The Mistwalker

Chapter 12

Binks must have jogged for a good twenty minutes before they stopped for a rest. He picked a large tree log to rest against and dropped Milly. She took a seat next to him. Milly was on his back the entire time, but she hadn't complained. She must have been sobbing for more than half the journey, yet Binks never said a word about it. They didn't run into any trouble, and no one shot them on their way out of the bowl.

"What happened?" Milly managed to ask.

Binks sighed. He was still a bit shacky. "I was on the run myself. Just ran into Jackal and his cronies by chance."

"On the run?" Milly interjected. Binks just waved the question aside. "Okay, Jackal?" Asking who he was.

"Don't know him?" Binks asked. "Thought you tangled with him before?" Milly just shook her head. "He was a part of team seven. Miss Shay, I believe." The squad they faced yesterday. Milly didn't have much memory of that fight, nor did she want any. "Anyways," Binks continued, "I was on that ridge when I spotted Jackal. Didn't want to move past him without putting that monster in check. He had a hostage, a young man that had a resemblance to the fellow you were with."

"Roger." Milly whispered. "We were trying to find him."

"Teammates of yours?" Binks asked.

Milly nodded. "Roger was Conner's twin brother."

Binks nodded, seeming to become clearer on the situation. "That explains it. A brotherhood would be enough to turn on your comrades." Milly rose a brow in puzzlement. "Roger was a hostage, leverage against Conner." Binks explained. "Most likely Jackal wanted Conner to lure fellow team members into an ambush in exchange for Roger's life. Probably some vengeance on your team." Milly had no words. "It's a piss poor scenario, no matter how you'd slice it." Binks finished.

There was a long silence then, Milly asked, "And you were just...there?"

"I saw you guys walk into the bowl." Binks continued. "I was watching Jackal to see if he'd fire on you or how the situation would play out." Binks was silent for a moment. "I think that Roger man was drugged. He put up no fight when Jackal put the noose over him and brought him to that cliff. I thought Jackal would savior the moment." Binks placed his hand on his forehead in grief. "He didn't. He threw the man off the cliff then the shot was fired. I turned down to you guys and saw that shotgun guy was moving towards you and-" Binks shook his head furiously. "Fuck, I just shot him. Jackal's men started shooting at me and things just kicked off." Binks let out a frustrated sigh. "Jackal won't be following us. I blew off his fuckin arm with one shot. Most likely he's dead. If not, he still shouldn't be bothering us in that condition, that fuckin monster."

"Then why'd we run so far?" Milly asked.

"Because I didn't kill them all." Binks growled more to himself. He didn't need to elaborate more. Milly got the picture.

They were quiet for a bit, lost in thought. "Your sister alright? Were you two on the same transport?" Milly asked, trying to maybe change the subject to something a bit more pleasant.

Binks didn't answer right away. "We both lost our partners, let's just leave it at that."

Milly took that in. She didn't even remember if she thanked Sierra for the little things she did. Mostly just those changing rooms, but she seemed like a nice enough person. "I'm sorry." Was all she could manage.

Binks nodded, not seeming to be annoyed by how little her words were. He just took them in. "We all are. We all have regrets about today."