He could see the soldiers stray from the road and into the nearby rocks. He couldn't let them get to her. Fear seized him and Snake quickly took out his silenced tranq rifle and took aim at the spotter on the top of the cliff. Pulling the trigger, he quickly ejected the cartridge and focused on the sniper himself. The blinding red light shined into the scope, causing Venom to quickly duck behind a rock. Swinging around to the other side, he took down the sniper. Snake ran down the road, attempting to gain on the search team. As he came up on the group, he noticed most of them had split up to cover more ground, save for two who were staying near each other. He noticed the blood trail that had been mentioned, and he also saw that it abruptly ended. Good, she had realized her mistake and covered up her tracks.

Snake quickly put a nearby troop in a CQC hold, squeezing his throat until he fell unconscious. Then, as he moved on to the next soldier, what he heard made his skin crawl. Five shots had been fired, and at least two of them hit the mark. The scream echoing throughout the area had indicated this. First fear came, fear for her, then anger overwhelmed him. He couldn't let her slip through his fingers, not this time. Snake rushed forward, delivering a devastating punch from his bionic arm to the nearby soldier. The leader of the search team shouted into his radio, telling how he engaged the sniper. As another unit member fell asleep from the tranqs, Snake came up on the area where the screams came from. The final two members of the search team had their rifles trained on the area ahead. Snake tranqed one, then the other.

Relief almost came over Venom, until he remembered she was still hurt. Putting away his pistol, Snake saw the marks on the rock. Three bullet marks and blood splatters. He followed the trail again, quickly this time. Eventually he noticed her, laying in the distance. Sprinting forward, he came to her side. She was unconscious and her wounds weren't healing, of which there were two shots on her middle torso and one on her arm. Upon flipping her over so that she lay on her back, Snake saw how pale she was. There were no growths on her, as the parasites had no lungs to work with, implying they had found some other way. Snake slung her over his shoulder, and called in a helicopter. "Snake.", Miller's voice rang over the radio. "You cannot bring her back here! She is infected, our men will die! Are you trying to get them killed?!"

"We'll bring her to the Quarantine Platform.", Venom responded, gritting his teeth.

"Even if we do, we'll need a team to monitor her and give the medical treatment. We know nothing about the strain she's infected with, it could spread through simply being around the infected, then triggered by English. Hell, it could override the Wolbachia completely. Are you really going to risk our men for her!?"

"She's one of us, Miller.", Ocelot cut in. "Wether you like it or not, she has saved the Boss' life twice now. Hell, she probably saved all of Mother Base by leaving when she did. You can't let your hate for a dead organization corrupt your judgement any longer."

"Cipher isn't dead, especially not with her still alive."

"Are you crazy?! Listen to yourself dammit!"

"Both of you stop!", Snakes voice cut in again, "She is coming back to Mother Base. I'll watch over her, and I'll give her the treatment. I will stay on the platform for as long as I need to. Until whatever happens does. Any matters can be handled by our staf at the main base."

"Boss, no! I won't let you put-"

"It's not your decision to make, Kaz. I won't put myself in any unnecessary danger.", Snake lied through his teeth.

There was a long pause before anything else was said, "Okay. Fine. Just don't lose yourself, Snake."

Venom's radio cut out and he put Quiet on the helicopter with him and shut the door.

Her eyes fluttered open, and her first thought was that she had been captured. It didn't take long to notice the inside of the helicopter, and the hands going quick at work on her wounds. She lifted her head, and saw his face. He was applying pressure to the main hole on her torso. She struggled slightly, knowing the danger of being near him. His gaze immediately switched to her face, and he noticed her eyes were opened. He put a hand to her cheek, surprising both of them at the sudden action. Snake eazed her to lie back down, continuing to tend to her wounds. Eventually, he finished, and she quickly shifted away from him, putting a hand to her own throat to show her concern. Her hand began to reach for the handle on the door. His hand grabbed her arm, and he pulled her away from the door. She wretched and squirmed, not wanting to endanger him by simply being near. He tightened his grip and pulled her close, attempting to comfort her. It worked easily, as she eventually settled down.

She leaned against him, the fatigue from the parasite preventing her from struggling. Snake put a hand on her back, soothing her. He pulled her closer, not caring about any safety precautions, and she nestled closer to him, relieved to be with him again, even if it was just for this one moment of peace. As they neared Mother Base, Snake lifted her up, and she clung to him. Venom stepped out of the chopper and carried Quiet to the inside of the Quarantine Platform. As he walked into one of the medical rooms, he was surprised to see Kaz and Ocelot standing there, along with Code Talker setting up the equipment for the Wolbachia treatment.