Chapter 9
March 30, 0350 ATG (After The Gate)
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Jonas woke up in a cold sweat from a nightmare. In the night mare, he was still in wolf country, trying to get back to glory. He had located the runaway wagon and was scoping it out for danger. At that moment in the dream, Jonas felt it was safe and walked towards the wagon, even though the wolves surrounded it. None of the vicious beasts even noticed Jonas as he just walked right past them. Thinking back to the nightmare, his actions made no sense, but then again, the dream was not a lucid or vivid one. It was when Jonas had reached the wagon that all the wolves finally noticed him. All the wolves turned in unison and glared at Jonas, and then, they mauled him.
That was when Jonas woke up to the wolf pup licking his face and whining in what he liked to believe was worry. Feeling the pup’s tongue to flop into Jonas’ mouth, causing the man to sit bolt upright. Jonas spluttered and spat onto the floor of the heavy wagon, and cursed, “You little shit.” Little shit just happily barked and wagged its tail. “Laugh it up, fuzzball,” Jonas said, in mock anger, and gave the scoundrel some scratches. “because your training starts tomorrow.” He moved the affectionate scratches to behind the pup’s ears, and then got up.
Interacting with the little shit always bought calm and centered Jonas in a way he wasn’t used to. Perhaps, Erick was right about getting a dog. Well, he’d never openly admit it, anyway. Making his way to the front of the wagon, Jonas couldn’t help but notice that it was still dark. The wagons were still in the standard defensive circle. However, the only wagon showing any kind of activity at all was the chuck wagon.
Jonas observed movement by the food wagon and saw it was Peter. Grabbing his holsters and his coat, he made his way over to the chuck wagon for an early breakfast. Peter noticed his approach, and waved him over. “Hey Jonas. A little early don’t you think?” Jonas just nodded in agreement. “Didn’t sleep well.” A cup of something hot made its way into the archeologist’s hands. It was a very pleasant contrast to the cold weather. “Thanks, Peter.” “Not a problem.” Jonas had ways of keeping himself warm in this weather, but didn’t want to risk exposing himself needlessly, but Jonas did indulge in his ability covertly. While cupping the container, Jonas heated his hands from time to time to keep the coffee nice and hot.
Jonas took his coffee over to the fire, and began sipping the energizing drink. “Well shit, that’s some good coffee.” Jonas muttered in surprise. “The council really spared no expense.” Peter said, sitting down right next to Jonas. “Be straight with me, Jonas.” The sudden directness caught Jonas by surprise, and he met Peter’s challenging stare with one of his own. Jonas couldn’t blame him. Hell, he’d want answers too. Jonas just wasn’t sure how much he could say at the moment. “I can’t make any promises.” Jonas emphasized by making a small gesture that indicated the entirety of the camp.
Peter glanced about the camp. “The only people awake are the people patrolling the outer perimeter of the encirclement. Look. Just be honest. Why did you recommend me? I was happy in glory.” Jonas looked into the fire, thinking for a moment as to how he would answer the question, because it appeared Erick had not told the man why. It was optimal for keeping their crappy plan secret, but it was still annoying. Oh well, they were well outside Glory and telling Peter now would help more than hinder. Otherwise, how was he expected to do his part?
Looking back at peter Jonas took a breath to answer, but stopped and took a second look around to make sure there were no eavesdroppers. “You are to protect me, and interfere with any plan that would lead to my betrayal.” Peter just looked old in that moment. “I told Erick I was done. After that shit involving you, I had enough. Did you know I quit my job, and purchased a building? Do you know why?” Jonas could tell where this was going, and he felt awful, but given what Erick had maybe joked about, Jonas may have saved his life, but he wasn’t going to mention that and for obvious reasons.
Jonas tried to spin it as an opportunity. “I had heard something about that. I also heard the sale wasn’t final.” Peter looked like he was about to interject, but Jonas didn’t give the man the chance. “Consider this, you are vulnerable in Glory. If you had finalized the purchase of that building, you would have been even more so. This is an opportunity.” Peter’s eyes turned to slits, and then he sighed. “How is this an opportunity?” Jonas saw the resignation blossom on the ex-officer’s face. “You can invest that money elsewhere, where you won’t be the target of some salty politician. You are a part of a paid for and fully stocked expedition. And we’ll be restocking in various towns and cities. Peter, you’re getting a free move with a fat bonus to boot.”
The wheels were spinning, and Jonas could see Peter connecting the dots. “I suppose you are right. I guess I can do this one last job for Erick. It’s better than dying in some mysterious suicide.” Jonas took another sip of his coffee and nodded. “Or be executed for a murder that never happened.” Peter burst out laughing. It was infectious and Jonas joined in. The experience wasn’t one that he would ever want to repeat, but given what all he’d witnessed from Erick, Jonas believed there could definitely be some irony here.
Their laughter was cut short as they heard wagon flaps fallowed by footsteps. That was when Jonas remembered something. During the previous day of their 24 hours of travel, Jonas noticed a piece of paper wrapped around an oddly thin and metal card when he opened his wallet to see why it felt bulkier than usual. He had, of course read the note and noticed Ericks writing immediately. All that was written on it was a list of names with a further message of “For Peter.” It was no doubt related to this whole expedition, and if Jonas had to make a guess, he was to give it to Peter discreetly.
“Hey peter, mind if I check your pocket watch? I need to reset mine to the right time.” Peter shrugged and handed it over. Jonas flipped it open. Pulled his out, and wound it a few times. He then proceeded to slip the folded paper inside Peter’s watch. Peter watched Jonas do this with a frown on his face. He was about to say something in protest when someone slapped Peter on the shoulder. “You now, Pete. Most of us carry photos of our loved ones, not letters. Does our cook have a girl friend?” The man made to grab the pocket watch, but Jonas was quicker. Jonas laughed. “Well Peter, Guess the cats out of the bag. I told you this would happen.” Jonas gave peter back the watch and got up. “Don’t leave me, Jonas.” Peter pleaded. “Sorry Pete. She’s your foxy bombshell not mine.”
This just seemed to egg on the horndogs “Traitor!” Peter exclaimed, but when Jonas looked back, he perceived an unspoken “Thank you” from the man. Jonas just smiled and said, “Be proud. Most men would kill to have her.” That was when a gun shot rang out. Wood splintered where the bullet hit the log squarely where Jonas had been sitting just moments ago. “Shit! Were under attack.” One man yelled, as people began taking cover and drawing their weapons. “You and you. Take people to cover the west and north and south sides of the encirclement.” A woman Jonas hadn’t met or seen before ordered.
More gun fire was exchanged over on the eastern side of the encirclement. Jonas pulled out one of his revolvers and took cover against one of the heavy wagons. “What’s going on?” Jonas asked the half-dressed man next to him. The man had a long rifle butted neatly between his peck and shoulder. “Don’t know.” He said firing a well-aimed shot. “But, from what I’ve heard the morning rotation saying, people have been seen scouting us out since the 50 mile mark outside of Glory.” “Well, shit.” Jonas exclaimed. “This excitement usually doesn’t happen for another 5 days out.” The man gave Jonas a quick side eye before firing another shot. Understanding dawning the man’s features. “You must be the Archeologist were protecting. The names Lars. I’d shake your hand, but you now.” Jonas nodded. “Yeah, I get it.”
A bullet impacted the edge of the wagon, nearly landing a killing shot on Lars. It was still dark enough with the sun just cresting the horizon that the defenders could see the muzzle flashes of their attackers. That both helped and hurt them, because while you knew where the shooter was, they knew where you were, but the advantage of stealthy readjustment was on their side. The same would eventually apply to them once the fire was put out, but no one was putting out the fire. Why wasn’t anyone putting out the fire?
Jonas caught the flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye. In an instant, his body reacted purely on reflex, and Jonas spun around to see a revolver trained on his current location. Jonas leapt to the side with electrically enhanced reflexes, and yelled out a warning to Lars, as shots were unloaded in their direction. Jonas didn’t spare a glance in Lars’ direction. His only concern was getting himself to cover. Behind a pile of crates. Jonas hazarded a glance to see Lars had taken a bullet to the arm, but the shooter that snuck into the encirclement had received far worse. Bits of brain, bone and flesh were scattered in localized area around the intruder’s blood-soaked body.
“You still alive?” Lars shouted. “Yeah, you?” Lars grinned, but before anything else could be said by either person, a man wearing torn clothing and a face wrap was silently charging Lars from behind. Jonas raised his revolver with lightning-fast reflexes and fired off a few rounds into the man. Blood poured from the fresh bullet wounds. The attacker clutched his chest vein and dropped his axe. Lars spun around after hearing the ax clatter to the ground and fired, killing one of the retreating attackers. More shots could be heard around the encirclement, but after Jonas and Lars killed their assailants, no other attempts were made to break through the camp’s defensive lines. “You know, Lars I was wondering why the fire was never put out, but now I am glad it wasn’t.” Lars nodded in understanding. “It’s for this very reason.” Lars Jonas a side glance. “You’ve never traveled in a wagon train before, have you?”
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Jonas was about to answer, but didn’t. Instead, he just let the topic die off. They were still under siege until the all clear was given, and even though he liked Lars, Jonas didn’t know who’s camp the man fell into. Just because he was an ally now did not mean he’d be one tomorrow.
The camp stayed on alert for a few more hours. Firefights broke out intermittently throughout that time, but ultimately came to an end. The attackers that had died inside the encirclement were eventually collected and tossed into a pile next to one of the wagons. Once the all clear was given, Lars let out a held breath of relief and placed a hand on Jonas’ shoulder. “Thanks for having my back.” Jonas just tipped his hat and found his way back to the fire. Lars seemed genuine in his thanks, but Jonas had other places that he would likely be required to be, and being at the fire at the center of camp made him easy to find. After all, He was the one-co heading this expedition.
The very idea that he wasn’t solely spearheading this operation was offensive to Jonas, but what could he do? Erick had blown his newly acquired political capital on getting the expedition and re-establishing his alliances. This was a must according to Erick, and Jonas reluctantly had to agree. That was why he waited for that bastard of a man to show himself so he could show Jonas where they would be meeting to discuss their actions going forward. He was sure this was some kind of power move, but that was neither here nor there.
Georgy didn’t take long to find his co-leader. The man was a skinny fellow. He wore the standard travelling clothes they all wore, but carried a visible disdain for the things. He was the brother of one of the hired guard detail, hired to protect the expedition, but unlike George, Georgy did not want to be here and seamed to blame Jonas for every little thing that went wrong, from the fowl smelling air to the very dirt on Georgy’s clothes. It was clear that the stiff and prickly man was here to control Jonas. And, like clockwork, there he was.
“Ah, Jonas. I’m happy to see you survived.” Georgy said with a tone that suggested the opposite was true. “Yeah, yeah. I don’t like you. You don’t like me. It’s my fault your here. blah, blah. Can we just skip the usual bullshit for today.” Georgy looked like he was about to retort, but didn’t. “Well, at least you’re aware. Anyway, we’ll be holding the meeting in wagon 1 today in 10 minutes.” Georgy hid it well, but he was clearly rattled. The man was never this docile. Docile wasn’t exactly the right word. Just… less antagonistic than usual. There was also the fact that Georgy’s poorly hidden hands were shaking. Jonas had to remind himself that Georgy was not a fighter. He was a politician who delt with resource management and strategy.
That reminder did remind Jonas of a point of contention. The Bon fire at the center of camp, but he would need more information before pointing out that action as reckless. There were other things he wanted to inquire about such as the individuals that launched that probing attack on the camp. Jonas remembered what the survivors from that decimated town had said, but they surely couldn’t be out this far. Could they? There was also the fact that they were two days and some change into the expedition and they had just been attacked. All these questions warranted asking, if only to get a sense of what’s going on around them so to better prepare for later.
Jonas opened the flap to the wagon to find his animal companion whimpering and shaking from the earlier firefight. “Poor thing. Your gonna have to get used to this thing eventually.” Jonnas said soothingly as he grabbed a leash and clipping it to the collar. He had purchased the collar and leash before leaving in case he needed it, and even though it wouldn’t always be needed, it was good in situations like now. House training had started early despite the earlier threat. What Jonas really wanted to train the wolf pup up into was an old-world war dog, but reading materials on the subject were locked away and never used beyond the armed forces. That didn’t mean he couldn’t teach the pup how to track, and that would start tomorrow. The earlier the better in Jonas’ opinion.
He picked the little shit up and kissed the pup and held the puppy close as he carried the puppy outside, all the while giving the wolf pup all kinds of attention. When the puppy was calmed, he set the pup down and let the wolf pup pick a direction and go. It led Jonas all over the place. Little Shit emptied itself multiple times, and by the time it was done, it was time to head to wagon 1. He preefered not to expose the puppy to people like Georgy as much as possible, given that the man hated all things, Jonas. It wasn’t the abuse he was worried about. Jonas would nip that in the bud before it could ever happen. No, it was because puppies were impressionable. They learned by routine and by doing. And, Normalizing Georgy to Shit was not something he wanted. Jonas rather intended on using the unwilling bureaucrat for teaching the puppy the attack command.
As the archeologist drew closure to the heavy wagon, Jonas the feint sounds of two hushed voices. He was unable to make out what they were saying, but Jonas was able to identify Georgy as one of the speakers. Whatever they were talking about was clearly not for anyone else to here, and Jonas didn’t want to give these schemers any more of an opportunity then was necessary. So, he picked the wolf pup up and headed inside. “I just don’t-” a female security guard started to say, before cutting off her own words at the sudden sound of Jonas entering the wagon.
The pair suddenly turned to face Jonas, who was now standing there and observing the pair. “Please, don’t stop on my account. I can wait.” Jonas offered as Georgy was turning a violent shade of red with a look of annoyance, while the female security guard looked embarrassed. She was tall for a female and was muscular compared to the average woman. She had sandy brown hair and blue eyes. Nicky was pretty in Jonas’s opinion. Nickie’s eyes went from Jonas to Georgy and back to Jonas once more. She gave them a polite nod and excused herself and left at a brisk pace.
Jonas tipped his hat as she passed, and then took it off, setting it on a supply crate. “About time you showed up.” Georgy blustered. Jonas didn’t take the bait and raised an eyebrow. Georgy, seeing he wasn’t going to be able to deflect, switched tactics. “My personal life is my business.” Jonas shook his head in a “I’m disappointed in you.” kind of way. Jonas would have been foolish to except this at face value, however and didn’t, but he was lacking in context and sufficient information. He’d just have to play along with the young viper in human skin. He set Little Shit on the floor and freed a couple of chairs from their harnesses. Jonas offered the chair to the other man.
“No thank you. I will stand.” Jonas shrugged and sat in his chair. “Suit yourself, Georgy. So, what is on the docket.” Georgy sneered at Jonas, noticing the blood and dirt that still covered the man from the earlier battle. “Couldn’t you have bathed first.” Jonas shrugged and pulled out a canteen and took a swig. “Need to conserve water until we either find a stream or get some more snow. Anyway, why didn’t we wait till spring?” The ever-present sneer turned to a contemplative look. “I asked the same question. Resources will deplete quicker, and the pater will need constant melting. Its just too much of a hassle to travel the winter months. Short answer, I don’t know.” Georgy finished his statement nose deep in recourse logs.
Jonas was tired of this cold as well, but all he could do was push on. “You now, there was a point in time when March was a time of warmer weather. There is also a theory that the current calendar is inaccurate to the original.” Georgy’s sneer was back. “I don’t care. This what I do care about.” He flipped the ledger around to show Jonas some values he’d interpreted as a rate of consumption per vital recourse. “So? We expended a lot of ammunition. Collect the casings and restuff the bullets.” Georgy’s finger went down to the wood. “We cut down some trees.” Anger flared across his face as his finger landed on food. “So, we hunt.” Jonas’ last flippant solution of a comment caused Georgy to slam the ledger on the crate. “It’s not that simple, you insufferable idiot.” Georgy yelled in frustration. Jonas frowned at the offensive rebuke, but let the man speak his piece. Lord only knew he’d be insufferable until he could. “We are burning through our supplies faster than we will be able to refill them using your Idiotic solutions, let alone a proper resupply.” Georgy pulled out a map emblazoned with the council’s mark. It showed the current rout they were to take. Then, the bureaucrat mapped out the locations they would have to hit if they wanted good wood for their fires. Or, fertile hunting grounds if they fallowed Jonas’ suggestion.
“It takes us too far out of the way. We’ll never make it to Rockstone at this rate of consumption. Do you get it now?” Jonas phished out his notebook. “First off. Fuck you.” Jonas retorted, feeling some of the emotional pressure ease. “Secondly,” Jonas set his journal on top of the map and flipped to a page containing a relevant map area applicable to a location on the map, and conveniently with obvious intent, bumped a piece of Georgy’s jerky onto the floor next to the bureaucrat’s foot. Shit pounced on the jerky with gusto. Georgy just gave Jonas a flat look of un-amusement. Jonas awkwardly coughed. “Secondly, we should divert here.”
