Time To Talk With Robert
20 Years Later - Summer - August 3rd, 2033 - Boston, Massachusetts
In a building somewhere in the city in the morning, locked in a room by himself is a fifteen year old boy with short brown hair, light skin, and wearing a blue and white long sleeve baseball shirt, jeans and boots, chained up to a radiator.
This teen sat against the wall, curled up with his head leaning against his arms, taking deep breaths.
Then he heard the door being unlocked, making him look up to see an African American woman in her mid forties with her long hair tied back, wearing a hoodie under a denim jacket entering with a backpack in her hand.
She placed the bag on the ground and slid it towards the teen, who instantly opened it up and pulled out a military knife, pulling it out of its sheath, and pointed it at the woman with a glare, who walked up to him and sat down next to him.
"I still don't trust you, you know." The teen coolly told the woman, as she had met him previously, numerous times, in fact, even before being held in this room for three weeks. "When will you unlock me?"
"After you've said thank you." The woman replied.
"For kidnapping me?" The teen spat.
"No, for saving your life. I'm the one who told 'em not to shoot you, if you recall." The woman reminded him of the occurrence three weeks ago.
"Still doesn't mean I should trust you." The teen argued. "Why did you even stop them in the first place?"
"We'll get to that." The woman replied before reaching for the teen's cuffed hand, making him pull it back and further point the knife at the woman. This made her show that she was just going to unlock him out of his cuff with a key.
This made him reluctantly hold out his cuffed hand to her, allowing the woman to remove the cuff off his wrist.
"So, Dylan, how you feeling?" The woman asked.
"The same as always, pissed off and annoyed." Dylan answered."Is it gonna happen?"
"No." The woman shook her head.
"Then can I go?" Dylan then asked.
"No." The woman shook her head again.
"Then fuck you!" Dylan snapped.
"Look, where are you gonna go? Back to FEDRA military school?" The woman asked, ignoring the fact that she was yelled at. "You that anxious to be a soldier?"
"I did not choose to be there." Dylan snorted in annoyance. "I was put there as a baby by them. It's a place for fucking orphans to be molded into facists."
"They didn't put you there. I did, Dylan." The woman revealed, making Dylan go wide eyed while frowning.
"Why the fuck would you, the leader of the Fireflies, and a terrorist, put me in FEDRA school, Marlene?" Dylan asked her, giving her a glare full of contempt and venom from Dylan, clearly hating her for more than just being leader of the Fireflies, also looking like he's holding himself back from stabbing her to death with his knife.
"I did that because it's where you'd be safest. And you were safe there until you decided to sneak out. And terrorist? Was Sean a terrorist?" Marlene replied
"Don't you fucking bring him up! You're to blame for what happened to him!" Dylan snapped once more, pressing the tip of his knife right at her throat, and she didn't even try to protect herself.
Dylan took deep breaths before he calmed down and removed the knife from Marlene's throat, leaning against the wall.
"Why can't you just let me go?" He then asked, barely able to keep his voice steady.
"Because you have a greater purpose than any of us could've ever imagined." Marlene replied, making Dylan raise a sceptical eyebrow. "So, we're leaving tonight. And we're taking you with us."
"Bullshit." Dylan spat just before there was knocking on the door.
The two turned and saw a woman peek her head in.
"We're ready." The woman informed Marlene.
"Give me a few minutes." She requested, making the woman close the door back up as she turned to Dylan. "What I'm about to tell you cannot be repeated to anyone. 'Cause if you do, I assure you, you will die."
Elsewhere, within the Boston quarantine zone in the afternoon, Nat gasped as she was startled awake from a bad dream and from knocking on the door to her apartment.
Realising she was just having a bad dream, the now forty eight year old Nat sat on the foot of the bed as more knocking was heard, stretching her arms out in the dim bedroom before standing up.
She walked out of her bedroom, the living area being more lit, revealing her to be a little more muscular than before, a few wrinkles and calluses on her face and hands, and now wore a dark blue button up shirt, with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, over a grey tank top.
There was more knocking, which started to annoy her.
"I'm coming!" She snapped.
Nat continued on to the door, which she opened, seeing Tess standing in the hallway. The fifty one year old Tess Servopoulos, her partner for some years, had shoulder length brown hair, a bandana wrapped around her head, and a sleeveless dark red button up shirt.
She opened the door some more and let Tess in, noticing the cut on her right cheek, and closed the door.
"How was your morning?" Tess asked Nat as she walked over to a table by the window that had a glass and a bottle of alcohol on it.
"Crap." Nat muttered as Tess poured herself a drink,
"Want one?" She asked Nat.
"No, I don't want one." Nat snapped back in a cranky tone, walking over to the sink to grab a hand towel.
"Well, I have some interesting news for you." Tess said as she leaned against the table.
"Yeah? Well, where were you?" Nat snapped back, turning to her.
"West End District." Tess replied, making Nat sigh before walking up to her. "Hey, we had a drop to make."
"Yeah, we. We had a drop to make." Nat reminded her as she handed Tess the hand towel.
"Yeah, well, you wanted to be left alone, remember?" Tess reminded Nat, who turned towards the kitchen as Tess placed the hand towel on the cut on her cheek.
"So, what? The deal went south and the client ran off with our pills?" Nat asked, turning and leaning against the counter in the kitchen, which made Tess chuckle.
"Deal went off without a hitch." She replied, pulling out a stack of ration cards. "Enough ration cards to last us a couple of months, easy."
"Would you mind explaining this?" Nat then asked, gesturing to Tess's cheek as she placed the ration cards on the table.
"I was on my way back here, and I got jumped by these two assholes, alright?" Tess explained as Nat sighed through her nose and shook her head. "And, yeah, they got a few good hits in, but…." She noticed the stern look on Nat's face. "Look, I managed."
"Gimme that." Nat said, walking up to her and took the hand towel, using it to wipe the cut on Tess's cheek. "I bet you took care of those stupid assholes."
"Naturally." Tess replied casually.
"Do you know who they were or who they worked for?" Nat then asked as she examined the rest of Tess' face, seeing she only had the cut on her right cheek.
"Yeah, look, they were a couple of nobodies, they don't matter." Tess replied, grabbing Nat's free hand and stood up properly. "What matters is that Robert fucking sent them."
"Really? Our Robert?" Nat questioned with a raised eyebrow, not really surprised to hear this.
"He knows that we're after him. He figures he's gonna get us first." Tess explained as Nat looked out the window with her arms folded.
"Well, that stupid piece of shit is dumber than I thought he was." She said, throwing the towel onto the table.
"Indeed. Especially because I know where he's hiding." Tess revealed.
"If this is a joke…." Nat warned.
"Old warehouse in Area 5, can't say for how long though." Tess further explained.
"In that case, I'm ready. Let's go talk with Robert." Nat said, not wanting to waste time in case Robert leaves.
"Oh, I can do now." Tess replied.
And so, the two walked to the door and exited the apartment, Nat closing the door behind her.
The two exited the apartment complex, entering a run down and dirty square.
"The checkpoint's still open." Tess informed Nat.
"And we only have a few hours until curfew, so let's make this quick." Nat replied as the two walked towards an alleyway, moving past a man and woman talking by a dumpster.
Tess opened a fenced door, letting the pair continue walking down the alley until they entered a street, which was part of the quarantine zone set up in Boston by FEDRA.
Nat stopped to soak in FEDRA soldiers patrolling from rooftops and on the street. A military truck soon drove past her and a line of people waiting to get some rations.
"Attention: citizens are required to carry a current ID at all times. Compliance with all city personnel is mandatory." A voice on the intercom said as Nat looked around.
"Look at that." Tess said as she leaned against some newspaper stands, looking over at the line of people. "Ration line hasn't opened yet. Must be running low again."
"Probably." Nat muttered as she joined up with Tess and they continued walking down the street, ignoring what was going on with the ration line, as a woman spoke up.
They turned the corner, seeing a section of the street being closed off with some barriers placed with some FEDRA soldiers standing guard. On the other side of the barriers were people on their hands and hands placed behind their heads, a couple more being pulled out of a building by a few more soldiers, forced onto their knees as well.
Nat and Tess continued on, knowing that they were being tested to see if they were infected with Cordyceps, the source of the infection, which used to only affect insects, like ants, before mutating to now affect humans.
"Seems like more people gettin' infected." Tess noted.
"Meanin' more people are sneakin' out." Nat concluded as they headed towards the checkpoint, where a truck was waiting to drive through.
"I got us all new papers. They shouldn't give us any static up there." Tess informed Nat as they neared the guard at the checkpoint. "Just play it cool."
"Alright, drive on through." A soldier told the truck driver, who moved the truck through the checkpoint.
"Let me see your IDs." The guard told Nat and Tess when they walked up to him, the former handing him their IDs, which he looked at. "What's your business here?"
"We have the day off, we're just visiting a friend." Nat replied.
"Alright, move on through." The guard told the pair, handing the IDs back.
But before the two could walk through the checkpoint, a few gunshots rang out and the truck that got through the checkpoint exploded.
This made Nat and Tess cover themselves as they backed away.
"Oh, shit." Tess muttered as the checkpoint got locked up.
"Get outta here! Go!" The guard told her and Nat.
"FIREFLIES!" A soldier yelled as they all started firing off somewhere that the pair couldn't see.
"Fuckin' shoot 'em!" Another soldier yelled.
"Nat, come on. Let's get outta here." Tess told Nat.
The two turned and sprinted away from the checkpoint as the intercom turned on.
"Attention: Checkpoint five is now closed until further notice. All civilians must clear the surrounding area immediately." The intercom said.
"Goddamn Fireflies." Nat spat with contempt as she continued sprinting with Tess towards a particular building on their left.
"Looks like the coast is clear. C'mon." Tess said as she ran up some steps and opened the door to the building, which Nat closed when they entered while the intercom repeated what it said moments ago.
"Fuck… so much for the easy route." Tess grumbled.
"Now what do we do?" Nat asked as they walked further into the building, entering a hallway.
"They're gonna close all the checkpoints. We're gonna have to go around the outside." Tess replied.
"You mean outside the wall?" Nat said to make sure what she was suggesting.
"Or we could just let Robert go?" Tess retorted.
"That's not what I was suggesting, smartass." Nat snapped back as a man who sat on a chair stood as they neared him.
"Hey, Tess. You see that shit?" The man asked, joining them in walking through the hallway.
"I was there." Tess replied as they turned right. "Hey, how's the east tunnel looking?"
"It's clear. I just used it, no patrols." The man replied. "Where you off to?"
"Gonna pay Robert a visit." Tess replied.
"You too?" The man questioned.
"Who else is looking for him?" Tess asked.
"Uh… Marlene. She's been asking around, trying to find him." The man revealed.
"Marlene? What do the Fireflies need with Robert?" Tess questioned, while Nat remained silent, scowling at the fact that the Fireflies are involved in some way, as she has nothing but contempt for them for a few good reasons.
"You think she'd tell me?" The man replied as they all continued down the currently straight hallway, which only had one flickering light.
"Well, what did you tell her?" Tess then asked.
"The truth. I got no idea where he's hiding." The man replied.
"Good man. Hey, you stay out of trouble, alright? Military's gonna be out in force soon." Tess explained to the man as they now neared the end of the hallway, walking past another man sitting in a chair.
"Yeah, see ya around." The man said before leaning against a wall right next to a door that was forced shut while Nat and Tess continued walking.
"Marlene looking for Robert? What do you make of that?" Tess asked Nat as they turned a left corner.
"Simple, that it's crap. So we must find Robert before she does." Nat replied.
The pair walked down the hallway some more until they entered through a door at the end on the left, entering a rather large apartment, where a man sat on the couch.
"This is us." Tess greeted the man.
"Hey, guys. How's it going?" The man greeted back.
"Shit's stirring up out there. How we lookin' over here?" Tess replied.
"It's been quiet. No sign of military or infected." The man explained.
"That's what I like to hear." Tess replied.
The man then gestured towards the TV cabinet, which Nat and Tess walked up to and pushed it aside to reveal a large hole that dropped down into a basement.
"Y'all take it easy out there." The man told them as Tess jumped down.
"We'll try." Nat replied before she jumped down as well.
Upon landing, Nat entered the near pitch black room.
"Let there be light." Tess said as he walked forward and flicked a switch that turned a light on, the power courtesy of a generator.
"Argh, God, this place reeks." She then said as she walked down a tunnel that was dug out long ago. "They need to watch what they throw away down here. Let's grab our gear."
Nat followed her and the two vaulted over a large pipe and entered a new room, walking towards some worktops where their gear was placed.
"Our backpacks are still here from last time." Tess told Nat as she gathered her stuff.
Nat walked over to her stuff, first grabbing the pistol, which she examined before pulling out the magazine, seeing she had only four out of eight bullets in it.
"Only have half a magazine." She told Tess as she put the magazine back in and cocked it.
"Well, make your shots count." Tess replied as Nat tucked the pistol into her jeans before opening her backpack, seeing she still had her tools, gas mask, water bottle, a ziplock bag full of circular metal pendants and beige jacket, which she pulled out and put on.
Then she closed the backpack up and put it on as she grabbed her flashlight and hooked it onto one of the backpack's straps. Meanwhile, Tess walked over to a wall with a ledge above.
"Alright, Tex, boost me up." Tess told Nat, who walked up to the wall.
"Come on." Nat told her, placing her hands together as she leaned forward.
Tess walked up and placed a foot on her hands, which lifted her up onto the ledge, allowing her to pull herself up. She then turned and let a hand out to Nat.
"C'mon." She said before Nat jumped up and grabbed her hand, being pulled up onto the ledge.
Nat then stepped forward and lifted up a piece of plywood that was used to cover up the hole they use to enter outside the quarantine zone.
"Go on." Nat told Tess, who climbed up out of the hole, who then held the plywood up.
"Got it." She told Nat, who then climbed out, entering an abandoned restaurant. She and Tess then placed the plywood back over the hole.
"Make sure to be careful." Nat warned Tess, who approached the restaurant door, which led outside.
"When am I not?" Tess retorted.
"Is that meant to be a trick question?" Nat retorted back as she followed her.
They exited the restaurant, finding themselves in an open space, which was overgrown and full of green, covering the buildings and even some old cars, one of which was right next to a sinkhole.
"Haven't been out here for some time." Nat recalled as she found it all to be hauntingly beautiful.
"It's like we're on a date." Tess remarked.
"Unfortunately, you're not my type." Nat replied as they walked past the sinkhole and then the other car towards a building where a hole appeared up on the upper floor.
"Where's the ladder?" Tess asked, starting to look around.
Nat looked, spotting a third car, which she peeked around, finding said ladder.
"There it is." She told Tess, walking up to it and picked it up with some ease, thanks to the muscle she gained during the past twenty years.
She walked over to the wall and placed the ladder directly under the hole.
She then climbed up, followed by Tess, entering a room that had a pool table, which had some overgrowth on it, which came from the window.
"This way." Tess said, leading Nat through the apartment, though Nat took a slight detour into a room that caught her eye.
Upon entering, she found a couple of bunk beds and a few mattresses on the floor with the wall they're pressed against having the Firefly symbol painted on it.
She turned her flashlight on, spotting a round metal pendant on the floor She picked it up, finding it to be a Firefly pendant, one that belonged to a David Michael Vigil, with the number 000102 on it.
Nat frowned at the pendant before she put it in one of her jacket pockets.
"What's the holdup?" Tess asked as Nat exited the room, turning the flashlight off.
"Just found a Firefly pendant." She told Tess before they walked down some stairs and dropped down from where they broke off, onto the ground floor.
"Another one, eh? Why collect them?" Tess questioned, as Nat started collecting Firefly pendants for a while whenever they venture out of the quarantine zone.
"Out of spite so that they don't collect them." Nat replied bitterly.
"Either way, do you think Robert still has our guns?" Tess then asked, walking through the dark ground floor, making them turn on their flashlights.
"If he doesn't, I'll break his arm, that's for sure. And he gave them to the Fireflies, he's dead." Nat snarled.
"Calm down, once we get our merchandise back, it should be easy to unload." Tess replied as they entered a small hallway, but Tess stopped with her hand out to Nat as she looked through a doorway on the left. "Hold up. Spores."
Nat walked up to her and looked down to see that there were indeed some spores ahead of them, seeping out from another door at the end of the smaller hallway.
"Crap." She muttered as they pulled out their gas masks and put them on, tightening them up and adjusting to make sure they don't breathe any spores.
After that, they continued onward, entering through into a laundry room.
"Where did these spores even come from? The place was clean last time we were through here." Nat said in confusion.
"They're coming outta somethin'. Stay alert." Tess cautioned.
They headed towards a hole that leads into a tunnel, making them crouch down, with Nat going first, where she soon spotted the source of the spores: an infected that died and clung onto the side of the small tunnel, sprouting and spewing spores.
"Well, here's the culprit." Nat told Tess, exiting the tunnel, Tess examining the body for a moment.
"Body's not that old. Better keep your eyes and ears open." Tess warned as she got out of the tunnel.
Nat then walked over to a wooden beam that held up a piece of rubble, standing between a shelf and a metal file cabinet.
"We can fit through here." She said, referring to the gap behind the beam, which she pulled away, making some rubble fall down, which made Nat step back. "Bloody hell!"
"You okay?" Tess asked concerningly.
"I'm fine. The ceiling looks like it'll fall apart, though, so be careful." Nat told her before she started squeezing through the gap, being careful to not lean on either side/
Once she made it through, some coughing to her right made her jump.
"Jesus!" She yelped, backing away from the coughing as Tess made it through, seeing a man pinned down from some rubble and a file cabinet, his gas mask broken.
"Help me…." The man begged. "My mask broke. Don't - don't leave me to turn. Please."
"What do you want to do?" Tess asked Nat, who was silent.
Being so torn up by this, she felt she had to give the guy some mercy.
So she pulled her pistol out and aimed it at the man's head.
"I'm sorry." She told him with sympathy before shooting him dead, blood pooling out, making Nat see three bullets on the ground, which she grabbed and started putting them in the magazine, now having six bullets in her pistol.
"Poor bastard." Tess said grimly.
The pair then silently entered into a small office room, crouching down and made their way through a doorway that had the top half boarded up.
But they only took a few steps forward when they heard inhuman sounds coming from nearby.
"Up ahead, you hear that?" Tess asked.
"Quiet." Nat whispered with a slight hiss.
She hid by a doorway as she turned her flashlight off, peeking out to see someone being chased down by two of the infected, the ones people have come to call Runners, before the man screamed as he was pinned down and got mauled and clawed to death.
Then she hid again when seeing a third Runner come into the room ahead of her and Tess and stop, its back facing them.
Nat placed a finger where her lips were before she silently crept up behind the runner and wrapped her arm around its neck and pulled it towards the ground, choking it with all her might until it died and was now limp, making her silently place the body on the ground.
With the Runner taken care of, she and Tess crept forward, peeking out to see the two Runners now eating the man's body, making Nat silently gag at the sight.
The two looked at each other and nodded, slowly and quietly creeping past the Runners and made their way towards some stairs, leading them upstairs, where some wooden planks were placed to make a small pathway over a gap in the floor, heading for a large hole in the wall, which they jumped down from, landing them outside into a long abandoned basketball court.
Feeling it was safe enough, they both pulled their gas masks off and put them on their hips.
They left the basketball court, walking through a large body of water that reached their ankles, walking through a bus that was in two pieces.
"Ahh, some fresh air." Tess said after a huge sigh.
Nat shook her head amusingly before grabbing a wooden pallet that covered a hole in a wall of a large building, pulling it out.
"After you." She insisted to Tess, who entered through the hole.
Nat then entered and pulled the pallet back to cover the hole back up.
The pair walked and climbed up a few ledges, reaching the highest floor they could go to in the building, looking at the large gap between them and them and the other side of the building, where they needed to go, as there was an open window they could walk through.
"Damn it. Plank fell down." Tess told Nat, who looked down to the ground below, seeing the plank Tess talked about.
"Just hold on, I'll go grab it." Nat grumbled as she walked over to a platform and jumped down from it.
She then walked over to and grabbed the plank, carrying it to the platform and placed it there, allowing Tess to grab and carry it over to the gap.
Then Nat walked over to a small hole, which she climbed through and crouched her way back to where the two entered the building and climbed back up to Tess, who had just placed the plank down, bridging the gap between them and the window.
"We're gettin' close." Tess told Nat as they walked across the plank.
They then walked through the window and made their way down a fire escape and jumped down onto the ground from it.
"Let's just make sure there aren't any soldiers around." Nat told Tess, who went ahead and approached an alleyway.
"It's clear, c'mon." She told Nat, vaulting over a concrete barrier, which Nat did a moment later.
They turned a left corner and crouched under some stairs from a fire escape and entered a small square that led into another alleyway, but they made their way to a door, which Tess opened.
"Shut it." Tess told Nat as they entered.
Nat closed the door and followed Tess, who opened another door, now entering another room, which was a small shop of some kind.
"Pick up that ammo, I'm sure you'll need it." Tess told Nat, pointing at a full magazine that can fit in Nat's pistol, which she took and put in one of her jacket pockets.
Tess walked some steps to the door into the shop, which then opened, and a boy peeked his head in.
"Hey, little man." Tess greeted him as she handed him a ration card. "Make sure the coast is clear." But she then reared the ration card away when the boy reached for it. "No soldiers. None of Robert's men. Yeah?"
The boy nodded, making Tess hand him the card. He then closed the door, leaving her and Nat to wait.
"He'll be expecting us, that's for sure." Nat told Tess, who leaned against the railing on the steps.
"Well, that'll make it more interesting." Tess said, making Nat snort.
Then they heard knocking on a window from the boy.
"Good to go." Tess told Nat. "C'mon."
She opened the door and the pair exited out into some slums.
"Hey, Tess. Hey, Tess." A man named Terrance called out as they walked past him. "Hey, pretty lady, how you doin' today? I heard you got some merchandise."
"Not right now, Terrance." Tess shrugged him off among some dogs barking nearby.
"No, no, no, it - it's good. I got the card." Terrance insisted.
"Not. Now. You hear me." Tess sternly told him off.
"Okay. I can do that." Terrance backed away as Nat and Tess continued walking.
They headed down between various stalls, Nat in front.
The owner of one of the stalls stood from their chair as Nat walked past him.
"You touch it, you buy it." He warned her, but was ignored as she kept going.
Nat walked into a parked bus, a fight occurring through the windows on the right with spectators watching.
She would've continued on and got off the bus in front, but some moron decided to get in her way, making her glare at him.
"Where do you think you're goin'?" The man sneered in her face.
She would've beat his ass if Tess hadn't approached from behind.
"Malick, sit back down." She told the man off.
"Oh, sorry, Tess. Didn't realise you two were together. Go ahead." Malick said apologetically, stepping aside and sitting back down on his chair.
Nat continued on and walked out of the bus with Tess close behind her.
"Who was that idiot?" Nat asked Tess.
"An old headache. Don't ask." Tess groaned as they walked to an open space with some more stalls.
Nat noticed a pin board, which she walked up and saw various wanted posters of various Fireflies, including Marlene, which was the one Nat glared at.
Sighing through her nose, she walked away, joining back up with Tess, who stood near a fenced door and a man who leaned against a wall next to it.
"I'm lookin' for Robert." Tess told the man, holding out some ration cards to him. "He come through here?"
"Half hour ago." The man replied. "He went back to the wharf. He's there now."
He then took the ration cards and grinned as Nat and Tess walked through the fenced door and walked down an alleyway and turned left through another fenced door into a large space with various piles of pallets and planks were placed wherever, where three men were, two of which had pistols.
"Here we go." Nat whispered to Tess as the three men noticed them and approached them, the one without a pistol ahead of the other two.
"Let us through." Tess told them.
"You two need to turn around and head back if you know what's good for you." The man warned them.
"Our beef isn't with you. We just want Robert." Tess told him. "You don't want to do this."
"Turn the fuck around and leave now." The man snarled.
"I'm not going anywhere without Robert." Tess insisted.
"Bitch, I will bash you and your girlfriend's skulls unless you turn around and get your dumb asses outta here." The man insulted.
"Like that will happen, idiot." Nat spat with a glare before pulling her pistol out and shot him right in the forehead, killing him instantly.
"Take cover!" One of the two remaining men yelled to the other, ducking behind one of the piles of wood, while Nat and Tess did the same.
"You ready?" Tess asked Nat.
"Yep." Nat nodded.
"I'm gonna fuckin' kill you!" One of the men yelled out angrily.
"I'll cover you. Get the angle on them." Tess told Nat.
Nat peeked her head out, seeing the men were still behind cover, allowing her to crouch over to another pile of wood, moving closer to them.
Then they peeked out and each fired a shot towards Tess, unaware that Nat moved.
When they ducked back behind cover, Nat moved over to another pile to their right, now much closer.
Once they popped back out and fired, Nat popped out and fired a headshot at one of them, killing them.
"You're dead, bitch!" The remaining man snarled, turning to fire at her, but Tess fired a headshot, killing him before he could fire.
"Nicely done, Tex." Tess complimented Nat as they stood and walked over to their bodies, searching them and finding two bullets each, which they put in their current magazines for their pistols.
"How did that dumbass get these idiots?" Nat asked Tess as they walked into a tunnel.
"If Robert's good at one thing, it's writing blank cheques." Tess replied as they reached a space where there was a fenced door, but it was locked and the only way forward was a ledge to reach the higher ground.
"This way." Nat told Tess, placing her hands together and leaned forward, allowing Tess to place her foot on her hands, being lifted up and climbing up onto the ledge, now leaning down with her hand out.
"Gimme your hand." Tess said.
Nat jumped up and grabbed her hand, allowing Tess to pull her up.
"There you go." Tess said once Nat fully climbed up and stood with her.
They made their way through a winding alleyway and reached a fence that surrounded a ledge that overlooked a warehouse.
They jumped down through a small open gap in the fence and hid behind some cover as a couple of men walked out of the warehouse.
"More of Robert's guys." Tess whispered.
"I see that." Nat whispered back.
"How do you know they're comin'?" One of the men asked the other.
"Two of our guys died tryin' to take Tess out?" The other replied as they turned to Nat and Tess' left. "I guarantee that she and Nat are on their way here right now to get Robert."
"Jesus." The other man muttered, their backs facing Nat and Tess. "We shouldn't have taken this job."
They then broke apart from each other while Nat and Tess crept up behind them, each coming up behind the two men.
"Not our call." The other man pointed out as Tess choked out and stabbed the man she came up behind, killing him silently. "Let's spread out and make sure no one's creeping around in here."
Nat continued creeping up behind the man until she wrapped her arm around his throat and snapped his neck within seconds and gently lay him on the ground. She then searched him and found a full magazine for her pistol, which she put in the same pocket with that other magazine she found earlier.
Nat then joined back up with Tess and crept their way into a small room, peeking through an open doorway into the main room of the warehouse, finding two more men, both talking about the military.
"You take one out, I'll take the other." Tess whispered to Nat.
Nat crept up behind the man closest to the doorway while Tess stayed back.
She grabbed the man and wrapped her arm around his neck as Tess silently charged at the other man, stabbing him, while Nat choked his man out.
As she lay him on the ground, she heard a key fall onto the ground, which she picked up.
"Found a key." She told Tess, who looked down another doorway.
"Must be for the door. C'mon." She said, leading her through the doorway into a small corridor to another door.
Nat walked up to it and used the key to unlock it, now finding themselves in another room, where she and Tess hid behind some crates as they heard some men talking outside.
Nat noticed an empty bottle on the crates, which she decided to take, putting it in her bag, so that she can use it if she ever needed a distraction.
Once the two men were done talking, one of them walked up to and stood in an open doorway in front of her and Tess, his back facing them.
Seeing that no one was looking in their direction, Nat crept him behind the man and grabbed him, placing a hand over his mouth and pulled him inside the room to choke him out without anyone seeing them.
Once done, Nat and Tess crept out of the room and towards the warehouse opposite them, hiding by the large doorway, the former peeking her head out, seeing three men from where she and Tess were, one of them being by a stack of large cans.
She crouched up behind him and pulled him behind the stack and choked him out.
"Impressive." Tess noted in a whisper as Nat joined her side again.
She turned and saw some stairs that led upstairs, which she pointed out to Tess, who nodded, knowing she was suggesting they go up.
So they silently made their way upstairs and crouched back down as they saw a man with his back facing them.
Nat crept up behind him and pulled him back and choked him out before he could yell for help.
She and Tess then crept towards a closed off section on the upper walkway and Nat found a makeshift shiv that had a sharpened metal rod for the blade, though it looked like it'll only work once or twice before breaking apart.
Seeing that the two remaining men still stood where they were, Nat grabbed the bottle she took and threw it towards where she choked the other man out, shattering upon hitting the wall.
"What was that?" One of them asked as Nat and Tess hid from view.
"I don't know. Let's check it out." The other said, both pulling out their pistols.
They slowly made their way towards where they heard the bottle shatter.
Once their backs faced Nat and Tess, they charged at the two men and stabbed them in their throats before they could react and shoot at them, choking on their blood, which came out of their throats and mouth.
The pair pulled out their shivs and let the men fall onto the ground, dying from their mortal wounds.
"That went better than expected." Tess said as they pulled out the 9mm bullets from the men's pistols, Nat putting two of them into her current magazine, now having a full one, the other two she put in the pocket with the magazines.
"At least it was just the two of us. Any more people would slow us down." Nat replied as they walked down some stairs to the ground floor.
"True." Tess shrugged.
Nat then walked up a chain that can open a garage door and pulled it to open the door, allowing Tess to walk under it.
Nat then bolted under it before it closed and they both hid behind what remained of a concrete barrier on a ledge that overlooked a wharf, where a large warehouse was situated next to piles of shipping containers.
"There's our boy." Tess whispered as she peeked up from the barrier.
Nat peeked up and saw Robert right away: The one with dark hair tied back, some facial hair, and wearing a grey hoodie with a pattern going horizontal on his sleeves and stomach.
He was talking with one of his men before he turned and walked to the warehouse.
"That cocky son of a bitch." Tess spat as she and Nat hid back behind the barrier, as some more of Robert's men walked around the area, keeping guard.
"Let's finish this up." Nat whispered before jumping over the barrier and landed on the ground below, hiding behind a pile of wooden pallets. Tess joined her side a moment later.
Nat saw another shiv on the pile of pallets, grabbing it and pocketed it for later use.
"Let's be smart about this. There's a lot of 'em." Tess warned.
"I know." Nat replied.
She remained crouched and made her way towards the shipping containers, where she found a few medpacks, making her take a moment to put them in her backpack, and continued on, walking through an open space among some of the containers, finding another shiv on top of a pair of storage trunks, before creeping her way through and around more containers, making sure to avoid being spotted, Tess following her, getting closer to the warehouse.
The pair managed to enter the warehouse, partly thanks to one of the men having their back turned to them.
Using this to their advantage, the pair crept through an open shipping container and crept up behind another man who leaned against some storage trunks, who Nat took care of, stabbing him in the throat with the shiv she used previously, which snapped apart, leaving the metal rod stuck in the man's throat as he gagged on his own blood, out of sight from all the other men.
"Nice and quiet." Tess whispered as Nat took the man's metal pipe, which she'll save for later, strapping it onto her backpack.
With all the other men now outside, the one the pair sneaked past having gone outside, they headed towards a door that led into what they knew to be an office area.
"That office. Robert must've run in there. Let's go get 'im." Tess quietly told Nat as they stood and silently walked up to the door.
They entered into what looked like a waiting area and locked the door shut, just in case.
Seeing a door to their left, Nat cautiously walked up to it and saw Robert on the other side of the office.
"Oh, shit!" Robert cursed, firing a shot with his pistol, missing Nat, who hid next to the door, Tess hiding opposite her, dodging another poor shot from Robert. "Get back! Get the fuck back!"
"We just wanna talk, Robert!" Tess called out.
"We ain't got fuckin' nothin' to talk about!" Robert snapped back.
"Put your gun down!" Tess ordered, starting to peek her head out, but pulled back when Robert fired a shot that richotted off the door frame.
The door that the pair locked started getting banged on, meaning the men heard the gunshots.
"Yeah…" Robert said, pulling the trigger, but found the pistol was out of ammo, making him throw it at the doorway. "...go fuck yourself!"
He then turned and ran.
"He's running!" Tess yelled and Nat instantly sprinted into the officer, chasing after Robert.
She ran through the door he ran through.
"ROBERT!" She yelled as Tess followed her.
"Screw you, Nat!" Robert yelled back as he slammed another door behind him, which Nat forced open and continued chasing after Robert down an alleyway before turning right and ran past a barrier as Robert vaulted through another door.
Nat turned and bolted through, following Robert's trail from plastic flaps that moved and into a room with an open window, through which she heard Robert banging against a fence in an alleyway.
She vaulted through the window, Tess following after her, the pair watching Robert trying to open a fenced door, but it was locked shut, leaving him cornered by the pair, which he accepted in defeat for a moment.
"Hello, Robert." Tess greeted him as he turned to face them, seeing some open space behind them.
"Tess. Nat." He greeted them as he walked towards them, Nat glaring at him as she folded her arms. "No hard feelings, right?"
"None at all." Tess replied as Nat then grabbed her metal pipe.
"Alright…." Robert said in response.
He then tried to make a run for it, but Nat swung her pipe at his leg so hard, his thigh bone broke, making him scream in pain as he fell onto the ground.
"Goddammit!" Robert screamed as Nat strapped the pipe back onto her backpack.
"We missed you." Tess told Robert casually, walking up to him as he held his leg.
"Look, whatever it is you heard, it ain't true, okay?" He told her. "I just want to say -"
"The guns. You wanna tell us where the guns are?" Tess cut him off, demanding answers.
"Yeah, sure, but… it's complicated, alright?" Robert replied, making Nat and Tess look at each other, getting annoyed and having a silent conversation, the result being Nat walking up to Robert's face. "Look, alright, just hear me out on this. I gotta -"
Nat kicked him right in the face, cutting his nose.
"Fuck!" Robert whimpered as Nat crouched down and grabbed his right arm, holding it out onto the ground and pulled on it to give him some more pain. "Ah, stop! Stop! Stop!"
"Quit your squirmin'." Tess sneered as she pulled out her pistol and walked up to his face, crouching down. "You were saying?"
"I sold 'em." Robert revealed, making Nat and Tess look at each other in anger at what he did.
"Excuse me?" Tess asked coolly.
"I didn't have much of a choice." Robert explained himself. "I owed someone."
"You owed us." Tess reminded him. "I'd say you bet on the wrong horse."
"I just need more time." Robert insisted. "Just gimme a week."
"You know, I might've done that if you hadn't tried to fucking kill me." Tess retorted.
"C'mon, it wasn't like -"
"Who has our guns?" Tess cut Robert off, getting straight to the point.
"I can't." Robert replied after a moment, making the pair look at each other in annoyance. "Just gimme a couple of days -"
Nat growled as she bent Robert's arm enough to break it, making him scream in agony and lay on his side.
"Fucking…." He gritted his teeth with his eyes squinted shut.
"Who has our guns?" Tess repeated her question, knowing that Robert would answer this time.
Robert took some deep breaths to deal with the pain before he answered.
"It's the Fireflies. I owed the Fireflies."
"Excuse me?" Nat snarled fumingly.
"Look, they're basically all dead." Robert argued. "We can just - Just go in there, finish 'em off. We get the guns. Whadaya say?"
Nat and Tess looked at each other, thinking of how stupid Robert was being right now, as they stood back up.
"C'mon, fuck those Fireflies. Let's go get 'em." Robert kept arguing.
"That is a stupid idea." Tess shot that idea down before firing a couple of shots at his head, killing him, his head limp on the ground as blood started pooling out.
"Now what do we do?" Nat asked, shaking her head.
"We go get our merchandise back." Tess replied.
"And how are we supposed to do that?" Nat questioned in disbelief.
"I don't know. We explain it to them." Tess replied, turning to her. "Look, let's go find a Firefly."
"You won't have to look very far." A woman's voice replied.
The two turned and saw Marlene, of all people, appear from a corner, a hand on her side, pressed against a gunshot wound.
"Well, there's queen Firefly." Nat spat, turning away from Marlene.
"Why are you here?" Marlene asked the pair in confusion.
"Business." Tess replied, noticing her gunshot wound. "You aren't looking so hot."
This made Marlene look down at her wound, blood surrounding it and staining her clothes.
"Where's Robert?" She then asked, making Tess step aside to reveal Robert's dead body behind her, which made Marlene shake her head and chuckle humorlessly. "I needed him alive."
"The guns he gave you. They weren't his to sell. I want them back." Tess told her, shaking her head.
"Doesn't work like that, Tess." Marlene replied.
"Yes, it fucking does. They're not yours, so give them back to us, or I'll just shoot you in the fucking face." Nat snarled angrily.
"No, Nat, I paid for those guns. And killing me will make every Firefly come and shoot you dead." Marlene coolly explained, taking a few steps forward. "You want 'em back? You're gonna have to earn 'em."
"This is bullshit." Nat spat, turning so that her back faced Marlene.
"How many cards are we talking about?" Tess asked Marlene.
"I don't give a damn about ration cards." Marlene snorted. "I need something smuggled out of the city. You do that, I'll give you your guns back and then some."
"How do we even know you still have 'em? Considering the military is wiping you guys out so much, you're on the verge of extinction." Nat sneered, turning to Marlene.
"You're right about that." Marlene couldn't help but agree with her. "I'll show you the weapons."
"Search the area." A man's voice on a radio said nearby, drawing the three women's attention.
"Yes, sir." A soldier replied.
"I gotta move. What's it gonna be?" Marlene told Nat and Tess, starting to leave.
"I wanna see those guns." Tess replied.
"Follow me." Marlene told her and Nat, following her lead.
As you can see, Nat, as well as Dylan, who replaces Ellie, both hate the Fireflies, both for their own reasons, of course.
I would've published this sooner, but I decided I'll take my time writing this story.