Hello again. First off I hope everyone, at least those who celebrate it, had a good Thanksgiving over the weekend and ate well.

Here is the next Chapter for my story. I know that some of you are confused as to what has taken place in the story. We went from the beginning of a war to a destroyed Earth with little in between. Rest assured that all will be revealed eventually as the story unfolds.

I hope you enjoy this chapter and please to remember to post a review for any comments or criticisms or PM me. If you really like it you have my permission to follow or favorite or both if it suits you. Enjoy.

Nearly Naked Among Wolves

The rays of the rising sun slowly sapped the cool air of the morning replacing it with a dry heat. Walker stood in the center, surrounded by a crowd draped in black. A great sadness held strong in the atmosphere among the mourners. The depressing emotion arose from what laid in the center of the group, with every eye cast solely upon it. It was little else than a fine wooden box, a large cross beautifully engraved on top.

Walker did nothing but stare at the box, his body weak and lacking any feeling except his depression. He felt a sudden urge to move towards the coffin and so he did. A tall figure clad in black armor appeared beside him. Walker could see nothing of this individual, his face was covered, as was all his flesh by the thick armor he donned. He moved around the wooden coffin stopping opposite of Walker. The armored figure brought his hands upon the lid and began to tug and pull it away.

Walker shouted at the figure asking what it was doing, demanding it to stop. When he moved to physically stop the desecrator two ice cold hands grabbed onto his arms stalling him, forcing him to do nothing but watch. He could not see who held him nor did he care as he watched the coffin being defiled. With a loud snap the lid was lifted up by the figure and thrown aside into the crowd that was no longer there.

Walker looked down in profound horror. Tears leapt from his eyes as he witnessed the decomposed face of his dead wife. All was quite as he stared. Worms crawled through openings in her dead skin and maggots burrowed in what use to be her eyes. Her rotting hands held a long dead rose on her chest. He stared at the dead rose through his tears of grief. He watched and watched and then as he was about to cast his eyes aside, the rose changed.

The dead petals begin to strengthen and color began to return. Before his eyes the small flower crawled back to life. Then he noticed the frail hands holding the rose. Like the rose they were changing, acquiring back their life. He moved his eyes up and his met hers. He watched as color returned and her skin was restored. Her lips filled and her hair became soft and flowing. He smiled out of pure joy, then he truly noticed her eyes. Whereas his were filled with joy, hers were filled with terror. They screamed at him a message unknown. She began to mumble as her ability to speak returned. Walker called out to her, telling her it was ok, to not be afraid.

Her mumblings continued and soon he realized she would finally be able to speak. As she opened her mouth her eyes lost their terror and hate now filled them.

"You bastard!" she screamed at Walker. "You left me. You left me to die!" Her hands leapt from the coffin and grabbed at his collar and throat. She tried to pull him close but he was still restrained at his arms by those unseen. She clawed with all her might at his throat. He could only watch, fearful of her hatred.

A blue orb then appeared in front of him and stood by the armored figure. It glowed softly in the harsh sun amid the scene of dread.

"Commander," spoke the sphere causing more blue to pulse from within. "Take her."

The figure beside the sphere, the Commander, reached down and grabbed Rose by her ankle and dragger her out of the coffin, splintering the wood box as she did. Walker watched in complete confusion as his restored wife lost her hold on him and was dragged away.

"You did this to me!" she screamed in a hellish fury. "You should have been there. You should have saved me!"

With all his might and to no avail, Walker struggled to break free from his holder. He longed to go to his wife and save her before she was taken away by the Commander.

He looked towards the fear, hoping for something. "You cannot save her," said the sphere. "It is far too late."

He heard his wife scream as though being tortured and watched as she was dragged through the sand towards the horizon. She thrashed as she was pulled further away and as the difference increased between her and Walker, the world quickly became darker. Soon all Walker could see was the blue sphere, now shining brilliantly in the eternal darkness. A hatred of his own rose from within him at the sphere. It was a hatred spurred from the very depths of his soul. The sphere began to fade and as the nothingness enveloped him, Walker saw the light.

-)(-

Walker opened his eyes and saw the light. It dully bounced off the knife that Saren was bringing down towards his chest. Without hesitation Walker brought up his arms stalling the strike. Saren held a surprised look on his face as the human and turian struggled against one another.

"Saren, what are you doing?" asked Walker shockingly. Saren did not respond, only continued push on the knife with Walker slowly losing ground. In the corner of his eye he saw a queer shape. He dared a second to look and saw Liara laying on the floor dead. A small pool of purple blood surrounded her on the sandy ground. He looked back at Saren, at the knife, and saw the same blood on the sharp weapon.

As he struggled he barely had the time to be confused by what was happening. The knife made its way all the more closer to his chest. With all his available might he swung his body to the left while forcing the knife to the right and into the ground. Saren momentarily lost his balance allowing Walker to bring up his knee and slam the turian in the side. Saren lost his position and was thrown to the side rolling over Walker a losing grip of the knife.

Walker grabbed the knife and sprang to his feet as Saren did the same. Walker's legs gave out under him and he fell to a knee, pain coursed through his body. He grimaced, his body felt horrible, like every bone was bruised or broken and every muscle torn. He felt a chill and realized he no longer had on his suit or any cloths at all. Saren moved closer and Walker brought up the knife between the two as a warning to the turian.

Saren stilled himself and smiled. "That knife will do you no good, human," he said defiantly. He raised his hand bringing to bare the blue stained power of his biotics. He shuttered and his smile faded as the light dimmed. Walker heard the turian curse in frustration. Saren reached behind him, touching his back tenderly. When he brought his hand from behind Walker saw it was coated in the turian's own blood.

"Looks like you are in some trouble," taunted Walker.

The turian just stated and gave a nasty smile. Once again he brought to life the power of his biotics with a grimace. Walker saw small droplets of blood dripping from behind him, falling on the ground with a faint sound.

Saren moved his hand and Walker was lifted off his feet and thrown back. He hit the wall behind him hard and fell to the ground close to Liara. Dust rained down and coated him in brown. He stood back up with both eyes on Saren. As he stood straight Saren attacked again, slamming the Courier back against the wall. Again Saren struck this time knocking the knife free from his hand.

"You deserve this death, human," said Saren as he pushed another strike on Walker. Angry frustration was heavy in his voice. "All of your kind does!"

Saren gave Walker a moment of reprieve and instead directed his power to a displaced chunk of wall on the far side of the room. He lifted it and brought it close. Walker stared at the turian hard, knowing the end to be near. A sudden movement from outside the crumbling building distracted him from Saren's actions. Saren raised his hand and the boulder moved higher. Just as he was about to throw it, four ghouls burst from the opening, their shrieks booming in the room. They moved fast and just as Saren turned to see the cause of the noise two ghouls rammed into him and all three fell to the ground. Soon the other two joined in as another few burst in from outside following the original party crashers.

Walker looked around frantically for another way out. A few feet to his left he saw an opening in the wall that he could crawl through. He frantically dashed to the opening not wanted to be anywhere near the ghouls beating down on the turian while defenseless. As he reached the opening he hesitated. He looked to the fallen asari and suddenly moved towards her.

He grabbed hold of the wounded woman underneath the arms and began to pull her towards the opening. He glanced at the rumble between the ghouls and Saren to see one of the ghouls flying in the air followed by another both coated in blue energy. In a brief instance Walker saw Saren's face. It was bloody and ragged and one eye was missing. Walker felt no sympathy and hoped the ghouls would finish him off. Finally he pulled Liara to the opening and backed into the darkness. Before he lost sight of the fight he saw another few ghouls run into the room and hoped that they were not seen or at least forgotten by the deranged creatures.

Finally he came into a dark room and pulled Liara out after making sure the area was clear. Moonlight illuminated the room faintly. Walker looked around and spotted an exit to the outside. He turned back to the asari. He wanted to know is she was really dead but for the life of him had no clue as to her physiology. With nothing else to go for he checked her pulse where he would check a human's. He was disappointed to feel nothing but after another second he began to feel the barest throbbing. He leaned close to her mouth and listened closely for any breaths taken. Very shallowly did she breath.

Walker was relieved that she was alive but new problems arose as he realized he had to keep her that way. He had neither cloths nor provisions on him and it did not look as though she had anything useful either. He brought forward his pipboy and while it could not directly help her it could at least provide some light. With a small click he illuminated their small area and looked over her wound. It was bad and she needed to receive care soon or he knew she would die.

A hiss derived from the exit behind him. He turned around quickly and shined the light to see a lone ghoul standing there crouched. It wore a tattered uniform unfamiliar to Walker and its unblinking milky blue eyes marked it as a feral. It rushed at him and Walker found himself laying on his back with his arms pinned to the side with the feral atop of him. But the feral did not attack. It simply stared at him. The light of the pipboy illuminate Walker to the feral and while he knew that this should not do anything, it did. The feral cocked its head to one side then another. For a long minute it just stared as if experiencing a heavy dilemma for such a small minded creature.

It jumped back off of Walker and stood in front of the naked man and dying woman. Struggling it finally made a decision and slowly turned around. It looked back at Walker and hissed before running out the door.

Walked sighed relief as the feral left the building. As it rounded the corner a loud crack pinged in the air and Walker watched as the feral was thrown back into view of the exit with half of its head missing and what remained spilling onto the ground.

In the blink of an eye three ragged figures turned the corner and marched into the crumbling interior. Two men flanked a woman in the center and all three bore rifles unfamiliar to Walker. Walker thought that his circumstance must be quite a scene, him almost naked with a dying blue girl his only companion. As the trio centered their rifles upon Walker, he saw no humor in their eyes. Memories of his encounter with the Enclave came flooding into his mind and he braced himself for what might come.

He quickly summed them up as best he could. The woman in the center was most likely in charge. Dirt covered their worn faces and battered cloths. They wore light armor making them able to move around quickly. He had trouble guessing their age for their eyes and movements suggested an air of greater age but their actual appearance betrayed that notion. Above all Walker knew they were dangerous.

They spent a few solid seconds staring at one another. The chill of the night bit into Walker's exposed flesh as the wind wound its way through the various openings of the ruin. Behind them the sound of struggle between the turian and the ghouls was unheard if it even still continued. Walker thought of everything he could say. He could threaten or he could try to grab one of their weapons but he knew that in his state these actions would be futile. He finally decided to be cooperative and pleading with little alternative available. But he knew he would not be taken prisoner by strangers again.

He looked into the woman's eyes and mustered all of his confidence and sincerity into his gaze. "My friend needs help." His plea was simple yet said enough. Either the trio was friendly or not and their response would tell him soon enough.

For a second his plea was met with silence. "Scan them," said the woman gesturing to the man on her right. Her voice was cool and controlled and easily reinforced her role as the leader that emanated with experience to back it up. The man to her right quickly moved towards him and the wounded Liara. His left arm came to life as he lifted it and was soon covered by a green holographic display. It reminded Walker of a pipboy, though much more advanced than the one he currently wore.

The man stilled and kept his eyes on the pipboy performing his scan. He seemed to be the trio's medic. Walker stayed still as the man gazed upon his arm's device. Walker could see the man was tired, haggard being the best word. His eyes wept of exhaustion and his body reeked of having been going for many hard days without bathing.

"Both have minor radiation levels," reported the man as he lowered his arm finishing the scan. The green light that covered the arm faded swiftly. "Minor injuries on the man, but the asari is all but dead."

The woman stood still during the report. Her eyes betrayed nothing of her thoughts. "Cuff the man, put a bullet in that things head."

Instantly Walker leapt to his feet and stood in front of Liara. His motion caused the trio to jump and point their rifles at him with their fingers tightly on the trigger. "You will not hurt her," Walker stated. "I owe her my life. There has to be something better that you can do beside putting a bullet in her head. Please." Walker had nothing but the potential charity the trio could provide.

For less than a second a flash of surprise danced in the woman's eyes as Walker stood before them nearly naked and defiant. The flash subsided and she turned to the medic. "If we could get her to base..." he said responding to her gaze.

The other man still next to the woman leader slung his rifle over his back and activated his pipboy as though silently alerted to some notification. "Base reports Citadel drones in the air. They have begun a searching pattern. We need to head home, sir." His voice was deep and level as he spoke to their leader.

She gazed around at her men, Walker and Liara. "Let's head back to base." She looked at Walker. "You're coming with us whether you want to or not. If you want your friend to come as well than its on you. We have enough problems in this hellhole without having to carry a dead alien across the waste."

She directed her attention to the man beside her. "Callaghan, you take point. "She turned to the medic. "Hammond, keep your eyes on these two. If they try anything put them down." She turned a followed Callaghan out of the building.

Walker carefully hoisted Liara onto his shoulders and began to move forward. He was soon stopped by Hammond. "Hold on," he said. He rummaged around his side satchel and pulled out a small syringe like device and placed it on Liara's neck before injecting its contents.

"What did you just do?" asked Walker.

"Hopefully I just made it where she won't die before we make it to base. Now get going."

Walker moved outside with Hammond behind him. There was only darkness around them with heavy clouds blotting any light that may have graced the surface with its presence. He moved quickly following the leader as he shivered in the cold. He knew he might be going into a bad situation with these strangers but he had to do what he could to save Liara. As he moved all he could hear was the cold sand crunching underneath his bare feet.

-)(-

Saren stumbled into the lone shelter. Blood seeped through his armor and pooled on the floor. Pain radiated from his head from where his left eye once was. He had managed to make it away from the filthy remnants of humanity, but only barely. He laid on the floor of a Citadel outpost, one of many scattered around the burned remains of the human home world. He finally managed to gather some strength and crawl to the small medical bay. Clumsily he treated his wounds as best he could before activating the emergency distress beacon that each outpost possessed. He sat down on the floor with his back against the wall. He closed his eyes to rest as he waited for his transport. Right before he nodded off he placed his arm over his make shift sack that held his prize.

Hours later he was awoken to the sound of a shuttle landing. He stood up stiffly and threw the sack over his back as went outside. Saren was relieved to see the shuttle was large enough for his purposes. It was able to make FTL jumps and jump through the gates. He smiled as a batarian emerged from the inside to greet him.

The batarian quickly made his way to Saren. He was saying something but Saren did not care to listen. As the batarian reached him Saren quickly slashed his throat with a knife dropping the batarian to the ground with his hands to his neck and his blood pouring out. Saren calmly walked to the entryway of the shuttle where he encountered an asari. He hesitated briefly as he came upon her but the cold part of him quickly took control and he put her down just like he did the batarian. He checked the rest of the shuttle for any others only to find himself alone.

With a smile he securely stored the sack and went to the cockpit. After a few moments the shuttle lifted off and made its way towards the emptiness of space.