John was alone with the sleeping giant. His sniper rifle was stripped down to parts. He was holding the bolt, wiping it down with a black, sooty cloth. This was the part that struck the cap on the bullets, setting them off. Without this, his sniper rifle was useless. This was the lethal part. The part that made him a killer. He held the piece between his fingers, twirling it back and forth. Such a small little piece was so lethal. Something so small had such an impact. Ironically, this lethal piece cost more lives when it failed. Several billion lives.
Stop feeling bad for yourself, he thought. This isn't your fault. People die in this line of work. You can't save them all. Guilt had plagued him since his first teammate died. Almost twenty-five years ago now. It was during his first tour in Afghanistan. Three months in, his patrol got attacked by guerillas. The firefight only lasted a few minutes, but about one minute in, his battle buddy, Specialist Cole Whitehurst, got shot in the head. He was dead before anyone could render aid. Immediately, he blamed himself. That guilt more or less kept him from finishing that fight. He couldn't focus. His mind was with his dead friend. But it wasn't his fault. He didn't cause anyone to shoot the specialist. People die in war, and there's nothing that can change that.
He could have stopped the bombs from falling, though. If he shot Karlov. If his gun hadn't failed... If he had been with the rest of the fire team... Stop! There's nothing you could have done! This isn't your fault. Stop blaming yourself.
But he still could have saved Ben. If he hadn't left him alone with that sociopath... If he hadn't taken the kid under his wing. He deserved a better mentor. One that could actually save lives. Enough! Nobody gives a damn about your pity party. You couldn't have known what Nox did was going to happen. Now, you just have to hold down the fort until the rest come. His rifle was reassembled. Time to get some rest. In the morning, Red and Charlie would be back, and they would need to find the other two.
John awoke to the sound of yelling. It was Will. That meant the coms were back online. Quickly, he tried to focus on his voice, but Will was speaking far too quickly for John's foggy mind. Finally he just stopped Will and had him start over. He sighed exasperatedly, then restarted. "Pay fucking attention this time," he started. "Now, are you aware of how the assassination went?"
"I know I hit him. Is he dead?"
"Yes. Nox and I finished him off. But, it was a body double." John dropped his head, barely containing his anger. "Is he still in Russia? Was this all for nothing?"
"Oh no no no... He's in Pinnacle." John let out a slow, forced sigh. "Let it out, man," Will said. John screamed in fury, exploding in a tirade of unintelligible slurs and mountain man slang pent up over years. A hand on the shoulder stopped him, followed by a groan. It was Charlie. And he looked like Hell. "Okay, I'm fine," John said to Will. Charlie nodded his head in appreciation. "So this is bad... We're not gonna give up though, are we?"
"Is Karlov dead?"
"No..."
"Well, the mission is to kill him. And the mission isn't complete yet. So..."
"It's still on..." John smiled slightly.
"Exactly. Now, Nox and I have decided to go on with the militia plan. We're starting with Koyec. See if we can win them over."
"You mean the town we just shot up? I highly doubt they're going to be inclined to join us..."
"You forget, I'm a politician. I get people on my side for a living. Just trust me. And meet us there."
"Okay, understood." John turned to his side. Red was trying to rouse Louis from his slumber. Charlie was slumped over in the corner, covering his eyes with his hands and massaging his temples with his thumbs.
"Rough night?" He asked Charlie.
"Yeah, rough's a word for it. The sooner we get out of this fucking place, the better."
"Need to talk about it?
"He did plenty of that last night," Red said, speaking in her natural Scotish accent. Everyone noticed the shift, but nobody mentioned it.
"I did what?" Charlie asked.
"Good God, how drunk were you?"
"Drunk enough to talk to you, apparently."
"Really, we're gonna do this?"
"Actually... let's not," he grumbled, covering his eyes and rubbing his temples.
"There's a good boy."
"Anyway, if you two are done," John started.
"We heard, man. We have earpieces, too." Charlie groaned. He pulled his earpiece out and put it in his pocket, then leaned back his head against the wall, trying to catch some more sleep.
"Who woke me up..." Louis' voice boomed. All their heads darted to his direction. So he was alive...
"That would be Will. Coms are back online, so we're moving out soon," John said, checking over Louis.
"How soon is soon..." Charlie groaned, head rolled into the corner.
"I'm sorry, is this mission interfering with your drinking schedule?" Louis countered.
"Look man, I had a nightmare of a night, so I would appreciate not doing this."
"You had a bad night? I almost died! And the only company I had during this was the Baron."
I heard that! Hissed the Baron.
"I know you did..." growled Louis back. "And what happened to you?" he asked Charlie.
"Oi, Louis, get off his case," Red said, tiredly. Louis looked at her confused. Why was she defending Charlie? She of all people should normally be on Louis' side in this. Well, at least not on Charlie's. It must be something serious then... Perhaps he shouldn't pry more. He shook his head and rolled over to his side, slowly standing up. "Let's get a move on. I'm sick of sitting around. Where are we anyway?"
"We ran off into Ground Zero to hide. Not optimal, but it's the only place they wouldn't be able to find us while we recovered." John told him, gathering his gear and stomping out the small campfire.
"Did you see them?" Louis asked. "The Charred?"
"Yes," Charlie said curtly.
"And I distinctly remember you calling them a myth."
"Shut the fuck up," Charlie countered, no humor or levity in his voice. He slowly stood up, lighting himself a cigarette. Red shook her head at Louis, wide eyed, hoping he wouldn't continue this discussion. Sometime later, she would have to explain to the other two what happened. When Charlie wasn't around to listen. She doubted he'd want to hear that story again. He got the hint, and nodded his head back at them. "Let's just go," John muttered. "And no more talk about this."
Charlie quietly guided the group back to the truck, purposefully avoiding the old Yevchenko house. John drove them all back to Koyec, as Charlie was still too drunk to be behind the wheel. They drove it all the way to the center of town, by the town hall. Will and Nox must already be inside, waiting for them. They looked at the bodies of the dead Zhar-Ptitsa soldiers littering the ground, already looted for their weapons and armor and other valuables. John opened the doors and the others followed inside. Will was sitting on the bench in the reception hall, waiting for them.
"Good to see you're all still alive. And in fighting shape, too!"
"We're holding it together, I guess," Louis replied. He could still feel his tender wounds, all about ready to tear open again. He should have rested for a few more hours, but they didn't have a few hours to spare.
"Alright, I'm gonna do the talking in there, so unless you have something pertinent to say, just do us all a favor and hold your tongue, okay?" Will said to them. They all nodded in agreement. Will had more political experience than all of them combined. He could take care of this. Unless he started going off on another tangent, as he probably would. But Nox would probably be able to keep him on the straight and narrow. They followed him into the main chambers, and sat down at the long table inside, all on the side opposite the window. It had barely been fixed since last night. There was still blood smeared on the floor and wall, and bullets embedded in the walls. John sat down, staring at his bullet hole in the window, looking at the cracks shooting out from it. Across the table sat the council of Koyec. In the middle of them, directly across from Will, was a middle aged man with graying temples on his head of black hair. To his left, across from Charlie, was a middle aged woman with curly brown hair, and a wandering, vacant gaze. On the right of the man in the middle, directly across from John, was a gruff looking bald man, in his mid-thirties, with a massive scar running down his face from his eyebrow to the opposite corner of his mouth. At the far left of the table, opposite Red, sat another man with a hooked nose and slicked back, light brown hair, curling at the ends. Finally, at the far right of the table, across from Louis, was a woman with a massive burn on the right side of her face, likely from the Day of Fire. She would have been quite beautiful before. They all sat silently, staring at the five outsiders. At the head of the table, Nox stood, looming over the meeting like an otherworldly judge.
Once everyone had taken their seats, Will began. "I'll start with the introductions. Sitting beside me are..." he paused for a moment, wondering which names to call them by. "Sergeant John Reed, former Army Ranger," he said, gesturing to the corresponding person. "The lady at the end is the Red Woman. This giant fellow is the infamous Brawler. And finally, I'm sure you've all heard of the Gray Wolf." Charlie smiled slightly.
"We've heard of most of them," said the man in the middle. "Now for our introductions. My name is Lucas McDonough, acting mayor. To my left are Madam Morgan Halliday and Mr. Eric Jamm. And to my right are Mr. and Mrs. Thomas and Katelyn Anderson. The reason I say acting mayor is because our former mayor, Carter Burks, was killed when the Zhati invaded." Charlie sank back slightly in his chair. "After someone shot their leader..." Will scowled at him, still listening. Madam Gates' eyes lazily hung over Charlie. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "Now, tell me something. Why should we even want to talk with you?"
"Well, for starters. Do you see any Zhar-Ptitsa soldiers around? If no, then you're welcome. And second off, who caused most of this destruction? Was it these four? Or was it the army that's gonna try to take this place over anyway?" Silence. "Because that's their fucking game, mate. Karlov wants world domination. And as far as he's concerned, he already has it. He'll do as he wants, where he wants. And if you thought he was just gonna let you lot fuck off in this little corner of what used to be America, then you're sorely mistaken." The council shifted uncomfortably in their chairs.
"What are you getting at?" asked Katelyn. "You're telling us all these terrible things about terrible people like we don't already know. Why?"
Will quickly perked up. "Oh, so you know how bad they are, and you're still just sitting here, letting them waltz into your town, eat all your food, have their way with your men and women, and just generally fuck everything up for ya? Do you like being dominated? Is that it?" At the end of the table, Jamm raised his eyebrows at Red with a smug look on his face. Immediately she shook her head and turned her chair down to face Will.
"No. We don't," curtly replied Katelyn.
"So then you're afraid of them? Is that what it is?"
"We can't fight them off, so we keep to ourselves. They would've just gone right over us, not paying any attention to us. If it weren't for you," McDonough interjected.
"You can tell yourself that all you want, but in the end, they want everything. Every last damn settlement. Two people won't be able to set up a campsite without there having to be a soldier with them. You can't hide from them."
"So you expect us to die fighting them then?"
"You don't have to die. And if I have my way, you won't be alone in this fight either."
"Who else is in this fight?"
"You're the first people we've approached."
"But we will have The Harbor, Big Sky, and The Rock to aid us," Nox said. "Their leaders are clients of mine." Those were towns built near the mouth of the Columbia River, in the mountains of Montana, and on Alcatraz Island, respectively.
"And who is this man?" Jamm asked.
"I am called Nox."
"He's a sort of information broker," Will chimed in.
"Carter Burks and I worked together on occasion."
"Well that's good to know. I'm sure he's happy to know this is what happens when people are friends with you."
"Well if you want it to not be, then we can get rid of these assholes and not have to worry about this shit!" Will yelled. They didn't answer. "Okay, what do I need to do to sweeten the deal?" The five of them silently discussed among themselves for a few minutes before finally coming to a conclusion.
"We need food," McDonough said.
"Done. We have plenty to spare, and enough to grow."
"And protection."
"I can do that."
"And money for reparations."
"How bout we buy water and soil from you for your reparations? That's what you have a lot of up here, isn't it?"
"That sounds fair."
"Excellent. We'll let you know when we need you." Will stood up and shook McDonough's hand. Jamm and the Andersons stood up and left.
"Before you all leave," McDonough said to Will. "A group of soldiers came here before you all showed up, and they were trying to find you. One of them asked your name specifically."
"Did they leave a name? Describe them to me," Will responded.
"Three soldiers in body armor. Led by a woman. She wasn't in armor."
"Was she blonde, with eyes like a Siberian Husky? Probably also insulted you." Charlie asked.
"Yes."
"Anastasia."
"You know her?"
"Yeah, they 'know' each other," Will said, smiling.
"I sent them south, out into the Ashlands for the Phantoms to pick them off."
"You did what?" Charlie shouted, standing up.
"That was a few minutes before you lot showed up. If you're fast, you can find her."
"Then let's get a move on!" Charlie said to the others. Quickly, they moved out the door.