Chapter 7 - Lead the way...

The night that was following after we left our village was a scary one… Probably the scariest night I’ve ever experienced. We were with a group of around 40 people and on the way we got picked up by MNAF troops. I think they weren’t too happy to see us, because they had whole other things to take care off. We only slowed them down. But they took us in anyway. As we were walking through the streets, orders were barked around saying we had to retreat. I looked at the towns square as we passed by and it was nothing more then just piles of rubble. The buildings were devastated and there wasn’t much left that was recognizable… Suddenly, without warning, gunshots filled the air and I heard bullets whizzing by as everyone made their way out of the city. A lot of people got shot down as all of us got separated in the chaos. I lost sight of everyone else and the only one that was with me was some Doberman,, who was am MNAF soldier. He didn’t say much but just pulled me along in cover as we made our way through the city… Many, many hours later, the sun was coming up and we were far away from the city… We were safe… For now…



I fell down exhausted, trying to catch my breath again... That Doberman just looked around to see if any threats were close by. At some point, he sighed and sat down next to me…



Doberman: … What a shootty mess…
Nicole: Yeah…
Doberman: You ok?
Nicole: *nods*

I had to sink everything in… Everything looked so surreal of the things that were happening the last few weeks… I closed my eyes and sighed, while thinking about everyone else… Then I thought about Blain…



Not long after that, I heard him searching for something. The sounds of things rattling against each other were heard, and as I looked up, I noticed that Terry was looking in his backpack, searching for something. He mumbled inarticulately that he found it. It sounded like ‘Ha, found it…” He held up two bottles of water and passed one on to me.



Doberman: You gotta drink something. Keep it.
Nicole: Thanks…
Doberman: Want one?

Then he held a chocolate bar… He tossed one to me…



Doberman: I’m sorry I can’t offer you anything else, but…
Nicole: That’s ok… Thanks for getting me out…
Doberman: Don’t mention it.
Nicole: So… What’s gonna happen next?
Doberman: Truth be told, I have no idea…
Nicole: Ooh…
Doberman: All we can do is to keep moving to Azerbaijan. There’s an underground base there and I hope the others are there as well.

Nicole: I see…

I remember Azerbaijan… I learned that in school when I was a kid… Back in ancient times, where humans were the dominant species on the planet, Azerbaijan was a country. It was near the Caspian Sea and the country was small, compared to their neighbours Iran, Georgia, and Russia. During the war that the humans waged back then, everything got annihilated completely. But after the war was over, survivors went west and founded a city, named after their country to pay respect and to keep their honour and all that. And ever since then, it was populated with humans and over the centuries, the name stayed the same…


It stayed silent for a while…



Doberman: The sun’s coming up…
Nicole: Yeah…
Doberman: We’ll have to wait until nightfall if we wanna move on. It’s much safer at night.

Nicole: I see… What are we gonna do ‘till then?
Doberman: Getting some shut eye. We’ll just have to find something.

So we walked for about half an hour until we noticed an abandoned little shed. Its very small, but just the right size for the both of us. It was a lot of mess and the place smelled really bad, but I guess I had no other choice. Terry took off his backpack and placed it on the floor. He walked around the shed to look for something, and after a while, he came back.



Doberman: All clear.
Nicole: What if they come when we’re asleep…?
Doberman: Don’t worry… Just get some sleep ok?
Nicole: *nods* So… Are you staying anonymous or… Do you have a name?
Doberman: … Terry… My name is Terry.
Nicole: I’m Nicole…

As soon as I got down and placed my head on one of the blankets and closed my eyes, I fell asleep almost immediately…

That night, I got shook awake gently. As I opened my eyes slowly, I saw flashes of light through the openings of the wooden shed… It was nightfall again… Guess I’ve been sleeping through the day…



Terry: Pssstt…! …Nicole…!! wake up…! Come on…! Wake up…!
Nicole: Huh…?
Terry: Something is coming this way.
Nicole: Oh no…
Terry: Get under those blankets…! Come on, move it…!

He pushed me down under those blankets and I made myself as small as possible. There were some crates as well, but I tried to move a bit behind it. I didn’t know what Terry was gonna do. Not long after that, we heard boots walking on mud as all sorts of vehicles passed by. At some point, I heard the door slowly opening as a flashlight was shining through. I could see through the blankets a posture of a human… Then the sounds of soldiers and vehicles passing by slowly died off… He shines around with the flashlight and shortly after, I heard a click and the flashlight died out… I sighed in relief and thought he left… So I moved… Which… Was a stupid mistake… I heard that click again and this time, he was shining right on me… I could hear the footsteps getting closer… He got down and slowly lifts up the blanket while I could see the silhouette of his weapon… Then I stared directly in that flashlight and in the barrel of his weapon… My eyes were wide open as I was terrified… And I noticed that I was barely breathing… He reaches out a hand to help me get up…



Soldier: … Hey, you alrig-

Then all of a sudden, Terry jumped up from behind him. He punched him and kicked him, and rolled around on the floor struggling with him. Terry bit the human’s hand and while the human yelled in pain, Terry muffled his mouth and grabbed his knife. He stabbed him in the chest…



Soldier: Jason? Is that you?
Terry: shoot…!
Soldier: … Jason?!

He pushed me behind those crates again and pulled the blanket over me again as he waited near the door. As soon as the human walked through, Terry grabbed him in a headlock and stabbed him in the back. At that point, I got up and Terry looked at me, dropping the human as he pulled the knife out of his back. The human gasped for air and stumbled towards the wall and collapsed. The soldier was still alive, but he stared at Terry and me… Terry wiped his knife clean and kneeled before him…



Nicole: No… Don’t… Please… No more…

Then there was this awful eerie silence as he kept on staring at that human…



Terry: She just saved your life…

Terry walked out of the door while I continued staring at that human while a puddle of blood underneath him grows larger by the second… At some point, the glance in his eyes faded away as the life in his eyes died out… And then he just stopped breathing… I took a last look at the two human corpses before I left for good… Not long after that, I ran out of the shed and followed Terry…



It stayed silent for a long time as we were walking through the dark forests… I didn’t know what to say… Or what to do… At some point, he stops. Terry took off his backpack and got out a little flashlight and a map. He holds his hand in front of the flashlight and shined on the map. Then he got out his compass…



Terry: You see any signs or landmarks here…?
Nicole: What…?
Terry: *sighs* Never mind.

He tried to figure out which way to go. But seems to me we got lost or something. He kept going over the map with his index finger, to find out the coordinates and every now and then, he checks the compass.



Terry: Ok, I think I figured it out… There should be an intersect a few kilometres North West. If we follow that road, we’ll come across a little town called Remington. So keep you’re eyes open as well… If you see something, lemme know…

Nicole: Ok…

Terry: Let’s go…

He puts out the flashlight and placed everything back in his backpack. And then we started walking again…



I couldn’t keep my mind of those humans Terry has killed… As soon as that one stared at me, I just didn’t know what to do… Once that spark of life died out in his eyes, I was scared… I’ve seen people dieing before, and every time I see it again, it scares me… It gives an uncertain feeling and leaves you feel empty on the inside… But the truth was, I kept seeing it… No matter how many times I closed my eyes and tried to look away, I kept seeing it…



I noticed I fell behind. He walked up just ahead of me not that far away, so I pick up the pace and walked a little faster. But at some point, I felt scared. It felt like we were being watched or something… I saw shadows moving along the trees, and I didn’t know if it was my imagination or not. I kept looking terrified as the feeling didn’t go away…



Terry: What’s wrong with you?
Nicole: I- I think we’re being watched…
Terry: Did you see any humans…?
Nicole: … I don’t think so…
Terry: We better get going before-

Then all of a sudden, someone jumped up from behind on Terry, and started to punch him. Terry managed to kick the guy off of him and they started fighting as I tried to stay away from it… At some point, the guy managed to grab Terry’s gun and aimed at him as Terry got out his rifle. The guy shot him in his leg and Terry fell down. Then he walked up towards him and kicked the rifle out of his hands and he still aimed at Terry… It was too dark to see who it was, but as soon as he came in the moonlight I saw it was… A hedgehog…?



Hedgehog: MNAF troops got no jurisdiction here… So I’ll ask you this only once… What’s your business here…?

Terry: Are you fracking insane?!! We’re on the same team here!!

Then the hedgehog presses his foot against Terry’s wound… And Terry yelled in pain…



Hedgehog: I think I didn’t make myself clear just then… *presses harder*
Terry: *pants* Ow!! frack!! I heard you the first time!! I’m not a frackin’ retard!!

Hedgehog: Then I shall talk real slowly just encase you are… What is your business here…?

???: Mahabi…

As I looked to my right, I saw another hedgehogs coming out of the bushes… He was green, and wears a red bandana, but that wasn’t that made him stand out. It was his tail. He had a tail like a cat and as I looked closer, I noticed he had two of ‘em. Then I looked back at the hedgehog that was standing near Terry and he had a bandana and had a cat like tail as well… A dark blue tail that ends in a grey fluff… And he was yellow with dark blue streaks on his quills… The one with the two tails said Mahabi to the hedgehog standing near Terry… And of course I was scared shootless… Why would he attack an MNAF soldier…?



???: Go cool off…
Mahabi: GUN, ICA, MNAF!! Their all the same, Lattei!! We can’t let them-
Lattei: Killing one doesn’t make a difference and can not undo what’s done. Go.
Mahabi: … Fine.

Then that Mahabi guy walked towards a tree and leaned against it as he glared at us… Then that Lattei guy walked up to me… He took a quick look in my eyes and frowned at me, but then recovered his expression as he held out a hand to help me get up. I guess he must have seen the scared expression on my face…



Lattei: My apologies, miss…

Then I grabbed his hand as he pulled me up… I couldn’t stop staring at those tails though…



Nicole: … Are you like… A mutant or something…?
Lattei: No, although I’m quite sure they will say that…
Mahabi: Ok, enough…
Lattei: Mahabi…
Mahabi: Don’t patronize me, Lattei… Like you don’t wanna know…

Then Lattei started thinking… He walks up to Terry and kneeled before him…



Lattei: Tell me something… Why is it that you two are in the middle of nowhere…?

Terry: It’s because we got driven out!! Do you even know what’s going on out there?!!

Lattei: All too well… That’s why I wanna know what you’re doing here…

Terry: You don’t even know me!! What the hell do you want from me?!!
Lattei: You’re wearing a uniform… You’re wearing a uniform of those who want us dead the most…

Terry: The hell?!! MNAF is on you’re side dipshoot!! THEY are the good guys!!
Lattei: Define good… Most of us got hunted down like dogs for decades by the MNAF…

Then all of a sudden, I remembered. I remember more then 23 years ago, that there were still groups pillaging shortly after the war was over… Could they be…?



Lattei: It doesn’t matter to us if there is a war… It’s every day life as usual… So if you’re not with the MNAF, say it now…

Terry: Or what?!!
Lattei: …
Terry: If you’re making a threat, make sure you’re doing it righ-!!

Then all of a sudden, Lattei punched Terry in his face. He took a closer look at Terry and rolled up his sleeves… He took a look at his arms and turned away…



Lattei: You’re not with the MNAF…
Terry: What…?
Lattei: Mahabi, let’s go.
Terry: Wait, what?!
Lattei: You’re uniform.
Terry: Yeah? What about it?
Lattei: If you’re with the MNAF, then where are you’re ID tags and logo’s?
Terry: *sighs*
Nicole: Wait, wait… What’s this all about…?

Then Lattei and Mahabi looked at me…



Mahabi: We never lived the life you had…
Lattei: Always got chased down like dogs by the MNAF… And now the GUN and ICA is after us as well…

Nicole: Yeah but… We’re at war with GUN…
Lattei: Officially, it’s not even a war… But I think you’re friend can tell us more about it…

Nicole: Whadda ya mean…?
Lattei: He’s not someone you think he is…
Nicole: Terry…? What’s he talking about…?
Terry: *sighs* … It’s best for you not to know…
Nicole: …

Terry: Trust me…
Nicole: …
Terry: *sighs*
Nicole: Please…

Terry: You sure you wanna know?
Nicole: Yes…
Terry: You can get shot if they found out you know…
Nicole: I can get shot everywhere…

Terry: *sighs*
Nicole: …

Terry: It was the first time the government had ordered an assassination ever since the war… That was 14 years ago… Intel reported Robotnik was still alive and that he proposed a threat to civilisation… Mainly to us… So he had to be taken out quickly… I had to get the job done… No loose ends, and no chance of starting a war… I had to make sure he was dead… I did the job with another guy, but I still don’t know his name… But unlike him, I wasn’t a gun for hire. I was part of Special Forces that officially didn’t even exist… We had to take care of problems that just didn’t seem to go away after the war was over... That guy was a part of my group but how he got in, no one knows. And he was the one firing the rifle… We got chased down by some human called Zakhaev with a band of highly trained special forces commando’s ever since… And at some point, I thought about my own safety and bailed on him… That mission put me in danger as well…

Nicole: I see…
Terry: Yeah…
Lattei: Is there any particular reason why you guys got chased down?
Terry: No idea… It seems they were only after him, because he was the one that fired that fatal shot on Robotnik…

Then it got me thinking. It didn’t make any sense. If the other guy got chased down by this Zakhaev guy, why wouldn’t they be after him? I think they weren’t just after that guy just because he shot Robotnik… There’s more behind it… Then I thought about the stories that Blain told me a long time ago. Stories about conspiracies and betrayal during the war. And then it got me thinking again…



Nicole: Is there a possibility that the guy you worked with was created by Robotnik…?

Terry: … No idea… Why?
Nicole: Because… My boyfriend was… And he was part of some Special Forces group created by Robotnik… He told me stories that he was hunted down as well during the first war…

Terry: Why?
Nicole: He didn’t know…
Terry: Oh… Is he still alive…?
Nicole: … No… He died a few weeks ago…
Terry: Oh… I’m sorry to hear that…
Nicole: Yeah…

Then it stayed quiet for a while…



Terry: How’d you know...?
Lattei: Know what?
Terry: That I wasn’t with the MNAF?
Lattei: You got a tattoo on your wrist. The symbol represents the organisation you work for and there is nothing that can identify you.

Terry: Yeah but… How’d you found out it’s from them?
Lattei: I’ve encountered them before…
Nicole: How’d you get the uniform then if you’re not with the MNAF…?


Terry: I found a dead MNAF soldier once… So I took his uniform and looked for surviving MNAF troops… I pretended to be a survivor from some regiment. They didn’t complain though, they could use all the help they could get…

Lattei: … Right…


Terry: Keep in mind that this stays between us… If something ever gets leaked out… Well, you know… Heh, I’d be dead before I can say “peanut butter jelly sandwiches”…

Mahabi: … Don’t act so paranoid… What can we do? Like we’re going over to GUN and say that you were a culprit on the hit of Robotnik? Pssh, yeah right. They would shoot us if they had a chance…

Terry: You’re right…

Nicole: … So what’s your story…?
Lattei: … Ever since I can remember we get chased down… Our only way for survival is to pillage, and sometimes take a life if we have to… We got no place to call home. Forever roaming the planet, constantly on the run for things we fear the most. I’ve seen everyone die over the years. And now this…?

Nicole: So… Basically, you’re kinda like a pirate…?
Lattei: … Something like that, yeah…

Mahabi: shoot’s just getting worse by the day…

Nicole: Well… You can come with us…
Terry: What?!!
Nicole: Yeah! I mean, we got more chance of survival if you tag along... Four know more then two…

Terry: After he shot me?!
Mahabi: Hey…
Nicole: Well at least he knows how to handle a weapon… So what’s the plan? You tell me…

Terry: How about fixing me leg first? It’s bleeding severely and hurts like hell.
Lattei: Lemme take a look.

Then he kneeled before Terry and looked at his leg…



Lattei: The bullet went right through. You’re lucky it didn’t hit the bone or any arteries. It’s just a flesh wound. You got any medical equipment?

Terry: Check my backpack.

Lattei was messing around in Terry’s backpack and got out a bandage. He wrapped it around Terry’s leg and then faced Mahabi and holds up his hand.



Lattei: … Spit.
Mahabi: *spits in Lattei’s hand*
Lattei: No, stupid, I mean spit out you’re chewing gum!! *wipes hand clean on Mahabi’s chest fluff*

Mahabi: … *spits out chewing gum*

He stretches the chewing gum and carefully placed it underneath the bandage layer. He pressed on to the bandage and held it like that for a while. Then Lattei walked over to a tree and snapped a thick branch like if it’s a toothpick or something. He gives the branch to Terry, and Terry leaned on it to get up.



Terry: … Thanks…
Lattei: Don’t mention it… So where are you heading…?
Terry: Azerbaijan…
Lattei: That’s a long way…
Terry: We better get moving then…
Lattei: … Lead the way…

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