Olivia opened the door as warily as she could.

“Olivia?” Redmond asked, hearing the creaks coming from the door.

She closed her eyes before opening it all the way. “Yes Mister Redmond?”

“If you like, I got some English muffins on the table for you to ease yourself.” Redmond took a sip of his tea. “You probably hadn’t eaten all day, so it’s best that you do.”

“I’m not hungry.” She stood as right in front of the table. “Just tell me why you brought me here.”

He took a scone from the plate and chewed out a piece. “Alright then. Olivia, I want to talk to you about something.”

“Regarding the interrogation?”

He grew irritated, “No, something else that’s coming to mind.”

Olivia let her hands rest on the pommel of her sword. Her eyes closed briefly before opening again. “Go on.”

Olivia could see the guards next to him tighten the grip on their shotguns, her grip tightened because of this.

“Thank you, anyway, I never realized how feeble you were until now.”

She prevented an aggressive yell escape from her mouth. “Hmph!”

“That kid really kicked you hard, didn’t he?” Redmond opened the folder that was in front of him.

“He did.” She opened her eyes to find an X-ray photo next to Redmond.

“Indeed.” He held onto a pen, pointing it at various parts of the X-ray. “You had three punctures to the lung, both lungs mind you! Your spleen was ruptured, your right arm was broken, and you were on the verge of cardiac arrest.”

She faced down at her hands. “I see.”

“Your father truly trained a valiant fighter there.” Redmond put down the X-ray.

Olivia groaned softly. “And that statement becomes more contradictory with discussions like this?”

Redmond chose this opportunity to drink a bit of his tea. “It’s just that after more than sixty years, I expected your slumber to actually do something.”

A man in a tuxedo was quick to lean over to him and whisper something in his ear. “Actually Redmond, people in comas don’t grow in the way you’ve hoped.”

When he leaned away, Redmond was quick to correct himself. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t know that was possible.”

Olivia rolled her eyes. “This is the kind of reason why I don’t think this deal was right.”

“Well,” Redmond stood up from his seat, obviously enraged. “You don’t have a choice, Olivia! If you want to go and see where we buried your father? Then you better do as I say!”

She glared at him, feeling as if the pommel was going to snap into pieces. “Right…, so what else do you want to talk about?”

Redmond sat down, hastily eating the next English muffin on the little plate. “Fine then, all I’m saying is that you have to be careful with what you’re up against.”

She held back another yell. “That’s it?”

“Not really.” He drank a bit of his tea. “Yesterday’s incident also proves how powerful Mister Bentley is as well. Not to mention the people he was running away from originally. These people are known killers miss Olivia.”

Olivia was quiet, holding onto her hand as she felt herself quake.

“Those people want that boy more than we do!” he mentioned. “They’ve been searching longer, and all that blab.”

He looked out at the sunset looming overhead. “I told you once that the only disadvantage they have is attachment, did I not?”

He didn’t get his answer. “Olivia.”

She looked up. “Oh, what?”

He pointed at her. “And that’s where I’m getting at.”

Olivia’s shoulders tensed.

“That attachment’s breaking in.” Redmond pointed out. “And in time, if you’re not careful at least, it’ll put us in a disadvantage!”

“That’s preposterous, Mister Redmond.” Olivia countered. “There’s no sign that-”

He had a remote in his hands, and he quickly pressed the ‘on’ button. The massive TV screen behind him had a still image which explained it all. Olivia was no longer striking back, she even ignored the sword falling towards the floor below.

“It was all done on purpose, I know.” Redmond told her. “And no, you’re not going to die. What I am going to say however, is ask you what you and that girl were up to?”

Olivia placed her hands over her dress, but her mouth kept shut.

“Olivia, I told you earlier that attachment will only put us at a disadvantage.” Redmond took a sip from his tea. “If you’re not willing to speak, then this will only limit your chances of ever finding your father.”

Redmond didn’t get an answer from her. So he added on to that with, “I say this, because I feel that their attachment towards Mister Bentley is dwindling with every passing moment.”

Olivia was quick to denounce it. “You don’t know that, maybe they still do-”

“Even if they’re not, it certainly seems that you’ve grown attached to the enemy in some way.” Redmond sighed. “So it’s safe to say that the question I asked of you was meaningless.”

Olivia looked down to her hands, unable to speak.

“Slowly but surely, their disadvantage will soon be gone.” Redmond reminded her. “And if it spreads to you, then there’s a clear indication that it will be the demise of not only my dream, but yours as well.”

Olivia eyed the sunset that was slowly being pushed down by the glimmering twilight.

“Like you, Olivia. They too have their reasons to want him dead. So it’s only natural that they’d want the bug thrown into a room and starved to death.”

  A red coated tank barely ascended over the hill before a duo of rockets annihilated out of nowhere.

“Damn it!” the soldier in front of it screamed. “How the hell did they-!”

BLAM!

Marianne lowered her pistol to reload it. “Bastard’s gonna pay!”

She lunged forward, pistols loaded.

“Calm down, Marianne!” One of her subordinates shouted, holding her back. “The last thing we wanna do is lose you…! Uh, Marianne?”

She finished wiping her eyes with her long sleeve. Her eyes would gaze upon her subordinates, and they in turn were near scared by the red puffy eyes that were streaming down flames of tears. Her hands clenched her pistols when she gave this order: “Tell everyone to keep pushing then… If you want this damn chase to end, then get moving, got it?”

They briefly faced each other with worry, but complied. The one in front of Marianne was the first to put it into action. “This is Cassy, calling all members of squad one…,”

BLAM!

A soldier standing by the ruins of one of the buildings fell back with force.

Cl-click!

Big Mac could hear Maribelle let out a soft moan. So he looked behind him to check, noticing that she was waking up.

“Ugh.” She moaned again. “What the hell happened?”

“Smoke bomb.”

“Oh, that.” She rubbed her head, then observed that they were in the middle of a battlefield.  She checked to see if her katana was by her side. “Well then, time to kick some more ass.”

“Nope.”

“Huh? Why say…” She stopped when she figured it out. “Oh, right.”

She then coughed a bit.

He zoomed into his scope. “Maribelle, I just wanna go home.”

“Yeah, I can tell.” She used the back of his head as a back support. “And Marianne?”

“I think it’s best that you stay away from her, okay?”

“Why say that?”

BLAM!

He pulled away to wipe a few stinging tears from his hooves. “She’s not happy right now.”

BOOM!

“Huh?” they asked before noticing the fighter jet above in the air. Then they saw the choppers in the distance. So they agreed to head over there.

“No.” Marianne growled, watching the squad of three blue choppers fly into view.

When they landed, it was their cue to hop on.

“C’mon, let’s go!” Cassy shouted.

“No, no, no!” she screamed. Then she attempted to walk around the choppers. “I’m not-!”

She felt an arm wrap around her waist. She found that it was Big Mac’s arm. Cassy then stood by her side. “It’s not worth it, Marianne. Up against that number, we won’t be able to last.”

Marianne faced down, her grip tightening over her pistols. With her anger, she shouted. “Fine!”

And then she barged her way to the chopper. With worry, Big Mac hung his head low. But then there was a pat on his head from Maribelle.

“It’s okay.” she comforted, and with a smile she asked, “Okay?”

He began trotting back to the chopper, with a nod. Solemnly, he’d say. “Yep.”

Ivan lied down over the grass. He let one arm rest over his eyes while he breathed heavily. Next to him, Jacklyn was resting her head near his neck.

“Gee, you two are very weak!” Lance said bluntly.

“We’re not professional Mercs… Lance!” Ivan panted.

“It shows.” Lance looked back behind him, there he could see the countless streams of smoke arise into the air. “We better get moving though. It’s obvious that you pissed her off with such a question.”

“Not to mention the fact that we smoke bombed them.” His breathing was slow and steady now. “Unless we want to tell them that it was just a prank, then we should stay far away from them.”

“Right.” Lance checked his sniper rifle for ammo. “So, judging by the pony’s butt tattoo, I guess he’s ‘Haystack’, right?”

He was silent. A now recovering Jacklyn would pull away in worry. “Ivan?”

He took a deep breath before sitting up himself. He was clearly annoyed. “Does it really matter, dude? C’mon, let’s just go.”

Cl-click!

“I think it’s about time you start talking, sir.”

Ivan saw that he was already arming his SMG. So he only sighed at this site as he stood up. “You know that you’re jeopardizing your own reputation here, right?”

Lance’s arms were shaking.

“You’re either going to accept the fact that I’m not speaking, or you’re gonna lay on the floor with your guts missing.”

Cl-Click!

His arms were still shaking, but after a while they were down on his sides. “Alright then. So, Jacklyn do you know who that pony is.”

Ivan gripped onto his rifle. That didn’t stop Jacklyn from answering however. Despite being saddened herself, she managed to shake her head in reply.

“Oh, I see.” Lance then faced Ivan. “So Ivan, about that woman?”

He gripped tightly.

“Do you like her?”

Jacklyn, shaking also, held a close eye on Ivan, who was pushing at the trigger. She knew however, that it wasn’t going to last. She got up like lightning, and watched Ivan aim for his face.

Fw-fw-fwo!

She pushed the rifle away, but she could tell by Lance’s cries of pain that she failed. “Lance!”

Ivan instead checked his magazine for ammo. “Just heal him up, and we’ll be on the move.”

Jacklyn put pressure on the wound, but that clashed with the fact that she was already in a state of shock.

“Jackie?” he faced down on her.  “Uh, you have the syringe, right?”

He could see that her body was shaking.

“Jackie, what did you do with the syringe?”

Lance could feel the tears slap against his pants.

“Grr!” Lance pushed her away with force. “Why in bloody hell am I even with you bastards…! I get told that I should trust you people… Grrr, and then I get freaking shot?”

Despite the pain, he struggled to get back up. “I’m miles away from home, my family, my friends… Grrr!”

Ivan let the rifle dangle from his hand, while he placed the other over his arm. Jacklyn was still in tears, making the whole covering her eyes with her bloodied hands seem useless. Therefore, he put the rifle down and began unbuttoning his shirt.

“Huh?” Lance looked up, revealing onto Ivan his tears. This grabbed Jacklyn’s attention too with her peeking through her bloodied hands.

Now shirtless, Ivan then reached the shirt out onto him. “I don’t know if it will do much, but it’s worth a try.”

Lance could see the sadness in his eyes as he looked out into the vast hills in front of him. Without complaining, he took the shirt from him, and wrapped it around his body. Although it stung, he managed with ease.

“I just want to forget, Lance.” Ivan explained unto him. “About her, that pony, I just… I just....”

Lance sighed before finally getting up. “Well, you know… the obvious lesson to that, right?”

“I know.” Ivan crossed his arms. “But I have no choice, Lance. Plus, there are some things that you are best not knowing about.”

Lance held onto his SMG. “Well, I could try to run away now. But-”

Ivan picked his rifle up from the ground. “Ugh, I shouldn’t’ve never brought you along.”

“Huh, you and me both.” Lance checked his SMG for ammo. “I’m baffled as to how you came up with that idea.”

“Meet too.” Ivan looked back out into the hills. “So, ignorance is bliss then?”

“Not exactly.” Lance said straightforwardly.

Ivan’s arms went limp. “And why do you say that?”

“At some point, you’re going to have to talk.” Lance then faced the calming Jacklyn.

Ivan did the same. He held onto his arm, before telling her, “It was back at the Idaho front, right.”

She nodded. “Um…, sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Ivan told her. “If we ever get more of those, don’t do it again.”

Jacklyn faced the tear stained grass. “Okay.”

“That’s good to hear.” Ivan rubbed his forehead. “Now then, we better get moving.”

Jacklyn stood up on her two feet and sported a determined glare. “Right.”

“Lance?”

“More Perils are to come.” Lance then smiled. “But alright then.”

Ivan smiled also.

The sun had already set, replacing the blue sky with a near blackening night. To Thomas, it felt as if the night itself passed by. He slowly opened his eyes to find Viktor staring down at him.

“Welcome back, Mister Wesley!” he greeted with mirth. “You’ve been out for a while.”

Thomas quickly took an aggressive stance. Now with full energy, he lunged forward, “Why you-”

His statement was cut short once Viktor got a hold of his fist wielding arm. Wrapping it against his back, Viktor spun him around. In front of Thomas were three corpses, and they were wearing black. He was nearly in shambles at this. His twitching eye being a dead giveaway.

“These three tried kidnapping you.” Viktor explained. “You are welcome.”

Thomas took in a deep breath. “Fine then, now explain to me why in the hell/ are you letting them get away.”

Viktor let go of his arm and walked up to one of the bodies. “The KGB told us that BLU is partnered with these people. They claim to be mercenaries, while their chasers say they are nothing but criminals. In all aspects, both sides are correct.”

Thomas had so many questions, “B-”

“But one thing’s certain.” Viktor snapped the pin away from the beret. “They were once a force to be reckoned with.”

Thomas could see the blue bird above the intercrossed sword and musket. He didn’t need to take a step closer to see.

“Rebels in Iraq; soldiers in East Africa, Zurich, and West Australia spotted this group.” He took a good look at the pin himself. “And that’s just to name a few. They were a Multinational group, or in more blunt terms, a handful of NATO and ANZUS's finest.”

With those words, Thomas concluded, “So judging by your voice, you wanted to join our hunt?”

“Not exactly.” Viktor stood up and walked back to Thomas. “You see, those two are not the biggest threat.”

He ignored his bewildered face to point down at the bodies. “It is these people.”

Thomas was already expressing his concern in place of his confusion.

“You already know the risk in researching the boy.” Viktor added, “So it is best that he stay out of sight until we wipe out the competition.”

Thomas let go of the fists. “So, how are you going to back that claim?”

“Simple,” he answered. “The Red Army helps RED take out the Legion, and then we head south to take that boy in.”

“Didn’t you just mention the risk in researching him?”

Viktor sighed. “Maybe we should give him some time to develop said powers. Consider it a little experiment.”

Thomas nodded his head. “Interesting tactic. Now how are you going to put it into fruition?”

Viktor smiled. “So long as the Legion are distracted, your wife should be able to destroy them. So, I want you to convince your wife to let me join the group. I will be in contact with you from our consulate.”

He handed onto him the contact card. “And why are you even doing this?”

Viktor walked past him. “That’s classified information, Thomas. Plus, you have the opportunity to end this war, act on it.”

Thomas stood still while deep in thought.

“Oh, and I like how cocky you turned when confronting him.” He laughed. “You looked intimidating in my opinion.”

This gave him more fuel of thought.

The guardswoman, who was waiting, walked up to Viktor. Then she asked in what she considered her alien tongue. “{Comrade Captain, the majority of the local resistance was destroyed. Others, probably retreated!}”

Viktor placed the rifle barrel over his shoulder. “{That is good news to hear. I am already fed up as it is.}”

“{So is it true?}” She gripped onto her rifle. “{We will be focusing on the Legion first?}”

“{I believe that this will be the ultimate strategy, so yes.}” He patted her on the head, sandwiching her cap in between her hair and his hand. “{They’re not going to pay attention long enough. So hopefully we can do what we can to put an end to this.}”

“{And then?}”

He pulled away. “{We’ll be heroes.}”

“So, Argentina then?’ Lance asked while clinging onto Ivan’s shoulder.

“Yep, that’s probably what he was suggesting.” Ivan concluded. “Go there, and both of us will be fine.”

“What do you mean by ‘both’?”

“You’ll be heading back to Australia, aren’t you?” Ivan reminded him. “It’s just going to be our problem from now on.”

“Oh, I understand.” Lance then looked around. “Hey Jackie, you all right there?”

“Yeah,” she answered calmly. “I was just looking at the moon. It looks nice.”

Ivan and Lance decided to look out to the moon. Despite it being blocked by countless trees they could still see it. Its dim glow beaming down on them.

“You were wondering what Luna was doing up there, weren’t ya?” Lance asked.

“Yeah.” She answered. “She must be really lonely up there.”

“I agree.” Lance sighed. “Nearly a thousand years of banishment does stuff like that.”

“True that.” Then Jacklyn would ask, “How’s your wound?”

“I… I think’s it getting better.” Lance answered.

“That’s nice.” Jacklyn held her arm. “I’m… I’m sorry for giving that vaccine away.”

“I alr-”

Lance interrupted. “It’s okay Jackie, just keep your chin up. You’ll be fine.”

She nodded modestly. “Alrighty then.”

Ivan stopped walking.

“Whoa, Ivan.” Lance called. “What happened?”

Jacklyn immediately jogged towards them. “Ivan, what’s going-”

He did nothing but point at what’s in front of him. They looked out into the horizon, past the trees, squinting their eyes. Once they figured it out, their hearts were leaping.

“Finally some shelter!” Ivan proclaimed.

“Whoa!” Lance screamed.

“Lance!” Thankfully, Jacklyn managed to take hold of him before running after Ivan. ‘Ivan, wait!”

“Oh god, I could really use a…” Then he felt something constrict his ankle. “No, not that~!”

“Ivan!” Jacklyn screamed in horror.

“I’m all right!” Ivan assured them. “Just hanging around! Nothing too-!”

Twang!

His heart skipped a beat. “I take that back!”

He then grabbed onto his leg and reached for the knife that was holstered in his ankle. He began to pull it out.

Thwap!

“Whoa, Whah~!” He hit his head on a branch, and was twirling around like a pinwheel before landing on the ground. “Ow!”

“Ivan, fall back!” Jacklyn screamed.

“On it!” Ivan could see the flashlight she held onto and fell back to her position. All the while, bullets were already pounding against her shield. “Hey, thanks Lance!”

“That wasn’t me you bloody idiot!” Lance snarled. “Now don’t go off like that again, my spleen could’ve ruptured!”

Ivan sighed. “Alright then, sorry.”

Lance rolled his eyes. “You people are crazy, you know that?”

Ivan laughed. “You don’t know the half of it, buddy.”

“Guys, can you quit talking and help me?” Jacklyn begged as the countless bullets were kicking at her shield. “The enemy could be flanking us by now!”

“I’ll keep an eye for that!” Lance called.

In the meantime, Jacklyn handed the flashlight over to Ivan. “Scout the area for me!”

“Alrighty!” he shone the light in the direction ahead. “Huh?”

A boy around half his height was doing his best to see through the light. It resulted in him tripping over and falling.

“Sweet Luna.” Jacklyn mumbled.

“Damn it, Juan!” a voice shouted. “You had one job!”

The high-pitched voice was Jacklyn’s cue. She shoved the shield onto the ground and waved her hands, “Stop shooting! Please, stop shooting!”

Light would be shone onto them also. The direction in which the light was coming from was enough for both sides to do as she pled. One of the lights quickly pointed towards one of the shooters face, illuminating over a bothered young girl. “Alright, now explain to us why two red coats and a shirtless boy are running off in the night?”

Blutarch looked up from the papers on his desk. Entering the room, was Marianne and her two subordinates.

She was to the point of fainting as she found that Trevor was there also. “Uh, Trevor, uh… you’re here.”

“Indeed he is.” She turned to find the leader of the Sisterhood: Esther, standing on the other side of Blutarch. “So, do you want to begin, Blutarch?”

Blutarch groaned. “Marianne, I-”

“No, Blutarch!” Trevor stepped forward. “I want to have the first say.”

Marianne’s hand rested in her pockets.

“Marianne, how many men did we lose in that fight?” he asked.

“Two, sir.” Marianne answered nervously. “Thompson and Gomez were killed while holding Ivan hostage.”

“And that’s what happens when you go deep into enemy lines without my consent.” he said bitterly.

“But, sir…, we were close to…” she stopped herself immediately. “I mean, we managed to-”

“Also, First Lieutenant Wallace ordered a squad of five to scout ahead. Trevor went on. “Only two made it back alive.”

Marianne was quiet with her face pouting. “I’m sorry.”

However, his frustration would fade in order to admit to the following, “I would’ve sent you to my version of a time out. But, it seems that these two have other plans for us.”

This surprised her. “Huh?”

“That’s right Miss Petit.” Blutarch explained. “It seems that your reckless strategy did something productive, and that was to annihilate the Resistance.”

“Ivan may be a great threat.” Esther added, “But Blutarch and I have been considering wiping out the competition first.”

Her shock turned into annoyance quickly, along with the obligation to speak. “You don’t realize that the competition’s just as strong as we are, right?”

“We’re not talking about RED and Celestia’s Hoof, Marianne.” Blutarch pointed out. “We start from the weakest first.”

She crossed her arms. “Grrr, how productive.”

“Marianne, there isn’t time to complain!” Trevor said. “This is the only way to bring Ivan in!”

“Well, I had Ivan at gunpoint there!” Marianne shouted, her hands curling into fists. “If it wasn’t for that… that-”

“Marianne, I understand that you’re upset.” Trevor addressed. “Especially after how close you were to capturing him again.”

Her fists loosened, and so did her anger. “I-”

“But after what happened in the Badlands, and the most recent events, I think it’s safe to say that we must focus our attention on the competition more.”

She unfolded her arms. “I-”

“Trevor’s right.” Esther added. “Especially since we have reasons to believe that both the ALM and HUE are up to something with him.”

“If we don’t do something about them, they might have the upper hand.” Blutarch mentioned. “And we can’t let that happen.”

Marianne’s head was hanging low, which was followed by feeling Big Mac’s hoof pressing against her arm. She found out that he too was feeling the same way. This mustered up her courage to ask, “Won’t that let him get away?”

“Marianne,” Trevor answered. “The US Government is after him too, so there’s no use for him hiding.”

“I see.” Marianne sighed. “So how are we going to execute this plan?”

“The ALM’s clearly desperate to take him in.” said Blutarch. “So you know what follows.”

Marianne was silent for a bit. Her hands were behind her back. The moon was bright, it was all she wanted to think of after this. “Right.”

He smiled. “Excellent. Your first assignment starts tomorrow.”

“”And don’t go off running like that, okay?” Trevor added.

She only nodded. “Okay.”

“And Big Mac?”

“Yes sir?” he answered nervously.

“Please keep a close eye on her, alright?

He nodded, “Yes sir.”

Trevor smiled. “And now you are dismissed.”

“Yes sir.”

The three backed away and headed out the door. After they were gone, Trevor let out a deep breath before looking out at the moon himself.

“So Trevor,” Esther said inquisitively, her chin resting over her hand. “Do you think she’s starting to grow into an actual woman.”

“She may have the age, but she doesn’t yet know how to let go.” Trevor said. “It’s sad really. Not to mention the war back at her home.”

“Speaking of that, do you think that supply line you raided hindered them in any way?”

He faced the doorway. “Not at all, Madame. Not at all.”

“So when do you think she’ll actually fight?” asked Blutarch calmly.

“Shortly.”

“And the pony?”

Trevor turned to her, who in turn looked back at him with a grimacing face. He was now struggling to lift his hands again.

“Marianne?” asked a now wary Big Mac.

“Yeah?” Marianne answered.

“Are you tired?”

Marianne rubbed her hand against her cheek. “That’s an odd question to ask. But…, yeah, that’s it. I just wished Ivan never asked me that?”

“Did your parents know that there was-”

Her teeth grit tightly as her fist was forming. “Did your parents weep in their graves when you and your sister were-”

She stopped, facing down at the distraught Big Mac and Maribelle. Her fists ceased to be for now after seeing this. She faced out into the windows of the hallway. “I’m… I’m sorry…, I’m just not in the mood to talk…, that’s it… I-I gotta go.”

In that instant, she bolted away from them with her head on her arm.

“Marianne, wait!” Then his neck felt a bit constricted. He hit his rump hard on the floor. “Ow, Maribelle, why’d ya-”

She shook her head. “Just leave her alone.”

“But Maribelle, Trevor told me-”

“Not when you’re in this state.” she told him.

Tears were forming in his eyes.

“Just let it all out.” she comforted. “Please.”

His head hung low, making watch his tears fall like rain from clouds. “’Ah know… ‘Ah know she didn’t mean it, but…,”

“It’s okay.” she gently pet his mane. She then simultaneously looked out into the hallway, finding no one there. ”Marianne, why?”

“Well, sorry about that. We shouldn’t’ve shot first.” the girl laughed with embarrassment. “The name’s Becky, by the way.”

“Nice to meet you, Becky!” Jacklyn smiled.

“I’m going to admit it right now, your sniper has terrible aim.” Ivan said.

“I heard that!” the sniper yelled.

“Yeah, sorry about that too.” Becky added. “Someone wasn’t paying attention during training!”

“Hey, why are taking his side?”

Annoyed, Becky yelled, “Quiet Ryan! We don’t want the actual enemy to spot us!”

“No You be quiet!”

“No, You!”

“You!”

While Jacklyn giggled to see such sport, Ivan couldn’t help but rub his eyes to try and flee the scene. “Why?”

Lance couldn’t help but join him.

After the last, ‘You!’, Becky quickly ran to the door and barged in.

“No, no, not the ear!” they heard Ryan shout. “Ow, ow, let go!”

“Not until you apologize to our guests for being so rude!” By the time she finished screaming that, she and Ryan were already at the front door.

“{i]Why me? He was the one who started it!” Ryan complained.

“Hey, don’t get me involved!” Ivan emphasized.

“Um, guys?” Jacklyn interrupted in a polite manner. “You might wanna lower your voices if you don’t want to get caught.”

They loosened each other’s grip as they were reddening profusely. In unison, they’d formally say, “Sorry, Miss Jacklyn.”

“It’s okay kids.” she said gladly. “And Ivan, do you have something to say?”

“What?” Ivan was clearly puzzled. “Why me?”

“Ivan.” she said though her plastered smile. “You better say it, or else I'll go Tsundere on you.”

Ivan looked down at her hands. Her tight and trembling grip on her baton made him think otherwise. So he rolled his eyes, and said, “I’m sorry for saying that your aim is horrible, Ryan.”

Awkwardly looking in random directions, he responded with, “It’s okay…, I guess.”

“Well, it’s settled.” Becky declared with mirth, then she picked up her walky-talky. “Alright boys and girls, you may head inside.”

When she put it away, she happily proclaimed. “Alright you three, come on in!”

With happy nods, they did as suggested. Except…,

“Ivan.”

He felt Jacklyn pull against his arm. “Yeah?”

“Don’t do that again…, please.” she advised him earnestly.

Ivan rolled his eyes. “Ugh, alright.”

She was smiling. “Good.”

“So, this is where you live?” Jacklyn asked curiously.

With her head high, and with a laid back smile Becky said, “Yeah, this has been my home for five years now.”

“Five years?” the three said in unison.

“Yep.” she proclaimed. “And the kids have been here longer than me.”

Ivan looked at the flat screen TV that resided next to the wooden wall. “Do you think I can turn this on?”

“Forget it, dude.” Becky said with crossed arms. “The thing doesn’t work, never has.”

Ivan leaned away from the TV. “Huh, I see.”

The entire room was quiet, every kid was fiddling with their rifles at this point. The silence would break once Jacklyn asked, “So Becky, where’s your caretaker?”

“Um…” she too was fiddling with her rifle as her expression dropped.

“I mean, someone has to be taking care of-”

“She’s gone, Miss Jacklyn.” Ryan answered for her. “For four years now.”

The three were astonished at the news, but not as much as Jacklyn. “Four years?”

“And as you saw,” Becky spoke with the gloomiest tone possible. “I’m the head of this place.”

“But that can’t be!” Jacklyn refuted. “You’re too young to-”

Becky scratched the back of her head. “I don’t think Twelve years old doesn’t constitute as too young here.”

The three looked at each other, and then at the saddened children.

Marianne rested her arms over the concrete balcony. She had her head atop of them while listening to the cars whisk over the streets below. Though gradually, tears were still falling from her eyes.

“Let me guess, it had something to do with Canada, right?” asked Pierre.

However, Marianne didn’t move an inch. “Yeah, it had to do with that.”

“Now Big Mac brought it up, and you brought up his dilemma to shut him up?”

She nodded.

“I knew it.” Pierre leaned against the balcony. “’Ze boy truly played his cards right.”

She nodded again. “Yeah. He didn’t mean it though…, it was just-”

“That girl really means a lot to you two, no?”

She pulled her head up just a bit. “Of course, Pierre. But the law’s the law, there’s nothing we can do.”

“I agree.” Pierre said. He saw Marianne rest her head on his arms, to which he sighed. “Just accept that Trevor’s doing this for your own sake. You don’t want to die a reckless death.”

“I know…, but seeing what happened to Big Mac, to you…, I just think its best we get it done.”

After a brief pause, and look at the bright moon, Pierre came up with, “Marianne, look at me.”

Slowly, but surely, she leaned away from the balcony. Her teary eyes met his dry ones, and was clearly doing her best to stop them. “Yeah?”

“What Big Mac did was inexcusable, but his sister loved him dearly.” Pierre said solemnly. “Your parents died an unnecessary death, and now you have to pay ‘ze price.”

Marianne pressed her back against the balcony. Then she folded her arms.

“But you and Big Mac have one thing in common: and that’s another chance.” Pierre looked up at the pitch black sky. “But as Big Mac learned, it’s not like a get rich quick scheme.”

She then looked at him. “What about you? Didn’t you say that…?”

“I have no place left to go…, I only have you guys.” He put on a smile. “Also, it’s the only chance I have left.”

Her eyes widened. “Pierre…”

“I worked hard for that chance. It took more than two decades of putting up with Blutarch’s distrust, but it was still worth it.” Pointing at her, he’d add, “And I only have you and Trevor to thank.”

Marianne looked back out into the vast city scape.

“It’s going to take time, but time can’t be sped up to heal that wound.” Pierre said. “You may have lost everything when coming to America, but that doesn’t mean it’s over.”

She said nothing.

“So, you’re not going to worry anymore?” Pierre asked enthusiastically.

“Um…,” muttered Marianne. “Pierre?”

“Yes?”

“When you…” She swallowed a large gulp in her throat. “When you lost both Preston and Delilah…, was it like that for you?”

Pierre was also silent for a bit. “Of course, I’m just glad I managed to get over it.”

He then leaned away from the barrier. “So, shall we go back?”

“Well…” Marianne uttered, clearly hesitant.

Pierre laughed a bit. “Don’t worry about him, he knows that you didn’t mean it.”

Marianne turned to him, a little smile creasing on her face. “I’m still gonna apologize though.”

“Becky, are you sure the kids will be able to handle a wound like that?” Ivan asked her.

“Don’t worry, we’ve trained long enough to handle situations like these.”

Ivan rubbed his hair while his eyes were closing. “I...”

His eyes opened to Jacklyn, who was clearly putting on an angry scowl. He’d mumble, “Right. Oh, and thanks for the shirt by the way. It's better than a bloodstained one.”

Becky smiled. “Don’t mention it.”

The door opened to a rather average looking room. To which Becky charged in with a flamboyant pose.

“And, this is my room.” Becky proclaimed. “You like it?”

Despite the wooden wall that covered all four corners, she clearly did her best to stylize it with flower stickers covering each wall.

“Uh…” Ivan was the first to speak. “It truly needs a… Umph!”

Feeling Jacklyn’s fist punch him in the knee, changed his mind. “Nice! It’s nice!”

“Right.” Ivan muttered again.

“Ugh.” She landed her back against the white bed. “No need to lie you guys, I know it’s garbage.”

“No, no!” Jacklyn said. “It’s al-”

She lifted a hand in the air. “Miss Jacklyn there’s no need.”

“But…”

“Let it go Jackie.” Ivan told her.

“Oh, okay.”

Becky sat up on her rump. “I told you I’ve been here for five years, Miss Jacklyn. I truly wish we can leave this damn place already.”

Ivan was busy looking at the shelf for stuff. “Huh, judging by the books that are on the shelf. I’m gonna take a guess and say that this was once your caretaker’s room.”

She snapped her fingers together. “Bingo, sir. Also those books are some good stuff, you should check them out.”

“Will do.”

“Oh no, he’s not!” Jacklyn proclaimed.

Stunned, he had to ask, “What, why?”

“You’re supposed to be getting to know these people, not mess with their stuff.”

“But she said…”

She pulled him from the ear. “Ow! Alright, alright!”

“It’s okay, Miss Jacklyn. It doesn’t bother me at all.” Becky told her.

“I’m sorry, Becky.” said Jacklyn, smirking at Ivan. “But he has something he needs to do.”

Defeated, Ivan sighed. “Right.”

After she let go of her grasp, Ivan went on to ask, “So, what happened to your care taker?”

Becky said with a grim tone. “I don’t know, Mister Ivan. The last time I saw her, she told me that she was going somewhere. She told me to take care of the house, and left…. Hmm, didn’t come back ever since.”

“Gee.” was all Jacklyn could say as she sat beside her.

“And being the oldest in this little orphanage, well, the caring task fell on me.”

Ivan crossed his arms. “Ah, I see.”

“And…,” During the little pause, Jacklyn looked around again. “Aren’t you a bit worried about that?”

“I’m worried too.” she admitted. “I mean, the kids are getting older. You know?”

“Becky!”

She immediately jumped at the call. “Uh, yeah Ryan?”

Ryan was now standing at the doorway. “Lance’s doing okay.”

“Oh, that’s nice.” she said gratefully.

“Nice to hear that!” Ivan commented.

“Terrific!” Jacklyn said simultaneously.

It was quiet again. Becky stared at him to continue, feeling her cheeks reddened. Ryan only put his arms behind his back, “Uh, Becky?”

She immediately hopped again. “Oh, right, that’s nice. You’re dismissed.”

With a peppy salute, he complied. “Yes Ma’am.”

Then ran off.

Jacklyn looked down to find her kicking her legs profusely. “Uh, Becky?”

“Uah!” She looked back at Jacklyn. “Oh, sorry.”

“It’s all right.” she said with a smile.

“Yeah.” Becky looked down to her lap, tapping her index fingers against each other.

Ivan walked to the desk to his left. There, only a map and a couple of notebooks sat on it. Seeing this, Becky would say, “So…, seeing how you people are from the outside, has anything changed?”

“Kind of.” Ivan answered. “The war still rages on, with the HUE apparently forming a militia.”

Becky frowned immediately. “So, nothing?”

“Right.” Picking up one of the notebooks, he noticed a binder sitting underneath. He decided to pick it up.

“And Mexico?”

“Mexico?”

“Right.” She held a firm grip on her hands. “I mean, when I left Mexico, I heard the invaders took Manzanillo. That was where I lived.”

Jacklyn gripped her fist.

Ivan looked away from the binder to tell her. “Mexico surrendered a year ago.”

“Oh.” Becky grimaced. “That’s sad.”

“Don’t worry about it. You’re way out here, so why are you getting worked up over it?” Opening the binder, he skimmed through it. At the very end, he read the last paper. “National Guard to quell new riots in New York City after the death toll of police forces reached Twenty-thousand after five months of conflict.”

He looked down at the date. “This was back in Twenty-Fifteen.”

“Well,” Becky shrugged. “She’s been living here for quite a while. Or at least, that’s what she told me.””

Ivan closed the binder, putting it back above the desk. He then picked up the notebook and was about to open it.

“Whoa, Becky!”

Hearing Jacklyn scream wasn’t enough for Ivan to immediately drop the notebook. “Yikes!”

It would be snatched away and kept safely in between Becky’s arms and bosom before that could even be possible. “Please, don’t look at that!”

Ivan loosened his stunned stance as he complied. “Okay…, so is that your diary or something.”

She nodded. “Um…, do you wanna go check on that weird talking guy?”

“Weird talking guy?”

With an awkward smile, she told them, “Your other friend.”

“Heh, you’re the one to talk.” Ivan muttered.

“Ivan!” Jacklyn scolded.

Becky was curious, though. “What did you say?”

“I said…”

The next thing they heard were countless screams coming from below.

“Uh oh.” Jacklyn muttered. ‘

“Alright kids, you ready?” he announced excitedly.

“Yeah!” the children cheered.

“Can we at least go and keep their voices down?” Becky went on to ask.

Down the stairs, they found Lance sitting against the wall. The bloodied shirt was all gone, and replaced by a bandage that was containing the wound rather well. He lifted his hand to catch a rubber ball.

“Alright, ready?”

“Yeah!”

“Go long!” He then tossed the ball into the air. The children were quick to leap like frogs to catch it.

“Oh hey you two!” Lance greeted the three with a wave. “How was it?”

“Oh,” Ivan said. “It was alright.”

“Here you go, Mister Clarke!” one of the boys said after walking up to him with the ball in hand.

“Hey, no fair!” a girl said. “I got the ball first!”

“No you didn’t, Ashley!” the boy retorted. “I had it first.”

“N’uh!”

Becky rolled her eyes before walking over to her. “Ashley, were you touching the ball before he had it?”

“Uh…” she looked away while pouting. “No.”

“Then just let it go.”

“Fine.” She looked to the boy and stuck her tongue at him before walking away.  “Hmmph!”

With a sigh, Becky immediately lightened up. “Alright guys, dinner’s almost ready!”

The children cheered with excitement at that news.

“Sh~! Sh~!” Becky hushed, and they were immediately quiet. Kindly, she’d go on to add, “But we’re gonna save some for our guests, so no left overs this time!”

“What?” the majority of them cried.

“But Miss Becky!” one of the girls complained, “We’re going to starve!”

“No, you’re not!” Becky said. “You’re not gonna starve to death for not having extra!”

“But Becky!” she whined, thus the arguments continued.

Ivan put his hand over her head. “Ugh, kids.”

“It’s okay Ivan.” Jacklyn assured. “If something were to happen, we’ll be there.”

“Easy for you to say.” Ivan groaned.

“Just don’t push buttons, please.” She begged.

“Sorry, couldn’t help myself.” Looking at her, he’d see her smile at his apology.

“Hey Ivan, can you help me up!” Lance called out.

Ivan sighed once more. “On it.”

“We’ve been eating fish for a while now.” Becky admitted before taking a bite out of her fish fillet.

“What?” Jacklyn responded.

She dropped it before she could rip a chunk off. “Yeah, it’s all that we have.”

Ivan swallowed his chewed up fish before saying. “Wow, I’m surprised you haven’t tried to-”

“Ow!” Ivan shouted. “Sorry.”

Jacklyn smiled at him before saying to Becky, “Don’t worry, soon you’ll be able to eat whatever you want.”

“Yeah.” Becky deadpanned. “If the war actually ended.”

Jacklyn frowned at her remark.

Becky then looked at the other children. They were eating away with smiles on their faces. “Miss Allison told me that if they were to run away, we’d be dead.

During her observations, she noticed that Ryan was looking back at her with a sense of worry. To which, she replied by looking away and facing the three. Oblivious to the fear she was instilling into him. “Is that what happened to you guys?”

“Yep.” Ivan answered. “Getting caught is nothing but a death sentence.”

“Hmm, I see.” Becky said, taking a sip from her water.

“These two are here because of me, kid.” Ivan continued. “I’m on the run, and I dragged these two with me.”

“Ivan, don’t say that.” Jacklyn begged softly. “It wasn’t your-”

“I said I was on the run, right?” Ivan interrupted.

“Um, Ivan was it?” Becky asked. “Who are you running from?”

“You don’t wanna know.” Ivan answered simply. “Let’s just say that these people are just as scary as a villain from a fairy tale or something.”

“You serious?”

“More serious than the average opera.”

“Oh, damn.” Becky was clearly tremoring at that thought. “You think you can defeat them?”

“Not likely.” Ivan sighed. “That’s why we’re getting the hell out of here.”

“Well, that’s nice to hear.” Becky admitted. “At least you people have the chance at leaving.”

“Don’t say…”

“No, Miss Jacklyn.” Becky took another bite of her fish, continuing after chewing and swallowing. “The kids grew up here for too long. I don’t think they’re ready to go out there, just yet. In fact, this was the first time we ever had visitors.”

The three were in shock, but Ivan had the first say. “Really?”

“Yeah, we haven’t had a visitor since… ever.” Becky laughed distressingly. “So I can understand why you’d say Ryan’s shot was terrible.”

This time, Ivan was quiet.

Becky ate the last of her fish as Ivan was in pity. She then said, “It’s obvious that we still have a long way to go… I mean, none of us know what life’s like outside this forest. Or at least, none of us can’t remember.”

She took a sip from her water and then continued. “We’d often gather around and read what was left behind for us. We read that there’s much more than trees and snow out there. Obviously I know much of this stuff, but it’s nice to see the kids getting excited about that. They’d learn about places where it snows all the time, places where it never rains, places where the days are longer, stuff like that. It’s just sad that they can’t see it yet.”

They could see her hand shake as her head lowered even more. “Sometimes I’d tell them about my life in Mexico, when my parents were…”

Jacklyn was the first to hug her. “It’s okay, sweetie. It’ll be…”

“Damn.” Ivan muttered, being able to see the tears coming out of her eyes.

“Hey!” Ryan shouted.

They immediately discovered that the children had formed a semi-circle around them. With a gun pointed directly at Ivan’s face, Ryan scrupulously asked. “Was that guy over there making fun of you?”

Seeing this come from a mile away, Ivan was quick to answer with waving hands. “What, No! No, no!”

Becky too responded by pulling away from Jacklyn to say, “No, no! He wasn’t, Ryan! Now everybody relax!”

“Oh.” He lowered his gun despite his suspicion. “Then why were you crying?”

“Nothing Hon-I mean, Ryan.” She wiped the last tears from her eyes, looking back at him with the brightest smile she could give him. “It’s okay.”

“You sure?”

The children would follow that with their own questions of concern.

“Yep.”

During this time, Ivan thought of something. To which he whispered it to Jacklyn about it, and thus she’d do the same to Becky. “Oh, sure.”

She stood up and announced to the others, “Alright guys, I’m gonna go and have another talk with these people.”

“What?” Ryan asked.

“Again?” the others followed.

“Sh~! Sh~!”

Once the children were quiet, this got Becky to give the following order. “Keep an eye on them for me, Ryan, okay?”

He sighed, then he pointed at Ivan. “Okay, but keep an eye on him too.”

“Hey!” Ivan shouted.

Lance whispered to him, “That’s what you get for calling the kid’s aim bad.”

Ivan only groaned at his remark. “Wanna look after the kids, Lance?”

The door opened to a kitchen. Entering, Becky reached to the stove nearby to lift the lid of the large pot. “Phew, it’s a good thing everyone got to eat.”

Ivan however, would ask, “How the hell are you able to supply yourselves for that long.”

“Again, Miss Allison lived here longer than me.” She pointed at the window. “See that?”

He and Jacklyn walked over to the nearby window, where a large garden was lighting over the countless plants.

“She had that all set up since she first came here.” She said calmly. “We plan on harvesting it all next month. As for the fish, well…,”

Ivan had his hand slanted against his forehead. “I see the little pond that’s way at the corner.”

“Oh, that’s nice.” As she put the lid back, Jacklyn turned to Ivan. “So, what did you want to ask her?”

Ivan looked down on her, who in turn looked back at him with her hands holding one another. She took a deep breath. “Becky, when your parents died, do you know the people who were attacking you?”

She put her hands on her back, kicking her foot back and forth.

“Uh…” Jacklyn got a hold of his arm. “Ivan, why would you ask such a-!”

“No, no it’s okay I think it’s okay to answer that now.” Becky assured her.

Jacklyn walked to her, putting a hand on her shoulder “Becky, you don’t look like you should be talking about it.”

“Jackie, let the kid talk.” Ivan demanded.

Jackie shot him a glare before looking back at him. “Please Becky, I don’t think it’s right.”

Becky was facing her feet. When her eyes met Ivan’s she had something to say. “Tell me Ivan, when I describe to you who they are, do you think it’ll make me feel better?”

“That’s all up to you.” Ivan said upfront. “But since you have responsibilities on your hands, I suggest you pick the latter.”

She was now fiddling with her fingers. “But-”

“Jackie doesn’t know what she’s saying!” Ivan blurted.

This sunk Jacklyn’s heart really fast. “I-Ivan-”

“Now, I suggest that you tell me who they were. So that we can get this over with.”

Becky continued with her hesitance. “But Mister Ivan, you’re doing this for me, right?”

“I have responsibilities of my own at the moment, so yeah.”

Becky let go of her hands, and climbed down from the stepladder. She swiped her hand over her cheeks, eliminating the tears that were streaming from her face. “When I was living in Mexico, I was told that we weren’t allowed to leave the country to support the war that was going on there.”

She looked down again, kicking her feet again. “Anyway, when we left, we managed to cross the border unharmed. For a moment, it looked as if we were free, until a bunch of men in Jackets attacked us.”

“I knew it.” Ivan reached his hand onto her head. “It’s the New Minutemen.”

“Who?” Becky asked.

Ivan leaned against the counter. “They’re people we had to confront ourselves.”

“Seriously?”

“Mmm Hmm.” Ivan nodded. “Did they attack out of nowhere?”

“Yeah.” Becky put one hand over her arm. “I didn’t know that would happen and-”

“It’s okay.” Ivan leaned away to put a hand on her shoulder. “That happened to me too. We barely made it out in one piece.”

Worried, she went on to ask. “So what’re you gonna do now?”

“Get out of here first thing tomorrow and avoid the far south.” Ivan tapped his foot. “That’s obvious.”

Becky quickly burst out. “Or at least, let us come with you!”

Jacklyn was feeling the same way as she was.

Ivan stopped tapping and sighed. “Sorry, but that can’t happen.”

“But can’t… can’t you guys stay here?”

Jacklyn was in complete shock. All the while Ivan kept his cool. “Not gonna happen either. Dying is part of our job, after all. Not to mention that the weird talking guy has a family of his own back in the land of the weird talking people.”

“So…, what do I do now?” she asked, Ivan could see the tears flowing from her eyes.

So, he stood on his two feet and placed a hand over her head. “You just keep taking care of these kids until they can no longer fit in those clothes. I’m still surprised you can even manage that after five years or something.”

She wiped the tears from her eyes. Although a bit slow, she managed to laugh through her sorrow. “Miss Allison was extremely prepared for all this.”

Ivan sighed, but it was attached with a smile. “Yep, I envy her.”

Ivan could see Jacklyn look down, underneath her was a small little puddle of tears.

“So,” Becky was now wiping her tears with her arms. With a smile, she said, “We’ll be reading a bedtime story before bedtime, come join us!”

She stepped down from her stepladder and walked past the two. “See you guys in the living room!”

Then she exited out the door. With her gone, Ivan went to Jacklyn. “Just let it go, Jackie. You already know why.”

She nodded before standing up herself, only to lunge at Ivan with a tight hug. “I hate this place, Ivan!”

A little a back, he was hesitant to return the hug. After a while however, he managed to accept. “Ugh, still haven’t gotten used to it, huh?”

He could feel her shake her head.

“Ugh, figures.” He gently pushed her away. “We leave at five, is that all right?”

Though slowly, she nodded.

Ivan smiled. “That’s nice.”

Marianne was sitting on a luxurious bed. In front of her was the city whose lights replaced that of the stars.

Beep!

“Marianne, Haystack’s coming in.” said one of her subordinates through the phone.

She’d grip tightly onto her revolver. “Alright, let ‘em in.”

The door opened, “Marianne?”

“Hello, Big Mac.” Marianne aimed her revolver out the window. “So, you okay?”

“You’re not supposed to be asking that.” Big Mac sat on his rump as he scratched his mane. “That’s my job.”

She planted her hands on the bed. She then put one leg over the other. “You know, ever since I met you, I’ve always wanted to meet your sister.”

Big Mac lowered his head with a frown.

“Just so I can slap her across the face.”

He ground his hoof against the carpet.

She leaned her head back to face him. “But, obviously that’s not gonna happen.”

Big Mac looked back to her with trembling eyes.

Marianne smiled. “So, do you have any jab for me?”

Big Mac only trotted up to the bed and sat beside her. Marianne watched from there, all the way to how he was looking out into the city below. Softly, he uttered, “Nope.”

“Well, you should.” Marianne groaned. She too looked at the city. “In our eyes, what you and your sister did was just awful. The wine had nothing to do with it.”

He said nothing.

Acknowledging this, she leaned her head back. “But hey, there’s probably more to it than that.”

He sighed. “Eeyup.”

Then her back pressed against the silk soft sheets. “She really loves you, doesn’t she?”

Big Mac was silent a bit, but then he’d say, “You know Ivan…”

“I know.” Marianne admitted. “Was that your jab at me?”

“Nope.”

With her hand over her forehead, she asked, “Why?”

“I was wondering if you still remember.”

“The fact that we’re hunting him down makes it difficult to forget, Haystack.”

“Right.”

Marianne pulled back up, however, she let her arms support her as she looked at the night sky.

“Do you still care about Ivan?” Big Mac asked. “You know, after asking what he asked.”

She sat up fully. “Of course, it’s just a part of the strategy.”

“Huh?”

She held onto her bosom a bit to take a breather. “The guy did it to get them out of here, right?”

Big Mac nodded.

“Plus, my parents didn’t know.” she continued on. “We were just so busy in getting the hell out of here that… we didn’t realize that-”

He looked towards Marianne, and he could see tears starting to water from her eyes.

“They didn’t know that that was anoth-”

“Marianne, you can stop now.”

“Huh?”

“You were startin’ to cry.”

“Oh, really?” she used her hand to touch both her eyes. “Oh right, thanks for telling me.”

“Ivan told me the same thing too.” Big Mac climbed onto the bed and lied on his belly.

“Really?”

“Eeyup…, when… I was talking about my parents’ death.” He rubbed his hooves against the soft sheets.

Marianne tapped her feet against the carpet. “Oh…, I see.”

“I just feel bad for him is all.” He looked back out at the city. “But, killing him won’t get anything out of it.”

Marianne was quick to answer. “Well, except for a boatload of cash… that we need.”

“Oh…, that.”

Marianne patted his mane. “Look, when this is over…, you can forget everything that happened here.”

“Everything?” he asked worryingly.

She only smiled at his question. “Not everything, but…, everything that tore at us, you know?”

Big Mac rested his head on the sheets. “Eeyup.”

“I just hope that this idea will work.”

“’Ah do too.”

With a smiling face, Jacklyn opened the children’s book and read the title. “Snowdrop, by Marian Simpson.”

Behind the crowd of children who gathered to watch, Lance and Ivan were watching from a distance.

“So, we’re leaving for Denver tomorrow, right?” asked Lance.

“Of course.” Ivan, who was leaning against the wall, said with leisure. “The New Minutemen will probably want to lure us into the desert.”

“Agree.”

Ivan looked at the cover of book as she read like a cheerful schoolteacher on her first day.

Lance was watching too. “So the kids are reading Snowdrop again.”

“Again?”

“Well they’ve been here for most of their lives. Ivan.” Lance explained. “Do you think they’re going to read the stuff that Miss Allison reads?”

Ivan went deadpan. “Touché.”

Jacklyn was already turning to the next page. She was showing off the one which depicted the ice blue pony sitting on her cloud table, moping as the other fillies and colts pointed and laughed at her.

Lance smiled. “Hmm, the teacher doesn’t look too happy.”

  As Jacklyn read the dialogue on the page, Ivan was looking at the genuinely annoyed pony on the next page. He laughed quietly. “Heh, you’re right. Poor filly though.”

Through the saddened ‘Aws’ coming from the children, Lance would say, “Huh, the children seem to agree with you on that.”

“And you?”

“Obviously.” Lance laughed. “A father’s gotta care about the children.”

Ivan nodded. “True.”

Lance kept reading from where he stood. “Though, I’ve never really read that story to my kids. Have you ever read it before?”

Ivan found himself laughing too. “Almost all the time, especially around Christmas.”

They were looking at the children. They looked at the book with intent. The page depicted Snowdrop and her mother sitting over a cloud like birds in a nest.

Lance asked, “So I’m guessing you truly loved that book.”

Ivan tapped his fingers against the wall. His cheeks were reddening. “Well, I guess you can say that.”

Lance smiled. “Hmm, no turning back after that.”

  Ivan kept staring at Jacklyn. All the while, she would continue to read. ’Don’t worry, you won’t need your eyes to find your place in the world’ said her mother. ‘I think I can hear the twinkles!’ Snowdrop replied cheerfully.”

“You won’t need your eyes to find your place in the world, huh?” Lance said. “Ain’t that the truth.”

“Yeah.” Ivan grabbed his arm. “Well, anyway, this was always one of my favorite books to read and such-”

Lance could see Ivan’s sulking face. “Ivan, are you-”

Ivan leaned up. “Of course, Lance. Everything’s okay, just…, I’m okay.”

“Ivan…, just…”

“Lance, just shut up and pay attention to the story.”

He was immediately repulsed by his response. “List-”

However, he stopped and immediately glanced at the children. With a reluctant sigh, he turned away and leaned back against the wall. “Alright then.”

In her peripherals, Jacklyn could see Ivan in that state. She could even see as Ivan leaned away and headed down the hallway. She kept the façade as her frown was becoming more apparent. “’I wish…, I hope…, I dream…, I pray….”

Becky could see it too, and could only join them in their gloom.

Jacklyn briefly looked back at Ivan, but she can see Lance gesture her to keep going. Holding that frown at bay, she complied. “By the Princesses’ rule…, light my way…’”

“Good night, Miss Jackie!” the children cheered from their rooms.

“Good night!” she called back with similar feeling.

She and Becky walked through the hallway as the children closed their doors. Becky, holding onto a lit candlestick asked her, “You’re not used to being around children?”

With an embarrassed laugh, she answered quickly. “No, Chicago doesn’t really have any programs for childcare, so yeah.”

“Seriously?”

She nodded. “Yeah, the National Guard has all that handled. Say, I did do a good job, didn’t I?”

“Yep, that story was just beautifully done!” Becky said with gratefulness. “How were you able to do it?”

  Blushing, she began with, “Voice acting was something I loved doing as a hobby.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I…” she stopped once she saw the door to the room where Ivan was sleeping in.

Becky was aware of this. “Don’t worry; Lance told me that he was asleep. He probably wasn’t feeling well when he came here.”

Jacklyn held onto her arm. “Yeah, maybe so.”

They walked to Becky’s room. After entering, she closed the door. As Jacklyn lied over her sleeping bag, she began to hug her knees again.

“You okay, Jackie?” Becky asked worryingly, already tucking herself underneath her blanket.

“Becky, remember when you told me that Ivan must not be feeling well?”

“Uh, yeah?”

“Well, before we got here…, we got into a fight.”

Becky quickly sprung from her bed. “A fight?”

“Yeah.”

“What was the fight about?”

Jacklyn was silent, but would answer. “A girl.”

Becky smiled. “Oh, I see. Looks like Team Lance and Team-”

“No, not that kind of situation, Becky.” Jacklyn asserted.

Becky was taken aback. “Oh?”

“I mean, this girl who’s after us.”

The excitement quickly enveloped her. “Oh wow, seriously.”

“MmHm.”

“So…, is that why he looks out of it?”

Complete silence was what followed.

Despite that, Jacklyn still had the answer. “Yeah, it looks that way.”

“Oh, I see.”

Another wave of silence overtook them, so Jacklyn decided to continue. “He told us that all he wants to do is forget everything. And that’s one of the things he wants to forget.”

Frowning, Becky answered. “Oh, makes sense.”

She then looked at her now teary face. Ignoring it, she’d say, “Becky, I want to help you. I really do. But we’re up against forces that you and the others can’t go up against. Taking you guys along will only…”

Becky quickly heard the sniffles as another wave of tears were dropping down. “I get it. I guess I was a little eager to get out of here. Guess that’s gonna have to wait another day, huh?”

There was nothing.

“Miss Jackie?”

“Becky…, when the whole war’s over, I’ll go back to this house to tell you that it is.”

Surprised, she only asked. “Really?”

“Yes…, I don’t care how long it takes, but I’ll come back here nonetheless.” Jacklyn wiped the tears from her eyes. “But while I’m gone, do your best to not let those kids leave the forest.”

Becky was bewildered at this. “Why?”

After a little pause, Jacklyn answered. “I’ve seen things that none of those kids should ever see.”

“I have too!” she was then clutching onto her hands. “But…, when they’re old enough, they’ll get that lesson.”

Jacklyn lied down on her sleeping bag.

“I know it’s scary out there, but so can it be scary in here.” Becky then smiled. “So don’t worry about a thing, okay? We’ll be old enough to carry those rifles without being terrible shots in no time!”

Woefully, Jacklyn asked. “You think so?”

“I know so.”

Becky opened her eyes, sat up, and stretched. Looking to her right, she was in shock to find her gone. A top the sleeping bag, was sheet of paper with a note. Going up to it, she read it.

                                            Becky, thank you helping us.

                                                                                       -  Jackie

She frantically began to look around every part of the house as the others slept.

The sun had already risen as the three walked through a highway. To which Jacklyn would do her best to hold back tears.

“Hmm, those poor kids wouldn’t stand a chance around here.’ Ivan took a look around the destroyed armored vehicles that laid waste throughout.

“Couldn’t agree more.” Lance said.

“Yeah.” Jacklyn uttered. She then looked back at the opposite direction.

“It’ll be okay, Jackie.” Ivan assured her. “They’ll be fine.”

“Yeah.” Lance joined in. “When the war ends, they’ll be super excited to finally-”

“Lance, get your sniper rifle ready!” Ivan ordered. “Live APC at Twelve O’clock!”

“Oh, on it.”

As they hid behind one of the wrecked vehicles, Jacklyn was back to looking back at the opposite direction.

That’s when Ivan put a hand on her shoulder. “Jackie, it’s all part of the job.”

At the door, Becky was already staring at the outdoors with glazed eyes. Obliviously, she dropped the note onto the ground. She then felt a pat on the shoulder. She looked behind her to find Ryan with a worried look on his face.

“You okay?” he asked worryingly.

The only response she got was a sudden and tight hug from her. He could feel and hear her sobbing, but that didn’t matter to him. He could even read the note from where he stood. All to which, he too would begin to grimace and hug her back. “It’s… it’s going… to be all right.” Next Chapter: Chapter 12 Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 13 Minutes