The soldier immediately lowered his weapon as she came into full view, recognizing her as an injured citizen and not some silent threat. He was clad in full armor and she struggled to see the face of her savior beneath the reflective panel of his helmet, seeing only her own frazzled, terrified eyes staring back at her. He strode towards her in long footsteps, quickly grabbing her pistol and deftly stuffing it into some unseen holster. He didn't trust her with the gun, not that she could blame him – she didn't even trust herself with the gun. As he stored his own weapon, he flipped up his visor, revealing his face to her, and it was all she could do not to stare in awe.

He appeared to be young, not much older than she, and devilishly handsome. His whiskey eyes searched over her body, assessing her wounds, and she noted the tightness around the corners, the sharp edge of his countenance as he scrutinized her, making him appear older than his years. The man's gaze lingered on her forehead and she saw the brief flicker of worry settle across his features.

He brought his right hand to the side of his helmet and placed two fingers against the scorched metal, slightly tilting his head to the touch. "Commander, I found a civilian; young girl, probably in her teens, and she's sustained several injuries. Sending my position to you. Requesting emergency medical evac."

He had a deep voice, gravelly almost, and it was soothing to the traumatized girl, like a lullaby beckoning her to sleep.

The man was silent for a moment, listening to a voice the girl couldn't hear, and he stared directly at her, maintaining an almost unnerving eye-contact.

He gave a terse nod as he spoke, "Aye, aye, Commander," and knelt down beside her. He looked at her with soft eyes, trying and failing to mask his blatant pity and sympathy.

"Ma'am, my name is Kaidan Alenko; I'm with the Alliance Navy. I'm here to help you."

Her body fell limply against the door and she turned her head away from the crushed window as the car settled on its side. Although her ears rang deafeningly loud, Avery was certain she could hear the distant sound of wailing.

"My leg! Oh my God, I can see the fucking bone!" Avery couldn't make out the voice – was it Jazz or Marie?

Her vision was still obfuscated by the concussion, and she felt a hot, sticky substance run down her forehead and mat her eye closed. She roughly brushed off the offending liquid, allowing her eye to finally open, and held her fingers closely in front of her face – they were painted dark red.

"Marie! Marie, calm down! Calm the fuck down!" Jazz's voice cut through the piercing headache that rattled Avery's head.

So it'd been Marie who screamed with pain.

"Don't you fucking dare tell me to calm down! My goddamned leg is fucking broken!" Marie, usually a soft-spoken, well-behaved girl, muttered a slew of obscenities.

"Avery! Hey, Avery, you okay back there?" Jazz spoke above Marie's cries, struggling to shift her body to turn and look at her best friend, but something prevented her from moving.

"Yeah… yeah I'm fine." Avery decided it best to not mention her head wound; it paled in comparison to Marie's injury. "What about you?"

"My foot's stuck – it's jammed between the pedal and the door. I can't feel it, so it might be broken. Dunno yet. But Marie… her leg… it's bad, Avery, real bad." She could hear the urgency in Jasmine's voice as Marie's woeful wails echoed in the small car, exacerbating Avery's headache.

The younger girl's mind snapped to attention, instantly formulating a plan to try and free them of their predicament. Concussion or no, Avery had a knack for strategy and leadership, and her friends had learned long ago to listen to her in dire circumstances.

"Jazz, can you roll down the back right window? I'm gonna crawl out and see if I can flip the car back." Avery grunted with effort as she straightened out her contorted body, trying to firmly plant her feet on the door underneath her.

"Yeah, no problem, so long as the power windows aren't jammed," Jazz murmured, unaffected at the notion of her friend moving an entire vehicle by herself.

By some grace of some god, the window miraculously rolled down, whining its resistance as the damaged motor struggled to turn. Adrenaline began inundating Avery's body as she pulled herself to the window, fingers cutting into the frame as she yanked her form free of the car. She grunted with strained effort as she weaseled out of the small opening, wiggling her body and climbing to freedom. She jumped out and fell unsteadily to the ground, next to the mangled corpse of the batarian. Bile crept up her throat as she absorbed the sickening sight: his arm was missing and his midsection was an unrecognizable pile of meat and bone from the blast.

Avery mercilessly swallowed the vomit as she pushed herself to her feet and walked to the other side of the car.

"My leg… I'll never be able to use it again – it's gone, it's dead," Marie's delirious voice wafted out of the car. Shock must have settled in as her agonized screams subsided.

"Hold on, I'm gonna flip the car. I'll get you guys out of there, I swear it."

She bent down, placing her right shoulder and arm on the roof of the car and positioned her left hand to the side. A stressed grunt escaped her lips as she leaned her entire weight against the vehicle, petitioning it to move. Adrenaline coursed through Avery's veins, granting her the strength needed to move the car back to its usual position, and she heard the groan of steel as its wavering frame relented to her efforts.

Once it had teetered a few inches to the side, gravity did the rest and pulled the side of the car back down on the ground with a sickening crack as it crushed the batarian's body. Avery cringed with renewed nausea at the sound, desperately trying to banish thoughts of the mutilated carcass.

A loud shriek emitted from the vehicle as the motion shuffled the girls inside, twisting their trapped limbs and jostling their broken bones. Avery threw the driver's side door open, freeing Jazz's trapped foot from its prison. Jazz seethed with pain as blood flow returned to her choked appendage and sent an army of needles prickling through her limb.

Avery held out her hand and hoisted Jasmine to her feet, holding her steady as she regained her composure. They exchanged a worried glance, not voicing their concern over Marie, who was incapacitated by her severely broken leg. Avery's house was miles away – there was no way that they would be able to walk there, especially considering Marie's newborn handicap.

What are we going to do? Avery thought, already envisioning a painful death at the hands of the batarians.

Jazz's eyes focused on the gash that graced Avery's forehead, cutting deeply into her eyebrow.

"Hey, your head… you sure you're okay?" Jazz's brow knitted with concern as she tilted her head to examine the wound.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a scrape," Avery brushed her off as she tried to ignore the relentless throb in her skull.

Jasmine snorted, "If you say so. It's gonna leave a gnarly scar, girl. The boys are gonna love hearing about how you got it."

Avery glanced at her friend, trying to read her expression; it was bereft of the optimism in her words. She fretted for a moment before leading the way to the other side of the car with Jazz limping behind her. She'd figure something out. She had to. But first, she had to focus on untangling Marie from the carnage without further injuring her leg.

She opened the door and looked at Marie, who was ghostly white from blood loss, a small smile playing at her split and bloodied lips. "I'm gonna die, Avery. I'm gonna die, just like I was supposed to in the school."

"Don't talk like that; we're gonna get you out of here, I already told you that," Avery insisted while wiping a fresh trail of blood off her eye.

Marie shook her head bitterly, resigned to her dismal fate. "Stop it, Avery, you're not fooling anyone. Your charm might work on the adults and the boys, but not on me. I've known you my entire life – I know when you're lying. You're lying to me right now. I'm going to die." Marie spoke with such pragmatism that it sent a shiver down Avery's spine. Marie couldn't be dead; she wouldn't let that happen, she wouldn't let her friend die in this fucking car.

Avery surveyed the vehicle and saw a gaping hole just under Marie's broken leg. The grenade must have detonated right underneath her, causing her leg to shatter as metal and shrapnel forced its way into the car, entangling in the limb and slashing through muscle and sinew.

Jazz spoke up, realizing that Avery was devoid of any words of comfort, "Yeah, well, you know I won't bullshit you; I'm not about that. I tell it like it is. And believe me when I say this: we are going to get you out of there."

Marie gave an empty laugh; the sound was unsettling for the other girls: it was heavy with admission of defeat.

Avery readied herself to speak when the sound of cracking branches penetrated the air. Her head snapped up and she gazed intently at the forest, praying beyond hope that the sound came from some scared animal and not another batarian. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jazz tense with anticipation, her body instinctually adopting a defensive stance as she readied her muscles to flee.

Her heart thudded loudly in her chest and made it difficult to discern the sounds emanating from the foliage. Her mouth went dry and she swallowed painfully at the lump that formed in her throat. Avery's stomach dropped as a silhouette emerged from the forest, outlining a very angry and very large batarian.

Marie noticed the change in Avery's demeanor and tilted her head in question. "What is it?" Her eyes flickered to the dangling rearview mirror, and her white face blanched further at the alien she saw walking toward them.

"Avery, we have to leave. Even if we do get Marie out, bringing her with us will just slow us down and we'll all be dead," Jazz said coolly, taking careful deliberation to avoid looking at her doomed friend.

"Guys, don't leave me here. Please, I'm begging you, don't leave me. I don't want to die," Marie pleaded, suddenly changing her mind as the inevitability of death taunted her.

Avery wrenched her gaze away from Marie and stared at Jazz with astonishment. Surely, she misheard her – Jazz would never suggest leaving their friend to die. It was unspeakable.

"Avery, we have to. I know this sounds awful, but Marie's dead either way. If we want to live, we have to leave. We at least have a fighting chance if we run," Jazz was insistent, her voice was so stoic and void of emotion that it spread a chill over Avery's skin.

Jasmine was right – she knew she was right, but she couldn't abandon her friend. She just couldn't do that her. It was wrong.

"Please! You can't leave me here! If you do, it'd be like killing me yourself! You think you can live with that?" Marie begged, her voice shaking from unshed tears. Jazz's sight remained steadily on Avery, unable to look at Marie, to face the girl she wanted to leave behind. "Avery, please, I'm begging you, don't leave me." A sob tore from Marie's throat.

"Jasmine, you know I can't leave her…" Avery began as a sound from the forest drew her attention.

The batarian stepped ever closer to them, his menacing stance filled with satisfaction at his felled victims. He took his time walking toward them, knowing that even if they ran, the men behind him would surely catch them. Any resistance was futile.

Jazz clutched fistfuls of black hair and shouted her frustration. "Goddamn you, Avery Shepard!"

She lunged at Avery and placed her hands flat on either side of her face, forcing her to hold her gaze. Jazz was so close to her that every breath she exhaled caressed Avery's face, slightly cooling the burning sensation above her eye.

"Even if we get out of here alive, Marie'll be dead from blood loss. We have to run. Do you want to die? Do you want your parents and Jeremy to mourn your death, a death that you could've prevented?"

"Jasmine, stop! Please!" Marie's voice cried out, interrupting Jazz's argument.

Avery squeezed her eyes shut, indecision eating away at her as she vacillated and weighed her options. She wasn't sure she could ever forgive herself if she left one of her best friends to die, but at least she would be alive… Right?

Jazz's argument was valid; Marie was dead, whether it be from blood loss or the batarians, she was dead. She was a wounded animal caught in a bear trap. Avery'd seen it a thousand times before when her parents hunted for game. Sometimes, the more loyal of the species would stay huddled around their dying companion, trying to pry it free from its cage, only to be cut down by a swift blade to the neck. The injured only served to lure the healthy into a death trap.

Avery's mind worked frantically, going through scenarios in her head. She'd be dead before she even had the chance to free Marie. She loved Marie like a sister, but Avery didn't want to die, and she definitely didn't want to become a slave. The thought was terrifying, and she hated herself for her cowardice, for her decision to leave a friend to die so that she might live.

She couldn't look at Marie, couldn't bear to look into the face of the girl she was betraying. Avery leveled her green gaze with Jazz's, tears shining brightly in her eyes.

"Okay… l-let's go," her voice was a strained whisper, hoping to prevent Marie from hearing her condemnation.

"NO!" Marie flailed in the car, hopelessly trying to free her ruined leg from the twisted metal, banging against the dashboard in front of her.

Hope flashed on Jasmine's face at Avery's reluctant agreement and she exhaled a sigh of relief. Wordlessly, she grabbed her friend's hand and pulled her away from the wrecked car. Neither were certain where they were going to run, but they at least had to try.

"Marie, I'm so, so sorry… I'm so sorry…" Avery couldn't bring herself to look at Marie as she turned her back in abandonment and fled.