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"Good to see you alive," Lauren told Jack who laughed and shook his head. "Had some close counters but I found a ship shelter that protected me," Jack told her as everyone moved to the edge of the graveyard, Lauren and Jack being the last to catch up with everyone. The remaining soldiers; Slivko, Mills, Cole, and Reles immediately approached Jack and embraced him while Packard stood on the edge and Marlow approached him. A hand pulled Lauren aside, she looked up to see James standing there with a worried expression as he looked her over. Brooks, San, Nieves, and Steve stood close by but were watching the area cautiously with Mason pacing from the adrenaline still coursing through her body.

"I'm okay, James," Lauren attempted to assure him but as he wiped the blood away from her forehead. "What did I say about playing the hero?" James asked her. "Like you didn't play hero," Lauren asked him with a raised brow. "You have a point," James replied to her as he readjusted the bandage on her arm. "Don't worry about me, James. I've had worse on the Island," Lauren told him before motioning towards Slivko who was struggling. James was hesitant to leave Lauren alone, Nieves moved towards her and nodded to James assuring him that the man would keep an eye on her. "Look, we've located Chapman, we can turn back now," Mason told Colonel Packard.

"Now, look, Colonel... you may outrank me, but I've been here a hell of a lot longer. So has Lauren. And I'm telling you that thing that just shredded us was only the first of them," Marlow informed Colonel Packard sternly as Jack checked on Mills, Reles, and Cole. "Now we're on their turf, and we need to turn back toot sweet," Marlow told the Colonel who seemed set on finding the Sea Stallion despite Jack Chapman's appearance. "He doesn't care, Marlow," Lauren spoke up as she approached the two men, "He wants his firepower to take down Kong." Colonel Packard turned to her, and Lauren glared at the man.

"I've seen men lose their minds, their control, and their humanity. You don't want the war to end, it's why you took this opportunity without hesitation," Lauren expressed as she stepped closer to him. "You watch your mouth, young lady," Colonel Packard warned knowing his men had taken a shine to her and standing as her enemy could mess with their loyalty to him; they weren't on a battlefield. "We are still going to that crash site. There are weapons! Enough to kill it!" Colonel Packard snapped at James and the others. "You can't kill Kong, I won't let you," Lauren told him as she tightened her hold on her blade.

Colonel Packard raised his gun and pointed it at Lauren who scoffed, James moved closer after Slivko balanced himself up. "He killed my men!" Colonel Packard shouted as he held up the dog tags of his soldiers. "He was defending his home after you lot came in and began blowing it up and shooting at him!" Lauren shouted back at him, James grabbed her arm to pull her back from the crazed Colonel. "Kong is God on this island. He's the only thing keeping them lizard things in the ground," Marlow argued as he stepped ahead of Lauren to bring the attention to himself rather than the brunette warrior.

"He's right, Colonel. We can't kill Kong. Now, that other creature? That's the threat. And there are more of them down there," Brooks added in hopes to convince the Colonel to do the right thing. "If you take away a species' natural competition, they'll proliferate out of control," Brooks finished off with a more stern tone. "Then we'll end them, too! After we bring this thing down," Colonel Packard snapped back against Brooks' words. Marlow pulled his Katana free as Lauren snatched a gun from Chapman with it pointed at Colonel Packard, "We can't let you do that, Colonel."

The soldiers raised their guns at Marlow and Lauren, Slivko hesitated as he followed his brothers in arms but Lauren didn't back down from her place. Colonel Packard disarmed Marlow and pushed him to the ground, "This is one war we are not gonna lose!" Lauren scoffed. "You try to claim that Kong is a monster but you're the monster, Packard. You don't get to play God, you don't get to label Kong as a villain when you were the one that threatened his home... And for what? So you wouldn't go home without a final blaze of glory? You killed those men, hell, blame Randa but you don't get to blame Kong!" Lauren sneered at him, her eyes blazing like the warrior she was.

Lauren knew there was no way they would be able to overpower Kong nor would they be able to stop Colonel Packard without killing him. "Nuts! You hear me? This is nuts!" Marlow shouted at Packard and his soldiers. "You'll die," Lauren said as she looked at the soldiers, "Are you all really ready to die for a man who cares more for his own glory than his men? Are you prepared to battle against something that will kill you without hesitation to protect itself?" Slivko and Chapman swallowed carefully at her words, both were hesitant while Cole, Mills, and Reles had some doubts despite their loyalty to their Colonel.

"Please! You need to listen to us!" San shouted in desperation. "We're not at war, Colonel. You're making a mistake. Listen to Lauren!" Brooks added as he looked from Lauren to Colonel Packard. "Your lies got my men killed!" Packard accused as he turned his gun to Brooks, the man stepped back but stayed in front of San to keep her safe. "And your gonna get us all killed," Lauren added as she stepped closer to Mason. "Not our fight," James said as he lightly pushed Lauren behind him, keeping a protective stance in front of her. "Whose side are you on Captain?" Colonel Packard asked James.

"Okay, Colonel. You'll find your Sea Stallion three klicks up that ridge. Now, I'm gonna take these civilians back to the boat. And we'll wait for you there," James instructed Colonel Packard sharing a look with Chapman who moved toward the Colonel. "Colonel, let's do it," Chapman spoke as he sent Lauren a frown, she was annoyed with this but she knew she wouldn't stand a chance with the others willing to stand with their Colonel. Colonel Packard lowered his gun from its focus on Lauren, he backed up and turned to his men, "Saddle up! Let's go kill this thing!" Nieves immediately moved towards Lauren and stood with her.

"Steve, you running with the big dogs or staying on the porch?" Colonel Packard asked Steve Woodward, Nieves shook his head at Steve but the man was already clear on his next move. "I don't wanna be on the porch," Steve replied as he readjusted the gun in his hands. Colonel Packard leads his men and Steve in the direction of the Sea Stallion, Chapman slipped a book into Lauren's hands before making his way after the others. Lauren looked down to see a writing in the book, a message to Jack's son, Billy. "Ren?" Mason placed her hand on Lauren's shoulder, the warrior pushed the book into James' chest before making her way towards the Ploat.

Nieves stopped Lauren, he looked from the soldiers disappearing into the trees to James and Mason standing near Marlow. "We need to stop him," Marlow told James once the tracker had helped him up off of the ground. "You wanna talk with him about it again? He seemed to really go for it the first time," Mason asked him with a raised brow. "He's losing his grip," James spoke before making his way toward Lauren. "Are we really just going to stand aside and let this happen?" Lauren asked James. "What else can we do?" James asked her. "Something, anything... we can't let him die... I'm alive because of Kong," Lauren told him but she could see the hesitance in his eyes, so she walked away.

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☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

Rosemary Speaks

The big battle happens in the next chapter, are you prepared?
You better be because it's probably gonna be dull as hell. Enjoy!

See you next chapter!