The fourth day of their mission was like they got transported straight into Hell's hottest, most scorching pit. No matter how long they walked, the desert seemed endless. It was too hot, Senna was exhausted, and she started to go insane from König's loud footsteps.

He wasn't particularly louder than any other person, mostly it was the fact that the silence around them was so heavy, it was almost suffocating. And after many hours of silence, Senna couldn't take it anymore.

"Where's the other one?" her thought slipped through her chapped lips, her throat dry from not speaking for so long. Reaching a hand around, she pulled a bottle of water out and downed a quarter of it.

"Pardon?" König looked at her with his eyes narrowed, taken off-guard by her sudden voice.

"The Shadows," Senna explained. "I shot George. Killed off Callum. There's two more, actually."

"One," he corrected. Senna sent him a look. "Killed one in the back."

He probably meant the back of the house. Senna didn't go to that part of the house, she might've just missed another mutilated body by chance, which she was grateful for. She'd seen way too many dead bodies in a matter of days and it started to shatter her soul more and more.

"Who?"

"Don't know," he shrugged his shoulder, shifting his backpack a little. "Didn't ask."

She snorted at his remark's absurdness, her steps falling a little lighter since they started to talk. She was grateful that she had him, even if he didn't trust her. She was just glad she didn't have to go through this all alone.

"He wouldn't last long out here," Senna squinted her eyes as she looked up at the sky. Judging by the position of the sun, it was around noon. "I got most of their supplies with us."

She didn't want to say out loud, but if they happened to stumble upon the remaining Shadow, she wouldn't hesitate to put a bullet in him. Senna had some restrains about opening up to König more, afraid that he would drift away more because of her murderous tendencies. It was clear now that she wasn't afraid to torture and kill people if it meant the mission would be successful.

She was a very driven person, always chasing success. And she lost too many people to let that attitude go.

Far ahead, she spotted a building. The image wavered, like when you throw a rock into a pond and it ripples, creating a gentle illusion. She wasn't even entirely sure it was there, maybe the heat and exhaustion got to her head. Not trusting her own tired eyes, she looked up at König.

"You see that building over there?"

After a second of looking ahead, his eyes squinting slightly against the harsh sunlight, he nodded. Good, she thought, I wasn't the only one going insane. Or maybe she was, she wasn't sure anymore. She wasn't sure about anything, to be fair.

To keep her remaining little sanity, Senna pulled out the map from her breast pocket and unfolded it, not slowing her steps. She had to pick up pace a little to match König's, but when she stayed behind a little too much, he slowed down. Senna thought he didn't want his back to her, afraid she might put a bullet in the back of his head or something. She couldn't blame him, she was afraid of the same thing. So, as a silent agreement, the two of them stick to a neutral distance, a foot or so distance between their sides. Still, she could see when he glanced at her occasionally.

As she looked at the map, it only proved to be a waste of space, just like Senna felt herself be. There were no markings of the building, so with an annoyed huff of breath, she stuffed the useless paper back in her pocket. Now, she could only hope neither of them was hallucinating things as they continued with their journey.

Normally, she would chat away casually with him, ask about his hobbies, talk about poetry, or their favorite weapons, but she wasn't in that place mentally. She could only think about questions related to what happened the other night. And when the night came to her mind, she got flooded with images of Jerico, and George's mutilated face, and the wide eyes of Callum, and the blood, God, so much blood...

Senna felt her throat close up again, making the warm air suffocate her. With her left hand, she adjusted the scarf tied around her neck to loosen it, but it was already so loose it just hung around her neck. Still, she could get enough air into her lungs. The Sun was way too bright, her backpack seemed to weigh ten times heavier than before, squeezing all the air out of her lungs.

It was like the ground got yanked from under her feet, she stumbled over her own feet and probably would've landed on the dry, hard ground face-first if it wasn't for the firm hand catching her underarm.

König stood so close to her, his body cast a shadow over her, shielding her from the harsh sunlight. His hold on her arm was grounding, yanking her from her horrendous thoughts and flashbacks, anchoring her down in the present. It was still noon, they were still in the desert. It was still just her and König.

She was here. Not back at the slaughterhouse.

"You're bleeding," his eyes snapped to her upper arm, suddenly reminding her of her injury.

She had no idea how she got it. A lot of things weren't too clear from the night, a cloudy haze blurring some details. Such as how she got a big gash on her right arm, that was still oozing blood and burned whenever she moved it. Senna had to tilt her head back slightly to look him in the eyes, the cold color of it slightly soothing her nerves, her rapid heartbeat.

Then she remembered who they were. How nothing was safe.

"I'm fine," Senna stepped back, pulling her arm out of his reach. Her face reddened at the thought that she had almost just face-planted and probably looked so weak, that she just wanted to slap herself in the face. "We should move."

She ignored the questioning look he sent her as she stepped by him, determined to shake off the cold chill from her spine. Despite her best efforts to ignore it, she could now feel every heartbeat pulse near her wound, a constant reminder that she wasn't, in fact, fine. Senna pursed her lips and fixed the rifle in her hands, not even glancing back at the man. She didn't want to look in his eyes again. She couldn't afford to look at him as sort of an ally.

Not until she got evidence that she could trust him.

**

The pair reached the building while the sun was still up. It got way too hot outside to continue marching through the desert, and it was a miracle they could find any reasonable shelter in this terrain. Other than a few dried trees and the foundation of previous houses littered around, this building was their best shot.

It was probably an outpost in the past, with sturdy and thick walls. It was relatively well preserved, only the bottom floor windows were blown out, but the main door was still intact. Senna thought this could be a pretty good place to rest for a few hours, just until the blazing sun would dip under the horizon.

The moment she stepped inside, cold air hit her cheeks. The walls were so thick, it kept the building cooler, thankfully. The building was small, leading straight into a small open space where the office and living room were combined. There was an abandoned empty desk in the corner with a chair a foot away from it. On the other side of the room, there was a torn-up couch. It was impossible to tell what color it was originally under the dirt and grime, but Senna's bet was dark red. It looked like a disgusting muddy brown with the stuffing falling out of it.

In a silent agreement, König headed for the stairs to check out the upper level. Every step groaned under his weight, the flimsy railing shaking whenever he moved. Senna watched him go up in case the whole thing would give out under him, but when she heard his solid footsteps above her, she decided it was good enough.

Walking down the narrow hallway, she reached a flaky white wooden door. There were no other doors, so it seemed like she got the easier part of sweeping.

Slowly turning the knob, Senna opened the door by pushing against the wood forcefully with her healthy shoulder, aiming with her gun as she looked around inside. It was an empty, pretty dirty, and sad-looking bathroom. The mirror above the sink was broken, only a little piece in the corner was intact. The only light source was a small window far up to the left, dust dancing in the way of the sunlight that dared to reach inside.

Stepping inside, her boots knocked against the white tiles, her feet carrying her towards the sink. It was dirty, a small piece on the right chipped and the bottom of it cracked, like someone dropped something heavy in it. Out of curiosity, she reached for the tap, twisting it.

As expected, nothing came out. Figures.

With a disappointed sigh, she was ready to head out, when the tap started coughing and bubbling, the weird noise making her skin crawl. Then, a miracle happened: water started dripping from the tap. Murky, slightly brown water, but it was running water.

A smile broke out on her face as she ran her fingers through the thin stream, enjoying how it flowed between her fingertips. It was so long since she got to enjoy flowing water. Her first instinct was to tell Jerico about it, he was complaining about the water shortage for a day. But he didn't get to see this, which immediately wiped the smile off her face.

There was one person she could tell the news, though. This was too big of a discovery to keep to herself.

Senna headed back towards the steep stairs just as König made his way down, his rifle hanging loosely from his hand. That meant that the outpost was clear and had running water. They were living the dream.

"There's water," Senna began, jerking her chin towards the bathroom. "It's not drinkable, though."

"Good enough for cleaning up."

Suddenly she was reminded that she was still covered in blood. Senna got awfully aware of how the dried blood clung to her skin, even under her clothes. Blood stuck her clothes to her skin, every move making the fabric peel away from the dried substance little by little. She could still smell the sickening odor of blood, tasting iron on her tongue when she tried to swallow the lump in her throat. She felt disgusting in her own skin, forcefully keeping her eyes away from her body to prevent herself from a nervous breakdown.

"Do you mind if I go first?" Senna asked, her voice more timid than she thought. She was almost embarrassed by the lack of strength behind her words, her face already heating up.

König shook his head and took a step back, leaving room for her to get to the bathroom. With her head dipped down, Senna hurried into the small room and tried to shut the door behind her, only for it to stop halfway. Pushing against the wooden door, Senna was able to close it a little more, but there was still a fifteen-centimeter gap between the door and the lock. Letting out a defeated sigh, she left the door to be a stubborn little shit. She didn't have the energy for this, nor didn't want to break the whole thing down. Having an ajar door instead of no door sounded better, no matter how she looked at it.

Senna was quick to peel her clothes off, dumping them on the ground without a second look. She knew her clothes were ruined and there was no way of saving them. Those were as good as the garbage on the side of the road.

With some force, she tore the sleeve of her bloodied undershirt and ran it under the tap water, letting it soak for a few seconds. Then, she started to scrub down all the blood that was caked onto her skin but it didn't really want to budge.

So, Senna started to scrub more vigorously, not letting the tears that welled in her eyes stop her. The pain in her chest only pushed her to drag the rag across her skin with more force and rinse in the water quicker, until the point when her skin was scratched raw and she couldn't keep in her sobs anymore.

Leaning against the counter, Senna let herself cry a little. For a good ten minutes or so. She missed Jerico so much, every thought of him twisted her heart and threatened to steal her soul away. She killed so many men, she knew it was unforgivable. War demands blood and destruction, but she hoped she could spare her heart and soul.

She was wrong. She felt hollow, empty.

There was nothing for her in this world. It was all wrong, only death and suffering and chaos battling with each other, seeing who could cause more destruction. She couldn't find the energy in her to care about all of this anymore. All she wanted to do was lie down and die alone because that was all she deserved. Death and loneliness.

For a second, she contemplated drowning herself in the mixture of blood and dirty water in the sink. Then she remembered she wasn't wearing any clothes besides her underwear, and it would be a pretty pathetic death. Pathetic, but probably suitable because of how much of a scum she was.

She felt like she was the scum of the earth because she wasn't able to save Jerico in time.

But then König would be the one to find her body after God knows how much time. It would be embarrassing. And that could probably take away his only source of water. Which she couldn't do, she couldn't be that selfish.

I can find another way to end this without making him suffer more.

Some rustling reached her through her self-pity and trickle of bloody water. Holding her breath, she listened for more, slightly straightening her back. She heard him walk around in the front, and judging by the sounds moving around some stuff. He probably tried to build a fort for defense or something, she had no idea.

But the mere presence of him was able to anchor her down, to keep her from falling apart completely. He was here because they had a job to do. People to save. So she had to get her shit together as soon as possible.

Who am I kidding, it would be already too late if I got it together an hour ago.

Pulling her shoulders back, Senna let out a groan, feeling all the muscles in her back and arms stretch painfully. She was hunched over for God knows how long, and little black dots were dancing in her peripheral vision. She forgot when was the last time she ate. She was just a hot mess right now, and she didn't even get to handle the gash on her arm.

Senna really didn't look forward to it. As she cleaned herself, blood started to drip from the wound the more she strained herself, and the whole area of the wound was warm to the touch. She felt weak but that could be caused by so many things it was pointless to guess. She could only hope the wound didn't start to get infected or something.

Raising her other hand, she reached a tentative finger and pressed on the side of the wound, a pained groan rolling from her lips. Senna let her forehead fall against the cold tiled wall, squeezing her eyes shut to maintain her pride. The idea of curling up in the corner to cry got more and more intriguing by the second.

"Are you okay in there?"

Good, just what she was missing. A potential enemy knocking at the door when she's at the lowest point of her life. Well, almost. She had worse, but the embarrassment that went hand in hand with this situation almost made it worse.

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new chapter for you guys!! i finally feel like im starting to get back into the story, especially with their blossoming relationship. i have such fun things planned out, cant wait till you see

i hope you're having a great day! how's the new year going for you? any new year's resolution? i'd love to hear about you!

until the next chapter, take care loves xx