Observation Leads To Decision

In the classroom, Dean still wasn't sure. Aveline was pretty much a pariah in the classroom. Nobody sat down close to her, and nobody even dared to speak with her, even Scarlet didn't want to talk to her ever since she got out of the prison. One thing crossed his mind, though, why wouldn't she apply for the witness protection? She would get a new identity, new name, new school, and new everything.

"Dean, why are you so passive?" Scarlet suddenly asked.

Dean wasn't even paying attention to the current situation in the classroom. He didn't know what Scarlet meant by that. He only knew that the book in front of him needed to be given to the teacher before the sun went down, exactly 4 P.M.

"Passive about what?" Dean asked the red-haired girl back.

"Aveline."

"What's the matter with Aveline?" Dean asked back.

"You know, for someone who just got killed, you're quite apologetic," Scarlet added.

"What? Don't tell me you want me to kill Aveline?" Dean gave the most extreme response he could think of.

"Well, not that extreme, but I'm quite surprised that you haven't thrown a single punch at her," Scarlet answered.

"Trust me, I want to, but I need my witness unscratched, period."

Still, Dean knew what she meant by that. It was the euphemism of asking why Dean wasn't beating Aveline like anyone else. He hadn't even thrown a single punch or touched the hair of that girl due to reason. For Dean, he was an ignorant person telling his brother information to stage Dean's assassination.

Sure, he also wanted to put Aveline in prison, but he wanted to give her a second chance. The person that must have Aveline to be really dead would be none other than Scarlet. Aveline literally betrayed her trust resulting in Scarlet being ambushed by a rogue SWAT team.

Dean would wait for the court testimony first, then he would decide the best course of action to handle Aveline. For one simple reason, Dean knew that Aveline wouldn't dare to harm him, and it was further enforced that everyone literally bullied her to oblivion. It wouldn't take too long until she broke.

Hopefully, she didn't break until the testimony or Dean would lose another witness because of the mental health problem that the witness would probably have. That was the worst outcome Dean would have gotten. No witness could mean no justice whatsoever. Besides, Aveline might want to work on her brother's murder case.

Of course, she would only report that after she testified for Dean's murder attempt. That was on the deal that she signed to get out of her prison sentence. She would provide testimony in exchange for free time. That was what her lawyer advised her to do.

Not everyone knew this, but Dean also agreed to do nothing to Aveline, like absolutely nothing, no attempt of assault, no attempt of intimidation, etc or she would break the deal between the D.A and Aveline. Still, with how this whole thing became a military fiasco, it wouldn't take soon until the special operation community noticed this, especially with how Menkaid was involved.

"Dean, Corporal Adams is calling you from outside," one of his friends approached his table.

Outside of the classroom, Adams was waiting for him. He was not in his academy uniform, but he was in his woodland military uniform. This was a usual day, why would Adams wear that thing?

"Sir, what pleasure do I owe you?" Dean asked Adams.

"Let's get back to your dorm, and we'll talk about details later, sounds good to you?" Adams asked.

"Sounds good for me, sir."

Dean got his backpack and followed Adams from behind. For one reason, Dean knew that Adams was not an ordinary corporal by any means. He had a car, he had a somehow larger authority than the other, and he was also somehow involved in everything.

Adams took Dean to the academy parking lot. He parked his car there, it turned out. Dean entered the driving seat, as usual. Adams sat down on the passenger seat. He started his car engine and Dean drove towards his dorm.

"So, Dean, have you done escorting mission before?" Adams asked.

"I kinda have done that in the past, why do you ask?" Dean asked Adams back.

"Alright, this is quite special because we are going to escort a VIP from Philadelphia," Adams said.

"Adams, you are not saying that we are going to drive all the way from Almara Island to Philadelphia, right? That's quite a distance, and even with this car, it would take quite a long time," Dean referred to the distance from Almara Island to the nearest mainland.

Even with the toll road, it would take around one hour while drive at 400 km/h. With a train, it would probably only less than one hour, give or take. Yes, a mid-end car nowadays could drive that fast, even if it was an SUV. Still, it was rare for drivers to reach that speed unless absolutely necessary.

"Nah, we'll take the train to Philadelphia, after that, you won't like what our command suggested."

"And what's that?" Dean asked.

"We will act as a decoy."

"A what?" Dean wanted to make sure.

"A decoy. Yup, that's right. We'll be cannon fodder, Dean."

"Damn, and why would you invite me instead of, say, Orion?" Dean asked.

"Combat strength-wise, he is indeed higher. However, in terms of experience, nothing beats you, not even your seniors. Don't worry, Dean, I got your back."

"So, who's this special person, if I may know?"

"His name is Raymond Hargraves, he is visiting Almara Island with his wife. Our job is to act as a decoy while he and his wife drive to Almara Island. To be honest, this is just a paranoid act from him, but well, I also don't know why if you ask me."

"I understand where he's coming from, so yeah, I understand him. Anyway, what should I bring, the ShAK-15, or the M4-EC?" Dean asked.

"Bring the M4-EC, I also have my M4 on the back, and Dean, do you have a medic bag?" Adams asked.

"I didn't bring any, sorry. I only have an IFAK."

"Oh, I see. Well, you're invited because of the first-responder certification that you got back in high school. Plus, your combat reputation also put you on the scope. Anyway, don't forget your helmet, balaclava, and your armor."

"Goggles, too?" Dean asked for reconfirmation.

"Yeah, goggles too."

Dean parked his car right in front of his dormitory. Both Adams and Dean got out of the car. Adams opened the trunk of his car while Dean headed straight into his dorm room. Dean opened the room and he immediately put his backpack on his desk.

He opened the wardrobe and changed into his woodland military uniform. He put his academy uniform on his wardrobe alongside his concealable ballistic vest. He grabbed the heavy ballistic vest that had been attached with magazine pouches and wore it. He also didn't forget to wear his balaclava and his goggles.

Dean was fully aware of his role in this decoy operation. He would act as the tough guy. Basically, he would look so the ambusher would get the assumption that the convoy was armored to its teeth.

Dean checked the magazines in his magazine pockets. All of them were loaded and could be shot at any time. And yes, it was the M990 MK-1 6.8 ammunition that he shot from the end of the 16" M4-EC. He attached a leg strap to his pants and put his pistol there.

Dean got out of the room, all armored and ready to soak bullets. To be honest, he only didn't have a radio with him and that was it. He didn't bring any tactical headphones either although it could be said that the thing was a necessity in this age of warfare.

Near the car, Adams had been waiting. His appearance was… special force-ish? He wore a compact plate carrier alongside with wearing headphones alongside a ballistic helmet on his head. He also wore glasses on top of his eyes.

"Looking sharp, boss," Dean said.

"And you look like a door breacher," Adams commented on Dean's heavy loadout that involved heavy armors and a lot of magazines.

"Who would drive? Me?" Dean asked.

"Of course, as your commanding officer, I command you to drive the car," Adams giggled.

"Sure, I like being a driver."

Dean entered the driver's seat of the vehicle. He set the coordinate for Philadelphia. It was as expected, it was a one-hour drive to that town. The destination was Lehigh Valley International Airport.