"Can't you lot hurry up?" Magnus barks. "Aberfeldy is less than a day's walk away. The sooner we get there, the sooner your fellow can get the treatment he needs."

"And we can get out cool half million rewards for turning you in," Giles adds with a grin. I picture slapping it off him.

Paul stumbles, looking around almost deliriously. It wasn't long after we saw his infected arm that he started getting feverish. Emma and Stanton have had to help him walk, and Magnus and Giles even untied me and Lawrence so we could take turns carrying Paul's weight. They seem to know that we're not going to leave him, not to mention they've taken notice of Lawrence's much smaller injury that keeps him from running.

"I don't-" Paul lets out a heavy breath. "Is it night already? I-I can't see anything?"

"For God's sake!" Emma shouts, glaring at the two ahead. "He won't make it to Aberfeldy. Can't you see? That septic wound's killing him. His temperature's sky high and he's starting to shake. He won't last another hour."

Giles blinks, unbothered. "I don't know what you expect us to do about it. We're not doctors."

Lawrence rolls his eyes. "No, you're bakers. So much useful to society."

He scowls at him ,opening his mouth to say something smart, probably something about how he has a gun or something to intimidate him. Stanton speaks before he gets the chance.

"We're going to need to cauterize it-burn off the infected tissue, pack the wound and tape it. Walker, open my pack and pull out a knife."

She turns her back to me, but I pause reaching for her pack when Magnus points his gun right at my head.

"Oh no you don't," He sneers at me. "No knives for you."

"It's either that or dies a slow, painful death on the way to Aberfeldy," She replies. "Do you want that on your conscience?"

His lip only curls further. "My conscience is clear. I'm not the murderous terrorist. Now keep walking."

My blood boils under my skin, but I don't argue, instead walking along and keeping an eye on Stanton and Lawrence who are helping Paul along. Magnus is walking ahead of us, and Giles beside us, although they're still closer enough to each other that they can converse about the money they'll be getting and whatever else. I honestly turned them out awhile ago.

Guilt eats at me as I glance at Paul. Despite the cool air, sweat pours off him. We did have to put his jacket back on him just to keep him from getting too cold. I'm not a doctor, but I know taking off his layers when he's running a fever can only make his core temperature spike higher. I hate how I'm not arguing with these complete assholes, how I've kept hold of my tongue as they force us along.

Self reservation instincts at its finest.

More like cowardice at its finest.

I grimace, and the guilt knowing at my bones turns to sharp, painful bites that rattle inside me like the sounds inside a belltower.

This isn't fair, and as the minutes pass by, Paul only gets worse. His brown hair sticks to his forehead as he walks, although it's becoming more of a shuffle, something Magnus and Giles both snap at him for. Stanton looks as if she's contemplating whether she would be able to strangle them before they shot her.

"I don't think..." Paul suddenly says, gaining all of our attention. "I-I-"

He crumples before he can finish his sentence, and Stanton and Lawrence are just able to keep him from falling face first into the snow as he gasps in pain. He's still conscious, barely.

Magnus sputters in surprise, the dark-haired man looking at Paul, and then us, with disgust. "Well, don't just leave him there! Get him back on his feet."

Emma drops to her knees in front of Paul, reaching out to touch him but then stopping at the last second. She turns and sends a hate-filled look at Magnus. "You're heartless. He's-he's too sick to walk."

"Then we'll just have to leave him here." Giles shrugs. "I'm sure they'll still give u the reward for bringing in the rest of you."

Stanton's eyes narrow into a glare. "You won't be bringing the rest of us in. I'm not moving until you let us take care of Paul."

Baring his teeth, Giles points his gun right at Stanton. "I'll shoot you if you don't move. I mean it!"

"Then shoot me."

He move his ginger onto the trigger, but a second later he groans and takes it away, not noticing my sigh of relief. Giles points his rifle at the ground. "Fine! But one of us can do whatever needs to be done with the knife. Can't be that hard."

She raises a brow at that, but still nods and turns her back to him. "Fine. Take the large knife from my pack." She sighs through her nose when grabs one and shows it to her. "No, the larger one, and the blowlamp."

Lawrence grins despite himself. "You travel with a blowlamp?"

"Only a small one, in case something needs to be soldered."

"Ah. But what if something big needs to be soldered?"

"Portable stove coverts into a large blowlamp."

"Right, right." He says, chuckling as he shakes his had. "Of course. Right."

Stanton then turn her attention to Gil, instructing him to turn on the blowlamp, which her does. "Heat the edge of the blade."

While Emma is telling Paul he can squeeze her hand as hard as he likes, I open her pack and pull out some cloth. It might not do much, but it may provide some cushion and keep him from biting down hard enough to crack his teeth. I hand it to Emma.

"Walker and I will hold you still, if you like," Lawrence says, and I pale when Paul nods.

"That's-yeah. That's a good idea."

Lawrence and I go around behind him, and I gently grab his uninjured arm and shoulder, keeping a firm grip but making sure I'm not hurting him. Lawrence grabs his other arm, careful not to touch his injury, and his other hand is on his other shoulder.

"Now, with that heated knife, you're going to need to cut away this part here," Stanton instructs as Emma places the cloth in Paul's mouth and grabs his hand. "See where the flesh is necrotic? Do you think you can do that, Giles?"

I look up at Giles, surprised at how green he's become as he stares, knife in hand, at Paul's wound.

"I uh..." He swallows. "I-I don't feel quite..."

He faints, thankfully not stabbing himself in the process as the knife falls into the snow.

"Oh," I can't help but say in surprise. Stanton, however, don't look fazed.

Her gray eyes go over to Magnus. "Want to have a go?"

"No!" He shouts all too quickly, before realizing his mistake. "I uh, no. No, no, you carry on. I-I've got my gun trained on you though."

"Right." She grabs the knife and reheats it before turning to Paul. "Hold tight. It's only a small area. It'll be over soon."

As soon as she presses the knife to Paul's skin, he jerks, nearly throwing me and Lawrence back.  I tighten my grip on him, but I can't look as he cries out. Emma gives him words of encouragement, but I barely hear them over Paul's groans and shouts.

The scent of burning flesh hits my nose and I gag, digging my fingers even harder into Paul's skin, probably leaving bruises.

Tears burn the backs of the eyes as Paul screams again, and it feels like an eternity of screaming and jerking before Stanton finally says she's done and demands Emma get out the med kit from one of our packs so she can start packing the wound and wrapping it.

I finally look down at Paul, whose face is dripping sweat, but a bit more relaxed now that it's over. Looking away from him, I see that Giles is awake again. I don't know how long he's been conscious, but he refuses to look at us as we patch up Paul. I wonder if it was the screaming that woke him.

I study Magnus and Giles as they talk. Magnus isn't looking at us, even though he has his rifle pointed at us-something I'm sure would get him smacked upside the head by any gunowner. We won't be able to escape them, even with our hands untied. Paul may not be about to die, but he won't be able to run, and I doubt Lawrence would be able to either.

And even if we could run, they would still probably manage to shoot one of us.

An idea pops into my head.

"Charlie," I whisper, my voice so quiet there's almost no sound at all. "Magnus and Giles work together. In the workplace, there's almost always some competition. Do we could turn them against each other to distract them from us?"

"Hmm," She says. "That could work. Let me look up some info we could use while you get packed up."

Giles and Magnus start to become impatient after a few minutes, barking at us to hurry up and that we need to get moving now that we've got Paul all fixed up. We all give them nasty looks, but Charlie is already telling Emma and Lawrence my idea and what we can try to use against them.

"But first, I think with Giles you might want to open with what you already know."

Within a few minutes, we're up and walking again, Paul looking less like he's on death's door. "Thank you, Stanton. It hurts less, but I feel like I could sleep for a million years."

Stanton nods, although she raises a brow when she notices the looks Emma, Lawrence and I are wearing. "What?"

"We have a plan," I whisper excitedly.

"Come on, Walker," Lawrence murmurs. "You and I are going to have a chat with old Giles."

"I'll work on Magnus," Emma says. "I think we can get them."

Paul looks like he wants to question it, but Stanton just tells him to place his arm around her shoulders and rest his weight against her. It's a way to tell him to let us do what we have to.

Lawrence starts whistling a happy tune as we walk over to Giles. The blonde sends a raised brow, eyes narrowing in suspicion, but he doesn't say anything.

"Giles, old mate, me and Walker noticed you weren't walking with Magnus anymore. Bit of a falling out?"

His eyes widen in surprise. "What? No! No, nothing like that. We can just keep a better eye on you from two angles, you see? Always thinking about things like that, me and Magnus."

He nods, fighting back a grin that Giles doesn't notice. "That's good. That's good. So you weren't annoyed with him for calling you a wuss?"

I gasp. "Lawrence!"

Giles chokes. "What?"

"Oh," Lawrence sends me a panicked look before his eyes meet Giles. "W-when you fainted. I thought you must have heard him and that's why you weren't walking together anymore. Kept going on about how you never pulled your weight at the office and you rode his coattails-"

"That's ridiculous! If anything he rode my coattails!" He explodes. "Barton Capitol didn't come from nothing. They didn't come from anything Magnus did. I build those high yield bonds. He just sold them."

"I-I'm sure he didn't mean it," I stammer, giving him an uneasy smile. Inwardly, I'm proud of myself for playing the non-confrontational role so well. "It's just because you fainted! And... he said something about your annual review not going so well, that you were always the weak link?"

Lawrence rubs the back of his neck. "And he said you weren't a team player."

Giles is fuming.

"This seems to be going very well," Charlie announces. "Maybe you should give Stanton a hand with Paul, Walker. Then you can hear what Emma's saying."

I slowly start inching away as Lawrence continues.

"I'm sure he didn't mean anything like that by it. 'Just stating the cold, hard facts,' he said."

I almost want to laugh as I make my way over to Paul and Stanton. Neither of them will look over at Magnus and Emma, but it's clear they're both interested in what's being said. I nearly recoil at the angered look on Magnus's face.

"You're getting worryingly close to Aberfeldy now," Charlie says nervously. "If these clowns get you there, I have no idea how I'd get you out again, if the Burn doesn't just kill you... No, let's not think about that."

I make a face. "Yeah, I'd rather not."

Instead I get a bit closer to Magnus and Emma to eavesdrop.

"No, no, it was just that thing I heard him say as he was comin' round. Surprised you didn't hear it since you were closer to him," Emma says with a shrug. "He said he was gonna claim seniority because he's been at the company longer, so that entitles him to a greater revenue share, whatever that means."

"Greater revenue share?!" Magnus nearly shrieks. "We'll see about that!"

The blonde hums. "And I think he said something about diluting your stock holding too? I don't really understand the terminology."

"Dilute my stockholding? I'll dilute him! The sneaky double-dealing freeloader!"

"It's working! It's working" Charlie squeals in my ear. "And all I had to do was hack into the personal files of one of the world's largest banks to make it happen. You can all bow down before me later. Lawrence, say that thing about how Magnus has the bigger office..."

•

"I did not tell the senior partner that I thought you couldn't handle the work!" Giles shouts. "I-I know your portfolio is full, but you always have extra capacity."

Magnus simply glares at him. "Well, someone told him, Giles! And if it wasn't you, how did these people on this barren hillside find out about it? You've always been such an underminer!" He ignores Giles' gasp in offense. "Since the day you joined the bank, you've been weaseling your way around. I know it was you who slept with Thani's secretary to get McGovern's shipping of your end three days early!"

This time I gasp. Certainly wasn't expecting that.

Giles sputters in shock. "H-How did you-"

"Everyone in the office knew! You couldn't keep it in your trousers if it was stapled to your underwear. And we could all tell in that meeting that you'd seen the numbers already."

"Well, I-I've never heard anything so ridiculous in my life. And besides, I know it was you who..." He continues with some kind of insult, and Magnus shoots back one of his own. While they argue, Lawrence nudges me with his elbow.

"It's time, isn't it?"

Stanton nods. "It's three against two. Walker, you and Lawrence take Giles. I'll take Magnus."

I take a tentative step towards Giles, then another one then another.

"Oh, and how else would they know that I emailed you saying that I fancied Avery?" Magnus spats, and then we attack.

I rip the gun from Giles' hands as Lawrence damn near tackles him down. Stanton managed to disarm Magnus in the blink of an eye, giving him a hard punch across his jaw. He tries to hit back, but within a second she's got him pinned to the ground.

"Get off me!" Giles screams, swatting at Lawrence, but Lawrence delivers a hard hit across his face, sending the blond tumbling into the snow. I point the gun at him when he starts to move, and it makes him stop.

"And stay down," Lawrence growls, before a surprised half-smile spreads across his face. "Hey, that felt pretty good. Closes thing I've had to a fight in ages. Of course, I think it helped that they were both bankers."

"And that we won," Stanton adds, holding the gun she took from Magnus. They were our guns to begin with, although I don't know what they did with the extra ones. It's obvious they don't have them with them, or they would have tried to us them.

"W-what are you going to do with us?" Magnus stammers, eyes wide with fear now that the tables have turned. "W-we're rather well known in London, you know. You can't just kill us. People would notice. I know about you New Tomorrow types. You-you're small fry saboteurs. You don't want to have murder on your-w-what do you call it?-rap sheets."

"First, we're going to take your supplies. I see you have dried food, blankets, couple of nice tents, some boots that look like they'll fit Walker here quite well."

I give Stanton a look, knowing damn well those boots won't fit my tiny feet unless I stuff them with cloth. She's simply looking for a reason to take them after what they've done to us.

"Then, I think we'll tie you together, back to back, just for fun," Emma says with a grin, and Stanton smiles in amusement.

"Excellent idea."

Giles swallows harshly. "And... then what? We could offer you money, you know. Lots of money."

Lawrence rolls his eyes as he and Emma start tying the two together. "Haven't you heard? Some people are trying to destroy the whole world, What's the point of money anymore? Luckily for you, we're not the bad guys."

"So-"

"Start walking," Stanton commands. "If you get to the end of that path by dusk, you'll find a village where someone will untie you, I imagine, and give you somewhere to sleep."

"And don't come after us again," Lawrence says with a glare.

The two start moving, with some difficulty since they're tied up. A business card falls out of Magnus's pocket. He wrote something on it. Enerwave: Buy! Buy! Buy! in blue pen. Must be some investment that I couldn't care less about.

We watch them go until they're out of sight, and then we start moving in an opposite direction as per Charlie's instructions. I place the strap attached to the rifle around me so my hands are free, allowing me to snack on some of the dried fruit we took from the bankers. I didn't get to eat breakfast when I woke up this morning, just barely managing to take my medicine, an with everything that's happened these past several hours, we haven't been able to ear until now.

But speaking of medicine, no one has thought to ask me about min like they have been the  last few days, except Lawrence, of course. I don't doubt they'll end up bringing it up at some point, and I'll have to tell them something to stop with their pestering. Not to mention I don't want any distrust to come up. Giles and Magnus are the perfect example of how infighting can destroy us.

Plus my story can puncture holes into who Charlie believes I am. She thinks I'm some sort of secret agent, even though I'm not. And of course, it's much too late for me to get out of this, since that device was bio-locked to me anyway, but it also feels like it's too late for me to tell her I'm not who she believes me to be.

It has only been nine days... Maybe I could tell her. I mean, it's not like she hasn't kept stuff from us too.

I'll definitely have to think about it.

I mean, it's not like anyone else thinks I'm some sort of spy or anything. But still, I don't want to make Charlie upset with me. I don't really like causing unnecessary conflict.

But I don't like lying either, and I've been doing quite a bit of that these last nine days.

I finish eating the rest of my dried food, and with my stomach no longer empty, exhaustion sets in. It's been a long day, what with finding out Lawrence isn't dead, running from a plane, tumbling down a hill and then what all just happened with the bankers. I think I can agree with Paul when he said he could sleep for a million years.

And that exhaustion makes an hour of walking feel like ten.

"Guys, guys, you know how I promised you when we started this expedition that there'd be safe houses, places to eat and sleep?" Charlie asks, and Emma lets out a tired laugh.

"It feels like about three years ago, doesn't it?"

"None of us are gonna hold you to those promises, Charlie," Stanton states. "We know how the Burn and the authorities have been harrowing us. I did a lot of hiding from the police when I was a kid, you know. We're doing much better now than I ever did. I trust the way you're doing it. Better to keep us off the main roads and out of their way."

"Well, yes, but listen," She argues. "We have had to miss out on quite a few of my specially designed safehouses, but I realized we're coming up to one now."

Lawrence gasps and points ahead. "Wait, are you talking about that manor house by the side of the road? Oh, wait, is this gonna end with us getting attacked by giant spiders?"

"Or the house getting set on fire?" Paul asks.

"Or a supposed ally turned traitor?" I ask.

"There's not another soul within fifteen miles, besides the bankers," Charlie replies.

Lawrence's eyes light up. "So we can... sleep in a bed? A real bed? Don't taunt m with things I can't have, Charlie."

"Key is under the mat. Should be a well-stocked fridge."

I sigh in relief, mostly because I know I'm probably going to be hungry later, since those dried fruits only staved off the hunger but didn't truly fill me.

We reach the house, and like Charlie said, the key is under the mat. I grab it and unlock the door, open it.

Stepping into the large living room, there are maps up on the wall next to a bookshelves filled with old books. There's a pool table in the corner. As Stanton looks around, commenting how it looks easy to defend, Lawrence heads into the other room.

"There's brandy in here, guys!" He shouts joyously, and I can't help but giggle.

"And you're more than halfway to Edinburgh, guys," Charlie states. "Have a rest. You've earned it."

•

I let out a yawn as I walk into the room I chose as mine for the night. Dropping my heavy pack and rolling out my aching shoulder, I walk towards the bed, just to sit down for a moment. I'll need to take a bath, since I haven't had one in over a week, and then I plan to get into the most comfortable clothing I can wear and sleep until someone tells me to get up.

But something in the corner of the room catches my attention.

It looks like an old gramophone. I head over to it, curious despite my exhaustion. I flip it on, just to see if anything will happen, and surprisingly, sound does come out. But it isn't music that plays. It's a voice... a man's voice, although not one that I'd heard before. It's certainly not a hallucination, nor is it one of those New Tomorrow freaks.

"Hello, my darling. I hope this comes as a pleasant surprise, and that it reaches you before I do," A man says, his voice holding the kindest regards. "My man, Abasis, swears blind that his cousin can find an honest steamer captain to carry it, and he's usually a pretty reliable man. I couldn't quite believe it when we found one of those little gramophone recording booths right here in Nairobi. Must seem like magic to the natives. Super superstitious sorts, as I told you in my letter."

My eyes widen at just how old this message must be. Gramophone booths, steamer captains... although I suppose with all technology down, this really is a blast into the past.

"Anyway, my dear, I'm heading off into the savannah tomorrow. If I'm lucky, I might bag myself a bull elephant. I think an elephant foot umbrella stand would look marvelous in the hallway, though I know you find them a bit vulgar. But I imagine that ivory chess set you've always coveted wouldn't go amiss, hmm?

"The only fly in the ointment is the lioness the local jollies are all talking about," He says with a sigh. "Man-eater, they say. Took two tots from one of the outlying villages last week, and savaged a woman from Empool when she was doing her washing a week before. Needless to say, I'll be very careful, but I feel duty-bound to try to put a stop to this beast's rampaging. One has to do one's bit, yes? The locals call her the Yellow Devil. They say she's a wrathful spirit, driven insane by the murder of her cubs, Mother Nature's revenge on those who crossed her.

"Oh! Let me tell you a curious legend I heard. They have a story here that in the end days, the Great Mother-that's what they call the earth-will give birth to two daughters. One fathered by the moon, and the other by the sun. And these two girls, if you can believe it, will wage some great battle like Gog and Magog and destroy all of humanity with their waring. And then the animals will rejoice because we're all dead. Stuff of nonsense, of course. Probably a corruption of Bible stories."

At the mention of the Bible, I bring my hand up and touch my cross necklace.

"O-Oh, it seems I'm running out of time. My thoughts are with you, my darling, as I know yours are with me. And if God wills, I'll be seeing you again very soon-again very soon-again very soon-again very-"

I turn it off and take a step back. My curiosity has been satisfied, but that man's legend gives me an odd feeling, one I don't want to think about.

So  push the thoughts away and head to the bathroom connected to my bedroom, hoping I will get a small bit of rest before we have to continue on.

A/N: So sorry for the late update, guys! Life's been a little hectic! Hope you liked this chapter. Please be sure to vote and comment. Thank you and have a blessed day!