Hey sorry about the delay in updates it’s been a rough couple of months. Hopefully my updates will be more often now.

Thanks for your patience and I hope you enjoy the new chapter. R/R

Chapter 5.

“They’re quite beautiful, if you sit and watch them. The way they move andhunt, it’s all so elegant…”

Carlos moved slowly to a sitting position, an arm wrapped around his ribs, his voice trembling with the effort of not screaming. “No offence, but you’re fucking crazy…There’s nothing beautiful or elegant about those savage bastards.”

There was movement to his right, “I’m not crazy,” she stated indignantly.

Carlos quirked an eyebrow and remained silent as he tried to focus on where the woman was. At least where he thought she was.

“You know, I’m surprised you lasted this long,” the woman spoke again, her sing song voice grating on Carlos’ nerves.

“Yeah, well I have a knack for surviving,” he growled out, closing his eyes again, the pain clawing at his consciousness.

“Not for much longer,” she giggled reaching to touch his bleeding side.

Carlos’ hand shot out, locking her frail wrist in an iron like grip, his face riddled with lines of pain. “Don’t even attempt it,” he snarled pushing her hand away.

The woman looked at him before pulling back, her gaunt features appearing sharp and unforgiving under flashing red lights.

Once he was sure the strange woman got the message, Carlos allowed himself to relax. Despite the fact the woman was clearly unstable; he was relieved to finally have some human contact. It had been days since he’d last seen his brother, Philips and Anna. Anna, his stomach lurched at the thought of his Sniper Partner, they had been inseparable, they’d laughed together, teased each other. They’d even gotten drunk together exploring some of the colony bars while on leave, hell they’d even set Antonio up on a blind date with fifty eight year old hooker.

Carlos chuckled despite himself; he’d never seen his little brother so angry. As quickly as his brief bout of happiness arrived it dissipated, flittering away into nothing. There was a very good chance none of them had survived.

If he was completely honest with himself there was only two people left from his squad he’d die for. Anna and Antonio, as for Philips, Carlos couldn’t give a flying fuck whether he survived. The man was a smug, inexperienced asshole who got where he was because he bought his way into high command.

How was it possible to hate a man who held such influence over his life and the lives of his squad mates? Carlos didn’t know, he was a good soldier he did his job, he protected his squad the way he knew how. However the moment, his Commander took it upon himself to personally torment Anna, Carlos took it upon himself to see that Philips’ job was made as difficult as possible. It wasn’t that Anna couldn’t fight her own battles; God knows she could hold her own against most men physically and mentally. It was more the fact Anna was impulsive and on more than one occasion almost got herself put on report.

The mere thought of not having Anna nearby, was enough to make Carlos hand over his tags and quit the core. He gave a weak smirk, not that it would do him any good now, he was fairly certain death would claim him in this colony of hell.

“Oh Chica, why didn’t I listen to you about this place?” He murmured, darkness tugging at his consciousness again.

---

Anna stepped silently along the dark corridor, never straying from the heavy shadows. Antonio paused just behind her, listening tensely.

He touched her elbow lightly and let out a low murmur, “Stop!”

Anna froze, her ears straining against the silence, as she scanned the area for any signs of the enemy. She flexed her fingers around the hilt of her handgun, before casting a questioning glance at Antonio, “Wha…” her words died on her lips, as a long drawn out wail rose into the air.

Pressing back against the wall, she allowed her eyes to drift hesitatingly upwards. Dreading what she might find.

Antonio gave her arm a gentle squeeze, slipping his hand down around her wrist until he had his fingers entwined with hers. “This way,” he murmured pulling her back the way they had come.

Moving back Anna brushed her hand against the wall, feeling in the dark for any ventilation shafts that could serve as an escape route.

“No point, we’d never find our way, not in the dark,” Antonio whispered, his voice barely audible.

Dropping her hand defeated, Anna had to suppress a gasp as another thin wail rose into the air.

“We’ll have to find another way,” she whispered.

Antonio nodded in the shadows, waiting for his commanding officer to make a decision.

Moving carefully back the way they had come, Anna gave a sigh “We can’t stay out in the open, it’s too dangerous. We need to find a service access or some sort of elevator”.

Moving quickly and noiselessly through the shadows of the narrow corridor, Anna headed back towards the small haven of the room.

Once back in the barricaded room, Antonio snapped the UV light back into life and watched Anna as she moved towards the back wall.

“We can use these vent shafts to make it across to the northern side,” she offered pulling the grate cover free.

“It’s a big risk, we’ll get lost in the dark with no way to navigate or see,” Antonio reasoned.

He mused bitterly over their current situation with a grim realisation they wouldn’t get out of the colony alive. They had no food, water or medical supplies, they had one strip light between them and no way of knowing which direction they were travelling in.

They’d left all the packs in the control room, where’d they’d planned to barricade themselves in until help came.

“We will have to risk using the light,” she offered indifferently, as she reached into the thigh pocket of her combats.

Antonio shook his head, a pang of hopeless dread rising in his stomach. “This is insane, why are we even considering this? We’ll be killed!”

Anna looked at him coldly, and threw something towards him, “We’ll die if we stay. Personally if I have to die here I’m not going out quietly.”

Antonio glanced curiously at the object in his hand, adjusting the light slightly to have a better look. A small metallic compass.

“At least we’ll know the direction we’re headed in,” she smiled slightly, suddenly looking very weary and drained.

Antonio gave a snort of disbelief and tossed the compass back to her, “Fucking Loco.” He murmured, shaking his head.

Anna gave a nod, feeling more optimistic than she had in days, “Yep, you have to be to be in this line of work. We both know the Core is a haven for head cases and I’m no exception.” She shrugged giving the grate a hard tug.

Moving across the room to stand beside her, Antonio gave a shadow of a smile and sighed, “Well let’s get this suicide run on the move.” He hesitated before crawling into the narrow vent, light in hand.

Once Antonio had disappeared into the vent, Anna stepped towards the opening. Closing her eyes briefly she took a deep, calming breath and with trembling hands reached to pull herself into the confined space.

Waiting while Anna re-fixed the grate, Antonio glanced warily into the darkness that lay ahead of them. He shook his head to himself. Fucking Loco... His mind growled at him.

“Let’s move,” Anna whispered beside him, her voice wavering slightly.

Noticing the slight waver as she spoke, Antonio shifted the light to look at her. He was surprised to see a several small beads of perspiration forming on her brow and she was chewing her bottom lip anxiously. “Chica you ok?” he questioned softly.

Anna nodded stiffly and forced herself to smile at him. “Fine,” she lied shuffling forward. “Let’s get going, the faster we get to the northern side the better.”