The Ashlanders - Chapter 6: The Blind Man's Last Gambit (Closed, Started)

[The Funslinger]

After her frankly unnerving display, Amy went down like a brick. Ruffles swore, and moved over to her, holstering his gun. Pulling one of her arms over his shoulder, he pulled her to her feet. "Lying down on the job, huh?" he asked, forcing a smile.

"Alright," said Whiskey, slinging her shotgun into her grip. "Time to get back to the crawlers and start evacuating. Amy, you oughtta go on the first batch out. If you can't walk, you can't fight. Your Captain'd fucking kill me if anything else happened to you."

The streets were deserted, for the most part. But here or there, they found piles of bodies. Children, mostly. They were riddled with bullets. Whiskey thought grimly that the Wilkes-Vines forces had kept their word.

What 'children' they did encounter were mercifully older, and they quickly fell to blasts of Whiskey's shotgun, or from the ragtag gunfire of the survivors they were evacuating.

"Alright," said Ruffles eventually. "Those two crawlers we cleared out should be just around this corner. And the one we came here in is just a way up from that, so..."

His voice died in his throat. As they came around the corner, he saw just beyond the crawlers was a smoking crater. Sticking out of it was a very familiar dull grey pod. He could hear someone inside, banging on the inner wall. Letting Amy go, he crossed to it, and banged on the side. The noise from inside stopped.

"I don't know who's in there, but there's an emergency release. You should see four buttons on in a square on the inside of the door... what's now the ceiling. Push all of 'em, and it'll trigger the emergency charge and blow the hatch off."

 

[Fappy]

The sounds of gunfire seemed to have died down for the most part. Still, Millie cowered, curled up on the cramped floor of whatever dark place they'd stuffed her. She was hungry and thirsty and scared. But most of all, she was lonely. She couldn't remember a time when she had so badly wanted to talk to someone. Anyone. Even these strange people who had captured her and insisted she was their sister.

Bennie had covered nearly the entirety of the lower deck by the time the gunshots faded above him. How many dead had they left in their wake? Would they even be able to make this place their home again once it was all over?

It's more like a fuckin' graveyard now...

He'd managed to liberate another small group of teenagers after parting ways with Alex and was just now approaching the final bend. Coming around the corner, his shotgun levelled, he nearly pulled the trigger when he saw two teenage girls cowering at the end of the hall. They were both weeping and covered in the blood as one hid her face behind the other's back as part of a tight embrace. The other girl was holding out a revolver in both hands, pointing it directly at Bennie from across the hall. She was trembling. She was terrified.

They were both terrified.

Bennie furrowed his brow as his finger twitched on the trigger. Glancing to the left, he spotted the corpse of a Wilkes-Vines enforcer. The girl with the gun yelped, pulling Bennie's eyes back onto her, "It's okay." He spoke softly. "I am not one of them. Just put the gun down and---"

"No!" The girl screamed. "No! F-f-father said it was a sin to listen to pretenders! I-I-I can't put the gun down, I-I-I... You'll kill us!" She was frantic.

"No one is going to kill you," Bennie assured her in a firm tone. "Again: put the gun down."

Millie looked up when she heard the sound of voices from somewhere outside of where she was. Pulling herself to her feet, she tried to call out, but her throat was too dry to shout. Instead, she screwed up her hands into fists and started hammering on the door as hard as she could.

She wouldn't stop until they were so sick of the noise they had to let her out! She would...

Millie felt a wave of faintness come over her and fell backwards, landing on her ass, her head swimming.

The girl with the gun was about to shout once more when the banging suddenly started. She stared at the locker nearby, her whole body quivering. The girl behind her stole a peek as well.

Motioning towards the locker with his weapon, Bennie frowned, "Is someone trapped in there."

The girl with the gun nodded, "Sh-she is one of Father's ch-chosen, but she's still got some of the pretender poison in her. H-he locked her away f-for her own good."

Bennie sighed, "She doesn't sound like she's doing too well to me."

"It's the poison!" The girl spat.

"Yeah," Bennie muttered before he lowered his weapon and started for the locker, ignoring the deranged teen. "I'm letting her out."

"N-no! Stop it! Stay away from there!" The girl panicked.

"You going to shoot me?" Bennie asked with a condescending chuckle as he turned his back to the girls and worked the lock open. It wasn't even padlocked like Alex's boy. It was a simple iron bar slipped through the locking mechanism.

"STOP!" The girl repeated.

Ignoring her, Bennie let his shotgun hang from the strap and opened the locker. Inside he found a small girl. She was dazed from the looks of it. He stuck his head inside, "Hey, I'm Bennie. Are you okay, little lady?"

Millie squinted at the flood of light. Her eyes were used to the darkness of the locker.

"Can... can I have some water?" she mumbled. "I'll let the scary man pretend to be my daddy if I gotta. I just want water..."

Bennie laughed, "Yeah, yeah, I'm sure we can find you some water. The scary man can't hurt you anymore, don't worry." As he assured her, he reached inside and scooped her up in his arms.

"Wh-what are you doing!? P-p-p-put her back!" The girl pleaded.

Bennie turned around to reveal the wary, malnourished child in his arms, "Look at her." The two teenagers were silent. Bennie smirked. "The girl needs water."

The teen with the gun furrowed her brow, "Why are you doing this? I don't---"

"Because it's the right thing to do," He snapped. "Look at this girl! Look outside a fuckin' window! See for yourself what 'good' your 'Father' has brought to the world!"

"B-b-b-b-blasphemy!" The girl squealed.

Bennie snickered, "If my God pulled this kind of shit I'd stick my boot up his ass too, you know. Now quit dicking around, this girl needs some water. Now."

The two teens exchanged looks for a brief moment before the more cowardly girl placed her hand on the revolver and forced her 'sister' to lower her weapon. After a moment of silence, the girl spoke, "Okay."

Millie tensed as Bennie picked her up. Every time someone had done that in recent memory, her situation had only gotten worse.

After a moment though, nothing bad seemed to be happening, and there was even talk of water. She breathed a sigh of relief. Then another question occurred to her, that made the water seem stupid by comparison.

"Mister Bennie, have you seen my mommy?"

Bennie kept a brave smile as the two girls got up and moved into the next room to retrieve some water. When Bennie looked down at the child in his arms, he couldn't help but frown. Her mother was mostly likely dead, "And who would that be, little lady?"

Millie didn't miss the look in Bennie's eye that came before the question. She wilted a little in his arms. "I don't think it matters anymore..." of course her mother wouldn't be here. This man wouldn't even know who she was.

"Hey," Bennie rocked her. "Don't be like that. Have some hope. Kid's are supposed to have a lot of that, you know?"

"Guess so," said Millie, trying to fit her arms around Bennie's neck. "What's gonna happen now?"

The two girls reappeared. The girl who had been threatening Bennie earlier held her gun at her side, her head was hung low. She looked confused. Ashamed, even. The other handed Bennie the water, "I don't know, sweetheart." He handed her the bottle of water. "We'll have a lot of cleaning up to do, I reckon. Don't worry though, you don't need to do anything. You've paid your due."

Millie chugged the water feverishly. She ended up swallowing too much and coughing hard. When that had passed, she carried on drinking more cautiously.

"Do I get to go home?" she asked.

Bennie nodded, "Yeah, that's the idea." He looked to the two teenagers who were standing awkwardly by his side, but spoke in Millie's ear. "What's home to you?"

"Feroxi," Millie said. "With grandma and mommy."

He looked back to Millie, "Well, I am sure they're just fine then, sweetie."

"What... what should we do now?" The more timid girl asked.

The teen with the gun scowled, "Don't listen to the pretender! He---"

"You should come with me," Bennie interrupted. "We'll meet up with my buddy Brock and the rest of the prisoners before heading up to the bridge. The fighting should be over by now. Austin should be dead."

Both girls looked utterly stunned.

Millie blinked. "The bad man's dead?"

Bennie shrugged, "Let's just say the bad man's likely had a run-in with a very angry lady."

"The Pixie..." The girl with the gun muttered.

"That's the one. Your leader killed a lot of her friends."

The two girls fell silent and looked down the hall, in the direction of the other holding cells. Bennie shifted Millie into one arm and unholstered his revolver, just in case, "Let's get a move on."

You did some good today, Bennie. Remember that.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

"M'alright, really." Amy grunted through the pain as Ruffles helped her to her feet. She was grateful, but as soon as she felt able she shrugged away from his arm, supporting herself instead along the wall, hobbling along.

"Amy, you oughtta go on the first batch out. If you can't walk, you can't fight. Your Captain'd fucking kill me if anything else happened to you."

"No!" Amy half-gasped, half shouted, the pain exacerbating her frustration. Let Pixie be mad. She'd taken Aesop with her because of his personal stake in all of this, and Amy was no different. She wasn't leaving until the job was done.

"I won't take point any more," she said "but I can still shoot straight. Besides, you need me to find your way around in this place. I'm not going anywhere."

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Sandra had been banging on the hatch, screaming after Georgia all the way down, and thus had taken no notice of her descent or concerned herself with strapping in. When the pod had impacted with the streets of Yuteni, her body had been launched, weightless for a moment, into the air, before coming down hard to make her world turn black. Now, she had awoken in a very different place. If Yuteni had been a battlefield before, things had escalated rapidly. Even with her vision blurred and her ears ringing, Sandra saw the faint glow of fires muddying the edges of the view out of the window port, and heard the crackling of gunfire in the distance. Gingerly, she started getting to her feet, to discover that her left arm now hung like lead at her side, dislocated, and one side of her face was sticky with her blood. Still, she gritted her teeth and crawled her way up once more to the hatch, and started banging on it again with her good arm, weaker than before. She cried once more, whether for Georgia, Amy, or simply anyone who could take her away from here, she no longer knew.

Time had little meaning in this cell, so Sandra could tell how long she had been beating on the metal before her calls were answered, other than that her good arm was now sore, and her voice was hoarse. When she heard a bang on the side of the pod, Sandra fell silent, afraid she had just made a fatal error, and that enemies were about to blow her and the pod to pieces. A moment later, however, a voice spoke to her, a voice that she found herself trusting even though she didn't recognise its owner (perhaps she was just that desperate).

"...there's an emergency release. You should see four buttons on in a square on the inside of the door... what's now the ceiling. Push all of 'em, and it'll trigger the emergency charge and blow the hatch off."

"O-okay." Sandra relied, hoping the voice could hear her on the other side. Her hand fumbled around the rim of the hatch, finding each button in turn and pushing them. When she got the last one, there was a high-pitched beeping, before a loud crack, which launched the metal hatch into the air, to come to rest several feet away. Sandra tried to climb out, but found she didn't have the strength and purchase on her own, until someone grabbed her and pulled her free. Looking around blearily, Sandra saw Amy. Even soaked in filth as she was currently, she was unmistakeable. Her exhausted mind did not question it. It was over, she was safe now.

=========================================================================================================================

Sandra didn't need to say anything. The look in the girls eyes when they had fixed on Amy's told her everything she needed to know.

'No... no, no, no, no, no.'

Limping towards her, dazed, Amy took Sandra in her arms without a word, and held her there. Sandra broke down then, bawling her eyes out against Amy's sodden shoulder. Amy herself was silent, though it felt like her guts had been opened and spilled out onto the street before her waking eyes. She couldn't cry, not now. She'd made both of these girls a promise. Not that no-one would ever hurt them, Amy did not promise things she couldn't deliver, but that those who would, would be held up as an example in no uncertain terms for the next person who might try. Georgia's death would be answered with retribution before the day was over. Somebody would die at her hands tonight, slowly, screaming in agony, with everyone watching, to learn what became of people who hurt her sisters. Her heart was in the cold grip again, and it was more poisonous and necrotic than ever before.

"What are you all just standing around for?" she croaked above Sandra's wails of grief. "My sister need medical attention, and I need to go to the Maiden. The first person who tries to stop me gets a bullet in the gut. The second gets a bullet in the head."

 

[The Funslinger]

"My sister need medical attention, and I need to go to the Maiden.

"Sure thing," said Whiskey. "I got this."

"The first person who tries to stop me gets a bullet in the gut. The second gets a bullet in the head."

"Alright, Amy, alright," she replied as she crossed over to the two women. "You can come, just stay at the back, as a rearguard. And I get this is heated, but don't go slinging threats ya can't take back." To Sandra, she said gently, "alright, I want you to just come over to this crawler with me. You need somewhere to sit for this."

When Sandra was sat sidesaddle in the crawler's passenger seat, Whiskey stood next to her and began probing her shoulder, gently. "Seems like a fairly clean dislocation," she said. "Seen it before." Reaching into a pocket, she pulled out a spare clip and popped the topmost bullet into her hand. "Okay," she said. "I want ya to put this between your teeth. There's just gonna be one moment of pain and you'll wanna bite down."

Placing both hands at different places of the girl's arm, Whiskey said, "On the count of three." She paused. "One." Then suddenly pushed, throwing the countdown to the winds. There was a suctioning pop as Sandra's shoulder was pushed back into its socket in one clean motion.

 

[ProtoChimp]

Heath peppered The Pixie's position with a heavy assault rifle he had taken from the corpse of a sister, yelling for father to run to safety. Austin crawled on his hands and knees away from her, the pain in his ankle and face absolutely killing him, Heath could finish this devil, he was a good boy.
=====================================================
Alex had deceived her way past as many children as she could before killing them, some she needed to kill outright. She was tired from her unrest the past few days, but at least her ex had kept her well fed, along with her son. She held him close to her as she murdered her way through the ship, desperately trying to get to the escape pods, but she had one last obstacle standing in her way. Peter's attack dog was saving him, and she couldn't let him carry on the slaughter. Alex broke her way into a nearby locker.

"Mom wh-" Her son couldn't get a word in.

"Okay baby, listen to me. I'm gonna come back for you but I need to clear the way again. Its safe in here, stay inside and mommy will be back, I promise." She spoke quickly and concisely, yet the boy still shivered, but he nodded in compliance as he pulled the door closed to hide himself. Alex knew it was a bad idea to leave him there, but she had to cut her way through Heath if she wanted to get out.

The boy was advancing on Pixie's position with bullets ripping through her cover. "RED DEVIL!" He screamed as he got closer and closer to her. He was far too close to comfort when he suddenly felt the harsh impact of bullets against his kevlar. He turned to see his very own mother emptying a clip into him. He was about to shoot her when he hesitated, he couldn't kill his own mother. That was Alex's moment to strike. She threw the gun at him before pulling out a blade she had taken from a dead body and lunged at Heath's face. He let the gun hang from the strap over his chest as he grabbed her arms. He was heavily fatigued from his battle with Warren, while she was exhausted from her imprisonment, but they both had enough in them to fight.

Alex kicked him repeatedly in the hip as she battled for supremacy with the knife while he braced for her attacks. He wasn't as delusional as the other children, he knew she'd need to learn. Still grabbing her arm with the knife, he let go of her other, quickly hooking his arm under hers and judo flipping her to the ground. Before he could continue his attack she booted him in the face from the ground and desperately jabbed the knife into his toes. Heath screamed out in terrible pain and booted her in the face with his now bleeding foot, realising just how stupid that was as now the pain was even worse than before. Alex took her chance and jumped up, raising a knee into his chin and an elbow on the top of his head, bringing him to his knees.. He was still in a lot of pain from Warren and she was just making it worse. Why was she hurting him like this! How could she not understand!

In his desperation he lifted his gun, still hanging around his neck and aimed up at her. She quickly knocked the gun at an angle, grabbing a tuft of his hair and delivering knee after knee after knee into his face. His eye was swelling over so badly he couldn't see out of it, his gun shooting wildly at the walls. He tried to wrestle the gun in a position to shoot her, but she wasn't giving him room to breathe. He had to fight dirty and hurt her if he wanted to live. Using all his strength, he grabbed her by the waist and lifted her off the ground, even on his bad foot, jumping up and slamming her back down. He scrambled away from her to shoot her as she lay on the ground, but she put her hands up in surrender.

"Son! Please wait!"

"NO! You're trying to trick me mother! You want me dead!" He spat.

"So you'll kill me instead! What would your father say?!" She mock pleaded.

"He! He he he would..." He lowered his gun as he wondered what the hell to do, his foot gushing blood as it took all his strength to not fall back down.

Alex slowly stood back up and approached Heath. "I know its scary son, but some things, we just-" She interrupted herself and stomped on his foot. He howled in pain and she grabbed the gun, drop kicking his chest and pulling it away from him, snapping the strap. Heath fell back and looked to his mother, the last sight he ever saw, as she tore him apart with the assault rifle. She stood over his body and utterly destroyed his face with the weapon until all she was hearing was a dull click click click. She searched his remains for ammo, finding a few magazines and... a sword?

She left the sword behind and ran off to find Peter. She had come this far, why the hell not finish the job! Her son was safe for now, and the ship was damn near empty. She could get him, she could save her son and kill his birth dad, he was no father, no real father. She would put an end to all of this insanity once and for all!
=======================================
Austin hobbled along pathetically, grasping the walls for something to pull him up with. He found a railing and managed to stand on one leg, the pain utterly unbearable. He had shown tears in the face of an enemy. FEAR in the face of an enemy. She couldn't live to tell anyone, to spread lies. His control would be weakened, children would lose faith! He couldn't allow that he just couldn't, Heath would take care of it. He was such a good boy, so much better than that disappointment Oliver. A girl bats her eyelashes and he falls for her? Pathetic! Heath killed on the spot, he did his job, such a good boy, and one day, Troy and Austin junior would do the same.

Austin looked up as he heard footsteps approaching. He panted and tried to find a quick escape, before freezing up upon seeing her face, he then relaxed, she was upset obviously, but she could help him, save him! She just needed to learn, to be taught once more the value of family. "Listen, we're all in danger. We need to get the ship and fly as high into the air as we can, we're losing this fight we can't lose ourselves too. It can't end here, for the sake of our family-"

Spoiler: Been waiting a while for this

Austin recoiled and fell to his knees, his blood pouring out like a water balloon from his gut. He looked up and reached his hand out, only for to to be blown away by a shotgun blast. He screamed out in shock, his useless hand trying to touch the stub left of his other arm. His hands were destroyed, both of them, and she made sure to take the other one as well before kicking him in the face with all her might.

"Where is my son!" She yelled.

He growled and boomed up to her. "HE'S NOT YOUR-" his voice was cut off as she kicked him in the throat and let loose another shotgun blast into his stomach. He was bleeding out fast and every inch, every millimetre of his body burned in agony.

"JUST TELL ME WHERE! I'll make this as hard as I need to."

"Heath wil-"

She reloaded and blew his knees away. "You won't say anything will you."

"My girl... my-my girl... how... how..." he squealed and cried in pain.

"I'll find him myself." She spoke coldly before blasting him once more in the chest and destroying his face.
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Alex ran around the corner just in time to see the final blast. A Hispanic woman was standing over her ex, his entire body a bloody, gory mess. Her gun hung low as she looked at his worthless corpse. Isabel shot her head up to see Alex. Both women stared at each other for a good while before either of them spoke up.

"I have a son on board." Isabel said, raspy.

"Me too." Alex answered, unsure what to make of the sight before her.

"I know. His name's Austin, like him." Isabel replied.

Alex snarled as she stared at her ex boyfriend's torn up body. "His name, was Peter... and he doesn't matter anymore." Alex let the gun hang at her side. "Your son matters. My son matters. We're getting them and getting the hell out of here."

Isabel sighed relieved and stepped away from the bloody meat she had made of Austin's body. "There's some escape pods we can use to bail."

"Good. Good." Alex said, having to look away from Peter's body, she had seen horribly desecrated corpses from serial killers and such in the past, but for some reason she felt the urge to look away. "What do I... What do I call you?"

"Isabel," she answered, "Isabel Del Olmo."

"I thought he didn't let you have last names?"

"He didn't."

 

[Fappy]

Pixie held her only remaining weapon, her bowie knife, close to her chest as she shrunk more and more behind the rapidly deteriorating cover. After all the fighting she'd done today... after all the injuries she'd sustained and the lives she'd taken... she was on her last leg. Not just physically. She was drained. Mentally and emotionally exhausted. She could do this one last thing though, couldn't she? Couldn't she summon her remaining strength to overcome this last obstacle.

She could feel death breathing down her neck as Heath got closer. She closed her eye and grit her teeth. It was now or never. Just when she was about to get up she heard a second set of gunshots.

"Mom wh-"

Someone else had joined the fray. Probably one of Austin's prisoners or a defector. He called her "mother". Pixie wasn't even going to bother wondering what that was about. While he was distracted, Pixie dragged herself out of her cover and collected her rifle and her pistol from off the floor. By the time she'd managed to do that and approach the hall, the victor had already been determined. The woman left Heath's corpse behind and pursued Austin down the hall.

Pixie limped into the hallway and caught a glimpse of Alex as she rounded the corner at the end of the hall. Seconds later, she heard a few loud shotgun blasts and a woman shouting.

Warren...

Pixie ignored it. With his injuries, anyone after Austin was sure to finish the job she started. No, she had more pressing matters to tend to. After sheathing her blade and holstering her pistol, she held her arm out to support herself against the wall and slowly made her way back towards the mess hall. A chill ran down her spine when she reached the end of the hall and took in the scene before her.

Spoiler: Pixie is sadmode

It had been a massacre.

This place used to offer an outlet for the Maidens to unwind and relax. It used to be a pleasant, familial place. As much a home to the Maidens as the ship itself. Now... now it was just a mass-grave. Countless corpses, many of them children, littered the floor. Blood, ash and bullet casings filled the spaces between each motionless body. And then she saw him.

No... nononononono!

Pixie stumbled forward, nearly tripping on the body of a six-year-old as she threw herself at Warren's remains. He'd been decapitated. That monster had removed his head, "Oh God..." Pixie muttered, her lower lip trembling as she dropped down to her knees in utter defeat. "No... no, please God..." Bending over, she picked up Warren's head. Her remaining fortitude allowed her to steal but one quick glance at his mangled face before she couldn't look at him anymore. "Warren..." Wrapping her arms around his head, she embraced it tightly against her chest and began sobbing into his bloody, matted dreads.

It wasn't fair, "I-I-I'm so sorry..." She muttered between sobs. Warren had been a child soldier too. This whole thing with Austin... with his 'children'. It must have hit close to home. It must have upset him. "Wh-why didn' I see...?!" She should have talked to him about it. She should have heard him out. Instead, she was too caught up in her own bullshit. She'd ignored him. Forgotten about him.

Since this all started, she'd only thought of him as another gun.

I'm so sorry...

He'd died for her. Not just because he loved her, but because she'd ordered him to. In a way, that's what had happened to all of the Maidens. She earned their trust... their loyalty.

And then they paid the ultimate price for that loyalty. All of them did.

She hadn't realized it until now. She'd ignored it. Kept it in the back of her mind. But now... it was impossible to divert her gaze. She had to face reality.

Most of her Maidens were dead.

Pixie's tears mixed with blood as they rolled down her cheeks. She felt like she was going to vomit. All she could do was sit their, helplessly, and cry into the remains of a friend who shouldn't have died.

She'd killed them all. Every single one. What was left of the Maidens now were the lucky ones. And yet, perhaps if they continued to follow her they too would end up in the ground. Was Pixie so poisonous? Was she truly so hopeless?

And like that, Pixie came to a sudden realization: she couldn't be their captain anymore. The days of the "Pirate Queen" would come to an end. They had to.

She couldn't be responsible for anymore of her loved ones dying.

After awhile longer Pixie got to her feet and continued to hold Warren's severed head close to her chest. Starting back down the hall, she made her way towards the bridge. She had one final job to do. By the time she'd found Austin's corpse the other women had already left. Pixie hadn't even noticed it until she stepped in the remains of his face and nearly slipped onto her ass. She managed to conjure up enough malice to spit on his remains before continuing onward.

The bridge had been abandoned save for one young man who was cowering under one of the control panels near the captain's chair. He shuttered when he spotted Pixie and pissed his pants when he realized she was holding someone's head. Pixie ignored him. Leaning over the control panel, she grabbed the mic for the ship's PA system. After clearing her throat, she spoke. Her voice trembled, "Th-this is Pixie Monroe speakin'... Austin's dead. It's over. If you attempt ta' keep fightin', no matter who you ar', we'll put y'all down. Surrender or die, simple as that."

After dropping the mic carelessly, she slumped down into the captain's chair and continued to cradle Warren's head. It was truly, finally over.

But at what cost?

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Several hours had past and the remaining cultists aboard the ship had either surrendered or died by the hands of Bennie, Brock and Bradly. The ground team had secured a landing zone for the ship to touch down and the Wilkes-Vines men went to work cleaning up the ship and the surrounding area. Thankfully, none of the Maidens on the ground team had been killed, but there were several injuries. Most of the wounded had been taken to makeshift triage centers set up in environment tents around the ship. Pixie herself as well as Aesop were being treated on the Maiden's medical bay, which sustained minimal damage.

After ensuring Pixie was at least physically stable, Bennie made his way outside with the girl in his arms. He was followed by Brock and a large gathering of freed prisoners and ex-cultists. Millie had been made to wear a rather over-sized breathing mask that happened to be the smallest Bennie could find for her.

Though there was still a lot of work to do, many were taking the few short hours after the battle to rest and reunite with their comrades and loved ones. Unfortunately, just about everyone lost someone. Bennie doubted this city would ever recover.

"Alright," Bennie barked, "Those of you who surrendered, follow Bradly. He'll take you to where you will be held with the rest of the prisoners. As promised, you won't be hurt if you cooperate, but we will only allow your release if we don't think you'll be a potential risk. Got that?!" The response from the weary crowd was muted at best. "Alright. Bradly, your up." The man nodded and herded Austin's chosen away from the ship.

Once the POWs were taken care of, Bennie went looking for the other Maidens who had been fighting in the city. Though he wanted to talk to Millie and tell her that everything was okay now, he couldn't get his mind off Pixie. That look in her eye when he left her in the med-bay. She looked... dead.

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Though she should have been asleep, Pixie refused to let herself doze off. No, she had to make sure Aesop was okay first. He had been so badly beaten that he hadn't stirred at all since his fight with Austin. The Wilkes-Vines doctors had moved on to the triage outside the ship and it was now just Pixie and Aesop alone in the room; their beds side-by-side. She laid on her back, ignoring the pulsing soreness throughout her body, and simply stared at him with her one good eye.

I'm sorry...

 

[Evrant-Knight]

Pain. That's all she could feel at first as her eyes began to open, and the world was slowly coming into focus once more; she found herself looking up directly at the ceiling, the light that was there now hanging by a incredibly thin looking wire, looking like it could snap and fall on top of her at any minute. Slowly but surely, Viola managed to summon the strength to first sit herself up, then slowly stand up, clutching at her side in pain before taking a few tentative steps towards the bed, making sure not to slip on the blood or bodies of those that were around her.

It was when she sat down on the bed, that the light gave way and came crashing down onto the ground, landing roughly where her chest would have been. Viola took the time to unholster her guns, placing them on the blood stained pillow. She could feel the pain across her body, from the blow to the back of her head, to the multiple punches to her chest. In short, this had been the most painful beating she'd taken in a long while; and Viola could tell it was going to get a lot worse before it got better.

A knock at the door soon came, Viola looked up and saw that it was the manager, looking scared at the scene in front of him.

"Are... are you okay Miss Greaves? When I saw the leader of those bandits leave the building, thought I'd check to see who it was they were after. You look as though you took one hell of a beating though? You want me to call a doctor?"

"That... that would be helpful. Could you also get me a bag of ice please. Got this awful headache, and I'm no doubt going to be receiving some bruises soon."

"Of course, r-rright away." The manager turned to leave.

"One more thing. How long have I been out exactly?"

"I reckon at least half an hour to three-quarters."

"Fucking hell... Thanks for that. I best move these bodies out the way, wouldn't want to scare the doc."

"I think that can wait till your a bit more ready and able Miss Greaves. Right now, I reckon you ought to get some rest. I'll have the doctor set up downstairs, and I'll come up when he's here."

"Fair enough. Think you're right, a proper rest instead of laying face first on the floor does sound good."

"I'll get on it right now. You take it easy now." And with that, the manager left, leaving Viola alone in the room as she lay her head against the wall.

 

[ProtoChimp]

Austin hadn't said a word since Alex had escaped with him. At least during the escape he spoke, now he was just frozen. Shock? Fear? She didn't know but she could guess. Somehow, her house had remained somewhat intact. She thanked God she had paid the fortune it took to environmentally seal the house after a scare about a dome breach a few years back. She could sit in the house without a breathing mask. She sat on her sofa, Austin sitting next to her, Isabel and her baby opposite her. Austin wasn't the only one who was silent. They all had been for hours now, until the baby stirred.

They didn't know if his crying lightened the mood or made it even more depressing. Isabel slowly rocked him in her arms, her face unchanging, not even saying any reassurances to the newborn. They didn't have any food for him, they had left the maiden in such a hurry.

"He needs food." Isabel said out loud. She didn't want to leave his side to go out and search, and Alex didn't want to leave Austin, but they didn't want to take their children out of the house. The understanding was clear and words were not necessary. Isabel could leave her with Alex, but even now, knowing Alex's intentions, Isabel would rather claw someone's eyes out than leave Troy ever again.

'Troy. That's not your damn name.'

"I know." Alex finally answered. They remained quiet once again for a while. "What's his name?" she asked after a few minutes.

"He... he called him 'Troy'." She spoke the name with disgust. "Stupid name, one of the girls who tried to help us before the maidens showed up said something about, Troy maybe meaning attacking from within or something. I don't rememeber but me and Franklin thought it was funny, ironic."

"Franklin?" Alex regretted right after asking, of course she knew who she meant, and of course that person was dead.

"This little ones father. Austin... well you can guess." She spoke flatly. "Franklin..." a sad smile curled on her lips. "His name is Franklin."

 

[Dogmatic99]

'Well you could have come out of that worse... I guess. You could have not come out at all.'

Though anyone who got a good look at him might argue that he hadn't. It had been a while since Florian had actually checked himself out in the mirror and in retrospect this wasn't the best time to start. Granted he didn't look like death spat up on the carpet but he wasn't far off. A tapestry of bright red scar tissue laced his torso, arms and parts of his neck and legs. They stood out morbidly against Florian's still pale skin and fought for pride of place among the older, more storied, scars.

They'd even notched his ear like he was a damn alley cat. The doctor had done a good job on most of it at least, the stitches would hold. There was too much of his ear gone to seal up the missing part though. 'Always nice to have a big reminder to top off the little ones.' Florian sighed, uncomfortably shouldering on a button up shirt as he tried not to move his shoulders too much. If God had any kindness left then Florian wouldn't bleed over the floor again for at least a week.

Though knowing his luck these days he'd last five hours.

"I still don't think you should be going out in your condition." Patrick said.

Spoiler: A brief aside.

Patrick is the name of the priest who has been letting Florian stay in his rooms. As stated before the two had met before a handful of times but had yet to exchange names properly. Half way into his first day staying there Florian bit the awkward bullet and asked him. The conversation went like this:

"So I never actually asked you your name..."

"Oh, so you didn't. It's Patrick. Patrick Jameson, pleasure to meet you."

"Uh, thank you. My name's-"

"I know who you are Florian."

"Of course you do..."

"I can't stay in here forever." And he was as healed as he was going to be for now at least. "Besides it's about time I pull my weight and make a supply run. Can't have you doing it for two like this." Florian halfheartedly mumbled out. It was stupid reasoning but Patrick would only fight harder in that overly polite way he did and guilt Florian into staying hidden longer.

Cabin fever was setting in and he had to see what the hell was going on out there. Patrick offered up no complaint when Florian helped himself to the priest's heavy black long coat that all priests of a certain age seemed to own.

Florian stepped out into the constant winter and pulled up the hood of the tattered hoody they'd fished out of the charity bin. He didn't know what he was looking for, just that he needed to see Frostfall as she was. The old dome had fallen so far from grace. Granted the old ***** was never that pretty to be around to begin with but she had a certain charm about her. And there were calm and warm patches to her, pieces of beauty among all the rough. Florian had never seen them himself but people seemed certain that they were there.

Everything was fairly non-eventful until Florian found his way downtown. Animals wandered about the streets, people carried on looking downtrodden and some of the homeless folks seemed even more on edge than you'd expect. All in all it seemed like just a neighborhood in a dome that was down on its luck. But downtown was a whole other issue.

The whole place looked like it'd been ravaged by a crawler stampede. Basic attempts had been made to cover up or mend some of the more glaring damage but it was a poor show all the same. Tattered red banners flowed forlornly in the breeze from some of the upper windows. The streets were largely deserted at this time of day. The only place that seemed to have some life about it was a bar further down the street. The doors thrown open and music was blaring out into the open air.

There was a trio of unkempt looking men wearing red scarves out side the front door, one of them was busy throwing up in the gutter. They screamed bandit from a mile off. It wasn't until one of them locked eyes with him and started angrily alerting his only sober friend to Florian's presence that the lonely maiden realised he'd been committing the cardinal sin of street level thugs. Prolonged eye contact. ["Oh no."] He muttered to himself as they advanced on him, picking up their pace and shouting a variety of poorly formed threats. ["Oh no."] and they were on him.
================================================================================================
"Good lord!" Patrick yelped as Florian limped into the tiny living room, a bag of shopping slung under his arm. "What happened to you?"

"You should see the other guys." Florian laughed painfully through the swelling in his cheek and the burning in his side. He may have opened some stitches.
================================================================================================
"Well it was a good haul at least, thank you, but I thought you didn't drink?"

"You do. Call it a present to say thank you for being a host."

The shopping had all been packed away and Florian was sat spreadeagled on Patrick's modest couch. A low priced bottle of vodka stood on the table in front of him.

"I told you it was a bad idea going out so soon." Patrick chided him.

"Yes, you did."

["The fuck are you looking at? What, you saying something about me? Think your better than us?"] Quiet apologies, promises to be moving on. Tries to leave, they follow. ["Where you going. We're not gunna hurt ya'. What, you think we're gunna hurt you?"] Quickens pace, keeps head down. Tries not to draw attention. They follow.

"Seems like it's getting worse every day. Not in a loud way, no I'd say the loudest part's over. You should have seen it, Florian, when the spire lit up like that I thought my heart was like to stop there and then."

"It was a tough battle?"

Keeps apologising, makes self seem small, weak, not worth the time. They follow. They crowd, push, tempt. ["The fuck you think you are? Why don't you just stop? We just wanna talk, don't we."] Their minds set. No turning back.

"I imagine so, I didn't see it up close but it sounded like a war. I'm told that riots broke out all over the dome as it happened. Everyone seemed to lose their minds all at the same time."

"Not everyone. Some would have started the madness, keep the reinforcements busy while the real people do the work. Rioters were just signing up to be fodder."

First punch is thrown. No words said. Pain and force and stumbling, mustn't fall. They taunt and jeer. Second one hits out, can't see him right and he connects easy. Lights and pain. Like the riots, like the room. They laugh... just like them. Need to run. Mustn't run in, need to run away. They chase.

"You don't believe that?"

"It's not what I believe. It's how they think, what they planned. They stir things up and make promises they never need to keep. It's the way of most leaders."

"It's a damn disgrace. That people can treat each other so poorly, and that it could come so easily to them!"

Keep running, can't be like the room again, never again. Twist, turn, dodge. Alley! Turn the corner, turn to them. They're lost but just a little. It's enough. Not looking, hit low.

"It's always easier that way. Men are animals deep down, some just need to be chained tighter than others."

"That's a very bleak way of looking at things."

"World's pretty damn bleak sometimes. Just look outside."

"No, I refuse to look that way. I Believe there's something stronger than the base things that can drive us. A higher desire."

One stumbles. They're surprised. You have the ground. But they attack, two of them, fast, not letting up. Sloppy but little time to do anything. Losing space, losing options. What to do? What to do?

"Well it doesn't seem to be a very powerful desire."

"It tempted you away from this place once. Kept you happy for four whole years."

"And I shut the world out."

Find yourself in the place of ash and know you're already dead.

"I don't have that luxury anymore. Never did really." Florian looked downcast, the room felt a lot smaller all of a sudden. "This is my fault. Maybe all of it, maybe just some but I own these days. I can't run and hide anymore."

"I know it can be hard to walk the path of a servant but-"

"How many people have died because I Was a coward?!" Florian burst out. "How many more hurt because I refused to act? Because I wanted peace in the face of violence! I was supposed to serve man and God and I've failed on both counts. Some servant I turned out to be!"

They're on the ground. Lip is bleeding but heart is steady. One is against the wall, not dead but in a bad way. Can't get up for a while, wont be a problem. Other is on front. Place knee on back and apply weight, take arm and twist round for ease of grip. Keep firm hold while taking fingers. ["Whose crew are you with?!] Keep eye out for interference. He screams insults. Twist fingers, ask again, repeat. ["What are your orders?!"] More yelling, more repeating, answers start to come. Three fingers broken so far.

The little room was quiet for a moment; until Patrick broke it. "It's common for the young to have a crisis of faith. You did somewhat rush into the role."

"My faith has never been more sure. My purpose was what was lost. I denied who I was and was weaker for it." Florian looked up from his reddened hands and back towards his brother of the cloth. "You can't drown the past. But you can use it."

["No one's heard from Vasa in days! Everybody says he's gone crazy or dead! Fuck, I don't know! I don't know shit just let me go letmego!"] All that's needed from this one. Wrench the arm, apply hold. They sleep.

"What are you saying?" Asked Patrick, knowing full well what Florain meant.

"I'm saying..." Started Florian, reaching up to the white collar around his neck and pulling it loose, his hands staining its pure white with faint blotches of red. "That this deserves someone with a stronger will than mine." He held it out for what felt like an eternity until Patrick meekly took it from him, the very picture of sadness. He'd lost so much of his flesh over the past few days, he shouldn't have been feeling the loss of a piece of card so much.

Did they get a good look? Can't risk it, no witnesses. Break their necks, good and quick. NO! Can't risk it, needs to be done. NO! Need to stay hidden, need to choose terms of contact. No need to kill, they wont admit to getting beat by a priest. Too risky, what if they know, what if they tell? No one would believe! Let them spread bad word if they do! Wont work, can't do things this way anymore. Can't go back to old way either! Need to find new way! This could work, use it right. New way.

"Is there anything special we need to do now?" Patrick finally asked.

Florian could only laugh to himself. It all seemed so ridiculous. How did someone go about being unborn again? "If there are any fancy words to say no one told me about them." It seemed a shame though. For two years the life of peace had treated him well and for the other two it had lead him on adventures he'd never have guessed. May as well give the priest a send off.

"Born once in water!" Florian half cheered, unscrewing the bottle top and taking a swig of crystal clear vodka. "And twice in blood. To lessons well learned. To a life half lived. To paths not walked." Florian took one more swig before wiping his mouth with a ragged sleeve and rising to his feet. "Here I stand, and old and a new man all together again." T

The priest looked at him with an eyebrow raised.

"Not such a bad send of, eh, Pat?"

"That's Father Jameson to you, Mr frshly born-un-born again man."

Florian let out a hear laugh at that one. "A pleasure to meet you, Father Jameson!" He clasped the priest's hand in a rowdy handshake like a true son of Frostfall. The shook hands and were comfortably quiet. Of all the ways Florian thought his time in the cloth might end it wasn't this way. He thought it would be loud and full of fire. This... was peaceful, warm. Almost right.

"My name is Florian Bejic." It felt good to say those words again.

 

[The Funslinger]

Having donated their crawler, along with the two they had found to the survivors so they could get somewhere safe, it was a long walk back to the Maiden. Eventually, however, they got there. Whiskey's reservations about bringing Amy along were put to rest when it became apparent that the fighting was long over. Wilkes-Vines soldiers were still leaving the area. Some were shepherding what were no doubt the remains of Austin's cavalcade. Others were carrying body bags of various sizes. Whiskey eventually found a tall, broad shouldered man with an eye patch. Bradley himself.

"Hey Bradley, long time, no see." Despite the friendly words, her tone was coldly neutral.

The man looked around. "Ah, miss Fifer," he replied. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Yeah, I was wondering where the others were. Pixie and all that," she replied.

Bradley thought for a moment. "Pixie and one or two others are in the ship's med bay," he replied. "Last I saw Carmine, he was standing around looking after a child that he'd recovered during the mission. I believe they headed inside just a moment ago."

"Alright," Whiskey replied. "Thanks, Bradley."

With that, Whiskey and Ruffles headed through the airlock. Ruffles was being oddly quiet.

"You alright, Jake?" Whiskey asked.

"Oh, uh... yeah, I just... those were a lot of bodies being carried away."

"Yeah, I know," she replied. "It's five kinds of fucked up."

"And it's not just that," replied Ruffles as they waited for the air to filter before the door would open into the ship. "You saw how fucked up Yuteni was. Like it's been wiped off the map. And it was my ship that did it, Whiskey. My fucking ship."

"Yeah," Whiskey agreed. "But the point is it's yours again, Jake. So this never has to happen again."

The door opened, and they set about pulling off their masks before setting off down the hallway. "Hey Bennie!" Whiskey called out. "You around here?"

 

[Evrant-Knight]

An hour had passed when the doctor finally arrived, apparently an incident over by one of Feroxi's entrances meant his services were in dire need. In that time, Viola had gone through the pockets of the Bandits, scavenging anything useful from their corpses. She figured that the spare ammunition they had, along with the guns they carried could be sold for a decent amount of pocket change. If there were any clues hiding amongst them that lead to wherever these guys were based, no doubt they were beyond use now.

"Now then Miss Greaves, from what I can tell, nothing is broken, at best it'll just be painful for a few days, so I'd recommend at least a good eight or so hours bed rest, and to try not do anything strenuous for at least the next two to three days; so none of your usual work if possible." Said the doctor in a snarky manner as he put away his things. They'd set up in a corner of the dining area.

"Given how sore I'm feeling at the moment Doc, I wasn't going to get up to any of my usual antics, besides, got my important things to do, namely waiting for a friend to come back from a personal errand of his. And here, I think this should cover the call out charges." Viola took out a small handful of carbon that a pouch inside her coat and placed it in the doctor's hand.

"That should just about cover any expenses. Unless there is something else, I believe I shall be leaving now." A nod of the head from Viola saying no was her response. And with that, the doctor left. A couple minutes later, Viola stood up from the chair she'd been sitting in.

"Well, I best do what the doctor's ordered me to. Think I'll go get some sleep now. Uhh... taking a beating really takes it out of you." She said in a somewhat groggy state with a small yawn at the end.

"Very well then Miss Greaves. Good night." Said the manager as the bounty hunter left. When Viola got to her room, she found that the bodies had been cleared, and the items she had scavenged were on the dressing table in a neat little pile, and the windows were open, probably to air the stench of blood out. As she collapsed onto the bed, her eyes slowly closing. Her last words till slumber took hold were.

Where are you... Hannibal?

 

[Daystar Clarion]

As the crawler transitioned from the rougher dust road to the tarmac leading up to Yuteni, Lilith cracked open an eye as the vehicle began its approach.

Shifting her arm, she looked up at the sky, the top of Yuteni dome caught the corner of her eye.

How long had she been out? Groaning as she sat up, she rubbed the back of her neck. "Jesus, this place is wrecked." She mumbled.

"Welcome back," Sprout chuckled. "I already radio'd ahead. They say most of the fightin's over." He turned his head and grinned at Lilith. "We won. Ma' got that mother fucker."

Smiling sleepily, Lilith placed her on hand on the boy's shoulder. "Of course she did."

"Did you guys bomb it or something?" Maria muttered. Manzana was just a few scattered pieces buried in the sand now but Yuteni managed to look worse than that place did on that day. The doctor then stretched, "I see my work is cut out for me."

"No doubt," Sprout muttered, his brief joy all but gone. "They say Ma's pretty beat up." He gripped the wheel tighter.

"Pixie is always beat up." Lilith shrugged as she sat back in her seat. Crossing an leg over her knee, she spread her arms out over the back of her seat. "Home, James."

A short time later and they'd managed to make it into what remained of Yuteni. Several bandit sentries spotted them as they beelined for the Iron Maiden, but let them through without any trouble. They had been expected, after all.

"God damn," Sprout muttered as the Iron Maiden came into view. It was surrounded by environmental tents and there were people scurrying about everywhere. "The fuck happened here?"

"A war?" Maria guessed. And to think that would've been a joke in other situations..."I dunno..."

Lilith trailed off as she looked up at the Maiden. "But sure is good to see the old ***** again."

Sprout chuckled, "Fuck yeah it is. Looks like that piece of shit roughed her up a bit, but I'm sure Ruffles'll fix 'er up goods as new."

Maria wiped her forehead, there was a lot ahead of her and after a long drive too. 'No rest for the wicked.' She smirked.

"Honestly, I think he'd love the excuse to give her a makeover." Lilith placed her hands behind her head. Tapping the back of Maria's seat, Lilith chuckled. "Welcome to your new home."

"Oh right." She replied, snapping out of thought. With a fold of her arms, she remarked, "Please tell me the toilets are decent."

Lilith shrugged her shoulders. "I have my own bathroom, peasant."

Sprout shrugged, "An' who knows what the fuck those crazies did to it while you've been gone?"

"Is that no? Great." Maria mock-pouted.

"Nooooo." Lilith moaned. "I love my bathroom!" She put her head in her hands.

A short time later and their crawler was stopped by a pair of Wilkes-Vines soldiers, "Are you the Captain's kid?"

"Sprout, yeah. You gonna let us through?"

One of the men nodded, "Sure, but you'll have to go on foot from here. No crawlers are allowed in the parameter during triage."

Sprout looked to the two women and shrugged, "You won' get any arguments from me." With that, Sprout hopped out of the drivers seat and stretched his back. He was tired of driving anyway.

Maria got out and addressed the man, "Triage, huh. You guys need any help with that?"

The two men exchanged looks, "That's one way of putting it. Are you a doctor?"

"You're damn right she is." Lilith scoffed as she patted the woman on the back.

"Great, if you would follow us." He asked as he and the other man started towards the collection of tents nearby.

"Sure." She said as she began to follow them. Then suddenly, Maria quickly turned her head towards the two Maidens behind her, "Sorry, but work is work."

Waving her hand dismissively, Lilith hopped out of the crawler. "Have fun."

"Later, Maria!" Sprout cooed as she disappeared into a nearby tent. Looking to Lilith, he sighed. "You ready ta' see what that bastard did to ar' fatass baby?"

Lilith groaned. "My records are gonna be gone aren't they." Lilith sniffed. "Wankers."

"We can always jus' rip off another museum, right?" Sprout laughed as the two headed towards the Maiden. Once they'd arrived at the boarding ramp leading into the hangar, Sprout hesitated to continue on. "Think they, uh... cleaned up most'a the kids by now?"

The woman's face hardened. "The bodies probably." She wrapped her arm around the boy's shoulder. "Try not think about it."

 

[The Funslinger]

"Hey Bennie! You around here?"

A nearby Wilkes-Vines mercenary was busy mopping up blood in the hallway when Whiskey turned the corner, "You looking for Bennie?" He pointed his thumb in the direction she had been heading in. "He took that little girl to the Captain's quarters. He, uh... wanted to keep away from all of, well, this." He motioned towards the pool of blood.

"Okay, thanks," said Whiskey. "Hey Ruffles, you coming?"

"Nah," Ruffles replied. "I'll catch up with him later." He tapped the wall. "I don't like that sound."

"Just sounds like regular engine noise to me," replied Whiskey. Ruffles just tapped the side of his nose cryptically and headed off in the direction of the engine room.

Shrugging, Whiskey moved past the Wilkes-Vines grunt and headed down the hall, to the most likely door. When she thought she'd found the right one, she pushed through. "Hey Bennie, you in here?"

Spoiler: Mewzick

Bennie had been busy fixing up Pixie's room as best as he could. Austin had certainly made himself at home. From the looks of it, he'd either used or destroyed anything resembling vice and her file cabinets were a disaster. Then again, that could very well have been Pixie's doing. Millie was sitting on the bed looking through a stack of polaroids: photos of the maidens in their early days. Most of the pictures depicted Pixie, Bennie, Sprout and Lilith doing, well, family things.

They were happy memories.

Pixie had always kept them hidden in a loose plate under her bed. Thankfully Austin never found them. As Bennie moved across the room to steal a peek at the photo she was looking at, he heard someone at the door. It was Whiskey, "It's open."

Opening the door, Whiskey started to speak. "Bennie! How'd your end of the mission--" her voice tailed off as she took in the sight of Millie sat on the bed. She was speechless.

Millie, however, had no such problem. "Mommy!" she cried out, jumping off the bed and sprinting across the room into her mother's arms. Whiskey fell to her knees to embrace her daughter, distantly aware of the prickling of tears in her eyes.

"Oh my god, Millie... what... what are you doing here?"

"Ummm," Millie replied, her voice muffled with her head buried in her mother's chest. "Well the men in suits came and took me away from grandma and brought me here. Then the scary people came and..." her voice broke off now, devolving into sobs. "Mommy, they killed them... they took me away... THEY P-PUT ME IN THE DARK PLACE AND I WAS SCARED, MOMMY!"

"Shhhh, shhhhh, it's okay baby," Whiskey whispered, wiping her daughter's eyes and then her own. "You're safe now. I'm not gonna let anything like this happen again."

Bennie stood silently and scratched the top of his bald head.

The fuck are those odds?

"Jeez," Bennie chuckled. "Had I known you were her mom I'd have gotten in touch sooner."

"Bennie, I... this is..." Whiskey started before buring her face in Millie's hair, laughing softly. "I don't even know."

Getting to her feet and carried Millie back over to the bed, sitting down on it and letting her daughter put her head in her lap. For a while, they merely waited in silence. Eventually, Millie dozed off in her mother's arms.

"Payton had her moved to some 'safehouse' to guarantee my 'good behaviour'," she said. "Who'd have thought it was Yuteni?" She shuddered. "Oh god, and to think she's been with that... that psychotic bastard for days! That's worse than Payton's mooks!"

Bennie furrowed his brow, "I can't say I envy the girl," Plopping down on the bed next to Whiskey, he forced a grin. "But she's a tough one. I'm sure she'll be okay. Ever since we got food and water in her she's been right as rain."

Whiskey laughed again. "Yeah, she's pretty fucking awesome. I swear to god I wasn't half that smart when I was her age." She looked up at Bennie now. "Thanks for looking after her. I mean I know you didn't know... but still."

"Hey, no problem. I, uh," He broke eye contact and sighed. "I reckon I had to do something halfway decent today." He was silent for a short time before looking to her once more. "How'd things fair for you guys?"

"Not bad, I guess," said Whiskey. "We didn't bump into too many really young ones. Guess most of 'em were on the ship. Amy got kinda intense near the end. Threatened to start shooting if we tried to stop her from coming here. Before we knew it was all over, I mean."

Bennie shook his head, "She's a fuckin' nutcase." He could have elaborated, but Bennie was never a fan of gossip. Shifting uncomfortably, he attempted to change the subject. "So, what's next for you two? I don't imagine you've had much time to think about it." He laughed.

"I'm not sure," Whiskey replied. "I mean, I'm just glad none of the WV guys seem to have recognized her. I'd like to keep it that way until they've safely fucked off over the hill. After that, I guess I just wanna keep her away from him." She gave Bennie an intense look. "You don't know what I had to do to protect her. I'm not letting that all be moot."

"Where would you go?" Bennie frowned. "Payton's reach is long."

"I don't know," she replied, running a hand down her face. "I don't fucking know..."

Now was one of the many times she missed Eddie. This time, however, it wasn't his face she missed, or the sound of his voice. It was because he would have known what to do. Eddie had proven himself quite adept at evading Payton Wilkes-Vines. But she had burned that bridge when she'd sold him out, hadn't she?

"Well," Bennie sighed. "I can't speak for the Captain, but you've more than proven yourself in my eyes. I could speak to her for you if your interested in joining up." He grinned. "Running with the Iron Maiden's about as free as someone can be out here."

"You're serious?" she asked. "You'd seriously be okay with a little baby kid running around here?" Then she grinned and added, "and Millie too."

"Sprout was apart of the founding crew, you know," Bennie chuckled. "The kid was like five-years-old back then!"

"Fair point," she said. "If you think Pixie'd go for it, then it means a lot." Careful not to disturb Millie, she put an arm around Bennie's waist and leaned on his shoulder in a half hug. "Thanks, Bennie."

Bringing his arm around her back, he returned the hug, "No problem. There's enough misery out there as it is. Might as well do good to the few decent people left, you know?"

After a few seconds, she straightened up. "Mind if I lay low here with her until the suits leave?"

Bennie smirked, "Yeah, no problem." He eye-balled the photos on the bed nearby for a moment and then got to his feet. "I was just about done cleaning up this joint, anyway. Tell you what, lock the door when I leave. That should keep Payton's dogs out of your hair. I'm going to head down to the medbay."

"Shit yeah, Bradley said Pixie was in there," said Whiskey. "She okay? What about the others?"

Bennie stopped in the doorway, "She's, uh.... no permanent damage. She'll be okay." He lied. "Aesop's in rougher shape, but the doctors said he'd make a full recovery. Anyway, get some rest, okay?"

"Sure thing, boss," she replied, tapping her fingers to her temple in a mock salute. "So, when do you think she's gonna tell Ruffles that Payton's got a business boner for him?"

"He already knows. I'm sure they'll talk it over once she's gotten some rest. If I know Wilkes-Vines, they'll be talking payment as soon as the dust settles."

Whiskey shuddered. "Best of luck to him. Working with that snake's pretty lucrative, and I'd probably have died a ratty little street urchin without him. But..." she gestured at Millie wordlessly. It explained everything.

"Yeah," Bennie nodded. "You don't need to convince me." There was a subtle, sad look in his eyes as he stared off at nothing in particular. "Omerta." He whispered before meeting Whiskey's stare once more. "Take it easy, Whiskey. I'll bring some food by in a few hours." That said, Bennie walked out into the hall and closed the door behind him.

 

[The Funslinger]

"The mission was more or less a complete success," said Bradley. "Minimum casualties on our end. Austin's dead. We have what's left of his family under lock and key until you decide what you wanna do with them."

"Very good," replied Payton into the handset of the long range radio. "Anything else to report?"

"I suppose so," came the answer. "Carmine rescued a number of children that Austin had imprisoned for brainwashing purposes. Fifer's girl was among the number."

Payton nodded to himself. "Yes, I suspected as much."

"Do you want us to take possession of her?"

Payton chuckled. "That wouldn't go down well. We'd be looking at another bloodbath. No, Miss Fifer is unimportant in the grand scheme of things. Let it go."

"Yes, sir. Will that be all?"

"Yes. I'll let you get back to your duties."

There was a click as the other man hung up. Payton did the same and sat back in his office chair. Yes, everything had gone more or less as he'd expected. Now, he had other duties to attend to. He got up and headed to the cells.

Opening the door, he looked in at Eddie, who was sprawled on the floor in a semi conscious heap. At the sound of the door, his eyes opened. There was still strength there, fueled by hate. Payton smiled. "Mister Canton, how've you been?"

"Not bad. Thinking about ripping your balls off is a pretty good way to pass the time."

"I suppose it is," replied Payton. Bending down, he retrieved the bottle of water and rolled it within Eddie's reach. After a brief moment of consideration, Eddie took it and started drinking, although his eyes never left Payton. He'd known Eddie would take the bottle. It was simple, really, when you knew someone. Eddie intended to resist and maintain what strength he could under the deluded fantasy of fighting back. He was strong willed enough to keep such delusions right up until the moment his mind broke.

"I thought I'd let you know, Edward, I'm giving you a couple of days to recuperate before I continue exacting punishment for your betrayal."

Eddie didn't reply.

"And besides, I suppose you'll want some time to yourself. To grieve, you understand."

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Well, I believe you'll recall our previous conversation, regarding young Amelia's captivity under Father Austin."

Eddie's jaw tensed. He said nothing.

"In any case, the Iron Maidens spearheaded an assault to retake their ship, as you must have suspected they might. I even loaned them some of my men to bolster their ranks. It was, quite simply, a slaughter."

"Get... get to the god damn point."

"You see, Edward... I'm afraid that young Amelia was caught in the crossfire."

"No..."

"Gunned down."

"FUCK YOU, YOU'RE LYING!"

"You have my deepest commiserations," Payton said. With that, he turned on his heel and left, closing the door and leaving Eddie in darkness. For a long while, Eddie was silent. Then he screamed. It was an animal sound of pure internal agony. Lashing out, he punched the concrete floor repeatedly, his metal backed left hand kicking up sparks. He yelled himself horse before doubling over, tears streaming as sobs wracked his body.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Spoiler: Initiate feels

Sprout did his best to keep his eyes ahead as he and Lilith moved through the ship. Suffice it to say, not all of the corpses had been cleared out of the halls yet. He'd stolen a few glances here and there against his better judgement.

Sprout had never actually seen a dead child before.

After a short walk they had arrived. Standing in front of the closed door of the medbay, Sprout looked to Lilith, "You go in first."

Lilith clenched her jaw as her eyes fell on a few of the dead children. She forced herself to look at them, she needed to look at them, to know what had to be done to reclaim their home. Lilith might not have been there for the battle, but she'd make sure she was there for the aftermath.

As Sprout beckoned her to go ahead of him, she let a sad smile curl her lips.

'Of course he's still thinking about that.'

Nodding gently, she patted Sprout on the shoulder before stepping through the door and into the medbay.

Pixie had nearly fallen asleep staring at Aesop's unconscious form when the door of the medbay suddenly opened. A moment ago she had been wearing a strained, glum expression, but the moment she set her eye on Lilith her grief was all but gone. The hard lines in her face softened, as did her brow. Her one good eye, as bruised as it had been, quivered as a smile stretched across her lips, "L-L-Lily.... Oh my God..." She muttered. She was utterly stunned. Frozen in place.

Lilith's eyes lit up as they met Meredith's. Her heart skipping a beat as she took in the woman's battered condition. A huge smile crossed her face before she quickly regained her composure. Coughing slightly, she took on a casual posture as she feigned aloofness. "S'up." She nodded at Pixie.

"A-a-an' S-sprout?" She stuttered. A knot was growing in her throat.

Sprout peeked his head out from behind Lilith, "Ma'..." He muttered as he took in her condition. "MA'!" He shouted as he pushed past Lilith and embraced his mother. "M-m-m-ah----"

Pixie shushed him as she cradled the back of his head and patted his back with the other hand, "It's okay, baby. I'm okay. Everythin's okay now." Tears were rolling down her cheeks already. As much as his embrace hurt, the warmth he offered was well worth the pain. She finally had her son back. And her daughter.

"M-m-ma', I-I---" He cried into her shoulder.

Looking to Lilith, Pixie beckoned her over.

And there it was. It didn't matter how angry the boy thought he'd be, he was back with his mother, any issues could wait, at least for the moment.

Looking a little shy, Lilith lowered her head slightly as she shuffled over to the Sprout and Pixie, keeping her arms by her side as she rested her forehead on Meredith's shoulder. "Hi." She muttered.

Pain wracked Pixie's ribs as she chuckled, "What the fuck's this about, girl?! Give me a goddamn hug!" She uncharacteristically squeaked as she wrapped an arm around the back of Lilith's neck and pulled her in closer, burying the girl's face in her chest.

Lilith laughed happily as she wrapped her arms around the woman's waist. "We missed you." She muttered, glancing up at Meredith.

"Every single day," Pixie's voice wavered. "I never stopped missin' you two. I-I-I don' even know why I sent you away. I was so, so fuckin' blind! I-I-I-I'm sorry! I'm so fuckin' sorry!" She was full-on sobbing now. "I should'a been there fer you...."

Sprout looked up at his mother, "It's okay, Ma', yer here now. You don' need ta' apologize." He sniffled.

"Damn straight." Lilith chuckled softly as she agreed with Sprout. "Look on the bright side, at least we know how useless we are now, instead of everyone just guessing."

"No," Pixie shook her head. "Don' say that! You had the whole city after you! Y'all proved yerselves!"

Sprout and Lilith exchanged a look.

Lilith's eyes softened sadly as she pushed herself away fro Pixie. "Yeah, er, about that..." He bit her bottom lip nervously as she gathered herself. "Cranston and Elizabeth didn't get out, we had to leave them behind."

"Wha..." Pixie blinked stupidly as she and Lilith stared at one another. She was speechless. Cranston... but how?

Just then, another entered the room, "Hey." Bennie said simply. He was a bit nervious.

He hadn't seen these kids in years.

Sprout perked up and looked over his shoulder at the newcomer, "BENNIE!" He chirped, snot and tears flying off his face as he dashed towards his surrogate father.

"Whoa, there!" Bennie stepped back as Sprout suddenly embraced him. He hugged the kid in return and laughed, "It's been awhile, Sprout." Looking at Lilith, he grinned. "Lily."

Pixie hadn't registered Bennie's entrance. Or if she had, she didn't acknowledge it.

Cranston...

She continued to stare at Lilith in silence.

"Bennie!" Lilith cried, the words partially dying in her throat as she looked back at Pixie. The woman had a thousand mile stare. "I'm sorry." Lilith croaked as she turned and headed towards the two guys. Forcing a smile to her lips, Lilith crossed her arms over he chest as she stood behind Axel. "Long time no see, big guy."

"Sure has..." Bennie noticed it right away. There was something wrong, "Is this a bad time, or....?"

Her gaze downcast, Pixie was completely still as she spoke, "Can Lil an' I 'ave a moment." She didn't look at Bennie. "Sorry."

Sprout glanced back at his mother with a look of concern, "Sure, thing. We'll be right outside. Come on Sprout." Bennie forced a smile. Sprout nodded and followed behind Bennie, giving Pixie and Lilith one last look before stepping into the hall and closing the door.

Lilith's smile faded as the Sprout and Bennie left the room, her eyes shifting downwards as the door closed.

'Shit.'

What would she do? Pixie was gonna be mad, of course she was mad! She had every right to be mad!

Taking a breath as she turned, Lilith couldn't stand the silence, breaking it as her explanation began tumbling from her mouth. "It's my fault, it's all my fault, we were in a crawler, I was driving, but the guard was chasing us, and I had to swerve to avoid their shots, but they managed to hit one of the wheels, and I couldn't keep the crawler steady, so we hit the tunnel wall, and Liz fell out, we tried to stop but Cranston told us to keep driving, and he jumped out and started to drag Liz away, but there were too many guards, and more were coming and, and... " Lilith breathed heavily as she tried to keep it together, her gaze shifting to anything that wasn't Pixie.

"We left them behind." The girl whispered as her voice cracked.

Pixie bowed her head low, the fringe of her hair concealing her eyes. She sat there, perfectly still for a long while. And then, all of a sudden, she began sobbing. Instead crying into her palms or a pillow, she simply sat up with her arms to her sides and let the tears flow freely. She fought so hard to keep them in, but she hadn't the strength. Not anymore. Not after everything that had happened.

She didn't speak a single word to Lilith.

She just cried.

Lilith didn't know what to say, rubbing her upper arms nervously, she lowered her head as she stared at the ground. "I don't..." She struggled to form the words with her mouth as the upset began clawing at her throat and face.

Looking up at Pixie, her eyes still dry, she looked like she about to say something, but she lowered her head as she thought better of it. This was too much, glancing around the room, her heart almost stopped as he eyes fell on Aesop. Why hadn't she noticed him earlier?

'Good job Lil, you're just the best friend ever.'


Silently moving across the room, past the sobbing Pixie, Lilith looked down at the battered Aesop. Everyone had to fight today, everyone but her and Sprout. How many of her friends had died today? How many of their friends had died today?

Refusing to look at the woman, Lilith rested her hands on Aesop's. At least she knew one of them was okay.

Pixie continued to sob uncontrollably as Lilith moved into her blindspot to watch over Aesop. Eventually, she summoned enough courage to speak. It was tough to fight back the tears, but she had to. She couldn't be so selfish. Not now, "L-Lilith," She croaked. "Lilith, come here. Look at me."

Clenching her jaw, Lilith remained still for a few moments before patting Aesop's hand. Turning , Lilith readied herself, tears, screams... fists. She'd withstand them all if it meant she could get out of that room quicker.

Standing in front of Pixie, she couldn't meet her gaze.

Pixie finally raised her head. Her features were unusually soft. Even her skin seemed smoother.

Perhaps it was the dried tears that caked her face.

Reaching out to Lilith, she placed a hand gently upon her cheek, "Please, Lilith... look at me." Her voice was weak.

Anyone else, and she would have been okay, anyone else and she would have had no problems keeping back the tears. As something caught in her throat, a small sob escaped Lilith's lips as tears quickly welled in her eyes.

Finally managing to meet the woman's eye, Lilith whimpered as she restrained herself. "I'm sorry, Merry." She whispered, her arms hug rigidly by her sides, her hands balled into fists.

'Damn it, stop crying!'

"No," Pixie whispered softly. She wiped away a rogue tear from Lilith's cheek with her thumb. "It's not yer fault, sweetheart."

"It is!" The girl squeaked as her attempts at keeping her emotions in check began to wane. "I should have gone back, I should have tried." She felt stabbing pain in her palm as blood began to seep through the bandage on her hand.

"You did everythin' you could, Lily," She reached her hand further as she spoke and caressed the new scar on her cheek. "You an' Sprout suffered so much. You were scared an' alone. Bein' hunted. It's a miracle both of you returned ta' me alive." Though her voice had been weak, it was clear to Lilith that Pixie had gotten her emotions under control. "If anyone's ta' blame fer what happened it's me."

Lilith shook her head, forcing her eyes closed. "We stopped, we watched them, I wanted to help them, but I..." She looked down at the ground. "We would have just gotten ourselves killed." Useless, even after all this time, useless.

Pixie continued to hold her face in her hand as she searched the girl's downcast eyes, "Lily," She whispered. "You can' save them all. I-If what you say is true, Cranston sacrificed himself to save you." She frowned as she tried to force Lilith's eyes back on her. "You can' save someone when they're already savin' you."

"I know, it's just..." Lilith furrowed her brow as she looked up at Meredith. "It was our turn to save him, and we didn't."

"Come here." Pixie commanded with a soft voice. She removed her hand from Lilith's face and held her arms out for an embrace.

Sniffling, Lilith took a step forward, her arms by her side as she rested her head on Meredith's shoulder. "I'm sorry." She whispered, sobbing slightly. "I'm so sorry."

Pixie hushed her, "Listen to me, Lilith," She whispered as she began rubbing the back of the girl's neck with the tips of her fingers. "I reckon it'd be better if it did, but the world don' work that way. Life ain't that simple, baby." Pixie nuzzled the back of Lilith's head. "I owe Cranston everythin' and he'd say the same thin' 'bout me. Justice... true justice... it's a fairy tale. The best we can do is minimize ar' losses an' take what we can get. Cranston understood that an' I reckon Sprout understood that, otherwise neither'a y'all would 'ave returned to me. You did the right thin', Lilith. Better two of you survive than none of you."

She knew Pixie was right, knew Sprout was right when they were back in the tunnel. So why was every fiber of her being screaming at her, telling her that she betrayed them, that throwing away her life to help them was preferable to... this?

"It's not fair." Lilith closed her eyes, her hands balled into fists. "We were doing so well, we were right there Merry, right there, two minutes from getting away from that city."

"I know how you feel," Pixie croaked as guilt suddenly gripped her heart. "Yer not alone, baby." She buried her face in the side of Lilith's neck. "There was someone else... I lost someone else today."

Lilith remained silent. She knew they had lost people, a fight that huge? It was inevitable, she just didn't have the stomach to think too much about it.

"Who did we lose?" She whispered, her voice barely audible as she readied herself for the news.

"Warren," Pixie whispered. Despite her hopes, admitting he was dead didn't make her feel better in the least. "I had 'im watch my back when I chased down Austin. He was dead when I got back. They... they took off 'is head." Pixie bit down on her bottom lip in an attempt to prevent more tears. "I'm sorry, Liliy."

"Warren." Lilith muttered the words, her eyes wide as they failed to sink in. She needed to know now, get it out of the way now. "Who else?"

This wasn't turning out to be the happy return home she had hoped.

Pixie took a moment to collect herself before she answered her, "No one else from our assault force, miraculously. Though," She sighed. "As you can imagine everyone who was on the ship when Austin attacked it are either dead or missin'... except Florian, of course. They were loyal... all of them... until the very end." She clutched Lilith's arm, squeezing tightly as she tried to keep her emotions from besting her again. "You can' blame yerself, Lily. It's on me... it's all on me. All of their deaths. They died under my command. They died fer me. I... I killed them, Lilith." She buried her face deeper, her good eye was now pressed up against Lilith's collar. "Warren, Cranston, Parker, Silo, Barrett... so many others.... I killed them all."

As the names were checked off in her head, Lilith clenched her jaw. This wasn't worth it, nothing was worth this. "They followed you, Merry, you didn't make them do anything." She glanced up at the woman, her voice low.

"Sure I did," Pixie's voice was hollow. "I told 'em where to stand so the bullet hit them instead of me. I didn' pull the trigger, but I made their deaths possible. Every single one."

"What did you just say to me?" Lilith closed her eyes as she wrapped her arms around Meredith. "You can't save everyone." She rested her forehead against Meredith's. "You saved a lot of people today, our friends saved a lot of people today."

Pixie's forehead rubbed against Lilith's as she shook it, "No, Lilith... you don' understand. I thought I was better than this. Everythin' that has happened since that fuckin' train heist... it's all 'cause'a me. All of this 'appened 'cause I lacked the foresight... no, the courage to see thin's through. I'm not fit to lead an organization like this. Hell, I can' even keep my own life under control. I'm poison, Lilith. A fuckin' timebomb. An' if you stick 'round too long you'll be swallowed up like everyone else. Devoured and sacrificed to the great 'Bandit Queen'."

Chuckling nervously, Lilith averted her eyes. "Typical Pixie, tells me it's not my fault, proceeds to take the blame." Lifting a hand, she brushed some stray hair from Meredith's eye, "It's done, it's terrible, and we'll have nightmares, but it's done."

Pixie was nowhere near done. The guilt ran deep. Her hatred of her own weaknesses, even deeper. For now, however, she'd swallow her grief. She'd appreciate the time she had with her best friend while they were still together. With her son as well.

Pixie hesitated a moment before forcing a smile, "I love you, Lily. No matter what happens... no matter what I do... know that I love you."

Smiling sadly, Lilith brushed her lips against Pixie's nose. "I love you too." She pursed her lips as she averted her eyes. "I... I want to arrange their send offs. I wasn't here, I should have been here, it's the least I can do."

Pixie nodded, "There will be time fer that later. We fought fer ar' home... they'd want us to get it in order first." She looked past Lilith and towards the door. "Go catch up with Bennie. He's missed you a lot. I should probably get some rest, anyway."

"Yeah, well, if he missed me that much, he wouldn't have waited four years to show up again." Lilith muttered as she brushed down Meredith's clothes. "You should go see Maria." She smiled slightly. "I think you'll like her."

"Already got one wetback right here." Pixie joked, a thumb pointed to Aesop. After a brief laugh she smiled at Lilith. "I'll talk to 'er after I get some of my mojo back."

"I can stay if you want me to." Lilith rubbed the back of her neck as she glanced over at Aesop. "Is he...?"

"He'll be fine. He may need some dentures though," She chuckled as she set her gaze on the motionless greaseball. "Pretty common sight in 'ar line a' work. Reckon he'll look like a proper crook now." Looking back towards Lilith, she pointed towards the door. "Please, go talk to Bennie. Fer me, if nothin' else."

Frowning, Lilith sighed. "Fine, okay, but I won't enjoy it." She smiled weakly as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Get some rest, okay?"

"Okay, I will." Pixie waited until Lilith was halfway out the door before adding. "I won' be stayin' hold up in this place all night, no matter what the doctor's say. You an' Sprout... uh," She blushed and scratched her swollen cheek with her pointer finger. "Y'all wanna spend the night in my room?"

Lilith narrowed her eyes. "Sounds gay..." She muttered as she rested her head against the edge of the door. Smiling warmly, she nodded gently, before exiting the room.

 

[The Funslinger]

"Oh... dear God, no!" Ruffles exclaimed as he surveyed the damage. The holes shot into the steam shaft had been patched up with sheet metal just riveted over them. The repairs made to the engine itself were a hodgepodge of duct tape and prayers. At one point, black oil was dripping into a pan on the ground.

Ruffles swayed and clutched the frame of the door for support. He was pretty sure he was having a stroke. After a few minutes, he mastered himself and set about fiddling with the various valves and dials set into the engine to bring the ship down to silent running so he could work on the thing without losing a finger or burning himself. Over the next few minutes, he found, to his intense aggravation, that his tools had been haphazardly replaced in a disorderly heap. It took him the better part of twenty minutes to find everything he needed. "God dammit, you fucking assholes," he muttered as he took the measurements he needed to replace the leaky pipeline.

Heading into his workshop, he damn near shat himself when he saw how overturned the place was. The broadsword was gone, his various machines and stationary tools had been clearly messed with and not set back properly. His designs, the blueprints he'd lovingly worked on and secreted away were in a heap, cascading off the desk and onto the floor. Most of them were badly crumpled. Some had spots of liquid on them, as though someone had been slurping coffee while leering at them. Swearing under his breath, Ruffles pushed through into his bedroom and sifted through the drawers of his work desk. The boring stuff was still in there. Tape measures, spirit levels and suchlike. His sodas were gone, although a couple of empty bottles led him to believe Austin's psychotic brats had guzzled the lot. His bag of weed was gone, without a trace. Groaning at this, he headed back to his workshop.

Back there, he lit up the forge, stoked it and left it to heat. While that was going on, he sifted through his various sheets of metal, selecting the thinnest and taking it to the machine cutter to take the section he needed according to the measurements he'd taken. Then he put it in the forge and began super heating it so as to make it malleable enough to shape into a pipe. Fusing the ends together with a blowtorch, he tempered it in a barrel of water before lowering the forge's heat a little to heat treat it. When that was done, he ground the seam of where the sheet metal had been fused together to form the pipe until it was no longer visible. Taking it back to the engine room, he used it to replace the leaky section, still muttering darkly as he worked. When he was done, he rubbed the side of the engine companionably. "It's okay, baby, it's over now. Nobody's gonna treat you like that ever again."

Wiping the sweat off of his brow, Ruffles decided he felt a lot better. He straightened up and headed off. The rest of the work could be done later. For now, he decided he wanted to check in on the others. His first stop would be the med bay.

 

[Fappy]

I'm sorry Lily.

Sprout didn't like leaving Lilith alone like that but he didn't want to make a scene. He knew how she'd react. His mother would shoulder all of the blame like she always did. Maybe it was better that way... for Lilith, anyway. Despite what he'd said to her, he knew it would take Lilith a long time to come to terms with the choice she'd been forced to make.

There was no real choice.

Sprout got shaken from his trance when Bennie patted him on the shoulder, "You alright, kid?"

Sprout pushed his anxiety to the back of his mind and offered Bennie a stupid grin, "Yeah!" Bennie returned the smile. "So yer back fer good, right?"

Bennie nodded, "Yeah, I reckon I am." He was so tall now. "Looks like your mom's been taking good care of you."

"I think so, yeah," Sprout put a thoughtful finger to his chin. "We got a bit closer after ya' left. We both... we both missed you a whole lot, ya' know?"

"I missed you too, kid. Believe me," He frowned. "I'm sorry I've been gone so long."

Sprout gave the much larger man a light shove, "Hey, there's no need fer that," He chuckled. "I'm not some stupid kid, ya' know? I understand why ya' left. I reckon that's why y'all ain't together now."

"You two talked about that?"

"Briefly, over the radio, yeah. I think I get it." He nodded. "Think she's changed her mind about it?"

Bennie looked past Sprout at the door behind him, "I don't know."

"You still love 'er, right?" Sprout asked as if he already knew the answer.

"I do."

"She'll come around." Sprout grinned.

"I hope so," Bennie muttered. Looking back to Sprout, he rustled the boy's hair. "What about you, punk? You getting into trouble with the ladies?"

Sprout blushed, "You know me, Bennie! I'm a fuckin' cad if there ever was one!"

"Still got that v-card then, don't ya?" Bennie chuckled.

"Well, uh," He scratched his cheek nervously. "I'm workin' on it..."

Bennie rolled his eyes, "Sure you are. Don't worry about it too much. It'll happen when it happens."

"Ma' would'a told me ta' stop bein' a lil' ***** an' go out'n get some pussy." Sprout groaned.

"Aren't you glad I am back?" They shared a laugh and several others before Lilith eventually stepped out into the hallway. "Hey, Lily. Is she gonna be okay?"

***********************************************************************************************************************************************************

Once Lilith was gone Pixie sighed and shifted uncomfortably on the bed. Her body was worn out, her mind was a scrambled mess and her heart was heavy. So much had happened today. Both joy an despair mixed together in a vortex of confusing emotions. She just wanted to let go. Wanted the pain to go away.

But, like always, the pain never ceased. It was ever-present. Everlasting.

Cranston was most likely dead, but Elizabeth? Elizabeth could still be saved.

As sleep took her, she thought of nothing but Margaret. She would defy fate. She would fight until the bitter end. She would save Elizabeth, even if it cost her her life.

"I'll fix this, Cherry... I promise..."

 

[Daystar Clarion]

"Hey, Lily. Is she gonna be okay?"

Lilith clenched her jaw, furrowing her brow as she pulled the headband from her hair, tussling her fringe out of her eyes, she smiled weakly.

"Takes more than a good beating to put Merry down."

You know what I meant.

?Damn straight,? Bennie grinned. ?It?s been far too long, Lily. Me an? Sprout were just catching up.?

"A lot to catch up on." Lilith crossed her arms over her chest, leaning against the wall as she looked at Sprout. "Think you're gonna need to find a place to sit."

If it weren't for Meredith, she'd have been heading to her room by now, the last thing she wanted was small talk with someone who might as well be a stranger at this stage.

?So I've heard,? Bennie shrugged. ?If you want, we can move this conversation elsewhere.?

?How?s my room?? Sprout asked.

?No blood, if that?s what you?re asking. Come on, let?s check it out.?

Stifling a sigh, Lilith stuffed her hands in her jacket pockets as she followed the pair.

'Half my friends are dead, and I'm going to a tea party.'

It was a short trip to Sprout?s room. Though some of his stuff was noticeably absent (including his porn), the room was more or less untouched. Sprout couldn't be more grateful. He got off easy. Sprout plopped down on the bed while Bennie took a seat in a nearby chair, ?So this is where the magic happens?? Bennie joked.

Sprout laughed, ?Damn straight!?

Lilith propped herself against the edge of the boy's desk, her arms across her chest. "It's magic in that it makes all the pussy disappear." She winked at Sprout.

Sprout frowned, ?Yer in here, aren't ya???

?How about you, Lilith?? Bennie chuckled. ?Any lucky guys in your life right now??

Forcing a smile, Lilith shrugged her shoulders. "Too busy for boys." She crossed one leg over the other as she hopped to sit on the desk. "Gotta keep an eye on Casanova over there, make sure he don't get himself shot." She smirked as she glanced at Axel.

"Not doing so well on that front."

?It?s tough out there. You both know that now, I'm sure,? He looked between Sprout and Lilith and nodded. ?You have eachother though, right? You survived out there because you relied on one another. Came through for one another. Hold on to that... for as long as you can.?

Sprout stared at Bennie in silence.

"Well..." Lilith averted her eyes, looking down at the ground. "We've only had eachother, everyone else either left or died." She clenched her jaw.

'This isn't fair.'

Bennie frowned, ?We've lost too many people... I won?t argue with that. But hey, we?ll pick ourselves back up. We always do.?

?Maybe,? Sprout shrugged. ?But I don? think we've ever lost this many. There ar?... so few of us left.?

?The Maiden was founded with fewer.? Bennie countered.

"'We?'" Lilith scoffed. "Oh, so you're back now? How long for this time?"

Sprout furrowed his brow, ?Lilith, wh---?

?No, it?s okay,? Bennie interrupted. He met her gaze. ?As long as I am permitted to stay. And yes, Lilith, I knew some of those men before you were even recruited.?

"Like that even matters now." Lilith muttered to herself. So he knew some of the guys longer, so fucking what? He still left them all. Left her.

"So, what? You and Merry back together now? Is that it?"

Sprout shifted uncomfortably as Lilith sunk her metaphorical fangs into Bennie. This was... not the reunion he?d hoped for.

?No,? Bennie replied, solemnly. ?There?s someone else in her life right now.?

"Eh?" Lilith raised an eyebrow, tilting her head "What? Who? Is he one of the crew?"

?She, and yeah, she?s a recent addition.? Bennie didn?t seemed pleased, but he did his best to cover it up. ?Her name?s ?Amy?. I?m sure you?ll be introduced soon. Anyway,? He sighed. ?Look, Lilith... I won?t blame you for resenting me, but trust me when I say that I am here to stay. I want to help the Iron Maiden pick itself back up and make things right.?

?Bennie...? Sprout muttered.

?It may be hard to believe, but... not a single day has gone by that I haven?t thought about you two.? Bennie clenched his jaw as his gaze dropped to the floor. ?I didn?t just come back for Pixie.?

A woman?! Pixie had always been adventerous in the bedroom, or so she was told, much to her distaste, but Lilith didn't think she was that way inclined.

"Figures." Lilith muttered. "The fucking new blood lives."

As Bennie continued, Lilith reluctantly listened, her eyes off to the side. As he finished, the girl looked at the man from the corner of her eye. "You thought about us everyday, but didn't think to visit?" She sneered slightly. "Not even a bloody radio call?"

?You don?t know how much I wanted to, Lily,? Bennie?s voice was low and wary. ?I was pissed. So fuckin? angry. At Pixie. At myself. At everything. I just... at the time, I figured it would just be best if I severed all communication. I was ashamed, Lily. I had failed... miserably. I had gotten so many of my friends killed. I... I thought it would be better for you two if I just disappeared.? He chuckled, sadly. ?Or, at least, that?s what I told myself. Truth is, I?m not that strong. I?m not that selfless. In reality... I was just afraid. I was afraid to return to the Maidens. Afriad to face what I had done. In a way, I still am.?

"You still could have called." Lilith muttered as she looked up at the man. "Pixie didn't need to know, we wouldn't have told her." She glanced over at Sprout. "Ain't that right kid?"

Sprout nodded, ?Yeah.?

Bennie looked between the two of them, ?There?s no excuse. I?m a coward, but I?ll try my best to make it up to you two. I?ll never leave either of you ever again. I promise.?

Lilith's eyes softened as a small smirk curled the corner of her mouth. "Don't make promises you can't keep." Shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly, she sighed. "As for how you can make it up to us?" Lilith pushed herself away from the desk. "I'm sure Sprout has a few things in mind."

Bennie grinned, ?I think Pixie?d be pissed with me if I got him a prostitute.?

Even though she has her own.

Sprout sighed, ?Aw, man. I?m out of ideas!?

Lilith sat on the bed behind Sprout, tussling his hair as she draped her arms over his shoulders. "Oh no, Sprout, no whores? Looks like you and the showerhead are back on!"

Sprout cocked an eyebrow, ?Why would I need a shower head when I have you!?? Suddenly, Sprout threw one hand around Lilith?s side and grabbed her butt. When she jumped in surprise, he used the opportunity to turn around and lunge at her. ?MY SWEET LILY! I---?

With a firm slap to the back of the head, Sprout found himself kissing the cold, steel floor of the Maiden. Bennie was standing over the boy, cracking his knuckles. Light glared off of his sunglasses as he spoke, ?What have I always told you about treating the ladies with respect?!?

"Yeah, suck it kid." Lilith stuck out her tongue at the boy as she got to her feet, gently placing her food on the back of the boy's head. Looking up at Bennie, her eyes locked to his. He didn't look any different. Not in four years.

She narrowed her eyes as she took her boot off the back of the boy's head, standing in front of Bennie, she searched his face. He really was sorry wasn't he?

Lilith's expression softened as she took a step forward, gently resting the side of her head against Bennie's chest. "I missed you." She whispered quietly.

Bennie reached his massive arms around her shoulders and hugged her, ?I missed you too, sweetheart.?

Sprout rolled over onto his back and scoffed, ?Y?all ar? gay.?

"Fine then." Lilith pouted as she wrapped her arms around the man's huge waist. "I'll have this hug, alllllll to myself, since you obviously don't want one."

?Fuck that!? Sprout announced as he hopped to his feet and squeezed himself inside of the hug.

Bennie laughed. This was good. After everything that had happened today...

This would be a good memory.

?I love you, you dorks.?

"Love?" Lilith scoffed. "Steady on now, you haven't even taken us out to dinner."

?Let?s skip dinner and get straight to the cuddlin?!? Sprout giggled. ?I call middle spoon!?

Bennie shook his head, ?Still as painfully unfunny as always.?

"Oh you have no idea." Lilith chuckled as she nudge the boy with her hip. "I mean, you'd think he'd get less shit as he got older, right?" She shook her head. "I wish he was ten again, those were the good old days."

?You jus? miss my old lanky little boy body. Fuckin? pedo.?

Bennie released them from the hug and sighed, ?Y?all keep this up and I am gonna need to start drinking early.?

"Drinking sounds good to me!" Lilith chirped as placed her hands behind her head. "After dinner maybe?" She tilted her head. "I still need to go check in on Ruffles, although I'm guessing seeing the ship in this state killed him?"

?I can only imagine,? The big man winced. ?It?s probably like coming home to find your dog?s been hit by a crawler.?

"Poor guy." The girl chuckled. "You wanna come with, Sprout?" She glanced at the boy.

?Nah,? Sprout shook his head. ?I?m fuckin? bushed. Think I?ll chill out here fer a bit. Maybe take a nap.?

Lilith scoffed. "Wuss." She casually forgot she had spent the best part of half the day sleeping in the crawler on the way to Yuteni.

Waving a hand dismissively, the girl headed for the door. "I'll see you guys at dinner." Pausing as she opened the door half way, she turned her head to face Bennie. "It's good to have you back, big guy." Lilith smiled, exiting the room before the man could respond.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

"I get this is heated, but don't go slinging threats ya can't take back."

'I don't make threats. I make promises.' Amy thought, but she did not reply out loud. She'd been given what she wanted already, to press the issue would be irrelevant. All that mattered now was that the one who had killed Georgia, if he had lasted this long already, would die screaming by her hand. The others were just noise to her now.

Sandra was beginning to regain some measure of control over herself, as Amy's new companions began helping her up and into the crawler. The pain in her shoulder was throbbing and persistent, but besides being aware of it, it didn't really bother her. That pain was dwarfed by everything else. As they all got seated, she stole a sideways, puffy-eyed glance at Amy, who stared straight ahead at the headrest in front of her, seeing nothing. Sandra had never seen her first sister like this before, but some of the others, Georgia included, had told stories, sometimes first hand. It was only now that the contradiction was at it's strongest, that it occurred to Sandra just how strange it was that Amy was two years her junior. Was the person with cold-blooded murder behind her eyes that she saw now the real Amy, or was this just another part that she played, that she felt she had to play, to keep people from hurting her? If there was something else there, still concealed, how long had it been since it had truly shown itself, from behind all the different, reactionary facets that the world had moulded into her? What has to be done to a person, or rather, what do they have to do to themselves, before they can slip on outfits of cruelty or compassion as easily as they try on clothes?

Before Sandra could dwell on it any longer, she was, thankfully, pulled back to the present by Whiskey prodding at her injured arm.

"I want ya to put this between your teeth. There's just gonna be one moment of pain and you'll wanna bite down."

Sandra nodded blankly, barely registering what was being said in truth. So much of her was still in shock. Nevertheless, she did as she was told.

"On the count of three."

Amy didn't look at her, or say a word, but rather silently moved her arm over, and held onto Sandra's good hand.

"One."

Sandra screamed through gritted teeth, almost cracking enamel against the cold metal of the cartridge.

========================================================================

Sandra's arm was in a crude sling, and Amy's leg wound cleaned and dressed, by the time they reached the encampment, set up in the shadow of the now parked Iron Maiden. It had only been her home for a short couple of days, but the sight of it almost made Amy stagger from the wave of conflicting emotion that hit her. It was harder, in that moment than any previously, for her not to cry. Still she could not show her grief now, not yet.

"You know what to do." she said to Sandra, who nodded and left in the direction of the rows and rows of temporary holding pens, where the survivors of Austin's family were being held until somebody decided what was to be done with them. Once Sandra was off in the distance. Amy limped over to one of the Wilkes Vine's officers, who had the courtesy to do little more than wrinkle his nose at the sight of her in her current state.

"The bodies of Austin's soldiers," she started by way of greeting. "What is being done with them?"

"They're being stored in the tents over to the East." he said, looking a little puzzled but gesturing the way with his rifle nonetheless. "We'll probably end up burning most of them. Why do you ask?"

"Your soldiers probably will have recovered a young woman from somewhere, likely thinking that she was killed in the battle. She's one of mine, and I need to see her."

"Oh..." The officer replied, awkwardly. "In that case, I'm sorry f-"

"Just show me the way." Amy cut him off, working very hard to keep her voice from cracking.

"Uh, of course. Right this way, Miss Turner."

========================================================================

Oliver sat slumped against a pole as a boot repeatedly came down upon his head. His captors laughed at him while they beat him to a pulp. They didn't say anything, they weren't asking any questions, they were just hurting him. Hurting him and laughing.

"That's enough!"

Sandra did her best to sound assertive, despite being outnumbered by these men, and being in no state to assert anything over anyone physically. Under the circumstances, she thought it sounded okay.

It had taken some minutes, but she'd finally found him. If she was honest with herself, a part of her had been hoping that she'd have to return to Amy with bad news, that he was already dead, just like Heath and Austin, and that there was nothing to be done. This wasn't going to be pleasant for anyone concerned.

"You need to release this one." she continued, lying through her teeth. "He was one of Austin's men, but he risked his life to save me when I was in captivity. Miss Turner wants to thank him personally, and sent me to make sure that he was still alive and that no harm came to him."

She looked at Oliver as she said this, wearing that same, sweet smile that he'd fallen for all to easily. Inside, she was trying hard not to vomit at the site of him. Pathetic, snivelling, covered in blood and dirt. It almost made her wish that he had been more of a fanatic, and that he would scream and spit at her, calling her a traitor, a *****, or whatever else sprung to mind. People like Austin and Heath may have been vile, but there was still something awe-inspiring about a monster in need of slaying. Oliver, on the other hand, was a parasite without a host, just waiting for somebody to come and step on him.

Amy would oblige, though Sandra doubted he would thank her for it.

========================================================================

"Yes." Amy said, her face and voice both devoid of expression. "This is her."

The officer who had escorted her looked as if he was expecting her to break down at any moment. He would get no such display. Amy was outside her rage and her pain for now. There would be time to feel them, later, but justice, even harsh justice, should be emotionless, and so that was what she must be, until she had done right by Georgia, until she had kept her promise. Anything less would be an insult of self-indulgence.

"What do you want to do with her?" The soldier asked after a while's silence, as tactfully as such a question could be asked.

"I will make all of the necessary arrangements. For now, just make sure she is moved away from all the others. I don't want anyone throwing her corpse in a mass grave along with her killers. I'm sure you understand."

"I understand."

"Good. Thank you."

Amy zipped up the body bag herself, and stared at the black plastic Shroud for a few more seconds, before wordlessly exiting the tent.

========================================================================

Oliver looked up Sandra, he couldn't believe his eyes. Why was she lying for him? Why was she... of course. Someone else wanted the pleasure to do to him what these men had been doing for the last couple hours. He prayed it wouldn't be as bad, that they wouldn't be as cathartic. Would it be the Pixie? Or one of the others? Perhaps Sandra herself wanted to do this. As long as he was dead by the end of it, he didn't care, he was lonely without his daddy.

"Gee I wonder how she's gonna thank him?" One of the goons snorted and laughed.

"Well it'd be kinda hard consideri-"

"Ap ap ap don't spoil the surprise." The men chuckled. "Should'a come here sooner luv. Weeee may have taken it a bit too far."

Sandra glowered at them.

"Well then, I don't know why you're all looking so pleased with yourselves." she told them. Whatever you think Miss Turner has in mind for Oliver, rest assured that it is her business, and I trust, if you know her work, you know exactly who she does business for..."

She let that hang in the air for a while.

"I think you guys should go and crawl somewhere dark and act like nobody saw you here."

The men shot glances at each other for a moment before leaving. Oliver simply looked up at Sandra, frozen in place. "What..."

"Come on. Let's get you up." Sandra cut him off, speaking as if to a child who had fallen over and grazed their knees, while she did her best to help him to his feet with her one good arm. She felt like she was holding a lamb, calming it down as the knife sharpened out of its vision, ready to be drawn across its throat. She didn't feel good about what she was doing, not remotely, but every time it occurred to her to stop, the memory of Georgia's face filled her mind, all the anguish and resignation written on it as Sandra flew away without her, and she persisted.

Oliver wanted to speak as she helped him limp away, but no words would ever come to mind. He would often begin a sentence. "Why?" or "How?" but no more words would follow. His mind was buzzing yet empty, and despite being so confused and wanting to ask so many questions, his every word failed him; but he did manage to say one thing eventually.

"How much will it hurt?" He tried not to cry as he spoke.

Sandra held back bitter laughter. She couldn't not pity him, the state he was in, even when touching him was making her skin crawl.

"You know," she answered, all her girlish sweetness gone. "I wish I could say you'll only feel the same pain that she did, that it'll be a step down from what you've been through already... but it won't. Don't look forward to what's about to happen. This isn't about you, it's not about taking an eye for an eye. It's about sending a message. Girls like us, we're always vulnerable, and there's very little we can do to change that. Any day, a punter could pull a knife on us while we're naked or on our backs, or maybe a pimp will drag us into an alley and kick us to death. People will have a thousand excuses, but in the end, the only reason anyone will hurt us, is because they think that they can get away with it, that we don't matter enough for anyone to come after them. She shows them different, one example at a time. No one gets away with it, ever, and before it's over she'll show everyone just how weak you really are, how quickly you'll turn around a beg for mercy when it turns out there's no weaselling you way out of this one, and how little that matters to her. You're not being taught a lesson, they are. All the people who haven't done anything yet, but one day might wonder if there's anyone out there who'll care about one less whore in the world."

Perhaps it was a good thing that she wasn't enjoying this? Perhaps that was the point?

"Thanks... for not shooting me." She forced herself to say. "It's not going to make any difference now, and it doesn't mean I don't think you're still getting what you deserve, but... I just don't think it would be right to send you to her, without knowing you did one good thing."

Oliver cringed as he listened to her. Her, this her she meant, he knew. He hadn't heard any tales of her cruelty, but he had to take Sandra's word at face value-something Oliver excelled at. He didn't know whether to thank Sandra for those last few words or not. He had saved her yes, but she was a pretender. A liar and father needed her to die. Even if Father was dead his words couldn't die. They couldn't die. He couldn't die.

But he did.

"I don't know why you got under my skin, but you did. I don't know what that means, I don't know what anything means anymore. But... she will kill me at the end? Right? I won't be alive anymore?" he was pleading with her.

"Yes... in the end." Sandra replied. "Like I said, don't look forward to it. She isn't interested in mercy."

========================================================================

Spoiler

Amy had been very busy in the time that Sandra had been collecting their quarry. With the promise of a large bonus in carbon, she'd enlisted the help of a squadron of Wilkes Vine's troop to help her erect the structure in the centre of the encampment. Naturally, their activities were drawing attention. More troops, and refugees from Yuteni alike were all curious about why somebody was erecting a high, narrow scaffold of scrap metal, and why tables, chairs, cabinets, and anything else made of wood scrounged from the deserted houses was being piled beneath it, and why that pile was being soaked in gasoline. None of Austin's troops were there for obvious reasons. However, they would here the tale from the guards who would attend them next time they were on duty. That would have to be enough.

Finally, he was brought to her, stumbling, weak, unable to look her or anyone else in the eye. Amy studied him, drinking in every little detail of his condition. Her face was almost corpse-like in how blank of expression it was.

"Georgia's injuries..." she said eventually, standing over him. She didn't need to raise her voice, everyone had gone quiet. "How much were you responsible for?"

Oliver kept his eyes to the ground as the woman spoke to him. "None." he answered plainly, yet his voice was still weak.

Amy slapped him. It was a blow meant more to chastise and humiliate him, than to actually hurt. That would come later.

"You're lying." she said, still sounding calm. Austin would have wanted you to repay your failure. You shot her through the head, didn't you?"

Still looking away, Oliver finally answered her. "Y-yes, BUT HEATH WAS THE ONE WHO... yes..." He halted his attempts at excuses, knowing it would only anger her more.

"So," she replied, hating him. "you had the chance to end it more quickly, but you stood and watched while they made her suffer? Is that how it was? Is that supposed to buy you a reprieve?"

"NO! NO! I DIDN'T MEAN-I didn't want, I wasn't trying... you don't understand." he snivveled.

"No. It's you who doesn't understand." Amy was relentless. "You think you know what helplessness is, what humiliation is, what pain is. You have no idea, nobody ever does. I'm going to show them though, and you are going to assist me."

She gave a small nod to the soldiers she had paid,. who had been waiting in the wings. any resistance Oliver may had offered was futile as they closed in on him. First, he was stripped naked, and Amy saw for herself the extent of the damage that had already been done. He should have been left whole for her, but she supposed that she would have to make do. Next, they hoisted him up, and lashed him to the scaffold like a crucifix, binding his hands and feet to the structure with metal chains. Under his feet, a large sheet of metal, once belonging to an armoured Crawler, separated him from the pile below.

"Many of you might be wondering what this boy's crime is..." Amy announced to the crowd as all this was going on. "I will tell you. He murdered a whore. I'm sure, in the face of all the destruction and death that surrounds us today, that seems like a small thing, not worth putting on a show for. If that is what you believe, I won't argue with you, but I will tell you what I believe. I believe that in a world that has forgotten justice, we have to take responsibility for looking after our own. In a world that has forgotten kindness, brutality must be our messenger. Never forget what you are about to see, because rest assured, if you are ever judged to be guilty of such a small crime, I will not forget you."

The faces in the crowd looked shocked, some revolted, as Amy was handed the torch, and ignited the bonfire beneath Oliver. None, however, said a word or stepped forward in his defence. If they had, she would have gunned them down without hesitation. Oliver did not burn. The flames blazed beneath him, but none could lick at him through the metal plate that shielded him. His suffering last much longer. It took well over half an hour of screams and frantic pleading, as the metal that held him heated up until it glowed red hot. Oliver's skin blistered, his flesh sizzled, but he remained alive, the fire prevented from consuming him, until his body began peeling away from his bones.

Sandra watched, trying hard not to be sick. Amy watched, as if she had forgotten anybody else was there.

"What's going to happen to me now?" Sandra asked when it was over.

"For the mean-time, I want to keep you close." Amy replied, still staring dreamily at Oliver's remains. "I need to think about what to do from here. It was a failure on my part that any of this happened, and I need to figure out how to make sure it never happens again. Until I do, I wouldn't feel comfortable sending you anywhere else."

"Thank you, sister."

Sandra left Amy alone, and the crowd had dispersed as well. Exactly when they had, Amy was not sure. She left the scene, and walked, not much caring in what direction she was going, until eventually she found the ruins of what had once been somebody's house. If Amy had ever been here before, it was no longer a place she recognised. Going inside the looted and burned out shell, she sank down in the corner of the darkest room.

'Now.' she thought. 'Now you can cry.'

And she did. The monster who had just tortured a boy to death, curled up in the corner and wept like a child.

 

[ProtoChimp]

Vidal limped up the driveway, blood dripping from the side of his head as he knocked on Alex's door. His body was battered but he was lucky to have avoided a bullet, at the very least.

Alex grabbed her gun and opened the door. Her enemies may have been dead but she was still paranoid, she swung the door open ready to shoot before instantly dropping her arm. "Vidal? Oh my god!"

"Can I borrow some sugar?" He leant against the doorframe and laughed at his own bad joke. Alex grabbed his shoulders but he shrugged her away. "I'm fine I'm fine, I'm just being a tad overdramatic."

"C'mon come in, sit down." Despite his protests she helped him inside and removed his breathing mask, she sat him on a chair in her living room. "This is Isabel, she... we fought to escape Aus-Peter!" She cut herself off, thinking of her son's now tainted name. "Isabel this is my deputy, Vidal." They didn't shake hands but nodded at each other, Vidal's palms were bleeding as well. As Alex set him down on the chair, he place his hands on his knees to not get blood on the chair. "Don't be silly Vidal." She forced his arms up on the arm rests, he resisted a little but relented.

"Just trying to be polite is all." He gave a little laugh.

"What happened down there? I missed most of the battle." She asked, sitting on the couch next to her son again, who hadn't moved at all.

"Well," he shifted uncomfortably, "after you got taken we got overwhelmed. Me and a few other cops bailed into the sewers, they hunted us down but they gave up after a while. They thought they got us all, hell they nearly did."

"How many officers are left?" she hesitated to ask.

Vidal was silent for an incredible amount of time. "I haven't seen any since the maidens showed up. I was hiding out with civvies and bandits, some of them were even Wilkes Vines. I ran up to help fight while the civvies hid."

Alex slumped in her seat. "There's got to be more. They can't kill an entire city's police force in five fucking days... s-sorry baby." She wrapped her arm around her son's shoulder. "We mustn't have seen them yet, it doesn't make sense to be just us."

"Aye, I don't like seeing WV everywhere I go. I've seen what they get up to." he replied.

"Tell me about it." Chimed in Isabel.

"Not sure you'd want me to." He said with a mile long stare.

"What are you talking about?" Alex asked concerned.

Vidal looked to Alex, then back to Isabel, then back to Austin. "Might wanna cover his ears."

"It can't be worse than what they did on the ship." Said the little boy.

Alex sighed and hugged Austin close to her. She had strived to shelter him from these exact kind of tragedies. She hid the world from him, but the world had to snuff out even the most innocent of children. Vidal was once again silent for a while before speaking up.

"They... just put one of those cultists on a pyre. They burnt him like a witch."

"What!" Alex shouted out in shock. "Jesus Christ... that't... that's," she bore deep into herself, wondering if even she believed what she was about to say. But she had to believe it, she was an officer of the law and that was fucking barbaric. "That's too far, even for them that's too far."

"Alex you saw what they did!" Isabel said angrily, an understatement. "To our children you saw! You were there!"

"But in my town I'm not gonna let that fly."

"You never saw Alex!" Isabel screeched at her. "I was with them for a year, hell I joined in before I was too far along in the pregnancy. Whatever gets done to them they deserve!"

"But not in my city." She spoke with the same calm conviction she had kept up for years, Vidal had always heard her talk like this, but it had left her the past few days. Whether it was back in full force or if she was putting up a façade to trick herself into being the Sheriff the city needed, she didn't know. Her mind set didn't matter however, her actions would. Alex knelt down next to her son and spoke softly. "Mommy needs to go out for a little while baby, but I'll be back, I promise. And I'll get us food and water, and baby food for Franklin." Austin didn't reply. "Baby?"

He wasn't answering her at all. "I... I won't be long baby." She kissed him on the forehead before stepping towards the door, keeping her eye on him until she left. "Keep an eye on him Vidal"

He lifted his hand to lazily wave to her. He was fucked up sure, but he and Isabel could still fight. Alex hated herself for leaving Austin's side, especially in the condition he was in, but she couldn't stand for barbarism such as this in her city.