Safe Haven

Revenge

As the sun begins to set, the five remaining members of the group search for a decent place to set up camp.

"How about that little house over there? It looks pretty cozy, right?" Jillian asks cheerfully.

"I don't know, I think we should just keep moving until we absolutely need to stop and camp," Nathan responds.

"You can't tell me you're not tired," Kate says.

"I doubt I'll sleep well tonight anyways," he grunts.

"Babe, you'll be alright, I'm here with you, everything is going to be just fine," Jillian assures him.

"No, I really don't think it will be. My dad was the toughest son of a bitch I knew, and now he's gone. He didn't even make it through the first day. How the hell are we supposed to do this?" Nathan shakes his head and keeps walking. "Up there, we can set up camp at that little blue house with the wooden fence."

"Sounds like a plan," Griffin smiles, holding Kate's hand in his.

"I'll keep watch tonight, you all should get some rest," Chloe says.

"No no, we're all sleeping tonight," Nathan says. You can cuddle up with me and Jillian. You need a good night's sleep more than anyone here."

"I don't think I should-"

"Chloe," Jillian interrupts, "it'll be fine, hon. Just sleep with Nate and I."

"If you insist."

"I do."

The group makes it to the house, locking every door and blocking every window before making themselves at home.

"Well, this isn't such a bad place," Nathan says. "It could use less rats, maybe not so much mold, and dragging out those corpses was definitely chore, but I've seen worse."

Griffin strolls over to Nathan, placing his palm on Nathan's shoulder.

"Nate, buddy, this is a shit-hole," Griffin lets out a fake smile and walks back over to Kate, continuing their private conversation.

Kate sits against a wall, weeping gently.

"How are we going to do this?" She asks.

"We can still go back," Griffin suggests. "The shelter isn't that far away."

"We can't just let James's death be in vain."

"Kate, his death will be in vain regardless. There's no way we're going to survive this journey. Let's you and me sneak back to the shelter while those three are asleep. What do you say?"

Kate slaps Griffin across the face and pushes him away from her.

"Okay, ouch," Griffin rubs his red cheek. "I guess you can keep going with them, but I may not be here in the morning."

"Good," Kate says sternly. "You're a piece of shit, Griff."

"Hey, watch it," Griff begins to raise his voice.

"No!" Kate yells. The rest of the group looks over at Kate and Griffin. "We don't want you here, so why don't you just fucking leave?"

"Kate..."

"Get out!" She stands up and pushes him back. "Get the fuck out of here Griff!"

Griffin stumbles back, and clenches his fist. Nathan grabs his forearm.

"Griffin, lets just get some sleep, we can hash this out in the morning," Nathan says, attempting to keep the peace.

"Kate, come sleep with me tonight, we can talk about things," Chloe invites Kate into another room to sleep. Kate follows, flipping Griffin the bird on the way. Griffin pulls his arm free from Nathan's grip and lays down in the spot that Kate had laid out for them.

Nathan tries to sleep with Jillian in his arms, but can't shake the image of his helpless father, disemboweled, spitting up his own blood, it keeps him awake, until he finally passes out from exhaustion.

Nathan and Jillian are shaken awake by a frightened Chloe.

"Guys! Guys! Wake up!" Chloe yells in a hushed tone.

"Huh? What's up sis?" Nathan says groggily, rubbing his eyes.

"Griffin and Kate went out for a walk just a minute ago, and now they're surrounded by bandits!" She cries.

"Oh fuck," Nathan says, hopping to his feet. "You two stay in here, shoot from the windows if you have to. I'm going out there."

Jillian hugs him tight. "You'll be okay babe," she assures him. He hugs her back.

"Please be careful, Nate," Chloe says through tears.

"I will, get to your windows, I'll be back inside soon," he says, running towards the front door.

Nathan walks outside with his hands up. Five bandits stand in a line, behind Griffin and Kate. The bandits have them on their knees, with their hands on the back of their heads. Both Griffin and Kate have guns pointed to the back of their heads, while the other three bandits point theirs at Nathan.

"What's this all about?" Nathan shouts.

"You know what this is about," a bandit yells back in a rough, sandpaper-like voice. "You killed three of us, I think it's only fair we take you three out. Eye for an eye, right?"

"Those men attacked us!" Nathan shouts angrily. "It was them or us!"

The bandit fires a shot into the sky.

"Let's stop the yelling and settle this, right here, right now. I've got two of your friends here, but only one of them are walking away from this. I'd say that's fair, yeah?" The bandit orders his men to press their weapons to the back of Griffin and Kate's heads.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Nathan yells. "I'm not letting you kill my friends!"

"Friend, actually. I'd say killing one after you killed three is a pretty good deal."

Nathan pulls out his gun, pointing it at the leader of the group.

"How about I just put you all down right now?" Nathan says.

"Five against one? That's not a very fair fight, now is it?" The bandit laughs. Suddenly, two shots are fired simultaneously from the house, and the bandits behind Griffin and Kate drop dead. Nathan fires at the leader, dropping him to the ground, Griffin quickly grabs one of the remaining bandits, using him as a human shield while the last attacker fires at him. Griffin tosses the human shield on top of the last bandit, disarming him and pinning him to the ground.

"Wait wait wait!" The bandit pleads, but Griffin stomps on his head until it's nothing but mush.

The bandit leader clutches his chest, attempting to stanch the bleeding. He reaches for his firearm, but Nathan kicks it away. Jillian and Chloe run outside, hugging Kate tightly.

"You've made a big mistake, buddy," the bandit says, spitting up blood.

"Actually, I'm doing just fine, and you appear to be dying," Nathan chuckles. "Looks like you made a huge mistake, huh?" He kicks the bandit in the side of the head, knocking him to the ground. Nathan turns to the group. "Loot the corpses, grab anything useful, and then we're getting out of here."

As they loot the corpses, two large, rusty vans roll up at the scene of the fight. Seven bandits hop out of one van, pointing assault rifles at the group.

"Oh shit..." Nathan sighs. The group puts their hands up.

"Take 'em," one of the bandits commands. The others run towards the group, beating the shit out of all of them. Griffin attempts to fight back, but a gun-butt to the head quickly knocks him unconscious.

"Throw them in the van, and one of you, stay with them. Make sure they don't try anything funny," the bandit lights a cigarette, walking back to his van.