Fallout Ch. 03

"What's going on?" Mike asked.

"I'll explain later, buddy." The red headed soldier whispered, "first get up and put on these clothes."

With that, Charles handed him an olive drab shirt with matching pants. Mike grabbed them and slipped them over his boxers. He stopped and thought how he got into bed. He didn't recall leaving the cold shower. Next, Charles gave him a pair of black leather boots. Mike quickly laced them, they were perfectly his size. Which seemed a little weird to him.

"Lector!" Charles called out.

"Sir?" Said one of the soldiers.

"Give me your rifle and get another at the armory, OK?"

"Yessir!" The soldier replied. He gave Charles an old, box-fed, bolt-action rifle and several magazines of ammunition.

"Thanks, go ahead and get the King to HQ! We will be right behind you." Charles commanded.

All the soldiers ran out, protecting the King who was scared shitless. Michael laughed a little and said, "You must be running the show! Even the King didn't protest!"

"That's because he cares about the safety if his own hide rather than the ones of his people." Charles said.

Mike nodded while he clipped on his holster and knife. He grabbed the clips of ammunition and stuffed them into the many pockets of his uniform. Lastly, he took the rifle from Charles and made sure there was one in the chamber.

"OK. On me." Charles said and ran out the door.

Mike ran out behind him and followed him down the halls of the hotel. Michael could see bullet holes in the windows, that worried him. 'Gods, hear me. Protect Julia.' He prayed. The two dangerous looking men ran around the corner and almost collided into someone. Mike noticed who it was.

"Julia!" He shouted. Charles stopped and turned back to look at Mike.

"Michael? Michael be safe, OK?" She pleaded with worry in her eyes.

"Don't worry about me! Please hide in one of the rooms." Mike said with concern. He hoped she would listen to him.

Julia nodded but didn't say anything. Mike took his revolver out of it's holster and handed it over to Julia.

"Its loaded. All you have to do is pull the hammer back. I hope you don't have to use it. I will come back for you." Mike whispered to her.

Charles was now at the door and said to Mike, "Mike we need to go..."

Mike ran for the door and turned back to see Julia for what might be the last time. Anna ran down the steps and ushered Julia back up the stairs. Mike called out, "Anna make sure you keep an eye on my puppy!" With that, Charles and Michael busted out of the doors and ran to the headquarters.

***

By the time they got there, the King was explaining to the generals about the situation.

"Men, unknown insurgents have penetrated our defenses. The Western wall has collapsed and the enemy has been occupying that area for more than a couple hours. Our battle technicians have hypothesized that the enemy is large and is looking to overthrow the whole kingdom. This enemy is foreign and extremely mobile. In Major Kade's report it says, 'Within minutes of the explotion that decommissioned the fence, enemy troops had taken thirty percent of the buildings in the city.' I can tell you why it was that easy, men." The King paused when he saw Michael standing in the doorway.

The King continued still making eye contact with Michael, "We... Are at a shortage of troops, but... The ones we do have are well trained... And!" Michael looked around and saw how psyched the men were getting, "we have the most dangerous man standing in our presence. The gods protect and bless this man. This man... is Michael Damik!"

Everyone turned their attention towards Mike and started to applaud. Mike was silent and waved at everyone.

"He and our beloved Major Allen will lead a strike team to combat these threats. We are now in Operation Scorpion. Men... We will not bet all our money on Michael. We have other counter-attack troops that will form a defensive line to control and contain the enemy." The King continued.

He shifted his gaze over to Mike and Charles again, "Allen, hand pick some of our best and lead them to the West Sector. First! Take any Intel you can find on the enemy so we can determine who these guys are. Then, you can eliminate the threat."

"Sir." Charles said lightly. The major looked over the room and called out some of the soldiers' names, "Lector, Haze, and... Baker! Gear up and follow me."

***

Julia wished she could have kissed Michael good bye. Anna lead her up the stairs and into the King's room. There, several of the servants were holed up and chatting nervously. Julia had stuffed the revolver in her pants and covered the handle with her shirt. She could feel the cold metal pressing against her stomach. The two sat down in the corner of the room aside from the rest of the workers. Anna leaned over and whispered in Julia's ear, "He really cares about you doesn't he?"

"Yeah." She said with a sigh.

"Why did he call you his puppy?" Anna asked.

"He says I have big, puppy eyes." She said with a smile.

Anna giggled and said, "Oh, I kinda see it too!"

Just then, three men walked into the room. Julia didn't recognize any of them because they were wearing hooded cloaks. The cloaks were made out of dark clothing that had a lot of tares in it. Each carried an old scratched up shotgun. They didn't say a word when they aimed the guns at the group of workers.

'Bang! Ba-bang!'

The noise was so loud that Julia jumped, covered her eyes, and could hear her ears ringing. She reached down and grabbed the handle of the revolver, but Anna saw what she was doing and grabbed her hand. Anna was right, there were three of them... There was no way she could shoot them all without being shot back. 'But what would Michael do?' She thought.

The three men walked over to the pile of the bloody, mangled corpses. Julia could hear one of them gulp loudly, another bent over like he was going to puke. The third man just walked around observing the room. The third man noticed the two servants huddled in the corner and drew his shotgun. He slowly put his finger on the trigger but never pulled it. He just stood there, aiming the gun at them. He called to the other two attackers, "The King isn't here... Let's go."

The other two turned and ran out of the room. The third man lowered his gun and slowly walked out the door. 'Why did he spare us' Julia wondered.

Anna stood up and helped Julia to her feet. The older woman said, "Don't look, honey. We don't need to see this." With that she shielded Julia's eyes as she led her out of the room.

***

The strike team had made it to the Western wall in a matter of minutes. They were on top of a smaller building and were looking down as enemy troops marched through the streets.

'Snap, snap, snap!' One of the members were taking photos for reconnaissance. Michael leaned over and whispered in Major Allen's ear, "That's a lot of people... How do we know we are on the right side?" Some of the other team members looked at Charles like they had asked themselves the same question.

"We don't. All we know is the mission. That's all we have to know." Charles plainly said.

"You know soldiers can still have opinions. They can question orders. Otherwise you are just a tool, spineless and thoughtless." Michael said to Charles.

"Who said I didn't have an opinion?" Charles retaliated.

"Well no one but you can tell that the enemy force is much more sophisticated. Look at their weapons and formations. Look at their gear. What if your King is just some stubborn fool who doesn't want to give up his power." Mike reasoned.

"Yeah, well, what if you are wrong?" The major asked. "What if these guys are going to murder innocent families just for resources?" Charles asked, making his point.

"We don't know anything. I'm just planting an idea in your mind. I'm not saying we need to abandon your home right now. I'm saying we might need to and start somewhere else." Michael reasoned further.

"What do you have in mind?" One of the soldiers said. His uniform had his name stitched into it. It read, 'Baker'.

"Well, Baker... I was thinking about moving West." Mike said and flashed a smile.

"What's out West?" Baker asked.

"California..." Mike said.

***

Thank you for reading! It certainly has been a very long time! I do apologize, friends, for making you wait so long. Comments are appreciated!