A Trip to the Fort

Walking through the lobby, the quiet was a nice change of pace from the daily bustling of people moving from one place to another. Reveling in the peace, Tom and Jerky moved to the courtyard outside where he summoned Bron. Rising out of the black summoning circle, Bron stared around at the time of day and gave Tom a quizzical look.

"Sorry, it's not the normal time of day. I wondered if you might start training Jerky as well now that he has evolved?" Tom asked the large Mastadonian.

Bron looked Jerky over with astonishment that this was the same little creature he had seen with Tom before.

"Sure," He finally said. "This is Jerky though? Quite the grown up now, aren't you?"

"I just want to protect mast...I mean, Tom. Can you help me?" Jerky asked him.

"Of course, little one. What weapon will we be training with?" Bron asked.

"Spear. It seemed the best option. Oh, and hand-to-hand combat. I know how important that is as well." Tom replied, remembering his training as well.

"Very well, let's begin. The first thing to do is to assess your Endurance level. You'll have to be able to keep up with the pace of battle for longer than most realize. Your adrenaline will be running high to help, but if you train that outside combat first, then you'll last even longer in a fight. Time for the first training lesson." Bron said, a smile peeking out from under his trunk.

Jerky began to look uneasy as Bron approached him.

"So, I hope you're ready for some hell," Bron said menacingly.

Shortly after, Jerky was running around the building and doing push-ups, sit-ups, and every other form of training that Tom and the others had been doing, tears streaming down his face as Bron chased after him or stood by him yelling and hitting him with a stick when he lagged.

"Is that what we went through?" Derek asked as he came out to stand beside Tom while watching the training.

"I remember it being much worse, but then again it was happening to us," Tom replied.

"Do you think he's going too far with the poor guy?" Derek asked.

"He needs to be ready. I don't want to go soft on him only for him to be killed because he wasn't ready for the battles we will have to go through still." Tom replied, feeling the twisting in his stomach at watching poor Jerky.

"Well, we have just about everything ready for an exploratory search in Fort Worth. You ready to go as well?" Derek asked him, trying to change the subject.

"I'm ready. Did we find someone who can fly planes?" Tom turned to Derek at the mention of the mission.

"Better. We found someone who used to fly jets in the Air Force. A guy named Eric. He's a little intense, but he's qualified, and we can't really be too picky right now." Derek said, sighing a little at the option.

"You don't seem happy about it," Tom chuckled a little at his friend's mood.

"I'm used to having options. People we can sort through to find the best option. Now we are scraping the bottom of the barrel and hoping for the best." Derek replied, his shoulders sagging slightly.

"So, when you say intense?" Tom began and let the question hang.

"Think Top Gun but every character is played by Ric Flair," Derek looked at Tom pointedly.

"That sounds promising. Feather boa included?" Tom fully laughed now.

"You joke, but you won't be saying that soon. But I want you to keep that positivity when you meet him." Derek replied, a smile sprouting on his face as well.

Rounding the corner of the building at a full sprint, Jerky came into view followed closely by Bron who was yelling how slow he was when one of his feet got caught behind the other and he face-planted on the pavement and slid a few feet carried by the momentum of his movement.

"Ooooooo...That had to hurt." Derek said, cringing at the sight.

Running over to his familiar, Tom helped him stand up and saw several large abrasions on his face from the fall, blood dripping from a couple of open wounds.

"Here, drink this," Tom said handing Jerky a health potion and trying to brush the small pieces of dirt and gravel out of his wounds.

Wincing at the pain of removing the debris, Jerky opened the potion and began to drink the liquid.

"This tastes funny and good at the same time," Jerky replied after a few swallows.

"I'm pretty sure it's the original Monster Energy Drinks with a twist," Tom said to him.

"What's Monster Energy Drink?" Jerky asked now curious.

"Right, I forget they don't have that where you come from. It's not important. You should feel better and get a bit of a boost from drinking that." Tom replied.

"I didn't say you could take a break. Back to running maggot!" Bron boomed from behind them.

Jerky shot up and began running again, a soft whine escaping him as he got hit with the slender stick.

"That really takes me back," Derek sighed with a smile.

"To when we did it?" Tom asked, confused as to why he was talking as though it was a long time ago.

"No, to basic training. They really ran us ragged when we first showed up." Derek corrected him.

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"That sounds like tons of fun," Tom joked. "When do we leave?"

"Soon. We can let Jerky get some more training in first. Going to have to have him sit in the trunk now though. Not enough seatbelts." Derek replied.

"Shouldn't be an issue. Thanks for taking care of that for me. Hopefully, we can find something we can use." Tom said, crossing his arms as he watched Jerky do burpees.

"No problem. You can't do everything." Derek replied, also watching the scene unfold.

"How big is the group going?" Tom continued.

"Four teams. That way we have some backup but can still leave people here to watch out for the others. Not sure how we will get the jets back here yet. Hoping they have some kind of transport." Derek sighed heavily at this part of the plan.

"Can't just fly them back?" Tom asked.

"One at a time? Sure, but we need someone to keep bringing Eric back to us after each flight." Derek explained. "No one else has the training yet. He should be able to help with that, but it'll take time. Like every other fucking thing we have to do to be ready."

"Gonna just have to go see what we can find," Tom said shrugging his shoulders at not being able to think of anything else to do. "If we have to do it one at a time then we do it one at a time. It's only like a forty-five-minute drive if we can get the roads cleared."

"Yup. We'll do what we have to. Even if we just send one vehicle back and forth." Derek agreed. "Well, this is fun, but I need to go get everyone ready. We'll meet you back out here."

Sobbing got Tom's attention again and he turned to see Jerky crying while doing push-ups. Walking over to where they were standing Tom put his hands on his hips and looked at the pair.

"Got an idea of what he can handle?" Tom asked.

"He's better than any of you were, I'll say that. I think we can get started." Bron harumphed.

"Good. I want him on the fast track. He will be with me, and we need to be ready." Tom said as he reached down and helped Jerky back to his feet.

"Fine. Time to begin sparring." Bron said looking at Jerky.

Swallowing hard, Jerky looked to Tom for help. Tom gave him a sympathetic look, knowing what this was like, but then encouraged them to continue.

"Now, get up and take a fighting stance," Bron ordered Jerky.

About two hours later, the others from the guild joined them outside. Poor Jerky had been beaten pretty good in his attempts to spar with Bron. One side of his face was swollen, and he had an arm that hung limply to one side. Tom cast Dark restoration on him as he needed it and when he saw the others he called for a stop, healing Jerky fully.

"Bring the vehicles around and we can load up to head out," Derek ordered.

Sighing with relief from the pain, Jerky sat down hard on the ground and lay back as he tried to recover.

"You did well, little one. Much better than I expected. If you can throw in some spells between those attacks, you will be a great asset to the team." Bron praised Jerky, who looked up at him in astonishment. "You look surprised. I had to push you to get you ready faster. But you are a fighter, never let anyone tell you otherwise. And I bet those wings aren't just for show. Use them."

Turning to look at his wings, Jerky looked as if he forgot he had them for a minute before lying back again and smiling up at the sun. Tom squatted down next to him.

"You about ready to go? You can rest on the way over." Tom spoke softly to him.

Nodding his ascent, Tom reached out a hand and helped him stand.

Soon, the vehicles arrived, and everyone loaded up to head out. Opening the gates for them to leave, the guards waved or saluted as they headed west. The journey took them straight across I-30 into Fort Worth, and the teams had to stop multiple times to move vehicles out of the road.

"Just like old times, eh?" James joked as they pushed an SUV off to the shoulder where it struck a cement barricade.

"It was only a few months ago," Tom laughed as he wiped sweat from his brow.

"It feels like longer," James replied.

"That, it does. Because we've been fighting for our lives a lot of that time." Tom replied.

"So many dicks to shoot, so little time," James said off-handedly.

When the teams finally reached the Lockheed Martin plant, they drove up to the guard house, which was not only abandoned but mostly demolished.

"What the hell happened here?" Tom asked.

"Guess, we get to find out," Derek said solemnly.

Driving into the lot, the team parked outside one of the office buildings and exited their vehicles.

"Anyone know where we are going?" Tom asked.

Everyone shook their heads.

"Probably that big hanger-looking building," Kedron pointed to the large, corrugated steel-sided building behind the main ones.

"As good a place to start as any. Let's go in here, so we can enter from the inside and not try to find a way in directly to the building." Tom suggested.

With no arguments from the others, they approached a set of glass doors that had been broken out already.

"Be ready," Tom advised, equipping his greatsword. "Jay, take the lead."

Nodding, Jay moved to the front to begin the search. Inside, glass was scattered across the tile floors, and the furniture from a waiting area had been turned over and left haphazardly. The front desk, made from a huge piece of wood with a marble top that seemed to be anchored to the floor, sat abandoned, electronics and papers thrown everywhere.

Drop ceiling tiles littered the floor and electrical wire hung down from the rafters above. The further in they went, the darker it got. Trying to watch every direction felt like a nearly impossible task, but the teams continued forward slowly down a hall that led from the entrance. Checking each of the doors, many were locked with some kind of key card access needed to get in, and files were beginning to be seen on the floors where someone must have dropped them in their haste to leave.

Reaching the end of the hall, a T-split met them with halls leading off to the right and left. Remembering that the hanger appeared to be on the right side, Tom motioned to the right without saying anything. Nodding, Jay took off in that direction. they passed several conference rooms before coming to some kind of room that appeared to be a meeting area where presentations would be given.

The room was set up with rising levels similar to a college classroom and a large screen at the front of the room. Being completely dark with no windows or electricity, the team entered cautiously. A low growl sounded from the back of the room. Derek cast a light spell and their eyes landed on a creature with reflective red eyes sitting on three rows of tables at the back of the room.

"Shit! Get back!"