𝚆𝙾𝚁𝙻𝙳 𝚂𝙾 𝙲𝙾𝙻𝙳

Suspicions Are Confirmed

Victor's boots hit the pebbles of the shoreline before he then removes the strap of his carbine from under his shoulders. Adjusting the covering of his face, he watches as the team trekked up the shore. In that moment, Zeus turned his body around and glared down to Victor.

"Double time, sergeant." Zeus says, snapping his fingers as he continues to stroll up the shore. Victor rolls his eyes and jogs over the foot of a small incline and steps up it.

Aiyana had turned her gaze back to Victor, smiling as she watched him walk up the shore. Victor turned his gaze and saw Aiyana staring at him.

"Something the matter, Ms. Pershing?" He asked, looking back ahead of him as he walked.

Aiyana blushed and turned her gaze back down, resuming her stroll.

Zeus, Volkov, and Daniel reach the top of the incline, finding themselves standing on the edge of a tree line that ran along the shore. About twenty or so yards in front of them was a dirt road that carved through the forest around the hills of the shore.

"Which direction is west?" Volkov asks, looking over to Zeus.

Zeus reaches down to his utility belt and unclips an electronic compass before bringing it up to him, pressing the screen of the device. After a moment, Zeus points directly to his left, down the winding dirt road.

"So, what is the current plan, captain?" Daniel then asked, looking past Volkov and to Zeus.

"Hike through the hills and establish some kind of camp before nightfall." Zeus replied, beginning to stroll across the tree line, snow crunching under his boots. Volkov follows suit as Victor and Aiyana eventually reach the top of the incline.

"Hey, Victor. You ever been camping?" Daniel asked, looking back to the two before advancing as well.

"Define camping." Victor responds, walking behind Daniel, Aiyana at his side.

Daniel chuckles. "Guess not, then."

"Pure camping is overrated. Who would want to spend a night out there with nothing to do except sit around a fire?" Aiyana asks, looking across Victor to Daniel. He rolls his eyes as the three of them walked.

Zeus and Volkov reach the shoulder of the road, looking both ways.

"We should follow it." Volkov says, crouching down and feeling the bare earth of the road through the thin layer of snow that blanketed it.

"I agree. Roads these remote have to be some kind of supply route. Kinda surprising to see one this soon." Zeus replies, continuing to observe both ways.

As the five stood along the road, the ears of the anthros flick and they all shoot their gaze in the same direction at the same time. Victor's eyes widen as he looked in the same direction as well. He couldn't hear a sound except of the gentle breeze blowing through the hills.

"Engines. Sounds like a diesel truck." Aiyanna says, keeping her gaze dead forward.

"Well, shit. We'd be spotted too easily in this lack of snow. All the vegetation is dead, cover isn't an option." Zeus says.

"What do we do, captain?" Victor asks, gently gripping the strap of his carbine.

Zeus sighs, turning his gaze back around to his team. "This road overlooks the shore so we can't retreat. And we'll stick out like a sore thumb trying to hide behind these trees." Zeus answers, scanning around his surroundings.

"We should advance deeper in the forest. Move along on the hills." Volkov says, looking up to Zeus.

Zeus nods. "Aiyanna, set up a temporary camera so we can see exactly what is coming through here."

Aiyanna nods, crouching down and removing her pack from off her back, beginning to search inside it.

"You three," Zeus says, pointing to Volkov, Daniel, and Victor. "Follow me. Tread lightly."

The four then begin to jog across the road and deeper into the forest. As they advanced, Victor looked back behind him for a brief moment, seeing Aiyanna jam a small cylindrical device into a pile of bare earth. She disguised it with mud and dead leaves before quickly rising to her feet and taking off to catch up after the group.

By now, Zeus and the others find themselves standing upon a twenty-degree slope of the snow-covered hillside, waiting for Aiyanna.

"What's taking her so long?" Zeus mutters softly, looking down the hill and through the forest.

"She cannot be much longer now." Volkov replies, crouching behind a tree.

"She is a perfectionist, after all." Daniel said, watching as well.

Victor watched in silence. After a moment, Aiyanna finally comes into view as she navigated through the forest. Victor lets out a soft sigh of relief through his nostrils. As she did, the sound of the engines finally struck Victor's ear.

"What took you so long?" Zeus asks Aiyanna as she returned.

Aiyanna placed herself behind the tree next to Victor, looking over to Zeus. "Hey, I was just trying to make sure they couldn't see it." She answers, giving a scornful stare to Zeus.

"Could have been quicker." Zeus retorts, shrugging his shoulders.

Aiyanna grumbled softly to herself, turning her gaze away from Zeus. She then removed her pack from off her back once more. She searches inside and extracts a black rectangular handheld device. Victor watched as she tapped the screen. The team sat in silence as Aiyanna stared at the video feed. As the sounds of engines grows louder, her eyes widen as she watches the feed.

"Holy shit." She then said, her jaw dropping gently.

"What is it?" Daniel asked over the sound of the engine.

"It's... It's a US ARMY cargo truck." Aiyanna answered as she pressed her finger to the screen of the device, swiping her finger left and right.

Zeus, Volkov, and Daniel spring up from their spots and crouch walk over to Aiyanna. They stood over her shoulder, looking down at a paused moment from the video feed.

"The US ARMY is supplying these assholes?" Daniel grumbles. Victor crept over to Aiyanna and looked over her side, his head next to hers. Aiyanna smiled softly to herself, side-glaring at the man as the device rested on her lap. His eyes widen upon seeing the cargo truck with a white star with a bold ring around it.

"It makes total sense. There is no way After Common Era could keep up this kind of resistance without someone backing them." Zeus says.

"This makes this whole thing a lot more dangerous." Volkov says softly, rubbing the top of his head.

"It doesn't change our objective. This intel is incredibly incriminating and valuable. Consider it the first entry in the report." Zeus says, rising to his feet. "Save that file."

"Way ahead of you, cap." Aiyanna said, turning off the device and stuffs it back into her pack. Daniel and Zeus rise to their feet at well. Victor rose and offered his hand down to Aiyanna. She shot a glance to his hand and smiles warmly up to him, gripping his wrist and rises with Victor's help.

"Alright. We have no time to waste." Zeus says as he began to jog through the forest hillside, the team following close behind.