Two more days went by.
Chris and the other escapees were put to work in the toughest parts of the mine. They were put under constant guard. Patel tried to get in touch with them. It was an unsuccessful attempt.
Speaking of Patel, the man was putting everything together to form a rebellion. Militias were continuously summoned and hidden around every corner of the camp. There were a ton of nooks and hooks in the mines, and Sullivan didn't have the manpower to cover every single one of them. The unit count has already gotten up to five hundred.
This sounded like a lot. Unfortunately, Patel had no idea how many Sullivan soldiers there were inside the camp. He couldn’t afford to fail. If he failed, the Sullivan would no doubt slaughter them to the last. If they fought, they had to win. Even with five hundred men, he laid low. The plan was to get out as many units as possible before they strike.
Honestly, Patel deserved some credit. There were over twenty available teens across the camp, and Patel not only managed to contact all of them, convince them to strike, but was also able to arrange them so their forces were completely hidden. One misstep, one betrayal, and all would be doomed. Raymond was the prime example of that. The fact that Patel was able to keep all the hot headed teens in line was incredible.
One thing to note was that the teenagers were pleasantly surprised when they discovered that the summoned units, while closely resembling human beings, weren't completely human. For one thing, they could go without food, water, or sleep for a long time. Patel tinkered with the interface a little and found out that if they went without these supplies for too long, their combat capabilities would start dropping and eventually they would die, but none of that would happen within a few days. This was what made it possible for them to hide entire armies in the mines without needing to resupply. This also helped catch the Sullivans by surprise.
Meanwhile, Jerry was busy keeping Alex alive. Alex obviously couldn’t go out and get food, so Jerry had to hide some of his own food during the meals until he could return to the bunks at night and give the food to Alex when everyone was asleep. It was by no means ideal, but it was enough to keep Alex from starving to death.
Except there was one problem. Living in a hole wasn’t the best for a person’s health. Jerry wasn’t too happy to return to the shelter one day and find Alex catching a cold.
Back on Earth, catching a cold meant taking a few days off from school and resting in bed while drinking orange juice. This wasn’t quite the same here. Without any medicine at all, a decent shelter, or even adequate food, Alex might just lose her life to a common cold. Thankfully, she wasn’t exactly on her death bed, but she needed to be in a better condition as quickly as possible.
“We can’t get any help inside the camp.” Jerry tapped his chin. It was late at night, and Alex was able to come out to eat and relax a little while the others in the room were deep asleep. She was ravaging through a small piece of bread Jerry saved for her. “We need to get out of here.”
“How’s Patel’s army going?” Alex asked as she finished the bread. She was stranded, but Jerry told her everything that was going on so she was at least somewhat aware of the surroundings.
“He’s still getting ready.” Jerry recalled when he last talked to Patel. “He’s being careful, as he should be. We can’t afford to lose. In the ideal case, it will be a while until the rebellion.”
“I don’t have a while.” The girl coughed again. She did her best to keep the noise down. Jerry glanced at the door in caution.
“Then we will get out of the camp by ourselves. I have 30 militias in the mines. We can meet up with them and try to bust out of the fences.” While he took care of Alex, Jerry wasn’t slacking off either. He stole minerals here and there and converted them to gold and then to militias to the best of his abilities. Militias, like their description claimed, were far from the best soldiers. At the same time, 30 of them taking the enemies completely by surprise could potentially achieve plenty.
Busting out the fences with force wasn’t the perfect tactic either, but it was better than watching Alex die. At least that was the case for Jerry.
“If you can, we will move before dusk. The longer we wait, the weaker you will be.”
Jerry remembered reading something about the time before dusk being the time when people were the most sleepy. Night patrols might be able to stay awake a couple of hours into the night, but they would likely lower their guard after most of the night went by in peace. Jerry and Alex needed all the advantages they could get if they wanted to get out of this death camp in one piece.
Alex nodded in agreement. She leaned on the wall and closed her eyes. A wave of sleepiness took over her. As she slept, Jerry sat by her with his eyes open. There weren’t alarm clocks here. If he fell asleep as well, he might not be able to wake up in time.
For a while, Jerry considered sneaking out of his shelter, finding Patel, and have him get ready for mobilizing all the militias and seizing the camp tonight, but he knew that would be too risky. The patrols across the living quarters have increased since Chris and the others tried to flee and failed. If he was caught on the way, or if someone, prisoner or guard alike, came across his bed and found the sleeping Alex...all would be lost.
Honestly, what Jerry was doing here was a little reckless. He should wait a few days for a better chance to contact Patel and the others. Making a run for the fences with a few dozen militias might end up with all of them killed. But Jerry, despite his personality, was still a young boy, and the days of torture had stressed him out a lot. As he looked down on the sick Alex, he could no longer think as logically as he would've loved. He had to take his chances, and if it failed, well...then so be it.
Hours flew by. Jerry felt fatigue washing over him, but he knew he had to stay awake. When biting his lips no longer worked, he tried to dig his nails into his palm. It stung, but it was able to keep his eyes open.
Eventually, when Jerry decided it was time, he tapped on Alex’s shoulder repeatedly and woke her up. As Alex’s eyes opened, just for a second, Jerry could see the coldness inside, but it was quickly replaced by a friendly look.
Jerry held out his hand to help her get up.
It was completely dark outside. Jerry and Alex sneaked out of Jerry’s shelter.
“Watch your steps.” As they moved, Jerry constantly reminded Alex as he glanced at her steps nervously. The darkness provided some cover, but there were still Sullivan guards patrolling the area. If just one of the soldiers saw them, the entire camp would be awakened in just minutes.
The two started making their way toward the mines. Jerry hid the militias he summoned in one of the mines. As long as they could meet up, although thirty militias were by no means enough to fight a real battle, they should be enough to open up a breach at the fences with the element of surprise on their side.
The cold night wind blew on both teens. None of them had near sufficient clothing to repel the cold. Jerry was able to be shrug it off. Unfortunately, Alex was too weak for that. Jerry could feel her shivering beside him. Her steps were getting slower and slower. They were still a distance away from the mines, and Alex already had to pretty much lean on Jerry to move. As much as he hated touching others, Jerry had to wrap his arms around Alex to provide as much warmth as possible.
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Time flew by. The entire time, Jerry prayed they wouldn’t be noticed. Unfortunately, when Alex paused and produced a loud sneeze, he knew it was impossible.
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t help…”
“Who’s there?” A loud voice demanded in the quiet night. “Show yourself!”
Instead of answering and trying to fool the guard, Jerry grabbed onto Alex and ran toward the mines. As he ran, the guards chased. He could hear footsteps getting louder in the back as the soldiers pursued after them.
While the summoning system did give the teens the ability to, well, summon units, the summoned units were very similar to ordinary human soldiers. They had to eat and sleep, albeit in a rather odd fashion. More importantly in this case, even the system didn't grant the teens away to contact the summoned. In other words, for Jerry to get help from his militias, he needed to reach the mines first.
“Stop them!” Sullivan guards cried from the back. Footsteps appeared all over the camp. Jerry’s worst fear has come true. They have lost the element of surprise and were being hunted.
“What do we do?” Alex asked. She was still coughing, but she was able to keep her mind clear through all the fatigue and pain.
“Get to the mines.”
“And?”
“I have no idea.” That was the truth. Jerry had no idea what to do. The circumstances didn't give him the chance to have a backup plan. Usually, Jerry wouldn’t make such a risky attempt, but…
The two got closer to the mines. Suddenly, in the dark, Jerry saw a figure stumbling to in front of him. The single source of light in his hand allowed Jerry to see him.
He was wearing red armor, and he was carrying a sword in one hand and a torch in another.
A Sullivan soldier.
Jerry acted before he could think. Releasing Alex, he grabbed onto the soldier’s arm that was holding the torch and yanked it to the side. The soldier was obviously caught by surprise as well, and this allowed Jerry to temporarily overpower him. As the torch hit the ground and the scene went dark again, Jerry grabbed onto the arm holding the sword with his left hand. His right hand reached into a pocket and pulled out a piece of sharp mineral.
He jammed the mineral into the man’s palm.
Everything happened quickly. The soldier was a guard that fell asleep while on duty. He was woken up by the voices and was on the way to finding out what happened. When he realized he was facing an enemy, it was already too late. As he subconsciously released the handle of the sword due to pain, Jerry snatched the sword over, turned it around, and pushed it into the guard’s body.
The man screamed and died. Light armor didn't do a thing against the piercing blade.
Truth to be told, Jerry didn't expect this to be as easy. He expected to be beaten down or even easily defeated, judging by the power of Sullivan soldiers he has seen. What he didn't know was that his view of the Sullivan units was largely skewed. Just like with everything else, there were good Sullivan soldiers and bad Sullivan soldiers.
All the Sullivan soldiers Jerry had experience fighting were the best of the best. Unknown to him, the riders that captured them weren’t just random Sullivan calvary but were actually the personal guard of Commander Hartfield. Vice Commander Liam was able to subdue him easily, but a commander in the ruthless Sullivan army without much skills in fighting couldn’t survive long.
These guards in the mines were completely different. They have undergone basic training, but their experience was limited. Maynard City was in the inner area of the empire. The toughest enemies they faced were bandits. These men were used to beating down disobedient slaves or slick thieves. They weren’t in the mindset for combat.
Jerry, on the other hand, was desperate. The result of the fight between him and a half-asleep Sullivan mine guard wasn’t that surprising.
A few notices popped up in the interface, but Jerry had no time to check it out. He grabbed onto Alex’s hand and pulled her into the mine.
----------------------------------------
When Jerry and Alex finally stopped, both were breathing heavily. Alex was so because her legs felt like they were made of steel, as in they were heavy. Jerry was so because he finally realized he just killed a man.
I’m a killer. No pressure.
“I hope wherever you hid your men, it’s close, because I can’t...”
“We’re here!”
Alex and Jerry turned around another corner and found themselves looking at thirty militias in white clothes. Just like the militia Chris summoned, they all had spears.
“General!” They turned to Jerry and greeted him.
Jerry nodded, doing his best to catch his breath. “Prepare for battle.” At this point, all he could do was pray that these militias would have a different fate than the one Chris summoned.
Within half a minute, rapid footsteps started closing in. Jerry took over a spear one of the militias handed over and drew in a deep breath. Now was no longer the time for plans of schemes. Now was the time for blood and steel.
At the heat of the moment, he suddenly realized something. Given the current situation, no matter if he lived or died, Liam would certainly find out where his forces came from and do a sweep of the entire mine. It would no doubt reveal Patel’s planning. If Patel chose to wait any longer, all could be doomed. The problem was Jerry didn't have a means to contact Patel.
Ok...this was really a terrible idea on his part. Alas, it was too late to turn back now.
Before Jerry could think of an idea, several Sullivan soldiers have already made it past the corner.
“What the…” One of them that first came around the corner was taken back by the wall of militias and their spears. They expected to find two teens, trapped and afraid, not a group of soldiers with uniforms and weapons. Where did they even come from? How did they get within the fences!
Unfortunately for him, he didn't have the time to ponder that question.
“Attack! Kill them all!” Jerry ordered loudly and waved his spear at the Sullivan soldiers.
The militias moved forward. Their spears moved out at once and stabbed the first two Sullivan soldiers in the chest and stomach. The two men screamed. Their light armor offered some protection against arrows and other projectiles, but multiple spears were a little too much. They quickly collapsed. None of them were killed immediately, but that quickly changed when the militias at the front sent a few more thrusts into their chest. Soon, the militias moved forward. Their shoes stepped over the dying men.
Honestly, Jerry was pleasantly surprised by how well the militias did. Then again, it was 30 vs 2, so...
“Stand your ground!”
“For the emperor!”
Despite lacking the numbers, the Sullivans fought bravely. After recovering from the initial shock, the first line of troops launched themselves at the militias and engaged them in hand-to-hand combat rather than fighting in formation. This made the spears of the militias less effective. Still, the militias had the numbers, and in melee situations, numbers could be very important.
Casualties started to rise. Jerry saw a Sullivan soldier opening up the stomach of a militia with a clean slash, only to get stabbed in the back of the neck by another militia. The metal tip of the arrow went clean through. Blood dripped down from the tip just before the militia pulled the spear back out and moved onto another target.
One of the soldiers had his eyes set on Jerry and Alex. He charged forward with a bone-chilling battle scream. Jerry raised his spear and poked forward, but the attack was easily deflected by the soldier’s blade.
Facing the enemy, Jerry couldn’t help but flinch a little. The kill he took in front of the mine was in a flash, and he didn't even have time to get scared, but this was different. The longer he waited, the less courage he had. He really wasn’t built for fighting.
The soldier saw that as well. He simply stood back as Jerry’s hands started to shake. He knew give him a couple more minutes, and his opponent would either drop his weapon or make a stupid move.
Suddenly, blood dripped out the soldier’s mouth. Jerry rose his eyebrows as the man collapsed.
Alex was behind him. She was holding a blood-covered blade. While the soldier was mingling with Alex, she sneaked behind him and snatched the kill.
“Thanks.” Jerry smiled in relief before suddenly stepping forward and pulling Alex back. Close to where she was, two Sullivan soldiers were being dissected by half a dozen militias.
The battle ended quickly. At the end of the day, Jerry counted eight dead militias and twelve Sullivan casualties in the short but brutal skirmish.
“General, what do we do now?”
Jerry knelt down and picked up a sword that once belonged to one of the soldiers. His mind turned despite his racing breath.
Sneaking out was impossible. Vice Commander Liam no doubt knows about what was happening already and must have all the exits secured. The camp security is probably assembling as well. Right now, his only chance would be to join Patel’s forces and take down this camp by force.
The best way to do that was no doubt by creating more chaos.
“Advance!” He ordered with his calmest voice. “Move out of the mines and slay every Sullivan soldier in your way!”