If Branch was going to toss Gabriel into the arena, there was a very good reason for it. There was also a chance that he'd have to fight Will. In fact, that scenario made sense to her. They brought in Gabriel to a lot of pomp and fanfare, then Will, who was supposed to be retiring from the arena, was told to keep fighting a while longer.

Vera wasn't sure what that meant for them, or what it meant for Gabriel, either. Branch might've been an asshole, but he was an intelligent asshole that was always looking out for his own interests. Chances were that this wasn't what it seemed like on the surface at all, and that he was looking to make some sort of grand statement. What that statement was, she wasn't sure of yet, but she had to find out what Will knew about it. Watering became the afterthought while she stashed the watering can and slapped her palms against her jeans, wiping off the dirt. The hallway was just as quiet, but now it felt ominous instead of peaceful. A blood-curdling cry stopped her dead in her tracks. The cry wasn't close, but it sounded like it came from outside. The building was sound-proofed, but the cry felt like it shook the building. A chill ran down her spine and she quickened her pace towards their room, fumbling with her room key before hearing the lock click and throwing the door open, slamming it shut behind her while trying to catch her breath.

"Oh fuck," Will was crooning, huddled over Jenna's svelte frame, hips rhythmically slamming into her, his hairy ass an eyesore amongst her carved perfection. She could barely make Jenna out from underneath him if it wasn't for her hands gripping the edge of the bed and her hair whipping around. "Oh yeah, baby, I'm so close."

"Hurry up and finish," Vera muttered, shaking her head while she walked by towards the kitchen for a drink. Beer bottles littered the table by the bed, clanking against each other while the bed lurched back and forth.

"Oh, my god baby!" Jenna's muffled voice came from the dark recesses of the bed.

"Oh god, oh yes," William was shouting out before he stopped, gave a few more thrusts and collapsed on the bed next to her, panting and fighting for breath. "Now that's a good fuck," he said, reaching out and slapping Jenna's still exposed ass on the side, her squealing.

"Are you done now?" Vera asked.

"Oh, I could go all night," he jested. "What's gotten your knickers? You want a go as well?"

"No, christ," she picked up an opened bottle of vodka, took a sniff and a swig before slamming it back down on the table. "This is serious, fuckwit."

"I'm all ears then," he said.

"'cuse me," Jenna gathered up a sheet, wrapping it around her torso and clutching to it lightly while she strode through the room towards the bathroom, almost like she hoped that it'd fall off of her.

"My god, that one," he said.

"I need you to focus, Will."

"Fuckin' 'ell, I'm focused. Now what's got your cunt all worked up?"

"What do you know about TK Gabriel?"

"That actor bloke?"

"Yeah, the actor." Sometimes he was so dense.

"I dunno, just that he's some cunt arse from Hollywood that ain't a fan o' mine."

"That's all that you know about him?"

"Alright, alright, damnit." He swished around a bottle on the nightstand, looking for a drink. "Pass me that vodka, at least?"

"Fine," she held it out for him, William snatching it and taking a pull. "Now talk."

"Branch wanted me to get him worked up tonight, you know, all right n' riled up over what we're doing. He thinks that he'll be bad news for all of us, that people might follow him or some'un."

"So that's why you didn't get to retire?"

"Aye. That's the bitch of things, innit?"

"So you know all about this, then? You're okay with it?"

"He's some poofter movie star," he said, taking another pull from the bottle. "What is there to worry about? I've got that gauntlet you made, I've got the crowd and most importantly, I've got Jordan Branch on my side. What else could I need?"

"How do you know we can trust Branch, though? You were supposed to retire, right? Now you aren't. I don't know, Will, I don't trust this."

"It'll be fine, christ," he said. "Why can't you be more like Jenna?"

"Because Jenna can't fix your gauntlet and keep you from getting mauled to death in that arena."

"Ain't that the kicker?" he shook his head. "By the way, could you please give 'er a look before tomorrow?"

"Wait, are you fighting again tomorrow? There is usually some time off in between."

"Dunno," he said. "Just wanna be prepared is all."

"I think you know something and you aren't telling me," she bit at her thumbnail.

"What the fuck?" He said. "Can you just look at the damned gauntlet for me and make sure that it's ready to go?"

"Fine," she picked herself up. "I'll head down to the workshop now, alright?"

Stolen story; please report.

"Thank ya," he gave her a nod, Jenna emerging from the bathroom still wrapped in the sheet, flopping down on the bed next to him.

Time had slipped away from her and seemed to matter less and less after her conversation with Will, but she knew it was late. The sound that she heard before was fresh in her mind, although she didn't have time to mention it to Will during his ignorant digressions. He was so thick-headed sometimes and really thought that he was the most important man in that tower outside of Branch. What scared her the most was that he possibly was. If Gabriel posed a threat to Branch's authority, what did he think about Will, the unstoppable champion of the arena? Will was very much his puppet and was quick to believe Branch, but Branch's behavior seemed erratic, at best, with his legacy.

The link of some Hollywood type being a threat was a difficult one for her to make in her mind. People would remember him, sure, but he represented all that wasn't anymore, while Branch could present his own vision of the future with somewhat tangible results. Then again, his grasp on the situation seemed to slip from his fingers the more that he grew weary of everyone around him. She had seen none of his experiments outside of Demoreo, who made his way throughout the arena and struck fear into the hearts of everyone. The elevator ride down to the basement to where her workshop was located felt like an eternity, thoughts swirling in her head of what Jordan Branch's true motives could be, what her future was, and what the hell that sound was before.

As soon as the elevator door opened, a wave of heat rushed at her. The sound of screams, groans and sirens filling the smoke-filled air, mixing with the scent of freshly spilled blood, not that stale smell that permeated the arena. Vera stumbled out of the elevator into the hallway, covering her mouth up from the stench, and made her way towards her workshop. Every bit of her body was urging her to turn back, to get back into the elevator and return to her room, but she wanted to make sure that her workshop was all right. If William's gauntlet somehow went missing, that would mean the end of all of this, and the end of her. She traced her hand along the wall while she made her way through the dark hallway, only accented by the occasional red light from the alarms. There, laid out in front of her path, lay a still body of a man on the ground before her, Vera having to step over him. She almost slipped on the puddle of blood that surrounded him before catching herself on the knob of a door.

"Keep it together, Vera," she muttered, pushing forward, knowing that her workshop was just two doors away. The smoke had dissipated, now just the stench of the dead, the alarms and the red light set the tense mood in the hallway. Another door passed. The next one was hers, she reminded herself. "Keep it together," she closed her eyes and pressed forward, the sound of gunshots and shouts from up ahead making her jump out of her skin. Her pace quickened, finding the door, swiping the key card and throwing open the door to see her room undisturbed. The door slammed shut behind her, her body wedging up against it, hoping to keep whatever was going on away from her. Her hand scaled up the door to the deadbolt, fastening it with a click in vain, hope it would be enough.

The small lamp over the workbench went on with a click, illuminating the desk and the hunk of spiked steel that served as William's gauntlet laying there looking menacing even in its still state. She always thought it looked goofy on William, but on its own it looked like every bit of an instrument of death that it really was. Charged with a 450mA, it was enough to stop a heart when it hit, but with the impact from his fist to a head, well, the results spoke for themselves. Heads exploded, bodies twitched, and the crowd roared. Everything seemed fine on the gauntlet itself, just in need of a recharge, and it should be ready to go the next day, that is, if he really would be fighting the next day. It was never two nights in a row, ever.

More gunshots made her jump, then a pounding on the door. "Fuck," she swore under her breath, turning to the lamp and flicking it off. "Fuck fuck fuck."

"Open up in there!" The voice called, the pounding increasing in intensity. "Open the fuck up now!"

She reached over to the gauntlet, clumsily slipping it onto her right hand. She wasn't sure how William dealt with wearing such a cumbersome instrument of destruction, the cold metal with the light leather lining on the inside that his sweaty fist had made malleable and quite rank to the sniff. She flipped the switch on the back, powering it on with the LED indicator showing 50% battery left in it, enough to fry whoever was on the other side of that door. The pounding intensified, followed by the click of the lock. Whoever was on the other end had a key. The deadbolt was still across, but she knew there was a failsafe for that as well, just had to hope this person didn't have that key.

"Open the bloody door, damnit! Fine," he said. "Then I'm coming in."

Click, the bolt unlatched, Vera clenching her right fist tight, gauntlet at the ready. The door swung open, Vera charging at the figure screaming. "Grrraa!" She called before feeling the butt of a rifle connect on her forehead, pain jolting through her body while it dropped hard to the floor.

"What the bloody hell are ya doing?" The man stood over her. She looked up, her vision blurred but recognizing the red gloves worn by William's brother, Stuart.

"Stuart?" She looked up at him, rubbing her head with her left hand.

"Bloody fuck, Vera." He closed the door behind him. "Ya aren't supposed ta be here."

"I was just checking on Will's gauntlet and..."

"Didn't you fuckin' hear me?" He reached down and grabbed at her arm, tugging her up to her feet. "Get the fuck outta here!"

"Fuck off, Stuart," she pulled her arm out of his grip. "Don't fucking touch me."

"Fuckin' cunt," he said. "It's not safe down here, didn't you hear the gunshots, the screams, see the blood or fuckin' bodies?"

"Yeah, but, I..."

"What part of it not being safe don't you get, cunt?" He opened the door and looked around. "I've gotta get you outta here right the fuck right now, c'mon."

"Fine," he went to tug at her elbow again, but she resisted, tossing the gauntlet back on the bench. "Just don't touch me, Stuart, or I'll have William kick your ass."

"There won't be any ass to kick if we don't fuckin' move," he tugged her out into the hallway, slamming the door shut behind him. He pushed her ahead of him down the hallway towards the elevator, towards the smoke and the body. "C'mon, c'mon," he said.

"There's a body up ahead," she said. "Be careful. It should be just past the next door."

"Fine," he said. "Just hurry up."

They continued down the hallway, Vera doing her best to keep her composure, until they reached the spot where the body was. The pool of blood was still there, as was the skid mark from where she had almost slipped. "What the hell," she muttered. "Stuart, this is where the body was, I don't—"

"We gotta move," he said. "Go go go, get to that bloody lift already."

Her heart was beating faster now, confused as to what was going on. Was there an outbreak on that level? Did that body she saw come back to life? A shiver ran down her spine while she started picking up the pace, the smell of the smoke filling her lungs up again and making her cough. The elevator was just a little way ahead; she dashed the last few feet, pressing the call button when she heard a groan from up ahead. Before she knew it, she felt a pair of hands on her and let out a scream. Stuart jogged towards her, firing shots off towards the ceiling.

"Help!" she cried out, pinned up against the wall and feeling the firm hands pushing her back. His tongue lashed out towards her when another shot rang out and the hands let go, the body slumping over onto her. Vera heard the ding of the elevator and scrambled away from the body, letting it fall to the floor when she heard it—just like earlier—the blood-curdling scream that shook the entire building.

"Oh fuckin' hell," Stuart muttered, looking down the hall before he started rattling off shots at it. "Get out of here and don't look back," he called to her, the door sliding shut while he pressed forward, screaming and firing into the smoky abyss.