clearing, their gaze set firmly on Evelyn and the Thanator beside her. They stopped just on the jungles verge and gave Evelyn a low bow.
"Long time, no see". For the first time in her life Evelyn could not respond, because what she was seeing was impossible.
5
Jake turned to the remainder of the SecOps team and let out a loud groan.
"Where the hell did they come from?!", he spat, pointing back towards the research facility. "I thought we were monitoring them, or had scouts on the lookout", he paused and slammed his hand against a broad tree next to him, "How did we miss them?!". The men all looked at each other and Jake knew they had no idea what had happened. They were just as surprised as he and the Na'vi had been.
"At least the facility is destroyed", Damon murmured, shooting a look of annoyance Jakes way. "You could be grateful for that Sully".
Jake sighed and knelt down to face the men, "I am, truly I am. But Banks is still alive and I am fairly certain he is the one that has the virus". He closed his eyes, trying to push the image of dying Na'vi out of his mind, "Who knows what he'll do now".
"Colonel Quaritch will know", Damon said firmly. "When she meets up with us she'll tell us what to do".
Jake flung his hands upon and shook his head, "Really?", he spat angrily. "You think she'll come back? The last time I saw her she was pinned down by enemy fire". He rose up and kicked at the ground, frustrated at how badly things had gone. "Even if she survived the fight with Banks, one of the Na'vi said that a Thanator has been stalking us for the last day".
"A Thanator?", Tunstin exclaimed. "There was a Thanator following us?".
Jake gave the young Corporal a confused look.
"That's what I just said. It", he paused and shook his head. "He said it was watching when the battle started. Apparently it was hiding amongst some dense foliage". Tunstin turned to face Damon and it was clear both men could barely contain their excitement.
"Stonewall", Damon beamed, slapping Tunstin on the shoulder. "It's Stonewall".
Jake shook his head, still slightly confused about what exactly was going on.
"Are you talking about the Thanator that Evelyn raised? Do you really think it would have survived all this time without her?".
Damon moved confidently towards Jake with a broad smile on his face.
"How many Thanators would hang around during a major gunfight Sully?".
Jake felt his mood suddenly lift, "None. They'd scatter".
"So what would make a Thanator hang around, risking its own life?", Damon spun around to face Tunstin and began to laugh.
"Loyalty", Jake sighed, turning to face the direction that he had last seen Evelyn heading. "It would stay because of loyalty. Because it wanted to protect".