Hornbeck summoned all of Leeds’ Warriors to the training grounds, rousing a great many slumbering night-duty Warriors and practically dragging them outside. Florian had the great fortune to be among the first to be unexpectedly woken in such a manner, left without the opportunity to even try to walk outside on his own. As he sulked, Florian thought he caught the faintest glimmer of a grin on the commander’s face. But that glimmer soon faded as the whole contingent of soldiers gathered.
“Today’s the lumber run. You all know the drill; I need all of the day shift to prepare your packs if you haven’t already, and I need all of you by the gates in thirty minutes,” Hornbeck addressed the fresher Warriors in the dirt training grounds. To the more bleary-eyed warriors Hornbeck said, “And of the night-duty Warriors, I’ll need about half of you to volunteer to hold down the fort while they’re away. Think about it for a moment before I make the lot of you draw straws.”
The commander walked out of the field and approached Florian. He wore a pensive expression, his grey eyes radiating a worry that the rest of his face hid. Florian waited, curious to hear what the man had to say to him.
Hornbeck cleared his throat when he was close enough that they could have a private conversation. “I know that you’re exhausted after last night, son, but if you think you’re up to it, I’d love to have you out there on the logging run.”
Florian raised his eyebrows in surprise. “You know how my magic works, Commander. I’m pretty tapped out. I don’t think I could cast more than a single spell,” he replied.
The commander nodded. “I thought so. Still, a man can hope. Even without your magic, you’re still pretty capable with that weapon of yours. Are you sure you don’t want to go?”
He thought about it for a moment, and he was about to refuse when he locked eyes with Anna for a moment. She waved at him cheerfully despite the ungodly hour and went back to rifling through her backpack. “Fine, I’ll go. I’ll do what I can to help,” Florian said, his response bringing a smile to the old Warrior’s face.
“Perfect!” Hornbeck clapped him on the back. “I’ll make sure that you get one of the easier roles. I honestly just wanted to have you along just in case we met a boss. The recent quantity of Hellwolves gives me a bad feeling about what the near future has in store.” Then Hornbeck was gone, inspecting the line of Warriors to make sure that they had the supplies they needed.
Florian shook his head, wondering how exactly he’d been fleeced into this entire thing. Theoretically, he had no responsibility as a Warrior at all since Jones had absolved him of it. He supposed he just shared that bad feeling with Hornbeck. For the past week, it seemed that each passing day brought with it more and more monsters. Which in hindsight may have made signing up for a mission outside the walls a stupid idea, but it was a chance to learn how things were done in Leeds, and he could talk to Anna about his recent idea regarding Theo’s disciples. And at the end of the day, he’d find a way to make it back to Leeds if he needed to.
But for the moment, Florian approached Anna with empty hands. After explaining his situation, she quickly guided him back towards the barracks, helping him pack an empty backpack with some of his preserved meat and a couple bottles of water. She also shoved a flare inside the backpack, taking one from a supply cabinet that Florian had never seen opened.
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“Where’d you guys get those?” Florian nodded towards the racks of orange flares.
“In the early days, before the wolves ran everyone out of London, we were able to stockpile a bunch of supplies. We ran out of ammo pretty quickly, but the flares are good for a while and we only usually wind up using one during a logging run,” she explained, zipping the backpack closed and handing it to him.
“What do they signal?” Florian accepted the backpack, following Anna to the gate where the rest of the group heading outside would meet.
“We use them in case we get attacked by the wolves when we’re on the move. It helps the commander move the other Warriors into positions to help.”
It was an interesting system but one that made perfect sense given the circumstances. Florian had to hand it to Hornbeck; these missions were more planned out than he’d thought. Approaching the gate, Florian found that he and Anna were among the last to arrive. Thirty Warriors and another twenty loggers surrounded a single commercial truck. Hornbeck was busy guiding the loggers into the back of the truck, closing the door behind the last of them.
The truck itself resembled a tank with its modifications. Metal casings surrounded its wheels, no doubt to prevent errant Hellwolves from getting at the relatively vulnerable tires. The windshield and windows on the cab’s doors were similarly reinforced with iron grates aimed at holding the monsters at bay. Warriors surrounded the truck on all sides, waiting for the gate to open and for Hornbeck to lead them outside.
When the gate rumbled and opened, swinging open to reveal the road out of the fortifications, the truck roared to life and inched forward at about walking pace. The Warriors easily followed it outside, acting as an escort for the armored vehicle. Florian followed along at the truck’s right flank, stationed towards the front in what was considered a more secure position. Most of the veteran Warriors brought up the front, ready to cut through Hellwolves to make it to the tree line. Hornbeck himself brought up the back, where the convoy was most vulnerable to attack.
Had the truck gunned it, it might have made it to the tree line in just three minutes. But as its drivers drove slowly enough to accommodate the people walking alongside it, the journey lasted more like thirty, hampered by the weight of their armor on a particularly sunny day. The trees around them were young, short things. Still, they were much taller than Florian, and resembled the size of the gate. Hornbeck yelled for the convoy to stop, establishing a cordon around a collection of seven of the trees. The Warriors spread out, careful to leave the truck at the center of their formation. Lumberjacks jumped out of the truck en masse, rushing toward the nearest tree and going to work.
It fell with a great creak, thudding into the ground with great force that even Florian felt. Ten of the lumberjacks got to lifting, using rope to make the task easier. They moved it into the truck, the wood just barely fitting within the confines. Florian was floored at the display of strength.
By the time they returned to the young trees, another had been felled and was waiting for them. Repeating their earlier feat, the ten men hastened to the truck once more. Despite his interest, Florian forced himself to focus on watching out for danger. That was, after all, the reason he was here. At first, he could hear nothing but the shouting of men and the crash of trees falling to the Earth. But then he thought he caught a rustle on the wind. Florian moved to investigate, stumbling backwards when a Hellwolf erupted from the thick, green shrubbery. As he readied a signal flare, he felt his heart drop as he watched as a dozen or more flew to the sky in various directions. Something had gone horribly wrong.