Sam couldn't describe it, but something about this whole situation felt bad. She was on her own, venerable, and heading towards a place that was full of enemies, but it wasn't just that. He wave Tom had given her before being ushered back into the base seemed too rushed, and they seemed far too eager to get him inside.

Another thing that was bothering her was the fact that none of her companions on this unnerving journey appeared to speak English. Sam still didn't remember too much about the army at this point but she thought that communication between soldiers was a vital part of staying alive, that and the fact she distinctly remembered there being a strict uniform and general aesthetics code, to which none of these men were complying.

They were all unshaven and looked generally unkempt, from their creased uniforms to their dull leather shoes that looked like they hadn't seen a cloth with polish on in a very long time. That and two out of the three of them appeared to be sporting a mono brow.

"Excuse me?" Sam asked the one sitting in the back of the jeep with her cautiously.

"Yes?" He said without looking at her.

"How long until we reach this base?"

"Not long now. Patience." He said flatly, still refusing to look at her.

Sam frowned. She was right; there was definitely something off here.

Upon deciding that making any sudden moves would most likely result in her demise, she settled upon sitting tight and making a run for it as soon as they reached the base. That was when a twinge of nerves reminded her that the base may not even exist.

Sam leaned to the left and looked over the driver's shoulder at the speed dial. They were travelling at 60 miles per hour and after Sam estimated the amount of time they had been travelling for she realized they must have gone around 20 miles. The base was only supposed to be seven miles away.

"We've travelled more than seven miles." Sam said before she was able to stop herself.

Sam new immediately her actions could have just cost her her life. The man sitting beside her tapped the driver on the shoulder, and gave a discreet nod as soon as he turned around. The jeep pulled to a stop in the middle of the desert.

Sam suddenly felt someone shove her out of the vehicle, and a mere second later she found herself spread-eagled on the ground. Before she could stand one of the men placed a hand on her shoulder and forced her flat on the ground, placing what she assumed to be the barrel of a shotgun at the base of her skull.

"Wait!" Sam screamed, "Why are you doing this?!"

"Orders." Grunted the man holding her down.

"Boss said no questions, just kill." Said one of the men, still sitting in the jeep.

Sam felt the man's hand shake as he pressed the barrel of the gun with ever increasing force into her head. She squeezed her eyes shut and found herself begging the sky that she couldn't look up at for some kind of miracle.

Her miracle came.

…

Tom's mind was buzzing almost as loudly as the motorcycle he had ridden straight out of the army base. The scene had looked like something out of the action movies he had liked so much as a child, first opening his and Archer's cells and rushing into the main part of the base after navigating a maze of corridors. Archer had hung back, ordering Tom to get out of the base and after Sam while he covered him.

Tom literally ran for his life, bullets rushing over his head as he made a break for the doors. Though relieved he had made it that far, there was no time to revel in this latest victory as he noticed someone pointing a large machine gun in his direction, so he grabbed one of the black motorbikes that had just pulled into the base and made a break for the doors after shoving it's occupant off.

Now he was driving in the middle of the desert with no idea whether or not he was heading in the same direction as Sam. That was until he noticed tyre tracks in the sand, already starting to be covered up by this ever moving landscape.

A few minutes later and he struck gold.

…

Sam watched in both surprise and horror as Tom zoomed towards her, barely able to turn her head enough to see. He immediately leapt off of the bike as the men turned their guns on him and started shooting and narrowly avoided injury. Next he ran pull pelt towards them and rugby tackled one of them to the ground and grabbed his gun.

After a few seconds of shooting back and forth it was all over, as the man had been forced to run away and didn't even bother attempting a retrieval of their vehicle.

"Well… this was a bad idea." Sam said casually as she got up and brushed herself off.

"You're telling me." Tom said in an unreadable tone.

"Tom? Tom!" Sam almost screamed.

Tom clutched his right shoulder and sank to the ground where he stood, blood pouring out of the bullet wound. Sam let out a cry of frustration and fear. They hadn't ran off because Tom had scared them, they'd ran of because Tom was hit and they were in the middle of nowhere.

Tom could die, and Sam wouldn't be far behind him in this landscape.

…