Giana held the radio still for a few seconds before snapping back to reality. She jumped back up to her feet and pulled Dom up, pulling him in stride towards the trees.

"What are you doing?" asked Dom. "It's not safe to head back now."

"We have no choice" said Giana.

"There's always a choice. If we rush out we could be killed, and then what good are we to anyone?"

"Well we have to do something, I can't just sit here." She looked upset, like she couldn't get comfortable and she was agitated because of it. "You have your friends in Jay's group, I have mine in Calloway's."

Dom knew how she felt and immediately began thinking. "Alright. We need to get out of here, but we don't know where those men are."

"We can zigzag northwest and stay low. If we keep to the river for a while we should be safe."

They took off from their resting spot and headed west down the river. The sound of rushing water masked their footsteps for a while so if anyone was close the only way they would be located was visually, so they stayed low and tried to keep in the middle between the treeline and the water. Dom spotted one of the guys and crouched low, putting his hand out behind him to signal Giana to stop. They stayed still for a minute until he passed by, hoping the current would catch his eye and distract him from any other human-like shapes near him. He didn't acknowledge them so they deemed it safe to move and continued towards the highway.

The heat of the moment was scary but it was also exhilarating. Dom found himself really being in his element when the stakes were high and the plan was non-existent. It was definitely something that taxed his body and his mind, and something that would probably lead him to an early grave either by bullet or heart attack, but he couldn't help but revel in it sometimes. Back at home working on computers was a job, one that kept him fed and with spending money, but it didn't have the grandeur that being a soldier did. It was different than being a soldier during peace time, going over to other countries to steal oil or whatever they always did, it was way more personal when it was in their own backyard against their own neighbors and school teachers. The possibility of stealing the last bit of food from someone that could make or break them, and having it be your crush in fourth grade or the guy that ran the butcher shop around the corner from you, was way too real to allow anyone to relax.

The sun had crested and begun to fall, bringing in the hottest part of the day. Sweat dripped from both of their brows as they ran through the trees, dead set on getting out of the woods before dark. Neither one of them knew how many miles of forest was left before they hit the highway since they had dipped south in their running, but they figured it couldn't be too far. A quick break every twenty minutes had them going at a good pace and by the time their whole bodies were drenched, they had found their target. Dom ran out to the road and looked for a suitable car, laying eyes on a newer four door sedan about fifty yards up toward the warehouse district. He pointed it out and Giana ran to it with him, then he stood outside and kept watch while she hotwired it. Within a few minutes the car was running and they hopped in, hoping not too many of Jay's people were at the district yet so they would be able to get in and help defend.

The thought of defending Calloway's men against Jay's reminded him that he wasn't sure what was going to happen when it came down to it. He knew he wouldn't be able to shoot anyone from the camp, so what would happen when Giana or Colin or even Calloway saw him back out? Would they take him down themselves? He didn't get a whole lot of time to think about, as when they passed the pipeline road the truck that had come back for them originally was waiting and it pulled out behind them as soon as they were within sight. Giana stepped on the gas and they weaved in and out of the derelict cars, hoping to put a little space between them and Jay's men. It only worked for a minute, though, and when the truck caught up bullets spider cracked the back window to the point they couldn't see out of it and the driver's side mirror got taken clean off. Dom took his seat belt off and turned around, reaching out the window with his gun to fire a few warning shots back at the truck. He hit the windshield a couple times and the truck slowed down, putting a little distance between them, but the men in the back didn't stop shooting. When the back windshield of the car finally blew out glass shattered everywhere inside the car, cutting the side of Dom's face as he looked back to see where they were. As soon as the glass shattered Giana took a pistol out of her boot and started shooting out her window. She steered with her right hand and leaned out the window a bit, looking back every couple of seconds to see if she was hitting anything. Dom leaned his seat back a bit and shot over the head rest and through the back windshield, lacing the grill with bullets in hopes of killing the radiator and shutting the truck down. More pops from the driver's side told him Giana was still calculating shots until the front left tire of the truck blew out, sending rubber shrapnel in all directions. Sparks flew like the fourth of July until, because of the high rate of speed, the truck ended up spinning sideways and flipping over. It rolled countless times, ejecting the people in the back onto the street. One of them was flattened by the truck while the other landed head first and slid across the street into the grass, leaving a terrible red streak in his wake. Giana and Dom both turned back around and took deep breaths, hoping to relax, until, in the blink of an eye, the car was upside down and Giana's screams tore through the space between them.

Tori and Paula had finished the laundry so for the time being it was time to find a new job to do, so she decided on helping out in the garden with Marie and Gill. She walked over and Marie looked up, smiling at her best friend with dirt on her face.

"Look at you" said Tori.

"I know, right? This never would have happened a couple months ago."

"I'm glad to see you taking to something so well."

Gill came out of his tent and waved at Tori. "Hey there, lookin' to help out?"

"Yes sir" said Tori.

"OK then." He grabbed a garden rake and walked over, handing it to her and pointing. "You can start by roughing up some of that dirt over there."

"You got it."

She got to work tilling the soil with a watchful eye on the camp. Jay's little drunken plan had spooked some people and it was evident in the way they walked around with their eyes constantly raking the trees. As the camp head Jay was supposed to make the people in the camp feel safe, but all he had managed to do was scare them. So much for finding a new leader after Wanagi. Del, Jay, Calloway, it seemed like everyone was out for themselves and if other people got hurt it was just collateral damage.

Throughout the morning she saw people come and go from the council tent, some with guns, some without. Gerry was one of the first to enter the tent and he was in there for most of the morning, only exiting when it was time for lunch. He made a quick sandwich at the table with lettuce and mustard, then stood in the middle of the clearing with his eyes in the sky while he ate. He looked stressed out and tired, like he was working overtime to try and accomplish something that was impossible in the time frame allotted. She admired him, though, since he never seemed to quit, just take a break and get back in it. When he was finished eating he brushed his hands off and headed back for the tent, head hung low and arms swinging at his sides.

Not long after lunch everyone left the council tent and some of the guards ran toward the vehicles parked at the far end of the clearing. Jay sounded his air horn and Marie stood up, brushing herself off with a confused look.

"Again?"

"I guess so" said Tori. "Let's go."

At the bonfire people started gathering but apparently it wasn't quickly enough for Jay. He sounded the air horn twice more, blowing out the eardrums of everyone standing close to him. They looked at him with discontent but he seemed to be unaware of their stares. Diana hurried over from her spot next to the treeline and took her spot next to Tori, a little out of breath and with yeast on her shirt.

"Listen up, people" said Jay. "We're heading out now but we need more volunteers."

Some people instantly turned around and headed back to their jobs, not keen on going out to potentially kill or be killed. Some of the supply runners stepped up, but to Tori's surprised Marie and Cora both stepped up as well. She grabbed Marie's arm and pulled her back with a stern look.

"What are you doing?" asked Tori.

"For the past few days I've kind of been itching to get out of here. The whole domestication thing is fine and all but every time I think of Calloway and how he has everything he could ever want it just reminds me that Matthew died because of that." Marie's eyes looked sad and she wouldn't make eye contact. "I want to help take him down if I can."

"Well I guess that's your choice to make" said Tori. "But you do know that if something happens to you I'm going to be pissed."

"Yes mom, I'm fully aware of that."

"Cora," Diana called out, "you don't have to go either you know."

She looked back and smiled wistfully. "I know, but I figure if I do and we win I'll be able to say I did something to help. Plus I might even get a spot in the history books someday."

"What about Sarah?" asked Marie.

"I promised her I would stay back a bit and take cheap shots. Paula is looking after her."

"OK then," said Diana, "good luck you guys. Come back safe."

"We will" said Marie.

The trucks rolled out soon after and the camp seemed pretty bare. All that was left were some of the older folks and the younger kids that were too little to fight, and some of the guards to keep a watch on the perimeter. Tori kissed Diana twice and squeezed her hard before returning to the garden to help Gill. He smiled kindly at her when she approached and continued to press seeds into the soft soil with his thumb. She quickly realized why Marie liked working in the garden so much even though she wasn't really one for work in the first place. It was physical work, sure, but it was also really rewarding getting to really be in touch with your food and know what goes into it, where it comes from. She could work with another person but there was no pressing need to communicate, so she had the plus of having someone close to her with the plus of being able to settle inward and work out her own emotional stuff. It really was the best of both worlds.

It took about two hours to get the new section of the garden ready to be planted. They had eight whole rows dedicated to wheat for bread, and the rest of the rows were divided between corn, carrots, potatoes, peas, cucumbers, tomatoes, strawberries and squash. Gill had brought a pretty impressive seed collection to the camp when he first arrived, knowledge passed on by Marie, and he had started getting the garden ready on day one. He seemed to really be in tune with the way the world was changing, probably owing to the fact that he was alive during the Cuban missile crisis. Thanks to him they would be sitting on a pretty good surplus come winter time if the weather worked in their favor, and, of course, Calloway's men didn't destroy the camp.

Diana had finished getting another batch of bread ready for the oven when she glanced up and saw Tori with her shirt lifted up to her ribcage and tied in the front. She could feel herself blushing and looked away for a second, but found her eyes wandering back of their own accord. There was a time when she was younger where the lines were a little blurred with Faye, but she chalked it up mostly to young experimentation and moved on. When she would notice something particular about another woman from time to time she would often wonder what it would be like to be with a girl instead of a guy, but she had heard from her friends that girl crushes were totally normal, so she didn't think anything of it. That was, until she met Tori. There was doubt in the beginning of whether or not she was really interested or if she was just having difficulty differentiating actual attraction and a girl crush, but their first date put those uncertainties to rest pretty quickly, and seeing her in the soft sunlight with her hair tied up in a lazy ponytail and her midriff showing reminded her of how beautiful life could be. The moment was cut off almost instantly as the sound of engines thundered into the camp, and it was apparent right off the bat that they weren't friendly engines.

The people closest to the pipeline road scattered and ran back towards the bonfire. The guards on the perimeter fell back into defensive positions in the trees and took out the tires of the trucks first thing before waving the rest of the camp residents to the back. The sound of gunshots echoed throughout the camp and Diana saw Tori's head snap up and look around, then lock eyes with her across the field. They ran towards each other and met up by the bonfire, quick to dive behind it for cover. The soldiers in the newly arrived trucks got out and started firing back at the guards; quick, decisive shots meant to pin them down in certain areas so they could flank to the open space on the right without fear of being hit. The soldiers moved gracefully, strafing side to side with laser precision whilst keeping their weapons trained perfectly straight. The movements worried Diana since she had seen the guards for the camp practicing in their makeshift shooting range, and while some of them were pretty good, none of them were up to par with that kind of training.

Gerry burst out of the council tent with Chet hot on his heels, both of them strapped with semi-automatic rifles. As soon as she saw their guns she remembered the weapons that were taken from them were stored in the storage tent with the excess food. She grabbed Tori's hand and peeked around the corner to check if the coast was clear, then darted out into the open as fast as she could. They both ran a flat out sprint to the tent on the treeline and tore their way inside, quickly grabbing pistols for their waistbands and the same semi-autos that Gerry and Chet had for their main weapon. Diana was about to storm back out but Tori grabbed her arm, stopping her before she could open the flap.

"You forgot extra ammo" said Tori.

Diana took the clip and pulled Tori closer to her, crushing their lips together for the space of a breath before heading back out into the firefight without another word.

Gerry had taken the left flank and Chet the right in their short absence. Marla and Paula were herding the remaining camp members to the back of the tent city where they would be out of sight and hopefully safe from any stray bullets while the guards and the remaining council members picked up arms in attempt to fight Calloway's men off. Tori waved Diana to the left and she herself ducked off to the right, trying to keep the load balanced evenly on each side for better suppressing fire. The soldiers were trying to advance towards the right side of the camp but there was about sixty yards of open field between them and the other treeline they had to worry about. Each time anyone tried to step out the right side flank on the camp side would fire into the side of the right-most truck, forcing the soldiers back into cover. A spec appeared against the sky, falling in a sort of arc and as soon as she spotted it Tori screamed "move!" and ran back towards the council tent. Seconds later a hand grenade exploded and took out the bonfire, sending red-hots and burning logs all over the place. By the time they had reset from the explosion three of Calloway's men had already made it to the other side of the clearing and were advancing through cover of the trees. They were trying to surround them on both sides and force them back to the river if need be, and it was probably going to work.

Tori fell back to the trees and climbed one that was set back a little behind the storage tent. Diana was still to the left over by the garden, kneeling down behind Gill's large tent. It wouldn't provide any stoppage for a bullet but it did obscure her from view, which was better than nothing. Everyone on both sides of the fight popped off rounds in small bursts, trying to move each other around like pawns on a Chess board, working at creating an opening to go for Checkmate. Tori was firing into the right side truck, hoping that maybe if they could disable the vehicles completely and hold the soldiers off for a bit, they would run out of ammo and have no way of escaping. Gerry seemed to have the same idea, as he fired multiple rounds into the windshield of each truck. He had just broken the last one of the left when another truck pulled up behind the others, putting a damper on Tori's plan. How many more of them would come? Were they bringing more resources? Ammo? More grenades? It was impossible to tell, but the objective remained; fight them off as long as possible.

Everything was dark and the feeling of liquid dripping across his nose made Dom's face itch. He lifted hand up to scratch, only to feel an intense burning that made his eyes water. He hollered out in pain and by the time his eyes opened, he realized that he was upside down. All of the windows in the car had shattered and they were both covered in glass and blood. Next to him Giana wasn't moving, but was slung sideways in her seat with her head resting on his left arm. She was still breathing, he could hear it, and that was a good sign, so he felt a little better with that knowledge. The smell of gas dampened his spirits almost immediately after, and suddenly his fight or flight instincts kicked in when he realized the car could potentially blow up and kill them both.

First course of action was to get his seat belt off, which wasn't as easy as it sounded. He was sort of tangled and couldn't feel his left hand, and when he finally got free enough to examine the cause, he felt a sharp pang in his stomach that almost made him throw up. The top half of the pinky on his left hand was missing and fresh blood was still pouring out at an alarming rate, so he worked even quicker to free himself from the vehicle. He pulled his switchblade out of his belt and cut the seat belt, falling on the crown of his head when he was free. The dull thud of his skull on the roof of the car made him dizzy, but he didn't have time to feel anything but excellent with the task at hand. Giana started to stir a little bit but her eyes weren't open, though the signs of life were helping Dom to get moving better. He crawled out of the car through the passenger side window and clawed his way to his feet, unstable and woozy.

A quick assessment of what happened showed that once they had taken out the truck that was tailing them they had hit a parked car on the road, sending them toppling over just as the truck had. The immense impact of the front end of the car had crumpled it like a beer can, and the sight of the wreckage made him wonder how either of them still had legs. The heartbeat in his finger reminded him of his pinky so he cut off a strip from the bottom of his t-shirt to wrap over the end of it and try to stop it from bleeding so much. It wasn't ideal and was a great way to get an infection, but there was no other choice with the materials they had and the situation at hand. Gasoline was leaking and forming a big puddle around the roof of the car, a ticking timebomb that could end their mission at any second. He bounded around the back of the car and knelt down by Giana's window, checking her over from the outside to see if there were any glaring reasons he should avoid moving her. It didn't look like her neck was broken or anything like that so he dove right in, cutting the seat belt the same way he had done his own. He reached in and grabbed her under the armpits, hoping to turn her and slide her out through the window the way he had gotten out, but the process was slow and difficult. Five minutes or so went by before he got her all the way out and a safe distance away from the vehicle. He panted and wiped sweat from his forehead, hoping that the unconscious beauty next to him would wake up soon.

About twenty minutes later she finally stirred enough to prop herself up on her elbows, and Dom reached down to help sit her up. She blinked slowly and her eyes seemed cloudy, unfocused, but overall she seemed to be okay. He watched her movements, checking for signs of a concussion or internal bleeding. She coughed a few times, really hoarsely and loud, spitting up a little bit of blood in between. He was worried that she had a collapsed or punctured lung but a quick check of her face showed that she had a cut on the inside of her bottom lip. Relieved that it wasn't something more serious he moved and crouched down in front of her, his hands enclosed over hers.

"You gonna make it, champ?" asked Dom.

Giana smiled and coughed again. "I think I'll manage. You?"

"Just peachy."

Giana laid back and closed her eyes again, and while they needed to get moving as soon as possible, he didn't want to push her too much and possibly have something bad happen to her, so he detached the radio from her belt and retreated a few steps to call in to Calloway.

"Delta this Alpha, copy."

"Where the hell are you?" Calloway.

"We were following the runners earlier and we got ambushed by the camp. When you radioed in earlier we had just been chased by two groups them, but we got away."

"Then where are you now? They're here god damnit, we need you two."

Dom closed his eyes and concentrated. "We hotwired a vehicle on the highway but a truck came after us. We took the truck out but ended up getting in an accident ourselves. We were both out cold for a little while after the car flipped, Giana is still out right now. We're not getting out of here anytime soon."

The radio was silent for a few minutes. "You guys are OK though, right?" asked Calloway.

"Giana's a little shaken up and I lost half a finger, but we're still mostly in one piece."

"OK then, do your best to get here when you can."

"Roger that," said Dom, "Alpha out."

Giana was asleep for another thirty minutes or so after that and in that time Dom had come up with a plan. He knew that since he had made some friends at the camp that if they showed up there they wouldn't shoot on sight, even though he was wearing Calloway's colors, since they would want to know what was going on. He wanted to make sure Giana was OK and taking her to a stable place that had a med tent was the best way to do that, so he waited for her to wake up a bit and then helped her stand up. She was still lightheaded and couldn't walk straight so he put her arm around his neck and helped to carry her a bit, and they started the trek down the side of the highway to the pipeline road.

When they got to the road he could hear gunshots in the distance, enough that he knew it wasn't target practice. He immediately thought of Tori and the girls so he picked up the pace a little, luckily Giana had come to a little more and was helping him out. By the time they'd reached the other side of the pipeline clearing she was able to walk on her own again and the gunshots were getting louder and louder. He reached over and handed her her rifle and they both checked their weapons again to make sure everything was in working order, and when they rounded the last corner of the road they saw Faction trucks blocking the exit. One of the soldiers saw them and waved them forward, turning to fire shots into the trees every few seconds. They ran up to the vehicles and crouched down low, waiting for an explanation.

"Where have you guys been?" asked the soldier.

"Around" said Dom. "What's going on?"

"Calloway told us that they were about to attack, so he sent out a group to get here early and wait in the shallows until they left, then come in here and storm the place. Take out the camp so they have nothing to come back to when they lose."

Dom had a sick feeling in his stomach. "OK, so what's going on, then?"

"They didn't send everyone, there's still some guards and some other people with guns that are putting up a fight."

"Do you know how many?" asked Giana.

"Not sure, at least ten we know of, probably more."

A shot broke the passenger side window of the vehicle they were ducked behind and the shattering glass ended the conversation. They all split up and started scanning the area to see where the camp residents had moved. Dom was searching for Tori or Diana or anyone else he would recognize, and the first person he saw was Gerry. Gill was next to him with an old school rifle and another quick scan had Chet, his fishing buddy, on the other side with Diana. He couldn't see Tori anywhere but he assumed she was still there, since she usually didn't like to go anywhere without Diana. Marie and Cora were nowhere to be found either, so he put them in the attack column at the warehouse district. He also hoped that they were OK.

The firing stopped for a minute so Giana rounded them back up behind the truck, looking out side to side to see if anyone was moving around.

"We should turn this truck a little and push it forward so we can move with it, it's the only cover we have."

"OK," said Dom, "get in and steer."

They managed to push the truck about fifty feet and angle it toward the trees, so they had a quick line to disappear to if the truck was destroyed. Dom watched muzzle flashes from both sides and suddenly got an idea.

"Alright, here's what I think. You guys pop some shots in their direction just to keep them busy for a while. I'll sneak up behind them and-"

Before he could finish his sentence a great ball of homemade napalm splatted on the truck and started to streak down the windows. Everyone backed up hurriedly and moved to the right, hoping to not be so close to the next shot. Dom remembered their concoction they used to make torches and nodded his head in appreciation at the ingenuity. While the focus was on the vehicles that were now burning he took his chance, darting into the woods as low and fast as he could. He was convinced no one saw him as no bullets started flying through the trees, so he circled way down and around before coming back around by the med tent. He was moving quickly and quietly, new skills taught to him by Giana, and that's when he heard the gunshots coming from up high, somewhere in front of him. He continued forward until he saw Tori up in the tree, her sights on the trucks blocking the exit to the pipeline road.

"Tori!"

She almost fell out of the tree and flung her rifle around, swiping it back and forth. "Who's there?"

"It's Dom, don't shoot."

"Dom?"

She jumped out of the tree and looked around for him, and when he was sure she wasn't pointing her gun at him anymore he emerged from behind a tree. She ran over to him and hugged him as tight as she could, and he hugged her back with as much appreciation as he could.

"How have you been?" asked Dom.

"Well I've been better" said Tori. "As you can see it's not really too relaxing around here right now."

"Tell me about it." He held up his hand with the missing half pinky.

"Holy, what happened? What happened to your face?"

"Later," said Dom, "we need to shut this thing down before anyone else gets hurt. They're trying to take out the camp."

"Word from your side?" asked Tori.

"The other side" Dom corrected, turning both of their bodies so they could see Diana and Gill on the left.

"Right, sorry. Let's go."

They cut through the woods behind the storage tent and emerged just to left side of the tent city. Paula and Marla had the rest of the citizens guarded in the back and Paula gave Dom a thumbs up to to indicate they were OK. Tori spotted Diana again and moved up, head down and rifle steady. As they approached the garden tent Dom saw one of the soldiers on the other side whip his head backwards and fall, and then he realized that he had been shot straight through the forehead. Off to their right Gerry cocked his rifle again and Dom noticed it was a sniper rifle. He hadn't seen it anywhere on the grounds before so assumed that the camp had a bigger arsenal than they let on.

Diana acknowledged their presence and scooted to the left a bit to give Dom room to move forward. He popped shots towards the trucks as lazily as he could while making it look like he was trying, and he hoped that Tori wouldn't notice his purposeful misses. Two of the soldiers slipped out from behind the far left truck and ran dead sprint to the other side of the clearing. Tori led the first one on and fired, taking out one of his legs. He fell to the ground and the other soldier skidded to a stop, turning to pick him up and help him into the trees. While their attention was focused on those two a third soldier, the same one that had blown up the bonfire, pulled out a second grenade. Dom noticed the round shape in his hand and followed the soldier's eyes, realizing quickly the grenade was meant for the medical tent.

"He's gonna blow up the med tent!" Dom shouted, firing towards the truck the soldier was taking cover behind.

Diana closed her eyes and held out her right hand in a 'stop' signal, muttered something under her breath quickly and before the soldier could release the grenade he gripped at his chest, falling down onto one knee while gasping for air.

"What just happened?" asked Tori. The soldier was now lying on the ground and another was hovering over him, trying to help him up.

Diana looked upset and wouldn't make eye contact. "He was gonna blow up the med tent. I couldn't let that happen."

Tori realized she had used magic to somehow stop the soldier from being able to throw the grenade. In that moment she was both fascinated and terrified, coming face to face with the real power that she had. Drying her pants off in the bathroom was one thing, disabling a person from fifty yards away was a whole different ball game. Dom looked confused and desperate for some kind of answer. Tori was about to give a brief explanation but bullets started ripping through the tent in front of them, with one hitting Dom's rifle and almost knocking it out of his hands.

"We need to move" said Dom.

"Let's go Diana" said Tori, reaching out a hand to help her up. Diana grabbed it and got up without saying anything and the three of them advanced toward the trees that contained the wounded soldier and his partner.

They searched the woods for a few minutes before finding the two soldiers on the ground between two large oak trees. All three of them had their rifles trained on the soldiers that they quickly noticed were barely more than small boys. The one that was shot couldn't have been more than thirteen and the other boy patching him up not much older than that, probably fifteen or sixteen. The latter looked up when they approached but he didn't even attempt to reach for his gun. Instead, he was wrapping the younger one's leg with a torn piece of cloth.

"You guys need to get out of here" said Dom.

"And go where?" asked the older boy. "If we go back Calloway will expect the job to be done and if he finds out we failed, or worse, bailed, he'll kill us both."

"What's your name?" asked Tori.

"Teddy. This is my little brother Austin."

Hearing the words little brother and seeing the way that Teddy looked at him sent a pain through Dom's gut that he hadn't felt in a while. "I lost my little brother to Calloway a few weeks ago."

Teddy looked upset and nodded his head solemnly. "That sucks man, sorry to hear it. What happened?"

"He opened fire on the town we were living in before because the Mayor wasn't paying his dues."

"God. I knew the guy was twisted but that's fucked up."

"Isn't that kind of what you're doing right now?" asked Tori. "You're firing on our town because Calloway wants us to either join him or die so he can have our supplies."

Teddy looked like he was either going to throw up or pass out. "I suppose, but we were just doing-"

"What you had to do? Yeah, not a good excuse" said Tori. "We have to survive too but you don't see us stealing from and killing people."

"Guys we need to keep moving" said Diana, her eyes trained on the other soldiers as they advanced towards the med tent.

"She's right" said Dom.

"What do we do with these two, then?" asked Tori. "Do you trust them to be left here? How do you know they won't take another shot at us the second they're up and moving again?"

Teddy got on one knee and raised his rifle, aiming through the trees at his fellow soldiers. Dom couldn't see Giana anywhere and the soldier that had recently been shot was lying on the ground behind the vehicle closest to them. Another soldier came back to bring that person something that looked like a bottle of water, and Teddy lined up his shot. He exhaled slowly and pulled the trigger, sending a bullet clean through the soldier's shoulder. She fell backwards and the others on her left scurried around the far side of the trucks, confused on where to go since they seemed to be taking fire on all sides.

"There, happy?" asked Teddy.

"Not really" said Tori. "All that does it show me that you're even more dangerous than I thought since you have no allegiances and will fire on anyone."

Diana reached out and grabbed Tori's hand. "How about we keep our guns on them and let them try their luck of getting across the clearing to the camp's vehicles. They can hotwire one of them and get out of here."

"Sounds good to me" said Teddy.

Before anyone could reply a loud crack sounded signaling that their position had been found and the soldiers were firing into the trees. Since they couldn't be seen directly the bullets flew erratically, making their situation even more dangerous than if they were out in the open. Everyone hit the ground and covered their heads, hoping that if the soldiers didn't hear any clear sounds of a hit that they would assume they had moved to another spot and would stop firing. After a few minutes that seemed to be the case and Dom waved Teddy and his brother off, watching them closely as they hobbled out of the trees, each with one of their arms up. The soldiers recognized them as their own so they didn't fire, instead they waved them in tried to provide covering fire to get them back safely. Tori watched as they crossed and Dom scanned the rest of the area, hoping to find a way out. As soon as the two guys were safely through to the other side Tori geared up to move out but two things happened; a scream belted out over the gunfire and a deafening explosion made everything go quiet. Someone had shot through the gas tank of one of the vehicles, causing the fuel to ignite and explode. Anyone within ten feet of the truck, which was at least four soldiers, were completely obliterated. Flaming shrapnel rained down in all directions and they had to dodge a couple pieces that fell into the woods. The fire from the truck raged with the gasoline base and open field breeze fanning it. The remaining soldiers from Calloway's faction disappeared into the woods toward the river and suddenly the action was over.