To take the attention off the future battle site and whatever the Sheriff Bobs were doing to prepare, Ethan and Michael moved Southeast into Indiana. It was a location where they might meet the gang had they come directly from New York. They were immediately greeted by their escort of 221 Sheriff Bobs. They’d appear in one place only long enough to be noticed and have a few gang members come sniffing around, then leap to a new location some distance away. The distance was far enough away the gang would be unable to zero in on one specific location to concentrate their forces. The distance and new location was determined by Sheriff Bob.

Waiting for the Sheriff Bob’s to get everything in order for the battle was slow at first. They had their plan, now they were waiting for the Sheriff Bobs to catch up to the plan. Nothing much happened. They’d find a place inhabited by the Consortium and walk through streets, being visible. Things were becoming lawless in the Consortiums now that the Sheriff Bobs were no longer protecting them. Ethan and Michael were quickly noticed wherever they went.

Still, it was boring. Even Ethan was getting sick of his stories, and he and Michael took to sitting in outdoor cafes looking across from each other being bored. That was only the first of the three weeks the Sheriff Bob’s needed to prepare for the battle too.

Only a couple of things unusual happened during the first week. One day a Sheriff Bob approached Ethan and requested a vial of blood.

“You’re not going to drink it?” Ethan joked.

“No. We want to test it”.

“Yeah. Whatever, “ Ethan replied, not curious beyond that.

The other thing that happened towards the end of the week occurred when they were moving from one location to the next. One of their leaps landed them between communities on an uninhabited flatland.

Whenever Ethan and Michael touched down, they surveyed their location which placed them in the here and now. This was required before they could take their next leap. It was there they saw the two figures in the distance. They looked to be in rough shape, leaning on and supporting each other as they made their way to God knows where. One was taller than the other. The other was rounder. The round one seemed to be the wobbly one, requiring support. Right while Ethan and Michael were watching, the round one fell to the ground motionless. The tall guy gave him a few kicks to see if he could get him up and moving, but the round guy was done.

Ethan and Michael immediately leapt over. It turned out to be two young men who had wandered out into the wilderness without any sustenance. The tall man, who remained standing, was over six feet. The round one who had fallen, and remained splayed out on the ground moaning, was several inches shorter.

“Water,” the tall, thin man gasped as soon as Ethan and Michael appeared. “We haven’t had a sip of water in days”.

“And food,” the poor man laid out on the ground was just able to get out. He was holding his belly, and looking like he would certainly die if he didn’t eat soon.

Ethan and Michael didn’t carry water or food. They were always only a leap or two away from whatever they needed, so it was unnecessary. Michael leaped back to the town they had just passed, and was soon back with a few bags of groceries and drinks.

Just knowing the food was there, brought the fallen man back to life.

“Oh, what have we here,” he said rifling through the bags. ‘Funyuns! Niiice”.

“What are you doing out here,” Ethan asked.

“We came to fight in the war,” the chubby one, who quickly became the more animated of the two, replied. “We’re Cadets,” he announced proudly, pointing to the cloth insignia sewn onto the arm of his shirt.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“Where are your weapons,” Michael asked.

“Well, that’s a funny story,” the talker, who turned out to be O'Brien, answered. “We were so anxious to get to the front, it would appear, in our haste, we left without our firearms”.

“We were drunk”. Jones, who was the other guy, said.

“That is correct, sirs,” O’Brien picked up. “We were on our way to get our guns, but not knowing when we might eat again, we felt it prudent to stop and have a bite to eat before embarking on our journey, and we were drunk at the time. That is correct. We meant to go back and get our guns after we ate. It was at that juncture we forgot our arms”.

“Pizza,” Jones added.

“Yes,” O’Brien replied. “We dined on pizza. Be that as it may, we followed through on our mission and we’re here to fight. O’Brien and Jones reporting for duty, sirs”!

“Without your weapons?” Michael confirmed.

“Yes Sir,” O’Brien replied, now standing fully at attention and saluting. “We forgot those”.

Michael turned from the two Cadets, waiting for Ethan to get rid of them.

The Cadets interpreted Michael’s turning to be the end of formal introductions and stood at ease, then sat at ease as they had yet to partake of the subs he had brought them.

“You didn’t bring any beer with you, did you Michael,” O’Brien asked.

“No.”

“Aw, well, next stop then”.

“You won’t be coming with us,” Ethan said.

“How Come?” O’Brien asked, his round face showing genuine surprise, meatball sub suspended mid-mouth.

“It’s going to be in Iowa for starters,” Ethan replied. “I doubt you could get there in time. The other thing is, you boys are not ready to fight in this kind of war. You would needlessly be killed. I’ll have a couple of Sheriff Bobs take you to the next town. I thank you for your initiative, but you need to go back and train some more. Being a capable soldier is not enough in this war”.

“But, we came to fight,” O’Brien said dejectedly. He had to look at his sub for several seconds before he could bring himself to take another bite. That’s how dejected he was, but now that he was sober, he started thinking him and Jones had acted hastily. “So what you’re saying is we’ve done our service and now you find us hungry, dehydrated, with blisters on our feet, and you’re telling us it's time to take some R&R and build ourselves back up”?

“I am soldier,” Ethan replied.

Michael groaned. He looked up to the Heavens wondering what exactly he had done wrong to be sent here.

“And further,” Cadet O’Brien said, building a pretty picture of the situation as he was prone to do. “You are ordering us to go to the very next town, have a good meal, maybe a couple of beers and find a nice warm bed to sleep in as we commence recuperating”.

“You have your orders, Cadet,” Ethan replied authoritatively. “I am not accustomed to repeating myself.

“Oh, for fuck sakes!” That was Michael.

“Well then, under your orders sir,” O’Brien continued, defeated in a way because he could not do his duty and fight in the war, but still a soldier subject to commands. “We will do our very best to recuperate and prepare ourselves for our role in the battle wherever it may find us and when it comes”.

O’Brien looked determined. By the look of hardened determination on his face, you might think all that relaxing would be a battle in itself, but he was eager to get started just the same. “If you’d be so kind as to point us in the direction of the next town, we will be on our way”.

“The Sheriff Bobs will take you”.

“Right!” O’Brien remembered. “Then we’re off”.

O’Brien and Jones fell in behind their assigned Sheriff Bobs, but then a thought came to O’Brien.

“Sir,” he said to Ethan. “I was wondering if there might be some Cadet, or maybe danger pay attached to this mission”?

“I’m afraid we don’t pay Cadets,” Ethan replied.

“Ah! It’s just that Jones and I... in our haste, depleted all our funds at the pizza parlor before leaving. You don’t have a few extra dollars you can spare us, do you”?