Zero Two Three One | John Laurens X Reader [Hamilton]

XXVI: Five Days on HSR

❝The song is ended, but the melody lingers on.❞
—Irving Berlin

It's quite a strange situation I'm in. The French soldiers know about Alexander and I stumbling into camp with Russian uniforms. Burr specifically demanded that the matter remain private to ensure that trust among soldiers doesn't deteriorate. I suppose Lafayette "accidentally" let the information slip to the Frenchies, and now they hate Alexander and me even more.

Luckily for us, the Frenchies lack all English skills, and therefore cannot communicate this information to the British and American soldiers. Lee, Burr, and John won't do it, and I don't think Lafayette or Davidson have the balls to do it themselves.

So as for now, all the French can do is glare daggers at me and whisper amongst their groups, in French, "0231".

Ha... if the British or American soldiers heard this code, they'd freak out.

November 11, 2058.

It's been a week since the failed mission.

Lee and Burr took an Ocelot to the Cyber Force base this morning to try to contact Washington directly. More likely than not, they'll only reach his aides or assistants. Still, it's worth a try.

As for now, Alexander and I remain with a group of solemn soldiers around a fire in the center of camp, our old radio chiming chillingly over the crackling flames.

"It has been confirmed by George Washington's aide Tench Tilghman that an AC unit attempted to invade one of the largest Russian bases located in Ukraine in hope of finding British Commander in Chief Thomas Castle. This is a common trend we have seen done in many Voyna countries, such as Iran and China. It is also known that Russian figurehead Nikolai Ivanovich was present in that base at the time of the attack, and while he has been reported to be fine, President Anatoly Ivanovich is reportedly furious, believing that the AC intended to harm Nikolai. The raid, unfortunately, was unsuccessful, and Ukraine as a whole remains strong. It raises the question if Washington plans to take back Ukraine just as he said he would, do these goals remain plausible if he was unable to seize a single base? President Eaton will be holding a press conference on Saturday the sixteenth with Washington, and it is expected they will speak of war matters. Now we're going to Cecelia Gomez for our weather forecast. Cecelia?"

One soldier near the radio switches the station when the passionate meteorologist begins talking about the weather. It's irrelevant since we're not in America. I believe the station we were on was a local news radio station from Los Angeles.

Weather. It's something that I've been thinking about for a while.

As we approach winter, these unbearably-low temperatures will become life-threatening. Valley Forge still doesn't have proper heating like the soldiers stationed in Moscow do.

I know all too well from my childhood; the cold is dangerous. The average temperature can dip to -40 degrees Celsius. In American measurements that's... Hey, that's -40 degrees Fahrenheit as well. Isn't that interesting?

Point is, it's bad news. Are we going to stick through the winter? Our numbers are low as is, and we might lose even more soldiers to the cold. But as it stands, only Washington can order us out.

I tug on Alexander's arm, then whisper to him once I have his attention.

"Let's go."

"Where?" Alexander asks.

"Anywhere else," I shrug. "I don't want to be here anymore. It's making me sad."

Like the loyal person he is, he stands up once I do and he follows me as I stride through camp. Unconsciously, I make my way over to the medic quarters. I'm not surprised to see several previously-injured soldiers outside of the quarters accompanied by a medic; the medics often run several tests on the injured to evaluate their health and determine if they're fit enough to leave the quarters. It's been a relief for me to see the medic quarter slowly grow empty as soldiers begin to recover.