The three men sat around the fire in silence - no one had spoken much since that day. They all bowed their heads as they watched the embers crackle and spark before fading to ashes. As the flames raged and warred, Dempsey felt a deep rooted anger welling within him.
He refused to believe that Kiana could have met such a fate - or Primis. Richtofen was indestructible, which Dempsey conceded; and to think that he, or any other version of himself, could meet such a fate was downright impossible. It seemed so obvious to Dempsey yet he could not get his comrades to see this. And it frustrated him greatly.
Any time he tried to bring it up with Takeo or Nikolai they would always shut him down. As hard as it was for them they had come to terms with it. And to them, Dempsey's denial was simply part of his grief. He just needed to give himself time to accept it. But Dempsey knew deep down, deep in the pit of his stomach, that she was still alive. There was no doubt Primis was still alive and Dempsey knew that he would always be there to protect Kiana.
And the anger he currently felt boiling up was due to how Richtofen was dealing with things. Ever since that day, he had reverted back to the sadistic monster they first met. The one that existed before Kiana came into their lives. And, of course, he made sure to carry on like nothing happened. Not even a mention of her name had escaped his lips since it happened.
One thing the three men did agree on however was that Richtofen's behaviour had changed dramatically since Kiana was not around. His manic episodes had increased in frequency as his sanity was slowly beginning to elude him. The grounded, calculating genuis he showed to the world was beginning to crumble as he immersed himself in his 'work'. And there was no doubt that whatever he was doing was linked to his Grand Scheme.
This was their second night in the Ragnarök facility yet Richtofen had already seen fit to set up some kind of autopsy room. The first day they arrived, Richtofen immediately got to work repairing the teleporter - which made sense - however the autopsy room did not. Richtofen would lock himself away from the others and stay up to the wee hours of the morning as he conducted his 'research'.
This was the kind if thing Richtofen would do for fun and Dempsey did think that perhaps there was no rhyme or reason behind it. But sadly this was to the detriment of their sleep; the three men would lie awake cringing and and squirming as they were forced to listen to his manical cackling and outbursts of violence.
But Dempsey knew Richtofen was masking something; he knew exactly what happened that day. Yet, he saw it fit to conceal what really happened from Dempsey, Takeo and Nikolai. It was clearly for a reason as Richtofen always used everything to his own advantage.
"Dempsey... Dempsey!" a voice called out which tore him from his thoughts.
"Dempsey!" The voice shouted again. Dempsey snapped back to reality and turned to the source of the noise.
"Dempsey, it is your turn for night watch", Takeo reminded him. Dempsey looked at Takeo in a daze before he finally came around.
"Takeo...", Dempsey whispered - earning a look of intrigue from the man in question.
"She's still alive -- I-- I can feel it!" Dempsey proclaimed.
"Richtofen is lying, he's covering something up what really happened that day. I know it!" Dempsey cried as he stood up in protest. This time, he was going to make sure Takeo and Nikolai listened to him.
"Dempsey--", Nikolai began before his sentence was interrupted with a belch.
"We have gone over this before. You saw how bad thing were in there. The whole place was crawling with hellpigs!" Nikolai continued as he raised his arms dramatically to convey the state of the theatre.
"Nikolai is right, you saw it with your own eyes--", Takeo added before being cut off.
"BUT I NEVER SAW HER WITH MY OWN EYES!" Dempsey shouted in frustration causing both men to fall silent.
"She. Is. Alive. And we're just sitting here getting ordered around by that kraut while we could be doing something!" Dempsey explained. After a moment, Takeo was the first to break his silence.
"We have nothing to go on but your gut feeling. You do not know anything for sure!" Takeo replied bluntly and dismissively whilst Nikolai nodded in agreement. Dempsey stood there as his lips parted in disbelief before he just stared at the two men.
"Why are you both acting like this?!" Dempsey snapped lowly.
"He lies, he deceives-- HE IS SICK FOR FUCK SAKE! How the hell can you two believe HIM over ME!?" Dempsey growled through gritted teeth. His eyes burned with anger as the emotion culminated to a crescendo. He suddenly swivelled around as his fist thrust an explosive punch against the filing cabinet next to him.
The rumble of the metal echoed and bellowed as the noise reverberated around the large bare room. Dempsey kept his back to the two men as they looked at eachother in shock. After a few seconds, the sound finally dissipated into silence.
Dempsey's feet remained firmly rooted to the floor as he willed himself to turn around. His breathing was short and sharp, scarlet patches of skin ran up the side of his neck as the front of his forehead felt taught. He stood there trying to calm himself down before Takeo finally said something.
"Dempsey, what do you expect us to do?" Takeo began.
"What can we do?" He continued before Dempsey swung around and interrupted him.
"We may not be able to find her... but there is something we can do!" Dempsey exclaimed.
"Ayyy! Is all good and happy!" Nikolai slurred jovially before frowning.
"But what is it we can do?" Nikolai whispered dejectedly as he averted eye contact and stared at the vodka bottle in his hand. Dempsey shook his head and rolled his eyes before laughing.
"We can stall him!" Dempsey replied as his eyes gleamed with hope.
"Yes! All we have to do is just hold the doc back. Kiana's a smart girl, she's probably catching up with us already. She knows what's coming next! And thats something the doc can't do!" Dempsey explained.
"I never believed Richtofen for one second but I kept thinking about how we could get to her. But we don't even need to! We just have to do our bit!" Dempsey added excitedly as he roused the other two men into action.
"Dempsey..." Takeo began, as Dempsey suddenly went silent and quietly waited for him to continue.
"...This could work", Takeo continued - causing both men to continue their celebration.
"She's out there! Just help me give her some time to catch up with us. You know how this ends for us all if that freak succeeds!" Dempsey insisted.
"Da! He might be right, Takeo!" Nikolai chimed in. Nikolai was now beginning to see sense but Takeo was much more stubborn.
"C'mon Tak. What other plan do we have? He dragged us across freakbag infested kraut country! He's gonna kill us eventually!" Dempsey pleaded as he tried to reason with Takeo.
Takeo had remained seated by the fire as he now sat in silence. Dempsey looked at him expectantly as he and Nikolai anticipated his response. Just before Dempsey was about to lose hope, Takeo finally spoke up.
"I believe that there are things in this world which cannot be explained. Since Kiana arrived-- I have never believed this more vehemently. I also believe it is possible for souls to remained tied to eachother even when they are not physically together", Takeo began.
"And I do not want to believe that a warrior like her would fall in battle any more than you, Dempsey. I can believe that if she is alive then it is only a matter of time before our paths cross again", he continued as Dempsey's face lit up.
"That's the spirit, Tak! I knew you'd come round! All we've gotta do is slow him down long enough for Kiana and Primis to catch up with us", Dempsey cheered.
"You guys get some sleep and I'll think of something!" Dempsey said as he walked back over to the fire where his gun lay. Takeo and Nikolai nodded in agreement and began to settle in for the night. They stayed close to the fire as they wrapped themselves up in their blankets. Dempsey pocked up his gun before marching to his post with staunch determination in every step.
He had this time to himself to formulate a plan... and he had to make it count.
End of part one...