ᵉⁿᵍˡⁱˢʰ Battlescars [The Expendables]

03

'We all know you're old, Barney, only that you can't count is new.'

It was the perfect introduction.

Two weeks after Barney had visited the last candidate on Bonaparte's list, there were now twenty-five recruits standing outside the hangar. It was supposed to be twenty-six, but by the looks of it, someone was keeping his word. Twenty-five men, ranging in age from mid-twenties to mid-thirties. Little Salamanca was missing. Though little was a misnomer, for the girl was thirty. Not little, more like young.

"I'm glad you've gathered here today," Barney began, trying to keep this procedure as short as possible, "In the coming days, we'll find out who the two lucky ones are who will become the mission. It's not about being better than the person next to you. It's much more about ...."

"Disculpar," Sierra raised her hands apologetically, pulling down the corners of her mouth as Barney had stopped talking at the sight of her, though she had held out hope of joining the group without attracting attention, "Sorry. Traffic is worse than I thought."

"Twenty-six," as if that had been the case all along, Barney turned to his people, "nothing about 'too old to count.'"

Another sentence or two about what the recruits would expect followed, then a hand gesture signaled Barney to the group to come along.

As Sierra followed the others, her eyes swept over the group to Barney's group sitting further back on some crates, and after a few seconds, a 'fuck' escaped her. A little too loudly, which was why one or two others in her group turned to her, true to the motto of what she had for because problems.

Everything but not that. This tattoo said it all. So much to the topic, just think about it. Coincidences can be enough, they happen again and again, but this could have been clear. The moment Sierra remembered, after the encounter with Ross, that she had actually seen his tattoo with the crow or raven before, on someone else, that there might be a connection. A skull with a black bird perched on it was not an everyday tattoo like roses, stars, or tribal designs.