Kelly turned to Reynolds who he could hear wasn’t taking it seriously.
“Here’s a philosophy to live by. Treat every coincidence like a kill zone.”
“You just made that up, didn’t you?”
“Damn right I did, because you needed to hear it.”
“All right, so is it a barrier or a trap? I don’t see what we can do about it, anyway.”
“Go tell the vehicles behind. I want a dozen shooters on each flank to work their way through the trees, and have a few extra guys jump on the back of my truck.”
“Got it.”
“And, Captain…you make sure they’re well armed!”
“Yes, Sir.”
A few minutes later they were rolling forward along the trail at a walking pace to match those going through cover to their flanks. They had left the rest of the convoy behind. Kelly knew all too well what a death trap a narrow road could be, but he didn’t regret taking it. Reynolds hung onto the side of the truck, ready to leap off at a moment’s notice.
The road was so quiet; Kelly could hear the sounds of twigs breaking in the wooded areas as they advanced. He drove with one hand on the wheel and a rifle in the other.
“Would the Krys set a trap like this?” Reynolds asked, “Seems a bit subtle for them.”
“I doubt it, but we’ve been surprised too many times by the things they have done. We have to assume they are capable of anything.”
They were just twenty metres away from the fallen tree now, and had neither seen nor heard anything amiss. Kelly looked around frantically, desperately trying to spot the first sign of trouble. Finally, he rocked up in front of the tree and brought the vehicle to a halt. As he did so, he spotted something in the distance. He squinted to identify what he was seeing, finally recognising a wide bore cannon barrel protruding from dense foliage less than thirty metres beyond the tree.
“Gun! Get down!”
“He jumped out from his truck and took a knee beside it, but as he did so, he heard a wave of shouts of screams up ahead.
“Put your weapons down! Stand down!” they called.
“They’re human. We’re okay,” Reynolds said.
He began to get up when Kelly shouted at him.
“Get your ass down!”
“Identify yourselves!” a voice called. He peered through the branches of the fallen tree but could still not identify any people.
“Commander Kelly, formerly of the MDF!”
No response came for while until finally…
“The what?”
“Moon Defence Force!” Reynolds shouted.
“Sir, they’re friendlies,” he added.
“We don’t know that.”
“Was it you shot down that Krys fighter back there?” Kelly shouted.
“Affirmative!”
Kelly got to his feet and clambered over the tree, carrying on in the open for all to see clearly. He held is rifle low but did not drop it, and held is other hand up to show he was no threat.
“Put your weapons down!” a voice ordered.
He was starting to pinpoint the location now by sound but could still not see it.
“Put ‘em down!”
He stopped in his tracks and stood calmly head on towards where the voice was coming from, a few metres to the right of the gun barrel.
“If you are fighting the Krys, then we are allies.”
“Put your weapon down!”
“And I put my weapon down for no man nor alien!” Kelly bellowed in return.
They all waited for a response. Reynolds looked around cautiously from the cover of Kelly’s truck, but he could still see nothing.
“Did you hear me?” Kelly asked, “Shoot me, or come out!”
Kelly still made no attempt to neither raise his rifle nor move.
“Ball’s in your court!”
Finally, he saw a few branches shake, and part of the tree seemed to get up and walk into the road. A man wearing a camouflage ghillie suit made of part man made materials and part local foliage stood before him. The man was so padded out and bulky he looked like a gorilla. Kelly said nothing and waited for the man to pull back his hood and reveal his face. As they did so, Kelly was shocked to see it was a woman inside.
A woman as tall as he was with her hair tied back and a both curious and suspicious look on her face. Her voice was so deep, and her body so tall and strong, it was hard to notice she was a woman.
“Corporal Berlin, of the…well not sure anymore. We have no unit. We are on our own.”
“Commander Kelly, formerly of the MDF.”
“You can’t carry on this way, Commander.”
“I’m not a Commander anymore. Call me Kelly.”
She looked back past the tree to the line of vehicles in the distance.
“Still look like a Commander to me,” she replied, “I am sorry, but I cannot allow you to pass. Turn your vehicles and go back the way you came.”
Kelly shook his head.
“Guessing you got a few friends back there.”
She did not respond.
“And I am guessing if you were asked by a stranger to walk to your death, you’d not agree and start walking? No… not a chance.”
He could see she was starting to understand, but she had strict orders, and she was sticking to them.
“No, you wouldn’t do it, would you? I have a few hundred people here, and every one of them a fighter. So here’s the deal. We either keep going the way we are going, or you fire on us.”
She shook her head.
“I cannot allow you to continue, Commander.”
Taylor began to walk forward. As he did so, he let go of the rifle slung at his side and held both hands up as to not appear any threat. He walked cautiously and carefully towards the woman whose rifle was now carefully trained on him.
“Whoever you are, you want to fight the bastards who have invaded this world. We do, too. We aren’t running from a fight. We’re regrouping and establishing a guerrilla movement. However many people you have, honestly tell me you can’t use more?”
He kept creeping forwards and was now just a few metres from the woman. Because of her ghillie suit, he could see no insignia or rank. Her accent was German, but that was hardly a surprise.
“Stop right there, or I’ll shoot!” she yelled.
He kept moving forward.
“I won’t. I can’t, just as you can’t shoot me. We’re the same. We want the same thing, and we’re in this together,” replied Kelly.
He finally reached the barrel of her gun.
“Whoever you are, put it down, and let’s do this together. I’m not here through any accident. I know the location of the bunkers in these forests. I was briefed when I was relocated here. All I want is a chance to fight these things. I know you want the same. Don’t make us fight each other now. We’re at the end of days. All we have left is our will and our raw determination to go on fighting and killing those things.”
He took one step closer so that the barrel of the gun pressed against his chest.
“Let us do the only thing we have left to do in this world. We don’t want your sympathy; we don’t want your charity. We’re fighters. Let us fight.”
The woman was shocked and frozen as she clung to her rifle. She was clearly a hardened veteran and a tough soldier, but she came close to tears as she began to quiver a little. She turned back to the trees where she knew her people were.
“Lower you’re weapons. These are friendlies!”
A number of the trees rustled, and three more soldiers stepped out into the open.
“Corporal Berlin of the… I don’t even know anymore, Commander.”
“Kelly.”
“Commander Kelly.”
“Just Kelly. Maybe I was a Commander one day past. Times change, we change.”
She nodded in agreement and looked back to her people. “Clear the way, let them through!”