If this is the frontline...

[Volume Virus]

Can you call off your bird, please? And find me a shovel? *I spot an empty patch of ground about ten yards away and trudge over there, swatting away the bird's head as it stretches for the human-sized morsel of food. I start kicking away sand, trying to make as deep a hole as I can.*

[detonateearthquake]

*glares at aftermath then at Vol* HEY YOU KNOW WHAT I'LL GO! *takes grim by the arm* its time to go grimmy. *looks back at aftermath* You'll be happy to know we'll be leaving and by the way the only thing that ever helped me train was that forest expidition wich you weren't even there for when we needed you. *cuckles* have fun with your school if thats what this is... *walks off with griim*

[Volume Virus]

Good fucking riddance. DID YOU EVEN KNOW THAT A CHILD DIED HERE TODAY?! *I shout, glaring at his back. I wait for the echo to fade, then sit on the ground and start trying to make my ditch bigger. Shame...Grim was starting to get better at controlling her insanity....* We're losing everyone today. Wonder if Doctor or Sona want to get out of here while they have the chance.... *I feel myself slipping an occupy myself by digging more furiously. The hole starts to fill itself up with every armful of sand I move.*

[Incendiary Aftermath]

*I roll my eyes as Det and Grim walk off, and then walk over to Vol* You know, I had a clear shot of him in the forest. I really should have pulled the trigger. Different ways of helping people, you know. Sometimes you teach them... *I start to pet Igor and he coos.* Sometimes it means removing dangerously stupid people... *I put an arm on Vol's back as she digs* Doc will stay with us, you know. And so will Sona. We aren't done for, not just yet.

[Volume Virus]

And why not?! Manson's going to come back and pick us off. One by one by one. Unless I leave. He'll follow me, and that'll keep you guys safe here. We're weaker than ever, either way, and I'm not having any of the rest of you hurt. *I crawl down into the ditch, Nox still slung limply over my shoulder, and start trying to make it wider.*

[Incendiary Aftermath]

Vol, I don't know if you've noticed, but none of us should be alive. The world is sort of over, and everyone left out here is a forgotten detail. A typo. I don't care if Manson is going to come back. We will fight him off, every time. He picks off the weakest of us, Vol. Look who's left. Me, you, Doc, and Sona. I don't know about you, but I'M a handful for even a 'crow unit. YOU single handedly took down the leader of the Vipers WHILE you were injured. The Doctor is a genius and made a voyage across the fucking world and the only injury he has is a missing finger! *I take Nox from Vol's shoulder and set her down.* We have been through so much, Volume. We had to have survived for a reason. I took a fucking bullet to the chest, and I can still fight. We aren't about to separate ourselves, and I'm not letting you leave me. Not right now. Not when I... we need you most.

[Volume Virus]

What you need from me is for me to turn myself over to Manson. *I sigh and reach for Nox's small, limp hand.* I am a goddamn safety hazard, and it's because of me that a twelve year old is dead, another teenager is being probably tortured by an evil scientist, and two possibly useful students are gone. I couldn't save Nox. I can still save Fire and the rest of you if I act now! Don't you understand? It's because I'm so strong that he's after me. I am going to do what I need to in order to keep you guys safe.

[Incendiary Aftermath]

And I am going to do whatever I can do to keep you here with me. Every day we have is a mistake; we're all going to die eventually. Today, tomorrow, I don't know. I want to spend every day protecting you. I'm not letting you take off on us, Vol. I mean it.

[Volume Virus]

Well, then, we seem to be at an impasse. *I turn back to the hole, shoving at the sand with all the force I can muster.* By protecting me, you're damning yourself, and you won't let me save you by damning myself. You'll see sense when the next one gets taken. *Finally satisfied that my ditch is suitable, I pull Nox in and myself out before beginning to shove sand back inside. It's not the customary six feet, but it'll do.*

[Incendiary Aftermath]

You act like we can't fend for ourselves. We'll be ready. We know what he does. We know he'll be back. And we know what he wants. We have the statistic advantage, here. He won't take anyone else. There's no one else he WANTS. He may be evil, but he's not an idiot. It takes a lot of resources to come here and raid us like that. BLI won't fund him forever. *I help her shovel in some dirt*

[Volume Virus]

He wants me, Aftermath! And he'll keep taking people until I come to take them back. Is that what you wanted for the school? The way luck is going, the next one is going to be you! *I force myself to stare into the distance and preoccupy myself by shoving sand into the grave of my poor little Nox.* Do you want to be tortured and eventually killed? Would you want your brother to, or Sona? Do you want Fire to? You have to let me do this!

[Incendiary Aftermath]

I'm not letting him win. We're going to fight him, and we're going to kill him. I am commanding officer here, and that is an order. Am I understood? *I sigh, and push more dirt in* I'm not letting him win. Alright? He's BLI, and he's a bad guy. We don't let the bad guys win. We're a family. If you go down, we all go down.

[Volume Virus]

Orders. Of course. *I sigh quietly, then snap into the attention pose and salute.* Sir, yes sir! What are my orders now, sir?

[Incendiary Aftermath]

Knock that shit off, Vol. Let's just bury Nox before she rots, alright? *I push in more dirt and Igor sniffs the hole in the ground.* Down, boy. She isn't food.

[Volume Virus]

I thought that was what we were doing. *I sit on the ground and start shoving armfuls of sand into the ditch. After a while, there is a small mound surrounded by a small moat, and I locate a small rock that I use as a headstone.* The bird won't dig that deep, will he?