The Lost had brought out just about everyone by the sounds of it, the blast of guns sounding from the trees, and the report of the convoy's guns in retaliation. It wasn't a very large convoy, maybe fifty guys total, and a tank. It was probably for the best the tank wasn't engaging.
A body plopped down next to Emilia and I, still breathing thankfully. It was Edion. He put a magazine into his gun and shot a few pop shots over the top of the tank before slouching back down into cover as bullets started flying in his direction.
"Em, get this tank into the shit!" He yelled over the noise of war. Edion was still clearly in a bad mood.
"No Edion, they're kids."
"Who cares! we were kids when we started fighting! The enemy didn't care, why should we!" He was only getting angrier by the moment.
I hadn't really been doing anything up to this point, and I felt i needed to do something before more people were hurt, or worse, killed. "Let me talk to them."
Emilia and Edion looked at me, It made sense in my mind, they were here for me, so if they saw me safe it would be fine.
Emilia sighed and said, "let her do it Edion. it's probably the best way." He simply nodded.
I hadn't actually expected them to go along with it. Emilia shouted to the men to cease fire, and I yelled out to Tomas. "Tomas stop firing!"
There were a few stray bullets still echoing in the air but soon it fell silent. So I stood up and came out from behind the tank. "I'm fine Tomas, these people aren't going to hurt us.
The bushes ruffles and Tomas emerged, he was carrying ammo but no gun, behind him was the blonde haired nameless girl, gun on point. She didn't look like she cared about saving me, as long as she got to shoot something. Shivers ran down my spine.
"Ari!" Tomas looked excited, "Your okay!"
"Yeah, I see you are as well."
"We're here to get you out of here," he looked around suspiciously, "Where is Georg?"
I looked at the ground between my feet, he was such an innocent boy, he really did want to save me, even if it cost more lives. After Georg died, Tomas became the second in command. He was Georg's brother and it was him and Georg that had started The Lost. I came in soon after and we had quickly grown in numbers.
"He's dead."
A pause. A long aching pause.
"What..."
I couldn't look him in the eyes, but I knew it hit him hard. Some of the others from The Lost that came to get me and Georg had emerged from the woods, guns held high. Tensions were rising and it wasn't looking good. I glanced back at Emilia and Edion, and her men, some of them on the ground, still, dead. The rest behind cover, guns at the ready.
All it would take was one stupid idiot with an itchy trigger finger to unleash a slaughter on us.
"Tomas" I finally got the nerve to look at him. He was holding his composure together but i could tell he was struggling. "We need to talk to these people."
That was the wrong thing to say. Tomas shook his head and yelled at me, his voice filled with pain and rage, "Talk to the people that killed my brother!"
By now the few within The Lost that didn't yet hear about the death of Georg knew now. At this point I saw that things were looking grim, and I wasn't wrong. I heard a click behind my head and an arm wrap around my neck. Soon I recognized a cold barrel against my temple and heard a voice that began to make me sick.
Edion had snapped. "Put your fucking guns down!"
The Nameless girl pointed her gun at Edion, and several members of The Lost began to become confused, looking around nerviously and waiting for Tomas to give an order.
"Edion." Emilia whispered, she stood only a few feet behind us, "stand down."
Yet Edion didn't change his stance, just glared straight ahead at Tomas and the Nameless girl.
"Stand down or I will shoot you."
Once again he didn't change his stance but his arm twitch. After a few moments his grip slacked and he shoved me forward into the dirt. He uncocked his gun and holstered it, turning around and leaving with an angry grunt, bumping shoulders with Emilia as he left.
I got myself back up. The frozen dirt scrapped up my hands but nothing more. I brushed myself off and turned to Emilia.
"I'll help you," my voice stern, "If you help us."
It took a fair bit of convincing to get everyone to stand down and, quite frankly, go away. The Lost went back to caring for the rest of the group in the forest as well as some wounded from the firefight. The only ones that stayed around was Tomas and the Nameless girl. Nameless cleaned her gun and knawed on hard bread, and Tomas sat alone near the forest edge.
Emilia had gone about reorganizing her men, two were killed and eight more wounded. Luckily only one was possibly fatal. Edion was getting the men moving again, but far away from Emilia.
I was still near the tank, Wolf, when Baker came up to me.
" Sup' kiddo."
I didn't pay him much attention but he leaned against the tank and lit up a cigarette.
"Not bad out there." He wasn't looking at me but at some random point in front of us. "You know, Edion, he's not a bad guy."
I scoffed, having a gun pointed at your head starts to make you hate a guy really fast.
"He's just...he has seen a lot. A lot more than you or me." a long drag on his ciggarrette and a puff of smoke from his cheeks. He scratched his head and glanced my way. I noticed he still wasn't wearing pants. What the hell was wrong with this unit?
"Why did you come over here to talk to me?" I honestly wasn't in any mood to talk to anyone at the moment.
"Your still young, But the this is more than you or me." more words I didn't care to hear, "Anyways, Red- I mean Emilia wanted me to give this to you."
I turned my head to see what he pulled from behind his back. It was my gun, the SMR and some ammo. The stock was wrapped in medical bandaging. I took it into my hands. The two notches in the wood near the trigger let me know this was mine.
"Yeah sorry, It was broken when you fell on it the night you tried to steal Emilia's tank. I fixed it up best I could, It will do for now."
"Thanks." i mumbled, it was nice to have a gun again. more importantly, it was nice to have my gun again.
Baker dropped the cigarette and stomped it out, grinding it into the dirt with the ball of his boot. "Just don't shoot anyone who doesn't need shooting." was the last thing he said before walking off to help the others.
The trucks were loaded with soldiers and Wolf's engine started. Nameless sat with some men in the rear truck, and I rode on top of the tank with Emilia, Baker walking just behind us next to Tomas. We had offered him a spot on the tank but he had just shook his head. In his hands was a gun.
We took the left road. I had drawn a route on the map Emilia had. It was a couple of years old and some of the roads were grown over. So I redrew the new roads onto the map as best I could remember. We were heading north. I recognized a town in the north, the village I lived in. It was now a heavily fortified transport station for the Reich as it was one of the only towns in the region with a train station. 631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFWsdpIh0xf
I was going home.
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