The group of men and women had gathered in the manor's basement, surrounding a large hole that had been dug into the floor. A gentle slope leads downwards into the darkness, and hopefully, eventually to escape. Marco regards the assembled group, have taken control of the settlement ever since Edward had decided to make himself scarce. The entire group fidgets nervously, knowing that nothing less that their lives are at stake.

"Everybody clear on what they need to do?" Marco asks as the group nods firmly, "Archie and I will be leading a team to secure the evac zone and capture our 'glorious' king if possible. I've assigned a group of knights to finish off the infected in the settlement. The rest of you begin packing as much supplies as possible. Got it?"

"I've given you the keys to the warehouses." Archie says in a neutral voice to the crowd as his heart seethes with frustration, "Remember to take as much as you can carry. Conscript everyone in the settlement and put them to work."

"What he said." Marco confirms, "We probably won't be coming back here for a long time. The land's gone sour from the Herd hanging about. Everybody has to pull their weight in this evacuation."

"Got it." a lanky man serving as the manor's butler grunts, "Grab all the food, water and PPE we can get our hands on. But there's only so much we can carry on foot though."

"Just do your best." Archie mutters in resignation, "Something is better than nothing. Especially out there in the virus waste."

"Let's go, let's go!" Claire trills as she walks up to the group, flanked by the majorette and the trumpet boy. A small crowd of servants brings up the rear of the procession.

"You're really serious in coming along then?" Archie asks, scrutinizing the motley group Claire leads. The majorette and trumpet boy both carry rifles that look well cared for as far as Archie knew. Claire herself is packing a small automatic pistol, squashed between her sausage fingers. But the rest of the servants carry kitchen knives, batons, chains and other makeshift weapons. Claire must have had trouble rustling up enough guns for her posse.

"Of course I'm coming along." Claire graces Archie with a predatory grin, "I've got unfinished business to take care of."

"Just remember what I said." Marco warns, "We're only backing you up as long as it fits into our plan to escape, understand? No one's going to charge off into the Herd to kill Eddie for you."

"Clear as crystal." Claire laughs, the smell of whiskey on her breath, "So shall we get going?"

"Someone's eager." Marco frowns as he signals the men with the lanterns to get ready for the journey through the tunnel.

"Woman scorned." Archie whispers back as he settles in behind Marco, forming a loose column with the rest of the pursuit team. The pursuit team descends indian file into the maw of the tunnel, the lanterns offering the sole source of illumination.

"Don't I know it." Marco mutters back, careful not to let Claire overhear the conversation.

The walls of the tunnel close in on both sides of the pursuit team, leaving them barely enough room to shuffle along. Crudely cut wooden beams are wedged periodically against the tunnel's roof, preventing a premature cave in. The ground had also not been smoothed, and as Archie unhappily troops along, his feet kick up loose bits of rubble that go scattering about the uneven surface. Edward had prioritized speed over quality in building the tunnel.

Archie nervously pats the stacks of cash kept in his jacket as well as taped all over his torso. The invisible hand remained his best weapon, even though he carried a gun for the sake of form. The pistol, a Beretta apparently, Archie could never be bothered about minutiae like that, was tucked snugly in its holster. Archie's henchmen had recommended it to him. Apparently the gun was both easy and pleasant to use, a good choice for an amateur. Not that Archie expected the need to actually get his hands dirty. The pursuit team comprised of muscle handpicked from both Marco's knights and Archie's henchmen. And that's not counting Claire and her servants. They were more than enough to deal with Edward's bodyguards if things needed to be solved with violence.

But it never hurt to be careful.

Indistinct voices could be heard up ahead. The pursuit team picks up the pace, having scented blood. Suddenly an angry shout booms from the distance.

"Move woman! Stop struggling!"

"That's Eddie." Claire pipes up happily, "We've almost caught up!"

Suddenly a single gunshot rings throughout the tunnel, causing Archie to rub his ears in discomfort. Edward's high pitched voice then continues with the threats and ranting.

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"Next bullet is going right into the baby! You want that bitch?" And with that threat, silence prevails in the tunnel.

"Pick up the pace." Marco commands the team, "Eddie's no longer playing around."

Archie nods, quietly grateful that Frank had not decided to act up at this moment. Soon, the tunnel begins to slope upwards and the scent of a fresh breeze could be felt.

"Almost there." Archie pants, wiping the sweat from his forehead with a sleeve. In the background, Claire could be heard huffing and puffing from the exertion. As they struggle up the incline, they could see the lip of the tunnel's exit leading to the great outdoors.

"Look out!" Marco barks, "Something's up ahead. Weapons at the ready."

Archie squints and sure enough right at the exit shrouded in darkness is a body lying on the ground, moving weakly. The knights and henchmen train their rifles at the figure as the procession inches up cautiously, nerves strained to the edge.

"Its just that girl that hangs about the Immune woman." Marco grunts dismissively after a moment's examination, "Let's keep moving."

The pursuit team immediately begins surging forward, eager to make up for lost time. The nursemaid whimpers pitifully, a bloody wound blasted open right into her gut. But no one remotely cares as they step over the injured girl, eyes fixed on the prize.

And as the entire team emerges from the tunnel, they stumble into a massive bank of fog, swallowing them up to a man.

"Fuck!" Marco curses as he loses sight of the knights in front of him, "Where did this fog come from?"

"I can't see!' Claire cries out, her voice sounding strangely muffled, "Where's everyone?"

"Damn it." Archie curses, reaching for a wad of cash. Archie had never experienced fog for as long as he stayed in the kingdom. That only meant one thing. The fog was wasn't natural. It was caused or perhaps even summoned by someone.

Or something.

The fog smothers Archie as if it were a heavy quilt and he feels his senses begin to dull. By now he could neither see nor hear most of the people who made up the pursuit team. If Archie focused, he could catch occasional glimpses of Marco's back as the Knight Commander plunges deeper into the milky morass.

"Shit! Bear! Bear!" a panicked shout comes from somewhere around Archie, coupled with the rattle of gunfire.

Wasting no time, Archie clenches his fist as the cash in his hand burns up. In a single motion, Archie snorts a generous helping of the ashes. As the bitter scent fills his nostrils, Archie's senses reawaken and the fog clears, revealing a scene of utter horror.

Both the pursuit team and Edward's group were in the middle of a forest clearing, stumbling about blindly. In the center of the clearing was that Immune woman, hugging her baby and sobbing frantically with her eyes tightly shut. But the star of the show was a large bear, moving easily through the crowd, picking off the armed men with swats of its paw. A hideous thing, with portions of its fur pelt marked with burn scars. But the most horrifying aspect of the bear was its face.

Half of the bear's face looked like someone had gone to work on it with a blow torch. It was disfigured beyond all recognition. But both the bear's eyes were left untouched by whatever had happened to it. Sickly yellow and gleaming with pure evil. The eyes of a beast.

"Xir." Archie groans in pure despair as the bear tears out the throat of one of Edward's bodyguards. Most of the fighting men and servants had already been slaughtered by the beast's rampage, their bodies left sprawled all over the ground.

As Marco staggers about in a confused circle, Archie quickly grabs the knight commander and shoves him into the nearby foliage, hopefully away from Xir's line of sight. As Marco struggles weakly, Archie stuffs the remaining ashes up his colleague's nose, following up with a hard pinch on the cheeks.

"Wha .. What?" Marco slurs, his wits slowly returning to him.

"Shut up." Archie hisses, "We need to get out of here now."

Marco blinks as he peeks out through the foliage, witnessing Edward draw his 'royal weapon', a gold plated revolver and aiming it straight at the nightmare bear.

"Begone knave!" Edward yells with bravado as he empties his gun into the bear.

The bear rears up on its hind legs, tanking the bullets without any trouble, looking singularly unimpressed at Edward. The bear than stalks forward, sinking its paws into the king's shoulders. A low, guttural voice emits from the bear's bloodstained mouth.

"KNOW YOUR PLACE MEAT."

And Edward's body is torn into half, showering the Immune woman and her baby with gore.