Chapter 72 - Wake up soldier

"You don't seem to believe that the man was lying. Why is that, sir?"

"Do you know why my soldiers risk their lives going beyond the safety of this place? "

"No."

"Not really."

Rather than answering the same like my friends, I decided to answer his question with one of my one, after all, the more we know the better our chances may become.

"The walls that you have built aren't used to protect this place? Then why don't you just bunker down here? Why go to such lengths and risk the lives of those soldiers, when you can simply live a somewhat peaceful life here?"

"There's nothing wrong hiding behind the safety of the walls we made and reinforced, but as much as we tried to be self-sustained, this place won't ever be able to produce the amount of food necessary for all of the people, unless we throw away some people. The tribe that used to rule this dam did that and in exchange, they only grew weaker and weaker until no matter how much they struggle, they still failed to hold their ground against a large assault from those creatures. On the other hand, after I took over the leadership of this place. We slowly and steadily put the whole area under control and as a reward for that, the tribes started to weekly or monthly give us a portion of the surplus in exchange for keeping the hefbis away from their homes and preferably on the other side of the dam. Now you know why we risk our lives every day. We do it so that the people that live near us don't have to fight for their lives every day against those creatures that don't know anything other than killing."

There was no response from either one of us as we stood in silence trying to digest Sam's words. The more time passed, the deeper this silence became until we nodded at each other before I asked: "What do we have to do?"

"Find the group that attacked the poor man's tribe and get rid of them. If possible, find where these creatures got into the forest and if they were somehow helped by anyone. You know what you have to do if someone did indeed help those creatures."

The conversation broke off as one of Sam's men, came up to the door alongside a short yet heavyset man with a thick beard. Both were already wearing their combat suits and had large rucksacks slung on their backs, but both of them were carrying one black bag in their hands. The two men silently inspected us, before they threw the bags next to my and Sergey's feet, as one of them pointed towards a room that was next to Sam's office.

We went inside and, as soon as we opened the bags, Sergey took out three sets of military gear like the ones the bearded man and his partner wore, as well as a gas mask in case we need to protect ourselves from gases. We also got a pair of boots, and what I see as the most important piece of equipment, a new assault rifle with a laser sight and folding metal stock. The only place where I had seen someone use one like this had been carried by mountain men. Alongside those things, we found inside the room a flashlight and a helmet for each one of us.

From what I managed to put together, I didn't expect Sam to give us anything before we officially start doing our work, but it seems that they either have a surplus of things or he believes in our ability to finish this extermination mission.

Two minutes later, Sam followed by the two men that brought our gear, entered the room. As soon as they saw that, we were already geared up and ready to leave, Sam decided to explain to us why these men were there.

"These two will come with you as both backup and your instructor if you want to call them that."

The short man walked forward until he was standing in front of me, and yet even though he was shorter than me, I was the one who felt slightly intimidated by him.

"I may not like you kids, but since the colonel says that you three are ready then who am I to argue with him over you? But beware that we aren't there to wipe your asses if the shit goes bad."

The other man just smiled when he heard his partner's words before he introduced himself to us.

"Don't bother with him. Alex had always been a grumpy old man, by the way, his name's Lee. I hope we can drink something we return."

"Now that you five got to know each other, it's time for me to tell you something that only my squad knows."

There was no use keeping back the truth, especially when we were already implicated in it when the hefbis attacked us. And, to be honest, I was only unpleasantly surprised that Sam, who was the reason we are alive, decided to tell the truth to the other two men that would join us in our mission. He briefly summarized what happened and how he saved us. After Alex and Lee learned the truth, they finally understood what they were going to face, just in time for Sam to point out the catastrophe he was trying to prevent. Thankfully, for us, Sam didn't force us to go on foot, and while he didn't give us the only infantry vehicle that they had, he still assigned an electric armored car to us.

We quickly get inside the car, and while Lee told us to stay in the passenger seats, as he will drive, Sergey was stubborn about his decision to be a gunner, taking no alternative from the two older rangers.

A short buffer zone about twenty meters in length began beyond the gate, between the wall and the first line of defense. When we reach that line, we saw the ten-armed soldiers and their officer who stood watch there. As soon as the Lieutenant saw us, he ordered the men to open the barrier before they salute us as we drove past them, but not before Lee honked at them.

After we left the premise of the dam, we spent the next hour in silence. However, after that hour passed, Alex decided to break this rather tense and uncomfortable silence.

"Listen up, rookies. Has either one of you ever been in a military operation before? Never mind … you kids are way too young for that, besides, didn't the colonel mention that you aren't even from the earth"

"Give them a break, mate. They had gone through a lot, I can see that."

"To hell with it. Tell me a person, who didn't have to suffer after the bombs destroyed our civilization? Whether they like it or not, now that the old man took a liking to them, they'll have to learn what being a Ranger means."

While neither one of us liked the way they talked as if we weren't inside the car, we decided to not interrupt them unless something that they aren't aware of happened. Thankfully, Alex and Lee changed the topic of their conversation from us to how long until we reached the village that was attacked. Just as he was about to say something, Lee looked in the mirror, prompting me and Monroe to nod at him, before he explained the route to us."

"I know that you three may not like being treated like infants, but until me and my partner trust you and you guys, I want you three to walk after us and don't wander no matter what you see or hear. Don't fire unless provoked or unless you see a hefbis, and don't talk since the quieter we are the better our chances of sneaking behind the enemy would be. Lastly, if one of us gets injured and you are close to him or her, drag him to cover. We do not leave our people behind."

Just as I was, about to ask Lee about how we should approach the grounders, something heavy hit the side of our car. Thanks to the protective shield, Sergey wasn't thrown overboard, but he still got the worst being up there.

"Grounders!"

As soon as he heard Sergey's shout, Lee drove us away from the open ground while Alex yelled at Sergey to cover us with the Mg mounted on the car. The further away we drove the more I felt like something was amiss. Not only did the grounders didn't chase after us, but even when they had us surrounded, they only shoot a few arrows near it, not even hitting it once. Maybe they knew that they won't be able to outrun a car or maybe…

That's when it hit me. There was no point chasing after us because we were going towards another ambush that would take us out.

"Lee! Stop the car! We are …"

Another huge thing hit the car, this time though from the front. The last thing that I saw before I was knocked out by the impact was something going through the armored window.

When I finally managed to regain consciousness, my mouth was filled with blood and everything was spinning.

"Hey, Leon! Leon!" Someone shook my shoulders as I was trying to understand what was happening.

A numb awareness came alive with difficulty. A bright flashlight beam assaulted my eyes, which forced me to blink my eyes and shelter them with my hand. A few seconds later I managed to open my eyes properly only to find myself sitting on the ground with my back against the ruined barrier while Zoe and Alex were bending over me. As soon as I looked at them, I could see that both were looking at me with worry visible in their eyes.

I blinked once again before I tried to stand up, only to feel how someone helped me.

"Nice to see you alive, soldier. Now get your shit together, we have tangos to kill."

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