Safe Haven

Burying the Hatchet

Nathan let's out a shrill cry before trying fruitlessly to resuscitate is sister.

"YOU CAN'T DIE ON ME, CHLOE! PLEASE, GOD, DON'T LEAVE ME!" He yells, pounding on her chest. Nathan stands up and sprints towards Bradley, taking him to the ground. The Wildcats point their guns at him, but X motions them to lower their weapons. Nathan releases a ruthless series of punches into Bradley's face. "You killed my sister you fucking piece of shit! You fucking worthless sack of fucking garbage!" Despite having knock him out, Nathan punches Bradley a few more times, before wiping the blood from his torn knuckles off onto his jeans.

"Quite the unexpected ending to this game, if I do say so myself. Nathan, feel free to take your fallen sister with, my men will help you bury her. As for the rest of you, you may leave as well."

"What about Rob?" Valerie asks, standing up.

"Rob is in no condition to travel, but don't you worry, I'll take care of him," Xander assure her.

"Bullshit, you'd better-"

"Val," Bradley cuts her off. "Lets just leave. There's nothing we can do," he says somberly.

The group exits the house, along with the two Wildcats. The head out towards the field. Nathan carries Chloe in his arms, cradling her while stroking her hair.

"I'm sorry, sis. I'm so, so sorry. You deserved so much better," he whispers through tears. Jillian walks next to him, wiping tears from her cheeks.

"Nathan," she whispers to him. "We'll get to that safe haven, and everything will be alright."

"No," he says. "Before we go, I'm going to make Xander pay for this.

"I'm with you," Griffin chimes in.

"Killing him won't bring Chloe or Kate back," Jillian says. "We just need to keep moving before someone else dies."

They reach a spot in the middle of the field. One Wildcat starts digging, while the other approaches Nathan.

"I'm really sorry," he offers his condolences. Nathan ignores him, and waits for the hole to be finished. Nathan gently lays her body down, and kisses her cheek one last time before stepping back to bury her. Hunter whines and kisses her face.

"Get back, boy," Nathan says, taking the shovel from the Wildcat. He fills the shovel with dirt, and pours it onto her body. His sadness becomes anger, and he quickly fills the hole with the rest of the dirt, using the strength from his rage to pull through. He turns towards a Wildcat and smashes the shovel on the crown of their head. The other turns towards him and draws their weapon, but Griffin slices their throat open before they can react.

"Nathan, what are you doing?" Jillian cries.

"You know full well what I'm doing," he says. He picks up the shotgun from a fallen Wildcat and makes his way towards the house. The group follows him.

Nathan knocks on the door, and points the shotgun towards it. Xander opens the door, and Nathan fires the shotgun, tearing out Xander's stomach. He kicks his revolver away from him, and points the shotgun at X's face.

"Did you see the look on Chloe's face when that bullet went straight through her head? It was fucking hil-"

Nathan fires the shotgun at Xander's head, blowing it to giblets.

"Let's get Rob, and get the hell to Fairview," Nathan says, running up the stairs.

Bradley and Valerie follow him. They search every room, before finding him in the master bedroom, strapped to the bed. He's in nothing but his underwear. The skin on his chest has been flayed off, along with his arms and the majority of his legs. He groans in pain.

"Rob!" Bradley yells, running to the side of the bed, placing his hand on his stomach. Rob winces in pain.

"Don't touch me!" He yells. "Just get me out of here!"

"Rob, you can't go like this," Valerie says. "You're... you're missing your skin."

"I'll be fine, just get me out of here!" Rob shouts.

Valerie draws her pistol and points it at Rob's head. "This is for your own good, Rob," she says. "Get back, Bradley."

"No, I won't let you do this!" He says, lunging at Valerie. Nathan points his shotgun at Bradley and fires it into his head, blowing it clean off.

"Holy fucking shit, Nathan!" She screams, pushing his body off of her.

"Just finish off Rob so we can get out of here," Nathan says.

Valerie wipes the blood from her face and nods, firing her gun into Rob's head.

They come meet back up with the group.

"What happened up there?" Jillian asks frantically. "Are you guys okay?"

Valerie looks at Nathan before speaking up.

"Rob was flayed to shit, and I suggested that we put him down. Bradley went crazy and attacked Nathan, trying to grab his shotgun. It went off while they were fighting for it, and it killed Bradley."

"Jesus, well I'm glad you guys are okay," Jillian says, hugging Nathan.

"Me too, but we should get out of here while we can," Griffin suggests.

"I agree," Nathan says. "Hunter, come on boy, let's get going."

The significantly smaller group heads towards Fairview once more. Nathan wipes a tear from his cheek, promising himself that it'll be the last he ever sheds.