The Decay

Chapter 19 - Preparations

19

“Ah, welcome! Welcome!” said Alexander loudly, a huge smile on his face. “It has been so long, Mike! What can I do for you, my friend?” he asked, enthusiastically. Mike shook his hand calmly and smiled at Alexander. “Yes, Alex, it has been. I came to ask for your help,” said Mike. Alexander's cheerful mood remained “Speak, my friend. I am here to help,” he said. “I need explosives. A lot.” Alexander's face lit up, a big grin on his face. “Ehee! Explosives! Yes! I have plenty, plenty!” He jumped on the spot, waving his arms in the air. “How much do you need? What size boom do you want?” he asked. “Actually, I need a lot, but with separate detonators. Simple C4, 12 packets,” replied Mike. “Ah yes, very well, come back in half an hour and it shall be ready. Standard price, my friend,” said Alexander, still showing his high regard for explosives.

Mike thanked Alexander before heading down the street. There were still more people he needed to speak to.

 

 

He knocked on a brown wooden door twice. “Who's there?”, came a voice from inside. “It's Mike. I need to talk to you,” replied Mike. He waited a few seconds until he heard a loud clinging sound, followed by the door opening. A tall, muscular man looked down on Mike. His thick black beard covered most of his face and his black hair was set in a ponytail. No one dared mess with Darius 'The Beast' Colfrey. “What do you want?” “I'm Mike, remember me?” Darius gave Mike and angry stare. “You're the one who's going around killing mercenaries,” he said. Mike nodded. “Yes, and I need your help,” said Mike. “For what?” he asked, his patience running thin. “I want to stop them once and for all. Attack Hanscom, get rid of them,” replied Mike. “You're a fool. You've been there and seen a few mercenaries. Do you think that's all of them? If the main alarm goes off, hundreds will swarm you.” Mike raised an eyebrow. “Hundreds? What do you mean?” Darius growled. “I mean that most of the base is located underground. Under the air force base. You see 30 or 40 mercenaries running around on top to keep guard. Rest are underground. I'd know that,” he said.

 

Darius had been with the mercenaries for years. He had eventually grown tired of all the needless killing. He had asked to leave, but they would hear of no such thing; once you joined, you were in for life. Darius didn't like that. He packed his bags and, when confronted by a group of mercenaries, killed them all with his bare hands. There was still a bounty on his head.

 

“Don't you want to get rid of those mercenaries? You could be a free man, no one to claim the bounty on your head. You could stay here or even leave, go wherever you want without fear of being hunted down. Ninety gold coins for one man's head is a lot of money.” asked Mike. Darius remained in silence for a few seconds. “If I'm going to do this, I want to plan it with you. I know the base better than all of you together,” he said. Mike nodded. “Yeah sure. We could definitely need your advice,” replied Mike. “And one more thing,” said Darius. “The leader is mine,” he said, pounding his huge fists together. Mike nodded. “Done. Do whatever you need to do. Meet me at the council hall at 11 tonight.” Mike extended his hand to Darius. He looked at it, turned around and walked back in to the house, closing the door behind him. “Such a friendly guy,” whispered Mike to himself.

 

He walked back to Alexander's house, the 30 minutes soon up. After paying for the explosives, he went to speak to both Sam and Christy, after which he returned to home to Anita. She was sitting on the couch, reading a book. A remnant of the old world. As she saw Mike, she put it down and turned her attention to him. “Hey, so how did it go?” asked Anita. Mike smiled back at her. It was weird having someone in his house. “Better than I could have expected, I guess. Spoke to Sam and Christy, bought the explosives that we're going to need and even managed to convince a big, bad guy to help us. I still need to speak to Mr. and Mrs. Autrey, but I'll wait until they're home. Mike sat down next to Anita, a glass of water in his hand. “Have you come up with a plan yet?” asked Anita. “Sort of,” replied Mike. “I have a few details I need to work out, but Darius will help me with that tonight.”

 

A few hours passed before Mike headed out again. This time, Anita was with him. They went over to the house next to theirs. It looked similar to Mike's, but it was slightly larger and the roof blue instead of black. After knocking, the door opened almost immediately. “Ah, hello neighbor,” said the woman standing in the doorway. “Hi Mrs. Autrey, how are you doing?” asked Mike. “I'm doing very well thank you. And how about you? I see you have a lovely lady next to you.” Anita Smiled and nodded politely. “I'm Anita, pleasure to meet you,” she said. “What can I do for you?” asked the woman. Mike exchanged a brief look with Anita before speaking. “We need your help. And your husband's,” he said. “We're going to get rid of Epsilon once and for all.” The woman raised an eyebrow, skeptically. “Epsilon as in the mercenaries? You must be crazy, lad,” she said. “We do have a plan. Everyone knows that you two are the best shooters in town,” said Mike. The woman laughed. “We may well have been at some point, but we're old now dear. Both in our sixties. What makes you so sure that we still know how to shoot?” she asked, curiously. “I've seen both of you shoot. You could be on your death bed and still hit a fly from a long distance,” said Mike. The woman smiled. “I suppose you're right. We'll listen to your plan and then we'll decide,” she concluded. Mike nodded. “Very well. Come to the council hall in an hour. All shall be explained.”

 

With that, Mike and Anita said their goodbyes and went back home. It wasn't long until they all had to assemble back at the council hall, so they quickly changed clothes and grabbed a bite to eat. “Are you ready to do this?” asked Anita. Mike shrugged. “It's not like we have much of a choice. I have most of the plan worked out, but I'll be needing Darius for the details,” he said. “I'm sure you'll do great,” replied Anita before quickly giving him a hug. Mike's heart skipped a beat but said nothing.

 

Shortly after, they headed for the council hall.