It was dusk by the time we returned to camp. It didn’t take more than 10 minutes to dig Alexei out of the rubble, after that we spent our time tending to all or most of the minor injuries we had accrued in the battle. The only noticeable injuries were a light sword gash on Les’s arm from a zed getting a little close for comfort, a pretty bad scrape on Alexei's leg from the falling rubble, and of course, Kasamir got a nasty gash on his back from his little tumble.

But as we were forming up to head back, I really noticed the dead bodies strewn around the muddy ground. It didn’t really sink in that these had been people until I saw one familiar corpse. The dead paladin still had that same thankful smile on his decayed face. In the heat of battle, I didn’t notice that he had fallen onto his back. The bright spot where my bullet had penetrated his chest plate stuck out against the rusting and yellowish metal.

This became one of the only times I pulled rank. We gathered up all of the intact bodies we could find and laid them in a line in the ruined church's courtyard. Of course, the same courtesy wasn’t extended to the necromancer, we threw him or rather what was left of him in a ditch outside of town. Hopefully, the wolves would get to him before we came back, because we would be back to bury them I silently vowed. Everyone bitched and complained, it was hard and disgusting work after a hard and disgusting battle. But even as they cursed and moaned I could tell that their hearts weren’t in it, they were mostly just coping with what had just happened and what they were doing.

The walk back wasn’t as bad as the walkout had been. For one the rain had stopped and the ground had mostly drained as we got back to camp. Mc’cullen and Les tried to rest in the trucks but were quickly “convinced” otherwise by Xavier. He told them to clean off “before you two even think about getting into those vehicles.” the two professional soldiers were too tired for this shit, so they turned around and shambled off toward the firepit. The feelings of both soldiers were quickly turned around as Xavier lit a fire and started cooking some rabbit he had gotten from somewhere.

The warmth of the fire, the irresistible siren song of the sizzling meat, and the succubus-like smell of a hot meal lured everyone over. Well almost everyone, I reluctantly pulled myself away from the heat, sights, and sounds instead of sitting at a nice cozy fire. I shambled my way into the cave, my exhaustion had made me forget that we had packed the radios away in the trucks.

“Fuck”

I swore softly under my breath. Shrugging, I turned around and marched out of the cave, my legs and feet protesting every step of the way.

____________________________________________________________________________

The next morning was rough. All of us were, if not sore then still a bit worse for wear. I checked in with the bossman. Apparently, he watched our fight from… “god knows where.” I whispered to myself with a hint of a smile spreading across my lips. But the big guy came through, the bounty turned out to be an airdrop and ‘something else once you get back to town.’ that thought stifled the smile on my face.

I knew that the only reward for a successful soldier was more work, more fighting, and more dying. I let out a sigh, at least the weather was nice for the moment. The morning dew from yesterday's rain hung from the trees. The air smelled faintly of woodsmoke and a fresh morning chill hung over the campsite. I took all this in as I walked up to Xavier, who was busily crouched over the fire pit cooking the morning assortment of MREs and local stuff he had scrounged up.

For a moment I wondered about the local food stuffs and if they were edible. Then, I shrugged it off. It was that or survive off solely MREs. I’ll take my chances with Xavier over the government thank you very much.

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“Hey Xavier, whatcha cooking up?”

I said in greeting while I firmly planted my ass on a log. Xavier shrugged

“The last of the local stuff I could get my hands on. After this we’re down to MREs.” the last sentence dripped with disgust.

“Well we’re moving out today so make sure to pack up everything,” I said while stretching out on the log.

The rest of the morning was blissfully uneventful. We packed everything into the 5 vehicles and ate. By the afternoon we were loaded up and heading out back to town. I was in one of the .50 cal trucks. Despite the great suspension the truck still jostled and jolted around heavily. we had to get out and push a few times. But most everyone who wasn’t driving managed to catch some shut-eye, we were all pretty burnt out. Not to mention how soft the seats were.

We all let out a sigh of relief when the walls came into sight. I thought about leaving the vehicles in the forest again, but I waved that idea away. We were probably going to stay here a little while longer than last time. So going out of the walls to protect our vehicles from anyone or thing who got too curious for their own good would be a pain in the ass that we really didn’t need.

‘Also the heated soft seats might have something to do with it.’ I admitted to myself. We rolled straight up to the gate. I was slightly surprised to see a familiar face it was that still wet behind the ears guard. The kid was standing watch with a grizzled sergeant type and was eyeing our convoy with an expression of shocked awe, as if a bunch of gold-plated limousines with the president’s seal had pulled up and a monkey and gotten out.

I strolled up to the sergeant and gave him a short nod. The sergeant gave me a quick once over and recognising a fellow soldier he returned my nod.

“I’ve heard a lot about magical carriages that roll around in the capital. Being the honest guard sergeant I am, I never thought I would see one.” the sergeant calmly commented in a slightly conspiratorial tone.

“So pleasure or business.” the sarge said with the professionally bored tone of soldiers on checkpoint duty everywhere.

“Mostly business, we’re here to resupply and put up our feet for a while. Not to mention catching a bit of the local rumors and news.” I said in the same bored matter-of-fact tone.

The sergeant nodded and waved us through the gate. The young guard watched with a slack jaw and wide eyes as we passed. At least he did until the sergeant smacked him and gave him a dressing down.

As we drove down the streets towards the adventure’s hall, people along the way got out of the way and then stopped to stare. It was kinda creepy, it seemed like life seemed to slow down or even stop as we passed. The worst part was how the people turned to each other and started to whisper after we had passed. The streets were packed with people so we were only going 5 to 10 miles an hour even with people getting out of the way.

As we pulled up in front of the adventure’s hall we got the same type of looks we had been getting all over town. But when we pulled to a stop and started getting out everyone stopped looking and started to mind their own business. A teenage boy timidly approached our little group as we dismounted and got organized.

Spotting the stable boy I walked over and introduced him to Xavier. After the two got talking about where to put the machines, I assigned Bunden, Mc’cullen, Walter, to help Xavier in parking the vehicles with Les in charge to make sure everyone stayed civil. That done, I motioned for the rest of our motley crew to follow me as I walked into the hall.

The hall’s doors were open and the hall beyond was well-lit by the mid-day sun streaming in from multiple windows scattered around the hall. I didn’t get any longer to examine the contents of the hall as a 20-something-year-old woman in medical scrubs with fiery red hair practically rammed into me. I had the air driven from my lungs and had to take a step back but that was about it. The woman cursed a blue streak as she recovered. She finally looked up, her eyes could’ve set me ablaze. But in a blink, a look of relief swept across her pretty features and in her emerald green eyes.

“What are you doing here Yankee? Never mind that do you have medical supplies and if you do where are they?” she let out in a rush that left me in a slightly overwhelmed state.

I pointed to where the parked vehicles sat waiting for Xavier and the stable boy to find room for them. The red-haired woman bolted for the parked vehicles. I watched her run for a second until I heard Alexei making kissing noises. I just gave him the bird and continued inside.

“What the hell happened here.” escaped my lips as I looked around the hall turned field hospital.

“Think we’re about to find out,” Alexei said gravely.