4

“Shhh. You make a sound and you will be shot. Is everybody clear? Once we round this rock, each of us is in danger of being sniped. If you do hear a gunshot, don’t run, flatten yourself behind cover. Don’t shoot back, just wait. If somebody is shot and not killed and it requires you to expose yourself to get them, you let them bleed out alright? Even if it’s me. There’s no heroism here, this is purely a briefing mission. I need all of you to know what your up against. Questions?” Blax looks us over, his eyes holding as much emotion as the ground beneath him.

“What if we see a shooter? ...sarge,” I ask. The movement of lifting my hand into the air is, after a week’s time to heal, no longer a titanic effort.

“You get behind cover and get the information to the rest of us.”

I nod.

“Alright, everybody follow me. Single file,” he orders, dropping into a crouch and commencing his army crawl.

“Have you seen this place yet?” I whisper over my shoulder to Sekera.

“Yeah, once,” she replies. “When I first came, he showed it to us as well. Only he, Amethyst and Janns are allowed to scout it out though. He’s planning an infiltration you know?”

“Infiltration? So, we’re breaking into this place?”

“Pretty much. Break in and kill the commander.”

“How many men’ve they got?”

“We’re not sure, but over twenty definitely. That’s what we’ve seen. Led by a bastard tyrant called General Korren.”

“Worse than Blax?”

“Probably.”

We crawl in silence for a while, until the narrow, route through the rocks swings left, into an enclave, chiseled into the cliffside. Small mounds of rock have been stacked at the end, providing us with cover. On the other side of them, is a sheer hundred foot drop.

I peer over, seeing a meager section of the river slugging along at the bottom. Across the ravine, is a small, spread out military base with several sections and erected buildings. Not tents. Buildings. Several buggies, rovers and quadbikes sit, lined up before one of the buildings. These guys are properly stocked.

Blax whispers to Janns and Amethyst, who then crawl over to us. Deqar, Sekera, Cherthur and Horgan crowd around Janns, while the others go to Amethyst.

“Alright,” he starts, pushing his long strait hair from his face. “Tomorrow, we’re going in and we’re taking that shit down, you with me? We’re going to scale down our side of the ravine further away, cross the river and trek back up right under their noses. We’ll climb up that side and get into the building. Once we’re in, we’ve got to stay unnoticed for as long as possible. We’ll probably be in two teams, so you’ll either be with me or Amethyst, just follow your leader and they’ll explain what you’ve got to do. If they die, your main goal should be to regroup with the others. We need to get in there and capture Korren. Alive preferably, but not necessarily. Take one last look, we’re headed back.”

I do. Anxiety ripples through me. There’re around twelve of us and judging by how many vehicles are parked out there, there are probably over thirty of them. We’re going to die. This is going to be just like the Raven’s Nest, only I’ve got no city to disappear into this time.

We make the crawl back to camp and dust ourselves off.

“Déjà vu,” Deqar mutters.

Sekera shoots him a quizzical look.

I snort.

“We tried to take out the Raven’s Nest. You know the giant drug factory beneath East Side?”

“Uhhh,” Sekera says, bewildered. “No.”

“Well, there is one, and us and a couple others tried to take it out. Infiltrate it and blow it up from inside, just like this. I was part of the distraction team, so I never went in, but Kallix did. I still don’t know what happened down there, but when I heard the shots I went to the entrance. He and a friend of ours ran out, said everybody else had been killed.”

Sekera looks at me, shocked.

I bite my lip. “She wasn’t a friend.”

Deqar shrugs. “Either way, it didn’t go well. I lost a really good friend that night. His name was Varan, you would’ve loved him.”

“Don’t stress, this’ll be better,” Sekera reassures. “This time you’ve got proper military aid with you. Real army guys, not petty thieves.”

“Swifter’s aren’t petty thieves,” Deqar rumbles.

“No it won’t,” says somebody.

We swivel to see Amethyst standing behind us, tall and chin up, with her hand on her glories hip.

“What?” Sekera asks.

“It won’t be better. What Blax won’t tell you is that we’ve done it before.”

“I know. I was there,” Sekera mutters.

“What? This isn’t the first infiltration?” I ask.

Amethyst shakes her head. “How do you think Viinyar died?”

“Shit,” I breathe.

“But still, we lost one man, it was our first try,” says Sekera.

Amethyst shakes her head again. “Not first. Third. That was our third try. You weren’t here for the first two. Every time we try, lose a few people and retreat and recruit more. It’s impossible, these guys are too heavily fortified.”

“You’ve survived all three, haven’t you?” I ask. “If you’ve survived it, then it isn’t impossible.”

“Don’t think you’re anything near me, perv,” she says, coolly. “You’re a toddler in my game.”

“Yeah, yeah I know. But you, Blax and Janns have made it through all of them?”

Amethyst’s eyes dart to Blax. “The sarge doesn’t come.”

“What?” I ask, incredulous. “What kind of a dick is this guy?”

“It would be a tactical mistake,” Amethyst reassures. “If he were to die, then we’d have no leader, and nobody to recruit new members. He’s the backbone, heart and brain of this operation. We need him alive.”

“And… and your fine with dying because of that?”

“No. I’m fine with you dying because of that. I know I’ll make it out alive, and recruit new members, then try it again.”

“Blax is literally the epitome of a dick,” I growl.

Before I even finish speaking a hand has hit my throat, nearly hammering my adam’s apple into my throat.

“That’s Sergeant Blax to you,” Amethyst hisses.

“Hey,” Sekera and Deqar both intervene, laying their hands on her arm.

She stands down, slowly.

“Amethyst,” Blax calls. “You’ve got Kallix, Sekera, Deqar and Ficlan. Janns you’ve got Cherthur, Lorick, Weshleri and Horgan. The rest of you stay here with me.”

I crack a smile. “It seems fate has brought us together after all.”

~

“Shit,” Deqar breaths, peering down the ravine side. We’re over a mile away from our camp, but the rocky landscape hasn’t changed, and the way down is just as perilous. “That’s far.”

“We’re being strapped in,” says Amethyst, tossing him a harness. “Find something sturdy and hook yourself up.”

She tosses me one. It hits me and falls to the ground.

“Excuse me?” she asks.

“I don’t want one,” I respond.

She shrugs. “If you want to die sooner rather than later be my guest.”

I watch as they clip themselves onto all the flanges and outcrops they can find. Screw that shit, hell do they think I am? I clamber over the edge and begin my descent. There’re so many protrusions, crannies that I’m able to move like a spider. It’s not the window frames and concrete ledges that I’m used to… it’s better.

Sweat trickles down my face as I move and my ribs are starting to hurt again, but I don’t give a flying fish face because nobody can tell me shit. I reach, drop, pull, slide and grip. The stone I grasp crumbles beneath my hand, but that’s why I’ve got another one. I swing to the left and catch a foothold, securing myself once again.

And then all of a sudden there’s nothing left to hold. As I lower myself down, my feet slide against smooth stone. I look down only to see that the ground is thirty feet away from me. Maybe I can jump.

“Need a hand?” Sekera asks, practically walking down to me, the rope attached to her harness holding her steady.

“No,” I grunt. “I just need to find my way.”

I scuttle to the left, but the smoothness of the rock doesn’t reduce. The river, during it’s high time, must’ve eroded it like a pebble. Not good. I watch in annoyance as the others bounce past me, and eventually unclip themselves at the bottom. Hell am I supposed to do now?

I lower myself until it’s only my hands above the threshold of smoothness, and search with every inch of my body for a lump, an enclave a crack or anything I can use to lower myself further, but there’s nothing. It’s like the surface of a plate.

I nearly lose my grip when I notice Amethyst beside me, looking at me with interest. I gaze back at her, a painful expression on my face.

“I’m not going to ask if you need help, but I will help you if you need it,” she tells me.

Shift grip, easing my tiring fingers. “Yeah.” I nod.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah what?”

“Yes, I need it.”

“Need what?”

“Help.”

“What about it?”

“I need you to help me.”

Amethyst smiles, a brain meltingly sexy smile, and makes her way over to me. “Climb on she instructs.”

I grip her shoulders and ease myself on behind her, low enough so that my bulge rests between nicely at her crack. Might as well enjoy the ride. I’m losing myself in the heavenly softness when…

“Higher,” she instructs.

“What?”

“Move higher.”

Shit. I obey, sliding myself up her back and wrapping my arms around her chest, above her tits. She continues to lower us. Then, my damn dick of a dick decides to get hard.

I can’t move an inch. Shit. Shit. Shitityshitshit.

There’s no way she hasn’t noticed, but she doesn’t respond. Not sure if that’s good or bad.

Everybody is laughing by the time we reach the ground, and my face is flushed red with anger and embarrassment.

“Did the baby enjoy his ride?” Ficlan asks with a maniacal low giggle.

Deqar stares at his feet and Sekera is clutching her stomach with laughter.

“Shut up, you idiots,” Amethyst hisses. “If you keep laughing like damn hyenas, they’ll drop a single grenade out the window and blow us into red paint.”

An awkward silence blankets us as we fall into pace after her.

Dumbass. Idiot. Pervert. Dumbass. Stupid piece of perverted dumbass shit. Idiot. Hell were you thinking? Goddamn sexual harasser! What the hell?

We crunch against the ravine side for what feels like much less than a mile and stop directly under the base.

You’re going to die being known as a perverted idiot. How does that make you feel? Bad. Very bad. You’re going to be pumped full of lead, just like you want to pump her full of jizz. Twat.

“Alright, we’re going to need to shoot the grappling cords up now and get away from here as fast as possible. They’ll probably hear the grappling hooks getting a grip and maybe take a look. If they don’t see anything suspicious, we can come back tomorrow and resume. If they do, they’ll send a team down and remove the grappling hooks. If we aren’t hidden, far away, they’ll kill us. Better to have grappling hooks removed than us all being killed,” Amethyst briefs. “Once you get a hold, run. Quick and silent.”

We pull out the grappling guns and take our shots. Several of them fall back down, but not mine. Mine hooks onto the edge of the base’s fence and holds strong. I see Amethyst darting away and I scramble after her. She’s faster. She’s quieter. I’m sturdier. The way she moves, vaults and jumps I can tell it’s automized. She’s good because of endless circuits on obstacle courses and routine movements. Sure she’s got plenty of field experience, but it’s granted her shot accuracy, catlike reflexes, lion conquering courage and many other skills, but parkour is the one thing I can’t be beat at. Rieka, Zorikan, Amethyst… none of them. This is my part of the world. My own little section that I am best and nobody can tell me otherwise.

That is of course until I trip on a nearly invisible rock protrusion and fall flat on my face. I manage to turn it into a sloppy role and recover my speed, chasing after Amethyst. After a few moments, she slowed and veered left, into a low wide cave. I duck in after her.

“This is where’re were staying?” I ask, clicking on the flashlight Sekera gave me.

“Yeah. Make yourself at home,” she responds, checking her gun magazine or something.

I chew on my cheek and peer out the cave entrance when I see Sekera scramble inside, Ficlan just behind her.

“Where’s Deqar?” I ask.

Ficlan snorts and Sekera glances behind her nervously. I look at the two of them and then at Amethyst.

Then I see him, hustling with an awkward limp into the cave. He looks at me for a brief instant then settles down. I instantly stare at Ficlan.

“Everything alright, Deqar?” Amethyst asks.

He nods once.

If I go to Ficlan now, he’ll beat me to a pulp. If I’m to survive this, I need to be as fit as possible. In this case, Deqar’s feelings can wait.

“Hey Dingo,” Sekera calls.

“Yuh?”

She rattles a little carboard box. “I brought a card game, wanna play?”

I’m not sure what, but something flickers inside me. Never, since I was a kid, have I ever played a card game, let alone been invited to play a card game. This is… weird. “Um… yeah.”

“Sweet,” she says, cheerily. “C’mon I’ve got a great place to play, follow me. I’d ask Deqar, but he doesn’t really seem to be in the mood. C’mon, let’s go.”

She intertwines her hand into mine and pulls me along. Damn these damn butterflies that keep turning my stomach into a house party, fluttering around like they own the place.

~

“Hahaha!” I laugh. “Really?”

“I swear,” Sekera says an ear to ear grin on her face. “That girl was bangass fine, and we were both drunk as hell so we were just twirling around the pole like it was our job. She had like whipped cream on her tits and then she let me eat it off. Man that night was good.”

“Damn hell man,” I laugh, my thumb stroking the back of her hand. She squeezes mine tighter. “We’ve got to get drunk together one day. I can only imagine the amount of insane shit we’d do.”

“Hell, you’d be frickin’ leaping off rooftops and stuff, piss off some mega rich business man who would have his ninja body guards after you and you’re just running for your damn life. Probably break a rib too.”

“Wow. You’d be the one chasing them, I tell you. Screaming at them, probably flashing your tits, and you’d likely have one mouthwateringly hot girl eating you out while you did it. They’d be so hot that I’d be pissed they were lesbian.”

She erupts into laughter, rolling into me so her head is on my chest. “What, like Amethyst?”

“You think she’s hot?”

“Yeah of course she’s freaking hot, look at her!” Sekera shrieks. We’re so far away from the others that I’m not even worried she’ll hear. “And I know you think she’s hot too. You goddamn drool when you see her. I don’t think you’ve ever looked her in the eye.”

“It’s not my fault she wears her top so low!” I protest.

“It’s good that she’s proud of herself,” Sekera adds. “Even though she’s a bit of a bitch sometimes.”

“Yeah. It’s always like that isn’t it? The hottest ones’ve got the nastiest personalities.”

“And the ones with the best personalities?” she asks, looking up at me.

“Are lesbian,” I finish.

She giggles hysterically into my chest. “Ugh. I don’t know how you ever cuddle with anyone, you’re so damn bony,” she complains, sliding aside so her head is nearer to my shoulder.

“Most of the cuddling I do is with my dick. Not much of a cuddler.”

“Really? You don’t like to cuddle? How can you not like to cuddle?”

“Well I’ve never really… had many people cuddle me, I guess. I mean look at me,” I say with a laugh.

“Aw, c’mon. You’re handsome.”

“What’d’you know?”

Silence.

I snort. “This is so gay.”

“What?”

“Us holding hands like this. And cuddling.”

“This isn’t even proper cuddling.”

Silence.

And more silence.

And even more silence.

“Kallix,” she says, softly yawning.

“Yeah?” I ask, my eyelids also getting droopy.

“You don’t need to be so… stone hearted all the time, you know that?”

“What do you mean stone hearted?” I ask.

“You know, sealed off from your emotions. Unwilling to be kind. It’s like you don’t want to appear friendly. Like you want people to see you as stoic, unpredictable, jagged and unapproachable.”

I swallow. “I don’t want people to see me like that. It’s who I am. I wouldn’t want anybody to see me for something I’m not.”

“But that’s the thing. You’re sweet, you’re kind, your soft and your loving. It’s just that that part of you has been buried under so many layers of stones that it can’t come out anymore. It’s ok. Around me, you can let it go out. I don’t want you to be reserved and try and keep your cold reputation up.”

“I’m not. I’m not doing that.”

Sekera sighs. “Alright. You know yourself better than I do anyway,” she lays her head back on me and nestles in under my arm.

Her words have affected me and I’m not sure in what way. My eyes dart around the utter darkness and I’m suddenly hyper aware of her heartbeat, and her head rising and falling with my breathing. She’s… done something to me? No, not the right word. She’s changed me? Not right either. She’s conjured something? Stirred something? Ignited something? Made something flicker?

I can’t put it into words or even into thoughts what this girl has just done, but it sets me on edge. For a moment I feel like a foreigner inside my own body. Like somebody who woke up in someone else’s life but with all of that person’s memories, though they knew that they weren’t them.

But then the edginess starts to ebb as it’s slowly covered by a soft, subtle, forgiving warmth. The warmth of a veteran sleeping in his own bed for the first time in two years, knowing, though able to believe that he’s safe. Finally safe at last. The war is over and is family aren’t going to die.

Lying on the dirty cave floor, with this colorful haired girl curled up beside me the night before I go on a suicide mission, I feel safer and more at ease than anything I can remember. I would imagine that it’s the feeling that a teenager of my age would have if they’ve gone off on a trip, a long trip, by themselves and finally gotten back to their home, with their parents and siblings and all their stuff. But I’ve never felt that, so I can only assume.