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Chapter 6
Oscar
We took off at sunrise.
It had been a chaotic morning of everyone trying to get their stuff packed and in order. We sold the tables to a pawn shop. Once everything was packed up, we split back into groups. I was one of the few people that had decided to stay, so I was the head of a group. We’d all take the same route to that harbor at different times. The first group, Neil’s, then mine, then Halley's and Luna's, then Lylli's, then Karl's and Charlie’s, then Ash's.
Each group had seven people, including me.
Each group would wait five minutes before going.
My group had two older people and four younger, like all the other ones.
Something in me couldn’t believe that Karl and Charlie had been given a team. They almost killed Jason and still got a group of kids whose lives to protect. But at the end of the day, we are all humans who make mistakes. They deserve a second chance.
“Hey, Strategy man. You good?” Luna asked who had sneaked up on me, realizing I had been staring into nothing for about ten minutes.
“Yeah, I’m ok. How ‘bout you?”
“Pretty good. Bit scared, that’s all. Ya know. Making sure that people stay alive and make it home all right, or where ever they are going.”
She sat down next to me, crouching on a box.
“The sunrise is beautiful today. Hope that it means that the day is going to be just as good. Are you sure that you're okay?”
“Yeah. I’m fine. Where’s Halley? You two are always together.”
“She’s just eating breakfast. Look there, she is,” she said, pointing behind her, eyes still glued to the sky. I turned around and, yep there she was, skipping towards us, smiling.
“Hey, Luna, we need to get going, ya know. You too Oscar. They are waiting for you.”
I shot up from my seat, mumbling a hurried apology bolting past everyone that was still packing their stuff, trying to make it there on time. Why did they decide to leave early? We were supposed to have five more minutes to collect ourselves and five more minutes worth of waiting for the others to leave and get far enough.
When I finally arrived, only Lylli, Neil, and Charlie were there.
“Hey, Os. You good? You were running like a madman.”
“Yeah, just thought I was gonna be late. Where are the others?”
“We’re just ungodly early. There is still ten minutes. The first group was supposed to leave at 6.50.”
“You mean twelve minutes?”
“Sure thing mister timekeeper.” She said, rolling her eyes.
We waited in somber silence and after eight minutes people started to arrive, as per usual Mic was one of the last. When he spotted us, he lit up and started to skip toward us.
He half hugged me and started on his daily rant
“Os, did you know tha- since when is Ly here?” Well, that got cut off quickly. There goes my daily fact.
“She arrived yesterday with Ash and Jason. Didn’t you see them?”
“No, and who in the hell is Jason?!”
And as if right on cue Jason appeared from behind him
“That is Jason. Jason, this is Michael. Mic, this is Jason.”
Michael jumped the moment he realized someone was standing behind him.
“Jeez dude! That’s one way to sneak up on me! Damn you’re tall.”
Jason looked at him in utter confusion, recovering after a moment.
“Hi, sorry if I scared you. And you are quite tall yourself.”
“Hey! Mic, What’s up?” Lylli said, emerging out of nowhere
“Nothing much. You?”
“Nothing much, except killing a cop, almost killing Jason and breaking a chair.”
“Killing a cop? A new low even for you.” he answered teasingly
It's safe to say that the tension in the air was enough to stop a bullet. I do my best to pull the two apart, but they are unstoppable when let at each other.
“Hey, at least I didn’t light a conference room up like a Christmas tree.”
“Whoa there calm down before you blow this loft up as well.”
“Damn I missed you.” Ly said as she ran into Michaels arms, surprising him.
After a momentary embrace Mic muttered something under his breath and then louder “Okay, no need to break another rib.”
The others exchanged pleasantries and left to collect their groups. Me and Mic remained .
“Os, Stay alive, ok? I will get drunk on your grave if you don’t.” We both burst out laughing, which was interrupted by him wrapping his arms around me and whispering against my ear “like actually. I don’t think I could stop myself from leaping into the harbor if you did.” With that he pulled away pat my head, grinned stupidly as usual and walked off.
What would I do if he died?
He wouldn’t. He couldn’t. At this point he’s immortal in battle. Nothing to worry about. Maybe I should tell him?
No, you'd distract him and make things worse.
I found my group and gave them a rundown of the plan “act like a tourist group which means, be as loud and obnoxious as possible without seeming like you’re exaggerating, make it onto the ship, get back home, and whatever you do, stay together.”
With that and a friendly nod goodbye to the guys outside the doors we filed into the street. The once filled and bustling street was now empty with a few exceptions. There were, of course, a few people going to work and school. The morning air was chilly like a promise of a warm day, the wind blew lightly through the street bringing in the familiar sea air. Same scent, different country, okay Os? You can do it.
"So, guys, let's get going, shall we? The ship back home won't wait forever, you know." I said with the same military accent that made the whole group tense momentarily.
I took the lead making sure to point out some of the more impressive buildings and spout the same facts Mic had spent the night telling me about. And this is the house our chief commander had stayed in on his stay to the young country of New Asgnian. I said slipping info about our origin.
"We are starting to get closer to the harbor now. Well done you guys, nobody died an-." I stopped in my tracks when I realized all the others stood before us.
“Shit. Retreat. Now.” I told my group in a hushed voice, but it was too late. They had spotted us.
A humongous man was now stomping towards us.
“You! Put your hands up and weapons down, you are under arrest for blasphemy, manslaughter, intention of spying and treason of your Asgniat ancestors.”
I wowed not to. I pulled my trusty assault rifle off my back in the same fake out I had reluctantly practiced a hundred times before, I will never use it, had been my excuse, oh if I only had known.
The guard's shoulders eased as he stepped closer. I pulled the gun back up and bang. I had fired my gun and killed a man.
The others didn't wait for a sign. The ones still unbound pulled out their weapons and shot, if not to kill, to disable. The ones with short range either took cover or went to release their siblings, friends, and comrades. Three more guards, two, one. When the last man fell, we took out our knives and sliced their bounds.
“Os!” said Mic with ease in his voice when I released him. He wrapped his arms around me for a momentary embrace.
“Are you alright? Did they hurt you?!”
“I’m fine! Are you? You just shot a man.”
I hadn’t thought about it like that. All that had been on my mind was saving my friends and family.
“Yeah, I'm alright.” well that's a blatant lie.
We all heard a sickening squish and a scream of pure agony. It was Karl, his chest pierced by an arrow, and his mouth dripping in blood. Charlie glanced up and as fast as he did, was he also dead; his black hair caked with blood, dripping.
All hell broke loose. Bullets pierced the air, satchel bombs were thrown, people rained down from the roofs and bows were shot.
"Everybody, retreat." Said the same voice that had woken me up in the mornings when we were still at home.
I pulled Jason back towards the harbor while beckoning people onto the ship, slicing the rope and signaling the captain that they were free to go. The other people that were supposed to stay got close to the water and jumped. I pushed Jason in and jumped in after him. We all swam to the surface, checked our numbers, and swam away from the commotion, making sure to stay close to the wall.
When we finally made it to shore Lylli asked as calm as the sea:
“Who took the first shot?”
Everybody looked around expectantly. After a moment I spoke up: “I did. I'm sorry, I didn't know what I'd start. I just saw all of you bound and at gunpoint and I could not think of anything else to do, I’ve been trained to shoot in these kinds of situations. Kill me if you must, but I did what I needed to get you out alive.” They all looked at me with anticipated horror. Lylli was the only one that acted. And the action was nothing else but a slap.
“You did it out of order, without command but you did save us all, and I was blindfolded anyways so I have no suggestions for you.”
“Wait what?! You? Blindfolded?! And bound? By one man?!” Ash said, voice thick with disgust.
“They had you all surrounded and I was worried about Oscar making it here at the wrong time so, yes, my mind was occupied. I didn’t realize what was happening before it already had and all I could see was black.”
As it turns out, all of us were preoccupied with not getting shot in the head to notice anyone else doing the same.
After a moment of us trying to figure out what happened and who did what Halley blurted out: “What happens now? We have nowhere to go, no crew, and no weapons.”
“Well, I have a house with spare rooms, and we have each other for a crew.” Said Jason, who had remained quiet so far.
“And weapons? I hear y’all have tight ass laws for them.”
“We do. Trust me, I have connections. We can get you all the ammo and guns you need.”
“What about knives?” Luna popped into the discussion.
“Oh yeah, I have those. You can pick some out and we can modify them to your needs.”
“Okay. All in favor.” Said Lylli with the usual tone of command. All hands rose. A unanimous vote.
“Okay. Let's make sure the coast is clear and get going.” She continued, clapping her hands together once decidedly.
***
When we arrived at the mansion, Lylli showed us to the top floor and to our rooms. Me and Mic shared one, Luna and Hal did too and so did Ly and Ash.
The rooms were lit by candles and optional oil lamps, but me and Mic opted out ‘for safety’. We set up our beds and put our uniforms aside. Mic put on a soft green sweater and light brown cargo pants, that were suspiciously clean, if not to count the grass stains on the knees. I remained in my under shirt and changed into some uniform pants. Don’t take his. You’re dirty. You’re covered in blood, you monster.
“Os, you coming?” Mic was the one to pull me out.
“Where?”
“Ly just came in to say that dinner is ready. You sure you’re alright, you don’t seem like yourself.” He walked towards me and cupped my cheek with his palm, thumb brushing over mty cheek.
You're dirtying him.
I willed myself not to melt into him.
“Yeah, I’m fine, just exhausted. I’ll skip dinner this time and just go to sleep.”
“Okay. I’ll bring you a sandwich.” He took my head in his hands and kissed the top of my head. He’s so sweet. He pulled away and smiled at me. The same stupid smile he’s always had.
“Good night, sleepy.” He said before ruffling my hair.
I sat down on the bed and tried to sleep. You’re dirty. You don’t deserve this. The floor is where you belong. Like the dirty war dog, you are.
I sat down in the corner, my limbs heavy. The floor was cold, so cold.
I am so tired, I need sleep, but every time I close my eyes I see him. All of them. I killed them all, and caused even more death. Fuck. I killed. The walls are caving in on me. I can't. My chest is tight, too tight. I can't feel my skin or lungs. Fuckfuckfuck. Im dying. I'm a murderer.
I pressed myself against the walls.
Its fine. Its cold.
I'm overreacting. No, I caused all those deaths. If i hadnt made the shot, if i'd just prayed to Aurelius I could have negotiated well enough to get them all out alive.
The lights are too bright. I press my palms to my eyes till I can't see anymore. Feels good. The air cools momentarily and I feel a hand land on my shoulder. Too heavy and big to be the girls. Too familiar to be Jason.
“Os. What is going on?” Mic. He sounds so soft
I lower my hands. Shit I’m crying. His face looks splotchy but it's him.
“I-I-I kil-” I'm crying, not just crying but in front of him. Pull your shit together you’re a man. Men don’t cry.
His weight was on me. He was hugging me. As if shielding me from the world.
“Shhhh its fine. You’re safe. You’re not a monster, all right? And you’re not weak for crying.” He pulled away and held my face in his hands, his other hand sliding down to rest just above my waist.
“I killed men. More than one. And not just their men, ours. So many children, Michael, they were just children. They had families. I killed fathers and sons. I am a monster; I betrayed my faith. What are the others supposed to tell their parents back at the base? That I killed them and ran off like a coward?”
“You didn’t betray anything or anyone. You did it to save your crew and family. You did it to save us. You didn’t know what would happen. In my eyes you’ll never be a monster.” His hand slid down to my neck.
“Even if I burn down a village?”
“Well, that depends. Were there any people whose lives it altered for the worse? And were there any pets caught in the fire?” He said with the same intoxicating grin before taking my face in his hands again “I will always see you as the sweet, sentimental boy you are. Even under all the armor and muscle, you are still the same boy that gave me your shirt when mine got muddy and that wrote poems about the birds. You were just forced into armor instead of a university uniform and a gun put into your hands instead of a pen.” I let out a small giggle and pressed my cheek against his palm.
“You are so stupid”
“Oh, I know you love me.” He said, scrunching his nose up with the same mocking shake of his head that made me fall for him in the first place.
He reached for my head, kissed my forehead, and pressed my head against his neck as he pulled me into a warm embrace. “Please tell me next time you have a panic attack ok, Os? You don’t have to suffer through them alone. Me and Ly are here to help ground you. You are so important to us. And don’t skip dinner, food is important” I felt his throat vibrate against my face with every word. I love his voice.
After a while he started to quiet down.
“Please keep talking.”
“Aww is someone falling asleep?”
“No, you just have a good voice, and it keeps me from going under.” and surprisingly he obeyed and kept taking, talking about anything and everything until I inevitably fell asleep right there in his arms.