Drained. In more ways than one.

When all you do is exhale, the succubus starts to pout and glare at you. “Oh, come on! Seriously? I pick up the sexiest Bounty Hunter I’ve seen in DECADES, and you are spent after a single load?”

“You’re out of this world, baby girl.”

“Babygirl?” she stifles a laugh. “I have a name, you know.”

You start to drift off to sleep. You don’t want to wake up. Not now...Not yet. “What is your name then? What do you want me to call you from now on?”

There’s a few seconds of silence as if she’s gauging whether or not she wants to tell you or not. “What do you want to call me, baby?”

“I want to call you by your name. That’s not weird, is it?”

The succubus laughs to herself. “No, that’s weird. But I don’t want you to get any weird ideas. Names are influential, aren’t they? It’s like the first stepping stone to getting, uhm, into a relationship.”

“Oh,” you think for a moment, your mind is becoming super bubbly now. “I’m just here to break a sweat with you.”

“Good,” she says flatly. You can’t tell if she’s disappointed by your answer your not, so you don’t say anything. But she chases herself with more anyway. “My name is Alicen, by the way.”

Even in your drifting state of mind, you can remember her name. “Allison?”

“Yes,” she giggles somewhat. “A-L-I-C-E-N.”

“Alicen,” you murmur. “A-L-I-...C…”

Just before everything goes blank, you can hear Alicen let out a soft sigh. She pushes herself off the bed. "Listen to me... You're waking up to some trouble, Warren. Keep your head cool at there. Please don't act like a hero and get yourself killed, please?"

…

…

"Warren," Flora said. When you woke up, you saw she was standing above you - it was the real one this time. You blinked and worked yourself up to your elbows and noticed there were more than just her around. Alexandra was there and so was Kenji. You stirred and sat up right. Flora continued. "Scarlet's in trouble."

You got out of the covers and saw Kenji had a dark expression and Alexandra was holding her side, covering her side with a rag that was damp with blood. You looked back at Kenji. "What happened?"

Kenji let out a long, drawn out yawn. His eyes watered and he leaned back, completely exhausted. You noticed that he was damp with sweat and looked like deranged. After blinking his tears away and looks up at you. "They found Alexandra," he darted his gaze at her. "Who was digging around their armory."

Alexandra blushes, pressing the rag closer to her side. "I was curious."

Kenji kept his stern stare fixed onto her. "Well, good-fucking-job."

He looked back at you and let out a heavy sigh. "They were going to execute her in the middle of town, but I stepped in and broke her out."

Flora swallowed. "What about Amari?"

Kenji looked at her. "Well, despite Alexandra's fuck up, she did find out she's not-so-willingly working in their armory, tinkering with firearms and fixing all their gear...Ah, whilst winterizing a portion of it too."

She steps closer. "What are we going to do?" Flora sounds more concerned than you've ever heard her.

Kenji looked around the room. "Do none of you care about Scarlet?"

Flora looked down, bashfully, clearly not wanting to state that she probably didn't, so she looked at you. You looked at Kenji and nodded. "I'm her partner. Being new and what not I decided to let the answers talk first."

"Well," he started. "First off. Fucking get out of that mind set, we're on the same team. Second off. She's probably getting her teeth pulled out."

Your expression went grimace. You remembered your first night with her. You liked her and felt bad to hear she's being tortured. Luckily, Kenji continued. "Or maybe not. She split off pretty quickly went I shot. I don't think she'd let herself get captured. We had a close run-in a few months back, if it weren't for-"

"Don't," Alexandra said weakly. "McKinley didn't do that out of the goodness of his heart. He was a fuckin' suit."

"Let's not derail," you insert yourself in. "What's the plan, Kenji? What are we going to do?"

"Well, we'll have to return as soon as we can. All of us besides Alexandra will go. Flora, I don't want you to be anymore than 6 feet away from me."

"Shouldn't we talk a bit more about this?" You ask, earning a hard stare from Kenji, who promptly denies your request.

Flora joined the circle, passing Alexandra. "I'll do what I can to help Amari."

Kenji scoffed. "I'm going to find Scarlet. Warren is finding Amari."

Flora shifted legs. "Then I'll go with Warren."

Kenji gave her a hard look. "Why?"

You were a little surprised she'd offer to follow you around. If you had to guess, Amari had or knew something that had her interest. Flora smiled and shrugged in response to Kenji's question. "Amari might be hurt, you see? Scarlet can handle herself pretty well and has been in dire situations before. Amari, on the other hand, might be hurt after your exchange-"

"Just shut the fuck up." Kenji said bitterly as he brought his hand to his temple. "You're staying with me. End of discussion."

Flora looked down as if she had just been slapped across the face. Even as she did this, Kenji gave her a degrading stare, which surprised you since it was he that made you think Flora was pampered and protected all the time, instead he snapped back with such ****, he sounded like a strict dad with zero tolerances for stupid questions from his child.

He dragged his eyes off of Flora and landed them on Alexandra. “We’ll talk to you later, but heal up and stay down. If we don’t come back, assume the worst and shoot for survival until spring.”

Alexandra shrugged working her mouth into a sly smirk. “I’ll maintain paradise.”

Kenji then jabbed his finger at you. “Travel light. We’re leaving as soon as I get myself… relaxed.”

Flora shuffled around, holding her hands together as she muttered something under her breath. Kenji got up and stretched. You notice there's blood on him, but you figure it isn’t his because he isn’t limping or showing any indication of serious injury. Alexandra lands on the couch with a groan, her bright eyes drifting upward to the dirt ceiling.

You consider talking to Flora, but you're not in that greatest of terms with right now, so you just go and pack your gear for the trip. When you finish, you go to Kenji. “Let’s go,” you tell Kenji after finding him. You just finished stripping about half your gear from the webbing you wear and the rucksack you hauled. You had distant plans to snag something lighter while on this adventure if the opportunity presented itself, but figured the chances of that coming to fruition were pretty slim.

Kenji, looking more tired than ever, nodded to you. “In and out, OK? No room for fuck ups and side quests while we’re pulling my girls out.”

You let your brows knit. “Your girls?”

“They’re tightly bound to my contract. My ass is on the line, so pardon any stress.” He licks his lips and blinks. “No offense here, but neither you or Flora have much riding on me, if you get into trouble I might not turn back.”

There’s a churn in your stomach. You’ve been into a similar situation before, but you never really liked being involved in one. Not to mention, the way Kenji said it made you feel like it was more of a threat or half-assed warning. “I have no intention to do anything extra, I can promise you that.”

Kenji sighs. “Actions speak louder than words. Let’s get a move on.”

You and Flora both nod. He took his pistol belt and went for the ladder. Flora filed in, and you did the same. Alexandra waved goodbye and wished you good luck, but it didn’t seem that sincere.

Since there are enough horses for all 3 of you this time, you decide to take Bill. Flora mutter some half-assed compliment as she passes you during your mounting process and gets on the next best option - Thunder, a horse that was deep black. Kenji adjusted his riding carbine in its holster, warning you and Flora to keep a little spread out. There are no complaints from that order, though you didn’t enjoy riding in silence…

It took about 20 minutes to get to the “settlement.” The terrain was surprisingly rocky and had lots of brush covering the area. Pine trees, tall grass, sage, and thorny bushes covered a beaten path. As soon as you break the tree line, though, you can see tall houses, new and old structures, mixed together to work in unison.

There’s a wall surrounding the torch-lit houses. It’s at least 10 feet tall, which on its own would not have been intimidating, but it was barbed wired and had a few sentries stationed up and down the wall, with hard points secured by sandbags and machine guns. Each of these hardpoints had at least two men/women occupying them. Even from your distance, you could hear the orders being barked and the shouting of the dwellers inside.

You make it to where the tree line ends. The rocky terrain makes you feel a little uneven getting off Bill, but you maintain your footing. Flora seems to handle herself just fine too. Kenji unsheathed a lever-action rifle from his steed and told you both to keep near him. He looks at Flora and cocks his head, reminding her to stay near. She nods, but you know who she will be focusing on once you make it inside the compound. You weren’t going to ask any questions, but it was tempting a Kenji traveled down the winding path that led to a beaten trail that had thick shrubs and dead trees all around it, making it damn-near impossible to move without making any noise.

Eventually, despite the obstacles, you made it to where the wall-less watched over. Here, the torches weren’t as prevalent, and the sentry was alone. Kenji knelt behind a bus and swung his rifle from his back and into his arms. You got your rifle out, too, and put yourself in a low ready position. Flora, having just a pistol belt stayed between you two. Her eyes switched from you and Kenji. She was waiting for one of you to break the silence.

“Alright,” Kenji finally said. “Flora, I’m gonna need you to get in the open.”

“What??” She blurted out.

“Warren and I will be right behind you,” he assured her. “We will not let you get hit, but you’re gonna have to do something else.”

“Ok,” Flora took a deep breath. She looked down and nodded. “What do you want me to do exactly?”

“I’m gonna need you to act your heart out,” Kenji told her. “Act scared. Act panicked. Act like someone was trying to **** you.”

She knitted her brows, but he didn’t stop. “Cry. Whimper. Do whatever you can get that guard to let you in.”

“There’s no gate back here,” you protested.

Kenji looked at you. “They have an emergency ladder to let people. It goes over the wall and covers the wire. It’s how I got out.”

Silence lingers. Flora looks annoyed, almost as though she’s had to do this before. However, she frowns and looks down after a couple of seconds. Kenji doesn’t look away from her, and he just waits for her reply. After a full minute passed, she exhaled like she’d been holding her breath. You blink and shift your knees when you turn to face her. To your surprise, she starts crying.

Whoa…

She doesn’t just cry, she just starts to hyperventilate too, or you think she is. Kenji doesn’t move, but you do. You offer a hand, but you are too late. She bursts from the bushes you had hiding from and lets out a plea for the sentry.

“Help! Help me, please!” Flora waves her hand back and forth, making the man stir out of his tired state. “They’re right behind me! Help me!”

The sentry points his gun at her, so she raises her hands. “No!” She shouts. “They- they killed my family! I’m- I just need help!”

“Go away!” The man shouted. “We’re under lockdown!”

“Just hide me!” Flora shoots a glance over her shoulder. A look of **** terror hides her beauty and elegance.

The man shifts legs. “L-let me- to my supervisor-“

“They’ll catch me before then,” Flora moans. “I’m going to die! I don’t want to die! Please, please let me in! I’m begging you!!”

The sentry froze and scanned the landscape behind Flora for a few seconds. He finally caved under her whimpering and let out an annoyed groan. “Hurry up!” He shouted.

He pulled a silver ladder up and covered the barbed wire with a heavy leather hide before setting the ladder down on the other side. Flora faked a limp, working her way up to the ladder. She tried to climb up but **** a loud yelp to travel out of her lungs. “I can’t! I can’t!” She cried and stepped back down the ladder. “I need help!”

“Seriously, woman?!” The sentry sighed and took out a handheld flashlight and flipped it on to scan the bushes. The dull light ran over your brush, but it didn’t provide enough light to reveal your location. Kenji adjusted his grip on his lever action and held his breath nonetheless. It’s then you realize that this isn’t your average lever-action rifle. It was a custom and carefully put together weapon; it was tactical and fancier than what first your last glance suggested. It was Woodstock, sure, but it also had a short scope and an impressive suppressor on the end. The metal was blued and shimmered as the soft light caressed it. Finally, being foolishly satisfied with his search, the sentry slung his rifle around his shoulder and worked his way over the ladder. When his boots hit the ground, he snapped back and told Flora to hurry up as she grabbed and supported her up the bars.

Kenji snapped too. He shot up and squeezed a single round out from his rifle. A bullet, hollow point or not, split into the man and splintered his skull into pieces. He charged forward and grabbed the body, dragging him closer to the wall to hide it in the shadows. “Good job, doll.”

Flora wipes her cheeks. "Whatever."

Kenji goes first, then you second. The last person is Flora, who was perhaps the most eager to get going.

Once you are all over the wall, you can see the entire compound is stirring. Armed guards are running all over the place, and plenty of shouting. You know immediately that you are out-gunned.

“Kenji, this looks like a storm of fuck.” You mutter, kneeling behind him.

“We’re just gonna grab Scarlet.” He sighs, looking at Flora, and nods to her to get between you two. “I’m going to lead you to where Amari is being held. From there, you can do everything else on your own.”

You exhale. “I’ll do everything I can, but I can’t promise anything this time.”

Kenji looks at you. “I trust you. You’re not an idiot.”

His voice came out soft as he complimented you. He wiped back his hair and shook his head. “I just really need to get Scarlet, and I can’t do it without Flora.”

Flora shifted her legs uncomfortably. “Guys, we need to get a move on here, please?”

Kenji agreed, and you all moved around the compound. You were surprised to see this many people in an area this controlled. It was perhaps more stable than Billings. It was shut out from everything else - everything looked homemade and new. The signs on the shops. The chairs and benches. Even the light posts looked to be made of recent materials. Despite the buildings taking a striking resemblance to the western frontier structures, they also looked new. Most of them were wood, but the building you were heading towards was stone; all you had to do was cross the street.

“We’re gonna have to cross it,” Kenji announces. “Scarlet should be somewhere over there, but Amari is inside.”

“I’ll cross last,” Flora says. “Warren should go first, though. He doesn’t stick out as badly as the rest of us do.”

Kenji nods, silently agreeing. "Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Warren, cross the street and make sure there isn't anyone close."

Fucking shit. "Yeah, I guess I can do that."