The Annex

Chapter 6: Boiling Point

CHAPTER 6: Boiling Point

      "You shouldn't have helped them, and you know it." A cold voice whispered in the darkness of the tent.

     "I'm sorry, but are we heartless robots? Like the things we're fighting? No, I didn't think so." A second voice, this filled with vigor, responded.

     "Kestrel, I'm only trying to protect you. To protect us. We're not heartless. We just need to take care of ourselves before others."

     "Care? We haven't had an encounter with anyone in weeks, food is in great supply, we have a well to give us water, how are we not cared enough? Everyone is getting bored, and unused to combat-"

     "Unlike you."

      "You always send me out on missions. I've seen the outside, unlike everyone else. I know what's going on out there, and its not pretty. The Greens are stepping up their operations because of the stupid militia forces that are fighting them head-on."

     "So? Let them."

     "Let them? Are you hearing yourself, Amelia? What happens when the Greens get here, and we're underprepared? It'll be a slaughterhouse."

     The figure of the cold voice stood and grabbed her coat. Kestrel shot her a questionable look, and Amelia waved her hand over.

     "Come, let's walk."

     Sighing, Kestrel took off her beret and laid down her compound bow on her cot. She let her short blonde hair flow, and followed Amelia outside of the tent. Once her superior lifted the flap, the moonlight allowed Kestrel to see the entire camp.

     "There's one hundred of us. A quarter of them are not combat ready." Amelia said, and turned to Kestrel.

     "What do you want me to do about that?" she asked, and saw Amelia make a smirk under her cap.

     "I want you and Elena to train them. Find those who will be archers. Elena will find those who are swordsmen. We will be ready, my dear. We will." Amelia announced, and stroked Kestrel's cheek before turning and leaving to her own hut.

     "Yes, Duchess." Kestrel replied in solitude, but in a cold and menacing voice.

11th Penn. Camp

     "C'mon, let's go!" Patten ordered, and the two militiamen deconstructed the tent faster.

     Hours had passed since the mercenaries had left, and the moving of the militia had begun. Jana concluded that the contractors were not to be trusted, and it would be wise to move. To where was unknown, but he was going to lead his people to a new and safe haven. He racked his brain to think of places to find the right spot for his people, but he came up empty.

     There was a place in Chinatown that they could hole up, but he also remembered that remnants of the military used that same exact spot and were decimated during the invasion. Another spot would be Gibbs's high school, which was used by the National Guard to evacuate civilians. He hadn't heard of the school was blown to hell, or it was simply abandoned. There was a risk to take there, and Patten hated taking risks.