Red Dead Revelation II: Unshaken Legacy (Jack MarstonXOC)

Chapter Seven: The Real Enemy

December 1917–

We are running short on supplies. The children are more concerned with Christmas than the food in their bellies. We have some rations.

Henry is still alive. He seems somewhat detached. I am keeping watch on him--I want him to have enough hope to keep on living.

Jack is walking better now. He can almost run and he will be ready to go back to the lines. 

I am going to miss him. Despite everything, he makes things feel somewhat normal. He doesn't sugarcoat things, but he looks at things from a logical perspective.

We talk about things that aren't related to war--good things back home.

He told me that he's traveled all over with his parents. He had a large family and they lived in tents. I never took him for a gypsy. I asked him why his family settled in at Beechers Hope. He simply said that his parents were tired of the life they were living and wanted something different. When I was going to ask what they had done before, he began to ask me questions: Where I lived. And again, who my folks were. I could answer where I lived, but my folks? I didn't want to answer, as that would lead to the truth of my mother's death, and I don't think he needs to know that.

I finished helping him with his exercises and said he would be ready to leave soon; he looked sullen, but I left him.

***

Jack and Alice are just returning to their starting point at the front of the ruins and they see a small gathering by a Red Cross ambulance. Without speaking, they walk over to see what is going on. Father Dorkins spots Alice and waves her over.

"Oh, Nurse Alice. We are discussing the drop-off."

"Drop off?" Alice asks.

"Yes. As you know, we are low on supplies. We just received word that a crate of supplies has been dropped at a secret spot and we will need someone to get it."

Alice nodded. Mother Superior, who was looking over the nurses in her charge spotted Alice. She points to her. "You will go. Nurse Harrow will go with you."

Alice looked over and saw Margaret who was already making her way toward her. Mother Superior turned to Father Dorkins. "Do we have an able-bodied soldier to accompany them?"

"I will go."

They turn to look at Jack, who has just spoken up.

Father Dorkins speaks against it. "But, soldier, Nurse Alice has said–"

"It's alright, sir. I am going to be sent back to the front soon, anyway. Might as well get a head start."

Alice also has an opinion. "But–"

"It's settled," interjects Mother Superior. "We will equip you with what you need."

Jack nods and walks toward the Ambulance, careful to conceal the slight limp in his gait.

After giving detailed instructions to the two nurses and the soldier, Jack starts the vehicle and they drive off.

***

Alice eyes the winter scenery. The mud and snow; the tracks they are leaving behind. She begins to worry about the possibilities of what they could encounter. What if someone got to the supplies before they had even left?

This is the first time that she has even left the cathedral since she has been here. She pulls away from the glassless window and turns to Jack, who is driving. He seems comfortable with the contraption. Alice had only seen two vehicles her whole life before coming to Europe. In some ways, the wild country was still preserved back home. She misses Freedom and the joy it brings her to be liberated on horseback.