Just dropping a little sneak peek into my new HTTYD story. Would you read The Risk of You based on the bio and moodboards??
A shadow in the night.
A force no one can explain.
A peace that may not survive the truth.
When Hiccup and the dragon riders encounter a mysterious force targeting dragon hunters, unanswered questions threaten the future of Berk—and reveal that the shadows may be hiding far more than anyone expects.
storyboard:
Story outline:
A zombie outbreak was never part of the script.
Amara Rayman, an international actress determined to protect everyone around her, crosses paths with Dex - a man who commands every room he walks into.
They clash. They argue. They refuse to depend on each other.
But in a world where the dead are rising, surviving might mean learning to trust the one person who drives you the most insane.
A/N! Sorry for the long wait for this chapter! Getting back into my Zombieverse flow! Will be back more frequently with more updates soon!🫶
Everyone could only watch in shock as Kkwachu Hyung was also bitten by the zombies. Amara stood watching, her body freezing up in shock at what had just happened in front of her.
I failed, she thought to herself. I was supposed to protect them. I told myself no one else would get hurt or be sacrificed to save any more people. But I failed... again. I failed Kkwachu Hyung and Na-rae unnie.
Tsuki and Dex moved Amara from where she stood towards the tent. Once seated, the others poured in one by one until finally Kkwachu Hyung and Na-rae followed, each holding the other up. Their clothes were ripped and bloody, their faces shining with sweat.
No one said anything as the two walked in, the silence louder than any words they could have said.
As they both moved towards the two available chairs, Jonathan and DinDin hesitated to let them sit amongst the others. Both spoke up uncertainly, asking them to remain standing a distance away from everyone else. Amara couldn't digest the sudden change in attitude from the two men.
Turning furiously towards them, Amara spoke in a hushed but heavy tone.
"Seriously? You're going to treat them like this? This quickly? They just got bitten trying to help us and you're worried about them sitting close to us? We could at least be concerned for them and ask if they're okay—or at least say, oh, I don't know, thanks for having our backs and getting bitten?!"
As Amara stormed on about the actions—or lack thereof—from some of the group, Dex sat a few chairs away from the girl who looked as though steam might start pouring out of her ears.
His own mind reeled with mixed emotions.
Sure, Dex knew she was always headstrong and reckless at times, but he was continuously seeing different sides of her that he wouldn't have expected.
For someone who had only just met these people, she already felt a sense of injustice on their behalf at the others' lack of empathy. She was willing to speak out when she felt someone had been obviously wronged. He had assumed she wouldn't give a damn about anyone else so long as she wasn't the one being wronged herself.
But Amara Rayman was full of surprises.
-------------
The group discussed what had happened, and Amara became even more furious at the revelation that the team on barricade duty had abandoned the only line of defence for Hong-chul and Na-rae at the smallest inconvenience.
Deciding they didn't have much time to waste, the group moved on.
Realising that Mr Rice Puffs hadn't been disturbed by the zombies and that they hadn't followed him, the others came to a conclusion. Once a person was bitten, they became immune to other zombies chasing them, as the zombies could already sense the virus inside them.
Si-young concluded that the group would need to use Na-rae and Kkwachu Hyung to help carry out the forklift task, as they were the least at risk while the others worked on moving the truck. However, the plan didn't sound nearly as good to the two bitten team members.
Na-rae's mood instantly soured.
"How could you suggest this? You were just concerned for me, Si-young-shi. Now what? You want to use us as human shields? Pshh. Wow."
"Unnie..." Amara began hesitantly. "I know it seems harsh, but Si-young unnie is right. We don't want to do it, but what other choice do we have now? We need your help now more than ever, just like Mr Rice Puffs helped us. I swear, unnie, we won't let anything happen to you if it doesn't work. I won't let you get hurt anymore... I promise."
Amara's voice was so sincere that the others could only stare at the second-youngest member with their mouths hanging open.
Once again, someone paid close attention to that promise.
Dex watched her take responsibility for the entire group, placing the burden solely on herself to keep everyone safe.
The team decided they would still take Na-rae and Kkwachu Hyung with them despite their infections, deciding it was the least they could offer in exchange for their help moving the final vehicle.
The group had gone back and forth on the decision, but ultimately Dex had the final say as one of the most trusted members due to his former UDT experience.
Dex agreed, but told the two they would need to remain under constant supervision. Si-young added that they would have to agree to some form of restraints to ease the minds of the uninfected members.
-------------
Kkwachu Hyung and Na-rae made their way out into the car park once again. This time, the two moved on their own towards the forklift while the others followed behind at a safe distance.
As they made their way around the barricade, the others closely watched the zombies' reactions. Just as a group of zombies approached and Na-rae squealed in fear, one drifted too close before suddenly turning its attention elsewhere.
Their theory had worked. The two were now being seen as infected rather than potential prey.
With this new information, Na-rae and Kkwachu Hyung prepared to deal with the car while the rest of the group made their way towards the truck.
While the forklift was operating, the sound of the machinery drew the attention of nearby zombies. Taking advantage of the distraction, Dex signalled Tsuki and DinDin to sprint towards the truck.
Kkwachu Hyung successfully moved the car out of the way, creating a clear path for the truck to exit.
Once the pair returned to the tent, another argument quickly broke out. Na-rae wasn't happy about being used, especially when Hong-chul suggested tying them up afterwards.
Dex, however, had a simple way to end the debate. "I mean, there is another way to make sure you don't hurt us..." he began before pausing.
Na-rae and Kkwachu Hyung immediately looked hopeful. "We could always cut off your arms. That way the virus will stop spreading."
The two instantly agreed to the restraints instead.
Despite suggesting such a cruel option, Dex took extra care while tying them up, making sure the restraints were secure without causing unnecessary discomfort.
Once they were secured and unable to bite anyone, the group prepared to move.
The team made their way along the outside barricades towards the truck, with Na-rae and Kkwachu Hyung bringing up the rear to deter approaching zombies.
Once they reached the vehicle, everyone climbed in quickly but quietly.
The last two to board were Amara and Dex. The pair remained outside to help their restrained friends get inside safely.
Once everyone was aboard, Dex instinctively moved towards Amara and, without a word, lifted her into the truck, remembering her injured knee, before climbing in himself.
Amara stared at him in surprise. Once Dex settled beside her, she gave him a small nod of appreciation.
Everyone in the back grabbed hold of the truck flaps, keeping them shut to stop zombies from getting inside.
DinDin and Tsuki, however, had another problem. They were essentially driving blind.
Thankfully, when DinDin started the truck, a dashboard camera appeared on a small monitor at the front. Unfortunately, the sound of the engine immediately attracted nearby zombies. Fast.
DinDin managed to reverse towards a gap between two vehicles, but the truck suddenly jolted. They were stuck.
His second attempt caused Dex's hand, which was holding one of the flaps shut, to slam painfully against the frame.
Pulling his hand back, Dex hissed in pain and quickly inspected it. Amara immediately turned towards him, checking his hand as well to make sure he wasn't seriously hurt.
The two quietly but urgently told everyone else to remove their hands from the flaps.
Realising the truck was wedged, the two infected members volunteered to get out and guide DinDin through the gap.
Kkwachu Hyung climbed out and directed DinDin carefully between the two cars. Once the truck was through, he quickly climbed back aboard and they continued driving through the car park.
As the group approached the tents where they had camped earlier, Mr Rice Puffs noticed a group of zombies chasing after the truck, several of them hanging onto the back.
With one final effort to help the group, he stood from his hiding spot and yelled.
"RICE PUFFS!"
=============
Day 2
"The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters has announced that Seoul will be sealed off beginning at midnight."
A male and female reporter announced the news through the truck's radio.
"It is rapidly spreading to nearby areas such as Eunpyeong-gu and Yongsan-gu. Many people have already lost their lives. Since Seoul has been sealed off, transit to areas outside the city is completely restricted. Cargo and shipping have also been blocked."
As the group listened to the announcers, they heard discussion from a professor who claimed that outbreaks like this could take up to ten years to cure.
The information shocked everyone. Several members glanced sympathetically towards their two infected friends.
Amara was resting while the others remained awake. Dex and Si-young had insisted she get some sleep after staying awake most of the night helping keep watch over Na-rae and Kkwachu Hyung.
As the truck continued driving through the countryside, the uneven roads jostled Amara around. Her head lightly knocked against one of the truck's metal bars.
Noticing her discomfort, Dex quietly reached over and guided her head onto his shoulder without drawing attention to himself.
The action didn't go unnoticed by Si-young. The older woman smiled softly at the pair before looking away.
Some time later, Amara woke when conversation began filling the truck once more. The moment she realised what she had been leaning against, she immediately sat upright and avoided Dex's gaze, her cheeks warming slightly.
The group, however, was far more focused on Na-rae and Kkwachu Hyung. Dark marks now lined their skin, the infection having clearly spread overnight.
"You've already started changing," Si-young commented worriedly. Na-rae simply brushed off the remark.
The group decided to open the truck flaps and allow sunlight inside, hoping it would somehow slow the progression of the infection.
Soon enough, another tense discussion broke out regarding what should be done with their two infected friends.
As tensions rose once again, DinDin suggested the group needed a proper leadership structure to help maintain order.
The group went back and forth on who should lead.
The first choice was Si-young. For once, everyone seemed to be in complete agreement.
However, Si-young didn't think she was confident enough to lead everyone by herself.
Instead, she suggested someone like Dex. Someone with natural survival instincts and leadership experience.
The group briefly suggested DinDin as an alternative, though that idea was quickly shut down.
Throughout the entire discussion, one person remained silent. Amara.
Noticing this, Si-young turned towards her.
"Yah, I think both Amara and Dex should be our leaders, and I'll support them. Amara is very good too. She's helped keep us all level-headed and focused. She always considers both sides of any argument."
Hong-chul quickly agreed.
"This guy has the most combat experience, and he's the coolest under pressure. He should be the leader with Amara. Those two come up with the tactics, and Si-young makes the final decision."
The group ultimately agreed. Dex would be the leader. Amara would be the co-leader. Si-young would act as commander.
The responsibility of guiding the group now rested largely with the three of them.
With the discussion finally settled, everyone took a short break. A small piece of chocolate was passed around to each person as they continued travelling.
-------------
Just when the group thought things were finally going smoothly, they came across a delivery truck and a car blocking the road.
Deciding to investigate and check for survivors, they pulled their truck to a stop and climbed out. Before they could get too close to either vehicle, they noticed a woman sitting inside the car.
Jonathan, Patricia, Tsuki, and DinDin volunteered to approach while the others inspected the delivery truck.
Upon closer inspection, the four realised the woman appeared wealthy and had likely been attacked during the outbreak. At first glance, they assumed she was dead.
Just as they began considering taking some of her belongings, Tsuki noticed something.
The woman wasn't dead. She was still breathing.
The startled screams of the four immediately drew attention from the rest of the group. Hearing the commotion, Dex, Si-young, and Amara hurried around the truck to investigate.
Amara had barely reached them before Tsuki practically ran into her arms.
"Yah, yah, it's okay. She's still got her seatbelt on. She can't move," Amara reassured gently, attempting to calm everyone down.
While Amara worked on settling the others, Dex and Si-young opened the back of the delivery truck.
Inside, they found countless undelivered packages, along with food and bottled water.
The moment everyone saw the supplies, Si-young immediately started grabbing armfuls of packages and carrying them back towards their truck.
When Amara eventually made her way around to join them, she found Dex standing there completely dumbfounded.
He looked as though he couldn't quite process what he was seeing. Some of the group members were moving too fast for him to even stop.
"Hey, wait. Hold on. No, no, stop." Dex stumbled over his words as he tried to regain control of the situation. "We should only take what we actually need. We don't need all these random packages."
"I-I mean, in this situation? What's the problem?" Si-young asked, sounding both confused and slightly embarrassed.
"Unnie, we can't just steal these things," Amara said firmly, stopping Si-young from taking another box. "Even if they've been abandoned, we should only take what we need. Some clothes, food, and water. That's it. We don't need these people's packages. It's wrong."
Despite the objections from both Dex and Amara, several members continued taking unnecessary items.
Some even began rummaging through the infected woman's expensive handbag, taking makeup and other valuables.
Amara could only stare in disbelief. How could they steal so easily? After watching for another few moments, she finally lost her patience.
Marching towards the truck, she raised her voice. "YAH! If you all don't drop whatever you're holding right now and get back over here within the next thirty seconds, I'm leaving without every single one of you!"
The group immediately froze. Slowly, and somewhat guiltily, they made their way back towards her.
Once everyone had gathered, Amara folded her arms.
"Are you guys serious right now? We're trying to gather supplies to stay alive. Do you really think a luxury handbag and makeup are going to help us survive? How can you all steal so easily like this?"
Her gaze landed on Si-young.
"I'm really disappointed, especially in you, unnie. Remember, nobody does anything unless Dex or I approve it first. Got that?"
The group shifted awkwardly.
"It's disgusting how you're all acting right now. Zombie outbreak or not, we need to get it together, or we're all going to end up dead or infected."
Once Amara finished speaking, she turned towards Dex. To her surprise, he only stared back silently.
Before either of them could say anything, DinDin suddenly shouted. "Zombies!"
The group immediately sprang back into action.
Working together, they quickly moved the abandoned car and delivery truck before the approaching zombies could reach them.
Once the road was clear, Na-rae and Kkwachu Hyung climbed into the delivery truck while everyone else returned to their original vehicle.
Moments later, both trucks sped away from the growing horde behind them.
============
As they drove through the countryside, the sun gradually setting behind them, the group eventually reached a small village where people were still walking about, seemingly uninfected.
After being stopped and questioned by the village head, the group was allowed inside. They were invited to join the villagers for a meal, who were currently gathered to hold a funeral for one of their own.
The group sat down at a table and eagerly accepted the food being offered. As they began eating, DinDin noticed the mourner—a woman who was clearly connected to the deceased.
While most of the group let out relieved sighs and happy exclamations at finally receiving a proper meal, DinDin quietly reminded them that they were attending a funeral and should be mindful of how they acted.
Amara couldn't help but eat in silence. The weight of the room hung heavily over her.
While everyone else happily enjoyed the hot food, she found herself thinking about her manager and the sacrifice she had made. Every bite felt wrong.
-----------
Amara's POV
How can I sit here and eat like nothing is wrong? Like there isn't a zombie outbreak happening outside this village? Like my manager and Hee-kwan didn't lose their lives trying to help our group?
It's so hard to sit here and watch everyone act as though none of it matters.
It feels like only me, Dex, and DinDin understand where we are. The three of us are eating quietly and thanking the villagers whenever they bring us more food, while everyone else is acting as though this is some kind of celebration.
I can barely stomach the steamed rice. Everything else feels like more than I deserve.
My manager should be here eating with us, but she isn't. How can I sit here and enjoy all this knowing that?
Before Amara could say anything about the group's behaviour, the mourner suddenly let out a loud wail. The sound instantly drowned out the group's laughter and chatter, reminding everyone exactly where they were.
The cry sent a cold feeling straight through Amara's stomach. The little appetite she had left vanished completely.
Setting her chopsticks down, she watched the grieving woman seated at the front of the viewing room.
When the crying eventually stopped, the village head encouraged everyone to continue eating. The group did so immediately.
However, barely two minutes later, the mourner began crying again. Once more, the room fell silent. The cycle repeated itself several times.
Eventually, the village head approached the group and suggested that someone offer their condolences to the grieving woman.
Dex immediately volunteered. Then he pointed directly at Amara. "I'll go with her."
Amara shot him a confused look but reluctantly stood up anyway. Together, the two approached the viewing area.
As they arrived, the village head explained their intentions to the mourner and invited them to pay their respects.
Amara had absolutely no idea what Korean funeral customs involved, so she simply copied whatever Dex did.
When he lit incense, she lit incense. When he placed down a flower, she placed down a flower. Everything seemed normal until they prepared to bow one final time.
A noise suddenly came from inside the viewing room. The unexpected sound startled both of them.
Amara instinctively stepped backwards while Dex immediately grabbed the back of her shirt and carefully pulled her further away from the room.
Turning towards the village head, Dex frowned. "What was that?"
The village head barely reacted. "Oh, one of the villagers fell over."
The explanation didn't sit right with either of them. Dex glanced at Amara. She could tell by the look on his face that he didn't believe it either.
When he failed to find reassurance in her expression, he turned back towards the others.
"I... the sound came from in there..." Before he could finish, the village head dismissed his concerns.
The two reluctantly returned to finish paying their respects.
Just as they prepared to bow again, Dex suddenly froze. "Why... why are you smiling?"
Amara immediately straightened up. Turning towards the mourner, she felt her stomach twist.
The woman's lips were tilted upwards. Not much. Just enough. A faint smile. A smile that had absolutely no place at a funeral.
Without another word, Amara quickly encouraged Dex to finish the ceremony so they could leave.
The moment they were done, the pair moved away from the viewing area and towards the back of the room.
Once they were out of earshot of the villagers, Amara spoke quietly. "Dex, she was smiling. Something isn't right here."
Dex remained silent.
"And that other guy?" she continued. "He supposedly fell over right after we heard that noise. They're acting weird. I don't like this."
Despite the concern in her voice, Dex hesitated. For once, he seemed willing to trust the villagers over her instincts.
Amara stared at him in disbelief. "You seriously believe them?"
Dex sighed. Then he turned towards her. "Weren't you just saying you'd leave our group behind because they tried taking some packages?"
The accusation caught her completely off guard.
"Are you serious right now?" she hissed. "They were stealing, Dex. They were being greedy. Taking things we don't need."
She gestured back towards the table. "Look at them. They're sitting there eating happily like this isn't someone's funeral. Like we didn't just lose people close to us."
Her frustration finally spilled over. "Even you thought what they were doing was wrong. I saw it on your face. You tried to stop them too."
For a brief moment, she thought he might agree.
Instead, Dex clenched his jaw. "Fine. Maybe they were overdoing it with the packages. I'll admit that."
Amara's shoulders relaxed slightly.
Then he continued. "But right now they're hungry. We're all hungry. Sometimes people don't think about how rude they look when they're desperate."
His expression hardened. "So, sorry if this is proving your point about how selfish people can be."
Amara stared at him.
"But not everything you say is right. The sooner you accept that, the better."
The words hit harder than she expected. For a moment, she could only stare.
"How could you say that?" Her voice came out quieter than she intended. "Do you honestly think I see all of you as selfish, heartless thieves?"
Dex didn't answer.
"The fact you would even suggest that..." she scoffed bitterly. "It's disgusting, Dex. I never expected you to think so little of me."
Her eyes narrowed. "Guess the one with the low opinion of others is actually you."
Without waiting for a response, Amara turned and walked away. She returned to the table and sat down heavily between Tsuki and DinDin.
-----------
Once everyone had finished eating, the village head returned carrying drinks for the group. Most of the members happily accepted.
However, Dex, Si-young, and Amara remained cautious after what they had heard near the viewing room. The three accepted their drinks to avoid suspicion but made no effort to actually drink them.
Unfortunately, Na-rae and Jonathan quickly noticed. After enough teasing and encouragement, Dex and Si-young reluctantly took a few small sips.
Amara remained hesitant. As she sat watching, she noticed the others becoming increasingly drunk. Her frown deepened with every passing minute.
When the village head noticed she still hadn't touched her drink, he approached her with a smile. "You should drink one shot at a Korean funeral. It helps send the deceased off properly."
Normally, she would have questioned the claim. Tonight, however, everyone around her was already intoxicated. There was nobody left sober enough to confirm whether the man was telling the truth.
Reluctantly, Amara lifted the glass and downed the shot. The alcohol burned all the way down her throat. Almost immediately afterwards, a strange bitter taste spread across her tongue.
Her eyebrows furrowed. Something wasn't right. Before she could warn anyone, her vision began to blur. The room slowly tilted. The conversations around her became distant.
One by one, the villagers' faces blurred together. Then darkness crept into the corners of her vision. Across the room, the rest of the group began slumping in their seats as well.
Within minutes, every single one of them had fallen into a deep, unnatural sleep.
=====================
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Thank you for reading ep 4 of The Quiet between Chaos: A Zombieverse story!💜🫶
It has been some time since I last updated this, but after getting inspo for swat, I needed to put that to work immediately; otherwise, I'd lose interest quickly🥲, but I will be back with Zombieverse updates more frequently soon!
I hope you enjoyed the back-and-forth tension between Amara and Dex!
Please keep supporting their journey by liking and commenting; it means the world to me!💜🫰
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“So if there’s anything I’ve learned from watching that girl look at all of you, it’s that you mean more to her than you’ll ever know, and more than she’ll ever admit. So… go easy on her, yeah? She has a lot riding on her shoulders, and more demons than you can count.”
============
After an hour of searching through all the databases and going over any possible leads, Alfaro and Akami managed to find the ID of an old Los Tiburones member.
It was the team’s only lead, and they needed to go down every rabbit hole they could think of to find something on this guy and his connection to the regrouped gang.
After conveying the information to Hicks, Alfaro was tasked with putting out a BOLO for Nick Mays, a low‑to‑middle‑ranking member.
Powell and Cabrera went to the information room to try searching through any previous files on Nick, while the rest kept looking through information about the incident that happened over 20 years ago.
Tan, on the other hand, was stuck dealing with a not‑so‑savory situation with Logan, Quinn’s eldest brother.
The two were combing through the bank records of Nick and keeping track of the twins’ cards in case anyone tried to use them, when Quinn approached Tan with Luca at her side and asked,
“Hey, Tan, have you guys had any luck with the bank info?” Quinn tried to ask.
However, Tan ignored the girl who spoke and turned his attention to Luca, responding to him as if Luca was the one who asked the question, totally ignoring Logan’s little sister right in front of him.
Seeing the response from Tan, Quinn pushed it aside and moved off to speak with the older teammates and Hicks to check on updates.
Quinn’s interaction with Deacon and Hondo wasn’t great, but the elder two reserved any discomfort to focus on the task at hand.
--------
Tan POV
Once Quinn was out of earshot, Logan confronted Tan.
“For someone who’s worked with my sister for months now, you really don’t know a thing about her.” Logan suddenly broke the silence after Quinn walked off, sounding almost disappointed in me.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I questioned his assumption.
“It means all it took was one thing about her life to come out for you all to act like you’re walking and working with a criminal,” he told me. His words sounded like he was internally laughing, but from the mood and his face, he hardly found this funny in the way you would associate that word.
No — he was pissed, shocked, and looking like he wanted to smash my face off, but I was thinking he was holding back because, one, we were in SWAT HQ, and two, his sister was within 20 steps of us.
I didn’t answer him back because, yes, partly we all did feel that way. Maybe we all thought to assume she had some criminal past she was hiding, that she was just acting like she cared to cover up her past.
When I couldn’t say anything, Logan continued.
“Tell me… was there any moment before this that you thought she didn’t have your back? That she wouldn’t put herself in gunpoint to save you, to have your back? Hmm? Tell me.”
I tried to think of a time when I truly doubted her having our backs, but all I could think of were the times she stuck her neck out for us. Like her very first day — sure, it was only training, but she took out a suspect trying to shoot Deacon.
Then she helped Luca, or Alfaro. Then she jumped on a helicopter to save Hondo. And the time she helped me avoid getting spotted by a suspect during recon. Or when she defended me and almost got hurt in that prison when I got pepper‑sprayed.
“Right… you can’t, can you? That’s the thing with you officers — you see one of us do bad and you assume the rest of us are the same,” Logan told me, his voice dripping with venom.
“Rosie… she isn’t like us. Not a bad bone in her body, just like those twins. And if you only knew what she has done… you’d never think to look at her for anything else but what she shows you. So I suggest, Officer Tan, that you take a real good look,” Logan finished, dragging out his last few words.
I knew we were probably looking at this sideways like he suggested, and the fact that Quinn had to call people who thought she was dead to come in to help us and do this the right way made it even more obvious.
But that was something I couldn’t quite sit with. As much as everything pointed at it, I had waited so long to prove she wasn’t fit for the team, and now that there was evidence… why did it feel wrong to admit it to myself?
======
Not long after the confrontation between Logan and Tan, the squad was given a hit on their BOLO for Nick Mays.
Powell, Deacon, and Commander Hicks were looking at security footage of areas the twins could have been that afternoon of their kidnapping when they saw the BOLO notice.
Rushing into the Eagle Room, Commander Hicks instructed the squad to gear up and check out the location of Nick’s possible hideout.
Within the next minute, the squad was geared up and rolling out to La Tuna Canyon. Luca made fast progress in Black Betty, showing 20‑Squad just who was the perfect driver for Black Betty.
Once the squad reached the property, they found a black SUV burning and two people running away in the distance. The team quickly disembarked from Black Betty and chased after the two rabbits in two groups.
Hondo and Alfaro ran towards the SUV and broke open one of the windows to make sure the twins weren’t inside. Quinn stalled as much as she could while still tracking where her group was going.
“Are they in there!?” Quinn yelled out anxiously, her worry for her little brothers stopping her from following the two suspects fully.
Once Alfaro broke the glass and checked inside, he turned to the girl and yelled back, “No! They’re not in here. Go!”
And with that, Quinn was running after her group to catch the rabbits.
Luca and Deacon ran after one rabbit, while Tan, Powell, and Quinn ran after Nick. Luca and Deacon managed to take out their suspect quickly before he could fire rounds at them.
The other three continued to chase Nick, who got on a quad bike and tried to escape to the mountain. However, he didn’t know he had one of the best snipers closely watching him, and within seconds he was shot down and went rolling down the hill, landing right in front of Quinn’s feet.
Powell quickly walked over while Tan and Quinn kept Nick at gunpoint to restrain him. They called in their catch and made their way back over to Black Betty.
======
When they arrived, they found Hondo, Luca, and Deacon all standing together with an uneasy look on their faces. Alfaro stood off to the side looking disturbed, and when the men spotted Quinn, they tried to quickly mask their faces, Deacon hiding the phone he was holding.
However, Quinn was quick to scan the group’s faces and moods to know something was up. Walking anxiously closer, she asked Deacon directly, “Deacon… what happened? Why do you all look like that?”
“Quinn… it’s nothing. You don’t need to see this,” Deacon tried to smooth out the tension building with the girl.
“No, it’s not. It’s clearly something, and you’re trying to hide it from me. Show me the phone, Deac. I won’t ask again. Whatever it is, I have the right to know,” she demanded, her voice leaving no space for negotiation.
“Lina… I don’t think—” Luca tried to say, but was cut off when Quinn raised her hand to stop him.
Realising they weren’t going anywhere until she saw that video, Deacon decided to show Quinn. But before that, Hondo informed her what had happened.
“We got this video sent from Commander Hicks… your dad got sent this from the gang…” Hondo explained carefully as Quinn took the phone from Deacon with unsure hands.
Quinn hesitated for a second before bringing herself together and pressing play on the video. Tan and Powell came closer to the girl to watch what was on the video.
What the three saw was enough to bring up their breakfast to their throats. In the video, the twins were tied up to a bar and were being tortured, beaten, and tased, their cries and screams echoing like a ghost haunting an abandoned building.
Quinn’s hands started to shake, and Luca took the phone to hold it for the girl. Her breathing became shallow and choked.
The man in the video told her father he had 15 hours left to bring himself, his dad, and their eldest son to the location they would send, with millions in cash, for the twins to be let go.
The man said this was only a sample of what they would get if they didn’t comply, and if they failed to bring themselves and the money before the screen went black.
The second it did, Quinn stumbled away from the group towards a bush and started throwing up before eventually dry‑heaving and breaking down on the side while the team stood and watched in shock at their girl’s reaction.
Luca was the first to approach, rushing over to the girl and pulling her vest off to help her breathe. He rubbed her back soothingly to help calm her breathing and stop the dry‑heaving.
After a moment of hesitation, Alfaro ran to Black Betty, grabbed his bottle, and rushed back to the two, giving Quinn some water to wash her face before letting her drink some.
Crouching down next to Quinn, Alfaro rested his hand on top of hers before speaking in a soft tone.
“We’ve got you, Ro… just breathe. We’re going to get them back, I promise you.”
Quinn took one slow look at Alfaro before he pulled her into a hug. Quinn melted into the hold despite her initial tension.
After a quick look at Luca, the older teammate understood immediately and moved off to get the others back to rounding up, leaving the two to sit and talk.
-------------
“Hey, Ro… look at me, Alfaro asked gently, pulling away from the hug. Once he saw Quinn looking at him, he continued.
“I’m so sorry, Quinn. I was such a dick earlier. I should never have said those things to you when I saw how much it hurt you to even say it. I understand what it feels like to see such violence at a young age and how scary it is to tell people about it… and yet I still judged you. Still chose to think that changed how you treated us… treated me.”
“I’ve seen how much you get worried and protective of me like a big sister, and I questioned that, even after everything you’ve done for me. And I’m truly sorry. Your mum told me about the nickname… how you only let the three youngest call you that… how your parents called you that.”
He paused, looked at her more honestly, and spoke.
“And yet, despite how much that name means to you, you let me call you that without a second thought. I’m sorry for thinking your sisterly affections for me were fake. I hope I can make it up to you… and I’m going to do everything for you to not feel bad about letting me call you that.”
Taking a good look at the older girl in front of him, Alfaro spoke softly, every word dripping with affection.
“I love you, big sis.”
Quinn gave a small lift of her mouth and said, “I love you too, lil bro.”
The two hugged it out before returning to Black Betty to head back to HQ.
============
The team got back to HQ and tried to get Nick Mays to give up any information about the re-established Los Tiburones.
Commander Hicks wasn’t getting very far with his questioning and decided to come out for a moment to see if the squad had any leads on the other suspect.
In the information room, Powell, Deacon, Tan, and Quinn were combing through the guy’s files and found out that he was a member of the Oildale Twenty‑Two gang.
When Commander Hicks came up to the information room, the four broke down the second suspect’s background to him, mentioning the involvement of another gang. Hicks then explained his progress, and Quinn was not having it.
“Commander, I’d like to question Nick Mays,” Quinn stated more than asked.
“I don’t think that is a great idea considering your involvement in all this…” Hicks positioned.
“Excuse me, sir, but I would have to disagree. If we’re going off what we saw of the twins’ conditions… we don't have 15 hours to spare. I need to interrogate Mays. He’ll crack when he’s actually face‑to‑face with a Monarch,” Quinn argued back, her understanding of her brothers’ conditions making this all the more important.
Commander Hicks could only sigh and look to Deacon for an angle on how to approach this. When he was met with a shrug of the shoulder from Deacon, he sighed once again and turned towards Quinn, giving her the go‑ahead.
Before Quinn could leave, Hicks called her name and said,
“You do this by the books, alright? As much as the Chief has a vote of confidence in you… if you step out of line, there’s only so much both she and I can do.”
----------
After promising to spare the Commander and the Chief from writing up reports about her conduct, Quinn left the room and headed for the interrogation room where Hondo waited for her.
The two stepped in and got straight to business. But before Quinn could speak, Hondo started.
“Do you know who you have tied up and beaten in those videos? I have a feeling you do, but for some reason you think coming back after 20 years is going to make a difference,” Hondo questioned Mays sarcastically, but his tone was stern.
Nick Mays only sat and stared at Hondo, not a word leaving his blank face.
When Hondo noticed his lack of seriousness, he snapped. “Is this a game to you!? Do you know what you’re doing trying to torture and lure the Monarchs to your base for some money?”
Hondo slammed his hands down on the table as he talked. Quinn stood off to the side with a cold but observant face on, standing and waiting for the perfect time to end this little fake confidence Nick had going.
“Oh, we know… and it isn’t just for the money. But I guess you already know that? Those kids had it coming. That’s what happens when you mess with the Sharks,” Nick tried to sound confident and smug with Hondo.
However, Quinn had seen enough and pushed herself off the wall, approaching slowly, silently, like a predator hunting its prey.
“You’re smug now. But what happens when you come face‑to‑face with a Monarch, hmm? Will that confidence hold up?” Quinn questioned coldly.
Nick smirked and continued to play his confident role. “Of course I will. I would look those bastards in the eye and curse their whole bloodline if I could.”
“Well then… curse away.” Quinn folded her arms and stood right in front of Nick.
Seeing Nick didn’t quite get it and asked in confusion how that would be possible without a Monarch there, Quinn decided all cards were on the table now.
The next second, Quinn rolled up her sleeve, showing off the Monarch tattoo— or better known within the club, the ‘Quinn Crown’.
Nick went deadly pale. He backed up as much as he could in his chair, his gaze flicking from the tattoo to Quinn’s face.
“Where’s all that confidence gone now, huh? I thought you said you’d curse out the Monarch bloodline if you met one? Where’s the cursing gone?” Quinn taunted Mays.
Soon after she noticed she had him right where she wanted him, she struck. Slamming her hands down on the table, she asked, “Where have you kept the twins?!”
Mays continued to say he didn’t know, but Quinn thought he knew more than he was willing to let on.
“Those boys aren’t involved in the killings of your bastards of leaders. Those kids weren’t even born when it happened, and you think taking the babies of the family is a wise choice?!” Quinn yelled at Mays.
When she and Hondo tried to get him to spill something on the Oildale involvement, he didn’t speak, saying no one was helping them. Quinn got frustrated and approached real close to Nick.
“Listen real closely, Nick. We know your buddy was from the Oildale Twenty‑Two, so you better get speaking, or all it takes is for someone to leak that a member of the Sharks is planning to steal from Oildale’s drug stash and tip them off to the feds,” Quinn taunted, threatening Nick with a possible double‑cross exposure.
“Did you think we wouldn’t find out? As easily as we did, we can tip them off. We can slip someone in with the click of our fingers, and all it takes is one small rumour and the dead body of your buddy to trigger a whole gang manhunt for you and the Sharks. So what’s it gonna be, Nick — you take your luck with us, or deal with Oildale?” Hondo added to Quinn’s warning.
=======
Within the next hour, 20‑Squad was getting ready to roll out and get the twins back after getting Nick to talk about a cousin of one of the Oildale members — a guy named Bird, who, after the team investigated, turned out to have a metal warehouse in Vernon which was abandoned but still owned by the cousin’s family.
When the squad was about to leave, Quinn was stopped by Roman, who tried to suggest they come along with them to save the twins.
But Quinn — and Commander Hicks — didn’t agree with the plan. The two mentioned that it would just hand the gang what they wanted and could get their family into trouble.
Quinn told her family that she didn’t want them getting into trouble after trying to turn a new leaf in life, avoiding any illegal activities since they rid themselves of the Sharks all that time ago.
After assuring Roman that she would be careful and promising Akami that she would bring back Tristan and Tyler safely, 20‑Squad rolled out.
They were going to Vernon… and they were getting the twins back. Quinn would finally be able to face the people who were part of her parents’ killing.
--------
Inside the metal warehouse, members of the Sharks and some Oildale members stood guard or sat around smoking and playing poker, when one of the walls got busted open as Black Betty broke through.
The gang members all split and started firing at the vehicle. 20‑Squad, along with Cabrera, jumped out the back while Luca and Tan shot from the driver’s and passenger’s seats.
After taking down the few in the building, the squad split up to chase the group of rabbits. Deacon and Cabrera went off to try to find the twins while the rest chased the suspects.
Powell, Luca, and Alfaro took down two more suspects and rounded them up, while Tan, Quinn, and Hondo chased after the main guy and another two suspects.
Just as the group moved outside, two of the suspects tried to fight Tan and Hondo. The two yelled that they had it covered before Quinn ran off after the main guy responsible for kidnapping the twins.
Quinn called out on her comms that she was heading to the roof after the final suspect, Alfaro and Tan calling out that they were coming up behind her.
As Quinn headed up to the rooftop after the suspect, she lost sight of him and was caught off guard when something bashed into her side, throwing her off balance.
The two fell to the ground and started fighting to take each other out. The suspect tried to pull Quinn’s gun off her hand as she wrestled against him relentlessly.
The leader threw punch after punch at Quinn, who dodged some and took some. After some more back and forth, the guy managed to knock Quinn’s gun off her hand to the lower rooftop.
Just then, the guy tackled Quinn to the floor, her back making contact with the ledge, where he started to choke her. Quinn tried urgently to pull his hands away, but his weight and grip were slowly suffocating her.
His face went from struggle to recognition.
“Ah, you’re their girl, aren’t you? Shame you didn’t die then with your family, but don’t worry — you’ll see them soon. Send them my curses,” he said to Quinn, a smirk lining his face as he took in Quinn’s struggling body and her choked words of anger.
Just as she thought she couldn’t hold out any longer, Quinn decided to give it one more try, this time using her legs to kick the guy off her, giving her enough time to sit up and catch her breath.
But before she could stand back up fully, the guy was charging once again at Quinn — but this time she was ready.
When he got close enough, Quinn ducked, got the guy over her shoulders, and chucked him off with all her might down to the lower level.
The guy groaned and tried to reach for Quinn’s pistol that had landed down there earlier, but the second he turned around to try and aim, Quinn was there above with her sling gun and shot him twice.
Just then, Alfaro, Tan, and Hondo appeared behind her, each checking up on their teammate. But she didn’t respond. Instead, she lowered her gun and said one final time to the dead leader,
“That’s for my parents, bastard. Enjoy seeing your leaders. Send them my curses.”
The other three men had no clue what Quinn was on about, but the silence was broken when Deacon’s voice sounded through the comms.
“Hondo… we’ve found the twins.”
The second Quinn heard that, she abandoned the leader’s body and rushed down to where they had left Deacon and Cabrera.
=======
Rosalina POV
Rushing back into the warehouse after hearing Deacon’s words, all I could hear as I made my way down was my own heartbeat pounding in my ears.
That, and the calls of the others behind me telling me to wait and be careful. As much as I appreciated their concern, I couldn’t leave the twins alone for another second.
The second I ran into where I heard the rest of my team’s voices, I stumbled across a few more bodies — then I saw it.
The twins.
Tristan and Tyler, my baby brothers in the flesh. Cuts and bruises were marking every part of their visible skin. I stumbled a few steps forward before someone grabbed my arm and stabilised me.
“Quinn…” was what I heard Tan say as he gripped my arm, his cold, avoidant voice from before gone, and all that was left — or what had changed — was this slightly concerned, almost scolding tone.
But before I could acknowledge it, my name was called again — but this time it sounded more unsure and hopeful than Tan.
Turning back to where my little brothers sat on the floor, surrounded by the rest of my team, I saw their faces looking right at me.
“Ro? Is that you?” Their soft yet grown voices called out to me simultaneously.
The next second, I was pulling off my shoulder gun and my helmet and jogging over to the two who sat on the ground, leaning against some crates.
I came crashing down to my knees between them and immediately took in their grown faces. Tears welled in my eyes as I saw them do the same, yet my face wasn’t holding the same grief as theirs.
I mean — they probably thought I was dead somewhere, and now I was the one rescuing them with my SWAT team, alive, and right in front of their eyes.
It felt like an hour, but within the next second, they were throwing themselves into my arms, burying their faces into either side of my neck. Their sobs suddenly became the only thing you could hear in the warehouse.
I held their heads against my neck and ran my fingers through their hair just like I used to when they got nightmares as kids. As I did, I could only keep whispering to them reassuringly that I was here and that I was alive.
20‑Squad stood by and watched the very emotional scene, keeping the area around the twins and Quinn covered for privacy. Behind them were other officers cleaning out and handling the suspects that the others had caught.
But despite the noise that now filled the room, masking the twins’ now‑subdued sobs, they heard Quinn speak softly to the twins when one said they thought they were going to die.
“So long as I’m your big sister and alive… I won’t let anything happen to you… I promise.”
======================
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Hi lovelies, thank you for reading ep 8 of SWAT: Ghosts of the Fallen, Send Them My Curses.💜🫰
I hope you enjoyed this episode and the emotional rollercoaster it was! Tan got scolded by Logan, and Alfaro appologised to Quinn. 20-Squad managed to rescue the twins in time, and Quinn finally got revenge for her real parents' murder. Yayy!
P.S. The monarch's tattoo is a crown with 8 jewels. Seven across the points of the crown, the middle one representing Valentina, below that are the Roman numerals for 8, and below that is the last gem representing the youngest Quinn. Also, each gem is different to represent the original 8.
Keep supporting Tan and Quinn's journey on SWAT by liking and commenting!🫶💜
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This is another chapter that has some pretty emotional conversations for Rosalina. The main action scenes will kick off in the next chapter. Don't worry, it'll be up soon!
"I need to make some calls. I'm going to stop this gang war before it even starts."
===============
After the whole bombshell of information about Rosalina's past and family history, she decides she is going to make a call, a call that is years overdue. A call that will awaken what was once thought to be dead.
But before she can make the call, Rosalina excuses herself in a hurry and heads towards the locker room. Her heart is beating rapidly in her chest, yet she feels like it's breaking simultaneously.
She walks in and takes a seat on the bench, pulling a picture from her cargo pocket. Rosalina stares at the picture for a few somber minutes before speaking softly to the people in it.
"I'm sorry I failed you. Just when I finally found myself a team... a family again, I've lost it. Why do I always lose the people I care about?" Rosalina questions the picture, her finger swiping gently against the worn-out paper.
A tear starts running down her face, and just when she thinks no one will see her break like this, someone clears their throat from behind her. Quickly wiping her tears and pocketing the photo, Rosalina turns to the door.
"Hey... you mind if I come in?" Luca asks Quinn gently. The younger girl gives him a soft nod before he steps fully into the room.
Taking a seat next to her on the bench, he asks, "How are you holding up?"
"I really messed up, Luca... I-I had the chance to come clean, to tell the squad about my family. Even this morning, I could have told the girls about my parents' murder. But I told them there was an accident."
Quinn lays it all down to Luca, finally coming to terms with how she may have ruined her friendships.
"They hate me, Luca... did you see Miguel's face? He looked at me like I just shot him. And Zoe, Alex? They gave me every reason to trust them and I just..."
Her voice fades, not wanting to say it. Not wanting to admit that she didn't trust them with this broken, messy part of her life.
"And-and Tan... we were just starting to get along. Pfft, I just handed him a reason to justify his hate for me on a silver platter!"
Quinn exclaims, her voice heartbroken. All along, Luca sits beside her, listening and waiting for her to get everything off her chest.
"They don't hate you, Quinn... they just need time to be mad, to be upset. But they won't hate you. If I know anything about them, it's that they'll understand... eventually."
Luca finally breaks his silence to reassure her.
"You know, I experienced something similar. There was a time when we were dealing with a local street gang that lived down the block from my place. I knew the mother of two of the boys, and I wanted to help them get away from the streets."
Luca pauses and looks directly at Quinn before continuing.
"I went behind the guys' backs. I hid it from them that I was helping them out. I helped fund their mother's food truck. And when the team found out? They didn't get it at first. They questioned why I was helping these criminals, but after some time, after I showed them... they came around."
Luca tries relating his experience to Quinn's to stop her from worrying.
"The thing is, Luca... part of me never wanted to tell anyone because... I left home when I was eighteen. I didn't talk to my godbrothers or godparents much after that, and within a year or so I went dark. I wouldn't be surprised if they thought I was dead..."
Quinn explains, opening up further to him. In all honesty, Rosalina was scared. Scared to look back at her past, the past that has too many broken pieces, pieces she left there because she couldn't bear to hold them.
And now? Now she has to face all her demons, face the version of herself she thought was dead.
"You have to make that call, Quinn. You are the only one who can stop your family from going there to save the twins and getting hurt, or worse, in the process. You're the one who has to save them, and we're going to do everything we can to help you because, even if we're mad at each other... 20-Squad always has each other's backs."
Luca explains softly before his voice gains a more determined, confident tone.
=========
Rosalina POV
Standing inside the viewing room attached to one of the interrogation rooms, I pace. On the table to my left sits my phone and a crumpled-up piece of paper.
I know I need to call. The twins' lives depend on it, but I can't get myself to call or even pick up my phone. It's stupid, I know, but what do I even say?
Oh, hi, hello, remember me? Yeah, I'm not dead. I'm alive and part of SWAT now. Oh, and before I forget, The Sharks are back, and they have Tristan and Tyler captive. They're planning revenge on you and want you all dead.
Well... yeah, no. Not happening.
Ugh, I just need to calm down, pick up that phone, and call.
Taking a deep breath, I steel my nerves, walk over to the table, pick up my phone, open the call app, and dial the number. With another deep breath, I press call. Within seconds, the sound of the line ringing fills my ears.
At least I know the number still works, I think to myself.
Within the next minute, the line connects, and I hold my breath as I wait for any voice on the other end. Whoever picked up remains just as silent as I am.
There is only the faint sound of someone breathing, and it isn't until another breath-filled minute passes that I hear a quiet yet hard voice say,
"Rosie...?"
The voice is unmistakable. I would recognise it anywhere, even if a thousand people were surrounding me.
"Logan..." My own voice breaks at the end.
At the sound of my voice, there's a moment of silence before a sharp breath escapes my oldest brother.
"I knew you were alive..."
Logan finds his voice again, and this time it's the voice I know all too well.
"I know... just, let's not talk about that right now. There's something urgent, and I need you to listen to me carefully, okay?"
I stop Logan before he can continue, having no time to get into where I've been all this time.
"Okay. I'm listening."
Ah, there it is. The no-nonsense tone of the eldest Quinn brother.
"I need you to bring the others to HQ tomorrow morning, and whatever you do, do not watch the news tonight. It's about the twins..."
That's all I have to say before he gives me his word and promises to have everyone at HQ in the morning.
When we hang up, we don't say anything else, but not a minute later, I get a text from the number.
I'm glad you're safe, Princess, and I'm glad you kept the number.
I send back a quick me too and then tell Logan not to worry about the twins.
Tomorrow is about to be big, and everything is going to change. It's on me to decide how that change happens.
=============
The Next Morning
The previous night had been eventful. Quinn didn't return to Powell's house to sleep, and it left Cabrera and Powell wondering where she could have gone. Despite still being mad at the girl, they knew she had nowhere to go.
Quinn, on the other hand, had showered at HQ and then gone into the visitors' room, where she slept on the couch for the night, not wanting to face her teammates after how she left things yesterday.
By morning, she was up, showered, and changed into her spare gear, waiting for Hicks to arrive so she could fill him in on the visitors who would be coming later.
Knocking on the door to Hicks' office, Quinn stood and waited outside for permission to enter. Only when she heard a "Come in" did she step inside.
"Commander," Quinn started, catching Commander Hicks' attention from his paperwork.
"Officer Quinn, how are you in so early? I didn't see your Charger outside," Hicks questioned, noticing her missing vehicle.
"I-uhm... I didn't use it today..." Her voice fades at the end, carrying a guilty tone.
"You stayed at HQ overnight, didn't you, Quinn?" he asked directly, catching the girl's tone and seeing straight through her.
"Yeah... but that's beside the point, Commander. I made the call yesterday, like I said I would. My family will be coming into HQ later this morning to talk about The Sharks and the twins."
Quinn quickly skips past her overnight stay at HQ.
"Alright, Officer. Good job. Getting your family in sooner to deal with this is better than starting a gang war. I assume they haven't seen the news if they're willing to come in?" Hicks puts the pieces together.
At Quinn's confirmation, he continues.
"I spoke to Deputy Chief Bennett after yesterday's incident to fill her in, and she has given me orders to trust your word on this and not allow it to spread beyond 20-Squad. Now, someone has told both her and me to trust your duty to SWAT and never question that, so I won't."
Hicks speaks honestly, telling Quinn that while he doesn't necessarily like her lie, he will continue to trust her because someone much higher up than his own boss has spoken on her behalf.
"Thank you, Commander, and I assure you that my loyalties lie with the LAPD and 20-Squad. Nothing I do will ever compromise that. I swear it on my honor."
Quinn confirms Hicks' trust in her.
----------
10 A.M.
It's currently ten in the morning, and 20-Squad have all clocked in for their shifts. The mood in the Eagle Room is tense, with Luca and Quinn standing on one side of the room while the younger members—apart from Hicks, Hondo, and Deacon—stand on the other.
No one has spoken to Quinn since yesterday. But when the girls walked into HQ that morning and spotted her making the squad's usual coffee like normal, only to later walk past them without a word, they couldn't help but pause and look her over to make sure she was okay.
From the looks of it, she had stayed somewhere that at least gave her access to a shower and a bed.
The group had been informed by Hicks that they were waiting on someone before they got into dealing with the gang threat. What the squad didn't expect, however, was for the main Monarch family to walk into HQ.
The second Luca noticed the family's entrance, he nudged Quinn, prompting her to look up. When she saw her adoptive family standing before her, she couldn't help but freeze for a moment before stepping out of the Eagle Room and approaching them.
The second she entered their line of sight, they all paused.
So did Quinn. She stopped a few steps away from them while 20-Squad and Commander Hicks watched from farther back.
Quinn took a sweeping look at everyone before her. Practically everyone from her adopted family was there, apart from the twins and their grandmother, for obvious reasons. Partially because the twins were currently hostages, and partially because their grandmother was still in the hospital.
Her godmother—her adoptive mother—had tears forming in her eyes.
"Rosie..."
The relieved sob escapes Akami before she rushes forward and wraps the slightly shorter girl in her arms.
The Japanese woman immediately starts fussing over her goddaughter, speaking a mixture of English and Japanese while Quinn simply stands there and accepts the embrace.
When the squad hears the woman express her relief at Quinn being alive, they all freeze.
Alive?
Each member silently repeats the word in their head, questioning whether they heard correctly.
After Akami finally lets go, two of the brothers approach. Leo and Liam Harris both look down at her with soft, endearing expressions before pulling her into quick hugs, seemingly understanding her aversion to physical contact.
Then comes Andrew Harris, Valentina Quinn's son, followed by his own son, Anthony Harris.
The two older men each place a quick kiss on Quinn's head before stepping aside for the tallest and most authoritative brother to approach.
Logan Harris.
The eldest of the six brothers walks up to Quinn and stops in front of her. For a long moment, neither of them says a word. The two simply share a silent conversation through their expressions before Logan reaches up and tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
Then he pulls her into a brief but heartfelt embrace. When he steps away, the rest of the family moves aside, revealing one final brother.
The youngest of Quinn's older brothers. The one she shared a connection with, unlike any other.
Roman Harris.
The second Logan is out of the way, Roman makes a mad dash towards Quinn and practically tackles her into a hug.
One she returns just as fiercely.
The two bury their faces into each other's shoulders, neither willing to let go.
Rosalina has a death grip on Roman, and for the first time, 20-Squad sees the girl who never shows emotion completely break.
Her body shakes in the embrace, yet not a single sound leaves her.
Behind them, Akami places a gentle hand on her husband's arm. A somber yet understanding look crosses her face as she watches the siblings reunite.
It takes another minute before they finally separate.
Turning back toward 20-Squad and their commander, Quinn gestures towards the group behind her.
"This is my family... the Quinns."
========
Later, the squad and Quinn's family stand together and watch the clip of the twins' hostage video. Hicks explains how they acquired the footage, shares everything they know so far, and briefly goes over the information Quinn revealed the previous day.
To say the family is furious would be an understatement. They are fuming.
Akami looks ready to collapse at the sight of her children in the video, and the revelation that The Sharks are back only makes matters worse.
The family quickly splits up to work alongside different members of the squad and gather as much intelligence as possible.
Hicks works with Andrew, the former club president, while Anthony—the current president of the Monarchs—works with Hondo. The second eldest brother works with Deacon, Liam and Leo work alongside Powell and Cabrera, leaving Alfaro paired with Akami and Tan with Logan, the eldest brother.
Meanwhile, Quinn and Luca move off to investigate the gang that originally provided the information.
While some members of both families are reluctant to work together, others use the opportunity for very different reasons.
Over in the tech room, Alfaro and Akami are searching through known names Akami remembers from The Sharks. As they work, Quinn's adoptive mother decides to bring up something she noticed while watching the squad interact earlier.
--------
"Miguel, right?" Akami asks gently, her motherly tone filling the room.
"I can only guess what happened before my daughter called her eldest brother yesterday. You're mad at her..."
The words are placed on the table and left there for several moments before Alfaro finally responds.
"Of course I'm mad at Ro! She lied to me. To our team!"
Akami blinks. "She lets you call her Ro?"
The question catches Alfaro completely off guard.
"Yeah, she does. Never said anything if she had a problem with it." He huffs before adding, "Though I doubt she'd be honest about anything."
A sad smile crosses Akami's face.
"She only lets my third youngest and the twins call her that. She doesn't let anyone else—not even me—call her that. She only lets them because they share a special connection with her and... because it's what her parents used to call her."
A somber tone settles over her voice at the mention of her late best friend.
"Wha-what? And she just lets me call her that? Even knowing what it means to her? To her parents?"
Alfaro turns sharply towards Akami, the shock written plainly across his face.
"Yes. And if she does, then it means she cares about you, son. She cares far more than she lets on." Akami's expression turns nostalgic.
"When we raised her, Rosie was this daring, confident, sassy little girl who my sons treated like a princess. But she hated that, you know? Being treated like she was defenseless, weak, fragile. So she proved them wrong. She used to get into fights with anyone who dared look at my boys the wrong way."
Akami pauses, smiling faintly at the memory.
"But when it came to Roman? Or when the twins were born? She showed us all a side of her we never knew was there. She has this natural motherly care and affection, and an even stronger sisterly bond."
She studies Alfaro for a moment before continuing.
"The twins are probably around your age, and Rosie protected them with everything an eight-year-old could. If they ever got hurt—which happened often, and isn't unusual with those two—she would be the first one running to help them. The first one blaming herself because she couldn't protect them."
Akami's voice softens.
"So if there's anything I've learned from watching that girl look at all of you, it's that you mean more to her than you'll ever know, and more than she'll ever admit. So... go easy on her, yeah? She has a lot riding on her shoulders, and more demons than you can count."
Akami asks a small favor of Alfaro before the two return their attention to the database.
===============
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Thank you for reading ep 6 of SWAT: Ghosts of the Fallen, Let Me Be Honest!💜🫶
Ooh, we've officially met the Quinn family! The tensions are higher than ever, and Alfaro is getting the truth about Rosalina laid out by her godmother, Akami. Also, the brothers are half American, half Japanese, just a reminder, as I don't specifically mention it besides saying their mother is Japanese.
Please continue to support Tan and Rosalina's journey on SWAT by liking and commenting!🫰💜
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This chapter will have a lot of dialogue, but please read it, as it will provide a lot of context for the next chapter's storyline!🫰
"Thanks, Tan... for fighting for me."
At Powell's house.
Rosalina had been living with Powell for the last week after some drunk driver crashed their car into Luca's house, effectively taking out half of Luca's room and the living room in one sweep.
Tan, on the other hand, had been living with his new girlfriend, Olivia, a reporter who had helped SWAT a time or two with gathering information on cases she had reported on.
After the incident at the prison, Tan was kind enough to lend his room out to Quinn for the time being so the girl could feel safe sleeping within her own space, unlike the couch she insisted on sleeping on.
But after the incident, the three were forced to split and stay with others. For Powell and Quinn, that meant more bonding time and paying less for petrol as they carpooled to work most days.
This night was no different from how the last week and a half had been. The girls—Powell, Cabrera, and Quinn—gathered to have a girls' night, watch some dramas, order takeaways, drink a random bottle of expensive wine, and just sleep over before heading into work together the next morning.
That night, the girls watched an especially steamy drama where their mutual celebrity crush starred. Once they had drunk a little too much wine and beer, they called it a night.
Well, they didn't make it very far to their rooms. Cabrera managed to reach the next couch before she collapsed and fell asleep, while Quinn and Powell didn't even bother moving from their spots.
========
The next morning, when the girls got up and were getting ready for work, which wouldn't start until midday, Powell casually brought up something Quinn did in her sleep.
"Hey, Lina, do you get nightmares in your sleep or something? You were twitching and turning for a good while last night. Saw you when I was going to the bathroom," Powell questioned as she poured the girls' coffees.
"What? No, I don't," Quinn replied quickly.
Cabrera and Powell immediately took notice of the girl's change in demeanour.
"Hey, Q, you can tell us... we promise we won't think of you any differently," Cabrera tried to ease the older girl into opening up.
"I-I, uh, get nightmares from time to time, yeah. But it's nothing too serious. Just... when I was younger, there was an accident that happened, and I lost a few friends in the mess," Quinn said, unsure of how to bring up the topic, but continued.
"From time to time, I get nightmares of that day. Or when it's someone's birthday, even when I see something that I used to associate with them or that reminded me of them."
The girls shared a concerned look before walking up to Quinn and hugging her. The girl stuck in the middle didn't know what to do, awkwardly patting their hands around her.
After the girls ate the breakfast Quinn made, packed their coffees into takeaway cups, and geared up, they headed into HQ.
========
When they arrived, they got settled in, put their things in the lockers, dropped their lunches off in the fridge, and sat around the Eagle Room drinking their coffee while waiting for their shift to start.
Just then, Hicks walked into the room. The three girls stopped to stare at their commander, who also stood still and watched them sip at their coffee.
"Umm, good morning, Commander. I-uh, I brought you some coffee too. A flat white. It's in the fridge for whenever you want it..." Quinn trailed off, trying to play off their relaxed mood by reminding their commander that they had brought in a treat for him too.
"It's not that, you three. But thanks for the coffee. We have a problem, and I want you all to suit up immediately and head to the location I'm going to send you. We have two officers down at a truck stop. Go, go now!" Hicks commanded.
The girls dropped their coffees on the table and ran to their unit vehicles.
=======
At the location, they found a gunman sitting in a police car with a hostage in the back seat. Quinn was ordered to take up a sniper position while the others surrounded the area, Hondo trying to make contact with the suspect.
"This is Sergeant Harrelson. I'm with the LAPD. How's your leg?" Hondo called out to the suspect, who refused to respond.
However, as the squad tried to get him out, they noticed that he was talking with the hostage. But that conversation didn't go as smoothly as it started. The suspect was visibly getting more agitated, and Alfaro called it in to the team.
Just as they tried to think of a plan, Deacon spotted the hostage pointing a can of some sort at the suspect.
Within the next minute, she yelled at the suspect and, when he turned to her, sprayed him in the face with what the team presumed was pepper spray.
Alfaro and Tan managed to get the woman out, but as the suspect got out and tried to open fire, Quinn was quick to shoot him down.
=======
Later that afternoon, the team returned to HQ after finding a mutilated and tortured body tied up in the back of one of the trucks, turning this regular truck stop into a much more serious problem.
They found out that an LA trucking office had been hit, the manager getting shot before torching the place, possibly by their second shooter.
The team tried contacting the trucking company in Brazil but came up empty. The downed gunman from that morning ended up being another dead end. He had arrived from the Dominican Republic six months ago and had no information to go off to determine who he was running with.
The team went off to chase the lead given by the hostage at the truck stop. When they arrived, they found gunmen already at the scene, but within a few tense minutes, they had taken them down.
Deacon and Hondo found a necklace on one of the gunmen's bodies, a necklace belonging to Los Altos, a notoriously dangerous biker gang with connections to a cartel in the Dominican Republic.
The squad realised that if that cartel was trying to smuggle drugs into the country through that biker gang, and someone stole from them, they would go to any lengths to get their cocaine back.
===========
When Powell and Alfaro got the phone off that morning's other shooter, they realised, thanks to Hicks' not-so-rusty Spanish skills, that the cocaine was being transported in a rabbit case.
And that very rabbit case had been seen in the background of the Brazilian singer's dance video.
The team knew that if they had managed to spot it in the social media post, then the biker gang would have too.
So they were off to the stadium to try to track down the backup singer who took the case.
======
Later, they managed to catch the suspects from the gang and save the backup singer from being killed by the dangerous gang, though Hondo and Quinn had to go on a dirt bike chase around the stadium to catch the final suspect.
The squad thought they were done for the day, but when they returned to HQ, there was another problem waiting for them. A problem that was about to get much bigger than that morning's.
Alfaro, Powell, Cabrera, and Quinn were in the kitchen laughing and talking over some fizzy drinks, trying to get their energy up, when Quinn decided to suggest:
"Hey, we should all hit up the pub on the weekend after our shifts to celebrate and just chill after the last few intense weeks. How's that sound?"
Quinn suggested, sounding unusually excited today, more than she ever was.
After a round of enthusiastic yeses, the group walked out of the kitchen and headed towards the Eagle Room, where Hondo, Luca, Tan, and Deacon stood along with Hicks.
But the second the group caught sight of, and felt, the intense mood in the room, their laughs died out.
(Warning, there is about to be a lot of dialogue from Quinn, so please bear with me and trust that it is important!)
------
Rosalina's POV
The second we walked into the Eagle Room, our laughter and upbeat mood dropped. The tension in the room hung heavy.
When I got fully into the room, what I saw on the screens stilled me in place. My heart started beating rapidly, and my body began to tremble.
I turned to Hicks and asked, "Hey, Commander, where did you get that clip?"
"We have some CIs in the Los Altos gang, and they got rumours of this other associated gang who are planning to broadcast this video in about two hours. More or less an hour and a half for us to figure out what's happening here before the city goes into panic," Hicks explained before turning to me and asking if I recognised the two men in the video.
"Y-yeah, I do. I more than recognise them." My words caught in my throat before I steeled my nerves and spoke again.
"Tristan and Tyler."
Deacon asked me how I knew those names when their faces didn't come up in any system.
"Try with the last name Harris, born five years after me," I said, my voice soft, but it still carried.
This time, it was Hondo who asked how I knew that information once Tan pulled up their birth records.
"Because I'm their older sister..." My voice broke through the chatter, the defeat clear in every word.
Silence. Pure, pin-drop silence filled SWAT HQ for the first time, and I knew I was the reason for it.
"Officer Quinn, those boys are sons of the Monarchs Biker Club. Your last name is Quinn, and I don't think I need to mention the clear distinction between the three of you that shows you're not related," Hicks interrupted the silence, trying to make sense of the bombshell I'd just dropped.
"That's true... they're not. But they are in more ways than just blood and bones." I turned fully towards Hicks, my confidence returning at the statement.
"Now, Commander, I want you to listen to everything I have to say from here on out. And I know I've lied to you all about my identity, but I need you to listen to me very carefully and believe every word I say... because if that symbol at the back of the twins belongs to who I think it does... the whole outer LA area is going to come under serious fire, and many people will get caught up in this mess if we don't stop it."
"Believe me when I say this, not as their big sister, but as your officer who has worked alongside you for almost three months now..."
Believing I needed to start from where this all began, I decided to put all my family cards on the table.
"My parents moved to LA after leaving their families behind to come to the US and have children. They came with nothing, though. No support, no family, and only a couple of thousand dollars.
"So when they moved to the outskirts of LA, they struggled, and they almost got into trouble with dangerous loan sharks when the twins' parents stepped in and helped them, putting them back on their feet, getting them jobs, and helping chase off the loan sharks."
"After that, our parents became close friends, even best friends. One day, my parents decided they would help the twins' parents the same way they had helped them, so they became their right hands, or what they called VPs."
"Both of the twins' parents were only children in their families, just like my parents, so they had no one else to rely on. They became each other's chosen family."
"The thing is, before my parents moved, the Monarchs Biker Club had a rival. It was a local street gang, one of the biggest, and they lived down the block from the Monarchs. But when a third rising gang, Los Tiburones, or 'The Sharks', started getting into the mix, the Monarchs and the street gang married off their children to form an alliance.
"Their mum and dad got married, and the club and street gang merged into a powerhouse on the outer side of LA. They wanted to take down the third gang, but not because they wanted power. No, it was because of what they did, what they stood for, which the two families hated."
"They were into drugs, collecting illegal weapons, but mostly—and the worst part—trafficking. They trafficked women and young girls to the worst kinds of people for cash and anything else they could get."
"Why would they want to take them down for that sole reason? Normally, gangs would just leave them alone unless directly attacked," Deacon questioned.
"Because the Monarchs aren't called that for no reason. They're called that because of the Original Eight. The founding members. All sisters."
"And the eldest, Valentina Quinn, was the first Monarch. A truly brutal, determined woman who was fiercely loyal and protective of her family."
"But that's the thing. Her and her sisters' wish to continue their bloodline through daughters ended with them. None of the Original Eight had daughters. They only had sons."
"And Valentina? She had it worse. She only had one child in her lifetime—a son. The twins' grandfather, Andrew Harris. The sole heir to the Monarchs' patch.
"But that didn't stop the legacy of the Original Eight because every child born would carry the Quinn name. On paper, they would take the Harris name.
"Which leads to me..."
I fought back my emotions, not wanting to lay every broken piece of myself out on the table.
"I got this name from the twins' parents, after Valentina Quinn. I got this name because..."
I paused, forcing myself to continue.
"Because when I was four, Los Tiburones killed my parents as a way to get to the Monarchs. I survived because I was at the park with the twins' four older brothers at the time."
"Their parents took me in. Seeing as they were my godparents, naturally, my custody went to them. They adopted me and changed my last name to Quinn after Valentina, and five years later... those chaotic twins were born."
My voice carried a sombre, nostalgic tone.
"That family treated me like I was their own blood daughter, whether it was because my parents died because of them or because I was the closest thing to a true Monarch they would ever get..."
"But those brothers, all six of them, treated me like a princess. And if Tristan and Tyler are in their hands... Los Tiburones will stop at nothing to get to my godparents."
--------
No One's POV
The moment Rosalina finished explaining her history with the Monarchs and the twins, the room sprang into action.
Luca, Deacon, Hondo, and Hicks moved about, trying to call, text, and search for any information they could find on the gang.
While this was happening, Rosalina tried to approach her remaining squad members and friends. But the second she approached and tried to speak, she was cut off before a word could leave her mouth.
"I thought you were being real with us, Quinn! I even considered you my big sister, but you lied... You played me, the team! You told me you cared for me as your little brother... but family doesn't lie about who they are. They just don't..."
Alfaro spat out the words. The youngest member struggled to decide whether he was speaking from anger, betrayal, or sadness.
When he finished, he left a stunned, open-mouthed Quinn standing there, her eyes beginning to water.
When she turned to Powell and Cabrera, the two girls she had just been enjoying her night and morning with, they looked at her with such betrayal and unfamiliarity, as though they didn't know her.
But really, did they know Quinn at all?
"Zoe, Alex? Please, just listen to me..." Quinn tried.
"No, Quinn. Don't. Just don't," Powell started before Cabrera spoke.
"Was anything you said this morning real? The accident?"
"Yes. Yes, it was. I do get nightmares, but the deaths aren't about friends... they were about my parents. About the image of them being attacked by Los Tiburones. I-I just... changed the way they died so I wouldn't have to bring up the gang, but I had to do that anyway."
Quinn tried to explain, but her own words lost their hope when she realised how betrayed they must have felt.
"We told you that you could trust us. That we had your back... but you still chose to lie? About something this big?" Powell questioned, her voice breaking halfway through.
"Were you ever going to tell us if you weren't forced to?" Cabrera asked softly.
The two didn't wait for the answer and left, following Alfaro.
When Rosalina tried to approach Tan, the second his name escaped her lips, he turned without a glance and left the Eagle Room.
Leaving Quinn standing there, heartbroken and shaking.
All that remained in the room were Hondo, Deacon, Hicks, and Luca, the latter walking up to Quinn and placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
Taking a deep breath and steadying her watering eyes, she approached the table with Luca at her side.
Once more, taking a deep breath, Quinn lifted her eyes, looked directly at Hicks, who was already watching her, and spoke.
"Commander, Hondo, I know the team doesn't—and probably won't—trust my words ever again after this... but we need to stop Los Tiburones before anyone innocent gets hurt."
"But more than that, the reason they're coming after my family is because my godfather and his dad took out all of The Sharks' leading members before the 2000s rolled in, including the previous gang leader, the then-current leader, all their right hands, and their cousins who could have taken up the positions."
"Their return means they want revenge... and getting rid of the Monarchs for good is their goal. We need to prevent the Monarchs from walking straight into their own execution."
"The club doesn't do anything illegal anymore after that incident, so many innocent members of the club can and will get caught in the crossfire."
Quinn informed the others and reassured Hicks that she wanted to protect the innocent members of the club, like the twins and the people of outer LA, from this gang war.
Just as she made a move to leave, she turned around and informed the men in the room.
"I need to make some calls. I'm going to stop this gang war before it even starts."
============
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Thank you for reading ep 6 of SWAT: Ghosts of the Fallen, The Quinn Legacy!💜🫰
I just dropped the bombshell of Rosalina's past and her family lore! What did you think? Let me know in the comments!
Also, hopefully you can see why Gamble isn't involved with 20-squad, given how similar their backgrounds are. I may slip her in here and there, but she won't be a main member of 20-Squad, and instead I'm keeping Luca in, because the man deserved more scenes in the new seasons🥲
Please continue to support Tan and Rosalina's journey on SWAT by liking and commenting!🫶💜
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a/n: Luca replaces Gamble in this chapter🤗 the reason for this will be revealed next episode.
But Rosalina wasn’t camera-shy. No, she knew all too well what happens when you’re in the spotlight. And for Rosalina, it wasn’t about to be all fame and glory.
A few weeks after the whole helicopter sniper moment and stopping extremists from blowing up LA, 20-Squad was back to their usual calls: bank robberies, hostage situations, police escorts, and Amber Alerts.
But just as they thought the week was going to stay as light as it had been, disaster struck. A prison facility was facing a hostage situation, and SWAT had been called in to help sort it.
The prison in question just happened to be run by Deputy Chief Bennett's husband, so Hicks had SWAT on extra strict watch, or they knew the husband would complain about their commander.
Just as the team sorted the hostage situation and were ready to escort the prisoner out, a bomb went off, throwing 20-Squad to the ground.
One of the prisoner cooks was trapped under a metal stand, and Alfaro decided he was going to help the guy out, feeling like he couldn't leave him behind.
But when he grabbed the stand, his hands got burnt from the hot metal. Alfaro managed to get the guy out from under the rack, but when Hondo asked to see his hands, he refused.
Without waiting a minute, Hondo grabbed Alfaro's wrists and held his hands up to his face, taking in the skin which was beginning to blister from the heat.
Hondo was far from happy and snapped at Alfaro, effectively dismissing him from the task so he could get treated. And that didn't go so well with Alfaro, who tried to storm past the others but was stopped by Quinn.
Rosalina POV
When the explosion went off, all I could think of, amidst all the ringing and momentary blindness from the light, was the team.
Were Alfaro, Powell, Luca, Hondo, and Tan all okay? Did they get hurt in the blast?
I couldn't help but keep praying to whoever would listen for them to be okay. But when I got to my feet and the world wasn't ringing and spinning, I noticed everyone was okay.
I couldn't hold back the relieved breath that escaped me. But of course, it wouldn't be a mission with me if that didn't stay true.
Because within the next second, Miguel was trying to save the prisoner cook from under the metal rack.
And the second I saw, then heard, Hondo tell him off and dismiss him, I knew something was wrong. And so the second he walked past me, I stopped the kid.
"Miguel, what happened? Are you hurt? Show me," I questioned, care lacing my voice, but it held its sisterly authority.
When he showed me his hands that were angry red and blistering, I softly gasped and took hold of his wrists gently.
I was angry. Angry at myself for not looking after him. I had promised myself to look after Alfaro like he was my own little brother, and I had failed.
But when he noticed the slight shake in my hold, he looked up at my face and saw me staring off at his burnt hands.
And with a soft "hey," he pulled my attention from its dark place.
"I'm fine, sis. I'll go get it checked out. Hondo cut me from the mission anyway. I'll just chill with Hicks. I promise it doesn't hurt; it's just warm and weird. The pain's all gone already," Alfaro reassured me quickly, his playful little brother antics peeping through.
And with a small confirmation and reassurance of my own, he headed out.
We hadn't finished here just yet, and by the time it took me and Alfaro to chat, the rest of the squad discovered something more pressing.
========
20-Squad had realised that someone had blasted a hole through to a hallway leading to high security.
And by the sounds of what Hicks told them through comms, the prison guards further in towards high security were in trouble and injured.
Just as Luca, Hondo, and Quinn were making chase through some inmate blocks, they got shut in by the man trying to get to high security.
And their problem was about to get messier when the doors holding the inmates inside malfunctioned and opened up, leaving the three officers face to face with some real nasty criminals.
Just then, Tan, Deacon, and Powell ran past the guard's passage just outside of where the three and the inmates were trapped. The three made quick progress on trying to get the doors open.
As Quinn, Luca, and Hondo were trying to get the inmates to back up, one decided to test the officers' warnings.
The second he moved, Luca was given orders to fire a rubber bullet at the inmate, effectively knocking him down.
"The next one who tries somethin' is getting real bullets. These guns don't carry fakes!" Hondo warned the inmates more seriously.
The inmates kept battling between coming forward to fight and getting shot in the process, or to hang back. But just as they kept deciding, Quinn decided too.
Within the next second, Quinn quickly, without making big movements for Luca or Hondo to notice, rolled up her uniform sleeve.
And whatever the inmates saw on her hand, which was now back to holding her gun, prompted them to back up.
Some looked at each other in shock and fear, and others in recognition and submission.
Luca and Hondo visibly relaxed at the cooldown, but as they turned to look at Quinn, they realised all she had on her was a cold, unflinching face, unafraid of the many dangerous men, much bigger than her, who stood before her.
But just as she thought she had gone unnoticed, she hadn't escaped all of her teammates' eyes.
Tan had spotted her adjusting her sleeve, and when she did, he saw the inmate's reaction.
"Tan, Deac, Powell! What's the update on getting this door open? We don't have much time till this gets much messier," Hondo questioned the other three officers of his team.
"We're almost done, Hondo..." Tan spoke, his words more delayed in thought than clear, before he continued. “Deac is trying to fix the box. Guy smashed it up real good."
Just then, Deacon managed to get the doors open. However, as Luca and Hondo got Quinn out first, the prisoners who weren't deterred by Quinn were approaching steadily.
----------
The squad managed to get out of the cell block through a guard's passage thanks to a guard they found injured.
The guard in question refused to leave the prison without getting to his son, another guard at the prison.
As 20-Squad continued through the prison, they realised, thanks to Alfaro's help, that the guy who set off the bomb in the kitchen was headed after a man named Luiz Diaz, an inmate who was trying to get out and escape prison.
Once the squad reached the infirmary to try to help treat the officer and also help out some medical staff, they came face to face with inmates raiding the medical supplies, one of whom even overdosed.
After taking the few down, they moved further into the room and found one inmate taking a nurse hostage.
Deacon engaged with the inmate while the rest of the team helped patch up the guard temporarily.
As Deacon stood face to face with the inmate, trying to talk him into letting the nurse go, he caught the nurse reaching for a scalpel.
The second the nurse cut the inmate's arm, Deacon shot him, effectively taking him out without harm to the nurse.
When the guard asked what happened to his son, the person escorting the medical team, the nurse said two inmates were taking him to El Ray.
The father immediately went into a panic.
El Ray was none other than Benicio Ramires, a gang leader who had his yard time taken away due to Jason reporting an infraction.
Hondo ordered Luca and Deacon to stay and look after the medical team while he, Quinn, Tan, Powell, and the guard went to search for Jason.
========
Tan and Quinn were tasked with searching the lower level while the rest went with Hondo upstairs to search.
As Quinn and Tan were going down a hallway, they stumbled upon a body.
When Quinn checked the wrist tag on the guy, she realised it was Diaz. He was stabbed and bleeding out.
"We'll get you help, but tell us who paid you to set that bomb?" Quinn questioned Diaz urgently.
He said one word. Not a real name, but a name that made both Tan and Quinn shiver.
"The Prophet. We were going to escape together, but he stabbed me." Just as Diaz finished explaining, inmates rushed in from another door.
However, this time they had equipment. They had riot shields, bulletproof vests, and some even had guns.
Tan and Quinn tried to deal with the situation but were getting overwhelmed fast.
Just then, an inmate came out and sprayed Tan with some sort of pepper spray, blinding him momentarily.
Quinn, who was standing in front of an open room, tried to engage the three men who charged her while Tan was down.
"Quinn!" Tan yelled.
"Drop your weapons! Drop them now!" Quinn was heard yelling, but she was being forced back with every approaching step they took.
Rosalina POV
I was getting overwhelmed.
They were approaching fast, and I had no backup with Tan being blinded.
I was cornered, forced to retreat into the open room behind me.
Just as they managed to push me into the closet, I had to ditch using my gun and fight them by hand.
But there were three of them, and one was using the riot shield to block my attempts at protecting myself.
Just then, I got knocked onto the ground by the guy holding the riot shield.
I could hear Tan's panicked yells outside the door, but the second I was down, they took their chances and started beating me up.
One of the guys tried to grab my pistol. I held him off with one hand and tried to use the other to grab my knife. Just as I managed to get it out, I just as quickly slashed the guy's ankle.
But before I could get up and cover myself, the main guy used a taser, which brought me back to the ground, where I started seizing with the electricity running through my body.
Pure, unadulterated pain, worry, and rage flooded my veins.
Come on, Rosalina, you have to get up!
Don't let them take you down.
Get up.
Get up.
Get up!
I kept yelling at myself in my head.
--------
Tan POV
I could hear Quinn fighting inside the storage room. She was holding her own for now, but I needed to get in quick. She wouldn't be able to hold off three people for long.
As I bashed my shoulder repeatedly against the steel door, I heard a shout from one of the men before Quinn went quiet. Only faint whimpers could be heard.
"QUINN! Let her go, you bastards! I swear if you do anything!" I panicked and yelled out, my banging on the door becoming more frantic.
Then all I could hear was her screaming. Her terror-filled screams filled the room.
She was begging and screaming at them to let her go. She was struggling against them, I could tell.
With my vision barely back, I took out the metal laser and tried to cut the lock on the door with shaky hands.
I had to be fast. I had no clue what they were doing to Quinn in there.
Just as I got through the door, one of the inmates tried to fire at me. I quickly shot the guy in the head.
Just as I moved in, the other main guy picked up a weak Quinn and held her at knifepoint.
"You take one step closer and I'll cut the chick's head off!" he yelled at me, making me pause in my steps.
"Let her go!" I yelled back, worry and demand lacing my words.
Just then, Quinn gave me a weak lift of her finger and closed her eye reassuringly.
At that moment, I knew she would handle herself. I just needed to be ready.
Next thing I know, Quinn threw a fist back at the guy's balls and slammed him into the wall next to her with all her remaining body force, then used a taser to zap him.
The second he went down, she stumbled back towards me and went limp on the floor to catch her breath.
When I took one sweeping look at her condition, I saw red.
Slinging my gun to my back, I charged the guy who had now stopped twitching and threw punch after punch at him.
It wasn't until I heard Quinn's quiet voice saying “Vic… don't” that I snapped out of my rage and rushed back to her.
Falling to my knees, I brought the shaking Quinn into my arms and tried to steady her as she caught her breath.
"It's alright, I've got you... I've got you, Rose," I whispered gently, my chin resting on her head while her grip on my vest tightened.
Once she calmed down a bit, she pushed away from my grip and went over to her vest and equipment. She straightened out her shirt and rezipped and buckled her cargos.
Then her usual cold focus slipped back into place. The shaking woman whom I just held in my arms two seconds ago was gone, and now 20-Squad's silent ace slipped back in.
=========
On the other side of the prison, Hondo, the guard, and his son sat hostage in the prison's chapel, the rest of 20-Squad making their way up.
When Hondo got radioed from Hicks to check his status, the guy holding Hondo hostage had no choice but to let him respond to avoid the team rushing in.
However, the second time Hicks radioed in, he called Hondo by his real name.
The second Hicks said "Hondo," the inmate turned his head back to the sergeant.
Because Hondo was the one who got his cousin sent to prison in the first place, and that sentence got him killed in jail.
And he wanted revenge.
So to avoid the inmate from shooting him right on the spot, he challenged the guy to fight him, fist to fist.
Of course, he agreed after being told Hondo would make him his bitch if he lost.
So as the two fought it out, Hondo wasn't getting far but was holding up well enough against the giant of an inmate.
But just as he got knocked down and the inmate was choking Hondo out, the team burst through.
Within seconds, Quinn had the armed suspects shot, and the others worked on securing the ones who surrendered.
Once Deacon got the big inmate secured, Hondo walked up, grabbed him by the chin, and said,
"Take a mental snapshot. You're gonna spend the next 40 years thinking about this face!"
Hondo snapped at the guy before throwing his grip on the guy's face.
========
Outside, while the team was making their way out, Alfaro and Hicks stopped the fake doctor and nurse from escaping.
The inmate posed as the doctor and took out the real one, disguising him as an inmate who OD'd.
While the team packed up and Hicks dealt with the prison warden, Quinn approached Alfaro to check in on the younger member.
"Hey kid, heard you helped us out a lot in there. Hicks says it was you who got that inmate cook talking and found out about Diaz," Quinn questioned, a slight playful tone lacing her voice as she approached.
"Hah, yeah, that was me. Nothing much, y'know, just the Miguel charm working its due," Alfaro joked back with the elder.
"How's your hand? What did the EMTs say? Is it bad? Will it cause any damage?" Quinn kept firing off question after question.
"Hey, hey, sis, chill! It's fine, they said it'll be good as new in a few days. It was just some blistering, so it's fine to do light work here and there, and once the pain from the blisters goes away, I'm back in action. You can't get rid of me that easily. You didn't think that, did ya, sis?" Alfaro kept joking with the girl, teasing her to ease her worries.
"Of course not, Miguel. Can't have Baby Miko out of the game, can I? Who else will I have to send chasing after rabbits otherwise, hmm?" Quinn teased back equally.
After leaving the kid to pack up, Quinn was found standing near Black Betty, pulling off her gear when Tan approached.
"Hey... you good?" Tan asked carefully, knowing Quinn was already on edge.
"Fine" was the only word she said before she tried to move past Tan, but he stopped her.
"I know you're not fine. Quinn, be real. Are you okay? What happened in there?" he tried to get her to talk, not wanting her to suffer alone.
"That guy I punched? He tased me, and when I came to, they were on me, my vest and weapons gone, and they—"
She paused, her words catching before she continued.
"They were on me, pulling at my cargos and my top. If you didn't come in when you did..."
Her words faded out, but that was all Tan needed. He could fill in the rest without her having to say it.
"I would never let them do anything to you. Do you hear me? And you would have fought them all the way until I could get to you. You saved yourself, Quinn. You held your own till the last minute. I just helped you finish the job, but that was all you."
Tan spoke confidently, reassuring Quinn.
At the small nod of her head, Tan went to walk away to give her some space, but was stopped by her words.
"Thanks, Tan... for fighting for me." Her words came out silently but were raw and honest.
Tan could only nod back and continue walking, showing he had heard her.
============
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Thank you for reading chapter 5 of SWAT: Ghosts of the Fallen, Family First!🫶💜
I hope you enjoyed this chapter based on episode 3, Life in S8. A lot happened in this chapter, and the bonds between the squad just got deeper.
Rosalina is going through it these days, and Tan has started to come around. Will he continue to warm up to Rosalina, or will their relationship remain strained?
Rosalina absolutely loves and cares for Alfaro as if he were her own little brother; she wants to protect him at all costs. The same goes for the rest of the team; Rosalina cares more than she lets on.
Please keep supporting Tan and Quinn's journey on SWAT by liking and commenting!🫰💜 Things are about to go down; brace yourselves.
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A/N: Hi lovelies! This chapter starts in the second half of S7 ep 13, since the case for this chapter began in the previous episode of the season (ep 12), and I wanted to take parts of that episode and mix them with episode 13. Don't worry, it will kind of make sense when you read!
“My life depends on getting this right, Tan, and if me doing my best to make it stable bothers you… well, that’s a you problem… asshole.”
1 month into Rosalina joining SWAT
Today was just like any other day, except 20-Squad, or what remained of it, was falling apart.
The whole of SWAT was dealing with one of its biggest problems yet. An extremist attack threatening the majority of LA and the thousands who live in it.
After Elisa, a Green Rebellion member who had kidnapped a rich man's son to get him to expose his father's business, was stopped, the boyfriend of Elisa went on a rampage to get revenge for her death.
After stopping some of his crew in the morning and realising they were setups, 20-Squad had to dive deeper into what the boyfriend really planned to do with so much Semtex.
=====
Just as the team wrapped up taking down some more of the extremists who were trying to destroy some pipe valves, the team reported the incident to HQ, where Hicks and a friendly face—Vasquez from the FBI—were helping with the case.
Once the team returned to HQ, another member of SWAT urgently rushed 20-Squad into the building, saying they were needed immediately by Hicks.
Rushing into the main room where Hicks and Vasquez waited, the second the two saw 20-Squad approaching, they called them over quickly, their faces conflicted with heightened tension, anger, and worry.
Rosalina POV
Hicks looks like he's aged at least ten years since we left for our mission. The look didn't help to calm our nerves, especially after being rushed inside with urgent matters.
"20-Squad, gather round. We have a much bigger problem on our hands than we thought," Hicks spoke, his voice carrying its usual demanding tone, but it was laced with worry.
Hicks then told us that pipeline we found two people destroying the valves for? Yeah, well, those valves connected to all of LA's fuel. A pipeline that runs right through the centre of LA.
When we questioned why they would be trying to target the fuel line, Vasquez shared a piece of information we absolutely dreaded. A piece of information that almost had me itching the tattoo across my chest.
They wanted to blow up LA, and they would do it big. We just didn't know where they'd start.
------
Later, when Tan and I were checking through Elisa and her boyfriend's history, trying to figure out where they could be planting the Semtex, I thought it would be the perfect time to make some things clear with Tan.
Just a few days ago, we were dealing with the worry that Hondo might get kicked off of SWAT due to shooting a black person who had run off after taking shots at Hondo and tried to raise his gun at a girl on a basketball court.
The whole thing got blown out of proportion. 20-Squad's leader was once again being questioned about whether his actions were right or not, just like Buck was all those years ago.
When videos started spreading like wildfire on social media, Alfaro was caught by Tan watching one of the clips with another SWAT member. And, well, that didn't exactly go well with Tan.
He had a few choice words for Alfaro and even went as far as saying he wouldn't want him to be on 20-Squad, that he wouldn't fit in. He even went and said he was practically waiting for Hondo's downfall.
Well, the kid wasn't too pleased with Tan's character view. Heck, everyone could tell Alfaro wasn't like that, but for Tan... he just couldn't see it.
So I decided I had to be brutally honest with him again. Though I hadn't talked with the guy at all for the last few days, with how we ended our conversation the other night.
"Y'know... you have an awful habit of judging people based on your own narratives," I started, breaking the long silence between us.
"First me, then Alfaro... you're kinda getting a track record for being not so nice to newbies."
"So what, you're just listening in on all my conversations, huh?" Tan asked dryly without looking up.
"Well, it's not being sneaky if I can overhear your conversation while I was just doing something... that ring a bell to you?" I added the small jab, reciting his own words from when he overheard mine and Luca's conversation.
He just snickered but kept listening.
"The kid's not like what you think. He genuinely wants to join 20-Squad. Heck, many new people in training and in the academy glorify 20-Squad. It's the dream team of SWAT, the best of the best. And Miguel is just like them. He really wants a spot in this team now that there are spots open."
I walked over towards his side of the table before continuing, making him face me and listen fully to what I had to say next.
"The kid looks up to Hondo, Tan, and you saying he's just waiting for his downfall so he can swoop in and steal his position? To become the youngest SWAT leader?" I asked, my voice thickening as I questioned.
"Even you know that isn't true. And Powell telling you that he wants to impress Hondo? He wants Hondo to choose him for 20-Squad. He wants to prove to Hondo that he's reliable, that he can work well within this team. And he's helped us all this time. He's always the first to request transferring teams to help fill in our spots."
"Yeah, well, he found watching the clips of that shooting pretty amusing. Didn't stop him from using it as entertainment, did it?" Tan pushed, trying to get me to see his side.
"You know... I get why this is hitting you so hard. With Deacon trying to retire, with Street gone at Long Beach, and with me just popping in randomly, I can see why you feel like this team is breaking. Why you're so protective of what remains of it... but you can't keep trying to stop it from growing... you're just making it have a bigger chance of going away completely whenever you shut someone like Miguel out," I said before leaving him with his thoughts again.
------
No POV
Just later that day, Alfaro cracked the location of where Zane could be planting the Semtex. He checked the Green Rebellion's social media and found the first possible location where Zane and Elisa met. The location being an area where the pipeline runs directly under.
"We're anticipating heavy resistance. These men are not afraid to die for their cause. And today, their cause is to destroy our city. I'm not gonna sugarcoat it..." Hondo briefed the squad inside Black Betty on their way to the location.
"The stakes are higher than ever, and it all comes down to us. I know we haven't been gelling as a squad lately. Some of you still haven't settled your differences..." Hondo's voice carried out, Tan turning to look at Alfaro next to him, then in the mirror at Quinn.
"But real talk, bottom line, this could be 20-Squad's last ride. I don't know what the team's gonna look like tomorrow. But I do know there will be a tomorrow. Because this team right here... we're gonna make sure of that."
"So let's get out there and give 'em hell. And save our city."
Hondo's commanding and reassuring voice bounced off the vehicle's walls.
--------
Over at the site, Zane and his crew were setting up the Semtex inside one of the compartments that gave direct access to the pipeline. Unknown to him, SWAT had arrived and was sneaking around as he spoke.
Tan, Powell, and Alfaro went one way, while Hondo, Quinn, Deacon, and Vasquez went the other. The two groups made their way into the site with quiet precision.
Powell's group spotted Zane and his crew, moving into position to try and catch them off guard. But before they could radio it in again, they were spotted.
Fire started flying through the air. The extremists fired at SWAT, the officers returning fire. While this happened, Zane made a run for it with another extremist, heading in the direction of Quinn's team.
Alfaro called the rabbits through to Hondo and the others, who made chase.
While they chased after the two, Alfaro and Tan had to momentarily put their feud aside and try to disable the bomb whose detonator was connected to a cellphone.
On the other hand, Hondo's team had cornered one of the rabbits while Zane fled. This extremist, however, had the cell in his hands and was threatening to set it off. The two were left in a standoff with nothing to do but hope Tan and Alfaro got the bomb defused in time.
As they waited, the man made a move to press the detonate button on the cell. When it didn't work, he tried again, his confidence failing him by the second.
Just then, Tan called in to say that they had disabled the bomb.
Suddenly, the guy tried to shoot the team, but Quinn was faster and got him before he could fire.
As they went to check his condition, Zane drove out with a fuel tank. Hondo gave chase immediately.
Quinn, Deacon, and Vasquez ran after him, but he jumped onto the back of the fuel tank and was being driven away with Zane.
Just as they thought they wouldn't be able to catch up to Hondo, a helicopter flew above the group.
Quinn had no other choice. Taking in a deep, shaky breath, she turned towards Vasquez and yelled,
"Get that helicopter down now! We're going to save Hondo."
=====
With Hondo up on the tank, he tried to enter the hatch to stop Zane, but the tank's hatch was locked.
Just as he told the team he would use the door breakers to blow the tank, the radio erupted with the team's protests, all voices heard except one.
Then it broke through the voices, calm and sure.
Quinn.
"Hondo... I need you to trust me here. I'm going to shoot Zane from the helicopter... but you're gonna need to jump."
"Quinn, you won't be able to take that shot. Your position isn't stable! I can do this!" Hondo yelled back over the wind.
"No! Hondo, please... trust me," Quinn called back, desperate and sounding more sure than ever.
"...Okay. Alright, I'll do it. You've got one shot, kid. Don't miss."
"Don't worry, I won't," Quinn responded.
Deacon prepared to catch Hondo while Quinn situated herself on the edge of the helicopter.
Her one hand looped into the handrail and onto her gun to hold her in place as the upper half of her body stuck out of the helicopter.
"What is she doing?" Tan questioned, seeing her from afar where they were driving Black Betty at a safe distance behind.
Taking aim, Quinn ordered the crew to fly down closer to the tank.
Once they were close enough, she made the call to Hondo.
"Hondo, on my count, I want you to jump. Deacon's got you, Hondo."
Quinn counted down from five. On three, she shot, then when she reached one, she got Hondo to jump.
At the same time Hondo jumped, and Deacon managed to catch him, the fuel tank lost control and spun onto its side before exploding.
"This is Officer Quinn to command... we're Code 4. We've got Hondo."
=====
After the team lands and gets back to HQ, the whole of SWAT is waiting for them at the carpool. The second the doors of Black Betty open, applause sounds through the courtyard, whoops and cheers filling the ears of 20-Squad.
The carpool filled with Hondo’s name being chanted over and over. And while Quinn pulled out the equipment from the back of Black Betty, Tan approached her along with Alfaro and Powell.
“Aren’t you going to go get your credit? You know, soak up the glory?” Tan questioned Quinn.
“Yeah, sis, you did amazing! That shot you did—it was what saved all of LA and Hondo’s life,” Alfaro spoke after.
“They’re right, Ro… you did amazing today. Really came in for us. You should be over there with Hondo,” Powell also added.
“Thanks, you guys… but I don’t need all that attention. Hondo’s the one who jumped from a tank onto a helicopter. He deserves the praise. He literally ran after Zane and was willing to endanger himself to stop him.” Quinn shook her head and turned fully towards the others.
But before she could slip away, Hondo spotted her and yelled out, “Ah, there she is! The true hero of the day! Quinn, get over here!” He motioned her over, the girl in question having no choice but to follow.
The chants of Hondo were replaced with chants of Quinn.
“Officer Quinn over here is the one who really saved LA. I just jumped off a tank and looked all Indiana Jones-like,” Hondo laughed, giving credit to Rosalina where it was due.
“She’s the one who shot Zane in a moving tank from the seats of a helicopter. Her precision is what saved all of LA,” Hondo announced with clear pride in the younger member, encouraging others to clap and congratulate her.
Rosalina thanked everyone and continued her way inside, avoiding stopping too long for anyone. But when Hicks approached, she had no choice but to stop and listen.
“Every cop in the city and many people of LA are thankful for you, Officer Quinn, and want to say thanks.”
“Thanks, Commander. I was just doing my job,” Rosalina responded.
“Well, you did a damn good job at it, kid. The whole country saw what you did. It’s all over the news,” Hicks commended her.
“Wait… what do you mean the whole country saw it?” Quinn asked, her voice not carrying the same relief it did earlier.
“Well, with such a high-priority case and as many departments on this, did you think the world and country weren’t going to watch how SWAT handled it?” Hicks asked the kid, thinking she was just feeling camera shy.
But Rosalina wasn’t camera-shy. No, she knew all too well what happens when you’re in the spotlight. And for Rosalina, it wasn’t about to be all fame and glory.
======================
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Thank you for reading ep 4 of SWAT: Ghosts of the Fallen, What Comes with Fame and Glory. 🫶💜
Hopefully, this chapter made sense, as it draws on scenes from ep12 and 13 of S7 (Tan and Alfaro fight over the Hondo issue).
Hope you enjoyed this chapter, the scenes are about to get intense!! I'm finally getting into my plotline little by little. Have you spotted the Easter eggs?? Lmk your theories!
Please continue to support Tan and Rosalina's story on SWAT by liking and commenting!🫰💜
Rosalina Quinn has spent years moving forward, never looking back.
She knows joining SWAT should never have been an option.
But now 20-Squad has gotten an upgrade, and some don't know how to deal with the change.
The squad will face dangerous operations, tension-filled rivalries, lies, and broken trust.
But while her teammates are focused on the threats in front of them, Rosalina knows unfinished business always catches up to you.
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"Grab your stuff and meet me outside in ten. Any later and I'm leaving without you, Quinn."
========
2 weeks later
Rosalina has been on 20-Squad for 2 weeks now and has been settling in well with the team, well, most of them. Tan has still not warmed up to her like the others have, despite her being his temporary roommate.
Powell, Cabrera, and Rosalina have gotten closer over the last 2 weeks, the female energy practically oozing off them when they're together. Though they use their occasional time together to one-up the guys and maybe give Alfaro some competition for his annoyingly playful spirit.
With Powell and Quinn being the only permanent members on 20-Squad alongside Tan, Hondo, and Deacon, and Cabrera and Alfaro being the usual fill-ins, the team had grown steadily in their bonds and partnerships on missions.
Just as the sun breaks over the mountains in LA, Tan, Hondo, and Cabrera go for a morning run up a mountain path. When they finish up the sunrise run, they return to their SWAT vehicle, where they catch a shaky radio call from an unknown individual.
The individual shares that they are a prison inmate transport guard and that their bus just went off-road, and some inmates have escaped. Barely hearing the radio, the three officers make their way over to the area as they were nearby, Cabrera using her sat phone to call it in to HQ.
Rosalina, who was the only 20-Squad member already in HQ, responded to the call and alerted local PD of possible missing inmates. Heading over to Commander Hicks' office, Quinn filled him in on the situation.
The two went over to their information centre and started trying to find a list of the inmates on that transport bus. Deacon later joined in and helped Quinn track down any information.
As the two searched the database, someone entered the room, their heavy but easygoing steps filling the partially silent room.
"Take it you're not sorting through future SWAT recruits," a voice taunted.
Deacon and Quinn turned towards the voice, one recognising the face immediately while the other stood by in slight curiosity, not knowing how to place the face.
"Ah! There he is! Welcome back, Luca!" Deacon called out.
At the name, Quinn perked up, her mind clicking into place. She knew who he was; heck, she was living in the man's house. Rosalina recognised seeing Luca's face around and about SWAT HQ. Third-generation SWAT, the absolute lover (driver) of Black Betty.
Turning towards the new face, Luca greeted, "And you must be my newest roomie! Domonique Luca, nice to meet you."
He extended his hand for Rosalina to shake, a wide smile on his face.
"Hi, uhm, yeah, that's me... I'm Rosalina Quinn," Rosalina said nervously, but gave a slight smile and shook Luca's outstretched hand.
The three talked for a minute about how Luca was doing after returning from London and how Quinn was settling into 20-Squad and the house before coming back to the task at hand, the fugitives on the run.
Going through the three inmates and finding that one had fled into Arizona, another had robbed a house and changed clothes, and the third was possibly trying to get to her son, Deacon told Quinn to call Cabrera and Alfaro and get them to meet him at the carpool, telling Quinn to wait for Hondo and Tan to get back.
As Luca and Quinn waited for Hondo and Tan, Luca talked about looking after this kid, Kelly, whom he'd been helping out. He told Quinn that he had tried to take her driving this morning but ended up yelling at her when she made a mistake. The guilt of it was eating him up.
Rosalina reassured him that he was just worried and said she'd go check up on the kid, who was doing homework in the kitchen. Maybe a talk girl-to-girl would help calm her.
Luca thanked Quinn, and the younger woman made her way towards the kitchen just as Tan and Hondo showed up.
=====
Rosalina POV
Walking into the kitchen, I spot who I can only presume is Kelly. Instead of directly approaching her, I make my way over to the fridge and grab two of my premade mochas. Walking over to the girl, I place one down before moving to the other side of the table.
Leaning myself against the opposite table, I speak.
"Having a little sweet treat always helped me get through homework faster," I say as I take a sip of my own drink.
"I'm Rosalina, a new roomie of Luca's. I'm guessing you're Kelly?" I question lightly, trying not to startle the girl.
All she does is nod and take a sip of the drink herself, a little "thanks" sounding from her side of the room after the sip.
"So I heard you're learning to drive? How's that going?" I question.
She tells me that it's going fine, that she's got all the basics down, like starting the car, putting it in gear, and driving in a straight line. But her confidence in making judgments hasn't gotten much better. She tells me that she got told off by Luca for almost causing an accident.
When I hear how she feels from that experience, I pause, taking a minute to sit on her words before speaking softly.
"You know Luca's a bit strict when it comes to driving," I say, pausing to catch her small nod.
"He drives the team around in Black Betty all the time. Now, I can't say for sure since I haven't experienced it firsthand, but I've heard he takes it really seriously and is pretty hard on himself when he makes mistakes."
Before I can speak further, Kelly interrupts.
"He makes mistakes?" she asks curiously.
"Of course, he does. We all do. Even the most experienced drivers make the smallest, silliest mistakes sometimes. Luca is no exception. But you know what I think?" I ask, looking at her directly this time, our eyes locking.
"Sometimes we struggle with separating our driving for SWAT from our driving as regular civilians. Sometimes we're sitting there calculating every small detail about the roads that most regular people don't have to think about. And I think Luca struggles with realising that not everyone can see all those details with the precision he has, what he has to have."
"He feels really bad about yelling at you earlier. He knows that he promised to give you a real shot at driving. But in the moment, he got really worried for you. It's not justified that he yelled, but it came from a place of care rather than criticism."
Noticing her slowly coming out of the mindset that had her convinced she was at fault, I continued, deciding to say one last thing before leaving her to sit on it.
"He's really happy that you trusted him to teach you to drive. Don't let this make you lose confidence in driving and... don't give up on him, Kelly." I add before walking back out to the main room.
======
Just as Rosalina emerged from the kitchen, Hondo, Tan, and Luca ran past her, Luca calling out for her to follow before they took off. Rosalina was quick to follow the three out.
As the four were making distance in Black Betty with Luca back on the wheel, Tan decided this was the perfect opportunity to tease Luca.
"Hey, Luca! If you're still struggling to get used to driving on the right side of the road, let me know! I can keep fillin' in for you as I have been," Tan teased.
"Pfft, I'm fine, Tan. This is my home ground. Ain't nothing stopping me from driving Black Betty... and even if I did need help, I'd probably trust Ro over there to keep up my pace!" Luca taunted back, adding in a sneaky jab after he found out about Tan and Quinn's little rivalry.
At the elder's words, Rosalina could only snicker.
"Aww, thanks, Luc. That makes me feel so much better than Mr Slowpoke over here," she snickered, tossing in her nickname for Tan.
Just as the two were going to start a back-and-forth argument, Hondo interrupted.
"Tina Carter just stole a white Nissan GT-R."
Not a second later, Luca spotted the same car speeding past.
Quickly turning Black Betty around, the team continued the chase. Hondo called the change of direction in to dispatch while Tan complained that Black Betty would lose her, much to Luca's disapproval.
"This girl really thinks she's in GTA or something..." Rosalina groaned after seeing how the girl was driving.
"Is she really trying to shoot an armoured vehicle with a pistol?" Rosalina questioned further, not believing what she was seeing.
As the group chased after the inmate around a roundabout and through a neighbourhood, they got blocked off by a truck just as the girl sped off.
However, Luca wasn't about to let her get away. After quickly backing up, they took a loop and came back around, perfectly cutting off her path.
The second Luca got her blocked, Tan, Quinn, and Hondo jumped out with their weapons ready. Tan yelled at the driver to exit with their hands up.
Tan and Hondo covered Quinn as she approached the GT-R.
"Get out of the car now! Don't do it!" she yelled when she saw her try to reach for something.
"Come here, put your hands behind your back," Rosalina commanded the fugitive as she pulled her out of the car and pushed her onto it to cuff her hands.
After the successful takedown, the group sent Tina Carter off to be transported back to HQ by local PD.
Now they just needed to get Jolene Jeffries, who had stumbled back into LA.
======
After Luca had locked up Tina Carter in the holding cell, he went out to the carpool to find Rosalina. When he saw her grabbing her stuff from the back of Black Betty, he approached her.
"Hey, Ro..." Luca called out to the girl, momentarily startling her.
"Oh hey, Luca, what's up?" Rosalina questioned, closing Black Betty.
"I just wanted to say thank you for talking with Kelly. I just got to check on her real quick, and she apologised for the mistake earlier and told me she wasn't upset at me for how I reacted," Luca confessed.
"Oh, that's great, Luca. I'm glad you guys could clear that up."
"Yeah, yeah, it's great. She said she'd like me to continue teaching her how to drive and that she'll be more considerate of my words next time."
"You know... I don't know Kelly or you that well aside from what others have told me about you, but I can tell you're a great person, Luc, and an even better teammate. Just... try to go easy on her, alright?
"I know how much our team relies on your flawless judgement when driving, but make sure you realise that she's not SWAT trained. She won't see all the details as you will, and she needs patience to learn and see that."
"Yeah, you're right. Thanks for that, Ro, I needed to hear that... and you didn't need to do all that for me, someone you've just met."
"Hey, it's what teammates are for. Or, if Hondo says... it's what family does."
She patted Luca on the shoulder before heading in to grab the rest of her gear, before they headed out again to track down Jolene Jeffries.
Unbeknownst to the two, someone stood off to the side by their own car, listening in on Quinn's and Luca's conversation. Their thoughts becoming conflicted and more complicated.
=====
The group had found out that Jolene was targeting people associated with a book being published about her crimes. Her first target being the editor of the book.
Getting a list of people involved in the book, the team came to the conclusion that Jolene would target her mother, the person who abandoned her, but was the most quoted source in the book written about her.
As the squad rounded up and made their way over to the mother's address, they learnt that a patrol officer was shot in the vest when trying to check if the family was okay and take them into protection.
Going faster to the scene now that they had confirmation that Jolene was there and had the daughter hostage, the squad decided they would need to be very careful with this case as Jolene was very aggressive and could have three hostages: the mum, daughter, and husband.
Once they arrived, 20-Squad split up, Hondo, Luca, Cabrera, and Alfaro going towards the front while Tan, Deacon, and Quinn went around the back.
The two groups waited for Hondo's command to make an entry at the same time.
At the signal, both teams entered the house, Quinn's group entering through the broken-in back door.
As the team searched the place, they heard a scream from the living room. Hondo's team moved towards the living room where the voice came from.
As Hondo and Luca entered the living room, they found the daughter tied up to a chair, with no sign of Jolene or her mother anywhere.
Just as Quinn's team entered, the daughter told the officers that they had taken the mum to the garage.
Cabrera escorted the daughter out while the others moved towards the garage.
Luca and Hondo moved towards the front of the garage while Deacon and Quinn went to see if there was an alternative entry or exit point.
Once they entered the garage, they found Jolene with a kitchen knife to her mother's neck.
When she spotted the two, she held the knife closer, threatening to slice her open if they moved.
The two tried to talk her out of it, trying to reason with Jolene about the consequences of her actions, how her actions would leave the daughter without a mother, just like she had been.
As Quinn and Deacon made their way around the garage, they called in, having no visual inside.
Noticing nothing was making progress inside, Luca switched on his red laser and aimed it at the glass pane of the garage door.
"Quinn, suspect is two feet below my laser. No more, no less. Wait for our call," Luca whispered through the comms.
"Got it... I'm in position, Luca. Ready when you are," Quinn responded, getting her aim lined up at the location Luca mentioned.
Taking a steady breath in, she waited for the call.
Luca and Hondo tried to keep reasoning with Jolene, but she only got more agitated.
Just as she started spiralling and was about to cut her mother, Luca called out to Quinn.
"Now, Quinn!"
The next second, a shot rang out, and Jolene fell to the floor, a bullet lodged in her shoulder.
Luca escorted the mother out while Hondo apprehended Jolene and called in the Code 4.
Once outside, and with Jolene's mother reunited with her daughter and Jolene taken into custody, the group stood waiting outside the garage, taking a breather.
"Nice shot, Ro," Luca complimented Rosalina.
"Nice one, kiddo," Deacon added.
The others gave her taps on the shoulder as they approached, while Tan opted for a nod of recognition.
Progress, Rosalina thought at the effort of a compliment.
======
HQ Carpool
At the end of the day, Luca had headed out with Kelly, leaving Tan with the duty of bringing Rosalina back home. As he waited by the carpool for the girl to pack her things and meet him, he got thinking.
Tan couldn’t quite place where Quinn sat in his books and within the team. Sure, she had proven herself many times within the 2 weeks that she had been a part of 20-Squad, but Tan couldn’t help but wonder where she had gotten this good.
He had been keeping a mental list of odd skills Quinn had, from her knowledge of Japanese, to her excellent aim earlier, and during her live simulation training, her willingness to stand up for Luca when she didn’t even know him, and the fact she lived in a hostel even though SWAT should have provided her with a place at the academy housing until she was able to find her own place.
Everything wasn’t adding up. And Tan didn’t know a thing about her other than her coming from the academy. Heck, no one on the team knew more than her name and what rank she placed in her theory and practice.
Before he could think of it further, the girl in question approached, her bag swung behind her back. She wore combat boots, a leather jacket, and a tank top whose neckline swooped into a low U-shape, hints of a tattoo just visible from the neckline and a faint end of a scar on the other side.
Tan didn’t question it, just pushed it aside as a regular tattoo and any possible scar. Without a word, he got into the driver’s seat, Rosalina following just as quietly.
On the drive home, the two didn’t talk, the faint sound of the radio and the night breeze flowing through the car. It wasn’t comfortable, but it wasn’t the most awkward atmosphere the two had encountered.
Just as they were nearing the place, Tan broke the silence.
“I overheard you and Luca earlier… y’know, about you talking with Kelly and all.”
“Oh, so you’re a sneaky one as well as a slowpoke now, are you Tan?” she questioned, deflecting the question back on him.
“Pfft, no I’m not. Standing by my car and overhearing your conversation isn’t sneaking. But that’s besides the point.”
“So what’s the point then?” Rosalina questioned, her tone impatient.
“The point is… I don’t know what you think you get out of sucking up to Luca or trying to show off excessive skills during training, but it isn’t going to get you more favour on 20-Squad. Not if I have anything to do with it,” he spoke as they came to a stop in front of Luca’s place.
Rosalina snickered before speaking, her words dripping with cold venom.
“You know what, Tan… I think this is more of a you problem than it is mine. Because what it looks like to me is repaying someone who opened up his home for me to stay in, and just trying to make sure 20-Squad isn’t having to be benched till I can prove myself. And the excessive skills you’re talking about today… that was me trying to save a life… do my job maybe… something we have a responsibility to do, in case you forgot.”
Getting out of the car, she leaned down to the window and spoke before heading inside without him.
“And for your information… some people just genuinely want to do good at their jobs, Tan. Some of us don’t have the liberty to make mistakes and get away with it just because we have a good rap sheet with the boss.”
“My life depends on getting this right, Tan, and if me doing my best to make it stable bothers you… well that’s a you problem… asshole.”
Rosalina paused, the weight of her words hanging in the air, before she turned and stormed inside, leaving Tan sitting in the car, shocked at Quinn’s outburst.
====================
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Thank you for reading ep3 of SWAT: Ghosts of the Fallen, The Easy Story. 💜🫰
Tan is in serious trouble with Rosalina. Is he onto something, or is he letting his own feelings project onto her actions?
Please continue to support Tan and Rosalina's story and journey on 20-squad by liking and commenting!🫶 Things are about to get heated!
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"Geez, what have we gotten ourselves stuck with this time?"
Later that day, 20-Squad was working around the social area of HQ before they were called into the main room by Hicks, where he informed the group they would need to roll out to a location in the Art District. Hondo had called in that an armed kidnapping had just happened.
At the orders, the rest of 20-Squad and Hicks left HQ and made their way over to Hondo's location. Powell and Rosalina rolled out together with Hicks, Deacon in one car, and Tan and Alfaro in another.
Arriving at the scene, they were greeted with a mess. Cars left and right were hit with multiple bullets, glass was covering many parts of the road and footpath, and at the centre of it all, a cannabis store was the main element of the crime.
The group split up. Deacon went to check the information with the store while Hicks checked in with Hondo. The remainder of 20-Squad spread out to check and secure the area with the local PD.
After everyone finished up, they all made their way over to Hicks and Hondo, with Deacon joining them a minute later.
"The store employees said that they have wads of cash in store, but the men that attacked didn't go for the money," Deacon spoke before Hondo interrupted.
"No, this wasn't about the money. This was about the girl. They kidnapped the girl and ran. We have no clue as to why so far. The boyfriend is sitting right there but is too shaken to remember anything but her name."
Tan joined the small group of SWAT members, a wallet with an ID visible in his hands. "Suki Ito. Probably dropped her bag before she got taken. Now this would be a good thing, right? Well, not exactly... Suki Ito doesn't exist. Just ran her name through the system—nothing."
"What do three Japanese killers want to do with a ghost?" Hondo questioned.
Rosalina stilled at the information, the action not going unnoticed by Tan. He clocked her stiff posture but pushed it aside once she snapped out of it and went back to normal.
"We'll have to search further in, darker, if we want to find her real name. And I have a feeling it's going to be a lot harder than we think," Rosalina commented before the group retired back to HQ, leaving the scene to local PD.
=====
Back at HQ
Deacon and Rosalina were looking into information on one of the perps Hondo shot, and by the looks of it, Deacon wasn't liking what Rosalina was finding.
Just as they were thinking of calling down Hicks to update him, the man himself entered.
Rosalina POV
"Is this the dead perp? He's got a lot of ink," Hicks spoke, snapping both Deac and me out of our thoughts.
"Yeah, it is. It's irezumi tattoos," I told Hicks.
"So, Yakuza?" he questioned.
"Yep, that's Yakuza alright," I mumbled back before Hondo walked in.
Hondo explained that our dead perp was Yoshi Takashi, who flew in three days ago from Japan with four others.
I explained, along with Deac, that we had reached out to Tokyo PD and got information that they're part of a crime family called the Yami-Yami crime family.
Hicks was confused by this information. Normally, Japanese Yakuza acted in silence, moving and hitting targets without a sound and without an audience.
We explained that wasn't the only strange thing about this case.
"Suki Ito's hidden identity is bulletproof. Her passport, work documents, and socials were all strategically done with surgical precision," I added to the already confusing case.
"Alright, Quinn, I want you and Tan to head out to her residence. Alfaro and Powell are checking information with the boyfriend."
Commander Hicks gave me the orders, though I'm not too happy about who I'm paired with.
Heading out to the parking area in front of HQ, I waited for Tan to show up. Just as I thought I needed to head back in to get him, he appeared.
I waited, leaning against the front of the car smugly. "Took you long enough," I taunted.
"Haha, very funny. Hicks just gave me the orders. Come on, let's go. We can't waste any more time," Tan said, making a move for the driver's side.
"Uh-uh, slowpoke. I've got the keys, so I'm driving. Come on, princess, get on in," I chirped with minimal emotion, but the taunting effect still hit.
Getting in the car with Tan in the passenger seat, we took off towards Suki Ito's apartment.
=====
At the Apartment
Tan and Quinn arrived at the apartment complex after the very efficient driving of Rosalina, and much to Tan's dislike, he admitted she did a decent job driving through all the shortcuts.
Arriving at the floor of Suki's apartment unit, the two made their way down the hallway, where they ran into a lady hiding by the staircase.
Seeing both officers, she rushed over, relief lacing her urgent words. "Oh, thank goodness, officers!"
"What? What's wrong?" Tan questioned the lady.
"I was getting my mail when I heard a woman yell, then a loud bang!" She explained the situation to Tan and Quinn.
"Which unit?" Rosalina questioned.
When the lady responded with Unit 308, Tan informed Quinn that it was Suki's apartment, and the two readied their weapons and moved towards the unit.
Noticing the door was open, they moved cautiously, Quinn taking the lead while Tan watched her six. As soon as Quinn entered, she spotted a body. Calling out her visual, the two continued in.
After clearing out the lounge and kitchen, they noticed that it was Suki who had been shot in her apartment, lying on her kitchen floor.
Before they could call it in, they heard noises from a room in front of them. Tan took the lead into the room, Quinn taking the rear.
When they got inside the small bedroom, they heard rustling from inside what they assumed was the wardrobe.
"LAPD! Come out nice and slowly!" Tan called out sharply to the person in the room.
Out of the clothes wardrobe emerged the service lady. Shakily, she exited with her hands up, informing Quinn and Tan that she hid when the intruders entered but heard a gunshot.
"You're alright, ma'am. Everything is fine," Rosalina reassured the lady, placing a warm, steady hand on her arm.
When the older lady tried to look out into the lounge to check where Suki was, Quinn redirected her attention back to herself.
"Can you tell us what happened?"
"Was there anything in that safe besides paper?" Quinn and Tan questioned.
The elderly lady told the two that there was a phone in the safe and that they had gotten Suki to make a call to someone.
When they questioned who she called, all the lady could say was that it was a man and that she told him to meet her at Hollywood Cemetery at 1:30.
Turning to Tan, Quinn spoke urgently. "He's walking into a trap. They could be planning his execution, and he's walking right into it."
"And it's about to go down," Tan responded, checking his watch before calling HQ.
=======
Hollywood Cemetery
At the cemetery, a man stood in wait. Still dressed in his work overalls, he kept looking around anxiously for Suki to arrive.
Nearby, a funeral was taking place, a family mourning the loss of a loved one, unaware of the danger that would soon descend upon the site.
When the man looked away from the funeral and towards the other side of the cemetery, he spotted two of the Japanese Yakuza members approaching.
Quickly, and without making himself too noticeable, he moved further in to hide himself.
However, as he tried to hide, two more members approached from behind and spotted him, opening fire in the quiet field and causing screams to erupt from around him.
Not long after the shots rang out did 20-Squad appear.
Tan and Quinn were the first to arrive, the other two cars carrying 20-Squad not a second behind.
Everyone got out and split up into their pairs. Tan and Quinn were tasked with going around to the other side while the other two pairs took on the shooters.
Powell and Deacon chased two members pursuing the man through the cremation hall.
When they evacuated the people inside, the two suspects heard them and were prepared when they rounded the corner, opening fire the moment they caught a glimpse of them.
Meanwhile, Hondo and Alfaro were chasing the other two, who had just hijacked a company van. One opened fire on the two officers while the other got into the vehicle.
Hondo managed to take out the suspect still outside the van, but the other drove off towards the cremation hall.
"Tan, Quinn! One suspect is in a van heading your way," Hondo called through the team's radio.
The two in question had moved into position near the cremation hall and changed course at the warning.
However, inside the hall, one of the suspects had the man held hostage while Deacon and Powell tried to reason with him.
To the pair's surprise, the hostage managed to kick the suspect and free himself.
The suspect made a run for it outside and jumped into the back of the van just as Tan, Quinn, and Deacon ran out.
Quinn tried to shoot the tyres of the van as she ran but was unsuccessful due to the speed of the vehicle and her own movement.
Giving up on the pursuit as the group had already gotten too far away, Deacon called in the escape to dispatch.
=====
Moving back outside the cremation hall, the team gathered to compare information.
While Hondo and Deacon updated the others on the downed suspects, Powell went to check if she could get anything from the guy who had been lured there.
When she returned, she explained that he wasn't talking, saying he had no clue why he was targeted.
However, this Timoki Kaito, according to Powell and Alfaro, was another bluff. The only real thing about his identity was his job.
Quinn held out her hand to check the ID Powell had on her, and when she did, she immediately noticed it was another bogus ID.
Again. "Yeah... this is another one of those fake IDs, boss," she told Hondo confidently.
Just as they discussed their distrust of Kaito's story, Commander Hicks arrived.
He informed the group that they had just received word from Tokyo PD on Suki Ito's real identity. Her real name was Kimiko Ado, and she was in the night-moving business.
A business that moved people across the world, specifically in Ado's case, into LA, creating totally new lives, IDs, and paperwork while completely erasing their old identities for a price.
The squad realised that Timoki must have used the night movers' services through Kimiko, and that was why the Yakuza went after her—to get to him.
Something about his past was catching up to him, and it wanted him gone.
For good this time.
======
After the group got nowhere with Timoki, they moved him back to HQ for questioning and holding.
In the upstairs information room, Cabrera, Quinn, and Tan looked through information on the night-moving service.
Once Hicks entered, the three gave him updates on the relevant information, including those Kimiko had helped move to the States—a total of sixteen people.
Then they shared their findings on the Yami-Yami clan that the three remaining suspects worked under, including their boss, Orochi Mara.
Meanwhile, Deacon tried questioning Timoki once again, telling him that he needed to explain what he was being hunted for and why the Japanese Yakuza were coming to America to deal with it.
Deacon tried asking why they had hit his workplace and ransacked his locker. Timoki still refused to budge.
While this was happening, Tan and Quinn remained in the information room trying to crack the motive behind the Yakuza.
Then they received information from Tokyo PD.
They immediately sent it to Commander Hicks before rushing back downstairs to the main area of HQ.
Just as Commander Hicks and Hondo tried to make a run for the interrogation room where Deacon and Timoki were, they heard yelling before Timoki ran past them, a stumbling Deacon following closely behind.
Just as he thought he was going to make it out, Quinn stuck out her arm and tackled Timoki to the ground.
Tan helped her secure his hands as she practically sat on top of the larger man. Or, as they should call him, a former Yakuza.
After everyone in 20-Squad gathered around and Deacon questioned the commander, Hicks explained that Timoki was a former killer for the Yakuza—an enforcer.
Timoki tried to wrestle free from Quinn and Tan's grip, saying he needed to leave. As Deacon criticised his move, Timoki's phone started ringing in his pocket.
A caller named Nami appeared on the screen. Timoki immediately began struggling even harder, insisting he had to answer it.
Hondo answered the phone and put it on speakerphone.
From the other end, a woman cried out, followed by the faint cries of a child, before being interrupted by a Japanese-speaking voice.
The man said a few words before hanging up.
Quinn looked up from where she was crouched and said, "He just said he has a woman and a child, and that they'll be in touch."
"Wh-what? How'd you understand?" Tan questioned. Quinn ignored him.
Timoki confirmed that they had a woman named Nami and Sogo—his family.
At the news, the group got moving once again, picking up the pace on identifying the new people involved.
Quinn and Cabrera dug deep into the backgrounds of Nami and Sogo but came across the same pattern as before.
The two were not listed as related to Timoki as either a wife or a child, and Nami wasn't her real name. It was another fake identity created by Kimiko.
Over with Deacon and Hondo, they finally managed to get Timoki to talk. He explained that he had been tasked by Orochi, leader of the Yami-Yami clan, with getting rid of a witness—a pregnant woman.
However, he could not follow through due to his personal code and the clan's previous honour system of never harming innocents, children, or women.
Because he ignored his orders and went on the run with a witness, the Yakuza had been tracking them down ever since to remove them permanently.
During the questioning, the phone rang again. This time, Timoki was given a time and place where he was to meet them in exchange for Nami and Sogo.
Within minutes, the team was formulating plans and heading out for Alameda Square.
They were going to get Nami and Sogo out of the Yakuza's hands and eliminate the threat once and for all.
======
Alameda Square
Arriving at the Asian American Unity Festival at Alameda Square, the team split up to blend in with the crowd and keep an eye out for the suspects, Nami and Sogo.
Unfortunately for Tan and Quinn, they were paired together to act like any other couple there to enjoy the festival.
Powell and Alfaro were positioned elsewhere, while Hondo was on his own, with Deacon and Cabrera remaining in the van with Timoki.
Tan POV
This situation couldn't get more frustrating than it already is. I just had to be paired with Rosalina for recon.
I wouldn't mind pairing with Alfaro and his annoyingly show-offish personality, or even Powell with her sarcastic jabs.
Nope. I had to get stuck with the newbie, someone who hardly shows an emotion on her face and only speaks to me in insults and straight-faced sarcasm.
And to add to it, she made me buy her some dumplings from a stand, saying it helps us to "blend in".
Because apparently, forcing your teammate to buy you food on a mission makes you seem like any other normal boyfriend being forced to buy his girl food.
Her words, not mine.
Just then, Hondo spoke through the earpieces to Rosalina and me. "Tan, Quinn, any sign of our killers on your side?"
"Negative, Hondo. We have no visual of anyone, suspects or Nami and Sogo," I responded, shaking my head as Quinn munched beside me.
After everyone else confirmed the same, we both kept wandering near our area, keeping an eye out for anyone suspicious.
Within the next few minutes, Hondo spoke through the earpiece again, saying he had spotted two of the killers with Nami and Sogo.
Quinn responded with, "Roger that," before I could answer.
I turned to her, taking in her munching figure. "Seriously? Did you have to get dumplings out of all the food here?" I questioned sarcastically.
The response I got was nothing more than an eye roll before she got us moving.
Hondo then ordered us to hold position as one of the killers was still unaccounted for.
As he said this, we spotted the main guy take out his phone and call who we could only presume was Timoki. The man ordered Timoki to show himself, or they would kill the two.
Deacon told Hondo they didn't have time to wait. Hondo then ordered Quinn and me to tighten the circle while staying out of sight.
Just as Quinn and I walked closer, dumping our plates on a nearby table, she suddenly pulled me in front of her.
Her arms wrapped around my neck as she positioned my back towards the suspects.
"What—what are you doing?" I questioned quickly, trying to put some distance between us.
She only tightened her hold. "One of the guys was looking right at us. I'm using you as a body shield in case he decides to shoot us," she deadpanned before her tone became more serious.
"He was trying to place you, so I moved your back towards him. You're welcome, slowpoke. Now we just look like some couple with a weird kink for PDA."
At a quick glance over my shoulder, she suddenly let go before I could respond, returning to her usual cold, indifferent, expressionless self.
Gee, thanks. I thought to myself.
Timoki was quickly let out by Deacon, and everyone refocused on the task at hand. Once he was spotted by the killers, they confronted him along with Nami and Sogo.
But as they spoke, Quinn spotted the third and final killer emerge. Giving me a quick nudge and a nod in the man's direction, she called it in.
The final killer joined the others, and he grabbed Nami and Sogo. Timoki noticed immediately. They had lied.
Just as they started walking away with him, and we moved in slowly without alerting them, Timoki suddenly broke free and fought the two men holding him.
Yelling out to Nami, he told her to run.
Then gunfire erupted throughout the festival.
=====
Rosalina POV
At the sound of gunfire, everyone started to panic and run.
Tan and I tried to get people down and out of the way, but as civilians flooded between all of our sightlines, Hondo called out that he'd lost visual on Timoki.
However, Tan and I still had eyes on Nami and Sogo.
Making a run for the pair, Tan engaged the killer holding Nami while I sprinted towards Sogo and secured him behind me.
Noticing Tan had the suspect under control and Nami was safe, I moved Sogo back towards her. The moment she spotted us, she yelled out to her son and rushed forward, pulling him into her arms.
After handing the two off to Alfaro and Cabrera, I made a run for the car park that Deacon and Timoki had disappeared into.
Coming up the stairwell, I spotted Timoki armed and pointing a gun at the main killer while Deac stood behind a car with his own weapon trained on Timoki.
Deac moved closer as he spoke, reminding Timoki of his honour and code. Asking if he was really going to kill an unarmed opponent.
As he moved closer, he signalled for me to move up and cover the guy on the stairs. "Turn around! Put your hands in the air! Do it now!" I yelled at the main killer.
He smirked at me as he slowly followed my instructions, Deacon watching closely alongside Timoki.
"Put your hands behind your head." Again, he complied.
The second I holstered my weapon and stepped forward to secure him, the man suddenly jerked back and tried to drive an elbow into my face.
Too bad I had been expecting it.
I deflected the strike, drove a knee into his stomach, caught another punch, and threw him face-first into the fencing lining the stairwell.
Then I slammed him to the ground. "Good try, buddy. But not good enough," I taunted breathlessly as I cuffed him.
After Deacon called Code Four, the team rounded up the suspects and headed back to HQ.
Timoki decided he would testify against Orochi in Japan. He didn't care about his sentence.
All he cared about was getting Nami and Sogo somewhere safe.
======
No One's POV
As the rest of the team cleaned up in the locker room, Quinn hopped into the rarely used showers and washed off the day's sweat.
Once she finished and emerged from the bathroom back into the locker room, the team immediately questioned her.
"What, Lina? You get all sweaty after taking down that long-haired fella, huh?" Alfaro joked, using his nickname for the older teammate.
"Yeah, Rose. How come you don't just go home and shower there? It's got to be better than showering here. We hardly use these showers unless we get messy on shift," Powell added with a chuckle.
"Nah, this is much better than the showers I have at the hostel," Rosalina replied casually, not really paying attention to her words.
...
The silence that filled the room was immediate. Only when she felt it sink in did she freeze at her locker.
Just as she was trying to figure out a way to correct herself, Deacon broke the silence. "You stay in a hostel? Rosalina, why didn't you mention this before? I thought your files said you lived with an acquaintance."
For the first time, Rosalina looked genuinely stumped on how to answer. Worry creased her brows.
"I—I, well... I didn't really change my information. I was staying at the academy housing before joining, but I didn't have enough time to get a place when they transferred me to SWAT, so I just went back to staying at a hostel."
"You can stay with me once my place gets renovated. My guest room is being fixed, so I'm staying with my aunt at the moment..." Powell said before humming thoughtfully and looking around the room.
Then it was as if a lightbulb went off in her head. She turned to Tan, then back to Rosalina. "You can stay with Tan!"
"What?!" the man in question exclaimed.
Before he could say anything more, Powell continued. "Tan is staying with Luca anyway, and Street is down in Long Beach. You could use Luca's room for now until my place gets fixed. I'm sure Luca wouldn't mind!"
Tan, still speechless, finally tried to intervene, but was once again cut off.
"She's right, Rosalina," Deacon said. "Luca would be more than happy to open up his place for a 20-Squad member. I can send him a text and let him know. Plus, Tan is lonely there. It'll be good for him to have some noise in the house again."
Seeing all the attention focused on him and the hopeful looks directed his way, Tan could only sigh.
He shut his locker before turning to Rosalina. "Grab your stuff and meet me outside in ten. Any later and I'm leaving without you, Quinn." He spoke blandly before walking out past the team without another word.
--------------------------
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Thank you for reading ep 2 of SWAT: Ghosts of the fallen, False identities💜 I hope you enjoyed this ep, it was longer than I expected but I throroughly enjoyed writing it!
Rosalina Quinn outed herself!! Now she has to live with Tan for the timebeing... will they get along or will they rip each other to shreads?
Please show your love and support for Rosalina's and Tan's story by liking and commenting!🫶
This morning was like any good morning before their shifts started. SWAT HQ was packed with everyone from the different squads milling about; some sparring in the ring, some using the gym equipment to work out, and some standing around talking amongst themselves.
But this morning wasn't anything like the regular routine. As 20-Squad were huddled near the ring watching Deac and Rocker spar, with Tan and Alfaro yelling words of encouragement and insults at 30-Squad, the gym area came to a standstill when Hicks walked in with another official from the LAPD.
"Listen up, ladies and gents, gather round! With 20-Squad being down three members with Chris gone, Street at Long Beach, and Luca in London, you all have been working shifts to rotate through 20-Squad to fill up numbers. Now that Cabrera and Alfaro are assigned to 20-Squad, we have been looking out for a permanent last member."
Hicks paused, his gaze shifting around the room, stopping longer on each of the 20-Squad members before he continued.
"And as such, we have recruited a new member who will be joining 20-Squad. They will be arriving soon, and they have joined before recruitment time due to the urgent need for a final 20-Squad member. They have been approved and have sat trials to qualify, though this was not done in our usual rookie competition style under the watch of all full-fledged officers. So don't take it to heart; you'll have your chance to challenge the rookies later in the year."
Just as he finished, approaching footsteps were heard through the HQ halls. The confident, heavy thuds of footsteps approached the officers waiting. Around the corner walked a woman already wearing her SWAT uniform. She was not all that tall or threatening-looking in physique, but the look on her face was fierce, not the nervous wreck that most rookies were on their first day.
Taking up position next to Hicks, the recruit folded her arms across her chest and stood in front of the officers confidently, her face analysing every person in front of her.
"This is Officer Rosalina Quinn, the final member of 20-Squad. Let's give her a warm welcome," spoke the other commander.
Slowly, claps began to flood the once-silent room, each officer looking at the rookie with uncertainty, unease, and curiosity.
Noticing the responses, Commander Hicks broke the tension. "Officer Quinn has passed at the top of her class in police recruitment, is a top shooter in her ranks, and has shown outstanding theoretical knowledge for tactical operations."
Hicks explained this to the officers before turning to Rosalina and drawing her gaze over to 20-Squad. "Quinn, this is 20-Squad, and this is Sergeant Harrelson, leader of 20-Squad..."
Hicks introduced Rosalina to all of 20-Squad, who introduced themselves and their squad names. When it came to Tan's turn, however, he opted to simply nod a greeting with low enthusiasm and said, "Tan," before avoiding her gaze.
=======
After dismissing everyone else, Hicks and the other commander remained with the full 20-Squad and instructed them on their practical testing, to which Tan and Alfaro groaned at the mention of it. The older two and the girls looked at the others with amusement but didn't comment.
The other commander present explained that the team needed to clear a situational practice to see if Quinn would gel into the group before they would be cleared for duty, and only when she was fully adapted.
Tan had a few choice words to express his frustrations about the situation.
"Come on, Commanders, we can't be benched until she decides to adapt to the team! It could take her months to get ready!" Tan exclaimed to the two heads, Alfaro joining in and seconding that.
After being told that there wasn't any other way around it, 20-Squad made their way over to the live simulation area. Gearing up and establishing their orders within 20-Squad to Rosalina, the team walked over to Hicks to receive their "tip".
After being briefed by Hicks, the squad was about to begin their simulation, going against another squad acting as suspects and possibly hostages.
Just as they were getting in line, Tan approached Quinn.
"Try not to get in my way, alright... and keep up." He spoke coldly to Quinn, who turned around and replied equally as coldly.
"Don't worry about me... I won't be the one needing to catch up." She said it before turning back around smugly and joining the rest of 20-Squad.
======
Rosalina POV
The situation was easy: get in, disarm any suspects, avoid confronting the attackers with the hostage, try to figure out a way to save said hostage, and get out with minimal loss on both sides.
I can do that easily. Tan was about to get a rude awakening.
I didn't top my class for no reason. This scenario is textbook-level, barely scratching the surface of how rough it could get on a real task.
We came up to the front side of the "property", each of the squad jumping out of Black Betty. Hondo instructed Deacon and me to move to the east side of the building while Alfaro, Cabrera, and Powell moved towards the back, and Tan and he took the main entrance.
Walking around to the east side of the place, Deacon and I got into position, Deac in front and me supporting. We made the call to Hondo that we were ready.
Getting the signal to breach in three, we waited on Hondo's signal. The second we heard "breach", we busted through the east door into the laundry room.
Deac and I scanned each room nearby and cleared them before we found one suspect. I "shot" them in the hand before they could even fire to prevent them from shooting Deac.
Just as we got the first suspect cuffed, Hondo radioed through that the main suspect was in the living room with a hostage.
Making our way over towards the space, we emerged slightly concealed by the hallway where a shelf stood next to it.
Tan asked over the radio if anyone had a clear visual on the suspect, as they couldn't do anything without hitting the hostage.
Alfaro called negative to their visual. However, we had an almost perfect view of the suspect from this angle.
Deac radioed in, "Hondo, we have a visual on the suspect from the east hallway. We have a clear shot."
After a second, Hondo said they would try first and, if it didn't work, then we could fire at will.
Hondo and Tan tried to talk the "suspect" out of it, trying to reason with the guy into setting the "hostage" free. However, as the minutes went by, the "suspect" got impatient and made a move to point their gun at Tan and Hondo.
Before they could lift their gun fully, I fired right into the "suspect's" head, successfully neutralising the threat without harming the civilian.
After everything was clear, Deac and I made our way over to our hostage, untied them, and escorted them out with our other suspects, where Hicks waited, a pleasantly amused smile lingering on his face.
"Good job, 20-Squad, for clearing that scenario out smoothly." Hicks complimented all of us, with minor surprise floating between his words.
From the side, Alfaro perked up. "That was awesome, Deac! That shot you took within a second of that guy moving was slick!"
Tan shared his own surprise before giving Deac an impressed tap against his chest, Hondo and Powell nodding along.
Deacon let out a small chuckle at the squad's antics but corrected them, just as amused as the others. "Actually, that was little Miss Quinn over here who took the shot." He placed a hand on my shoulder.
"Yes, that is correct, 20-Squad. That shot did indeed come from Officer Quinn. Quite a nice shot, might I add, Officer. She also disarmed another suspect in the same way, covering Deacon's back before he could get shot too."
Commander Hicks explained, giving me some small praise and a quick nod.
"Thanks, Commander. Deac. It's just training, nothing much. Nothing fancy." I replied simply before working to remove my bulletproof vest and helmet.
"Well, after such a demonstration, I believe you can operate quite well within the squad, and as such, I believe that you have passed the trial and are cleared to work with 20-Squad immediately. Congrats, Quinn." Commander Hicks informed us all before leaving the rest of us to clear up.
=======
After cleaning up the set a bit, 20-Squad headed back into HQ to freshen up and ready themselves in case of a call.
Before Rosalina could head in, Hondo and Deacon walked over to congratulate her and headed inside, Powell and Cabrera doing the same with more enthusiastic smiles before heading in. Alfaro just walked past, gave a quick tap on the shoulder, said "good job", and disappeared as quickly as he came.
Now it was just Rosalina and Tan standing outside.
Tan tried to slip past her while she fiddled with her gear but was stopped by her voice, a cold amusement lacing every word.
"Maybe I should have done worse..." She thought out loud before acknowledging him directly.
"Then Hicks would have kept us in simulation for a few more days... make you suffer a bit more."
He sends her an unamused look, but she carries on.
"Don't worry about me keeping up with you, Tan; it wouldn't be hard for me, even on my worst days."
Rosalina made her way over to Tan. As she passed, she turned back to him quickly and added, "Try not to let it ruin your week." She snickered and continued back into HQ.
Tan stood alone outside for a few minutes, shocked by the pure sass and confidence in her voice after a mere single scenario simulation.
Geez, what have we gotten ourselves stuck with this time?
He thought to himself, shaking his head before heading back in.
---------------
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Hello loves! I hope you enjoyed this episode of SWAT: Ghosts of the Fallen! 🫶
This chapter is more of an intro for the cast, so I can kick off the plot straight away without dragging it along.
I saw that SWAT got updated on Netflix (S7 & 8) and have been wanting to make a story for this for sooo long, but didn't put much thought into it back then (I hadn't started writing yet). And with the Tan having very minimal work, I really wanted to give my guy some love, as he was quite literally my favourite character.
I will mainly follow S7 & 8 when it comes to casts, but will probably have some chapters based on previous episodes here and there. I hope you enjoy! This plot is going to be very interesting!
Abi's words couldn't come back to bite her in the backside any harder. Within an hour of everyone preparing for the storm, the loud booming sound of thunder blasted through the beach of Bondi Beach, startling all the lifeguards and beachgoers.
"Well shit..." Abi swore under her breath, looking out to the darkening sky.
It wasn't late in the day, but the sky was starting to look otherwise. The water had calmed down significantly, but the storm in the sky still loomed with its danger promised soon. Abi knew this all too well, more well than she would have liked.
The few lifeguards who went out earlier to support the others in the middle of their lunch break soon retired back to the tower. When Abi and Harrison made it back, the two Kiwis made a beeline to the computer, the smaller of the two moving with much more urgency.
Abi's iPad had stopped working, its connection with the drones' cams going dark shortly after they finished up their first few rescues. The tech princess was in the dark for longer than she found comfortable and needed to get back to her computer ASAP.
Shit, this looks bad. Just what I thought, Abi thought to herself once she saw the scene on the computer. The heat imaging that was majorly filled with yellows and oranges turned dark and pale blue, the occasional yellow floating through, the few or many who chose to keep swimming.
The water temps were dropping. Rapidly. And that wasn't good, especially in Bondi.
"Hey Hoppo?" Abi called out to the head lifeguard, who turned his attention towards the rookie. "We're probably gonna need to pull the beach, and soon. The water is getting cold," she continued.
Before Hoppo could respond, Maxi, who was busy keeping an eye out on the water, butted in without turning to Abi. "It's getting dark, of course the water is getting cold, that's what happens when the sun goes down," he spoke smugly, trying to undermine her words, thinking she was exaggerating.
A still pause fell over the tower. No one moved, not even Abi, but when she did, she turned her attention to the unwanted contributor to the conversation, her stare colder than the air outside the tower.
"...It's 2pm, blondie. The sun isn't going down, it got covered within two minutes, and within less than that the water, which was significantly warm and showing full yellow and orange readings, has turned completely blue. The only thing slightly warm is the people, and even they are getting cold quickly."
Abi spoke, her words calm, deadly calm, and that is what scared Maxi and the other men in the tower.
She turned her attention back to Hoppo after she let her words settle and continued, "We need to start getting people out. We need to close the beach."
Everyone could only stare at her words. Kerrbox was the next to speak.
"You mean to sound the shark alarm, get everyone out, and shut the beach?"
"Do you think it's serious enough to close the beach? The rips have calmed down significantly since earlier," Hoppo continued after his close partner.
"Yes it is. But we don't need to use the shark alarm, that will just cause panic, and we don't need that on top of all this. We can start with getting the surfers in. Someone can go out on the jets and get them in first, then we can get the rest out gradually while the water is still clear."
Abi kept pushing, she had to.
The others looked at the two older experienced lifeguards for their opinions and tried to get a read on their thoughts. Noticing that the others weren't moving or giving any sign of taking her seriously, Abi decided she would do it herself.
Standing up from the computer chair, she told Chase to keep an even more careful eye on the cams. She made a move for the keys locker, where the jet ski key was kept. Grabbing her life vest, she walked towards the door before someone called out to her, asking where she was going.
"I'm going to warn the surfers, get them in before they get stuck in something they don't know is coming."
And with that, she left, leaving the other men in the tower in silence.
-----later
Abi POV
I left the tower as soon as I saw they weren't taking me seriously. Not even Hoppo or Kerrbox, let alone Harrison and Will, two people who I thought I was getting along with.
Getting down to the garage under the tower, I jumped onto one of the buggies pulling the jet ski and rode it down to the water, reversing and getting it partially in, getting one of the clubbies to hold onto the jetty as I rode the buggy a few meters up.
Within the next minute, I was out and heading towards the surfers, who I could see were getting ready for a wave. As soon as the group spotted me rapidly approaching them, they stopped, sat up on their boards, and waited. I recognised one or two of the surfers, a couple who had surfed with me on my first day.
"You all need to start heading back in. Surfing is done for today, there's a storm coming in and the water is too dangerous to surf in. You can catch the next wave, but you'll have to ride it in to shore."
I spoke quickly to the group. The couple turned and immediately started paddling in with not another word, just two nods of understanding before they were gone.
The others, however, were another story. They waved their hands about and complained about the decision, saying the water was fine and that it was just a few clouds. I didn't elaborate, I just turned back to them once more, saying, "Beach is closing," before heading out to another group, these people hanging out by the jumping rocks.
As I approached the group, I noticed it was just some older men fishing. At least the younger ones who used these rocks as a diving platform were smart enough to head in.
"Hey gentlemen, beach is closing, there's a storm coming in. You'll need to pack up in 5 and head in, these rocks won't be safe."
This group was insanely better than the last, each questioning the weather nonetheless, but eventually taking my word for it and making moves to pack up. Seeing as there wasn't much issue here, I made a round down the beach telling any back swimmers to head in. But that's when I got a radio from the tower.
"Bondi Central to Princess."
The radio came in.
"Abi here, go on," I responded, pulling the jetty to a halt in the backwaters.
"We have the minister here on the line, she wants to talk with you," one of the boys in the tower explained to me.
"Go ahead, put her through,"I called back.
"Hi Abi, it's Minister here. We had some calls come in from multiple beachgoers, complaining that there is a lone female lifeguard shutting down the beach... is that true, Abi?"
The second the words came through the radio, I stilled. People were calling, complaining that I just closed the beach. Had no one explained to her, not even my team, that it was for a reason? I thought to myself.
After a pause, I radioed back. "Yes, that's true, Minister, but the storm is causing concerns with the water and I thought shutting down the beach would be the safest option for us with the circumstances."
"That is something only a head lifeguard can call, Abi. We have many people who have travelled across the world to experience swimming and surfing in Bondi. We can't just close the beach due to some dark clouds."
She explained, but the tone in her voice was anything but understanding. It was something else. Something I almost didn't like to recognise. Greed, distrust, dismissive? Everything, and yet not concern, not hesitance, not a sliver of belief.
I was being embarrassed live through the radio signals. Anyone using our signal could hear me getting reprimanded, scolded like a child by her mother. It was humiliating, it was dismissive, and it infuriated me more than anything.
"Ma'am, with all due respect..." I said and paused for a second, deciding if I was really going to say this or not. "I won't just sit aside and let people swim and surf unknowingly into danger just to satisfy some tourists. That's not my job as a lifeguard and I won't stand around and act like it is..."
I let the words carry out, letting the direct yet indirect meaning fall onto the ears of those it was intended for.
Silence. That's all I heard over the radio. I was just beginning to think my words didn't go through, but before I could check, the radio sounded, breaking the silence.
-----Maxi POV
"That's not my job as a lifeguard and I won't stand around and act like it is..."
The princess's words rung through the tower, stunning the minister and the other lifeguards into shocked silence, her words hitting their intended targets, mainly me and partly everyone else in this room.
All the guys in the room sucked in a collective breath at her words. They came out colder than we had ever heard her go. Even Harrison and Will looked shocked, the two guys closest to her having realisation dawning on their faces.
When the realisation came to all the lifeguards, we all shared a moment of hesitation at her sheer determination. Abi has been bold, but she has always admitted when she felt unsure about her ideas or that she was possibly mistaken. But there was not a bit of hesitance in her voice, just sheer, sharp recognition and warning.
However, the minister hadn't seen Abi like this before, so sure, so undeniably so. And the second it took for us to try and give a small hint of our reconsideration, the minister radioed back in to the girl sitting out back on the jet ski.
"D'cruz... you are to return to the tower immediately. We gave you a chance to make a difference on this beach, not stir up unnecessary trouble. You need to return at once, you are suspended from working out on the water till further notice."
Heads snapped the minister's way, every person's face more shocked than the last, but mine, mine was the most shocked out of all. Unrecognisable rage filled me within a second. I had no clue where it had come from, but before I could express how unfair this moment was, the girl under fire radioed back.
"I'm sorry, Minister, but I cannot do that." Abi's voice flooded the tower, firm and final.
The minister scoffed out offended and went on and told the princess that if she didn't return she would be dismissed and her trial would be suspended. Hearing this response, we all held our breaths and thought the girl who had fought so hard for this trial would finally put her stubbornness behind her and return, but she did the opposite.
"Once again, Minister, I won't be doing that. If I do... then I would be failing this trial anyway. You can suspend me if you want, but I won't be leaving this beach until we close duty for the day."She responded, finality lacing each word.
No one could believe what they were hearing, and soon Harrison and Will cut through the radio trying to convince Abi to just come back, that it wasn't worth the risk of losing her trial over a maybe. She only denied her two closest friends, stubbornly sitting out at the darkened waters even after Hoppo and Kerrbox tried reasoning with her.
Deciding I had to try too, maybe make her feel like she couldn't lose to me, so I picked up the radio and spoke.
"Hey princess, Maxi here...." I waited a few seconds before speaking. "You're not about to give up so soon, especially when you were just getting the one up on me, are ya?"
I tried to flip her into her competitive side, but when I didn't hear anything from her end for a few more minutes, I looked at my radio to see if it wasn't working. Noticing nothing off, I went to try again when something she said made me still in my spot.
"Maxi... do you remember what I said to you the morning I completed my lifeguard race?"
She waited a few minutes for her words to sink into me, the memories of that early morning flashing through my head before she spoke again.
"That's why I won't come out. It's why I can't."
-----that morning
Maxi and Abi were both collecting the boards from Tamarama in complete silence when Abi broke it, her soft almost vulnerable voice filling the quiet morning air.
"Look, we both got off to a bad start and I said some things that were harsh. I know you would have worked just as hard to prove yourself, that you were cut out for the team as a young kid amongst such older experienced peers, but you have to realise that this position means so much more to me than just proving tech is needed in the water, or to show women can also be lifeguards."
She paused, took a breath, and continued, softer, almost hesitant to reveal the next few details but continued anyway.
"There are just some things we can't see with our eyes, things that the water will tell us without even being obvious... but the water never lies. It took me ignoring it to figure out... and I won't make that mistake twice, no matter what or who tries to stop me."
-----present
Maxi POV
When I snapped back to my senses, the rest of the team and the minister were all staring at me, waiting for me to try help them have even the smallest clue why this woman was being so stubborn.
But I couldn't explain it to them in full. I couldn't out her like that, it wasn't my story to tell. Besides, I don't know the full of it myself. And despite how much I may hate her, I'm not so cold-hearted enough to watch her get kicked off the team even before she could officially join it, just by trying to protect people.
Turning to the minister, I spoke confidently and firmly, leaving no room for doubt in my words.
"She knows what she's doing. Trust her."
The second Maxi spoke, the team spared one small shocked look at Maxi before masking it and all telling the minister to trust her instincts. And before the minister could turn to Hoppo to question his directives, Chase cut in urgently.
"Uhh hey guys! Little problem here! Look out to the surfers and the diving rocks, NOW!"
Everyone was on high alert the second the word surfer went out. Taking a look at the computer's thermal screen and the iPad's imaging from the drones, the team's faces went pale, including the minister's.
"SOUND THE ALARM!" Maxi yelled.
Will responding not a second later, the shark alarm echoed out along the already unsettled beach.
Hearing this, Abi radioed back in urgently. "Abi to Central, what's happening? Why are you sounding the shark alarm?!"
"There's a massive multi-rip forming along the beach, the surfers are taking hits from harsh waves down by diving rocks. Get down there now, Abi, we're coming out to help you," Hoppo commanded the girl who didn't respond but the men in the tower could see was speeding down towards the space she was at moments ago.
The few watchers in the tower started firing off orders to the lifeguards lining the beach to pick up people who started to drop under within seconds, the water suddenly turning vicious. Seeing Abi picking up people on the jet ski along with Dino and Harries, who were getting overwhelmed quickly, Hoppo ordered Will, Maxi, and Harrison to spread out and help them.
-----Abi POV
The second the words left Hoppo's mouth in the radio, I turned the jetty around so quickly, not sparing a second to respond, and tore through the water at light speed to get to the surfers and possibly fishermen that I had seen just a moment ago.
Suddenly rain started pouring from the skies, the once light gray clouds turning a more aggressive grey, almost looking black and mad in the sky. Seeing Dino and Harries working on getting regular swimmers from a short distance in and getting overwhelmed, I made my way over to the surfers who I could see had their boards thrashing all around them.
Getting over to the group, I spotted the first person who looked like they were in significantly more trouble than the others, their board already gone with the waves. Grabbing the guy and putting him on the back of the ski, I went to get another and dropped them off halfway in a safe area before returning.
Once I got back to the surfers, I yelled out to them, "Grab your boards tightly! If you can't get your body over it, ditch it and swim to me!"
Two more surfers couldn't get control of their boards and untied and began swimming over to me. Grabbing them, I made a move towards the middle waters when a radio message came in.
"Central to Princess. Hand those two over to the others, we've got a guy reported going under by diving rocks, head there immediately, top priority rescue needed."
Kerrbox sounded through the radio. Giving my confirmation, I dropped the two with Dino and Harries before rushing out further.
As I approached, my visibility was poor as I got further out. However, the crowd of screaming watchers yelling from the nearby cliffs weren't helping me much and pointed me in multiple directions. Deciding to put my tech to its purpose, I called out to the tower.
"Princess to Central, I need eyes in the sky here. Thermal and clear view now!" I yelled over the growing rain.
Not a second later, I could hear the faint sounds of my drone's propellers. Spotting them overhead and moving around, I waited for the words. Within 30 seconds of scanning, I was given an answer through the radio.
"30 meters north, 10 meters east of location." The voice of my computer's detection sounded over the radio.
Moving slowly and carefully in that direction, I kept my eyes out. Suddenly the drone light projected onto the darkening waters, giving me slightly better visibility. Kaitiaki highlighted a spot in the water, and within a second's closer look I spotted a flailing hand. Once I was close enough, I reached out and grabbed the hand of one of the fishermen, pulling him up enough out of the water where he composed himself quickly before jumping up onto the ski.
Realising that the biggest of my problems wasn't over, I radioed out to the tower.
"Princess to Central, I'm gonna have to take this guy over to the diving rocks ramp. I can't get the ski back right now, it'll go flying if I turn it and go back in. I'm gonna drop him off then head out then back in through the centre of the beach where the waves are more calm."
Getting a confirmation from Hoppo, I made work on getting this man out through the boat ramp. The waves were throwing us all over the place, but I managed to get him close enough by turning myself backwards towards the ramps, using the board attached to extend the reach.
I told the fisherman that he'll have to jump and make a small swim, as I can't get the ski in there without us getting stuck. Best chances are he gets pushed onto some flat rocks where he should be fine to climb out.
The man made a jump for it at my signal and swam over within the wave gap. However, in my focus on watching him get there safely, I failed to notice or realise my own time gap.
But when I did, it was too late...
====================
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Hi hi lovelies, I'm back!! Ik it's been FOREVER, but I finally found time to work on Rip Tide and I couldn't be happier. 🫶🎉
So much has happened since I last updated. When I had the time to work on the story, the incident happened at Bondi and it didn't feel right to post in such a tragic time.
Then I got super busy during New Year trying to transfer to a different degree, which absolutely took the life outta me. But I got accepted in time and have been working on integrating into my new degree and the worst timetable possible.
I didn't have much time to work on my stories as I ended up getting the last possible timetable option left, which threw off my updating schedule plans. However, I'm currently on my end of sem 1 wrap up assignments, so I've got some time here and there to work on some short chapters this week.
What a rollercoaster of events, right?! What happened to Abi?? Haha, I hope you enjoyed this ep of Rip Tide. 🫶
Thank you for following along for Abi and Maxi's ride! Please show this ep some love by voting and commenting! 💜🌊
As everyone sat around the table in silence, the weight of Hee-kwan’s death lingered heavily over their heads. Various members of the group couldn’t help but feel responsible and guilty for his death.
Deciding that they couldn’t linger there anymore and let the regret stop them from leaving, Si-young spoke up, turning to one of the remaining staff members.
“Sir, how can we get to the exit? What are the ways out of here?” she asked, breaking the silence.
The staff member informed the group that there were two exits: one near the camping gear and the other in the middle of the store.
Dindin came up with the plan of using trolleys to make a circle around themselves to block the zombies. The group thought it was a smart idea and decided the stronger guys, plus Na-rae, should go together so she had someone protecting her.
Agreeing on the plan, the group started packing the supplies they had managed to gather. As they were busy packing, the group was all startled when a crowd of zombies suddenly started bashing on one of the doors, urging them to move faster as they weren’t sure how long that door would hold before they were boxed in.
The group hurried their packing, some moving to secure rolls of paper around their arms, using zip ties and tape to seal them in place to hopefully fend off any potential bites. Tsuki and Dex secured the cardboard box Hong-chul had brought back with him onto Na-rae’s back.
Just as the zombies started to quiet down, Kkwachu Hyung decided they needed to make a move soon, but not before they made a small tribute to Hee-kwan. The whole group lowered their heads and stood in silence for a minute.
And just like that, the group made their move as Jonathan turned the store’s lights off.
One group, consisting of Si-young, Tsuki, Amara, Hong-chul, and Dindin, made their way towards the exit located near the camping gear. Slowly, they passed each aisle cautiously, keeping an eye out for any hiding zombies.
Just as they opened the door to the back exit, they paused. Inside their path to the exit was a storage room filled with zombies.
The group started to move inside slowly, realising they needed to climb the shelves to get around the zombies. Just as the girls made it across, followed by Dindin, Hong-chul suddenly stepped on one of the children’s floor keyboards, creating a note that caught the zombies’ attention.
Hong-chul decided to back out of the room, leaving the other four to hide behind a small trolley of items. The group all cursed Hong-chul for once again deciding to ditch them. While the three younger members glared off in the direction Hong-chul had gone, Si-young threw a tambourine behind the zombies, successfully catching their attention and drawing it away from them.
Hong-chul made his entrance once again into the storage room while Dindin used the storage trolley to hold off two zombies. Just as Hong-chul passed him, one of the zombies tried to grab hold of Dindin’s arm.
Picking up a pot that Amara had brought with her, he used it to smack the zombie on the head, dazing it temporarily.
-----
While on the other side of the store, the others weren’t having much of an easier time.
Standing inside a circle of trolleys, the group moved as one towards the exit located near the centre of the store.
They continued to fight off zombies as they bulldozed their way through. Dex shoved zombies left and right whenever they tried to get too close to anyone in their circle.
Just as they thought they were getting somewhere, they suddenly got stuck. They couldn’t continue any further with the trolleys, so Dex ordered everyone else to make a run for it.
As they ran through the side of the mart that they hadn’t been in before, they ran past Hee-kwan’s body, each uttering something sadly as they passed.
The group ran fast, knowing there was going to be a significant number of zombies in that area due to Hee-kwan getting chased earlier. And just as they thought, zombies began to chase them the moment they passed his body, appearing left and right.
Just as they reached the exit, they realised the sliding door wasn’t opening.
Desperately, Kkwachu Hyung, Na-rae, and Patricia tried to pry it open while Jonathan and Dex fought off the zombies that tried to attack them.
Just as they thought they were done for, Dex moved closer to the door and pried it open, quickly pushing Na-rae and Patricia out before pulling Kkwachu Hyung and Jonathan with him.
The group managed to get out of one situation only to walk straight into another in the form of a parking lot filled with zombies.
-----
The group in the storage room had successfully climbed onto the first storage shelf. Amara and Si-young threw an inflatable pool filled with plastic balls down towards the zombies, clearing the next shelf for them to cross.
As they got to the next shelf, they realised they needed something to get them across to the following one, as it was too far away.
Just as they looked around for something they could use as a plank, Tsuki saw a ladder placed on a nearby shelf. Tapping Dindin on the shoulder, she gestured towards it.
Together, Dindin and Hong-chul grabbed the ladder and lowered it across the two shelves, creating a bridge for them to cross.
Tsuki went first, followed by Amara and Si-young. Then it was Hong-chul’s turn.
Being too scared to stand and walk across it, he decided to crawl across instead, whimpering as he went while the zombies below tried to grab at his clothes.
The same went for Dindin, the second scaredy-cat to cross. He also crawled across, whimpering and squealing as he went. The girls on the other side couldn’t help but stare at the two men before looking at one another in disappointment.
The group jumped down onto a forklift holding a crate before dropping to the floor.
They had made it across, but the zombies had also noticed and changed direction towards them. Dindin had to use a flamingo floaty to shield the others as they made their way off the shelves.
Successfully getting everyone down and near the exit, Dindin threw the floaty at the zombies and ran from there with the others leading the way.
They ran out towards the car park, where they would meet the rest of their group—and another challenge.
-----
With everyone gathered again, the groups checked in with one another to see if anyone was hurt. Luckily, the two groups had escaped without any more casualties.
Just as the group began talking about what they should do next, they were interrupted by the sudden sound of a car starting. Its blinding headlights beamed into everyone’s faces.
As the group stopped talking and shielded their eyes from the bright light, they realised the car had started driving in front of the barrier they were behind before it suddenly crashed, sparks flying on impact. And just as the group were thinking about going to investigate, it suddenly exploded into flames.
The group sat momentarily frozen in shock at what had just happened in front of them before Amara urged everyone to move inside one of the tents behind them.
As the group all sat down and collected themselves, some of the members who had gone out the camping exit noticed that the other group didn’t have any of the supplies.
The other group explained that they couldn’t take them with them because they had to ditch the trolleys at the last minute to run to the exit, otherwise they would have been surrounded.
Just as the group started to argue, Si-young placed her backpack down onto the table, reminding everyone that they still had enough food and water for a while. This made everyone settle down just a little.
While everyone was arguing, Dindin suddenly interrupted. “Yah, look! There are car keys!” He had noticed some car keys hanging in a locker.
They realised that this car park was a customer rest area and that some people had probably abandoned their cars here.
The original group remembered just how helpful and vital the van had been for their escape earlier before they crashed. So, deciding they would have to try and get a car out of there, they took down the four car keys from the small locker and inspected the makes.
They had identified some cars but weren’t sure if they had seen them outside. So Kkwachu Hyung and Amara went out to climb a pile of pallets stacked next to their tent to check which ones they could match with the keys they had.
Going back into the tent, they told the group that most of the cars were of one brand, and then one was an older model that they had a single key for.
There, they were told by the group that Si-young, Dex, and Dindin would go out to try the keys first.
Just then, Dindin decided they should also make Hong-chul help with finding the cars.
This caught Hong-chul off guard, and all he could do was stare blankly at Dindin. However, no words of objection came from him.
The remaining group watched as Hong-chul and Dindin made their moves. The two decided to move out first to create enough of a gap between them and Dex and Si-young.
But as the group watched, they couldn’t help but get frustrated at Hong-chul, who thought it would be best to crawl again.
Amara, who had seen enough of his crawling, whisper-yelled at the older man. “Oppa! Get moving!”
Hong-chul turned around to the group and the younger girl, giving a tense expression before pointing towards the zombies, which were still a good distance away from him.
The group inside the tent could only shake their heads.
But just as they were about to say more, Dindin was spotted.
He made a mad dash for it, running between different cars to try to get out of their sight.
And it just about worked—until Hong-chul decided to army crawl through the wide-open parking lot.
Just as he thought he’d get away with it, he was also spotted. And in a second, he too made a mad dash around the cars.
The group inside the tent could only stare on in amazement. The original group had never seen Hong-chul run at full speed before and were shocked that he had it in him.
But their amazement was short-lived as he tried to leave, running straight for the barricades near Kkwachu Hyung, who was standing watch.
Dindin, on the other hand, was spotted again and was trying to run away from the zombies.
Amara, Si-young, and Dex were just thinking they needed to go out and help him, but surprisingly someone else beat them to it.
A figure suddenly made a mad dash for one of the cars, jumping onto the hood and climbing onto the top.
Hong-chul. It was Ro Hong-chul.
He had made his choice to try and distract the zombies to help Dindin out.
-----
Using the distraction as their chance, Si-young and Dex made their move. The two crept out from behind the barricade and moved towards the cars.
While everyone else ran about, Hong-chul could be seen jumping from one foot to the other, trying to avoid the zombies who were attempting to grab his feet.
Dindin found two cars that opened successfully. However, each car carried a little surprise. As he opened the first, he was greeted by a zombie passenger. And in the next, there was a zombie in the back seat.
Dex also ran between cars, trying and failing to find the correct one. However, just as he was about to be spotted, the car he was trying to unlock happened to be the one that worked.
Jumping in, he sat quietly and watched the zombies just outside his car. He put the key into the ignition and tried starting the car.
However, the car only beeped, and nothing responded. He could only swear under his breath when he realised the battery was dead.
Meanwhile, Hong-chul was getting overwhelmed by the number of zombies crowding him. Kkwachu Hyung noticed this and got Amara and Jonathan to try to make some noise to distract them.
Jonathan tried and failed to get the zombies’ attention when he threw a traffic cone.
Growing frustrated at his attempt, Amara picked up a pipe from the ground and moved away from him, where she started hitting a nearby car with it.
This time, she successfully got the zombies’ attention.
Amara had gotten the attention of the zombies, but that meant the entire group that had been focusing on Hong-chul was now chasing her.
As she ran, Kkwachu Hyung called everyone else back in.
But as Amara passed Si-young, she told the older woman to run in another direction while she continued running around with the zombies.
As everyone got back into the tent, they realised Amara wasn’t there.
Si-young, who had been the last to see her, turned around worriedly and announced to the group: “Yah, she’s still out there! We have to help her. They’re all chasing her!”
Everyone immediately left what they were doing and ran out to try to find and help Amara.
-----
Amara was hiding under a truck, taking cover momentarily as the zombies chased her. But she knew her spot wouldn’t hold for long and that she would need to leave.
So, deciding to take the risk, she rolled out from under the truck and made a run for it.
She didn’t make it far before she needed to climb a car to get away from the zombies that had surrounded her.
She ran up the car and stood on its roof, her hands braced on her knees as she tried to catch her breath.
The others at the tents had spotted her, but before they could move out to try to distract the zombies away from her, one suddenly grabbed at her leg and pulled hard.
The force caused her to come crashing down onto the car’s roof, her left knee taking the majority of the impact.
Letting out a short scream in fright, Amara lay face-first on the car’s roof, moaning in pain.
But she knew she couldn’t stay lying there forever. Taking a deep breath, she pushed herself back up onto shaking feet.
Her heel pressed against the toe of the other foot as she tried to make herself smaller, widening the gap between herself and the zombies.
When the group saw Amara go down, they couldn’t help but yell out to her, multiple voices echoing in concern.
“Amara!”“Unnie!”“Ama!”
But to everyone’s surprise, it was Dex’s voice that carried the furthest.
And for some reason, the rest of the group couldn’t quite understand, there was a flare of anger in it.
-----
Just as Kkwachu Hyung was about to order the others to move and help Amara, Dex had already made his move, with Dindin following closely behind.
Dex ran between cars, dodging zombies with quick, agile reflexes as he made his way around Amara’s car, successfully drawing their attention away from her.
Just as he ran past Dindin, he spoke. “Hyung, distract them! I’ll go get Amara!”
His voice left no room for discussion as he ran past Dindin, essentially handing off the ward of zombies to him before taking off in Amara’s direction.
Arriving at the car Amara was sitting on, holding her knee in pain, Dex walked over and held his arms up toward her.
“Here, come down. I’ve got you.” He offered his hands to help her down.
Amara stared at him with stubborn eyes but ultimately decided she had other times to be annoyed with him and his demands.
Putting her arms on his shoulders while his arms wrapped around her waist, Amara pushed herself off the car and into Dex’s arms, where he lowered her carefully to the ground.
The moment her feet touched the ground, her knees gave way. Just as she was about to fall, Dex caught her.
Without saying a word, he picked her up bridal style and carried her back. Amara tried to protest as an embarrassed heat spread across her cheeks, but he wasn’t having it.
So as they ran back, Amara had no choice but to wrap her arms around Dex’s neck and hold on for dear life as he practically ran back with her in his arms, dodging any straggling zombies along the way.
Back in the safety of the tent, everyone regrouped and caught their breath while they marked off the cars that worked and those that had some nasty passengers.
While this was happening, Dex and Amara seemed to be in their own world.
“Yah, why would you try to take on all those zombies? Are you crazy?” Dex criticised once he sat her down on one of the chairs, handing her one of the bottles.
“I didn’t do it on purpose, okay?” Amara replied, her voice lacking its usual bite.
“I just saw Si-young unnie stuck and tried to help. I didn’t know they would all follow me,” she continued, gently rubbing her knee.
Noticing her actions and the slight winces that followed, Dex asked, “Do you think it’s bad? You need Kkwachu Hyung to check?”
“I’m fine, Dex. It’s not that serious, okay? Just leave it.” Amara snapped back, partly because she felt like she had failed the group, but also because she didn’t want to burden them by adding to the number of injured people.
Getting frustrated with the girl, Dex could only sigh sharply and begin to move away. But just as he did, he was stopped.
A calloused hand gently gripped his.
Amara.
Looking down at her, she spoke, avoiding his eyes. “Thanks anyway… for helping me.”
Without saying anything, but giving her hand a brief squeeze, he let go and made his way over to the others, who were still discussing the cars.
-----
The group was discussing whether they could carry the pallets to use as shields—a suggestion from Si-young.
The group protested, saying they would be too heavy to carry.
Dindin went out to test it and came back, confirming the fact, stating it was at least twenty kilograms.
Unable to resist, Si-young went out to check for herself.
And just as the group were thinking of other plans, she walked into the tent carrying a pallet with her as if it were lightweight.
The others were stunned into silence.
Deciding to ditch the idea entirely, the group moved on. Some were in charge of distraction while the others tried to head for the car in the centre.
Much to Amara’s displeasure, she had been temporarily sidelined.
Tsuki, Hong-chul, and Patricia climbed onto different cars to try to distract the zombies. Tsuki, however, climbed onto the wrong car—the one she climbed happened to be right next to their target car.
And before anyone could yell out her mistake, she was surrounded.
Amara, who was standing behind the barricade, turned desperately towards Dex. “Dex! Go help her! Hurry!” she yelled loudly, worrying for the younger girl.
Dex complied and ran out once again into danger to try to save Tsuki this time. Dex tried to get the zombies’ attention by beating a broom against one of the cars, but it didn’t work.
Seeing this, Amara was about to make a move again when she was suddenly caught off guard.
“RICE PUFFS!!!”
Mr. Jung yelled, catching the attention of all the zombies.
“Hey, you zombies! You kids—they’re attracted to the sound of the pop! Run for it now! Hey! Get across! Go!” he shouted to the three who were stuck on the cars.
Everyone made a mad dash back towards the barricades where Amara and Kkwachu Hyung waited.
However, once around the barricade and seeing the zombies move away from Mr. Jung’s truck, Tsuki suddenly ran back out towards him.
“Tsuki!” Amara whisper-yelled at the younger girl.
Watching her run swiftly past the distracted zombies and jump up onto the truck with Mr. Jung, Amara could only sigh in relief, seeing her make it safely.
Jumping up onto the truck with Mr. Jung’s help, Tsuki asked him urgently, “Wait. Why are you here? Let’s go together.”
Mr. Jung could only stare at the girl in shock. He protested strongly and criticised Tsuki for coming back to him.
However, Tsuki refused to give up. She had let him leave earlier, and she wasn’t going to do it again.
But Mr. Jung could only let the girl down once more. He revealed that he had been bitten by a zombie on his knee.
Tsuki began to cry softly before leaving as Mr. Jung pushed her away for the final time.
Running back to the tent in tears, she ran straight into Amara’s arms, the older girl waiting patiently for her return.
“Yah, Tsuki. What’s wrong?” Amara asked gently when she saw her crying.
“M-Mr Jung…” Tsuki choked out.
“Mr. Jung? What’s wrong with Mr. Jung?” Amara asked quickly, turning her head towards the truck to see if he was okay.
“H-He got bit, unnie,” Tsuki replied, devastation clear in her voice.
-----
Meanwhile, the others continued their plan, unaware of the sad news.
Si-young stood on the roof of a truck, distracting a large number of zombies while Dindin ran to the car they wanted to check.
Dindin ran back and forth between cars, checking if any unlocked with the key he had.
After some time, he came running back into the tent, out of breath, while Tsuki and Amara were explaining Mr Jung’s situation.
“I found the car!” he panted, everyone praising him for the effort.
“It’s the one on the far right. 5209. It’s right next to the entrance.” And just as he said it, he and Tsuki ran back out to check if the car would start.
Just then, Si-young came back into the tent, asking if they had found the car. The rest of the group confirmed that Dindin had found it.
As she asked where he had gone, the group suddenly heard a loud rumbling engine cut through the silence of the lot.
Dex peeked his head out of the tent to check what the sound was before turning back to the group. “The car’s moving!”
Everyone rushed out to look. The onlookers celebrated when they realised they had finally found the working car.
However, that excitement was short-lived when they realised the engine noise had attracted the entire group of zombies.
-----
Meanwhile, with Tsuki and Dindin, they quickly realised the zombies were trying to get to them because of the noise.
In a rush of panic, Tsuki and Dindin began patching up the windows with newspaper after realising they couldn’t hide from the zombies simply by staying still.
The others watched as the two tried desperately to hide from the zombies.
However, during the time it took them to cover the windows, the zombies had started to rock the truck. They relentlessly smashed their bodies against it.
The two managed to block each window successfully before the zombies could smash through, causing them to lose interest and disperse.
Deciding they needed to head back and discuss what to do next with the others, Dindin and Tsuki made their way back.
Once back in the tent, the group discussed how they could get the truck out. Yet Dindin and Tsuki had no idea how they would get the truck out of the area, so Kkwachu Hyung and Na-rae went out to the pallet pile to look for a possible route.
While the two went off, the rest talked about how they could all fit in the truck.
Dindin explained that there was space at the back for everyone to fit. However, he also mentioned that the back was fully open, which caused some worry among the group.
Tsuki suggested that they needed to somehow pull the truck covers down to hide themselves completely.
As they sat worrying about not being able to get out, Na-rae and Kkwachu Hyung came back into the tent looking more hopeful than when they had left.
They explained to the group that there was a possible way out; however, the route was blocked by two cars.
They explained that they needed to move the two cars out of the way for the truck to reverse cleanly between the others and reach the exit.
The group talked amongst themselves about how they would move the cars, but everyone was unsure.
That was until Na-rae interrupted the group, telling them that they had found a forklift—and its keys.
The two explained that someone would need to use the forklift to lift and move one of the cars out of the way while the others worked on rolling the second car aside.
Hong-chul and Na-rae volunteered to operate the forklift because they believed they had enough similar experience to figure out the basics.
Then Kkwachu Hyung shared another plan with the others.
The people who weren’t moving the cars would need to block the zombies from getting to them by blocking the gap between two cars. According to Kkwachu Hyung, the zombies seemed dull enough that a barrier like that might slow them down.
He also mentioned that the group would need Mr. Jung to create another distraction using the rice cooker.
Tsuki and Amara told the group they would ask Mr. Jung for help first while the others prepared.
-----
Tsuki and Amara quickly and quietly ran over to the truck where Mr. Jung was hiding.
“Mr. Jung! Please—you have to help us one more time!” Amara pleaded.
“Just one more time!” Tsuki added from where they stood, only a few metres back from the truck.
Mr. Jung gave the girls a confident nod and told them to stay safe before yelling out once again.
“RICE PUFFS!”
The loud pop marked the start of their plan. Zombies from all over began flooding toward the elder.
He yelled desperately towards the others that now was the time to cross the barricades and make their move.
Kkwachu Hyung and Dex made a run for it toward the furthest car that needed moving while Na-rae and Hong-chul snuck over to the forklift.
Jumping onto it, the two tried to start the engine. But it didn’t work.
As they fiddled with the controls, Tsuki and Amara split up to help the two groups dealing with the barricade and the car.
Running over to the two men, Amara suddenly came to a halt beside Kkwachu Hyung and started helping them push the car.
Both men looked at the younger girl in shock at her sudden appearance.
“What are you doing here?” Dex asked sternly.
“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m helping you two, of course,” Amara replied plainly, her tone almost sarcastically calm—something that only irritated Dex further.
The two were interrupted in their bickering when Kkwachu Hyung ordered them to focus on pushing the car.
They immediately got back to work. Soon, they had moved the car enough for the truck to pass.
Kkwachu Hyung then left Amara and Dex and ran over to the pair operating the forklift, which had finally started moving.
With all the commotion from the forklift and the group holding the carts in place, a zombie managed to slip around the side and scare the group guarding the trolley barricade.
In panic, they ran off—abandoning the only wall of defence Hong-chul and Na-rae had.
The moment the barricade moved, a horde of zombies began approaching the two still seated on the forklift.
Na-rae tried to get out, but with Hong-chul sitting on the other side, unaware of the approaching danger, he realised far too late—when the zombies were already very close.
Just as the first zombie reached Na-rae, the rest of the group erupted in panic, yelling for the two to run.
Hong-chul managed to get off the forklift, but in his panic, he pushed Na-rae directly into the approaching zombies.
Just as Kkwachu Hyung rushed forward to help her, Tsuki and Amara did the same.
Kkwachu Hyung tried to pull zombies away from Na-rae while Tsuki struggled to reach her, but neither of them could get through.
Seeing this, Amara pushed Tsuki back. “Go! Run!” she yelled at the younger girl before diving forward to grab at the zombies herself.
But just as Na-rae fell to the floor and Kkwachu Hyung tried to help her up, Amara was suddenly pulled back by Dex.
“No. Let’s go!” he shouted before dragging her away with him.
Dex positioned himself behind her as they ran, putting himself closest to the chaos and shielding Amara from the pursuing zombies.
Just as they reached the barricades, Dex shoved Amara forward. She threw herself over them, landing straight into Si-young and Tsuki’s arms as they caught her.
Behind them, Na-rae and Kkwachu Hyung continued wrestling with the zombies. Kkwachu Hyung managed to push Na-rae over the barricades to safety.
But just as he tried to climb over himself—
He was grabbed.
============
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🫰Thank you for reading ep 3 of The Quiet between Chaos: The Cost of Escape.🫰
I hope you enjoyed this episode! Dex and Amara are always fighting, but is there an underlying respect lingering between the two? I had to leave this episode on a cliffhanger that it is... what will happen? You'll have to find out in the next episode!
💜🫶 Your support means a lot! Please comment and like if you can! Thank you! 🫶💜
Slowly, one by one, the cast began to wake from the crash. First, it was Si-young, then DinDin in the driver’s seat, and then Amara as Si-young shook her and checked the younger girl for any injuries. Slowly, as the three woke, they started yelling at the other three in the back to wake up.
Amara turned her focus to Tsuki, the younger girl who was passed out on the seat diagonal from her.
“Yah, Tsuki… get up. Tsuki, wake up. Are you okay?” she questioned, shaking the girl softly to avoid startling her awake.
“Hmm… wha—what? Unnie, what happened? Omo, are you okay, Ama-unnie!? Your head!” Tsuki groggily woke, but soon came to full attention at the cut on Amara’s forehead that was bleeding down the side of her face.
“Huh? Oh yeah, I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. Is everyone okay?” Amara questioned, her serious yet concerned tone filling the van. Everyone in the van shared quick replies back confirming they were okay.
Just as they were trying to figure out what to do, the front of the van suddenly went up in smoke after a sudden burst sounded from it. Si-young turned her attention to the front and screamed shortly as she noticed the sound director’s head covered in blood. DinDin confirmed that the director was no longer alive and had died on impact.
Just as the sudden shock and sadness tried to creep into the group, Hong-chul noticed the scene just beyond the van in the market’s parking lot.
“Hey guys… there are more in front of us. There are more of them,” he spoke suddenly, startling the group, who followed the direction he pointed in.
Just beyond the van were many zombies roaming the parking lot. They wandered around aimlessly, some crawling and some dragging their legs behind them. The sight was one from a horror movie — a horror movie that was quickly becoming the group’s reality.
Inside the van, the group continued to panic. Si-young was battling with herself about leaving the director behind, while Na-rae didn’t want to leave the safety of the van. DinDin advised against staying, saying they might all end up dead if they stayed inside any longer, especially with the smoke and popping sounds coming from the vehicle.
The whole group continued arguing back and forth about what their next step would be.
Taking a look outside, Hong-chul shared his opinion about going into the lit-up supermarket. Na-rae and Tsuki let out sounds of worry and fear.
Amara piped in quickly, knowing they probably had limited time to get out of the van.
Turning to Na-rae, Amara spoke. “Unnie, Na-rae-unnie, get on my back. I’ll carry you inside.”
Na-rae could only protest, earnestly trying to prevent herself from burdening Amara. To this, Amara could only try to convince her more.
“Unnie, it’s fine. I can carry you. This way is much faster, and we can also prevent you from getting bitten.”
Na-rae still tried to refuse, mentioning continuously that she was too heavy for her to carry.
Amara, however, remained steady in her choice, calling back to the older woman. “Unnie, do you weigh over 140? No? Then you’re fine. I can carry up to 140, so you’re fine!”
-----
As the group finally decided to exit the van and make their way toward the supermarket, Amara carrying Na-rae on her back, the group moved slowly without making much noise.
They passed a man in a shopping cart being attacked by two zombies. Just as Amara and Na-rae got through the first set of doors, the two women heard a sharp scream from outside, followed by a pained one.
Amara placed Na-rae down on one of the tills and ran back out to see what had happened, only to run straight into Tsuki, DinDin, and Hong-chul. The three were barreling their way into the shop, a line of zombies following close behind.
The four worked on closing the automatic doors and holding them shut before running to the second set of thicker sliding doors to fully seal the zombies in the parking lot out.
Tsuki was completely out of it once the group got the doors closed. She collapsed to the floor holding her chest, repeatedly saying that her chest hurt.
Amara quickly reminded her to remain silent, as they had no clue how many zombies might be inside the store.
Hong-chul decided to walk a little further past the tills to see if there was anyone nearby. But just as he passed one of the tills, something suddenly grabbed his ankle, startling the life out of him.
At his panic, Tsuki and Amara ran toward him, ready to help him fend off a zombie. The two girls pulled at the woman, gripping Hong-chul’s ankle.
Just then, Si-young came up behind them and placed her foot on the woman’s back, trying to kick her away.
The supposed zombie lady screamed out. “I’m human! I’m not a zombie!”
Everyone collapsed to the floor from the shock they received.
The woman, seemingly forgetting that she had just scared the living life out of the group, kept stuttering out words that none of them could comprehend until Amara saw her pointing toward what looked like a staff room.
Beyond the frosted glass door, Amara could see shadows of figures moving inside.
The group slowly realised the lady was telling them there were more people inside the room, locked away safely from any danger.
The lady led the group over to the glass window and tapped urgently on a small service window, calling out to whoever she knew was beyond the door.
The group, aside from Amara, began yelling through the glass.
“Please let us in!”“Hello!? Please help us!”“I’m TV personality Ro Hong-chul!”“I’m Park Na-rae, the comedian — you know me, right!?”“I’m Tsuki of Billlie! Do you know me?”“We—we also have Lee Si-young here! Please let us in!”
The group kept pleading while Amara, on the other hand, grew more frustrated by the second.
How could they be doing this right now? She thought to herself. People could die, and they had not only locked someone out who had supposedly been with them inside, but now they wouldn’t help others? Are they serious?
Amara stomped over to the glass door and smacked her fist against it hard.
“Yah! You'd better let us inside now! How can you just leave people out here!? Hurry up and let us in — we’re sitting ducks out here!”
Soon after her sharp words echoed, both the voices outside and inside the room went silent.
Not a second later, the small service window slid open. A man wearing a green jacket and a rugged expression peered out, looking at Amara intensely before shifting his gaze toward Na-rae and Si-young, the two women closest to the window.
“Okay, okay. Wait one second! We have a doctor here. He needs to check everyone’s eyes first. If he says it’s okay, then you can come in.”
His tone was sharp and non-negotiable.
One by one, the group stepped up to the service window and peered inside so the doctor could check their eyes. Everyone passed and was told they could enter.
When Amara stepped up and stared intensely at the doctor, her chocolate-brown eyes filled with an angry glare, the doctor could only gulp and hesitate for a moment before confirming they could enter as well.
The group sighed in relief, especially since the doctor had taken noticeably longer to approve Amara.
The moment they were all inside and Amara closed the door behind them, chaos erupted.
Everyone began yelling angrily at the people inside.
However, their attention quickly shifted to Amara as she shoved the strong-looking man in the green jacket.
“Are you fu—ing kidding me!? Yah, you! Why didn’t you guys open that door quicker, huh!?” she demanded coldly, shoving his shoulder as she spoke, her English slipping out at the beginning due to her heightened emotions.
Being the mother figure she was, Si-young quickly grabbed Amara by the arm and pulled her away before things could escalate further, handing her off to Tsuki, who dragged her toward the back of the room.
“Unnie… calm down. We can’t fight them. They just helped us…” Tsuki whispered.
“Yeah, well, they helped us after we begged, and all of you had to tell them who you were for them to budge. What if we weren’t celebrities? Then what?”
------
Over at the table, another conversation was being had by the larger group.
“But how did a bunch of celebrities end up together here?” Hee-kwan, the former baseball player, asked.
“We were filming a show before this all happened,” DinDin replied.
The group found out that the store had been invaded just an hour ago and that this group had been the only ones to get away and hide inside the office they were now in. They confirmed that no one in the room had gotten bitten.
Just then, as they were on the topic, Hong-chul decided to speak up about something Amara and the other ladies in their group found ridiculous.
“While we’re on this topic… and just in case… Na-rae, please don’t get me wrong. But we should be honest with you too. We were at a gas station pumping gas and she and he,” he said, pointing to Na-rae and DinDin, “slightly came in contact with them.”
As soon as he finished, the two burst out into explanation and denied the claim. Amara stood from her chair and chimed in, joining them.
“Oppa, nothing happened to DinDin-oppa or Na-rae-unnie. Unnie just got pulled and tugged at by the zombies, and DinDin just got some blood on his face, that’s all. They don’t have any scrapes or cuts. Unnie just has bloody fingerprints on her ankle.”
“Everyone is fine, and if anything, we agreed to keep an eye out for DinDin-oppa, since we don’t know if you can get infected through your eyes or not.”
She finished speaking and leaned back against the chair, an air of unbotheredness flowing from her once she finished saying her piece. She didn’t wait for anyone to argue or add anything.
She said what she said and left no room for opinions.
-----
After DinDin and Na-rae explained a little more, Hong-chul decided it would be best to move on to introductions.
One by one, they went around.
First, there was Mr. Jung and the workers, then the PE students, then Kkwachu Hyung, Jonathan and Patricia Yiombi, and Hee-kwan.
Na-rae then turned to the man who had remained silent at the back the whole time. “What about this person in the back?” she asked, looking toward the new group.
He simply introduced himself as a normal citizen.
However, Kkwachu Hyung cut in and spoke for him. “His name is Dex. I met him here. He’s a former Navy SEAL UDT.”
The last part caught the attention of the ladies in the room — well, all but one stubborn actress.
Mr. Jung also cut in and mentioned that Dex was the leader of their group.
Si-young couldn’t help herself. “I think all the guys on Iron Squad and all the special forces people are very handsome.” Her words had the ladies, young and old, glancing at him.
Amara took note of this and couldn’t help but think to herself.
Are they serious right now… in the middle of a literal zombie apocalypse, they’re swooning over this jerk? Tsk. Seriously.
-----
After discussing what they would need and what their plans were, the group began planning who would go out with whom to gather supplies.
However, when Na-rae first asked the room, it went silent once again. No one wanted to volunteer.
Amara knew they needed to move quickly, so she raised her hand. “I’ll go,” she declared into the silent room.
Heads snapped in her direction at the sudden break in silence.
“What? No, you can’t go alone, Ama! What are you thinking?” Si-young spoke up protectively. “Someone has to go with you.”
Before the conversation could continue, the two PE students suddenly spoke up.
“Don’t worry, noona. We’ve got this! We’ll go first instead. We’ve been here for a while and the zombies seem slow. We saw them on our way in. They’re slow at reacting.”
Hee-kwan quickly cut in. “Don’t do it just because you’re a PE major.”
Others added comments about them getting too cocky because they were young.
But the two students reassured the group that they were fine and that they would be brave.
The decision didn’t sit well with Amara, but she couldn’t change their minds as the others began discussing how they could warn them if they were in danger.
They decided to use the store’s jingle to signal them to come back immediately if they heard it.
Amara walked with the two university students to the door, reminding them to be careful and to stay safe. She also reminded them that they could always come back and go again if needed and that they shouldn’t rush.
They reassured Amara one more time before bravely making their way out. The rest of the group watched from the CCTV.
They walked over to the open fridge area and opened two cans of energy drinks. The older people in the room laughed it off, believing they were probably thirsty.
Then they grabbed four bottles of soju and carried them back to their box. After that, they began collecting canned food — tuna, instant rice packets, and cereal.
While the group cheered watching the duo, DinDin, Si-young, and Amara stood watching silently. They couldn’t be as happy as the others. Not yet. Not when the boys hadn’t returned.
DinDin and Si-young commented that they were doing too much and being careless. They worried the students were taking the zombie-free area for granted.
Amara and Dex didn’t say anything but looked uncomfortable watching the screen, an uneasy feeling sinking into their stomachs.
Dex glanced out the service window, trying to spot any sneaking zombies.
-------
The two students decided to drag the now heavy box filled with items. However, the sound of the box scraping echoed throughout the silent store.
Realising this themselves, they decided to carry it instead. Unfortunately, their plan turned out to be worse. The box gave way the second it lifted off the floor.
The office was filled with panicked voices.
Si-young, DinDin, and Amara turned toward the television at the commotion, unable to see what had happened from their positions.
Amara, who had been standing on one of the desks peering out into the mall, turned sharply toward the screen. Jumping down, she approached the CCTV monitor.
“What happened?!” she asked Jonathan, who stood closest to the monitors.
Several people shouted at once.
“They dropped everything!”“It smashed!”“The noise was so loud!”
As they continued watching in worry, the boys moved away from the shattered items, scanning the aisles to see if any zombies were approaching.
Just as one of the boys walked toward the butcher area, he spotted a zombie lying still on the floor. When he turned back to tell his friend, a zombie jumped him from behind.
The two struggled for a moment before another zombie appeared — the butcher of the market. He joined the attack, pulling the student to the ground.
The zombies began biting and clawing him violently. His body twitched with every attack. His screams filled the room.
Inside the office, the group could only watch helplessly as they realised the supermarket they believed was empty was actually filled with zombies — some of which had remained still until prey appeared.
Tsuki buried her face in Amara’s arms.
Amara wrapped her arms around her protectively, shielding her from the horrifying sight while whispering.
“It’s okay… it’s okay…”
However, in that moment, Amara failed to notice the second student being chased by another group of zombies.
When the room erupted into panicked shouting again, Amara looked up from Tsuki’s shoulder. Her eyes widened in horror.
She quickly pushed Tsuki toward Hong-chul before trying to force her way toward the door.
But by the time she reached the crowd near the front, the student was already slamming his hands against the frosted glass.
“HELP! PLEASE!”
Amara moved toward the door with determination. “Move!” she yelled at Dex. “We have to help him!”
Dex couldn’t believe what he was hearing. What was this woman saying? He stepped directly in front of the door, blocking it. “No.”
“Amara!” DinDin and Si-young shouted simultaneously. DinDin grabbed her arm, pulling her away from the door while she struggled against his grip.
Hearing the student scream “NOONA!” only made her fight harder.
Si-young stepped in front of her. “Ama… you can’t help him anymore. He’s already been bitten. There are too many zombies out there. If you go out, you’ll get bitten too.” Her voice was gentle, but firm.
Realising she had lost, Amara suddenly stopped struggling. She shoved DinDin’s hands away and stormed toward the back of the room.
“FUCK!” she shouted in English. Her fist slammed hard into a metal locker.
The room fell silent once again. The ringing echo of the locker slowly faded as everyone listened to the sounds of the student’s distant screams.
Dex’s gaze lingered on her longer than it should have, a flicker of something unreadable passing through his usually calm expression.
Tsuki cautiously approached Amara with a med kit. No one could see Amara’s face as she sat facing away from the group.
All they could see was Tsuki quietly wrapping her bleeding fist before placing a bandage on the cut on her forehead from the crash — a wound Amara had completely forgotten about.
Noticing the shared confused looks at the girls’ actions, DinDin explained that something similar had happened before with her manager. DinDin explained that she had watched her get attacked and had tried to help back then too, but he had to stop her. He mentioned that she probably felt worse now knowing that two people had tried to protect her but ultimately ended up getting hurt.
------
The group had been planning who would go out and what they would gather when Mr. Jang and some of the elderly staff decided they wanted to leave, believing they were no safer in here than they were out there.
This time, it was Tsuki who moved first when she heard Mr. Jang’s voice, Amara following closely behind. The two tried desperately to get them to stay, but DinDin and Kkwachu Hyung allowed them to leave and didn’t try to stop them.
As they left, Si-young decided to try to go after them and bring them back, with Tsuki and Amara following behind to do the same. However, Si-young was stopped short by Dex. He didn’t allow her out, telling her they couldn’t do anything now to change their minds.
In the few minutes it took for the group to discuss this, they realised too late that the elderly staff had already been attacked by zombies. They could only watch on in regret and guilt — some knowing they might have been able to stop them, and others feeling responsible for letting them leave.
=====Time skip
The first few groups had gone out and successfully collected some supplies. However, during Jonathan’s and Na-rae’s turn, Jonathan had abandoned Na-rae in the shopping carts they had stacked to make a protective cage around her.
When Jonathan came running back, out of breath, and said he had to ditch Na-rae, the group quickly tried to come up with a plan to distract the zombies surrounding her.
Almost as soon as he arrived, Jonathan went back out again. This time, however, he wasn’t alone. Si-young, Dex, DinDin, Hee-kwan, Kkwachu Hyung, and Amara all left to retrieve Na-rae.
Splitting up and circling, Si-young went one way to distract the zombies while DinDin and Jonathan headed toward Na-rae to retrieve her, leaving Dex and Amara to follow each other in the opposite direction of Hee-kwan and Kkwachu Hyung.
While the groups were trying to lure the zombies away, Hee-kwan noticed they weren’t responding to the sounds the others were making. He realised he had to be the main distraction.
Taking the lollipop can, he threw a few pieces in and ran past the aisles, the sharp rattling sound catching the attention of the majority of the zombies.
As he ran past Dex and Amara, two zombies peeled off to pursue them once they got close enough to spot them.
The two were jogging lightly in front of the small freezers, unaware of what was approaching. However, just in the nick of time, Dex turned around and saw a zombie heading straight for Amara, arms outstretched, trying to grab her.
Within the blink of an eye, Amara was suddenly pulled into a warm embrace, her body colliding with something solid — Dex’s chest.
In the next moment, she was shoved to the side as Dex slammed his shoulder into the zombie, throwing it away with a powerful nudge.
All she heard was a strict “GO!” from Dex before he pulled her behind him and ran back toward the office. Everyone returned — except one person.
“Where’s Hee-kwan-oppa?” Amara questioned the people inside.
Seeing no one reply, Amara immediately left the room again to search for him. She wandered aisle by aisle with Kkwachu Hyung, the two surprisingly coming across no zombies.
This worried them even more.
Just as the two made their way back toward the front tills and were deciding to head further in to check, they heard a loud commotion from inside the office.
Rushing back in, the two froze in their tracks.
There on the screen was Hee-kwan.
The man who had bravely run out to act as a distraction was completely surrounded by zombies, brutally scratching and biting at him.
Amara could only cover her mouth to stifle the gasp that desperately tried to escape her.
There she stood watching the man who, even during the short time they had known him, had been incredibly kind and caring toward everyone.
Amara had felt so much brotherly warmth from the small moments they had shared since she arrived, and now she was watching the person she had started to consider an older brother being attacked while he determinedly tried to fight them off — even with at least ten zombies trying to take him down.
The team sat around the table in silence afterwards, reflecting on the great bravery and strength Hee-kwan had shown even in his final moments.
They all knew that the path forward was going to become harder from here. Everyone doubted whether they would even make it out of the supermarket alive. But Amara believed they would.
She had to.
Not only for herself, but for the sake of the team.
She was going to get them out of there. She wasn’t going to fail all the people who had sacrificed themselves for those left in that room.
She would make sure of it.
=======
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Thank you for reading ep2 of The Quiet between Chaos: The Ones We Couldn't Save🫶💜
I'm really enjoying writing for this show as it's my current fav watch! This story is probably one of my favourite stories that I'll write.
Look forward to seeing how Amara grows. Will she be able to get them all out safely and survive for those who lost their lives?
Let me know what you think by voting and commenting!🫶
Please enjoy this new story of my Zombieverse Dex x oc story! I recently watched Zombieverse seasons 1 & 2 and absolutely fell in love with it! Kim Jin-Young (Dex) was such a cool guy in this show. I loved his role in it soo much! The romance girlie in me obviously had to come up with a love interest for him, ofc i did, but I honestly think every show benefits from a small love story ngl so here's my version of one for this show!
Below is my oc's outfit for the film.
It was 6:44 pm, and Amara had just arrived on the set of Love Hunter, a dating show she had been invited to as a special guest commentator along with five other guests. Being the only other foreign guest alongside Tsuki, Amara was really nervous to work with some famous and more experienced individuals.
As usual, Amara’s stylist had chosen some of her favourite fashion pieces for her to wear on this show. Something that showed off her unique charm and personality. Her stylist referred to this look as one of her many campus crush styles. Amara’s infamous leather jacket, jeans that shaped her figure perfectly, a dark but casual top that gave off her laid-back style, and her signature combat boots. It was a look that never failed Amara, a look that screamed casual confidence — a strength that radiated from her without being too loud.
Amara had finished lacing up her boots into a tight knot just as the director of the show walked over to her separate room and ushered her towards the small cut-off section of the bar where she and the other five guest commentators would watch the show from the shadows. Sharing final words with her manager, she was given the go-ahead to enter the space and start acquainting herself with the fellow cast.
(Korean intended dialogue written in italics)
“Hello everyone,” Amara greeted the cast respectfully, bowing as she made eye contact with each member. Everyone responded brightly and shared greetings before asking Amara to take a seat beside Tsuki.
“Oh hello, senior! I’m a big fan of yours! It’s so nice to meet you!” Tsuki brightly exclaimed the moment Amara sat down.
“Hi, hi Tsuki! Thank you so much! It’s so nice to meet you too!” Amara spoke back gently, reaching her hand out to shake Tsuki’s outstretched hand.
The other guests turned their attention to the two youngest. Na-rae decided to introduce herself to Amara in hopes of getting a little introduction about her.
“Oh, hello. My name is Amara Rayman. I’m a Canadian-Indian international Korean actress who was born and raised in Toronto, Canada, before moving to Seoul to work in acting. Please take care of me!” Amara spoke almost naturally in Korean to introduce herself to the cast, shocking the few who didn’t know much about her.
DinDin, who sat on the other end of her, spoke up and mentioned how she had been getting really famous amongst Koreans and Western audiences through working in both Korean films and dramas, but also in Western films. He even brought up her acting as a new hero in an Avengers movie.
When asked by Hong-chul if she had any prior experience with dating or relationships, all Amara could do was coolly deny it and brush it off, mentioning she was brought onto the show as a special guest as the casting directors thought it would be great to bring in someone with a different worldview on dating, hoping to bring insight into the cultural differences between Canadian and Indian dating systems.
Amara also expressed that she was known as a relationship guru by friends and fellow actors, as she had always had a keen eye for others and their growing relationships or feelings towards each other, and that her many roles as a love interest in films had given her some experience with different relationship styles.
------
At 6:57 pm, as they all continued to chatter amongst themselves and Hong-chul snuck in a joke about Tsuki’s name, the cast were quickly interrupted by the show’s host starting the programme. Suddenly his voice, which carried a dramatic host-like flair, flooded through the screen they had in their small room:
“Hello! I am Love Hunter’s main host. It’s time to get your feelings on! Can a man and woman who have never met fall in love when they get intimate? Find out on Love Hunter!”
As the host explained the show to the viewers, all the guest commentators discussed the show with each other, expressing how unique it was and how it was a first to see a show this intense before. As they watched on while the host introduced couples one by one who were asked to kiss one another — in very dramatic styles that practically attacked each other’s faces — the guests and Amara couldn’t help but exclaim loudly and thrash around in their seats, each slapping each other or hiding their faces behind one another’s backs.
However, as they moved on to the third couple, the atmosphere changed.
In a split moment, the guests sitting alongside Amara stilled and stared on in confusion. Carefully, as the host approached and stated that the lady in the third couple must be shy, Na-rae suddenly spoke out, taken aback by the woman’s actions.
“Is she drunk?”
Each guest leaned forward in their seats to get a better look at the small TV in front of them. However, Amara, who was closest to the TV, gripped Tsuki’s hand that was resting on her knee and spoke up hesitantly but with a sure voice.
“No… she isn’t drunk. She looks almost sick…” Her words faded out naturally as they all took in what she said, the reality of it sinking in.
Soon, just as they were starting to worry about the woman’s condition, she could be seen slowly lifting her head to look into the man’s eyes. The host naturally found his loud and excited voice again as she practically jumped the man. The guests sitting next to Amara all sighed and laughed at the sudden change in atmosphere, all commenting about it being a little too hot and dramatic.
However, beside them, Amara couldn’t help but feel like the reaction was too sudden for her liking. Something didn’t sit right with her. She had almost started to worry for the woman, but soon her worry was replaced with fear as the man the woman was just “passionately kissing” started to have blood come out of his mouth.
All the contestants and people present in the room suddenly became alarmed. Their shouts suddenly filled the once bright and bubbly room.
Na-rae and Tsuki suddenly bolted up from their seats, shock clearly visible on their faces, while Si-young, Hong-chul, and DinDin took a moment to stare blankly at the TV in front of them.
Amara, however, processed the situation immediately and shot to her feet as soon as she saw the scene clearly. She turned to her cast members quickly and spoke urgently. “Guys, we have to go… now!”
Just as she tried to shake Tsuki out of her shock, her manager and the casting director stepped in front of the cameras facing into their small space.
“You— you need to get out of here!” the director shouted before Amara’s manager spoke urgently to her.
“Hurry, Amara! Come on, you all need to move! The car is at the bac—!”
Suddenly, the director was tackled by a figure. A zombie had jumped her and was biting at her neck, blood spraying everywhere. Then not a second later, as Amara’s manager tried to push the lot out of the room, she was also attacked by a zombie.
Noting the sudden push of herself out of the way, Amara turned back sharply to check on her manager, only to find her getting attacked by a zombie.
“UNNIE!!” Amara yelled back at her.
Her manager weakly yelled back as she was getting attacked, her body blocking the doorway from more zombies.
“GO AMA! RUN!”
Amara tried to run back to her manager but was pulled away by DinDin, who almost carried her back, turning her body forward and away from her manager’s body as she bravely tried to fight off the zombies from pushing through.
All Amara could do was run.
Following DinDin and the others as he pulled her hand, she kept turning back every now and then to see her manager’s face, to hear the shouts of pain but also resistance and strength as she held herself there. Amara didn’t have time to cry or allow her tears to block her vision as she ran.
The group ran through the club’s alleyway, dodging zombies that burst through the glass windows on all sides of them. Na-rae, with her injured leg, stumbled and fell when the whole group shifted to one side as a zombie suddenly burst through the glass into their path.
Amara immediately turned around, grabbed Na-rae’s hand, and pulled her back up, using herself to help Na-rae walk faster.
The streets of Hongdae were a mess. It was far worse than what they had seen inside. How had this once bright and lively street turned into this blood-filled horror scene?
All the group could do was run past many people — some too shocked and confused to move, some who stood by and laughed at the six as they screamed past, taking the scene before them as a joke… until it wasn’t. Until they became the next targets of the zombies.
-----
The cast all ran up to the rooftop of a building, trying to get away from the disaster below them. Once they got up there, they took a minute to stop, breathe, and assess their possible next choices. They each peered down on all sides of the building looking for a way out.
That was when Tsuki spotted it from where she and Amara stood. “Look! Down here! There’s a car out back!” she called out sharply, a glimmer of hope in her voice.
Amara walked over to where the younger girl was and looked down at where she was pointing. “Tsuki is right. There’s a car down there. It looks like a production staff car.”
The rest of the group moved towards the ledge and spotted the large black van. Just as they prepared to make their way down, they saw two familiar figures running towards the car.
Si-young shouted towards the two men. “Hey! Cameraman! Up here! Please wait for us!”
She turned towards the rest of the group. “Guys, come on, we have to get down there fast!”
Racing down the steps of the building towards the back exit, the group pushed past all the thrown debris and furniture. DinDin and Amara grabbed each of Na-rae’s hands to help her down quickly.
Once they reached the bottom, Hong-chul, Tsuki, and Na-rae climbed into the back seats, while DinDin, Amara, and Si-young climbed into the middle seats. The sound director and another cameraman sat at the front.
As they drove out of Hongdae and into the dark and eerily quiet night, the group all spoke about how worried they were for their families spread out around the country. They all wondered aloud about how bad it could be outside of Seoul.
The car suddenly filled with the alarms of the disaster warning which blared from each of their phones.
Amara leaned over to DinDin’s phone to take a look at the notification as her own phone was stuck in her back pocket where she couldn’t reach it in the moment.
“Emergency Alert: Dangerous violent outbreak reported in the downtown Mapo-gu, Seoul area. Avoid public areas. Shelter indoors immediately.” Amara read the alert aloud before turning to share a concerned look with DinDin.
The two turned back to the others, looking at their reactions to the alert.“Aren’t we fine if we just leave the Mapo-gu area then?” Na-rae questioned.
Hong-chul cut in quickly before anyone could reply. “Haven’t we come a long way already? It can’t be dangerous here too, right?”
The group didn’t respond. No one knew the answer to their questions.
They muttered between themselves and talked about the nearby areas, Si-young mentioning several times that she felt like she wanted to throw up.
It was only then that the group paid closer attention to the two men who were the outliers in their group — the two who had not uttered a word since they had gotten in.
They didn’t get much out of the sound director. The other man, who was driving, however, told them they would need to stop for petrol soon, as the low fuel sign had been on for some time now.
Just as the group shared unsure looks and whispers amongst themselves about the choice, they knew it was needed — otherwise they would have to make the walk out of Mapo-gu on foot, an option that didn’t guarantee their safety.
-------
The van pulled up into a petrol station that was luckily connected to a convenience store.
The team decided that they would need to go in and collect some supplies. They noticed there were abandoned cars left at the station, the lights of the station giving slight relief to the group.
The driver opened his door and started to get out when Amara and Si-young noticed he had taken the keys out of the ignition.
“Sir—sir, leave the keys here. Why would you take them out?” Amara questioned. Si-young also turned towards the driver.
He stuttered through his words, worrying that the group would leave him and drive off once he finished filling the petrol. He continued to repeat his words and tried to step out.
However, Si-young had a tight grip on the back of his jacket, once again asking why he was doing this and for him to leave the keys. Despite this, he managed to slip out of her strong grip and closed the door behind him before turning towards the petrol pump.
The man touched the screen of the fuel station and its loud automated voice filled the quiet petrol station.
Unbeknownst to the group seated anxiously in the van, they watched as he proceeded with the steps, not knowing that something was approaching — and it was moving in silence.
It wasn’t until Tsuki suddenly started gasping that the group noticed what was approaching just outside their van.
As the group panicked and stared at the approaching zombies, they failed to notice one that had crawled its way behind the van until it suddenly popped up beside Hong-chul’s side of the vehicle and attacked their driver, who was just about to put the petrol pump into the van.
The car erupted into screams the second he was jumped. Each of them covered their eyes and mouths as they watched the once eerily peaceful scene turn into a bloody nightmare.
The driver stumbled about the station, running through the car wash as he was chased. The group in the van yelled urgently, trying to track where he was going and keep an eye on the key which the man still had on him.
Once he re-emerged from the car wash, the group inside the van watched as he stumbled and fell before getting back up and trying to climb onto the car in front of him.
But the two zombies behind him grabbed onto his legs. He fell face-first into the front windscreen of the car. The glass shattered and flew everywhere as he collapsed into it, his body going still as the two zombies bit into him relentlessly.
Na-rae began talking and crying in panic, to which Si-young turned and shushed her, realising the zombies hadn’t quite noticed them yet and were still distracted by the driver.
DinDin noticed the man hadn’t turned into a zombie straight away and shared the information with the group.
However, they were all startled when a zombie suddenly bashed into the van. The group panicked for a second before composing themselves and sitting very still in the vehicle, assuming the zombies had poor eyesight and responded more to sound.
They decided to test their idea by getting Si-young to shout out the window. The zombies immediately reacted.
They had to devise a plan. Someone needed to go out and grab the keys from the dead driver while another person pumped the petrol. The group started arguing about who should go. Eventually DinDin decided he would pump the petrol while Hong-chul would distract the zombies.
Just as Hong-chul got out of the van and DinDin pressed the pump screen, the automated voice cut through the silence again. DinDin had to ditch the pump for a moment and run back to the van while Hong-chul used the opportunity to sneak towards the car the driver was on.
DinDin waited for the moment when Hong-chul distracted the zombies away from the pump to leave the van again. But the card wasn’t reading, and the zombies soon turned their attention back towards DinDin and the sound coming from the pump.
Hong-chul ran back to where he had been before and made noise again to give DinDin enough time to fill the petrol.
Just as DinDin was getting the petrol flowing, a sudden alarm came from the pump, alerting the nearby zombies. As quickly as he could, DinDin stopped the petrol, sealed the valve, and ran back to the van just as a zombie charged at him.
As he got inside, the group screamed as the zombie nearly caught him. DinDin couldn’t help but shout from the close call.
Si-young nudged Amara to close DinDin’s mouth to keep him quiet. Placing her hand firmly over his mouth, Amara leaned her head briefly against his shoulder, trying to calm both her own racing heart and his frightened one.
------
Deciding that more people needed to go out and try to distract the zombies, as the pump hadn’t filled much, Si-young, Tsuki, and Amara made their move. Tsuki and Amara were on noise duty while Si-young tried to fill more petrol.
The two younger girls picked up some metal and aluminium items and walked carefully towards the further open side of the petrol station, putting some distance between Si-young and the van.
However, before they could try to distract the zombies, DinDin suddenly let out a shout which alerted the zombies nearby. He had been checking the car to the left of the girls but suddenly screamed, slammed the door loudly, and ran back to the van.
Tsuki panicked in the moment and tried to distract the zombies from Si-young and DinDin, but as she went to lift the trash bin to throw it in the opposite direction, the button bin fell and clattered loudly to the floor.
At the sudden noise, Amara turned sharply towards Tsuki and the aluminium lid she held in her hands. She ran towards Tsuki and grabbed her hand when she noticed the zombies coming towards them.
Amara quickly pushed Tsuki in the direction she had come from before taking off in the opposite direction, hoping the zombies would follow her instead.
Her plan worked as they started chasing after her.
Amara’s hands trembled as she ran. She threw the metal rod she had been holding to the floor to fully get their attention as she sprinted towards the car wash. As Amara ran through the car wash, her foot caught on something and she almost stumbled to the ground, but she managed to catch herself before she could fall.
However, the sharp sound that escaped her lips woke something that had been fast asleep inside the car wash.
The figure suddenly burst out from the opposite side Amara had entered, running as fast as ever towards an unaware Si-young who was pumping petrol. Noticing the zombie at the last second, Si-young made a mad dash around the van. The zombie went zooming straight into the car with the dead driver in front of the van.
Just as Amara emerged from the car wash, the fast zombie spotted her and ran at full speed towards her.
While all this was happening, DinDin and Si-young continued trying to refuel the van, Si-young looking around anxiously for where Amara had disappeared to. As she finally spotted Amara again, so did the fast zombie.
Just as Amara ran towards Si-young, who stood next to the worker’s box, the two quickly rushed inside and slammed the door shut behind them. The fast zombie crashed into the box no more than a few seconds later.
Noticing the two were trapped, the guys and Na-rae decided to go out and try to help them and also grab the keys — something they had forgotten to retrieve the whole time due to the chaos around them.
Hong-chul distracted the zombies by honking the horn of a nearby car. Amara and Si-young used the opportunity to race back towards the van just as Na-rae and DinDin ran back as well.
Everyone made it into the van, but Na-rae was a step slower as her injured leg prevented her from running any faster. As she reached the van, she had to practically throw herself inside while Si-young, Tsuki, and Amara tried to fight off a zombie gripping her leg.
Amara grabbed Na-rae’s crutch and used it to deliver a harsh blow to the zombie’s gut, giving Tsuki enough time and space to slam the sliding door shut as Si-young pulled Na-rae fully inside.
“Yah, Na-rae unnie, are you okay?!” Amara asked, shock and concern flowing through her words.
Na-rae could only hum back in response, saying she needed a minute to just lie down.
It was only then that Amara turned her attention towards DinDin’s reflection in the mirror. “Oh my god, DinDin oppa! What happened to your face? Are you okay?!” Amara nearly shouted before reining her voice back in, though the sharp concern in her tone remained.
DinDin didn’t look okay.
While the others had been running and hiding from the zombies, DinDin and Na-rae had been trying to retrieve the keys from the driver. When DinDin reached into the man’s jacket pocket, the driver suddenly choked on his blood and coughed directly into DinDin’s face.
However, the two who had struggled the most pushed aside their worries about injuries as DinDin focused on getting them out of the petrol station. As the group continued discussing their injuries and what getting infected zombie blood in DinDin’s eye could mean, they repeatedly demanded he be honest if anything felt wrong.
DinDin insisted there was nothing to worry about and that the blood had only splashed onto his face. Yet as they continued driving, DinDin kept rubbing at his eye.
Hong-chul noticed and commented on it, but DinDin brushed it off as nothing.
But it was anything but.
And soon he would miss what came running onto the road in front of them as they drove towards what looked like a supermarket.
But none of them would get the chance to notice, or for anyone to say a thing. Because just as Amara noticed and opened her mouth to warn them— It was already too late.
The crash came quicker and sharper than anything.
And Amara’s vision faded to black.
======
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Thank you for reading the first chapter Outbreak on Air of The Quiet Between Chaos: A Zombieverse Story.
Please reblog, like, and comment your thoughts!
Hi loves!!🫶 Sorry this updated has taken soo long! I honestly wanted this chapter to avoid being super generic and basic so it took lots of writing full scenes to deleting full scenes to get it complete to a standard I was happy with. I also had to add some character plot in very lightly so hopefully you can see some of my subtle foreshadowing😉 there is also some not so subtle foreshadowing so hopefully it gives you a little sneak peek to future chapters/ loreee!!
So since this chapter is finished writing hopefully the next few come out a lot more quicker, but knowing me, I'm probably gonna have the whole chapter plot outlined in my head then completly forget the second I open up my document😭
But anywayyy enjoy this chapter of The Risk of You! And stay tuned for the long awaited surprise at the end!💜
Dragons Edge
The Dragon Riders had just returned to Dragon's Edge, Hiccup cradling the wounded rider to his chest as Toothless landed. Her shallow, stuttering breaths sounded every so often, reminding Hiccup that she was all right — for now.
While the riders ran about, trying to gather any medical supplies they could find on the Edge, Hiccup ordered Snotlout to return to Berk and fetch Gothi, as they would need her assistance to treat the more serious wounds to a proper standard. But for now, they would do their best at stabilising the rider and treating any minor injuries.
Setting up a small area for her treatment in the corner of their meeting and dining room, Fishlegs fetched a spare cot from Astrid's room — one Heather had been using before they gave her her own small hut for visits.
The three ladies took control of treating the rider, and to Hiccup's surprise, Ruffnut shed her usual playful, easygoing attitude for a more focused and mature air, shooing Hiccup out of the room as they treated wounds hidden beneath armour.
Deciding he had better use elsewhere, Hiccup left the room and slowly approached Fishlegs' side. "Has she stopped pacing since we got here?" he asked the blond Viking.
"No, she hasn't. She's anxious — reasonably so. I mean, her rider is severely injured, but she hasn't even stopped to lick her wounds. Even Toothless tried to say something, but he just got growled at. And now they're both pacing," Fishlegs replied, his eyes drifting to the Night Fury, who Hiccup could now see was also pacing — picking up on the tense state of the dragon who seemed to share a connection with Night Furies.
Deciding he needed to get the dragon looked at properly and treated, Hiccup slowly made his way towards the majestic dragon, whose markings flared with colour despite the daylight. Sensing the approach of someone different from her rider, the dragon turned towards Hiccup with a warning snarl. Toothless followed suit, sharing his own warning growl.
Eyes flicking between the two dragons, Hiccup quickly raised his hands in a calming, non-threatening manner and spoke quickly. "Hey — hey... it's okay. We're okay, Toothless. I just need to check your wounds, is that alright? She's going to be fine. The girls are taking care of her right now, and we're getting more help." His voice was calm and confident as he moved step by step closer with each word.
At his reassurance, the dragon slowed her pacing and sat heavily to one side, favouring the uninjured half of her body. At Hiccup's hesitant approach, she lowered her head slightly, peering up at him. Hiccup moved closer and cautiously tended to the injured wing, inspecting the splint Heather had placed earlier.
Once Hiccup and Fishlegs finished treating any visible wounds, they planned to take drawings and notes on the new species' features and temperament. However, the dragon had other ideas. As soon as they finished, she resumed pacing — this time ignoring Hiccup's requests and the warnings Toothless and Meatlug gave when she grew too threatening towards their riders.
Hiccup knew that until the dragon saw her rider awake and back on her feet, she would not let her guard down. And, well — good thing Hiccup was known for his patience and understanding... because it would be another four days before she stirred.
====
She did not wake for days after collapsing in Hiccup's arms, exhaustion and pain keeping her suspended in a state of aware unconsciousness. However still her body was, her mind and senses were wide awake — more aware than ever.
She could feel, hear, and smell everything the room had to offer. The heat of the large hearth in the centre, stoked every hour or so by different Vikings, cast a gentle warmth against her cold, feverish skin. She learned the names of everyone present, even forming basic character profiles for each.
The loud ones consisted of the twins — Ruffnut and Tuffnut, or as the rider occasionally shouted at them, Ruff and Tuff. Then there was Snotlout, who appeared to be cousins with Hiccup, the supposed leader of the group — a steady voice among the chaos, almost trustworthy, she thought, before quickly brushing the idea away.
Next came the more cautious voices: Astrid and Heather. These two lasses were frequent visitors to her medical needs, whispering cautions and questions about her intentions as they cleaned sweat and tended to slowly healing wounds. How much had they seen of the old ones, faded by time? She did not know — but if they did know, they said nothing.
Then there was one gentler, hesitant voice — Fishlegs. A Viking who sounded perpetually torn between squeaking out words and rambling at lightning speed about the possible abilities of her dragon. This worried her. That, and one other thing.
One person remained in the room on the first day her consciousness returned — someone who spoke no words, yet whose presence was unmistakable. Mysterious, yet oddly comforting. They communicated only through taps and scrapes of what she assumed was a staff.
----
It wasn't until the fourth day that her limbs began to respond. First came the tingling in her feet, distant aches reminding her of the fight — though how long ago, she didn't know. Then the sensation travelled to her hands, fingers twitching and flexing. Soon followed the dull throb in her head, the sting of injuries when a faint breeze passed, and finally — the jarring pain in her side, flaring with every breath as it tugged at half-healed skin.
She sucked in a sharp breath, startling both herself and the nearby Vikings. Reaching shakily for her dagger, her hands found an empty sheath. She couldn't hear the steady purr or strong heartbeat she was used to. When she spoke, her voice was light — yet carried indescribable weight.
"Where's my dragon?"
Hearing her gasp and seeing her reach for a missing weapon, Hiccup turned quickly, keeping a respectful distance. "She's outside — safe, and healing quickly."
She didn't spare him another glance. Instead, she surveyed the room — noting her weapons placements, armour, the number of Vikings present, and every possible exit.
Her gaze stilled at the sound of claws clicking against wood. A sound she knew well. Her racing heart eased, and she responded in kind — a series of clicks from her throat, lips unmoving. The Riders startled.
She had barely swung her legs over the cot when a large blur burst into the room. At her side, her dragon's markings flared to life, glowing softly. The two exchanged greetings — nudges, murmurs, inspections — whispered words answered with relieved, rumbling churrs.
Using her dragon for support, she rose to unsteady feet and finally acknowledged the Riders. "Thank you," she said stiffly, turning her gaze to their leader. "For helping my dragon."
Hiccup stepped forward. "It's alright. It's what we do. Uh — my name's Hiccup, and this is—"
He was cut off as he gestured to the others. "Astrid, Fishlegs, Heather, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, and Snotlout. I know. I heard," she replied, emotionless.
"How do you know our names?" Astrid demanded, stepping forward with her axe raised. Hiccup startled, throwing an arm out.
"Astrid — sorry, she doesn't mean— she isn't threatening you. She's just cautious. But... how do you know our names?"
"I don't blame her," the rider said, studying Astrid briefly. "But to put you at ease — I learned them from you. Hard not to, when you all say them around a stranger. I regained consciousness yesterday. I just couldn't move. I wasn't dead — my body shut down to heal."
Accepting the answer, they moved on. Heather stepped forward. "How did you end up injured on that island? Are you the one raiding hunter markets?"
Astrid followed sharply. "Are you stealing dragons and hurting people?"
"Stealing?" she scoffed. "I freed them. And they aren't people — they're monsters who hunt vulnerable dragons." She met Astrid's stare coldly. "They got what they deserved."
"You scared and harmed people — some who don't know better, some protecting their families!" Astrid snapped.
"That's why I scare them. I make them fear what they can't see. Fear works on those forced to hunt. And for those who choose it willingly... it's the only language they understand."
"But you're a dragon rider," Hiccup said. "You should be saving dragons without hurting people."
"There is no 'we'. I am not one of your dragon riders. I don't act as you do, I don't face the same threats as you, and I do not share the same feelings about turning bad people good. Some things cannot be changed and not all hunters deserve second chances, Hiccup — and the sooner you realise that, the safer your dragons will be."
====
Later that night, the gang sat around the hearth eating dinner, casting glances at the lone figure seated against the wall, her dragon beside her, positioned so neither blocked the view of the doors.
Throughout the day, the Berkians noticed her habits — her refusal to sleep deeply, her alertness to footsteps, her constant awareness. And after much arguing — and mentioning Gothi forbidding travel — she agreed to stay one night.
After dinner, most retired, leaving Hiccup, Astrid, Snotlout, and Fishlegs. Astrid stayed behind to clean the mess and to keep an eye on their new visitor, but she wasn't the only one keeping an eye out. Hiccup, too, kept an eye out and moved with purpose when he noticed her watching Fishlegs and Snotlout eat, devouring their third serving.
So when a plate of steaming meat and vegetables was gently pushed towards her, she was momentarily shocked. He didn’t say a word as he placed a cup of fresh water beside it, then took a few careful steps back, mindful not to push her boundaries.
She spared Hiccup only a brief glance before staring at the food intently, as if weighing the odds of accepting a second meal.
“You can eat as much as you like,” Hiccup said from where he sat — not facing her, but clearly focused on the silence and the heavy breaths behind him. “We have plenty more food if you want. You can take as much as you like, whenever you like,” he added after still hearing no movement from her.
Then, after an almost unnoticeable exhale, she began to eat. Her eyes stayed on a constant swivel — flicking between the exits, the fire, the Vikings still in the room, her dragon, and the moon just visible through the opening. After a sip of water, she set the cup back down on the wooden floor and asked quietly, “Why?”
Hiccup turned at the sudden word, blinking. “W-why… what?” he asked, looking at her downcast head, her eyes avoiding his.
“Why help me? My dragon. Why save us and bring me back to your island?” She paused, then added sharply, “And don’t say it’s just what dragon riders do.”
He sat with the question for a moment, the air thick with anticipation. Even the three other Vikings stopped what they were doing, turning their attention to their leader.
He thought back to the moment he first saw her — the look in her eyes, the emotions written plainly across her face. “Because… I felt something,” he said, pausing as he looked at her lowered gaze. “I looked at you and saw someone who would do anything for their dragon. Someone willing to lose their life to protect them. I saw you the same way I saw myself all those years ago — when I went against my whole village to protect Toothless in the arena. I saw you the way I saw myself when I jumped onto a burning boat to rescue Toothless and nearly drowned in the process. I saw someone who holds so much strength and power, even at their physically weakest.”
That — that got her attention.
Her eyes, fixed on the splintering wooden floor, lifted and locked onto forest-green ones. Her jaw clenched, unsettled at how easily he’d read her.
He noticed instantly and pressed on. “You don’t stay long,” he said more quietly, just loud enough for the two of them. “I can tell.”
She clenched her fists, battling with herself — whether to speak or stay silent. The decision slipped from her before she could stop it. “I don’t stay anywhere.”
“Then stay until you can,” he replied gently. “Not longer.”
The offer had her studying him like an unmarked map, waiting to be uncovered.
She finally looked at him — really looked at him — and spoke softly, meeting his eyes. “You’re strange.”
Hiccup chuckled, one shoulder bouncing at the familiar words, a small smile tugging at his mouth. “I’ve heard that a lot. Trust me, I know.”
And as the moon continued its rise into the sky, maybe — just for tonight — the two riders could agree on something.
====
The next day was anything but less chaotic. Heather, Fishlegs, and Hiccup stayed close to the rider, constantly trying to prevent her from overexerting herself during the crucial healing period. Her dragon, on the other hand, had slowly begun taking a liking to the other dragons. She was still jumpy whenever someone got too close to her rider too quickly, but she’d stopped hissing at Toothless every time he grew overly excited at the possibility of another dragon being the same species as him.
The same couldn’t be said for her rider. Though she had started conversing with Hiccup in more than one-word answers, she remained just as sceptical and jumpy, reacting to every unexpected sound or movement around her.
She barely spoke with the others, but to the gang’s surprise, she shared valuable intel — where certain dragon hunter bases were located, which waters they frequented, and which places she had already dealt with and therefore didn’t need attention.
Later, as Hiccup handed out some of Gothi’s medicine, he asked quietly if her side still pulled whenever she breathed. He received only a small nod in response. Ever curious, Hiccup wanted to ask more — where she learned to fight, why she fought the way she did — but he held back, worried it might scare her off too soon.
It was nearing sunset when the mood at the Edge shifted. It was subtle, barely noticeable, but it set both the gang and their newest visitor on edge. It started with her dragon — the sudden alertness jolted her awake, and she sat upright in her cot, pulling her jacket closer as her hand flicked instinctively towards her weapons.
Then came a laugh — too loud, too sudden. It startled her enough that Astrid couldn’t help but ask, “You expecting trouble?” Her tone hovered somewhere between cold and cautious, but not unkind.
“It always follows me,” she replied, lacking her usual pause before answering.
The gang lingered on her words, the air thick with discomfort. Hiccup, however, didn’t push. Instead, he said, “There aren’t any hunter camps nearby. Nobody’s found this island — no one but who we want to.”
“There don’t need to be,” she said sharply, fiddling with something on her dragon’s saddle.
Choosing not to confront her comment, Hiccup tried a different angle. “Have you always hunted dragon hunters?”
Her fingers stilled. She hesitated before answering. “No.” A pause. “I learned.”
She didn’t add anything else. She didn’t elaborate. She left the words hanging, heavy in the minds of the riders.
----
Later, as the moon rose once more, the gang returned to the main hut for dinner — only to find her packing her belongings. She was armed now: her spear secured across her back, its purple gem catching the moon’s reflection. Her dagger was sheathed at her thigh, dark — almost black — purple leather wrapped tightly around the hilt, a charm woven neatly between the bindings, a contrasting red carved stone.
“You’re leaving…” Hiccup started, his voice balancing between reluctance and realisation. “Where — why are you leaving? You know it’s safe here. You can stay.” He stepped closer as he spoke.
“That’s the thing,” she said, meeting his gaze. “I never stay.” Her words were sharp, cold, and almost… sorrowful. “Every time I do—” She stopped herself, turning back to her dragon. “It costs someone.”
No one spoke. The hearth crackled, the only sound in the suddenly heavy room. No one dared ask who — or how many. As the silence stretched, her dragon nudged beneath her rider’s hand, a quiet reminder that she still had something left. That she hadn’t lost everything.
She didn’t intend to stay any longer. She intended to leave — before it was too late.
So Hiccup could only watch as she packed the last of her things and mounted her dragon, even though she could barely walk. Once settled, she turned back to the auburn-haired Viking.
“For all the help you and your gang have shown my dragon and me,” she said, extending her hand. A crumpled sealed note slipped from her palm into his, the brief contact sending a strange tingling sensation through them both.
“I hate owing people,” she muttered before continuing. “So if you ever find yourself in trouble — truly in need — use this. But only when you need it most. My help doesn’t come for free after the first time.”
“May the shadows work in your favour.”
With that, her dragon took off into the night sky, leaving behind the weight and power of her words.
The gang collectively let out a breath, gathering around Hiccup as he turned over the neatly sealed note. Just beneath the mark, it read:
Runa — the Shadow Maiden
==============
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Ahhh! Now you know! OC name drop just happened! This took longer than I intended, but I feel like this was a good part to drop it.
Thank you for reading - There Is No 'We'
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