I awoke to the sound of the device slowly humming next to me. My head was fuzzy, but I wasn't in any sort of pain. How long had I been out? Looking up at the sun, it looked as if I had been out no more than an hour, but I couldn't be certain without some better method of telling time. My shoulder felt numb, presumably from some sort of anesthetic that had been applied. Looking at my shoulder though, I noticed no major damage. It had all been repaired by this miracle device. Picking it up, the humming grew slower, and any sort of power that was left post its quick-fix operation was drained away until all I was left with is an inert brick of some unknown material. Presumably, what I had found, and subsequently used was some sort of auto doc, meant to patch up even extreme wounds such as mine. I test my shoulder out a couple of times, and there was no residual pain. Everything was in working order, and while I may not have felt 100%, I wasn't about to stand around while we moved ever closer to our deadline. If I saw another crate on the way, I would have to check it out, if only to see if there was another Medkit but besides that, there was no point in any delays.

I quickly made my way to the factory. It was dilapidated and abandoned as far as I could tell. Nothing stirred as I made my way under bent and twisted beams of steel. The beams, part of the roofing, had all collapsed inward, and there was a distinct charring across them all. Had this factory been bombed? When did it happen and more importantly, where did it come from? The dingy concrete hallways led me to believe this structure was older than I had initially thought. The remains of old brickwork were spread across the floor, and while I could think of a few factories that still used brick, most were made with more modern materials. Had the same group that kidnapped us, also been taking buildings and animals? It would explain why they were so aggressive, if given enough time any animal can go feral, and if they were starving I could see them attacking a human for food. I hadn't seen much in the way of wildlife around, just snow and trees mainly. I snapped myself out of my musings. My theories were great, but it was better to stay mindful and alert, getting caught off guard by another pack of animals could be deadly, especially since this time I could not heal from a mistake. Normally it wasn't this difficult to remain focused for me. I wonder if the others had noticed the same, or if it was isolated to just my situation. Maybe the lack of sleep was starting to get to me.

Wandering through the factory led me to another set of lockers, akin to the ones I had initially found in the watchtower. Inside was another jumbled set of wires and machinery, presumably the next part I needed along with some more rounds for the 38 I had picked up. It was a fortuitous find, especially given that before this I was down to only a single shot. My UI helpfully updated shortly after picking up the part, confirming I had found what I needed.

Part 2/4 Acquired

Hearing something scrape against the ground, I figured it was best to make my exit while I still had the chance. It was possible others had brought stuff back to the cabin, and I worried about my decision to leave Emma and Allison alone with only a flare gun as a defense. As little as I knew about them, it was hard not to find myself caring about their safety. And besides, if they can get Crazy up and about four people would be better than three right?

The trek back to the cabin was uneventful. I saw evidence of more animal tracks, but either they weren't willing to risk attacking me again, or they had found other prey, as I didn't see hide nor hair of them. The sun moved ever closer to the start of the mega-storm and looking into the distance, I could see evidence of the thick grey clouds forming. It began lightly snowing as if to punctuate the ever-present threat. If you took away the alien trees, feral wildlife, and threat of death hanging over me, walking through the forest was almost peaceful. And then a twig snapped behind me.

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I turned, pressing myself against one of the trees to keep as much of my body in cover as possible.

"You have 5 seconds to announce yourself before I assume you are hostile and adopt a shoot first, ask questions later approach," I yelled out into the aether.

"Oh hey, it's one of the people who ditched me at the cabin with one of the traitors. Thanks for that by the way asshole" Luna walked out from the tree she had been hiding behind. "There's only two of them according to the robot that stranded us here, so I'm willing to bet the other one isn't you. But just to be safe, how about you drop the gun for me. I wouldn't want things to get more violent than they need to be." What exactly did Luna mean by the other one? Had she found and dealt with the other traitor?

"First off, what reason do I have to trust you? And secondly, the way I'm seeing it, I have the gun and you don't, so I'll just be holding it right here if that's not an issue your majesty." I raised the gun slightly to emphasize my point.

"Why is it that every time some dumbass gets a gun, they start acting like the biggest dick possible." Luna sighed. "Look behind you, idiot."

I turned my head slightly, keeping Luna in sight but not quite believing this wasn't a trick on her part. I looked right into the barrel of a hunting rifle held by none other than the big man who had been comatose at the start of all this.

"Believe me now? So, mind dropping the gun so we can have a civilized conversation?" Luna was seeming less and less like my inital assessment of her as a spoiled little brat, or at least she seemed to have adjusted well to our situation over the night.

I dropped the gun. It wasn't like I had much choice in the matter. "Sure, let's talk. How can you be confident that I'm not the other traitor? To your knowledge I'm on my own, wandering around with a gun. Seems pretty suspicious to me."

"Well, that's because BT was following you. We saw you pick up the part we needed, and since you are pretty oblivious, you didn't even notice us. Until I tripped that is." That must have been the noise I heard, seems I really need to work on my situational awareness.

"BT?" I asked, turning to the man still pointing the rifle towards me.

"Big Tiny, and as much as Luna might trust you, I don't. So, don't try anything and we won't have issues."

"You'll get no argument from me. Hell, I'm just glad to hear that you figured out one of them. Who was it by the way?" I didn't entirely believe they weren't lying to me, but considering how isolated I was, if they wanted to kill me they would have. Either they still needed me for something, or they were likely telling the truth.

"That guy you left with us at the cabin. I had finished giving the android a piece of my mind and looked around for you guys. And then I realized that you had all left me behind, again, dick move and so I decided my best bet was to wait for you since running off alone in the woods is just asking for trouble. He had gotten a knife from somewhere, and when my back was turned went after me. I didn't even see him move. He had me on the ground, and was about to finish the job when BT knocked him off of me and slammed his head into the floor. We left him there, presumably dead and decided to go looking for anyone else." When she mentioned running off alone in the woods, the brat gave me a look, as if I had a choice on going out by myself. The other two were busy treating Crazy. My eyes widened.

"We need to go right now. He's not dead, and the girls are with him."