Quantum Book 1: Stranded

Chapter 1

"So you've never had a crush Harper?" A marine asked me.

"No I haven't, never had time for love" I answered.

"Don't let him lie to you" my sister said, earning a glare from me, "back when we ran with the mob, he had a thing for one of the Dons enforcers"

"Wait you guys were in the mob?" another marine asked.

"Yeah, before we enlisted we worked as enforcers for the mob. And I would like to avoid my personal life" I said, hoping that would end the discussion.

This had started a little while into our walk. We took turns dragging the snow sleds we made, trying to make good progress before nightfall. Boredom was something no one enjoyed, and I was fine with conversation so long as it didn't stop you from moving. But my personal life was of limits. That woman I had loved, and who had loved me back, was gone, and I was not. So it did no good to reminisce.

"What happened to her?" Chora asked.

If it had been anyone else I would told them to fuck off, maybe even knocked in a few teeth. But this was Chora asking. So I indulged. For the first time in ten years I spoke of my lost love.

"It was a job gone wrong. We were enforcers, we were supposed to handle problems within the family. So when we were told that some guys had been selling us out, we naturally went and dealt with them. But they got lucky, hit her in the chest. She died in my arms" I explained.

"Shit. Sorry" Chora said, saddened.

"Don't be, we both knew it was a possibility. I hunted the people who did it down. Ever heard of, "the bloody twins"? That was me and Eva" I explained.

"Shit really? You two are the two most wanted serial murderers on earth?" A marine said.

"Heh, yeah. The only reason we aren't in a cell is because we could fight. They gave us an impossible task to clear our names. And we did it. But that's besides the point. The mob understood. They let us go, but we were made well aware that we could return whenever" I said.

That was mostly true. The mob willing to take us back was true, but there was no impossible task. Me and my sister were very capable fighters, and with the war still raging, they could use us. I have had my same shotgun with me since I joined the mob, and the military let me keep it.

"Alright, let's move on to another, lighter, subject. Markus, you gay?" Chora said, making most of us laugh.

We walked for hours. Hoping to find something. It was nearing sunset when we saw lights in the distance. We put some pep in our step and began moving closer. It was while we moved closer that I began to feel off. There was something wrong here. And then we heard it, gunfire. Lots of it. We immediately halted, dropping to our knees and getting into a combat formation, the flight crew in the center with a large number of marines between them and any threat.

"First squad, stay here, protect the flight crew, rest of you on me, Jones, get drones in the air and see what's happening" I ordered.

Jones complied and drones flew up into the air, cloaking before flying off towards the small town. We cloaked as well, moving close together and staying alert for threats. When we were half way to the town walls, Jones walked up to me, tapping my shoulder to let me know he was there.

"What are we looking at?" I said through our helmet radios.

"Looks like some sort of wildlife is attacking, there is a breach in the south side wall and quite a few of them are flowing in. Targets are attacking civilians, and local paramilitary seems overwhelmed, but they are managing to hold them off, defending some sort of bunker" Jones said, showing me the things he talked about on his data pad.