Glancing back at the vehicle with the crazy lady standing on top, her grin reaches ear to ear as she simply stands and watches from the safety of the back of her truck as the rest of her people gather at the gates, herding the campers back into the camp with the massive, angry infected that is very quickly breaking its way out of the armored vehicle the Widows had stuffed it into. 

The shaky voice of Dani sounds behind me as she asks, "What the hell is that?" 

Gulping as I attempt to remember how Uncle Tommy had killed one, I tighten the grip on my bow and answer, "A Titan..." 

The truck lurches once more as the guards of Cottonwood usher many of the survivors into the infirmary and large log cabin, likely getting them loaded onto vehicles and preparing to evacuate. Josh soon joins Dani, the strange young man, and me as we back away from the angry noises. 

"And how do we kill it?" the strange young man asks. 

"With a lot of luck and bullets," I answer as it finally breaks free of its armored prison, collapsing out of the vehicle with an irritated roar. 

Though my family and I had only seen one Titan on our journey while our uncle was with us, the damage the creature had caused in the buildings of Shreveport alone was enough to elicit a trauma response to the presence of another one of the destructive infected. The only way our uncle could kill it was because of a trap we had set out for bandits in the area. Our uncle had led it to the trap, where it fell into the pit and skewered its legs, rendering them useless. From there, it was like shooting fish in a barrel. 

Unfortunately for us, however, I see a disturbing lack of spike pits. 

The Titan stands to its full height, towering over the truck with massive arms swollen with mutated, warped muscle. Its wide, equally grotesque chest heaves as it takes a deep breath and lets out an earth-shattering roar, pounding the dirt like an ape attempting to assert dominance. Long, stringy hair wet with blood and sweat hangs in patches on its otherwise bald and malformed head, the rest of its body streaked with dark old blood, mud, and chunks of its last meal. The remains of what appears to be a jumper of some sort are the only clothing the thing seems to wear, though it's mostly torn, ragged, and much too small for its massive body, serving only to cover most of its short, stubby legs. 

"Knock out its legs," I order the others. "Cripple it if you can, and aim for the head; the muscle is too thick for conventional weapons to get through to anything vital." 

The Titan grabs the leg of the nearest mobile body - an unlucky Widow - and the Titan slams the bandit into the ground like a toddler throwing a hissy fit. The screams of the Widow stop after the third time being pulverized into the dirt, though the Titan doesn't stop until the only thing it holds in its grasp is a broken, bloody stump of the Widow's leg. It roars, throwing the leg into the crowd of shell-shocked campers, and begins its assault, the campers scattering to get out of its way. 

Knocking an arrow, I bolt forward, drawing it back and firing, the arrow burying itself into the back of the creature. The attack goes unnoticed as it continues its charge. Moving as a single unit, Dani leads Josh and the young man into a charge of their own, Dani sliding beside it just out of reach and firing her shotgun into its arm, finally getting its attention. Josh saddles up on the other side of the Titan, blasting its thick ribs with his rifle just as the Titan raises its arm to swat Dani aside. Like a scene out of King Kong, the Titan waves its massive arms about in an attempt to swat away the survivors who pepper it with bullets as more of the guards begin to fall in order, handling the Titan. 

The strange young man keeps to the Titan's back, slashing away at its legs in an attempt to cut any tendons that keep it standing while a section of the Cottonwood guards begins to push the Widows, who had decided to park themselves in the camp's busted open gates. 

"Keep them at bay while we handle this Feral," Leon orders a sect of Cottonwood guards, sending a dozen men to charge the front gates, scattering the Widows there. 

I join the ranks of the guards handling the Titan, plugging the massive monster with enough arrows to turn it into a porcupine. Finally, the strange young man manages to slice the tendons on the backs of the Titan's knees, and it collapses on its face, using its meaty hands to cover its head as the guards redouble their efforts to try to destroy what remains of its brain. As the guards close in, believing they've already won, the Titan roars once more, surging up with its arms and swinging them out, catching several guards - including Dani - and sending them scattering to the dirt, many of whom were thrown into the various fires that still rage on in the camp. 

Outraged, the Titan uses its arms to barrel forward through the new opening it had just made, which happens to lead it directly toward me. Panicking, I draw my bow back once more and take a knee to steady my aim. Behind me lies the log cabin, and unfortunately for the survivors gathered there, I am the only thing standing between them and a messy end. As it lumbers closer, howling indignantly, I can hear Josh shouting at me to get out of the way from somewhere ahead and behind me, the panicked screaming of my siblings shouting much of the same thing. 

I pull back my bowstring, immovable as the Titan advances. I could move if I had to, but that would make the log cabin behind me the creature's target instead. If it kills me here, at least my siblings have the locket and will be able to finish our mission, though I would much prefer it if that never comes to pass. 

The Titan opens its mouth once more in a roar, now nearly on top of me, and I release my arrow. The impact is enough to throw it off balance as the arrow buries itself into the roof of its mouth. One of its arms slips out from under it, and it collapses, its momentum sending it skidding to a halt before me. 

The camp is still as the Titan stops moving. I scurry away from it in case it still feels thrashy, but its back deflates as its last breath leaves the Titan's body. Cheers erupt from the campers who helped deal with the Titan and, reinvigorated with the boost of morale, charge as a second wave to drive out the remaining Widows who had stayed to watch. The redheaded Widow commander is nowhere to be seen, however. 

From behind, my brother and sister call out my name, sprinting towards me and nearly toppling me over in hugs as the campers surge forward to drive out the Widow threat.

"That was so stupid, Cass!" Octavia exclaims, punching me in the arm as worried tears gather in her eyes. 

"Cass, your head is bleeding again!" Felix fusses, fumbling for a rag in his bag to dab my head. I didn't even notice it before, but now that he pointed it out, I wipe my forehead and pull back with blood on the back of my head. 

"I'll be fine," I tell him. “I'll let Dani take a look at - wait, Dani!" Leaping to my feet, I sprint across the clearing to where Dani lays, coughing after the Titan had swatted her aside like a fly. My brother and sister follow closely behind. Sliding on my knees to her with Josh and the sword boy quickly after, I assess the damage as Dani slowly sits up, wheezing. 

"You... killed it," Dani breathes, holding her ribs as I help support her weight. 

"It was a team effort," I dismiss. “Are you okay? Is anything broken? Bleeding?" 

She coughs, though I see no blood. "No, I think I just cracked a few ribs," she coughs again, taking a deep breath. "I have to help them drive back the Widows." 

"No," I tell her. "You have to get to the infirmary so you can be looked after." 

"I told you, I'm fine-"

"You could have internal bleeding," I interrupt. "These people can't afford to lose you; they'll need you to be safe." 

She watches me, wary, as Josh and I help her to her feet. "Josh and I can help Leon drive out the Widows while you rest up with the other injured. Octavia, Felix, could you take her to the infirmary, please?" 

Nodding, my brother and sister take either arm of Dani and start to lead her away, but she stops them and addresses me. "Come back in one piece, alright? Your siblings will need you, too." 

I smile, nodding. "Of course," I look over at my siblings. "Keep everyone safe, I'll be back soon." 

My siblings nod and help Dani walk towards the infirmary to be looked after while Josh and the sword man saddle up on either side of me. "Sparrow is gonna come with us," Josh says, pointing to the sword man, who nods with a grin. 

The sword man - Sparrow - flicks his sword, fresh blood splattering into the dirt as he says, "It's always a fun time cutting Widows down to size; why don't we give them a proper send-off?" 

The boys follow me as we make our way through the clearing and out the gate, following the sounds of fighting not too far off. Soon enough, we enter a clearing not far from the front entrance where the Cottonwood guards had caught up with Widow stragglers, fighting to give the rest of their primary group a chance to escape and regroup wherever their camp is. Josh, Sparrow, and I carve a path through the trees, with Sparrow slicing through their light armor like a hot knife through butter, Josh sniping those who attempt to escape, while I tackle a particularly scrawny Widow to the dirt to capture and question. 

It's a young man no older than my brother, though the mark stands out on his forearm like an ugly scar, proof of what he had to do to become a Widow. The rest of the campers make quick work of the remaining Widows, not bothering to spare any of them, which makes me glad to have captured at least one. The young Widow had attempted to escape, though after hogtying him and bracing him against a tree, I began my questioning in earnest. 

"Where is your camp hidden?" I demand. 

The Widow answers, "Fuck you!" and sprays spit at my shirt. 

Rolling my eyes, I dig out my knife and brace it against his chest, the point digging into his skin enough to warrant a little blood. "Not the right answer. Where is your camp?" 

"What do I get if I tell ya?" He demands, glancing around as the Cottonwood campers start assessing the bodies and ensuring they are all dead. 

"We let you live, get you some food and water, and we'll decide what to do with you after," I answer, glancing back at Leon, who hasn't seemed to notice the Widow and me just yet. 

"And if I don't tell ya?" 

I roll my eyes, wondering if this is what it was like for Dani and Josh to question me. "Then I bring the Cottonwood leader over, and he questions you." 

The Widow's eyes widen in horror at the mention of Leon, and the Widow gulps. "N-no, please, don't get him involved! I'll tell you what you wanna know, the Widows are assholes anyway!" 

I blink, surprised at how easy it was to get him to agree, though I have to wonder why this Widow seems so scared of Leon. "Then tell me where the camp is." 

"It's a couple miles east of here, along Jacks River and Rough Creek. It's more like a camp, with pitched tents and shit, not really any buildings," he answers, sweating as he watches Leon. 

"How many Widows are there?" 

"I don't know, a few dozen at least? The one in charge is the crazy redheaded bitch, Jessica. She brought most of the people from the camp to the assault, hoping it would prompt an evacuation so we could grab some people," he gulps as I glance behind me, watching Leon as he stabs a Widow's body in the head, making sure it's dead. He glances up and notices me, giving me an inquisitive look as he finally notices the Widow I'm questioning. "Hey, man," the Widow mutters, his voice shaking. "Please, just let me go. That man is crazier than Red. Please, I won't even go back to the Widows. Let me go, and I'll - I'll repent! I'll be a pacifist, for fucks sake; just please, don't let him hurt me!" 

"What are you talking about? How do you know Leon?" 

"He-"

Leon's voice sounds behind me as his footsteps grow closer. "What's going on over here, Cassandra?" 

I stand, turning to face him as he approaches. "I captured a Widow here for questioning, he's already told me where their camp was." 

The Widow remains silent as Leon regards him with cold eyes. "Did he, now? What else has he told you?" 

I glance between Leon and the Widow as other campers watch us, some looking worried but most sharing Leon's same look of cold indifference. "He said their camp is mostly pitched tents out along Jacks River and Rough Creek, but a few dozen of them are there. The bulk of the camp was sent here, hoping to prompt an evacuation of some sort. I know about where it's at; my siblings and I passed around that area not long ago." 

Leon steps beside the Widow and regards him with interest. "I see," he says, looking up at me and giving me a small smile as the Widow below him starts to shake his head frantically, pleading with me with his eyes. "Good job on getting information out of him." In one quick motion, Leon pulls his pistol from his holster and blasts the kid in the head, the gunshot echoing throughout the trees, and the kid falls to the side, dead. "Unfortunately for him, however, he outlived his usefulness." He turns to address the rest of the survivors as I stand shell-shocked at the blatant murder Leon just committed. "Everyone else, gather whatever weapons these Widows were carrying and bring them back to camp; we have a lot of work to do." 

The Widow lies dead in the grass, his eyes wide open in shock. Blood pools from the gunshot and stains the grass, his fear forever stained on his face. 

A gentle hand rests on my shoulder, making me jump. Beside me, Sparrow and Josh had approached, looking equally as shocked. 

"He was unarmed," I mutter. "Tied up. He wasn't a threat anymore." 

"But he was a Widow," Josh tries, though his voice betrays him, and not even he believes his own justification. 

"He was a kid, Josh," I huff. "Couldn't have been any older than Felix. Look, I understand that he was threatening your home. Leon took my family and me in but killed this kid the moment he 'lost his usefulness.' That's just... murder." 

"Well," Sparrow draws out, carefully thinking his words out. "If we had brought the kid back to camp, the rest of the campers would have just killed him anyway, and some of them would have drawn it out. At least this way, he didn't have to suffer for it." 

I shake my head. "That doesn't make it any more right." 

The fear in the Widow's eye is burned into my head. 'How did he know Leon? Do other Widows know him, too? Is there something going on I'm just missing?' 

I shake my head, pinching the bridge of my nose. "Whatever, let's just head back and help deal with the fires."