Nathan Jones - First Winter

With the prisoners in hand the fight was finally over, and Raul breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn’t the only one. “Good job everyone,” Lewis said over the radio. “I’d say we handled that mess about as well as we could.”

“It was a mess though, wasn’t it?” Rick asked. Raul heard it twice, since his friend was standing right next to him as well as transmitting. “I can’t believe the idiots rushed us after we showed them how many guns we had.”

Trev cut in firmly. “It’s a mess that’s over now. Raul, start the prisoners home. Lewis, you take most of our people and search the fallen for wounded, then bury the rest. Be careful in case some are pretending. I’ll take a team through the camp and check for threats, then strip it of anything useful.”

“We’re going to loot the bandit camp?” Ben demanded. The refugee leader sounded deeply offended.

“Would you rather leave that stuff behind?” Trev shot back. Without waiting for an answer he continued. “You’ve got your assignments. Let’s get to work so we can go home.”

As ordered, Raul’s team got the prisoners on their feet and started southward. The ragged men were complaining bitterly, not seeming all that shaken by the deaths of so many of their companions. Raul wanted to gag them, but restricting their breathing while marching them wouldn’t end well. He consoled himself with the fact that soon they’d be too out of breath to piss and moan.

Trev’s team caught up with them after about a half hour, letting them know Lewis’s group would probably not catch up anytime soon, which stood to reason. The blond man came to walk beside Raul, a second rifle and a bundle of cloth tied above his backpack. Raul wondered if the gun was Brandon’s: his dead friend had no family to return his possessions to, but they should still be identified as his and his sacrifice recognized as they were turned over to the town.

“You did a good job back there,” Trev said quietly.

Raul simply nodded. He was exhausted, and not just physically. He wanted to get home, pay his respects to Brandon and the rest of the patrol if they were buried, attend their burial if not, then crash.

After an awkward silence Trev cleared his throat. “I hesitated. I didn’t think I would, but our advantage was overwhelming. It was hard to order a massacre.”

“I get it,” Raul said. And he did: He was the shield. If that included giving unpleasant orders he could handle it.

Everyone wanted to get home as soon as possible. They’d done what they needed to, they’d gotten justice for the patrol and done it in the most civilized way they could, but nobody wanted to dwell on what had happened. So they set a hard pace, slowed only by the malnourished prisoners who stumbled along with their hands bound behind them. Trev insisted they treat the men humanely, but he didn’t insist too hard.

Lewis and the rest of the defenders caught up with them just before they started down the western slope of the valley towards the town below. They’d brought along several seriously wounded bandits they’d done what they could for, along with the body of one who’d died of his wounds en route. They were all fairly grim and, like everyone else, more than eager to get home.

Not surprising considering their task had been burying the dead and dealing with the wounded. They’d been the ones to face the consequences of the attack firsthand.

Trev had radioed in their approach, and likely the sentries and patrols he’d left watching the town had also called in. A large crowd of townspeople was waiting to give them a hero’s welcome. Or at least make sure their loved ones were okay.

Mary was one of those. Raul immediately noticed the blond young woman up front, her breathtakingly lovely face pinched with worry. That worry faded when she caught sight of her family members safe in the group, and she joined the rest of the welcoming party in exchanging hugs with loved ones, relieved no one had been hurt in the fighting.

To Raul’s surprise her relief extended to him, too; she showed no hint of shyness as she called his name and rushed to throw her arms around him. “Are you all right?” she asked, voice muffled by his chest.

Raul stood stiffly in her embrace. He was grungy and a bit embarrassed about how he must smell, but mostly he was in no place to hug her back after the night and morning he’d just had. Finally he managed to raise one hand to tentatively rest between her shoulders. “I’m not hurt,” he could honestly say.

“Good.” She looked up, big blue eyes searching his, and a hint of worry clouded them. “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure,” he said, trying to smile. The expression felt foreign. “Can you tell me what happened with Brandon and the rest of the patrol?”

Mary looked away, face crumpling in sadness. “We buried them in a nice spot overlooking the town.” The blond young woman finally pulled away from him. He was relieved, but at the same time missed the reassuring contact. She shyly reaching out to take his hand. “I’ll show you.”

Raul nodded wearily. Nearby Matt had been getting a report from Trev and Lewis. The Mayor toggled his radio headset. “Chauncey, I want you on the radio screaming at the military until Grimes comes out here. Over seventy men are dead, we’ve lost friends in the most brutal way imaginable, and Rogers caused it. It’s time for the colonel to get off his preoccupied, judgmental butt and do something about this.”

The crippled teacher’s reply came to Raul’s radio along with everyone else’s. “Um, about that, Matt. It looks like our patrol coming under attack finally got someone’s attention, as did our warning we were going after the people who did it. I just got word that the Colonel’s already on his way.”

Mary had paused with him to listen in. Raul heard the news, and he understood why it caused a stir in the crowd, but his mind was a fog. He tapped Trev on the shoulder. “The teams with me were up all night,” he said quietly. “Unless you need us, I’d like to insist you send us home to get some sleep.”

“I can manage,” Lewis immediately said, and Jane nodded, even though neither of the two looked as if they could stay on their feet much longer. A few others who’d been watching the camp joined in insisting they could handle it.

“Good work to everyone who stayed up the night,” Trev said, looking around. “I won’t force you to get some rest with Colonel Grimes making a visit, and I’d like you to be ready in case you’re called to help. Otherwise please, get whatever sleep you can.”

Raul nodded and exchanged a look with Mary, who was still holding his hand. He couldn’t believe how lucky he was that she seemed to care for him, and was sure he didn’t deserve it. In fact, she’d probably be better off if he told her to avoid him like the plague, go find someone who wasn’t tarnished by his past. Even that prick Robert, if she had to.

But he couldn’t bring himself to do it, no matter how selfish that made him feel. He knew he was fortunate to have friends and a community worth protecting, but sometimes it felt like she was the only good thing in his life. He didn’t want to lose her.

The blond young woman squeezed his hand comfortingly and pointed, starting off. He followed without a word, letting her lead him to where his friends had been buried.

Wonder of wonders, for once the military had actually called ahead to announce they were coming. And even more amazing, it was Colonel Grimes himself who’d be making an appearance.

Matt would’ve been a lot happier about the news yesterday at this same time. Trev and Gutierrez had barely returned from from their attack on the camp, and the entire town was sobered by the event and how few prisoners they’d returned with.