The Vagabond War

by EnigmaticSerpent

Metro DLC Sam's Story Natasha is a bandit living in Vladivostok at the time when Sam is trying to get home. She enlists his help in the bloody clan war that her brother's clan is fighting with the other bandits. She has her own ideas. She is tired of losing her people and plots revenge on those who have wronged them, but she could have never predicted the consequences of her plans.

9. Friend or Foe?

Chapter 9- Friend or Foe?

Someone tapped my shoulder, rousing me from my fitful sleep. Bright, orange light assaulted my eyes as I cracked them open. I jolted awake in a panic not knowing where I was, until a hand steadied me and Viktor's voice snapped me out of my stupor.

"Easy, it's just me." he was crouched beside me, frowning as I sat up. "Why are you on the floor?"

I rubbed my eyes before glaring at him. "Because you are the size of a grizzly bear and took up the whole fucking bed."

He gave me a sheepish glance, which is something I have rarely seen on him. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

"Ha! I'd have more chance waking the dead!"

He shifted his weight and smirked, pushing his Draganov back onto his shoulder. "Nothing ever dulls your tongue does it?"

Wait, he was fully dressed with his weapons strapped to him as if he was about to leave. And that the sky was still dark. I groaned, letting my head fall back against the rolled up blanket I was using as a pillow.

"You better have a damn good excuse for waking me up so early."

Viktor pushed off the floor and frowned at me. "Your American friend is trying to leave. The guards at the gate to the marshes stopped him."

Oh fucking hell! He couldn't wait until the sun came up?

"You need to get up."

I growled, feeling my irritation from lack of sleep growing and this was not helping. Reluctantly, I kicked off my blankets and stood to find my clothes that I had hastily discarded. My gaze locked with Viktor's and his eyes followed me across the room. As I finished pulling my trousers on, arms slid around my waist. Viktor 's hard body pressed against my back. Despite my irritation with him, my treacherous body melted into his touch as he ran his lips over my neck. Damn the way he felt.

"Go away, I'm mad at you." I tried to convince myself as his rough hands slid over the still bare skin of my abdomen, making my core heat in memory of last night.

"I don't want you to be mad at me." he breathed into my ear as he kissed me.

I frowned at him over my shoulder even as my irritation slipped. "You are a fucking mountain."

He chuckled against my cheek, knowing he had cracked my defences. Bastard. He turned me around to face him. His grey eyes held my own gaze with such tenderness that my breath caught in my throat. Before I knew what I was doing, I leaned in to rest my head on his chest. I sighed as his arms encircled me in a tight embrace as they did last night.

"Do you think we have time for another quick go?" I grinned at him.

He narrowed his eyes, looking as though he was seriously considering it. Finally he shook his head with a bemused expression. "No, we have to go."

I snatched my shirt and leather armour off the floor. "Fine." I sighed, eyeing Viktor as I dressed. I was going to tell that American asshole exactly what I thought of him when I caught up to him.

I picked up my guns and went to strap them to my back when machine gunfire stopped me in my tracks. Viktor and I exchanged glances. Shit, that's not good.
He was out the door before I could finish securing my guns and I rushed to catch up, fumbling with my Kalash. I pulled it over my head as I stumbled out the door. I faltered at the top of the stairs when my radio buzzed.

"That American just killed our gate guards and stole a boat!" the words were almost drowned out by the machine gun nest at the marsh gate.
Oh fucking hell!

"He's escaped into the marshes!"
I rushed down the stairs two at a time, jumping the last three, sprinting down the catwalk. Viktor was already at the back gate across the compound. The machine gun stopped firing, and I assumed Sam had gotten out of range.

Shit, shit, shit. This was going to hell quickly.

Seraph skidded on the metal as she came hurtling out of the building. I was forced to jump out of her way to avoid being knocked into the water. She must have heard the gunfire and come running to get some action. With a quick frown in her direction, I kept running. She would follow on her own.
Viktor and the machine gunner turned to look at me as I ran up the stairs to the checkpoint at the marsh gate. The gunner, Nikolai, glared at me and brandished a finger as Viktor looked over the dead guards. Shit. Guilt burned over my skin. I did this. I brought him here.

"This was your fault!" Nikolai spat, echoing my thoughts.
I scoffed. "No, he would have come here on his own because he wants to get to the fire depot. Then, everyone here would be dead, not just four."

"He would be dead." Nikolai argued.

"Not likely."

"We need to hunt him down and make him pay!"

"Cool it." I snapped. "You'll have zero chance. He'll kill you as soon as he sees you. I'll go find him." I wasn't sure if he wouldn't kill me on site, but I wasn't going to say that to Nikolai.

"I might kill him though." Viktor glared at the narrow band of water snaking its way though impenetrable swamp weeds, dead shrubs and trees ahead.

The fog from the previous night still hung in the air, obscuring everything beyond a few metres. No wonder Sam was able to escape so easily. Fucking asshole! I was going to get an earful from Yuri over this. Maybe going after Sam would help me to avoid the lecture for a while. Yep, I was up for that. And maybe, I would find the perfect time to kill him myself. After all, it was what I planned on doing, it was what I was always going to do. We didn't need him now, he'd done what I wanted him to, but something, some deep part of me hated the thought him getting hurt. Even now, after everything he'd done.

What the hell was wrong with me? It should be so easy. He'd killed some of our guys, that meant we kill him, always. For the clan. I shook my head trying to clear it. It was a mess. This bastard was messing with my fucking head.

"I'll just get another boat shall I?" I turned to leave, but Viktor was at my side before I could get three steps.

"Not without me you're not." he stared at me intently, daring me to argue.

I shrugged, marching back down the stairs to the waterline. "I knew you'd say that. You're becoming predictable."

"This really isn't a good time for jokes."

"It wasn't a joke." I swung my pack into an outboard board moored at a nearby dock. It had flaking grey paint and several scratches along the keel as if someone had carelessly scraped it on something.

Seraph rushed past me to get in the boat. She knocked Viktor aside and the whole boat rocked violently as she jumped in and ran to the bow, grotesque nose scenting the air.

Viktor frowned disapprovingly at her and glanced at me. "That thing is coming?"

I shrugged as I stepped into the boat. "Are you going to tell her she can't?"

He eyed her warily as she swished her tail and let out a long keening howl, front paw raised. He grunted, stepping into the back as far from the beast as the tiny boat allowed.

"Didn't think so." I settled on the bench seat beside her, scratching bristly her back.

"It's just not right to have one of those as a... pet." he raised his voice as he fired up the outboard.

"Nothing has been right since the damned bombs fell, so what's one more thing?" I shouted back over my shoulder.

Viktor grunted again, easing the boat up to the iron sluice gate as it lifted.
"Don't come back until he's dead!" Nikolai shouted down at us.
I glared up at him giving him the middle finger. He bared his teeth spiting on the ground at his feet.

Fuck him.

"Always making friends." Viktor said, edging through the now open gate.

"Shut up." I threw in a finger for him too. "I don't like him anyway."

I squinted into the lingering fog, unease slowing replacing my agitation, and the grinding of the metal gate setting me on edge. Sam was dangerous. He was cornered, desperate to accomplish his mission. He'd know we would be coming for him. Would he set an ambush for us? I should just let him go, let him... kill our guys up ahead. No. We had to warn them at least.

I pulled my radio out, as the boat cleared the gate and moved into open water. "Swamp fish farm, come in."
A voice crackled over the radio a few moments later as Viktor leaned on the throttle, speeding us through the brackish water.

"Fish farm, Eugene, here. Go."

"Eugene!" I shouted. "Be advised, you have a very determined Marine in bound by boat. He is on his way to the fire depot and will try to kill anyone that gets in his way."

There was a short pause. "Ah, Natasha? Is that you?" Eugene replied in confusion.

"Yes, did you copy?" I glared at the radio, my anger building.

"Ah, affirmative, but I don't understand. What is going on?"

I shook my head, glancing back at Viktor. "You don't need to understand! You just need to tell your guys and get ready to defend yourselves! Do you copy?"

"Ah, yes, affirmative, but-"

I cut him off. "Go! You don't have time!"

"Okay, affirmative. Over and out." I groaned and slumped forward onto the wood of the bow. What a fucking mess! Those guys were as good as dead. We needed to get there.

I sat up and glared ahead of us. The fog was making everything creepier than it should, which didn't help my nerves. I found myself jumping at shadows, my eyes taking in every dead tree, every movement of the wind in the reeds. This was a terrible time to be attacked. We would have a hard time seeing anything approach. We were right in the middle of Shrimp territory, too.

There was a reason we settled here. It was a steady supply of Shrimp for our army and the fish were plentiful. I guess that's why the Shrimp lived here, too. But we were vulnerable out here on the water, where they were so at home. My finger twitched on my Kalash. I only hoped our speed would deter them.

Apparently not. Something big moved in the rushes, sending ripples over the surface of the channel, water splashed. My heart beat against my ribs as adrenaline shot into my bloodstream. Whatever it was, slipped under the boat, crashing into the keel. The whole front end of the boat lifted from the water, and I white-knuckled the side to stop myself from being flung overboard. Viktor kept the speed up, gritting his teeth. As we slammed back down onto the water, the disgusting beast lunged at the bow, the front half of its plated body, crashing down before me. It swung a clawed arm towards me. I ripped into it with a spray of gunfire and it shrieked, but still clung on, determined to kill, gnashing at me with its grotesque mandibles.

I was forced to stop shooting as Seraph threw herself forward, biting and thrashing savagely at the Shrimp's arm. With a crack, she bit right through and the Shrimp slipped off the boat with a scream, disappearing into the murky water, dark blood spurting into the air. I raised an eye brow at the watchman as she sat back and begun chewing the chitinous arm as if it was a great prize. Viktor and I exchanged glances and I shrugged.

"She is a watchman." I tried to ignore the crunching.

Viktor turned back to the channel without a word, but with a grimace of revulsion on his face.

Wow, that was sudden and now I was even more on edge, glancing suspiciously at everything, waiting for another attack. I hated coming out here and avoided it if I could, but this time there was no choice. There was nothing I could do, but sit back and hope they would leave us alone.

Fortunately, luck was with us this time, and we cruised up the winding channel without any other interruption. That was until we came within a kilometre of the fish farm and the unmistakable crack of gunfire echoed through the fog. Even though I had been expecting this, my heart sank. They would have started shooting as soon as they saw Sam after my warning. I hoped it would deter him, that he'd be smart and bypass them. But no, of course not. Of course he would go straight through them. There was nothing to do now but catch up to him.

The flickering of fire light and incandescent light bulbs cut through the fog as we approached the circular clearing. The fish farm was made up of repurposed shipping containers scattered around some old docks. The docks had been heavily repaired with sheet metal, after the wood rotted away from the years of exposure to the briny water. There were narrow channels around the shipping containers for passage of boats to the open water on the other side of a line of birch trees where the fish pens were.

Gunfire flashed over the centre of the clearing. I squinted into the fog, trying to make sense of it. Some of our guys were taking cover behind some crates stacked on a boat on the far side of the farm, shooting back towards the shipping containers they used as barracks. Sam must be there somewhere. I glared at the shadows, willing him to show himself.

There. Movement behind some rusted cupboards between the shipping containers and the water. He was crouched low, moving down the catwalk towards the open door of the nearest container. Shit, we were going to lose him inside.

"Take the boat around the side." I said to Viktor. "See if we can flank him."

He moved the boat around the end shipping container Sam had taken refuge inside. We edged around the corner. Sam was leaning out a second door at the end of the container. His eyes immediately snapped to us and he flattened himself against the inside wall. Viktor turned us so that the port side of our boat was facing the container and we had a clear view in through the open door. Sam leaned out again, raised his Kalash as if to shoot but stopped. I frowned, heart hammering. He's hesitating? But why?

After a short pause he pulled a grenade from a pocket in his vest and pulled the pin. Instead of throwing it he held it for a few seconds meeting my eyes. For a terrible moment I thought he would throw it at us, but he hurled it at the water just in front of us. It skimmed across the surface for half a second before exploding, sending a shaft of water shooting five metres into the air obscuring him from view and throwing us back with the impact. By the time the impromptu fountain had settled he was nowhere to be seen.

Clever fucking asshole!

I pulled myself back up in my seat just in time to see Seraph spring from the bow in a full stretch leap that spanned the five meter gap to the pier. Her clawed feet scrabbled for purchase on the metal as she landed and her back heels kicked the open air above the water before pulling herself up. As soon as she was stable, she tore off into the container and out of sight. I stared after her dumbfounded and turned to meet Viktor's gaze. Judging by his expression he was equally surprised.

"Maybe she'll find him first." I said hopefully, even as that irritating part of me was more than a little impressed by Sam's escape. Or he'll kill her.

Viktor wrenched on the rudder of the motor and brought us in close to the pier. "We will go on foot." he'd barely finished speaking before he shut off the engine and jumped out.

I rushed to follow, keeping close. We navigated between the bunks of the sleeping quarters and into a narrow common room following Seraph's muddy paw prints. When we burst out the other side of the barracks I scanned the compound finally spotting Seraph.

She had tracked Sam across the compound cornering him on top of one of the fishing boats. He was crouched in the middle of the roof, but dropped when gunfire from the catwalks peppered the hull of the boat.

I stayed on Viktor's heels as we charged up to the boat, halting in front of it. Seraph sank down on her back legs getting ready to jump. She would attack him without prejudice. He was just prey to her.

Before I got the chance to shout to her, she leapt from the pier, pulling herself up onto the roof in front of Sam. Viktor raised his Kalash.

"No, you might hit her!" I eyed him with concern.

"I won't."

But before Viktor could line up his shot, Sam blasted Seraph with his shotgun. I screamed. She shrieked and reared up, but lunged at him again trailing blood over the roof.

"Sam, please don't!" I pleaded.

He glared at the watchman, ignoring me and pulled the trigger again. My heart stuttered at the same time that Sam's shotgun jammed. His dark eyes widened as Seraph leapt at him. He threw himself over the far lip of the roof just as Viktor started shooting.

Shit!

A second spray of gunfire from the catwalks narrowly missed him as he jumped down.

We sprinted after him as he bolted for cover by another boat. He crouched, squeezed off a few bursts of Kalash fire at the three on coming fishermen dropping one, and sending the others diving for cover. As soon as they ducked their heads he darted forward firing at them again to keep them down. Viktor and I ran after him. Seraph howled from the roof and I glanced back to see blood dripping from the buckshot wounds in her chest. My heart ached for her, but I had no time to go back to check on her. I just had to hope she would be alright.

Sam headed for the furthest shipping container just in front of the tree line to the North, which would allow him to escape. He was forced into cover again when someone fired through a window to cut him off. He shoulder rolled behind a crate of fish freshly unloaded from the boat, crouching low. He fired back at the window.

We were almost on him. He was taking cover just ahead of us. He hadn't seen us yet, preoccupied with his shoot out. Viktor pulled his Draganov from his back as he ran, stopped behind a sheet metal railing, and steadied his aim. When this gun came out, there was only going to be one outcome. And Sam was standing there out in the open, an incredibly easy target. But Seraph beat him to it. She leaped out of nowhere from a catwalk running adjacent to the one we were on, across a narrow channel of water. She cannoned into Sam knocking him to the metal as his shotgun skidded into the water.

My eyes widened as he tried to fight her off. He couldn't reach his other gun, forcing him to pull his knife, ramming it into her neck.

"No!" I screamed.

To my amazement and relief the knife didn't seem to worry her. She was in a frenzy, half crazed by adrenaline and her prey drive. She snapped her horrible teeth at Sam as he did his best to hold her back with his free arm. With the other, he drove his knife into her exposed abdomen. This time she roared in agony that echoed my own scream. She fell back, the knife still in her flesh, into the water.

"No!" I screamed again, darting forward.

Sam pulled out his Stallion pistol and sprang to his feet leveling it at me.

Behind me, Viktor moved to shoot. A split second before Viktor pulled the trigger, the guy in the window of the container fired and caught Sam in the shoulder dropping him to the catwalk. Viktor's shot went off target and grazed the side of Sam's head. It all happened so fast that I was sure Viktor had hit him. But then why was Sam not dead from the head shot?

He clutched at his bleeding shoulder. It was clearly not a head shot. Guilt flashed through me for an instant before the thought of how he killed Seraph took its place. I glared at him, rage burning and I lifted my Kalash. He glared back before rolling into the water.

"No, you fucker!" I roared as he swam down into the murky water and disappeared again.

He was a marine, so I assumed he could hold his breath long enough for him to escape.

What the fucking hell!

Fuck, no, Seraph! That bastard killed her! He will die for this.

But you want him. You always have. There was that fucking annoying voice again, the one that stopped me from killing him when I should have. Like he deserved.

He fucking killed my watchman!

He was just trying to defend himself. She attacked him.

Fuck!

Unsure how to feel and trying to ignore my internal debate, I rounded on Viktor, who stared in shock at the patch of water where Sam had disappeared.

"You fucking missed!" I stopped in front of him, glaring at him. But he stood his ground despite my rage.

"I wouldn't have, if he didn't shoot first." he jabbed a hand at the man now leaning out the window of the container ahead, watching us.

I faltered, put off by his angry tone. He had never used that tone with me before.

"Don't pretend that this is anyone's fault but yours." He stepped forward so that he loomed over me.

Taken aback, I edged away from him.

"Let's just get this over with, so we can move on." he stepped around me and strode intently down the catwalk towards the shipping container, where the fisherman still watched us.

I didn't follow, my feet frozen to the spot. I stared after him, stunned.

"Natasha!" he yelled back over his shoulder and I felt like a child again, being scolded by Yuri. And like a child, I reluctantly trailed after Viktor, dread settling in my stomach.

"Wow, what was that?" The guy asked as we approached where he stood just outside the container.

"Shut up." Viktor barked at him and I winced.

The guy scratched his greying goatee and shut his mouth quickly, shooting me a tentative glance.

"Where's Eugene?" Viktor asked.

"Ah, he was in the workshop before... all this." the worker waved a hand over the small compound where several men lay dead on the catwalks.

Viktor turned to leave without another word.

"Ah, but I think he was shot by your...friend."

Viktor spun on him and shoved the fisherman into the wall of the container, holding him up by his green overalls. "He's not my friend."

"Okay, okay, sorry." the guy stammered, red in the face.

Viktor pushed the guy's chest again as he released his overalls. "Clean up this mess!"

"Of course, right away," he retreated quickly inside the container.

I trailed in silence after Viktor as he marched back towards the barracks down an adjoining walk way. As we approached the first container, my gaze stopped on a very familiar face, bloodied and pale in death. Sergei.

He and Ivan had disappeared earlier, or so Yuri said, but maybe they were just here, maybe they were tired of being at the swamp. But why wouldn't they tell anyone? He was most definitely dead though, with several gunshot wounds in his chest and abdomen. He must have crossed Sam, or been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Huh, they picked the wrong place to disappear to.

As I leaned over him, pulling ammo from the pockets of his jacket, his radio crackled with a voice that turned my blood to ice.

"Sergei, how are you going with our plan? Have you convinced them?"

I froze, eyes narrowed into a glare at the radio, seething at the sound of Klim's voice on the radio to one of our guys. Plan? What plan? A plan with those bastards? The thought of that turned my stomach.

I glanced up to find Viktor searching the nearby container. "Ah, Viktor," I started tentatively.

He frowned at me over his shoulder.

Let's just get this over with. "Come here," I said.

He looked like he might disregard me.

"I really think you need to see this,"

He heaved a sigh, but turned to walk back outside. "Yeah, it's Sergei. I saw him." he shrugged, frowning deeper as if I was wasting his time. "So what?"
"No, you should listen." I insisted.

As if on cue, Sergei's radio buzzed again. "Sergei? Come in," Klim said.

"Recognise something?"

Viktor scowled. Of course he recognised Klim's voice. He met my eyes.

"Yeah. Yuri said he and Ivan had gone missing and Klim just asked if they'd carried out their plan to convince these guys of something."

"Convince them of what?" Viktor glowered at Sergei's body.

"Not sure. To join them, to turn on us?" I hoped that wasn't the case, but dread had settled heavily in my stomach. Something wasn't right and Klim and Tom were behind it.

Viktor gritted his teeth, his eyes dark with barely contained fury. "We need to find Eugene." he turned and strode down the catwalk without bothering to see if I was following.

He knew I would be.

We hurried through another barracks block, ignoring everything even though I could see the wealth of supplies there. We weren't here to steal from our own people after all.

We finally came to the workshop the fisherman had told us about. The container it housed had the whole left side cut off, so that it was open. Long, metal benches ran along its length with blood and fish scales left scattered over the surface. I glanced at the knives left there as I moved down the length. Next to it were trays of freshly prepared slices of fish stacked on wire racks and an area filled with crates of fish yet to be processed. On the opposite wall was another work bench for sharpening tools, and stacks of empty trays for fish.

It all looked very efficient. Until of course, they were interrupted by the sudden fire fight. And now, a lot of the workers were dead. I didn't know how many. This would affect the rest of us when they couldn't deliver the fish quota to the swamp.

This all became a background thought as my gaze finally settled on Viktor kneeling over Eugene, the Foreman here. He was slumped against the wall beside the workbench, the knife he had been sharpening abandoned next to him. There was a gunshot wound through his chest gushing blood. He was alive, but struggling to breathe and ashen faced. His hand clamped uselessly over the wound.

Viktor was saying something to him I couldn't hear as I approached. The two had been friends ever since we formed the clan. He went to grab his medical kit from his pack, but Eugene shook his head.

"There's not much time for me now, my friend." he said hoarsely, each word seemed to be a struggle. "I have to warn you. Those two from the Swamp…were around here…in the ears of my men. Making promises from…that gargoyle, Klim...at the port. Saying they had…a submarine and they could leave with them...if they helped them find and kill Yuri's men."

Viktor's face morphed from pained sympathy for his friend to outright rage as Eugene spoke. "You're sure of this?"

Eugene nodded."Some of the men were thinking about it. I have good men here, loyal men and they told me. We were just discussing it... and I came here to think, when...this happened." he broke off, coughing loudly, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth. He wiped a hand over his face, his hand coming away bloody.

"I shouldn't feel so bad about their deaths then." I muttered, earning a dark look from Viktor.

"Don't think they are bad men." Eugene said. "They were mostly...local fishermen wanting to stay... out of trouble...most of them are scared of Klim. And one of those two from the Swamp, got away."

"So that's an excuse to betray their clan?" I pressed, ignoring Viktor's dangerous expression.

"I never...said it...was." his voice was becoming strained, his breaths shallow and more labored.

I sighed, containing my anger for Eugene's sake. He was dying.

"I'm sorry." he croaked, face contorting with pain.

Viktor shook his head. "Don't worry."

"Please...don't blame them...Klim is...persuasive." Eugene coughed again. "And please...look after my men."

Viktor nodded. "I'll make sure they are looked after."

Eugene close his eyes, rasping out a long, rattling breath. "Thank you." After a short pause in which he coughed again he continued. "Get the bastard who did this to them."

Viktor turned his dark gaze on me, fury consuming his eyes. I worked to contain a shudder. When I turned back to Eugene, his grey eyes were glassy and staring at nothing. He was gone.

"I'll get him." Viktor gritted his teeth, pushing off the catwalk. He leveled his intense stare on me again. "I will get him, since apparently, you can't." He strode away down the catwalk towards the boat without a backwards glance.

I stared at my boots, considering not going with him, to let Sam go. I wasn't keen on facing him again, or sitting in the small boat with Viktor in this mood. He was out for Sam's blood and Sam was determined to get home. One of them would end up dead. I wasn't sure which it would be, but didn't like the thought of ether of them dying. Viktor was right, of course. I didn't want Sam dead, even though I should. I paced along the catwalk, unsure what to do.

Everything I ever believed in; to do anything for the clan, to always put the clan first, warred with this new, growing part of me. The part that wanted Sam above all else. How could one person change how I felt so completely? This damned feeling was growing stronger and I wasn't sure if I'd be able to fight it much longer. I couldn't sit back and let them kill each other. I squared my shoulders and followed Viktor. He could hate me if he wanted to.

By the time I reached the boat, Viktor had started the engine and was pulling away from the dock, thinking I wasn't coming. He spotted me and frowned. I sighed and walked to the end of the docks. Would he leave me here?

After a short pause he edged the boat in front of me. He glanced away as I climbed in, refusing to meet my eyes. Fine. He moved out into the open channel in silence.

I sat stewing at the bow as the reeds flashed by, trying to muddle through my internal conflict until Viktor's voice pulled me back to my senses.

"This needs to happen, Natasha." his words were clipped. He was fighting his anger, containing it, but he was working hard. "He killed the guards. He killed Eugene, for nothing other than being in the wrong place and at wrong time. It's inexcusable."

Of course it needed to happen, it was the right thing to do, blood for blood and all that. I would have a hard time doing it.

"It's unfathomable to me that you could like him after what he has done." Viktor said as he steered the boat around a half submerged tree.

Yes, it was unfathomable to me too, but here I was. So that was it, why he was so angry with me? He had always been perceptive. I stared ahead of me at the skeletons of trees in the thinning fog. They were preferable to looking back at Viktor.

"You can't ignore me." he said.

"I'm not." I was thinking about this whole fucked up situation and how I could like Sam after what he had done. Did I just like him? Was that all this was? Surely there couldn't be more to it. Then, why couldn't I shake this feeling? Why couldn't I get him out of my dammed head!

"Natasha!" Viktor's voice snapped me out of whatever my mind had sunk into.

"What?"

He sighed heavily. "What is wrong with you lately? I said, you don't have to do it, but you will not stop me from doing it. He can't get away with this."

I turned to pin him with a furious glare. "Do you know who you sound like right now?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Me. You sound like me begging Yuri to do something about Tom and Klim after what they did to Senya and Mikhail."

His frown deepened. "How?"

"Well, they have gotten away with it, haven't they? Yuri sat on his hands, too scared to do anything while they continued, no continue, to kill our guys. Still does nothing. Yet, both of you are hell bent on killing Sam. I don't know what happened at the gate. Maybe he was defending himself, maybe they came at him."

"You're defending him!" he didn't bother to bite his anger back.

"I'm rationalising."

"This is not the same at all!"

I white-knuckled the side of the boat, the splintered wood digging into my palm. "It is the same!" My anger came to a head. I was determined to make him see. "Blood for blood, isn't that how this works? Where's Klim's blood, where's Tom's? We should have already killed them, if that was the case. But oh, we haven't. We're letting them get away with Senya's and Mikhail's torture, for Senya's murder! Senya! One of your closest friends!"

"I know!" Viktor roared back. "That was never my decision. You know how I feel about that."

"But Yuri listens to you, you could have said something!"

"You think I haven't? Yuri didn't listen to me, not about this. He was determined not to get into a war with someone more powerful, more defended then we are! And you would use this as a distraction. This is not what we came out here to do. Sam is a threat that needs to be dealt with."

I slammed my fist into the boat. "He just wants to get home. He's not a threat to us unless we make him one."

Viktor pulled his lips into a thin line. "I'm beginning to wonder where your loyalties lie."

"Well, you don't know me at all then do you?" I faced forward again, seething and my whole body trembled with the spike of adrenaline that was flooding my bloodstream. We had never fought like this, not in all the years we had known each other. There had never been a reason. But apparently, Sam was a pretty big one. Viktor was the closest thing to a best friend a person could have in this hellscape of a life. But what were we becoming?

I slumped against the side of the boat, the fight in me vanishing. I glared into the reeds.

"You will not stop me." Viktor repeated after a moment.

"What will you do if I try?" It hurt to ask, as the answer meant too much to me. Would he kill me too? Would he throw aside everything are were to see Sam killed? He was special forces after all, maybe he would. The mission always came first.

Before he got the chance to answer, something very big hit the keel of the boat, throwing both of us off balance. Damn, not more Shrimp. I was getting very tired of things trying to kill me. But a quick glance at the water told me this wasn't just a Shrimp. A long, serpentine tail as thick as a tree trunk slid ominously back under the surface, thumping the side of the boat.

"Shit, a worm." Viktor gritted his teeth.

"Get us the fuck out of here!" I screamed back, fear clawing at my stomach.

"We're going as fast as we can!"

Before the boat could get one hundred yards, the giant, monster of a worm flew out of the water with a speed that shouldn't be possible for such a large beast. Its gaping, tubular maw opened wide, exposing rows upon rows of needle-like teeth inside. I peppered it with gunfire, but it crashed into the bow of the boat, shearing the boat in two. In the next heart beat I plunged into the icy water amidst chunks of splintered wood.

The frigid water hit me like a wall and I fought to the surface with arms and legs that were too cold to obey. The wake from the massive worm, forced me back under, as the cold sapped my strength. My lungs burned and my whole body convulsed, fighting for air that wasn't there. The current pulled me along, not allowing me to surface. Darkness crept in around the edges of my vision. My head smashed against something hard, forcing my mouth open in a silent scream and water poured into my throat. Darkness engulfed me.

I awoke on my side, heaving up filthy water and trying to take a desperate breath through the onslaught of coughing. When at last I was able to breathe properly, I stared at the thick, rancid mud I was lying in, trying to comprehend where I was and what had happened. My stomach roiled and I wretched again as waves of dizziness swamped me. My head hurt terribly and something warm and sticky dripped down the side of my face. I lifted my hand up to forehead, my fingers coming away bloody.

Shit. I tried to think. The boat was destroyed and I hit something, a tree or rock maybe? Wait, where was Viktor? Did he make it? I tried to move, but I was hit with another powerful wave of dizziness and red spots danced across my vision.

"Don't move, you probably have a concussion." a familiar voice said from beside me. I slowly moved my head. Viktor was sitting next to me, dark grey cargo pants, drenched and mud splattered. Relief washed over me and I closed my eyes. He was alright.

I heard him rustling through his pack and something soft was gently pressed against the gash on my head.

"What happened?" I asked, meeting his concerned eyes.

"You drowned. I had to resuscitate you."

My eyes flared. "What?"

I fucking died!

I lay in the mud, too sick, too weak, too stunned to move. I focused on my breaths and tried not to throw up again as the world spun.

Viktor cupped the base of my head with his hand. "I thought you were gone." He brushed a light kiss over my forehead.

He saved my life and the last words I had spoken to him were in anger. I exhaled through the prickling behind my eyes before I folded my fingers around his hand.

"Viktor, I'm sorry, I-"

He shook his head. "Not now."

"You saved me even after what I said."

"I'm not going to let you die just because of a fight." He heaved a sigh. "Nothing you say will ever make me want you dead."

I closed my eyes, feeling the burning behind my eyes. Nope, not going to happen.

"Where is that thing? Did you kill it?"

"No, I shot it, but it wouldn't be enough to kill it. I had to pull you out of the water. I didn't have time."

Shit, we were exposed out here. It could come back at any time, but whenever I tried to move I wanted to throw up. I groaned, my head throbbing. I shifted my unsteady gaze to Viktor, the movement sending a spear of pain into my skull. I winced. Damn, this was bad.

"Thank you."

"You just rest and-" he cut off as his head whipped towards the water. He was on his feet a heart beat later, jostling my head. Kalash fire cracked through the latest wave of dizziness. I could guess what it was. The worm had come to try to finish us off.

I rolled onto my back and was rewarded with another head spin. I breathed through the nausea, blinking to see Viktor firing at the worm that was rearing up out of the water. It slammed its long segmented body into the bank where he was standing, knocking him off his feet.

No! I grunted and it turned its ugly face towards me. Despite the agony in my head, I forced myself up and narrowly avoided being skewered by its teeth. While it was recovering from face planting the ground, I dragged myself out of its reach. With my vision blurring, I dropped in a heap in a patch of mud and rushes further up the bank.

The worm was hit by Kalash fire and it spun to face Viktor. "Over here you bastard!"

It shrieked, blood bursting from its body with each bullet. It lunged at him and he rolled out of its reach, spraying it with bullets again as he righted himself. Shit this thing was tough. The bullets were only making it angry. I could do nothing but watch.

Viktor swore as he dropped the spent magazine into the mud. He replaced the magazine, but reached for a grenade instead of firing again. With clenched teeth, he pulled the pin, waited a few seconds before throwing it. It exploded mid air just in front of the worm's head. It reeled back with a scream as fire and metal shrapnel blasted into it. Viktor readied a second grenade, aiming at the monster's mouth. And damn, the grenade flew straight down its throat. I raised my eye brows.

Huh, nice shot.

But I knew what was coming next. I covered my face just as the grenade exploded, sending worm guts pelting everything within a ten metre radius of it. I gagged, wiping the red mist off my face and picking chunks of flesh off my clothes.

"Well, that's one way to do it." I grumbled as Viktor strode back to my side.

He grunted, his mouth quirking into a smirk. "Would you have preferred for it to eat you?" he flicked a piece of worm guts off his shoulder. He slumped to the ground next to me and I rested my head on his leg.

"I wish things would stop trying to kill us." I said.

"That won't ever happen." he glanced at me. "Do you feel any better?"

"Not much, but we can't stay here forever if we hope to catch up to Sam."

"Well, what am I supposed to do, huh, carry you?"

"Fuck that, no one carries me!" I shot him a glare. "I'll walk."

"How are you going to do that? You can't even sit up."

I would show him. I pulled myself up slowly, and as expected the world spun. I had to fight the ever present nausea, the urge to lie back down. I forced myself to stay upright, even when Viktor had to hold an arm out to stop me from toppling sideways.

"Yes, you are in great shape to trek through that." he waved a hand at the miles of waterlogged, muddy hell hole that stretched out before us.

"Why don't we radio for someone to bring us a boat? One can be here from the fish farm in a few minutes."

"Because our radios were drowned when the worm hit the boat."

"Both of them?"

"Yes, they generally don't do well being at the bottom of a river."

"So we're on our own."

He nodded. Great. So much for sitting comfortably in a boat. There wasn't anything we could do about that. We would risk losing Sam if we stayed here much longer, though. We had to move, even if the thought of trudging through bogs was not in the least appealing. I went to stand, gripping Viktor's arm for support.

He eyed me. "You should rest some more."

"No, I've rested too long, we need to move. I'll manage." I gained my feet unsteadily, my boots sinking in the mud and not helping with my balance. This was going to be painful.

We trudged on through the marshes It was slow going and we had to stop several times when the dizziness and nausea had me dry heaving, trying to force up what wasn't there. It didn't matter how painful it was. I would keep moving.

Everything down to my socks was soaked and caked in black, stinking mud that clung on with determination. At least we hadn't been attacked by anything else yet. We had to cross the channel of open water a few times using dead trees, when the way forward became impassable. There was a reason we only traveled out here by boat, anything else was too hard. But we didn't have a choice. We were cut off from radio contact, with no way to call for help if something else went wrong. We were really on our own, going after a man that would probably want to kill us when he saw us.

My boot fell into a hole full of muddy water, making me stumble forward. I groaned as the cold water soaked into my sock, sloshing around in my boot. Damn this swamp! I wanted to be rid of it. I was distracted by rustling in the shrubs to our left. We both spun, scanning the dense foliage. What now? Hadn't we had enough yet? Viktor aimed intently ahead of him, shoulders tense, ready. My heart hammered as I shouldered my own Kalash, mirroring him.

A watchman stepped out into the open. It was mud drenched, and had blood stains in its fur. A leather strap around its thick neck. A knife sticking out of its chest. My eyes widened.

Seraph?

Wait, that couldn't be right. I was still concussed, that must be it, because I watched Sam kill her. But Viktor had stopped too, staring at the beast, incredulous. He had seen the same thing I had.

The watchman limped past him without interest and stopped before me, shaking herself, flicking mud all over me. I was already covered in it, so what was a bit more? I stared open mouthed at her. She pawed at the knife still embedded into her chest.

"Ah, hold on. Just don't try to eat me, okay?" I carefully gripped the knife handle and eyed her warily before yanking it out. She growled and swiped at me. I narrowly avoided the claws, stumbling back.

"Hey!"

"That thing must have nine lives." Viktor commented.

"Yeah. I was certain she was gone." I was sure glad she wasn't. I smiled at her. The first genuine smile for what felt like a long time.

She snorted and scratched at the long gash in her chest. Blood congealed around it, matting the fur. Did watchmen get infections? It didn't seem to bother her in any case as she limped along in front of us. What the hell? How could one watchman take so much? How was she still alive?

We trudged on. The ground had at least become a little more solid, although mud still squelched under our boots. How much further did we have to go? Everything was aching, not least my head. But it had begun to clear and the world had stopped spinning enough for me to walk.

Finally, when the pale sun was beginning its slow arc back towards the horizon, we reached the end of the channel and some ruins were visible in the distance.

And there, run aground on a muddy bank was a boat identical to our own. The one Sam stole from us. But no sign of him. After our ordeal he'd have a big lead on us. He might even be at the fire depot already. If that was the case, we had to hurry.

"Find him." I commanded Seraph. She was her old, lively self apparently, except now she had a limp, but she keenly scented the air and the ground for a hint of Sam's trail. After a few circles and zigzags around the boat, she loped off towards the first ruin, a nondescript shack with a couch and barrels out the front. A quick pass over it told us that Sam had been here and had continued up the hill towards another brick building. We had a friendly outpost up here, maybe someone saw him.

My question was answered as we crested the hill, coming to the front of the two story brick building where two bandits were dragging the body of a third onto a wood pile opposite the doorway. Four more bodies already lay there. Three more guys stood guard behind them, watching solemnly. That was until they saw us.

As if a silent signal passed between them, they swung their weapons towards us as one. I grabbed Seraph by her collar.

Viktor held his Kalash above his head. "Don't shoot, we're from the Swamp."

"Stand down." One of the guards at the back commanded. The others stood at ease, but still watched us closely.

These guys weren't technically in our clan. They were independent fugly catchers that we had a trading deal with. They traded supplies and sometimes fuglies with us, although we rarely used them. We gave them fish, shrimp and protection from the other clans and they could come and go freely. I had to admit it was a good deal for both of us. Even though I would prefer to wipe out the other clans. These guys didn't give us trouble so I was okay with not killing them.

"You look like you've had fun out there." One of the guys with the body said, eyeing the mud on our clothes.

"You could say that." Viktor replied.

"Hmm, yeah, if you could call almost dying, fun." I added, with a sigh.

"Let me guess what happened here." Viktor went on, gesturing to the body."They were shot by an asshole American that came through here not long ago?"

"He was American? The bastard spoke Russian. And yes, how did you know that?"

"Because we're chasing him."

"Well, you're not doing a good job, he killed all these guys there." Another bandit standing guard pointed to the wood heap.

"Don't even start." I curled my lip into a sneer. "We were attacked by a water worm and I almost drowned. We've been chasing him all day. The guy's a US Marine, be thankful it was only those ones."

He must have been in a rush to get out of the area. He knew we would be right behind him.

"Which way did he go?" Viktor said, ignoring me.

"That way through the ruins. Towards the fire depot." The bandit pointed at a warehouse and I had flashbacks of falling into the sewers.

"He's probably already there."

"If he is, he's probably dead. Those guys over there don't like trespassers."

"He won't be. They'll probably be dead. He's very good at what he does." I countered, getting a serious dose of side eye from Viktor. He didn't like me complimenting Sam's abilities it seemed. I shrugged. It was true.

I sighed. "Look, we don't have time to stop and talk, we need to find him."

"Don't let us stop you. We have to clean up his fucking mess!"

Sam was leaving a trail of bodies out here. We had to catch him.

"Nice watchman by the way. Didn't know you train them, too. Must be pretty hard." the first bandit said, eyeing Seraph with interest.

"We don't train them. I found her as a pup and trained her myself. And yeah, it was hard. I wouldn't recommend it." I replied.

"Ha, not that I was volunteering. Those things scare the shit out of me." He laughed.

"They scare the shit out of most people. She does too. Enough chit chat, it's time to go."

I was beyond impatient by this point. Sam would be getting further ahead of us and if we lost him in the woods on the other side of the fire depot, we would never find him. He would go to get the fuel rods, he would take them to Tom and they would leave. They would get away. No. That wasn't happening.

Without another word, I strode off towards the warehouse, pulling Seraph with me. We had wasted far too much time.

We cleared the warehouses uneventfully. From there it would be a straight walk down to the fire depot and hopefully, to Sam. It was getting late, and the sun was fast dipping to the horizon, painting the grey sky with streaks of red and orange. We didn't have much daylight left. The woods to our left was already darkening and the skeletal trees left long shadows on the ground. It would get dark very quickly here, and I dreaded the thought of hunting Sam in the dark. I quickened my pace.

Finally the fire depot came into view. A large, cinder block building with wide front doors for the fire engines of another life. Inside, sat one of them, rusted and abandoned. Where the others were, I couldn't say. Probably broken apart for scrap. I had loved fire engines when I was a child. Now, they were nothing.

The rest of the two story building wasn't much to look at, basically a grey, rectangular box with a faded fire department insignia on one wall and a flat roof that had a look out post set up. The guys here were another group of independents that we generally left alone. I wasn't certain what the reception from them would be like, we traded with them occasionally, but those guys at the other outpost were right. They didn't like people just walking into their hideout. They might not know who we are and open fire before we could explain.

It turned out though, I didn't need to worry. The place was dead quiet. No one came out to challenge us as we approached, no one shot at us. There was no one. They were all dead. Sam had killed them all I assumed and got the suits he was after. So we had missed him then. Fuck.

We walked up to the front of the depot cautiously, but there was only silence. We exchanged a glance.

"Fuck, he's gone. Let's just take that boat and go home." I sighed.

"No, he can't be that far ahead." Viktor shook his head.

"He could be anywhere by now!" I stopped, as an all too familiar screech ripped through the dank, evening air, turning my blood to ice. The Batwing was out here, and extremely close. I shuddered, scanning the darkening woods ahead.

I glanced at Viktor, who was glaring at the tree line. "We're not going in there are we?"

I knew what he was going to say, even before he spoke. "It's the only way he could have gone."

"Come on, let's just go. I really, don't want to go in there, not with that thing flying around!"

He shook his head again and walked forward, stepping between some small saplings at the edge of the woods. Shit.

The Batwing's hellish swarm appeared above the trees as silhouettes against the deep orange-pink sky, and then the giant, grotesque nightmare itself launched from the trees. It skimmed the tree tops tracking something a few metres ahead and gunfire told me what it's prey was.

Sam. He was close. I half wanted to let it kill him, but something made me move towards him. Something growing, some rebellious part of me, that didn't want him die. My feet moved without thought. I trudged forward through the trees, even as terror rose inside me at what I was about to do. Viktor was on my heels, a determined grimace set on his face. If I didn't do something, he would try to kill Sam. I had to stop him somehow, even if I had told him I wouldn't intervene.
We found Sam in the middle of a small clearing, tearing into the swarm with rifle fire. They screamed as his bullets ripped them apart, but the Batwing had disappeared for now. He hadn't seen us approaching, intent on firing at the swarm. It would be so easy to shoot him right now, and Viktor raised his rifle as if he has the same thoughts. The part of me that still wants Sam made me reach out and push the rifle barrel towards the ground.

Viktor glared at me, incredulous. "What are you doing? I have him! I told you not to stop me!" He hissed through clenched teeth, not bothering to keep the anger from his voice.

I didn't answer, but instead strode forward raising my own rifle skyward. I fired a steady burst at the swarm sending several of the beasts spiraling to the ground with sharp cries.

Sam whipped in my direction his rifle pointed right at me, and I was certain he would pull the trigger. I saw it in his eyes and something in me broke. We are were bandits to him, like the ones he killed. At least I could die knowing that Viktor would kill him. I hated the thought of that so much that my chest tightened.

Behind me, Viktor raised his rifle again. I slowly stepped to the side, putting myself in Viktor's line of sight.

"Move, Natasha!" Viktor shouted behind me.

"No."

Sam's shoulders tense subtly, the sign he is about to fire. Could he do it? Could he take out both of us before Viktor could get a shot off? He was weighing it up. That's the only reason I was still alive. He wasn't sure.
I took a small step in his direction and his eyes flicked behind me to Viktor, before quickly finding mine again.

I held my Kalash out to the side. "Sam, I-"

The batwing crashed out of the trees with a deafening roar, pulling Sam's attention away from me. Excellent timing. Damn, I thought I would never think that about this abomination.

Sam shot upward and Viktor and I did the same, momentarily forgetting our quarrel in the face of the bigger threat. The Batwing screamed as our combined force slammed into its thick hide, tiny droplets of blood pelting down on us like a macabre rain. It dove toward Sam, claws outstretched. He dropped to the ground still firing, and when he paused to reload, I pelted it with my own bullets, as the whip crack of Viktor's Draganov reverberated through the falling darkness. It flipped mid flight to come at me then, flashing low over the sodden ground even as it was shot several times from both sides.

A streak of silver fur shot past me in a leap, and it took a full two seconds to comprehend what I saw. Seraph was locked around the beast's shoulder, her claws raking deep, bloody gouges in its flesh. It screamed and swatted at her with its long claws as she kicked wildly with her back legs. She yelped as it finally dislodged her, sending her careening back into a tree.

"No!" I cried as she crumpled in a heap to the ground.

The batwing shrieked again, spiraling upwards into the trees, where it vanished again. An eerie silence fell upon us, as each of us scanned the tree line for a sign it might come back. My heart hammered as Seraph pulled herself to her feet and limped over to me.

"Good girl."

Sam eyed her with an expression that said he was sure he had killed her, but made no move towards her. I kept my eyes on the sky, backing up to him, so we could have eyes in both directions. He shot me a dangerous look, but didn't move away as several long seconds passed. I was so close to him now that I could almost feel his heat. So close, I could reach out and touch him. I almost did until I caught myself. What the hell was wrong with me?

We kept firing at the swarm. We had thinned it out some, but there were still countless, dive bombing us. But our bullets were doing very little to the Batwing.

"We're getting nowhere like this." I said.

"Have a better idea do you?" Sam responded.

"Maybe." We needed more fire power.

Fire.

I pulled out a Molotov and nodded. Sam glanced over his shoulder at me and continued firing.

"We need to get it to fly low so I can get a clear shot. I don't want to miss." I said, peering up at the trees to see where the devil had gone.

"Fine, you're the bait."

"Of course I am. I didn't think you would volunteer."

The batwing burst out of the trees again with a screech. This time we would kill it. I was done running from it.

Sam and Viktor fired a few shots at it, while I walked into the centre of the clearing. I fired a few rounds at it, watching it pivot in the air to fly back towards me. It saw me and dove. I tried and failed to light the rag sticking out of the bottle. Damn this fucking useless lighter!

"Natasha!" Sam called to me.

I took my eyes off the beast to look at him and it swooped towards me. "I'm trying!" I gritted my teeth.

"Throw the Molotov!"

"I can't light it!"

"Just throw it!"

Fuck! I had no idea why but I threw the useless bottle at the batwing's chest as it reached for me. Incendiary rounds flashed over my head and hit the bottle just at it smashed against the batwing. The beast was engulfed in a fire ball that careened towards the ground in a screaming heap. It flailed on the ground as I walked up to it.

"You should have left us alone." I shot it twice in the head and it fell limp. "That's for trying to carry me off to your nest, ugly bastard." I watched its body burn for a moment, allowing myself the satisfaction of its death before turning to face Sam.

"Nice shot, thanks."

He looked back at me with narrowed eyes. "So what? You think we're all just friends now? No, I'll give you one chance. Follow me again, and I will kill you."

"Sam-" I started, feeling a cold dread rise in my chest.

"No." He shook his head, turning back to the path through the trees. "I'm not joking. Don't follow me. I'm going home, no matter what."

His head torch shot through the darkness of the woods as he begun to walk. He only got a few steps when his radio buzzed and he stopped to pull it out.

"Sam, it's Tom. I'm not sure where you are right now, but we've got one more thing to do before we leave this hell hole."

I tensed and narrowed my eyes as I heard that arrogant voice. Behind me, Viktor shifted his weight in agitation. I glanced at him. He was tapping the trigger of his Draganov. I shook my head at him.

"Oh, yeah, what's that? Only, I'm about to meet up with that ship captain so we can get your fuel rods." Sam replied, drawing my attention back to him.

"That's great, but we started a fight with some local low lives that I want to finish." Tom's voice replied.

Sam turned to face me. I moved myself between him and Viktor, making sure he couldn't get a shot in case he tried again.

"We just found the hole they've been hiding in, and I want you to help us burn it to the ground and take whatever supplies they have, for our journey."

I seethed at his arrogance. He was treating our existence and struggles like an infestation of pests that needed to be exterminated. I had never wanted to kill that bastard as much as I did now.

Sam paused, meeting my eyes. I could swear that I saw pity there, completely at odds with his earlier hostility. My stupid heart skipped a beat.

He held his radio in front of his face, eyeing me. "I really should meet up with the captain, he's waiting for me. And I'm late."

I whipped towards Viktor, who was standing tensely behind me, glaring at Sam. "We need to warn them! We need to get back there!"

"Is this really necessary? Sam said into the radio. "Can't we just leave?"

"No, they crossed me. They deserve what's coming to them. Their supplies are ours. We'll need them anyway. We have a long way to go."

My blood boiled in my veins. We couldn't let them get away with this! He couldn't just take what he wanted.

"You should go back and warn them!" I turned to Viktor.

He stepped to the side, switching his Draganov for his Kalash. "We will both go back, but I am killing him first. He's not walking away from this, not now, not after he killed Eugene." he sighted through the reflex sight, while Sam quickly raised his own.

"Fucking stop it!" I stepped in between them, both loaded weapons aimed right at me.

"Move." Viktor growled, his grey eyes furious.

"No. I asked before what you would do if I tried to stop you. I guess I'll find out."

Damn I hoped I was right about him, if not I'd be dead in a few seconds. His finger twitched on the trigger and he clenched his teeth. I stared him down, forcing myself to take even breaths to cover my terror, although my heart beat was so loud in my ears that I was certain he'd be able to hear it.

Several tense moments passed. Behind me, Sam lowered his gun and my heart did a somersault. He stood down, before Viktor. I wasn't prepared for the flash of warmth that thought gave me, but then dread overtook. Viktor was still aiming at me.

"You would shoot me, Viktor?" I said, working to keep the shudder from my voice.

A long, slow howl echoed through the woods, making all three of us snap our heads to the treeline. Oh, shit. The pack must have been attracted by our gunfire. Seraph lifted her head up and answered with a spine tingling howl of her own, before she loped off into the trees and out of sight.

"Seraph!" I yelled after her, but she was gone. I pulled my gaze back to Viktor, my eyes wide.

He was watching the dark trees, as was Sam. He glared back at me finally and lowered his gun. "You are making a mistake." he eyed Sam with intense hatred and turned it on me. "Yuri will know everything that happened here. I'm not taking the blame for this."

I breathed out a long sigh. "We have to get out of here. Get back to the Swamp and warn them!"

"I'm going back, I don't care what you do." Viktor said, turning back the way we had come.

I stared after him as his flash light flickered through the trees, finally disappearing into the darkness.

Desperate, I turned to Sam. "Please, help!"

Sam shook his head. "This is where we part ways." He sighed, gaze dropping to his boots. "I'm sorry about Tom, this wasn't part of my plan."

I watched him retreat into the darkness. He sounded like he really was sorry, but it didn't matter, he still wouldn't do anything to help. The part of me that wanted him broke, while the other part raged. How the hell could I just let him walk away? After what he did, after the men he killed. After the trouble I went through for him. After the rift he has caused between Viktor and I. How did I not shoot him when I had the chance? Why was I doing this?

I glanced back to where Viktor had been. Nothing but darkness. What did I expect? He'd suddenly have a change of heart and turn back? No, that wasn't like him. He fucking left me here with a pack of watchmen closing in.

My anger at him was consumed by another long howl. Closer now. My skin prickled with the primeval fear felt by all prey species since the dawn of time. It was time for me to go, too. It didn't matter what happened between us, I had to get back to the Swamp to help prepare for the impending attack.

But now, I was alone, with a pack of watchmen on my ass. I would never see them coming in the darkness, not with the pitiful excuse for a flash light I had with me. Rising panic made me break into a run, glancing back over my shoulder when another howl carried through the shadows. Their snarls and claws in the leaf litter and mud told me they were close. Too fucking close. But I still couldn't see them.

Another snapping twig to my right, a quiet growl at my back. I imagined them spreading out in the darkness to surround me, corralling me like a fucking sheep. Waiting for the best time to attack. If I could just make it back to my fugly catcher friends, I could get help, or wait the beasts out. Maybe they'd have a boat I could borrow to get back to the swamp. Shit. Would I get there in time? Those bastards. I couldn't let them do this. I had to get back there.

No, I had to survive first. I couldn't do a thing at the Swamp if I was dinner for watchmen. And Viktor, what the hell was I going to do about him? No, I could not focus on that. I had to survive.

I shone my torch at a thicket of trees, catching a glimpse of one of the beasts. I fired blindly into the darkness, my bullets hitting the trunk of one of the trees. Fuck. My heart hammered, throwing my aim off. Where the hell had my courage gone? This wasn't me. I pulled a Molotov from the side of my pack, and swore when my lighter wouldn't work. I stopped on the trail, trying to get it to catch. A watchman lunged out of the trees straight at me. I smashed the glass over its head. It yelped, falling back long enough for me to light a second Molotov. I hurled the flaming bottle at the watchman, retreating as it was engulfed in fire.

As it ran, screaming back to the trees, it lit small fires in its wake, illuminating the others behind it. Dozens of them. I couldn't count how many and there were more on the left flank. This pack was huge. Brave or not, I stood no chance against that many watchmen. I was so fucked.

I abandoned any thought of fighting them and sprinted, faster than I ever had, through the trees. Branches tore at my face, but I didn't slow. They were closing in behind me. If I slowed, I was dead.

My boot caught an exposed tree root and I fell into the mud. A watchman sprang at me, claws outstretched before it. I smashed it in the face with the stock of my Kalash and scrambled to get up. I unloaded my clip into it as three more closed in.

I wheeled around and kept running, the watchmen right on my heels. Gradually the trees thinned out and I ran into the open. I found a new burst of speed from who knows where, running on adrenaline alone. I spotted the tall silhouette of the warehouse we passed through earlier. If I could get there, I could defend myself.

Behind me, the watchmen burst from the trees. They were everywhere, a wall of teeth and claws. I had never seen so many in one place. Fucking hell!

I kept my eyes on the warehouse, not slowing down to look back. They would catch up at any moment. I had to keep running. Just fucking run!

The warehouse filled my vision and I streaked through an open door, desperately scanning the open space for something that would save my life. The first of the watchmen scrabbled through the door, fighting each other to be the first one through. I hurled another Molotov at the mass of teeth and claws. It shattered with a bright plume of fire. The flaming bodies of the watchmen made an effective blockade so the others couldn't come through. I was given a momentary reprieve until they discovered they could come through a broken panel in the roof. Glass shards rained over me and I fired as several more leaped to a second story landing right above me.

"Give me a fucking break!" I yelled as I ran between high metal shelves stacked with boxes, into an adjoining room. An office by the looks of it. I rushed over to a bookcase by the back wall and with some effort, toppled it. Dusty Books scattered over the floor as I slid it across the door, making a barrier.

The watchmen raced across the warehouse floor, sliding around the end shelf. I swore again as I found I was out of Molotovs so I tossed my last grenade. The blast killed the front watchmen and sent the shelves crashing to the floor, creating a pile of debris. I didn't think for a moment it would stop them. They could climb and jump incredibly well. It might slow them down.

I glanced around the room behind me. Nothing I could use there. An office, with a desk, some book shelves and a boarded up window. There was a set of metal doors in the floor, but it was locked and wouldn't budge when I tried to open it. Maybe I could get through the window?

Only now the next wave of watchmen were clambering over the destroyed shelves and I wouldn't have time to pry the boards off. Shit.

I stared wide eyed at my last magazine, sliding it into place with an ominous click. I wasn't sure how I could possibly get out of this. My radio was gone, lost in the swamp. Help wouldn't get here in time anyway. They were right outside, slashing at the too thin wood of the bookcase. It would break apart soon and they would get through. I would fight them for as long as I could, but they would eventually get me.

I should have used my last grenade to blow open that window to keep running. I could have gotten away, lost them, but now I was trapped. I pressed my back to the far wall, Kalash aimed at the bookcase, gritting my teeth.

Fine. Come and take me. I would take as many as I could down with me. I set the firing mode to single shot and waited.

Another great crash echoed through the room. The bookcase splintered. The first watchman broke through, clawing it's way through the hole it had made. Before it could get free, I squeezed off two quick shots that hit the beast's ugly face dead centre. It's limp body blocked the hole for only a few moments before the others completely destroyed the bookcase around it. I shot the ones that came through with steady fire, counting each bullet.

I had extended magazines, with forty rounds each, but I had already used almost half of those, and the watchmen weren't stopping. I would run out very quickly.

"Come on you fuckers!" I snarled at them, blasting another in the head. Another jumped it's fallen body to take its place.

"You're not taking me easily!" I shifted from one target to another, dropping them with a practiced aim, but still they came.

I kept counting. I was down to ten rounds. Nine. Eight. Seven. I was going to run out.

One leaped at me. I dropped to a knee to duck it's swipe. I fired two into it's chest, but it swiped at me again. I smashed the stock into it's snout and was rewarded with a crack of breaking bone and a squeal of pain. I shot it again in the head. Its body went limp. Four bullets.

More watchmen. This didn't look good.

Glass shattered somewhere in the warehouse. That could mean only one thing. More watchmen were coming through the roof. But the pack trying to squeeze through the gap broken through the bookcase, paused and turned around to look at what broke the glass. Not more watchmen? What fucking now?

I frowned when gunfire echoed through the warehouse. The beasts at the back of the pack ran towards the shooter, leaving only a few for me to deal with. Those, I used the last of my bullets on. I let my Kalash fall back on its strap and pulled my knife, holding it ready in front of me. But the others were focusing on the new shooter. Growls filled the warehouse as whoever it was, tore through them with steady semi automatic fire.

Had Viktor actually had a change of heart and decided to come back? Or maybe someone from the fugly catchers heard the gunfire and came to help? I edged towards the ruined bookcase to peer out into the warehouse. My gaze found the shooter, but it wasn't who I was expecting. Not even close.

This has taken a long time to upload, sorry about that. Thanks for sticking with it. It's important for me to finish this. On top of life stuff, I have been outlining the rest of this story, so I know where it's going. And I'm very excited for the ending! I hope you will continue to read. I have already started writing the next chapter, so hopefully, it won't be long until I can update. Bye for now.