...except for those who fear it

[Fiori]

Perched on a snowy hill overlooking the research station was a girl lying prone, a blanket draped over her body and a sniper rifle in her hands.

Her position was concealed by a small copse of trees - outliers of the nearby forest - that also lightly shielded her from the near-constant snowfall. She had a perfect view of the research station, her sights trained on the large green structure in its centre. It had taken her a while to determine which building contained the dining hall, eventually deducing it to be the only one with two stories. From her position she had a perfect view of the front door, her finger hovering near the trigger as she lay in wait.

No doubt about it, this was the perfect spot for an ambush.

((Lillian Larsen continued from Time, tide and river waits for no one))

Lily bit down on a chunk of ration bar, her eyes remaining fixated on the courtyard just outside the quarters. She'd lost track of the time a while ago, lying there waiting for her mark, wondering if she'd already come and gone before she even arrived. Granted she got into position only an hour or so after the announcement landed, so the odds were in her favour. She still had a chance to fix her mistake before anyone else got hurt.

As the hours lingered, it was hard to not let doubts creep in. Quiet voices at the back of her head telling her to go back, give up this self-destructive endeavour and try to reunite with Amaryllis before it was too late. It wasn't like she wanted to be there, far from it. She didn't want to hunt down one of her former classmates, didn't want to be the one who put Kitty down.

But she wasn't there because she wanted to. She was there because she had to. Because she couldn't bear the thought of letting such an opportunity slip through her fingers again, after her fateful encounter that day with Kitty and...

...Kai. She hadn't considered what she'd do about him. Yesterday she was ready to shoot him on sight for what he did to Derek, after assuring her that he and Katelyn didn't want any trouble. That had hit her far harder than the news about Kitty, after she'd judged him as a decent person in a bad situation. A part of her still felt anger towards him for that, but it was now tempered somewhat after she had time to think things through. She didn't know the full story behind what happened that day. Maybe it was an accident? Hell, maybe even self-defence, knowing who he was travelling with. She was still convinced that her initial assessment of him was correct, that he really was trying his best out there to avoid conflict. He did put himself in harms way to protect her from Kitty, after all, just as much as he was doing it to protect his friend.

Kitty though? There were going to be no second chances for her. And if Kai put himself between her and Lily's gun again...

She couldn't help but think back to the sheriff's office, when Matthew was ranting about how much he wanted to shoot through a hostage to take out Joshua. She remembered how disgusted she felt at the time to hear that he'd even consider such a thing, let alone gloat about it. Granted, if he had taken that shot, Josh wouldn't have killed all those girls. And Matt wouldn't have hesitated if he was the one on that hill, with Kitty and Kai in his scope.

Lily felt a chill run down her spine, exhaling hot steam as she shifted in place. Maybe this was a mistake after all. Maybe it'd be for the best if she...

A hint of movement.

Her attention focused back on the task at hand, peering through her scope as she steadied her aim. It wasn't the first time she saw signs of life, her finger hovering near the trigger. She'd been cautious about taking undue shots, not wanting to reveal her position or - worse - hit someone else by mistake. She didn't want to open fire unless she was 100% certain it was Katelyn, no way was she having some innocent third party's blood on her hands.

So she kept watching, kept waiting... Until a familiar face gingerly poked their head around the corner of a nearby building, one wearing a distinctive cat-eared hood.

Bingo.

Lily's chest tightened up, her mark finally in her crosshairs, thinking back to what Amaryllis told her during their target practice session. You didn't want to open fire straight away, and blow your one shot at taking your target by surprise. But you also didn't want to linger too long, knowing they could move away at any moment.

She took a deep breath, thinking back to the snowmen, before finally pulling the trigger. Pain shot through her arm from her injured wrist, causing her to bite down on her bottom lip to force herself to ignore it.

A half-second later, her bullet struck the wall near Katelyn's head.

A panicked look in her eyes, she took aim once more, trying to line up her second shot before pulling the trigger again.

Another miss. Fuck it.

She pulled the trigger again and again as Katelyn scrambled away, grinding her teeth and ignoring the pain as she gripped her rifle tightly, each bullet landing wider than the last, Embedding themselves in the snow, the wall, the door itself. But never Katelyn. Not a single shot landed before she slipped out of sight into the quarters.

After emptying the magazine, Lily finally let go and grabbed her wrist, grunting and writhing in agony. Fucking hell, that hurt. More-than-likely threw her aim off a fair bit as well, compounding on her already amateurish marksmanship. But she didn't have time to cry or complain, her hands shaking as she rapidly unloaded her rifle before slamming in another magazine, just like she practiced with Amaryllis.

She peered through the scope, watching the door that Kitty slipped behind. Waiting, just in case she decided to pop out again. Her eyes drifted, keeping an eye out for anyone who might have opted to investigate the noise, periodically returning her attention to the doorway.

Eventually, she saw movement again, her finger putting pressure on the trigger.

An unexpected face poked its head through the door, the quiet voice at the back of her head suddenly screaming at her to hold fire.

She watched with confusion as a person slumped onto the ground. She couldn't tell who from this distance, or if they were even... No, that was a dead body alright. Why the hell was there...?

It was soon joined by another, then another. Three bodies, dumped outside. By the time it finally clicked what was happening, the figure behind the door moved away, Lily cursing herself for not taking another shot.

She waited a while longer to see if there were any more signs of life, sweat dripping from her brow, her heart racing. She wondered for a moment where Kai was, before quickly shrugging the thought off. He was waiting elsewhere, obviously, whilst Katelyn went to pick up the BKA. Didn't take a genius to figure that out.

Not that it mattered now. The jig was up, and the element of surprise was gone. Kitty knew she was out there, trying to hunt her down. Lily doubted that she'd be stupid enough to try and escape through the same way she went in.

So Lily got up, quickly stuffing the blanket back into her bag before throwing it on and heading out. Kitty was still down there, so there was a chance she could fix this. She just needed to act fast, make sure she didn't slip away.

She wasn't going to let her escape that easily.

((Lillian Larsen continued in In spite of terror))