Jane. That was all Rick knew her by, but her full name was Jane Ellie Fitzgerald. They had actually joined the forces at the same time, however Jane worked in the Medic Area. But everyone knew the blonde hair blue eyed beautiful nurse. Every time there was practice, some guys would pretend to get hurt just to visit her. After he got deployed, Rick never saw her again.

She was always flirting, getting on his nerves. For some reason, she liked married men more. Seeing her again brought up some bad memories of her trying to get in his pants. Every time he would reject her and go back to training. And for what? A disloyal wife who left him. He was almost hating himself for not giving Jane a chance, but some guilt washed over him. He still couldn’t let his wife go, could he? Rick even named his Fairy after her. It was evident he still had issues.

But the fact that Jane was here now meant that the group would be facing difficult challenges in the future. From what he knew of Jane, she was a devious woman who could get what she wanted and somehow not have to actually do anything but talk her way out. She would promise things and never get around to keeping them.

This was probably how she got to her current position. Steeling himself for a possible trap, Rick took a deep breath before walking up to Jane and greeting her.

“Hello again, Jane. What brings you here?”

“Oooh, you remember me? I’m touched. You were always my favorite. It seems the previous guy stationed in this area made some bad choices. He and anyone who helped him received punishment befitting their traitorous actions.”

Which meant they were imprisoned or killed. War had changed in these many decades and officers killing fleeing or disobeying men was less common. Unfortunately, it wasn’t gone. If you were caught, you would get reprimanded at first. Then, you would be detained. Finally, you’d be sentenced to death for treason.

Attacking a place filled with civilians and sending regular people into combat using military equipment was a serious no no. But the real punishment was having Jane take his spot. She would actually turn the place around, making it difficult for the group to stay in control. Rick wasn’t willing to offend the government, but it seemed that having the Region gave better effects to the Clan members.

If the government came in and wanted it, they would probably do all sorts of things like bribing the members to leave, attacking the Castle and seizing control, or just outright killing Andrew and disbanding the Clan. Rick had been helped many times by Andrew, even going so far as to help Chance and David Level Up.

Not only that, but He himself received rewards for helping the dead dude out. Rick was definitely sure that Andrew would be important if something changed in the future. He had heard from Candice that eventually, the other Countries and Continents would fight each other, bringing war back to the world.

The United States would need someone like Andrew who could raise the dead. He just needed to fix that naïve attitude towards losing subordinates. War wasn’t just some game that one side would win hands down with no casualties. There was death on both sides in war. There would be people that would be able to strike out and kill in one move.

If he could somehow convince Jane to help him instead of fight him, there might be a chance.

“”How about a truce?””

“Eh?”

“What, surprised? The government saw what you did, having that idiot rely on you. Now that you are the leader, the upper crust is wishing for you to expand your reach. Sure, the Clan may not belong to you for now, but since he is on the run, we’re pretty sure he will fall eventually.”

A little voice cried out, surprising everyone there.

“Leave them alone!”

“Sarah! Lucy, take her away from here!”

“Sorry, we saw the cars and”

“GO!”

Jane was staring bemused at the two little girls. Suddenly, she snapped her fingers and the men ran forward and blocked their path.

Rick was about to step forward when he heard movement from behind, letting him know he was being targeted. He could only watch in fury as Jane took some swaying steps towards the two children.

“Hmm? And why should we leave them alone? They are monsters, after all. Not even human.”

“You’re the monshter! Mommy isn’t bad! She did that to become strong!”

One of Jane’s eyebrows twitched after being referred to as a monster. She then bent forward and grabbed the young girl’s face and stared her right in the eyes.

“Your mother is a slut who slept with some dead guy and now she ran off with him. You shouldn’t worry about such a bitch.”

“Hey!”

Just as Rick took a step, he felt something hit him in the back. Not enough to make him fall down or suffer a concussion, but enough to sting and let him know he was not in charge. The soldier let out one word before turning silent once more.

“Quiet.”

Tears were welling up in Sarah’s eyes, but the sound of a string twanging shocked everyone. Lucy had pulled out her bow from her Inventory and strung it up, an arrow notched and aiming at Jane.

“Let. Her. Go.”

“Hoh?”

Jane shoved Sarah to the side, causing her to fall down on her rear end. Now Jane had her attention on Lucy, but didn’t notice the movement in the background.

“Oi, stupid woman, you might want to let the wee lass be, eh?”

A massive shadow loomed over the soldier who was watching Rick. In an instant, the soldier was on the ground covered in sweat, piss, and shit, screaming uncontrollably.

The other men were quickly dealt with as well, all of them collapsing to the ground in fear. They were all Level 1 so Brandon was surprised they didn’t just run back to the ATV and drive off. He didn’t know the soldiers were all under Jane’s Skills.

Reese came up, smoking another cigar. Apparently, these cigars were actually bought using the Shop on the monitor. It even increased concentration and regeneration. But the effect it had with Reese’s appearance was far more pronounced.

He just strolled right to Lucy’s side before putting a hand on her head.

“Calm down, kid. We got this.”

He slightly tousled her hair before turning back to the beautiful woman before him.

“Bitch, I would suggest you leave. If you want a truce, so be it. But don’t come here causing problems to try and prove your dominance. ‘Cause that don’t mean jack shit to us. I have seen all kinds of sluts before and you’re no different. Hehehe, maybe you just need a good spanking. How about it, Spot?”

He had to admit, the idea did intrigue him, but for some reason, Rick noticed Jane’s cheeks turn pink before her neck and ears started turning red. The pink cheeks were gone as soon as they appeared and only an angry face remained.

“You think you’re so tough, ganging up on a woman, huh?”

“Bitch, don’t be so shameless in front of me. I know damn well you did the same thing to Spot here. Just the three of us could easily wipe out any little camp you guys had set up. And right now, I’m the only one dealing with you.”

Suddenly, she closed her eyes and calmed down. She smoothed out her uniform and walked over to one of the soldiers. She then proceeded to kick him in the gut, forcing him to spray some blood from his mouth along with whatever meager food he had in his stomach.

Instead of complaining, the soldier actually had a creepy smile on his face.

“Get up, you idiot. Get the others. We’re about to leave.”

The soldier hurried to attention and saluted her before going to help his comrades.

Jane then turned back to Rick and walked towards him, getting right in his face. Unsure of what she wanted, he just stood there in silence for a bit.

“What, not going to hit me? I threatened those little girls. You’re not angry? You sure have changed. If it was the you from before, you would have rushed at me and slapped me down the instant I got within 5 feet of her. Heh, maybe losing the woman of your dreams made you soft. Bye, take care. We’ll talk again later. I’m still up for that truce, but maybe we can meet somewhere in the middle next time.”

She tossed Rick a kiss before getting back in the vehicle. Reese walked up to Rick and just shook his head.

“Man, why are all the women so weird now? Have they always been like this? I’m beginning to have doubts about finding a girlfriend now.”

Rick remained silent, the turmoil and rage swirling inside him and the guilt for not being able to do anything. He felt guilty with how he treated her before and the memories of their past was constantly fresh on his mind. He didn’t get much sleep that night.

Back to Jane, who was staring out the window of the ATV, she was definitely reminiscing about something. Then, without warning, she raised her fist and socked the guy on her left in the face. She punched him and scratched him, smashing his head into the headrest really hard.

“Dammit dammit dammit! I fucked up again! Why the hell do I say things like that?! I haven’t met him for 15 god damn years and this is what I do?! Shit! Fuck! “

Jane didn’t get a good night’s rest either.

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Okay guys, I edited the Index. Just click the link provided. Made some changes with Red Amigo and added the Ice Vulture, Magic Gunner, and Jane’s information.

Hehehe, just what this story needs, more screwed up people! What did you expect? It’s the apocalypse!