Chapter 12: Nightmare

The sun was nearly gone, slowly fading over the western horizon while the battle raged. Flames climbed to the sky as Beacon burned in a fiery rage filled war started by Cinder and her army of human and misguided faunus. Ruby stood atop the roof of her dorm, watching the battle unfold. She couldn't really see all that much, due to the chaos and the smoke. Her face was expressionless, but an anger burned beneath that false mask.

"There's one!" called a soldier from behind.

"Get her!" another answered. Ruby slowly turned to see three White Fang members charging her with swords drawn and guns cocked.

With minimal effort, Ember Rose deployed and Ruby swiped once with a slicing motion, embedding the jagged edge into the closest man's chest. He gasped in pain just before Ruby pulled the blade down, letting the serrated blade rip at his flesh, and he fell lifeless to the ground, lying face down in his own blood. The other two stopped and stared at Ruby in awe, frightened by how casual she seemed to view the situation. This, of course, wasn't true, but her mindset was that she didn't have time for them, so she didn't feel the need to waste it. "Is that it?" she asked the two survivors.

"You bitch!" the second one yelled as he charged.

"No, stop!" cried the other one, but he was too late; his partner was cut down just as quickly as the first. Ruby watched the body fall just before leaping to the third soldier.

"You're in my way," she said coldly. She kicked him in the gut, forcing him to fall off of the roof. Thankfully, he didn't bother to scream as he fell. Ruby stepped up and looked over the roof's edge. Twisting the handle of her scythe, the blade began to glow hot. Jumping from the roof, Ruby entered the fray.

Weiss panted heavily. She was completely uninjured, thankfully, but she was wearing thin on stamina. She was trying to fight Penny with her comrades, but Penny seemed to be ignoring Weiss. The inhuman girl was focusing exclusively on anyone else that attacked her, but she simply brushed Weiss's attacks off. She never even acknowledged that Weiss was trying to defeat her. To beat it all, Penny seemed unhurt as well, in spite of all of the huntsmen and huntresses that were fighting her.

Her thoughts raced with confusion. What the hell is going on? she asked herself. Why was Penny attacking Beacon? Why was she ignoring Weiss? An explosion caught her attention; something was happening at the school's main gate. What was that? She turned, not caring to let her guard down due to Penny not paying any attention to her, to see what the sound was. She saw several White Fang members, as well as suited men with weapons, charge the school grounds from the gate's direction. "Tch!" she spat, spinning around to face this new enemy.

Clicking the cylinder of Myrtenaster around, she set her blade to its ice setting before she blasted away the first three soldiers in a spray of frozen destruction. Not paying any head to their screams of pain, she spun and lunged at the next soldier she saw. Sparks flew between them as their blades clashed, but the victory for this singular encounter went to Weiss as she disarmed the suited man and stabbed his heart. Weiss had never taken another human life before, and the shock of her reaction embedded itself in her core, causing her to feel guilt, regret, and sadness. Tears were about to flow from her eyes. Not now! she yelled inwardly at herself. Work through the trauma! Fight and live, and then you can cry and regret later!

Having given herself a chastising, she focused on the battle around her. Her attention seemed much more detailed as she looked around, looking for anything to take her mind away from the man she'd just killed. Looking up, she saw a familiar red cloak flapping in the wind as Ruby fell from their dorm's roof. Weiss wasn't concerned; she saw that Ember Celica was deployed and glowing with heat. Ruby was joining the battle. Weiss had to smile. We can do this! She turned to see more of the soldiers charging her and several other huntsmen and huntresses who were not focused on Penny.

Readying herself, Weiss raised Myrtenaster in her fighting stance. "Let's go!" she yelled at her opponents as she lunged at them.

Blake was saddened by the sight of her former comrades. She had already slain several of them to protect her fellow huntsmen, but each one she felled was like a knife to her own heart. The fires that had been set to Beacon raged around them all as the White Fang and Junior's men besieged the school. The black haired faunus shook her head at the carnage around her. The other hunters with her, most of them also faunus. stood around, silently keeping watch while Blake stood over the corpses. "You fools," she whispered, fighting back tears.

"I wouldn't pity them, if I were you," came the cool voice of Roman. If 'cool' could be the way to describe him right now. Blake turned to face him; his hat was missing, and his jacket had a large slit in the left sleeve that was accompanied by a red stain. "They've been tricked by Cinder. She's the real fool here." He spat out his cigar and turned to face Blake. "Need a hand?"

Blake smiled. She couldn't remember ever smiling at Roman before, but this wasn't the same Roman that she'd met. This was the Roman that was tainted by Ruby. This was the Roman who had done everything he could for team RWBY. This man was reborn, and Blake was happy to have him by their side. "No," she answered. "I'm fine, but thank you." She saw that Ruby had just landed from the rooftop and had begun engaging the enemy. "Go to Ruby." She pointed to the red hooded leader. "She'll need your help more than I will."

Roman nodded. He turned to walk away, but stopped. "Your White Fang friends...do you think they'll listen to you? Can you make them betray Cinder?"

Blake shook her head. "I doubt it."

He sighed and shrugged. "It was an idea, at least." He sprinted to Ruby's aid. In the distance, beyond Ruby, he saw Weiss and several others struggling to fight Penny. "Wonderful," he whispered.

Blake nodded, and once again drew Gambol Shroud. "Incoming!" cried the voice of Alegra, the ferret faunus. Blake turned to see several White Fang members charging them with their weapons drawn.

Blake stepped to the front of the group faunus huntsmen. "They're White Fang," she told them. "But they are no brethren of ours." She looked Alegra in the eyes, and then turned to face the others that were with her. "Stop them at any cost."

"For Yang!" yelled a dog faunus boy; Leo.

"For Cardin!" yelled Velvet.

"For Beacon!" Alegra shouted.

"FOR BEACON!" they all cried, as though with one voice. Weapons drawn, their warriors' eyes turned to the enemy, they yelled their battle cries as they charged the field.

Ozpin couldn't remember the last time he'd fought so hard. For the first time in years, he was breaking a sweat. I'm getting too old for this, he thought as he dispatched another of Cinder's pawns. He silently cursed her. She wasn't going to get her own hands dirty; not yet, at least. No, she was purposely letting Ozpin and the other instructors tire themselves out before they died, either by her hands or her soldier's. "Don't let up!" he yelled, hoping enough of his own comrades could hear him. "Beat them back!" He could hear Cinder laugh at his orders, and he sent her a chilling glare. She didn't seem to mind his look of contempt.

"What's wrong, Ozpin? Can't handle my unrivaled force?" she teased.

He smiled. "If it's so unrivaled, then you wouldn't have come to attack now of all times. You need our supplies, don't you? Is the Grimm threat reducing your stores to nothing? That's what happens when you attempt to maintain an army of this size during such trying times."

He was happy to see that her smile disappeared. "I suppose I need to come up with a painful way to kill you, don't I?"

"Not if we have anything to say about it!" cried Jaune as he and the rest of team JNPR ran to stand in front of Ozpin.

"Oh, God," Cinder stated flatly, almost in a disgusted tone. "They're multiplying."

"Mind if we cut in, sir?" Jaune asked.

Ozpin's eyes, narrowed. "You may not, young man." Jaune was about to protest when Ozpin stepped up next to him, his cane at the ready. "Too long have I stood on the sidelines, Mr. Arc. You may not fight in my stead, but you are welcome to fight by my side."

Pyrrha smiled. "It would be an honor, sir," she stated.

Cinder smiled as well. "My my, aren't you a couple of very pretty ladies," she stated, referring to Pyrrha and Nora. "You'd both make very lovely corpses as well. Boys? Kill them all. Start with our two blossoming flowers, won't you?"

"Yes ma'am!" chimed her soldiers before they charged team JNPR.

Jaune smiled. "Nora?"

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Plan G."

"Aye-aye!" she cheered. "Operation Guns Blazing!" Magnhild formed its hammer shape, and she slammed it into the ground just as she pulled the trigger. Jaune, Ren, and Pyrrha all leapt right before the impact, and Ozpin followed suit by example. In that same instant, the grenade launched by Magnhild detonated and created a violent shockwave in the ground. The soldiers that were charging couldn't keep their footing and stumbled to the ground.

Team JNPR, and Ozpin, landed safely as the shockwave dissipated, leaving the enemy in a state of confusion on the ground. Without any order from Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren all went weapon's free as they unloaded on the enemy, while Jaune stood patiently with his sword drawn. A few of the soldier that weren't being gunned down had recovered and charged at them once more. While the others were firing upon the confused ones, Jaune cut down each one that made it too close to his team.

Ozpin grinned. You've come a long way, Mr. Arc. Raising his cane, he began to help Jaune dispatch any soldier that made it too close.

Cinder's eyes narrowed as she watched the two opposing sides battle. "This is more interesting than I thought it would be."

Blake was getting tired. She was used to having to function over a long period of time, but she'd never had to fight an army before. It wasn't helping that her numbers were dwindling. They had already lost two huntsmen out of the group of six; Leo Brauns was one of them. The other was a rat faunus, but Blake couldn't remember his name. She was sure that she knew it, but the chaos of battle clouded her memory, forcing her to rely on her instincts and focus on the battle at hand.

"I think we're in trouble," Alegra commented as they fought harder and harder to hold off the army of White Fang. This wasn't the same White Fang that Blake remembered; this was a White Fang that was forced to grow stronger due to the Grimm threat. This wasn't just a siege for the sake of destroying Beacon; they were fighting for their survival, just like those from Beacon were.

"We can do this," Blake stated, trying to encourage her comrades to try harder. "We've been training for days like these! They're just...just a bunch of terrorists!" She hated to use that term to describe her own former organization, but now wasn't the time to discuss such things. All that mattered was surviving today. If she could keep herself and as many of her friends as she could alive, then she could be pleased with their efforts.

"I certainly hope so! I'm getting tired," Alegra replied. A gunshot, much louder than the others in the battle, echoed around them. In that same instant, a sword hit Alegra in the stomach, pommel first. She doubled over in pain and coughed up a glob of mucus and blood. Blake witnessed this, seemingly in slow motion, and horror took control of her soul; she recognized that sword.

Almost as if he had been summoned by Blake's thoughts, a bull faunus with a mask on his face appeared in front of Alegra. He grabbed the blade and twirled it, swiftly striking the ferret faunus's neck; a spray of blood, followed by a wet gurgling, signaled the girl's death. He turned to face Blake, who stared horrified to his right. "Hello, Blake," he said, sounding slightly surprised.

Blake's eyes narrowed in anger. "Adam," she whispered violently. That one uttering of his name meant a thousand things to Blake; the return of an old friend, the painful memories that came with him, and hundreds of violent curses that she wished upon him at this very moment.

He stared at Blake and glanced at Alegra's body, and then he returned his gaze to Blake. Sighing, he spoke. "I knew I should have gone after you. I wouldn't have to fight you then."

"You're a fool, then, if you think that I would've stayed with the White Fang!" she answered angrily.

"You're right. I am a fool." He readied his sword. "I take it that you won't be wanting to catch up? Or maybe talk this over like a pair of civilized faunus?"

"There's nothing civilized about you!" she spat as she lunged, swiping at his torso with her cleaver. Parrying, he returned the swing with one of his own, which she blocked as well. Sparks flying, the old partners dueled furiously, forcing the other combatants in the area to disperse to avoid from getting caught in the crossfire.

"Can't you see we're in a global crisis?" Blake asked, demanding an answer. "What kind of civilized person attacks others when the entire world could be devoured by Grimm?"

Adam clenched his teeth angrily, bringing his sword down over his head. Blake blocked it, but now the two were face to face, just inches away. "I know! I'm doing what I have to do to survive! You used to do what you had to do, and steal what you needed to steal to survive. What makes you so noble now?"

"The desire to help people!" she spat, forcing him to step back away from her. "I have friends here, Adam! Friends who are helping me survive, and I'm helping them survive in turn!"

He pointed at Alegra's body. "And a fine job you're doing."

Blake growled angrily and charged. "She was a faunus! You swore to protect our kind!"

"I've done all I can. The Grimm are doing more than humanity ever did to destroy us, and that makes me rethink my priorities. I don't care about my people anymore. I care about me, and those close to me. That's it!" He lunged at her. "That's all that matters!" Disarming Blake, he swung for the kill. "And I'll eliminate you if it means that I can survive!"

Blake, weaponless, flinched as she expected the killing blow and closed her eyes. She heard a loud yell, followed by a pained grunt. She opened her eyes to see that Sun had leapt in and kicked Adam's face, cracking his mask. "We're here, Blake!" he said, sounding happier than he had any right to be.

"We?" Blake asked, confused.

"Yes," said a pair of female voices in unison. Blake turned to see the Malachite sisters as they walked up to stand beside her. Militia, the youngest as Blake recalled, handed over Gambol Shround. "You dropped this."

"Th-thanks," Blake stammered.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Adam asked the three newcomers. "I can easily handle all three of you."

"You're welcome to try," Melanie stated smugly.

"Cute," Adam stated sarcastically. "I suppose I'll kill you first." He leapt at her with hostile intent.

Sun stepped in front of her and swung his staff, clipping Adam's jaw. "Go fuck yourself!" he exclaimed. Breaking the staff into the two shot-gun-chuks, Sun stood ready to take on Adam for a second round. Melanie smiled, silently thanking any god she could think of for letting Militia and Sun find each other.

"You okay?" Militia asked both Sun and her elder sister, both of whom nodded.

Adam wiped his chin with his fist, and was irritated to see a small trace of blood. "So be it. You all die." He charged and began to fighting Sun, Melanie, and Militia at the same time. The three of them were barely able to keep up with his speed and were surprised to see him actively attempting to take on all three of them. Due to the three of them being crowded around him, Blake was able to contribute to the fight without accidentally hurting one of her allies.

No one seemed to have the upper hand over the bull faunus; his skills were exceptional. In a single swipe with the scabbard of his sword, he managed to knock all three of them back. This same motion caused Sun's nose to be broken, spurting blood, and Militia to double over from being hit in the stomach. The only one not fully incapacitated was Melanie, who was forced to stumble backwards. Smiling, Adam drew his blade and spun backwards, forcing the sword into Melanie's chest. "Ghugh!" she grunted violently, staring at the blade that had penetrated her. She coughed up blood, and her eyelids started to feel heavy.

Adam smirked. "I told you. I'd kill you first." Pulling the sword out, he flicked his wrist to swipe the blade across her throat just to be sure that there was no saving her. Gargling grossly as blood poured from her throat and chest, Melanie collapsed lifelessly to the ground.

Militia screamed and fell to her knees in horror. This pleased Adam more than anything he had done all day. His moment of pleasure was cut short, however, but a sudden feeling of being cold. He looked down and saw Blake's katana protruding from his chest; she had stabbed him the back. He was so preoccupied with having killed Melanie that he didn't feel the blade enter his body. She slid it out and he collapsed from blood loss.

Sun wanted to kill him, but he knew Blake had it under control; he needed to go to Militia. Blake stepped over Adam's body and was surprised to find him still conscious. His mask had fallen off when he fell, so she looked into his real eyes for the first time in what felt like an eternity. "You know," he coughed. "I should have went with you. It might have been more fun that way."

Blake glared at him angrily. "It's too late to tell me you're sorry, or to confess your regrets. You've killed my friends. You're fate it sealed." She raised her cleaver up, prepared to end Adam's existence.

Still smiling, Adam said, "At least you're the one to kill me. I wouldn't have it any other way." Without any more hesitation, Blake removed his head.

She turned to Sun and Militia and approached them. The two were crying and hugging each other. Blake knelt and joined them for a moment; there were no other soldiers around at the moment to worry about. After a moment of hugging, Sun turned his head to Blake. "Go," he said. "I'm sure the others will need your help. I'll stay here with Militia."

Blake nodded and turned to see team JNPR squaring off against Cinder, and she decided that she would go and help them.

Ember Rose fired incendiary rounds at Ruby's enemies with every squeeze of the trigger. If anyone got too close to her, the burning hot blade would melt their flesh as she sawed into them, ripping bones from their joints in the process. Ruby's memory told her that this battle was supposed to be gruesome, so she didn't see any reason to hold back when Cinder had plenty of troops to spare.

Another soldier, this one being one of Junior's old flunkies, charged Ruby foolishly. Spinning, she caught the man's ribs with the blunt side of her scythe, cracking some ribs in the process. A pained gasp exited his throat before the jagged blade tore into it. Ruby stepped back to observe the battle around her; the enemy had wizened up and were avoiding her. She saw Blake and Velvet, as well as a few others, fighting a single red haired man with a sword. Nodding, Ruby turned to find Ozpin, Glynda, and team JNPR fighting a group of soldiers in front of Cinder herself.

Ruby smiled maliciously. Jackpot. Reloading Ember Rose, she was about to make a mad dash to engage the witch in person, but the sound of Roman calling her name caused her to pause. "Red!" he called as he ran to her, panting and exhausted. "Have you seen Weiss?" Ruby shook her head. "Then I suggest you turn around. She's having some issues." He pointed behind her.

Ruby turned around and searched the carnage for her partner. Weiss looked exhausted, but she wasn't letting up as she slashed and stabbed every one of Cinder's men that approached her. Every few moves she would turn a certain direction and fire a line a ice at an unknown target before returning to any charging soldiers. "She's tired, but she's handling herself well enough. What of her?" Ruby asked.

"Look who she keeps trying to freeze," Roman stated.

Ruby followed the trails of ice and her eyes widened at the sight she beheld. There, fighting her fellow comrades, was Penny. Blades extended, she twisted and turned her body to dodge every strike aimed at her, while simultaneously dictating the blades to slash and cut whatever she wanted. Penny wasn't supposed to be here. Honestly, Ruby didn't know where Penny was supposed to be at all, but her memory told her that here at this battle was most definitely not where she should be. For all Ruby knew, Penny could have died or fled in her premonition, yet here she was. Ruby's brows scrunched together in irritated confusion before she growled angrily. "Cinder," she whispered. "This must he be her fault!"

"That goes without saying," Roman answered hastily, feeling nervous. "Are we going to help the Princess or not?" Ruby nodded, and the two sprinted to aid Weiss.

"Weiss!" Ruby called as they approached. "What's going on?"

Weiss stood doubled over with her hands on her knees, panting heavily; her stamina was wearing thin, and her semblance would soon suffer for it. Catching her breath, the white haired girl look up from her position into Ruby's eyes. "Penny...came out of nowhere...attacked us...she's ignoring me. Can't...figure out why," she explained, pausing for much needed air frequently. "Why didn't you warn us about Penny?"

Ruby sighed. "Because she wasn't involved at all. I didn't know she would be here because we never saw her in my premonition."

Weiss stood straight, Myrtenaster in hand. "We have to stop her. She's killing just about everyone she starts fighting."

Ruby stood there and watched Penny brutally fight and dismember any who crossed her path, the red hooded girl's face portrayed a mixture of horror, confusion, and sadness. "You said she was ignoring you?" Weiss nodded. "I may know why."

She started to walk slowly towards Penny. "Red," Roman warned. "Don't let her hurt you."

"She won't," was all Ruby said as she walked. She eyed the ground, finding chunks of flesh, pools of blood, and plenty of wounded and worse laying on the ground. Ruby paused and eyed one corpse. She didn't know the girl that lay lifeless on the ground, but she knew of her; Weiss had become friends with her not long ago. Luna stared at Ruby with empty, soulless eyes; her torso had been slashed and stabbed. She likely had been hit in the heart. Ruby prayed silently that it was a painless death. Facing forward, she continued to make her way to Penny.

The red haired girl seemed to not notice her at first; she fought and annihilated another huntsmen before turning to face her next foe, only to find that it was Ruby. Penny's violent, destructive eyes softened to a more friendly appearance. "Hello, Ruby my friend! How are you doing today?"

Ruby resisted the urge to angrily yell at Penny. The girl clearly didn't fully understand what she was doing. "I'm...decent, Penny. Just trying to save as many of my friends as I can today."

"Don't worry, Ruby. I'm sure they're all fine. I've been making sure that Weiss doesn't get hurt while I did my job." It hurt Ruby to see Penny refer to her carnage as a 'job', and all with a joyful smile on her face.

"What about my friends outside of team RWBY?"

Penny stared curiously at Ruby. "You mean me? Or that Sun fellow?"

"No, Penny," Ruby stated flatly. "I mean Aric. I mean Luna. I mean everyone who you've cut down."

To Ruby's surprise, this actually seemed to emotionally hurt Penny. She looked at the carnage around her. "These...these were your friends?" she asked sadly. Ruby nodded. "That...the master had it wrong? But...she told me...she told me..."

"She told you what, Penny?"

"She said that she wanted to visit Beacon, but that there were too many people in the way. She said we had to eliminate many of them, but I was allowed to let my friends live." Penny looked at Ruby. "Did she lie to me, Ruby?"

Ruby nodded. "Cinder is a liar, Penny. She's a liar with a dangerous ambition. You see this battle?" She gestured around the school with her hands, making sure that Penny saw Cinder's soldiers destroying the school, fighting tooth and nail with the huntsmen and huntresses that manned it. "I saw this in a vision, Penny. You're not supposed to be here. She changed your fate by lying to you. She's ignoring the Grimm menace. She would rather see Beacon burn to the ground than try to save the world."

"She said that the Grimm would go away eventually," Penny stated sadly.

"She might be right about that," Ruby agreed. "But 'eventually' could be hundreds of years. We have to fight to survive, but Cinder would rather let everything die."

Penny lowered her head. "I...I only agreed to help her because of you, Ruby. I knew that you went to Beacon. I wanted to see you again, and make sure that you were safe. I wanted to see your smile, to hear Weiss get frustrated, to see Blake shake her head in amused disdain, and I wanted to hear Yang's laugh." A single tear rolled down Penny's cheek. "Instead, I've made things worse for the four of you."

Ruby's heart ached. "Penny," she said sadly. "Have you not heard yet? Haven't you heard the news about Yang?"

Penny met Ruby's eyes and shook her head. "No, I have not. Why? What sort of news is it?"

Ruby fought back the tears. She'd gone through her sister's death twice, once in the dream and once for real, but it didn't make it any easier. Her newfound strength to fight back and destroy the Grimm still wasn't enough to make her numb to the loss. "Yang died, Penny."

Much like it was to Ruby, the news was like a bombshell to Penny. "W-w-when?" Penny rushed to Ruby and grabbed her shoulders. "When did this happen? How did it happen?" She sounded frantic. Many of the surviving huntsmen and huntresses were surrounding Ruby and Penny, considering their odds of killing Penny, but Weiss motioned for them to stand down, and to instead go and help anyone fighting Cinder's soldiers; Penny was no longer a threat to the former students of Beacon.

Ruby lost her battle with her emotions, as the tears began to pour from her eyes. "About a week ago, maybe more or less. I've lost track of the days," she choked. "She died protecting me and the rest of team RWBY." Penny began to cry, and she hugged Ruby, squeezing her tightly. Ruby cried as well, and returned the hug. Yang would used to stroke Ruby's hair and whispers comforting words in her ear at times like this, so Ruby felt the need to do the same. As Penny's crying grew louder, Ruby started hushing her gently. "Shh. It's okay, Penny. We can still protect the others."

"No! It's not okay! Yang's gone, and now I've killed more of your friends, Ruby!"

"It's not your fault. This is because of Cinder. You didn't understand what you were doing, Penny. It's okay." Ruby stepped back away from Penny to allow the two girls to have their private space once again. "All we have to do is kill Cinder, and this battle will dissolve. We'll rebuild, and restore our attention to the real problem."

"The Grimm?" Penny asked.

Ruby nodded. "The Grimm." Readying Ember Rose, Ruby and Penny turned and approached Weiss and Roman. "Let's go," Ruby stated coldly, and the two followed her. Roman knew where they were headed; they were going to confront Cinder.

Song: Nightmare-Avenged Sevenfold

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Oh my god this took so freaking long to write. Would you believe that I'm submitting it right now not because it's done, but because I decided I didn't want you to have to read a possible 10,000 word chapter. It's already at around 5,000 words. This chapter was meant to be called "Gluttony Fang" because, spoiler alert, Cerberus was supposed to show up, but I ran out of 'room' for it, so I've split one massive chapter in half. I'll get the next one out eventually, but I'm not going to use 'Gluttony Fang' anymore. I'm just gonna keep using the name's I've got written down because they'll fit no matter what. I actually have a playlist on my iTunes with every song that's in this story. Most of the songs are interchangeable with any chapter, due to the way I've written it...that or I'm crazy and shouldn't be trusted. I'm okay with that too.

FUN FACT: I've had a pretty shitty week at work. I dropped my dad's new iPhone on a concrete floor (it miraculously as NO scratches or cracks...thank God.), I banged my head on some playground equipment that we helped put together (and thank God we weren't a major part of that operation, because the people in charge should be fired and fined. That playground is barely bolted together and looks like it'll fall apart at the slightest gust of wind.), and lastly, but most certainly not least, I was picking up some old boards to throw away and I stepped on a rusty nail. I rusty, fucking nail. It went through my boot and barely broke the skin to my foot before I stepped away. Granted, it doesn't look like much of a wound, but if stepping on legos (which don't break the skin) hurt like hell, I want you to imagine having a sensation that's about 25 times worse, and it actually enters your skin. It hurt. I'm still limping.

I'll have the next chapter out as soon as I can. What with work and chores and stuff, I don't have a whole lot of free time to write these days, but I still try! Till next time!

PS: Regarding the character deaths in this chapter...I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm really, really sorry...because there are more to die soon enough.