Emil felt as if he had slept through his entire life, but he knew what was happening. Maybe not exactly, but he was aware of his sister's kidnapping or the presence of an outsider. The connection was that the boy could hear most of the conversations going on close to him. Admittedly, he heard them as if through a fog, without being subconsciously aware of them, but the voice in his head told him what he would learn from those conversations. He was relieved when he woke up still alive. For he had concerns for a moment whether when he woke up he would be the only one alive from his family, fortunately this was not the case. However, this did not dissuade him from Kaja, whom he was determined to find at all costs the moment he woke up.

  A strong desire for revenge was taking over his body. He could not tell if it was his own feeling or his old self, rooted deep inside him. Nevertheless, he followed this emotion, knowing full well what he wanted to do. However, his wound had not healed, he should have spent the next several days in bed and he was already ready for action. His stamina was remarkable, a normal person with such a wound would not sit still let alone move on his feet.

  The sight of Emil awake shocked the women in the house. They couldn't believe it because they remembered perfectly the words of Tarhos, who warned them that at best he would wake up in a few days. They immediately flew around him, asking if he needed anything. Judyta even wanted to examine him additionally, but he got up from his bed unconcerned, rejecting any help.

  "You can't go there. You almost died!" Anna yelled at him, forbidding him to leave the shelter in this state.

  Following in their footsteps could have ended nightmarishly, Emil knew this but wanted to do it anyway. Idly waiting for the outcome would only frustrate him, besides, he wanted to take care of unfinished business with Klara and Igor himself.

  "I know what I have to do." He groaned in pain, pawing at the wound on his stomach. "You just have to trust me."

  "What will you do? They have already gone."

  "They have to come back here. We will agree to their conditions. They will get shelter, supplies or whatever they want and we will leave."

  "Do you hear yourself?" No one present understood why Emil wanted to surrender to them. "He will kill you."

  Emil looked at his mother angrily. For Anna, both one child and the other were equally important, while for Emil, the life of his younger sister was more important than his own. The boy could not be persuaded to change his decision, he had his plan.

  "They have Kaja. We have to get it done safely, I have to get it done-"

  "Since when safely?" his mother cut into his sentence, remembering what her son himself had done before.

  "Since Dariusz was killed by our stupidity!" he exploded when he was already pissed. His blood pressure jumped and his heart palpitated. Emil still believed that his cousin's death could have been avoided if only he hadn't organized an expedition to get supplies. In addition, now the risk of losing his sister compounded his fears of reckless, risky moves.

  Anna fell silent, wiping away a tear at the mention of her nephew. Judyta did not hide her sadness, she had to leave the room. The boy felt excruciating pain, the wound could open at any moment during movement therefore he was urged to stay in bed. However, this one ignored it, suppressing the pain within himself with clenched teeth. The women were powerless, they could not hold the boy in place so they finally let go. Emil headed for the living room, descending the stairs. From the cabinet that served as weapons storage after the apocalypse, he pulled out a small knife. It was very sharp, having not been used once. He wanted to hide it somewhere as quickly accessible as possible. An idea came to him, he hid the blade in his right sleeve. He was now ready for anything, he didn't need anything else. However, time was passing and his loved ones were probably already not far from the mansion, this could nullify his plan. He sat for a moment soothing the pain, while at the same time thinking about how to bring them back home. He had to act because with every second it could be all over.

  He rose with difficulty. He felt his wound opening up and fresh bandages dripping blood. But it didn't matter, he left the house quickly without saying anything to the women, who didn't manage to catch him. When he left the shelter area he had peace from the constant complaining and attempts to confine him as if in a cage. He recalled what had happened that day when he went looking for Klara, hatred was born in him anew, but much greater than before. While earlier he had been able to bear her presence, now the mere thought of her gave him a headache. He had to hurry because precious minutes were slipping through his fingers.

  ><

  "Do you know which way to this place?"

  Tarhos asked, making sure the weapon was functional. He made sure it was loaded and unlocked several times. Stress was causing him to panic, but he wasn't the only one panicking. The duel might have seemed one-sided, after all it was three mature guys against a youngster who had barely entered adulthood. However, it was not so obvious. Igor was recalcitrant, mentally ill, in addition, he had hostages. This fact pushed them most on the defensive. They could not afford an open assault because they would expose the girls to a quick death.

  They were prepared for every eventuality. Two guns, loaded with bullets, a sharp axe. All that remained was the question of mentality. Killing in theory was easy, but practice was a completely different tale. All you have to do in the end is pull the trigger, but when you do you take a person's life. Tarhos did not think about it, he killed many people while Dawid and Miko?aj were stressed. They talked among themselves making sure of the plan and Veredi listened to them. He sensed that they might not be able to cope so he knew that if it had to be done he would be the one to pull the trigger.

  They were already at the forest, running to reach under the treetops. They smelled the stench of corpses, they just didn't know if they were alive or dead. Their imagination worked, every now and then it seemed to them as if something moved in the bushes, out of the corner of their eye something jumped. Most likely they were ordinary animals, there were several of them roaming around the forest, some smaller, some larger. Before the epidemic, they would probably have been afraid of a sudden attack by wild boars, but in the current reality it was the least of their worries. They weren't even sure how the virus was affecting the animals, if at all.

  "Can you imagine a boar-zombie?" Dawid chuckled quickly, looking after them.

  They stopped and looked at him with comedically terrified eyes, letting the air out of their mouths in unison.

  "Don't even say that." Miko?aj looked around nervously praying that they wouldn't find any dead animals. "We've already had enough of people coming back."

  "Instead of thinking about wild boars, you should focus on what we will do once we get there. By the way, is it far yet?" Tarhos noticed among the trees to his right a group of infected, they didn't notice them so he didn't feel the need to alert the rest and they went on.

  "We should get there soon."

  After these words, they walked another five minutes deep into the forest. Finally, they noticed a path on the ground overgrown with bushes but still visible. This was a sign that they had reached the grounds of the mansion. In some places the grass was compacted and the bushes were cut down, which could suggest that this was the main path that Emil or Klara or Igor, among others, had taken earlier. They stepped cautiously, listening for the possible rustling of leaves and branches breaking under the pressure of their feet, lying on the ground. Surrounded for a long time, they finally emerged into a more open area, in the middle of which stood a manor house.

  "Do they only have one revolver?" Tarhos asked.

  "From what we heard, yes. It's not likely they were firing two different weapons." Dawid answered him, taking cover behind a tree trunk and observing the surroundings.

  "If they were two different ones then I doubt the boy would have survived. One may not be able to handle a gun, but two guns versus one kid? Mercy."

  At that moment Dawid noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. His eyes instantly darted in pursuit of the object. However, he was very fast, elusive. The men only managed to remember that it was a short person, all in black. When Dawid told the others about it, it was no great mystery that it was Tarhos' daughter.

  "Aurora!" Tarhos shocked took a few steps toward Dawid and stared into the trees. "Did she run away?"

  "Was there only one person?" Miko?aj inquired Dawid, who nodded at him. He was disappointed that only one of the girls managed to escape. "That means Kaja must still be there. We're going in."

  "What about Aurora? She needs to be taken away." Tarhos already wanted to run in her footsteps but was held back by Dawid.

  "I'll go. Your gun will be more useful inside."

  As he said so he did, and so Tarhos together with Miko?aj went towards the manor to rescue Kaja and Dawid tracked down the lost Aurora.

  ><

  Aurora ran through the forest as if at break-neck speed. Before leaving the mansion, she heard Klara behind her, who chased her relentlessly. Under normal circumstances she would not have been afraid to fight, but the girl had a gun and Aurora was not stupid. She knew that in a clash with a firearm without any form of defense she would be killed, no matter if the opponent had combat experience or not. She tried to lose her among the trees. She was quick as the wind, gracefully and easily dodging everything in her path. The only problem was her location, she didn't know the area and didn't know where to run. She had a plan to get back to the village shelter, in order to do so she had to leave the forest first and looking around she couldn't see any boundary between the plains and the forest. Taking cover under a tree, she heard the crunch of leaves nearby. She found it. Aurora could have thrown herself into further flight but was afraid Klara would shoot her. She didn't have much time, she had to make a decision. She evened out her breathing, calming her heartbeat. "She's just a dorky doll, she's not a threat to me." - she thought and was ready. She squatted down quickly, gripping a sharp stone in her hand. Another sound came to her ears, this time a broken twig. Calculating the distance and position of the enemy, she aimed the stone and waited. She saw the leg and was about to throw when suddenly she saw not Klara, but Dawid. She was surprised, she thought that all this time Klara was on her tail and meanwhile she was further away than she thought.

  Dawid, seeing the girl, approached her quickly. There were chain marks on her wrists, which the man noticed. The first thing he did was ask if she was okay, but she told him to be careful. Confused, he turned around; it was empty and quiet. So Aurora pulled him and hid with him in a small depression in the ground. Covered by a natural canopy, they listened. Dawid had no idea what he was supposed to be listening for. After a short while, he asked.

  "What are we actually doing?"

  "That girl chased me all the way from the building. She might still be here somewhere." She crouched a foot away. pulling out a blade previously hidden in one of her glans.

  "And that's the only reason we're sitting here?" he exasperated. He started to crawl out of the mink when he suddenly heard running. The sound of running feet got louder and louder. "Something is approaching."

  Klara was getting closer. She didn't know exactly where, but surely Aurora had fled down the road to the north. The corpses far on the horizon also meant that she couldn't run off a great distance because she would have lured them on. She unlocked the revolver awkwardly. Aurora stopped Dawid from leaving the hollow. She noticed the axe in his hand, which for some reason she had not registered until now. The idea of killing Klara had occurred to her, but she needed someone to finish the job while she dealt with the distraction.

  "I have an idea how to get rid of her." She put the small knife in her pocket for the time being. "I'll go out there and lure her in. If we're lucky she won't shoot me right away and you'll chop her head off in the meantime. What do you think? Great plan."

  "What if he shoots?" he looked at her worriedly. The plan could have succeeded, of course, but the risk was still there and Dawid wasn't sure he could live with the fact that another person's death had allowed him to live on.

  "Then at least finish the job."

  The girl took two deep breaths then ran out of the burrow for a close encounter with Klara. She covered several meters until finally the image of the girl emerged from behind the trees. She played the orphan girl who accidentally ran straight into her tormentor because she didn't want to let it be known that she had planned something.

  The girl took two deep breaths then ran out of the burrow for a close encounter with Klara. She covered several meters until finally the image of the girl emerged from behind the trees. She was playing an orphan girl who accidentally ran straight into her tormentor because she didn't want to let it be known that she had planned something. Klara spotted her almost immediately when she appeared in her line of sight and reflexively raised her gun aiming at Aurora. She was hesitant. She held her finger on the trigger uncertainly, her hand shaking. Aurora caught this and with a slow step moved to the right, turning Klara's back to Dawid, who was hidden in the thicket. Distracting an opponent is the perfect opportunity to launch an attack, Aurora recalled her father's teachings from the days of murderous forced training. It was one of the times she truly enjoyed her efforts. Klara caught the hook, she didn't expect that an ally could reach Aurora. Dawid came out of hiding unnoticed, squeezed the axe shaft tightly in his hand.

  "I don't want to shoot. He just want you all to get out of here. That's all Igor wants. No one has to die." The gun in her hand wobbled , so much so that she could not aim well.

  "He's a psychopath. He wants to kill us." she replied to her.

  "No-"

  "He almost murdered that boy. You say no one has to die, but if we hadn't shown up he would have died." She cut into her words, aggressively verbally attacking Klara. Only after a while did it occur to her that she shouldn't provoke someone who had her at gunpoint. She might have upset her with this, but Klara seemed to understand the evil she was doing. She felt grief inside, her life turned into ruin in just a few days. She didn't know what to do anymore.

  "I'm lost." Hysterical, she began to wipe with her hand the tears running down her cheeks. "I have nothing left..."

  Many people in this world end up like her, psychologically destroyed, living like a wreck of a person. At any moment they can explode with emotion, just like Klara did at that moment. She still couldn't pull herself together after the death of her parents, it was killing her to the point that it was only going one way. Dawid, standing behind her with his axe drawn, doubted the rightness of killing her. Why would he kill a person who, like everyone else, is a victim? He didn't understand it. He lowered his axe. He changed his plan, which was now to deprive Klara of her revolver and immobilize her. Unexpectedly, however, his plans collapsed in ruins when he heard a corpse-like cackling behind his back. Instantly turning his head, the zombie grabbed him by the shoulder, intending to sink its teeth into him. Frightened, Dawid pushed his arm away while simultaneously pushing the corpse away with his head in the opposite direction. He then kicked it, causing the zombie to fall. Seconds later, the corpse's skull was split open with an axe and Dawid heard the loud bang of a gunshot. When he looked toward the girls again, both were in shock. After a moment, the man felt what was happening. He felt a tremendous pain in his side, felt blood dripping through his clothes, spilling out onto the ground. Heat pierced his body, he was losing strength in his legs, his balance was lacking.

  "No!" shouted Aurora. Her muffled voice reached the man.

  "No, I didn't mean to...!"

  Dawid lost his balance and fell to the ground, losing consciousness. He lay in an ever-growing pool of blood. At this sight Aurora was furious. She suddenly shortened the distance between her and Klara and, taking advantage of the shock of the girl, who accidentally squeezed the trigger, kicked her straight in the jaw. The gun fired a second time, this time into the ground. The sounds of gunfire lured zombies from the area, the cloud of corpses charging unstoppably at the survivors. Klara got up from the ground and rushed to escape. Before she succeeded, she was pulled by the hair by Aurora and pushed straight into a group of zombies. She fought them off with a knife, which she quickly pulled out. Aurora did this to keep Klara's attention occupied by the stiffs as she fled. The young Veredi ran up to the unconscious Dawid with no interest in Klara's fate, lifted him as much as she could, even carried him almost on her back. With her last strength, she managed to escape with Dawid, disappearing among the trees, leaving Klara alone with the corpses. Aurora didn't know where she was fleeing to, but the direction pointed north. Dawid's life clock was ticking very slowly, if Aurora did not manage to help him, he would share the fate of his brother Dariusz.

  ><

  "We enter slowly, together."

  They stood at the front door, Tarhos and Miko?aj preparing for the rescue mission of young Kaja. They guessed that if Aurora escaped then at least one of them might have set off in pursuit of the girl so there was a good chance they would find only one enemy inside. Tarhos signaled Miko?aj with a hand gesture to wait. He approached the window a piece away, trying to swing back the blanket hanging on the other side, but nails nailed on the four corners of the window effectively prevented him from doing so. He only managed to tilt back a piece and in the dark space, with little visibility, he noticed a thin, long object visible through a streak of light coming from the depths of the building. He first thought of spider webs, it would be possible given how old the building is but Tarhos believed more in the second option - it's a trap. There are probably more than just one, he thought, now keeping a close eye on the grass to avoid falling into one. He was not mistaken, there was a stake driven into the tree opposite the window and a rope tied around it, cleverly hidden under layers of soil and bushes. Still, the traps of an ordinary forestry school graduate would not hide from the watchful eye of an experienced commando. Still, it was necessary to remain vigilant, one wrong step and you can say goodbye to at least one limb. He returned the same way to inform Miko?aj about the traps, but found him opening the door. He yelled to him not to do it, but the handle had already been pulled. Veredi cursed and ran impetuously into Miko?aj saving him from the explosion, which happened literally at the same moment. The door flew out with a bang in pieces, part of the facade from the front entrance collapsed. Miko?aj screamed in pain and immediately moved away from the mansion. He felt his hand burning terribly, looked at it and froze. The explosion had torn off the halves of two fingers on his right hand. He thought he was dying. Tarhos, seeing how his companion was in shock and unable to help himself, pulled a thin scarf from his inner coat pocket, which he then tore wanting to make a makeshift bandage. He wrapped the man's hand quickly while tightening his torn fingers. The man hissed in pain, suppressing a scream inside himself. They didn't even manage to get inside and one of them was eliminated from the mission. Tarhos dragged Miko?aj away from the mansion toward the woods, making sure of the safety around him beforehand. He leaned the man against a tree and had his hand squeezed. He pulled his revolver from its holster losing patience. He was fed up with the situation, he wanted to kill all this Igor as soon as possible and bring peace to the group. He also pulled out the second gun that Miko?aj kept in his pocket and handed it to him.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  "Be careful how you use it. Stay here, I'm moving on." He left him an extra few pieces of cloth so he could replace the bandage when it was too drenched in blood. "Aim for the head. We don't want to waste ammunition unnecessarily."

  "Help my daughter." He let the revolver out of his hand and grabbed Tarhos by the coat. "Save her. Please."

  "That's what I was going to do, Mr. Kaczmarek. Please don't worry. The little one will come back safe."

  They were interrupted by a gunshot. In a moment, another one. It came from the direction Dawid had run on Aurora's trail. Miko?aj fired upward, but Veredi forbade him to get up. The men were nervous, their plan hit a snag. They had Kaja under their noses, but Dawid and Aurora were in danger. Miko?aj was unfit to fight and Tarhos could not split. Man cursed the situation loudly. He looked at Miko?aj not knowing what to do. They exchanged glances, neither of them saying a single word. Tarhos stood up, turned towards the mansion and started walking towards it.

  "What about them? There were two gunshots, they could have been....

  "Aurora is there. I taught her everything I know how to do. She would not have been shot so easily, we must hope that they were blind shots."

  "They need to be helped! Let me go." He groaned in pain, accidentally hooking his wounded hand on the ground.

  "No You'll go with a hand like that and what, get shot off?" he looked at the manor. He had a feeling that he would not convince Miko?aj and that as soon as he left him alone he would start looking for Dawid and Aurora. In theory, he couldn't forbid me anything, but logical thinking and survival instinct told him to keep him in place. However, he was the only person who could save Kaja now. At least until they heard more footsteps. Tarhos took aim, thinking it was an ordinary corpse. He was about to pull the trigger when he suddenly saw a fair-haired, long-legged figure. His hair fell over his face, covering most of it and his clothes were wet with blood around his stomach. Indeed, a seemingly corpse-like sight but Tarhos hesitated almost immediately recognizing in him the one he had saved. Miko?aj looked behind him and both men were shocked.

  "Emil?" they said in unison with faces as if they had seen a ghost.

  "You are going home. Now." He brushed his hair away from his face, walking closer to them. He did not react to Miko?aj's hand, but noticed it.

  "We can't. Kaja is still inside." spoke up Tarhos, watching the boy. He was impressed that his body allowed him to wake up so quickly but had concerns that it was too fast and he had no time to recover.

  "I know that." He looked at them. He didn't see his cousin anywhere which worried him. "Where is Dawid? I heard gunshots, you have two guns and I don't see the corpse anywhere."

  "He went looking for his daughter." He sighed heavily feeling his fingers go numb. He applied another clean piece of cloth to the wound.

  Emil grabbed his head. The situation was terrible, three grown men were smashed. He looked at Miko?aj's hand and the blood dripping from it. He wondered if his plan could succeed, but he had no other choice anyway. Inferring from the gunshots he thought they would not settle this peacefully, someone had to sacrifice himself for the sake of the family. He had in his mind the thought of losing another cousin, the death of a sister who could lose her life at any moment. In his head, these thoughts swirled constantly and he felt as if long hours were passing while he made a decision after a few seconds.

  "He wants me so he gets me." The men looked at him puzzled so he continued. "He will definitely want to kill me before your eyes in our house. If he gives us back Kaja then he can try. We will have a clear shot."

  "You are crazy. Do you want to bring him to the place where the whole family is?" Miko?aj was not happy with this plan, he didn't hide it.

  "And what will you do to him here? Look at you. You barely got here and you already don't have half a hand."

  "This can work as long as this psychopath doesn't finish you off beforehand." shared his thoughts aloud to Tarhos. "He has traps set up inside and around the mansion. On the other hand, in your shelter he may lose his guard when he thinks he has won."

  "Leave it to me, dad." He glanced at his father again. - I know it's risky, but if we don't take this risk then we'll have to deal with him for even longer. And I've had enough of these people.

  The father looked at his son concerned. With a painful heart, he agreed to trust his son. However, he could not accept that it was not the first time he had been useless. He was not next to him when his son almost said goodbye to life and now on top of that he was unable to save his own daughter. He felt powerless. Emil treated him with a cold stare, staring straight into his eyes.

  "Pull yourself together." He said calmly, without emotion. - We have not lost. Igor is at a loss since he didn't hit me. He doesn't yet know who he has created.

  "I'm sorry," was all he could say through the shame in his throat and the pain in his hands.

  Tarhos listened to their conversation carefully, paying attention to Emil's behavior. He imagined him more as a cheerful person, but the image he saw was not like that. Two weeks were enough to change a person in such a way that he stopped enjoying life. Even though the situation was completely different, Tarhos saw in Emil a shadow of who he was when he took revenge for his family. He knew that this was a road of no return, that if the boy tasted blood once, it would be difficult for him to return to his former self. He didn't say anything about it, he felt that words would not convince him. And it would probably be so because Emil was already one step too far. The world has fallen, governments have ceased to exist. There was no one to stop this cataclysm. Emil accepted this and began to believe in the laws of the jungle. The stronger one will survive, he was guided by that. He had to be smarter than Igor, who was mentally unstable and could surprise the survivors in any way. Kaja had to be taken from Igor as soon as possible, so Emil told Tarhos to take Nicholas, find David with Aurora and return to the shelter as quickly as possible. They had no choice but to trust him. Leaving the two behind, he headed towards the manor with information about all the traps in his mind.

  Igor squeezed the binding of the rope on Kaja's hands, leading her up to the floor of the mansion on the old, decayed stairs. The girl was additionally blindfolded with a rag. According to Igor, there was no point in taking her to the basement when the only cell had been destroyed and so by going to the floor with her he could confuse his enemies. Kaja was afraid to say anything. He himself also said nothing. The girl only heard his breathing and heavy footsteps around her. She heard a door creak about a meter in front of her head. Then she sat planted on the chair again. Her hands were freed for a moment but only to be tied to the chair. After a moment of silence, she thought she was alone, but suddenly she felt the touch of a hand on her thigh and the same dark voice.

  "They won't get in here. I studied forestry, I know how to make traps..."

  Kaja swallowed her saliva without answering. She had no idea even what she should say. She was stressed by a touch she didn't expect.

  "I was wondering when to kill you." whispered in her ear and at the same moment there was an explosion from the first floor.

  Kaja jumped up frightened. Igor's laughter as a reaction to the explosion made the girl stressed.

  "The animal had caught the hook. How nice." squatted closer to Kaja. "I wonder which one of your family turned into a mince pie. I saw them hanging around. Maybe you'll still see them when they change, if there's anything left of them."

  The girl gathered herself to cry. She could only believe his words, she had no way to check it. It could also be that one of the corpses hit the door which activated the trap, but at that moment Kaja was not thinking logically. Fear, stress, embarrassment, these feelings hit the girl with redoubled force. Igor muscled her chin gently, sliding down to her neck. A cold sweat beaded Kaja. She was afraid of what was happening and what might happen. She heard the rustling of a chair on the floor and the boy sat down across from her.

  "You will grow a little more and you will be perfect." He stared at her, the girl could feel him pouring his eyes into her. "I don't mind having two wives. Who can forbid me, especially in these times? Besides, you have to take advantage of women, not many of them lately. The other one was also good but you are quieter, you are easy to dominate."

  Kaja listened to these words in silence, feeling disgusted with Igor. At that moment she did not fear death, but something worse. Igor could take advantage of her and she would not be able to defend herself. She panicked again, her accelerated breathing making it difficult to take in air. She prayed for help, begged for her family to save her. Suddenly there was a creaking sound in the corridor, the old staircase was useful for exposing intruders. This confused Igor, who moved away from Kaja and grabbed a knife. The girl could breathe a sigh of relief at least for a moment. Igor opened the door and saw his nemesis. Of all the possible people Emil expected the least. He thought he was having some kind of delusion, but it was reality. He laughed, choking back a cough.

  "Hold me because I'm going crazy. The corpse came to life faster than I thought." He saw that Emil was unarmed which pleased him. "Did they put you together? I underestimated them."

  "Hello, Igor." he replied briefly.

  Kaja felt immense joy in her heart, she wanted to run out as soon as possible and hug her brother, but she couldn't do it. All she could do was wait.

  "Have you come to get yourself killed? Great. It will be faster."

  "I came to finish this. I know you only want to get rid of me. Leave my family alone. You will never see them again."

  "And will you let your head be cut off in front of everyone?" he giggled madly. This terrified Kaja.

  Emil nodded. In reality, he had already seen all the ways he would murder Igor, but he played the loser. He was calm not to endanger his little sister unnecessarily. He looked yen a little to see if the youngster was okay, he saw bruises and traces of blood on her face. It boiled inside him, but he held it in. He was burning with a living fire inside. If only Igor didn't have a knife, surely Emil would have rushed at him with his fists. Emil took another step on the stairs toward the floor when out of the corner of his eye he noticed a figure. He turned around and Klara was standing there, out of breath, overtired, with scratch marks on her clothes but no blood visible. At least not her blood, which would have been pouring by now. Emil and Klara exchanged glances, the girl looked away quickly unable to look him in the eye.

  "Did they bite you?" Igor asked.

  "No." She denied it. "But it was close."

  "Where did Dawid go?" cut in Emil, remembering that it was Klara who chased Aurora, who his cousin was looking for.

  "I didn't see him." She lied, fearing Emil's reaction.

  "Then where did the shots come from?" he inquired, trying to get to the truth.

  "You can see yourself." She showed her clothes. "They almost got me. I had to defend myself."

  Igor took a step closer, which alarmed Emil, who looked at him immediately. Igor stood still smiling in his typical way and Klara had no idea what conversation was going on here before her arrival. She looked then at Emil then at Igor.

  "Let Kaja out."

  "Or what?"

  Emil went up to the floor and faced Igor. He stared straight into his soul for a long moment. Igor, strangely enough, became stressed and laughed in retort.

  "I'm joking, I'm joking."

  "I'm going along because I'm not sure I'll live more than a few years with such a wound and I don't want to put my loved ones at risk of death. They said everything is fine but I don't believe it. Something is not right. In my dreams... I saw death." He said while mastering his aggression. His gaze and his very demeanor were terrifying. He wasn't afraid of death one bit, in fact he looked it straight in the face. It spoke through Igor, who was his executioner, but Emil was about to get back at his tormentor.

  He passed Igor, walking straight into the room where Kaja was sitting. He took the rag from her eyes and untied it. Immediately after, Kaja threw herself at him hugging him. She was happy that her brother was alive, but the words he had spoken moments before planted a seed of uncertainty in her mind.

  "What you said is true?"

  "We'll talk at home."

  Igor walked in behind him, not stopping and going straight for Emil, who did not expect an attack. He heard the door and footsteps and turned around.

  "I told you-"

  A syringe with some substance was stuck in Emil's neck. Igor squeezed the trigger of the syringe and applied it all to him. A moment later Emil became very sleepy and collapsed, falling asleep. Kaja, being already free, wanted to instinctively attack Igor, but his gaze staring at her made her knees soften. He didn't blink, didn't say anything, only tilted his head gently and brought a finger to his lips showing her to be quiet.

  "Quiet. Your brother is asleep."

  ><

  Emil woke up, dragged across the sandy road. His hands were tied as well as his legs. The first thing he thought about was making sure his sister was okay. He looked around subtly, trying for the time being to hide the fact that he was awake. Kaja was being led by Klara. Igor, holding the rope was pulling Emil, the boy was already all dirty. He did not know how long it had been since he had fallen asleep. He looked towards the sun, it was already at its peak. It hinted to him that it was noon, meaning it must have been a little over an hour since the events at the mansion. He looked over, they were at the end of the sandy road, at the entrance to the main street. It was about three minutes to shelter in place. Emil had to move because he wanted to check if the knife hidden in his sleeve that morning was still holding, it was there. Fortunately, neither Igor nor Klara noticed it, although it was close because he could feel the blade slipping out of his clothes. Igor turned his gaze to Emil, pausing.

  "Oh, the royal is up." He said raising his voice.

  Emil did not speak up. He only cast a glance at Kaja, who, hearing that her brother was awake, immediately looked at him. Emil saw fear in Kaja. He didn't even want to think what she must have felt being held. He clenched his teeth, holding back a little more. It was too early for him to make a move.

  "You are lucky that my girl is an angel. Can you believe that she wanted to save you?"

  Emil didn't understand what was going on. He expected many things, but something like this? He almost spat with laughter. He was sure it was some clumsy joke, but their faces were serious. He stopped laughing, now wondering if they were serious.

  "Okay, what the fuck is going on here?"

  "You'll find out on the spot. Get up."

  Igor cut the rope restraining Emil's legs and lifted him onto his equal feet. They walked like this for a bit more until they reached the gate of the shelter. Igor walked centrally under it and knocked several times on the metal fence. A moment later, one of the blankets covering the fence moved. Igor pulled Emil to him and put a knife to his throat. Holding him hostage, he was sure they would not attack him. Tarhos emerged from behind the fence with his head. Emil nodded subtly to Tarhos, who understood that this was part of the plan. He opened the gate and they went inside. Igor stopped, continuing to hold Emil, and threw a quick look to Tarhos.

  "You will give all the weapons you have."

  "We have no weapons."

  "It is better for you not to deceive me. If we search you and find even the smallest pocket knife, I'll cut off his head." He pressed the knife to his throat, showing that he was not joking.

  Veredi, not wanting to take any chances, slowly removed his revolver from its holster. He was sorry to part with his weapon but hoped to get it back soon anyway. The survivors gathered in the courtyard, watching to see who was coming. One by one they came out. Emil, however, was looking for the one, Dawid, who was supposed to be in trouble earlier. He was not among the family members. He did, however, notice the black-haired girl. Astonishment poured out of his face. When he thought longer, he noticed that everyone was unhappy, Tarhos' coat was stained with blood. He expected the worst. Before he could think things through, Igor pointed his finger at Aurora.

  "Her gun, too, I'll ask."

  Aurora did not listen the first time. She bestowed a hateful look on Igor and then reached for her gun. Tarhos shouted not to do it the girl hesitated at the last moment. The knife on Emil's throat stuck gently into his skin, Igor could have slit his throat at any second. At Igor's second request, which now sounded like a command, Aurora succumbed and gave up her weapon. When the situation calmed down, Igor handed the guns to Klara, who hid them. Kaja stood politely as the two took possession of the firearms.

  "I'll be honest, I wanted to kill you all. But in these times you have to stick together." He untied Emil's hands. "So you'll live a little longer. We can live here together."

  "Should we live with someone who almost killed us?" Miko?aj did not agree right away. Klara and Igor's presence was a danger to his children.

  "There are better chances in a larger group." Klara finally spoke, stepping forward.

  "You shot my son!" Judyta snapped out, unable to stand another such situation. The death of her second son would be the end for her.

  Emil turned to Klara, looking at her. He ran out of words. On the one hand, he knew that she could have lied before, but he didn't want to believe another version. He clenched his fist, breathing hard. He could feel himself losing control.

  "Sorry! It was an accident, I didn't mean to." she explained although Judyta was not going to understand her. "We will give you our medicine and bandages if it helps."

  "We will?" Igor was surprised. However, he did not deny it.

  Emil was approached by Tarhos, who, seeing Emil's reaction to the information about Darius, decided to calm him down. On the pretext of seeing his condition, he leaned into his ear and whispered a few words.

  "He will live, the bullet did not hit anything more important."

  Emil breathed a sigh of relief, but did not get rid of his negative emotions. He counted down to the moment of murder every second. He wanted to get it over with, everyone did. Except for one person. Isabella, coming out of the back of the group, looked at a sad Klara. The woman was too good-hearted to allow the killings, even for the kind of harm they had done to them.

  "But she is right. More people provide more security. Everyone is useful, let's put this hatred to rest already."

  No one in the family sided with Isabella. Everyone was negative towards the two would-be murderers.

  "It's true. You will provide us with security. In the countryside, I guess you can grow crops? We won't have to bother with expeditions because you will give us food. Everybody happy."

  "We are equal. We will be-"

  "Isabella." she was interrupted by Anna.

  Igor stood behind Emil, placing a hand on his shoulder. Emil did not react, casting a fleeting glance at his hand after which he watched his movements out of the corner of his eye. He didn't feel comfortable being held this way so he turned to face him. Kaja surmised that she no longer needed to stand by Klara's side and approached her parents with a quick step. Igor kept his gaze on her, Emil did not like it. Igor was well aware that he had noticed it. Klara's boyfriend's gaze returned to Emil.

  "Will you let me take your sister?" everyone murmured. They looked at him shocked, Klara also although not as much, she knew about it earlier from Igor himself. After the reaction of the onlookers, he lowered his voice, practically whispering to Emil. "The other one I won't take because her old man looks at me strangely, you know, I wouldn't want to wake up with a scythe in my stomach."

  He winked at Emil, referring mockingly to his wound. There was a wide smile on his face, acting like a predator who has targeted his prey.

  "But you? We are already like family! And your sister is quite a piece of work. Cool legs she has. I checked myself a little..."

  "Did you touch my sister?" He interjected firmly but calmly. His facial expression and body language showed stoic calm, but his eyes betrayed a hellish anger. This was the climax, the boy knew this was his limit. He couldn't take the heckling any longer.

  "Just a little. It's nothing serious. But she's hot. If something grows out of her, she'll be just fine."

  After this speech, even Klara looked at Igor with detachment. She questioned her life decisions but it might have been too late to reflect.

  "Is it true?" Emil looked at Kaja, who confirmed with sadness and fear in her eyes, going back in her thoughts to the events of the mansion.

  Emil snapped. Igor's arrogant gaze met Emil's, who, without a moment's hesitation, sank the knife blade hidden in his sleeve into his throat. Igor did not have time to react, he could only look death straight in the eyes. He grunted, trying to remove the knife from his larynx. Emil pulled out the knife with blissful pleasure, blood poured in a stream dirtying Emil's entire face. Igor pawed at his throat, awkwardly trying to stop the bleeding. The rest were initially shocked by what Emil had done. Klara screamed desperately, watching her beloved fall to the ground choking on his own blood. Shaking, she suddenly reached for her gun, but Tarhos ran into her, knocking her over and disabling her. He held her hands and called out to Aurora, who took the weapon from the girl. The blonde saw her boyfriend's death with her own eyes.

  Aurora unlocked the gun, walking up to the half-living Igor. She aimed to end his suffering, but Emil forbade her to do so. He was in a trance, blood went to his head, feeling the taste of it his mind forced him to be more cruel.

  "Let him turn." He said coolly, spitting on the corpse.

  "What about her?" Veredi held her tightly so she wouldn't run off anywhere.

  Emil felt like finishing her off too to end the subject once and for all, but a certain thing caught his attention. It was Klara's pants, or rather, their teeth-like tear on the lower leg.

  "What's that?" He asked, walking over and kneeling down next to her leg. Taking a closer look, he had no doubt, it was something most feared in this world. A bite.