Ivy returns after half an hour downstairs and I hand Vince’s rifle to her. She can make far better use of it than I can.

“They all thought this was some kind of trick. Luckily I know two of them and got through eventually. Two of them can still hold a gun, but we’ll need to find a chair for them.”

“Did you see Xavier down there?” I ask quietly.

She gives a small nod. Of course she saw him, it’d be impossible to ignore.

“I know it doesn't make it easier, but you did the right thing. We’ll save the rest.”

“Yeah.” Maybe one day I can believe that. “Do you think Seven intended for us to end up like them?”

“I can’t think of another reason for him not to tell us others were taken.”

We sit in silence for a bit. I can’t believe this. Any of it. If we just sit here silently I’m going to go mad.

“For the record, I get to be the one to beat the shit out of Seven when we get back.”

“There’s enough of him to share.” Ivy’s voice stays calm, although I know her enough to recognize her cold fury.

“Not when we’re done.” That’s not a joke. I fully intend to make him suffer just as much as every single person he hurt. It’s only fair after all.

“Mm-hmm. Stay on watch, I’m going to head upstairs and try and get an idea what’s going on out there.”

“Watch out for the traps. Two strings at the top of the stairs. Knee high.”

“I can see them.” She says after a small glance up the stairs.

Right, of course she can. Why wouldn’t she be able to?

She steps carefully over my traps and disappears around the corner.

I keep my eyes glued to the door, my ears open, and my mind clear. I hear one bullet being fired from Ivy’s gun, and a small amount of return fire. There was no yell or a thud from upstairs, so she’s almost certainly ok. Sure enough she returns back to my side soon.

“Got one. At least a dozen are still holding the entrance.”

“Oh don’t worry. It’s just Twelve.” I say in a mocking voice. “Fuck you Seven. You know what? Fuck us too. Why are we even here?”

“How else are we going to get the backhoe?”

“Ok, but still. We sprinted into what we thought were Twelve people, outnumbering us six to one. Sure it’s to help,” I glance around, remembering that people could come in at any moment. “Her. And to make Lucas feel better, but still! She’s not even in danger. We should have just waited for a storm from the west.”

“You don’t believe that.” She says plainly.

God I hate how easily she can see through me.

“I know. I just wish we’d stop to think sometimes, you know? How many times have we tried to do something like this in the past?”

“Eh, probably. Hasn’t burned us too bad yet though.”

She has a point. We have quite the track record of getting out of bad situations. Not sure how we’re going to do this one without water though.

I guess Ivy and I could head back to the broken window and hop back through, just fuck off and leave. But the others? Even if we could get them across safely, there’s no telling how the other building will react. Nobody can live this close to cannibals and not know what’s going on.

“Hey, one more question. What’s up with these guys?”

“Marrow. Nasty drug, I think you can guess what it’s made of. Within a few hits your body becomes physically dependent on it. Basically replaces every feeling with something like euphoria.”

“Shit.”

“No, it’s made of bone.” She says with a smile.

“Shut up.” I laugh and give her a light punch on the shoulder. Even now she can find a way to make me laugh.

We sit there in silence until I hear heavy and inconsistent footsteps coming from behind us. I let Ivy know with a tap on her shoulder and a tilt of my head.

She keeps her eyes on the door while I watch our back, just in case. Can never be too careful.

Two people, drenched in blood and each missing a leg, help each other up the stairs. Their eyes are deeply recessed, I can’t even imagine what they’ve been through.

“I take it you’re our backup?” I ask them.

“Yeah.” The taller of the two says with effort. He’s so emaciated that I’d be unable to tell if he was a man or woman without his voice. “I’m Ian, this is Percy. He can’t really talk much anymore.”

“Got it.” Unfortunately I think I know what he means by that. “Here.” I start to reach into my bag to grab both of them food, however Ivy stops me.

“I already fed everyone.”

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“Oh! Good.” I probably should have thought about that when I unshackled everyone.

Ian and Percy move together to sit on a nearby box. Just like our cover It’s impossible to see directly from outside the front door. But the instant someone steps inside they’ll be in our kill box.

“We found where we keep their water, but it smells and tastes funky. We’re pretty sure it’s spiked.” Ian informs us.

“Fucking shit!” God I fucking hate cannibals. “Ivy, do you think it’s possible to purify or filter it?”

“I was more focused on what the drugs did, instead of how they work when I was younger. But I suppose it’s possible heat might break the chemical down. Just to be safe we should also distill it. If the three of you keep watch I’ll go set something up downstairs.”

“Go, we’ll be fine.” I tell her.

She passes Vince’s rifle off to Ian and disappears down the stairs.

My mind is screaming at me to not let my eyes off of someone armed and unknown. I hop up on the box next to Percy.

Ian goes through practiced motions, checking every part of it. Good to see his training still comes through.

“Do you two need any sleep?”

Percy shakes his head sadly at me. Yeah, I figured. I can’t imagine the nightmares you’d have after something like this.

“Here then.” I pass him one of Lucas’ guns. If we’re lucky he won’t have to use it anytime soon.

He follows through nearly the exact same movements Ian did. The two of them must have been in the same squad. I wonder if the others are still alive? I honestly don’t even know if that would even be a good thing.

As we sit there in silence, so many questions pop into my head. Why take limbs from every person, instead of just eating one person at a time? But how the fuck am I even supposed to ask that gently?

I assume Percy had his tongue cut out, but what if there’s another reason he can’t talk? That’s also not something I should ask, but my brain just keeps pushing me to.

“Oh right, I’m Cassie by the way.” I can’t believe I didn’t introduce myself. Or I guess they heard Xav- him say it.

“Vince’s kid right?” he asks casually.

“Not by blood.” Vince has done a lot for me, but I’m not a big fan of him being called my dad. It feels like it’s completely ignoring what my actual parents did. Although I guess not calling Vince dad feels like ignoring what he did for me.

“Does blood even matter these days?” He asks me, still drenched in blood. That’s a multi-layered question if I’ve ever heard it.

“God I don’t fucking know. How do you know him anyway?”

“The two of you don’t stick around for a decade without everyone knowing your names.”

“Right.” I always forget what a big deal he is. “Did Seven send you two out here?”

“Mm-hmm. Sent us out and we walked right into an ambush. According to some of the poor people downstairs this isn’t the first time.”

“I don’t know how we’re all going to kick his ass. I don’t plan to leave much when I’m done.”

“Ha.” Ian gives a half-hearted chuckle. It wasn’t a joke.

“Wait, shh.” I tell him quietly. I think I can hear something from the front door. The soft, barely audible crunch of sneaking through sand.

Person. Front. Door. I sign to the two of them. I really hope they’re up to date on their signs. I know some groups don’t care to practice, and I know that’s gotten people killed. Even if they don’t understand me, they do follow suit when I level Lucas’ gun at the door.

A rifle peaks around the corner, sweeping from side to side. Luckily Ian and Percy still have the presence of mind to hold their fire.

The rifle creeps forward agonizingly slowly. The second his face comes into view all three of us fire. At least one of us hit and he drops hard. I don’t hear anyone behind him.

“Do you think that was to figure out where our cover is?” I ask once I’m sure the bandit isn’t going to get back up.

“I’m not sure they’re that smart.” Ian responds. “And it’s not like there’s anywhere else we can really move to even if that’s what they’re doing. Probably just a guy desperate for another hit.”

From behind the two of us Ivy comes sprinting up the stairs with her rifle in hand. She takes a look at the three of us and at the corpse laying in front of us.

“You good?” She asks casually.

“Yep.” I respond just as nonchalant as her.

“Ok.” She shrugs and disappears back down the stairs.

The three of us remain silently on guard for the next hour. I don’t hear a single sound from outside but I keep my gun ready just in case.

The longer I stay up here the more I grow to trust these two. The part of my brain yelling to not put my back to them is starting to calm down. Finally Ivy comes back up.

“Still is set up and working, and we’ve got a small infirmary downstairs. We’re lucky Blackwell is here to sew up the other three, even if she’s missing an arm.” Ivy steps over to take Vince’s rifle. “Both of you go see Blackwell and get some sleep.”

Ian lets her take the rifle but complains all the while.

“I’m not going to be able to sleep. What about you, Percy?”

Percy shakes his head.

“This isn’t up for discussion.” Ivy’s mom voice is coming though. “I can literally see you swaying from exhaustion. Go.”

“Fine.” He says reluctantly.

“Come on.” Ivy helps him to his feet. Foot. Whatever. The two of them slowly make their way downstairs.

There’s not much to talk about with Percy, and so we just wait for a few minutes until Ivy comes back up. Percy hands me Lucas’ other gun and the two of them once again disappear downstairs.

I’m on high alert when I’m alone. If they assault now, who knows if I can hold out until Ivy gets back. No, not who knows, I won’t be able to hold if they all rush in.

I hop off the box and take cover in the bunker Ivy made. Even if I know I’ll die, I can at least give everyone else the best chance of survival. Luckily before long Ivy returns to my side.

“How’s it going down there?” I ask her.

“We’ll have to see how well Blackwell can work her magic. We’ll be lucky if everyone survives. We have nothing to fight an infection with.” Ivy says plainly.

“Who is she, by the way?”

“Blackwell? She’s a doctor. I don’t know much about her, but she goes out with squads sometimes.”

“Seven sent a doctor to this slaughter? What the fuck, we don’t even have enough at the main base.”

“Apparently she and Seven have beef.”

“And nobody knew this was happening? Not even Silver?” I don’t believe it.

“If I had to guess, anyone who tried to complain got sent here. You know how well fear keeps people silent. As for Silver, I have no idea. He was probably sending enough money back for them to not ask too many questions.”

“God I hate everything.”

“Mm-hmm. What’s up with the corpse by the way?” Sometimes it scares me how casual she is.

“Guy tried to sneak in. I’m not sure if they were trying to figure out where our cover is or if he’s overconfident. Maybe he’s just overcompensating.”

“That’s… interesting. I mean I’m not going to complain about another one of them dead, I’m just not sure what that means.”

“Ian had a theory. How soon does withdrawal start?”

“No idea. That wasn’t exactly my crowd. You know I haven’t tried everything, right?” She gives me a small side eye.

“Yeah, whatever.”

We settle into a silent watch. I’m not sure how confident I feel about our chances of getting out of here, but Ivy’s an immovable constant to stand beside. As long as she’s here we’ll both be ok.