Fearless

chapter 8

I turned sharply, letting go of the radio button. Liam's words immediately turned into static, mingled with a strange squeaking sound.

The tree that had been struck by the long blinding bolt of lightning was tumbling to its side with a crackle. I followed it with an indifferent glance and jammed the radio button again.

"Over over! Where are you, Eagle?"

"Over, Skull, I'm here, calm down. It's just a tree fell down. Welcome."

"Tell me, is everything all right?" Liam asked me thoughtfully. For a second I wanted to tell him about that jackass Jack, but then I pulled myself together and calmly exhaled:

"Yeah, we're fine. We made it to the right point today."

"That's great. Is Jack showing off in there?"

"Not really, why?"

"Just asking. All right, Kai's waiting for me. I'll be in touch. Bye."

"Bye."

I strapped the radio back onto my belt and stood up. The rain had already begun to subside, and I could see the silhouettes of houses through the muddy gray fog. After walking around the small village, I chose an empty round clearing between the houses and drew a cross on the ground with my sneaker. When I got to the surviving house, I chopped up the floorboards and piled them up in the clearing. I rummaged in my pockets, pulled out a lighter, and started to build a fire. I don't care about the test, but I wasn't planning on kicking the bucket in the woods.

After ten minutes of unsuccessful attempts, the damp wood began to crackle. I sat down on the cold sand next to the fire and wondered.

On the one hand, I'm worried about Jack, because maybe something happened to him. On the other hand, it pisses me off that he just left me in the woods without saying anything. Yes, I would have gladly passed his "friendship test" if I had known what was required of me.

Along with the warmth, clear thoughts began to enter my head. Some were scary, others were trying to make sense of the situation. Unable to think of anything cleverer, I got up and headed toward the base lodge.

As I descended into the dark basement, I typed the only code I could remember. The sign turned red. Great, he must have changed that password, too. I stood at the door, knocked a couple of times, and walked back to my fire without an answer.

I wish I didn't left my backpack at Jack's. I didn't have any food or weapons or clothes with me. That's just great. Way to go, Nellie! Way to go!

The fire went out, not fueled by any more wood. I went down to the river to quench my thirst. Suddenly voices were heard in the forest, very near to me. They were quiet, but there was a certain... hostility in their intonation? Or maybe I was just winding myself up.

I listened more closely, frozen for a second. The voices were clearly male. From the crunch of the branches, I could guess there were three or four of them. I couldn't think of anything clever to do, so I rushed to the tree and climbed up as quietly as possible.

Three guys came out of the woods and headed toward the river. They were dressed in police uniforms, and each had a submachine gun hanging over their shoulders. Fun. Trying to stay still, I gripped tighter into the barrel and listened.

"Yeah, Lek was a real asshole. But I certainly won't miss him."

After drinking water and picking up bottles, the boys spread out the brown and red cloths near the river. Mm, yeah, they're patriots. Why else would they have bought canvases in the shape of our flag?

Praying to all the gods that they wouldn't notice the embers from my fire, I continued to sit and watch the cops stationed by the river about 50 meters away from me. I didn't even have to strain my hearing to hear their conversation.

"If we fail this mission, we're dead, you know that, don't you?" said the blond guy in the cap.

"Go to hell. I'm not gonna lose my job over a bunch of morons who pretend to be Fearless." snapped at the other one.

"Neither am I. We'll find every last one of them and shoot them, that's all. I've been on tougher missions, haven't I, Dan?" The third guy agreed.

"Yeah. I hear one of them's trying to save his sister now." Dan chuckled. - What a moron.

"Name me one person who could get out of the Devil's Mouth." Tried to cut in on the conversation with the first one.

"Well, there was one, actually. - The third one frowned." Taylor Groh.

There was an awkward pause, and the boys began to get their food. As luck would have it, the wind was blowing in my direction, bringing the smells of pasta and canned food to my nose. My stomach grumbled softly, and I clenched it in my fist until it hurt. I didn't want my gluttony to ruin me. I hadn't eaten since this morning, though.

The casual conversation resumed around the campfire, and at times the guys even laughed and argued about something.

"I'm willing to pay a million to whoever shows me now where at least one Fearless is." The blonde one said with a laugh.

"Nah, I heard they don't leave their own behind."

"Yeah, they don't," I thought, sitting alone on a tree branch.

"And just imagine, - said the same blonde man, taking a sip of his beer, - that one of them is here now."

"Yeah, and two whole ones," I thought ironically. The guys, warmed by the small degree, immediately jumped up and walked toward the half-destroyed houses. That's when I got really scared. Each of them was armed to the teeth, and Jack might show up at the most inopportune moment.

Trying to move as inconspicuously as possible and without wasting a second, I unplugged the radio and tuned it to the right channel.

"Hey, Jack, hello." I said quietly. Why didn't I contact him before? Out of spite? I put the radio to my ear and waited for an answer. The cops were poking around the village.

"Jack, answer me, damn you! It's Nellie! It's urgent, answer it! - I whispered, barely holding the radio with trembling hands. Without waiting for an answer, I said:

- Come on, you can test me all you want, but there are three cops walking around the village right now, they're armed and a little drunk. Keep your head down. I'll go through their things."

Without waiting for an answer, I quickly climbed down from the tree and crawled over to the fire. The guys were walking between the houses, bickering loudly and laughing about something. I quickly went through their backpacks, trying to find maps. After stuffing a couple of pieces of paper and a small snuff box into my pocket, I turned to climb back into my green hiding place.

"Hush, I heard something!" The blond boy shouted loudly.

"Over there, look over there!" Dan echoed him.

A shot rang out in the dusky silence of the night. I squeezed my eyes shut.

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