The End

Ray

Myles and I left the house quickly, scavenging for useful items and then walking briskly down the street. "Whoever did this is going to pay" said Myles in a low growl as we passed yet another scene of a last stand.

"They are" I assured myles "but first we need to get this letter to the gerhkin". Myles nodded mutely, we continued to walk past the destruction until we were back at the gate.

After we rummaged around the guard post for ammo we walked through the gate back into the field and we headed towards the wood lined path to the main streets.

"Are you ok?" I asked Myles, who had a determined look on his face, "I'm fine Jason I just want to find my family" he said calmly. I didn't question further and we walked in silence down the tree lined path. Birds, or what sounded like birds, tweeted tunefully in the background and a gentle breeze blew up small clouds of dust from the ground as we walked.

"It must've been so peaceful living here" I said absent-mindedly. Myles made a non committal noise and didn't continue the conversation. I took his point and stayed quiet.

We continued to walk and as we neared a clump of bushes I felt a presence nearby. I shot my hand out to stop Myles from walking another step. "What is it Jason?" asked Myles. I put a finger to my lips.

A green dot was painted clearly on my chest, much like the green dot from my laser on my M4. "You've got good senses I'll give you that" said a deep growl emanating from the bushes. "We don't mean any harm" I replied not betraying any emotion.

"You know that's one of the few times I've heard that and be inclined to believe you" said the voice in a almost amused tone. "Do you believe me then?" I asked calmly.

"Let's say I'm in between right now" growled the voice just as calmly, "I'm gonna have to ask you to drop your weapons on the ground now" said the voice "and don't try anything because I WILL drop you where you stand." the voice said this with such conviction we didn't doubt him for a single second.

Myles and I lowered our guns to the floor slowly as to not provoke a reaction. "Good" said the voice contentedly and with a rustle of leaves and twigs a huge bear of a man emerged from the bushes.

He was so large I wondered how he had stayed invisible and how the bush could contain him. He had quite a similar loadout to Jonas. He wore a black leather jacket and heavy cargo trousers, a heavily laden tactical vest adorned his torso and a metal helmet sat atop his huge head, and in his hands he held a menacing shiny black light machine-gun with the green laser sight attached to it.

His face was young and it was covered in dirt and stubble. "So" he said "what's your business here?" he asked pleasantly enough, but me and Myles still kept our eyes on the monstrosity held in the mans arms.

This time I didn't hesitate to answer, "We were just passing through to see my friend's family here and as you can see we found it in a destroyed state" I glanced quickly at Myles who had tensed ever so slightly at the mention of his home but it passed and I continued "and now we are on our way to the gerhkin". The man suddenly tensed and he raised his machine-gun. "What do you want with the gerhkin!" he said loudly and authoritatively.

In reaction to the movement I raised my hands and said "don't shoot!" The man just glared at me and said plainly "answer or I will kill you". "I was given a letter by a friend to take there!" I said hurriedly, hoping to mollify the man.

Thankfully the man relaxed and let his gun drop back into the safety position. "really?" he asked looking interested now, "Who gave you the letter?" he continued. "My father's friend" I replied, slowly letting my arms drop back to my sides.

"Could you give me a name?" asked the man. "Jonas" I said simply. The man suddenly became very interested and friendly, "Jonas!?" he asked incredulously, a broad smile spreading across his face. "You know him? He was my mentor! In the Hunters! How is he?" He said this so quickly I was slightly overwhelmed and I didn't answer immediately. "Well?" asked the man impatiently, "Jonas....Jonas is dead" I said flatly.

The Man visibly deflated, His shoulders lowered and his head drooped. "I'm so sorry to hear that" said the man, "He truly was a good man." I sighed then said "Well now you know, can we pass?" the man nodded "sure" he said. After Myles and I picked up our guns The man suddenly asked "why did Jonas give you a letter?" I thought back and realised that I, in fact, didn't know. "He didn't tell me" I replied "He just told me to get to the gerhkin and hand the letter to a man named Conrad."

"Conrad?" said the man now suddenly interested. "Must've been important then" he mused "well if Jonas gave you that task will you mind if I join you?" I was completely taken aback by the request and didn't answer for a second.

"Er..." I said unsure how to answer. "First things first" said Myles suddenly "we don't even know your name" "It's ray" answered the man quickly. "And we don't even know if we can trust you" continued Myles suspiciously. "And what are the hunters anyway?" I asked.

Ray sighed exasperatedly and said "first of all I think you could trust me if I hadn't shot you already..." Myles and I nodded grudgingly and Ray continued "and the hunters are a spec-ops division of the NATO forces in and around London."

"NATO?" I asked confusedly looking both at Myles and Ray. "Well, it's an old pre-war organisation, stood for North Atlantic Treaty Organisation" explained ray, "before all the bombs, there were actual boots on the ground and there was fighting in England against the invading UEFP forces." I looked questioningly at Ray and he added "UEFP was the United East Factions Pact".

He continued "Well, what's left of those forces have organised and set themselves up as a mop up force of any remaining UEFP forces and are hoping for some sort of contact from a higher NATO command." "So Jonas was in the hunters?" I asked interested. "Yeah" answered Ray "like I said, he was my mentor".

He sighed heavily before saying "well do you trust me?" I looked hard at Ray for a while before saying "I trust you, but what do you think Myles?" Ray and I turned to the silent Myles who stayed silent for moment before replying "I trust him."

Ray smiled widely before saying "thanks guys, that means a lot." "We'll make sure we don't regret it" I answered smiling slightly as well. "Well shall we get going then?" Asked Ray brightly. "Sure thing, " I said "Myles c'mon lets go!" I patted Myles on the shoulder and he seemed to wake from a reverie. "Okay then" said Myles picking up his AK and loading a round into the chamber. "Let's go!"