Hunted

Chapter Twelve - The Price of Freedom

Chapter Twelve

The Price of Freedom

We returned to the hotel after a full meal and spent the rest of the night in Jen and Nigel's room celebrating the engagement. Everyone appeared to be thrilled for them, though I wasn't entirely sure whether Karlo's smiles were genuine, especially with the amount of alcohol he'd downed in the first few minutes back.

After more than enough drinks, we all left for our rooms and just like the night before, Koby came to my room again. That continued on for the following week. He'd sneak in after everyone had gone to bed and then disappear before anyone woke up in the morning. I felt like telling him it wasn't necessary, but I knew deep down that it probably was. Especially with Jamie in the room next door.

It seemed like life really had settled down with the absence of the war, with the exception of the distance between Jamie and I that still hadn't been resolved, and the feeling I had that told me he was with Candice once again. I didn't know how she had forgiven him for something he'd instigated and been so mad at me that I'd been awarded a slap in the face.

Everything seemed too good to be true.

And it was.

General Parker paid us a visit after Nigel and I had been discharged for two weeks and I knew from the minute he'd appeared, that whatever he planned on telling us meant business. That's all the General knew.

"I'd like for you to report for duty at the base at once," he said.

That was an order.

The minute we'd arrived, there was no messing about. We were split up into little groups and thrown into endurance training. After my injuries and the amount of rest I'd had since the last lot of exercise I'd had, I was heaving my guts up in no time.

After torturing us with endurance for quite a while, we were taken to another area where Trent and another couple of soldiers started training us on how to use explosives and how to create bombs with very few materials.

By that point, I knew that there was no way we were sticking around in New Guinea. All I needed was the words of confirmation and I knew that they were coming.

The day stretched on, with us only being dismissed at the first sign of nightfall. By the crack of dawn, we were back at the base again going through another lot of endurance training and learning how to use some newer, complicated guns.

By the end of the week, we'd been taught just about every form of combat and knew explosives like the backs of our hands. Our fitness was also back to where it had once been. The only thing that remained the same was that there had been no news as to why all this training was necessary, but we all knew just the same.

The following day, we met General Parker in the lobby just like we had all the previous days. Unlike the rest of the days this week however, he wasn't interested in heading to the base and getting us to train. He just led us to an enclosed little room that was probably used as a conference room when the hotel held functions.

This was it.

The group filed in behind him, taking various places behind the room. Everyone looked so pale they could have been confused for ghosts. No one had any doubts in their mind as to why General Parker had brought us in here today.

"There are a few things I'd like to go over with you," he began.

His whole aura was different today. The normally hollow eyes that I'd noticed the day I'd met him appeared to have sunken deeper into his head and even he looked a little pale. His job wasn't easy.

"Are any of you aware of the duration of this war?" he asked.

"No," mumbled Jen.

"The war has been in progress for about a year and a half," he informed us. "While things are starting to look in our favour, I can't promise you that the war will be over in months. It can take years for treaties to be worked out."

"So what are you saying?" asked Jimmy.

"With what you lot have accomplished so far, you're too valuable to be sitting around here having a holiday," he said. "With that in mind -,"

"No!" I interrupted.

The room fell silent.

"Miss Sampson, I know that you and many of those around you believe you have earnt respite for all that you've done in the war," he said. "But you have to understand that this is in fact a war and while I agree that what you have seen and done is not something people of your age should go through, it has still happened. For you to sit around here would be a poor use of resources. You are all simply too valuable."

"So what do you expect us to do?" asked Brigid. "Go back and put ourselves in even more danger by trying to tackle even bigger targets?"

"With the training you've had in the last week, you will be able to accomplish far more than what you could have done on your own," the General answered. "You'll be taken back to your area with supplies of your choosing and your job will be to do whatever you can to slow the troops in your area and help us steer the war back into our direction."

"You can't make us go back," argued Gerty, terrified.

"No he can't," Nigel agreed. "But we should."

Everyone turned to look at him with an array of emotions from surprise to anger.

"Think about it," Nigel explained. "There aren't any targets bigger than what we've already done. By going back now, we can actually help to win this war. We've done it all before, so why is now any different."

"I'll tell you exactly why it's different," I snarled. "You're forgetting that with everything we've done in this war, we've risked our lives. Our friends have died Nigel! Are you forgetting Kael and Braden and Gordon and Jordy!?"

"I have not forgotten them!" Nigel yelled, looking furious. "There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about them. They were our mates, our family and they're gone. But they died for a cause Esther, they died for their country and for their friends. Their deaths were not a waste."

"For fuck sake Nigel, they're still dead -,"

"Stop it! Both of you!" yelled Jen, cutting me off in mid-sentence. "Look, you're both right in your own way. But Esther, we need to go back. Our families are still there and who knows, maybe there's something we can do to get them free? We can't stay here. I think you knew that all along."

I was still fuming, but her words were probably just what I needed to hear. Slowly I released the grip I had on the edge of my chair and relaxed my body. The others around me appeared to be calming down too.

"So, what's the verdict?" asked the General, looking between Nigel and I.

I turned slowly to look at Nigel and the moment his eyes were on me, I nodded.

"We're going back," Nigel confirmed.

Epilogue

No one's happy with the idea about going back into the middle of the war, but we all know that it's something that needs to be done. The General has faith that with our newfound skills, we'll be able to attack with much more ease and keep our lives in the process.

I knew the moment we were back in action, all those skills we'd learnt would turn to mush and we'd be in just as much danger as we'd ever been. The only thing that I was going back for, was my family.

I didn't know how I was going to get used to being back in the war. Here we could sleep with ease, knowing that when we woke up there wouldn't be a convoy of enemy soldiers at the foot of our beds with guns pointed at our heads. Back home, it was a whole different story.

Jen had been right about one thing - I'd always known that our stay here was temporary. The thought had just been pushed to the back of my mind along with all the other horrific thoughts that had come with the war. Now it was plaguing my mind, just like all the soldiers I'd killed and the bodies of my dead friends.

The nightmare had returned.

And there was no escaping it.