* * *

"Oh *****," Alice gasped as she woke up to the sound of Helena’s voice blasting out of the speakers. "We fell asleep, Dana! Both of us! We can not do that!"
"Definitely not," Dana agreed sleepily before even realizing what Alice was actually talking about. They sat there under the tree in stunned silence for a while and listened to Helena’s message, writing down the names of the danger zones.
"Okay, we’re so gonna die," Dana said and stared at Alice in disbelief after the message had ended. "I mean, if people are already dying, it’s just a matter of time"
"No ***** way," Alice snapped and rose to her feet. "We have to make the best out of the situation. I’m not gonna let Helena ***** Peabody, or anyone else for that matter, tell me when my life is over. Put your clothes on, then we’ll go look for Shane and Carmen. They’ll know what to do."

* * *

"So, the killing has started already," Shane said thoughtfully. "I wonder who died."
She and Carmen were still making their way through the dark forest, not really knowing what they were looking for, but not expecting company just yet since they had been the first ones to leave the old school building.
Shane had taken off her white shirt and tie, and was only wearing a black wife beater and a pair of black jeans. It was easier to fight that way, if she would have to. She hoped not.
"I hope it was someone we didn’t like," Carmen frowned and Shane chuckled, shaking her head at Carmen’s nave frankness.
"Yeah, I guess I hope so too." She turned serious. "I wonder what Al and Dane got."
"I don’t think it was them, Shane," Carmen said and took her hand, trying to comfort her. "I mean, I hope it wasn’t. Isn’t that all we’ve got now?" she asked. "Hope?"
"No," Shane replied and looked down at her hip, indicating the sword that was attached to her belt. "We’ve got this too."
"Shane" Carmen said, stopping to look at her worriedly.
Shane gently grabbed Carmen’s arms, looking deeply into her brown eyes.
"As long as I have this, you don’t have to worry," she said and kissed her softly. "I’m gonna protect you, trust me."
"Yeah," Carmen said quietly and nodded slowly. The words on the card she had found in her first-aid kit still wouldn’t give in and let her dare to trust Shane, but she couldn’t let her know she doubted her. "We’ll be alright," she said aloud.
"Helena isn’t gonna get aw"
A gunshot echoed through the forest and Carmen screamed, grabbing her right upper arm with her left hand, easing herself down on the ground.
"All of this is your fault! If it hadn’t been for you, we wouldn’t be here and I’m gonna make you pay!"
Shane gritted her teeth and furiously pulled her sword. She had immediately recognized the voice that was yelling at her. Cherie. She should have known she would mean trouble.
Shane dropped her bag and glanced down at Carmen who seemed to be okay, in spite of getting shot at, and then she ran forward to face Cherie.
Carmen watched in a state of shock as Cherie fired her gun repeatedly at Shane who dodged every single bullet and in the end managed to get close enough to stop her. Carmen gasped when Shane used her sword to separate Cherie’s hand from her arm, hand and gun falling down on the ground under a fountain of blood, before she swirled around with the sword raised, cutting Cherie’s head off in the process.
"Oh God," Carmen thought. "It’s like she’s doing this gracefully macabre dance"
"Don’t you ever ***** die?!" she suddenly heard a man shout from over where Shane was and next came the sounds of metal clashing against metal.
"I know you want me to," Shane retorted mockingly, "but I don’t really feel the urge to make your wishes come true."
Carmen let go of the wound on her arm and realized it wasn’t that bad. The bullet had just grazed her skin, she would be okay.
"I have to help Shane," she thought, picking up a large stone from the ground before nervously glancing over at the battle between her girlfriend and the stranger. "Not that she seems to need any help."
The man kept lashing out at her with his own sword but she easily fended off each and every one of his attacks.
"She looks like she hasn’t been doing anything else in her entire life Where the ***** did she learn to fight like that?"
"Here’s for what you did to Cherie!" the man shouted angrily at Shane and Carmen finally understood who those people were.
The next thing she saw was Steve attacking again, but this time Shane didn’t try to fend it off, instead she waited until the very last moment and then leaped out of the way, spun around and ran her sword through his chest.
"Told you that you weren’t gonna kill me," she said coldly through gritted teeth and stared at him while he coughed, blood pumping out of his mouth.
Then, coming seemingly out of nowhere, Carmen’s eyes detected a movement on the edge of her field of vision. She still didn’t react in time to warn Shane.
"You *****!" a young blonde woman screamed, running out from her hiding place behind a huge tree when Shane was about to pull her sword out of Steve’s limp body. She had no chance to react to what was happening before she felt the cold metal blade penetrate the skin of her back.
She gasped for breath as the pain struck her and Clea pulled out her dagger and started to yell at her.
"Why did you have to kill them?! They were my family, you ***** freak!"