Brad turned his attention back to the ruins and watched as the orange light began to fade into a deep grey. Far in his peripheral he sensed motion. Brad stood and took a step closer to the window, still being very careful to stay concealed. He lifted his binos and scanned the lower quarter of the village where he thought he had seen something. He watched for a moment.
“What do you got, Brad?” Sean asked.
“Nothing yet, but I thought I saw something.”
“Got to be careful, buddy, these twilight shadows can play tricks on you,” Sean said.
“I know, but it looked like movement … oh wait, there it is again,” Brad exclaimed.
With new interest, Sean got to his feet and stepped to the window. Brad, using his hand in a karate chop motion, pointed out the direction where he thought he had seen something.
“Well, what exactly did you see Brad?” Sean asked.
“I can’t be sure, but it looked like a group of people running,” Brad answered. “There! See them? By the low wall.” He pointed.
“I got them, three targets moving left to right,” Sean said, barely above a whisper and reaching for his rifle. “Wait, those aren’t primals. They appear to be one male adult, one female adult, one child,” he continued emotionlessly. “They just dropped into the ruins of that house, third from the left on the trail head, about 550 meters.”
“What are they doing here?” Brad asked.
“Oh shit, I got two primals tracking them. I don’t think they have a fix on the friendly position yet; they’re walking, not running. Primals moving left to right 700 meters out,” Sean whispered.
“You want me to go get Brooks?” Brad asked apprehensively.
“No, not yet. Get on your scope, fire up the night vision—I need a spotter,” Sean answered. “Do you see the primals? They are just off the trail, moving at a walk.”
“Okay I got them,” Brad whispered. “Are you going to take the shot?”
“No, too dangerous,” Sean answered. “If we fire now, we might get every primal this side of the mountain knocking on both of our doors.”
“Yeah, I guess that wouldn’t be good for anyone,” Brad whispered back.
The two watched through their scopes as the primals tracked the group. They observed them stalking the trail, stopping every so often to sniff at the air. “They seem to be evolving. Look at how they’re hunting them,” Sean whispered.
The primals continued to walk down the trail toward the hiding spot. When they got to within fifty feet of the house, one of them dropped back and investigated something on the side of the trail. The lead primal was more aware; he continued down the trail, stopping where it broke to a walkway that led up to the ruined home. It halted in the middle of the path, sniffing at the air and examining the ground. Brad watched the lead primal walk right at the hiding group’s position. Just short of the entryway to the house, he stopped and again put his nose to the air before continuing forward.
Brad had the dot of his scope on the body of the creature as it crossed the threshold of the ruined home. Without warning, he saw the female rise to her feet just in front of the creature. Brad watched intently, waiting and expecting to hear the primal moan as it called to the other crazy. Brad watched the creature raise its hand and arch its back, preparing to lunge at the female. Brad had his finger on the trigger. Noise or not, he wouldn’t watch another human be taken without a fight. But before a sound left its mouth, the male stepped from a shadow behind the primal and removed its head with a shining blade. As soon as it started, both friendlies had again vanished, and nothing was left but the corpse of the primal.
“Things just got interesting,” Sean whispered.
They continued watching as the second primal regained its bearings and turned toward the house. It was moving slowly, occasionally stopping to sniff the air. It eventually found the house and turned to the entryway. Brad again watched this one walk through the doorway and stop when it found the downed primal. With no signs of alarm, it just stopped and put its nose to the air. This only lasted a second as the male again stepped from the shadows and with a quick swing separated the primal from its head.
“Who the hell are they?” Brad asked.
“Got me, but they have their shit together for sure,” Sean answered.
After a short wait, the two men watched the group again break cover. The woman was carrying the child and the man had all of the bags. They moved quickly to a ruin two houses away and disappeared into their surroundings once more. It was now pitch black. Even with a partial moon in a clear sky, you couldn’t make out anything with the naked eye.
“What do you make of this?” Brad asked.
“I don’t know, but it just made more work for us,” Sean said. “Make sure you keep an eye on those ruins.”
“I got them, but do you think we should go down there? Maybe we can help them with something,” Brad said.
“No way, I like my head, and that man down there seems to be pretty proficient in removing them,” Sean answered. “For now let’s just observe them. If they are still there in the morning we’ll talk it over.”
Now that it was completely dark, Brad moved his seat forward and rested the handguard of the rifle on the windowsill. He had the binos high to his eyes, and was watching the ruins where he’d seen the group disappear. The trio was very quiet, and Brad and Sean wouldn’t even have known they existed if they hadn’t been on watch to witness the evening’s events. Brad looked to his left and saw that Sean also had his eye on his scope, scanning the horizon. Far away they could see the road; it was very dark, and even through the night vision it was hard to make out any movement. Brad and Sean settled in and watched.
Just after midnight they heard a noise coming from inside the tunnel. Brad turned to see Brooks crawl out, followed by Hasan. They quietly briefed the men on what had happened earlier and pointed out the location of the group using the IR laser on Sean’s rifle. When they were satisfied their relief was current on the situation, they dropped to their bellies and crawled back through the tunnel and into the cavern.
The cave still had the lantern burning where Hasan had left it. The fire still smoked, its coals burning a bright orange, eerily lighting the area. Brad moved off to the sleeping area where he had placed his belongings earlier. He opened his bedroll and rolled it out across an old dusty bunk. As he lay down, he noticed writing on the stone walls above him. It looked to be a long list of names. It made him wonder how many young fighters had slept on this bunk, waiting to face the war outside. Brad smiled to himself, then reached into his bag for a sharpie and added his name to the bottom of the list.
Sean was already up and messing with the fire when Brad awoke. He’d opened two cans of the Afghan slop and had it simmering in a pot. The stench had already begun to fill the cavern. Sean looked over as he noticed Brad stirring in his bedroll.
“Good morning, sunshine. I found some tea and there’s hot water if you want some. It’s almost 4 a.m. and I want to get moving soon if you can manage to get your ass up,” he said half-jokingly.
“I’m up, I’m up. Hell, how could anyone sleep through the smell of that shit?” Brad retorted.
Sean put on his vest and lifted his rifle. He walked to the tunnel entrance and indicated he was going to relieve Brooks for breakfast, and that Brad should do the same with Hasan when he was ready. Brad took a long drink off of his water bottle, then walked to the kettle on the bench and filled it with the Afghan tea. He found the tea bitter but acceptable, especially with no other source of caffeine nearby. Brooks crawled through the opening of the cavern just as he was getting himself a bowl of the slop. “So any change on our neighbors?” Brad asked.
“Nope, no movement at all. I didn’t see them slip away during the night, so they must be dug in and hiding good.”
“Yeah, I guess for them to have survived this long alone, they would have to be good at hiding,” Brad said. “That guy is good with his steel also; I watched him remove those primals’ heads with one swing.”
“Well let’s hope he’s friendly, I’d hate to have to put him down,” Brooks said, filling a bowl full of the slop.
Brad finished his breakfast and crawled back through the tunnel opening and into the house. He gave Hasan a pat on the back to let him know he was relieved, then took a seat in the corner. He saw Sean sitting in the window silently observing the ruins of the village. He looked at his watch and figured they still had maybe thirty minutes till dawn.
“I got movement,” Sean whispered.
Brad got to his feet and took a spot just over Sean’s shoulder and lifted his binos.
In the area where the group had disappeared, they could see the flickering glow of a fire and a small trail of smoke going into the sky. “Must be meal time,” Sean whispered.
There was very little sign of movement other than the smoke. They watched as suddenly the male figure broke cover and climbed out of the ruin. He stood silently looking for danger. They could tell by his movement that he had experience in the wild. He appeared comfortable as he began to move toward the river with the large, empty water bladders.
The sun was starting to break the horizon and they could easily observe the man now without the aid of night vision. He disappeared from their view as he dropped down to the river, but was back within a few minutes. He had the two water bladders tied end to end and hanging over his neck; they also could see he carried a large sword in a sheath strapped across his back. When he got closer to the ruin, they watched the child run out and greet the man with a hug. Then the woman came from behind the child and took the water bladders from the man.
“Hmm. They seem friendly enough; let’s keep an eye on them. When Hasan gets back we’ll go talk to them,” Sean whispered.
They heard a noise behind them. Brad turned and, as if they had been part of the conversation, Hasan and Brooks crawled out of the tunnel carrying all the gear. They lifted their heavy bags and sat them next to the door.
“The neighbors are up,” Sean said to Brooks in a low voice.
Brooks stepped to the window and took a peek out. “Looks like a family. What’s the plan, boss?”
“I was thinking you and Hasan could take a step out to greet them, your Dari is better than mine, and I’m sure Hasan has us both beat,” Sean said with a chuckle.
“We should leave our weapons; we don’t want to startle them. I’m sure we are more than safe with these gentlemen’s rifles on us,” Hasan said. He stepped to the table and laid his newly found M9 pistol and the worn AK on the wooden face. Brooks looked uneasy, but reluctantly placed his weapons on the table as well. Before stepping away, he turned back and picked up the MK23 pistol, tucking it into his shirt.
“Sorry Hasan, I can’t go outside buck naked,” he said.
They went to the door and walked out. Sean and Brad watched them move away from the house and through the small yard. They passed through the gate of the low stone wall and by the Defender.
“I have the male, you have the female,” Sean whispered.
Brad cringed and placed the red dot of his scope on the body of the female; she was still blissfully unaware of the approach of Brooks and Hasan. Brad watched her preparing the morning meal; she looked to be removing grains from a bag and adding them to a pot on the fire.
When Hasan had moved several paces from the Defender, he stopped in the center of the road and raised his hands. Brad could tell that he was saying something just loud enough for the family to hear, but Brad couldn’t tell what from his location. The woman quickly got to her feet and grabbed the child; then she scurried back to the safety of the ruin and disappeared from sight. Brad moved the rifle and changed focus to the male, who now had the sword unsheathed and was pointing it in the direction of Brooks and Hasan. From the man’s body language, Brad could tell he was shouting warnings.
He watched as Brooks and Hasan closed the distance on the man, the woman still hidden from sight. Both team members held their hands in the air and showed their empty palms to the man. There seemed to be an intense discussion before the man finally lowered his sword. Hasan stepped forward first and continued the conversation with the man. Brad could tell by their movements that the tone had improved. Then Hasan turned and motioned Brooks forward. After a few more minutes and the exchanging of handshakes, Hasan pointed at the house and the man looked in their direction. Brooks looked up and gave them a hand sign that it was clear to come down.
“We’re up,” Sean said.
He took his rifle and slung it across his back. Then he lifted the MP5 and clipped it to a ring on the front of his vest. Brad did the same with his rifle and then followed Sean out the door.
“So what is our plan with these people?” Brad asked.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. For now this is just about gathering intel. Our plans haven’t changed and we’ll be moving out very soon.”
They walked down the trail and approached the ruins of the house. The woman was back out of her hide now, but stayed back in the ruins and eyed the men suspiciously. Brad saw the child, a small boy, staring at him. Brad made a face at the boy and smiled. The boy laughed and smiled back. The woman took notice of Brad’s gesture and seemed to relax a bit.
Sean stepped forward and shook hands with the man, then attempted to look relaxed by leaning against the wall of the house. Brad took up a spot just a bit further away where he could still observe the surrounding area, conscious that this was not a safe spot.
“This is Farid and his wife; the boy is his nephew,” Hasan said. “They fled from a village many miles from here and have been moving for weeks.”
“What do they know of the south?” Sean asked.
Hasan asked the man the question, to which he made a sour face as he replied.
“He says the roads are very dangerous, the cities are to be avoided. Farid says that the south holds many more of the creatures than we have seen here,” Hasan said. “He says there are large armies of the creatures in the south; the roads are choked with them. He says he and his wife only travel by the mountain trails.”