Saul wasted no time settling in and imprinting himself on Victory. He called Baggus and a few other military types and henchmen to his new, elaborate quarters, which were formerly occupied by Marco and his family.
“Git Maggot n Fritz an’ dem uddas outta da jail and put ’em in da rivah. When deyz dead, give ’em ta da butcha. Dat’ll hold us fo’ awhile. Di uddah prisnahs … put ’em in da jail. Got me? Baggus, what you guys find so fah in da village?”
“Saul, dey cleaned out da place. We can’t find nothin’.
But we keep lookin’. Dey knew. Dey let us have it. Maybe’s a trap. Da guys deya scared ’bout it.”
“Shaddup! You t’ink I dunno? We ain’t stayin’ ’ere. You start findin’ out weya dayz gone to. We gon’ find ’em.” The others nodded in agreement, but Baggus hesitated, staring back at Saul.
“What de fuck ye lookin’ at, Baggus?”
Baggus snapped out of it. “Yeah, Saul, we gon’ find ’em.”
“Well, good! How you gon’ do it?”
Baggus was paralyzed. Saul had just asked him a fair question, and he had no answer. But Baggus was not a stupid man; he just wasn’t good on his feet, especially in front of Saul.
“Saul, dey left da village.”
“No shit.”
Baggus tried to hold his own. “So, dey coulda gone up da rivah. O dey coulda crossed da rivah and gone down da rivah and ova deya. Dey’s lots a ways ta go. I send some guys up rivah, but I dun t’ink dey went deya. Den I send some guys up in da hills in case dey waitin’ to come down an’ attack. But I t’ink dey went across. We gon’ send guys across, see if it looks like a lot of ‘em on da move.” Baggus looked up. He had kept his gaze away from Saul so that he could concentrate. But when he saw Saul’s wide smile, he felt a huge weight lift.
“Baggus? I ’gree wit’ ju. Go! Boyz? Baggus in charge.
Follow his command. Dang, Baggus! Sumbitch! Go get it done, boy. Bring Saul da good news!”
Baggus stood tall and proud. “Yes, Saul!” He then commanded everyone, Let’s go!” and they filed out of the cave.
Hours later, Manfred’s team noticed movement. Men and dogs were moving west along the river. Shortly thereafter, men headed into the hills to the north. Manfred felt some relief.
They were looking in the wrong places. But then, he saw a much larger group of men and dogs amassed by the river. They started swimming across. Suddenly, adrenaline shot through him and he was triggered into action. He immediately dispatched three runners to the south camp with the news about Saul’s troops crossing the river.
As the men started their swim in groups of ten, along with their dogs, another team of soldiers was returning from the banks of the river and heading back to the village carrying the bodies of five drowned men, including Maggot and Fritz.
The soldiers hauled the bodies across the village, presumably headed to wherever the butcher had set up shop.
Ramius was days into his solo adventure back to Eden.
He approached the journey with urgency, despite not knowing that the minions were already probing south. He was confident in his general bearings, but he had already encountered one impasse that had resulted in a large circumvention as he’d found his way down and across a deep canyon. But now, he was back on track and seeing a high range ahead and to the west. He believed that it was the range east of the Eden valley.
He was exhausted, and despite not encountering a single wolf pack so far, he was concerned about being alone as he slept. He kept a fire as best he could and dozed off in short spurts.
Today, he was hiking briskly, feeling too unsteady to run. He was also out of food. By nightfall, he finally reached the base of the distant range, and he decided to hike up as far as he could to reduce the probability of encountering wolves.
There was a decent amount of moonlight, allowing him to continue his push well into the night. Finally, nearing complete delirium, he collapsed near some large boulders at the base of some short evergreens.
When he awoke, it was light. Something had aroused him, but his mind was too foggy to make sense of it. Then, he caught a strong odor—that of an animal. His eyes opened.
Suddenly, he was perfectly awake and alert, his pulse rate building in an instant. But he didn’t move a muscle.
He scanned with his eyes, but he was facing the rocks, his back totally exposed. Just then, he heard a snort and a grunt.
There was some movement very nearby; it was just behind him.
He rolled over very slowly, trying to catch an early glimpse, which would perhaps be his last. Then, his eyes processed the images, and in an instant, he exhaled and then laughed, full of relief. He rolled over the rest of the way and then sat up to watch several large elk grazing on what limited materials were available. Ramius laughed again. Two of them looked up at him, assessed him, and then continued their meal.
“You guys are also on an adventure, aren’t you?”
Ramius addressed the animals and was ignored. “How is that grass anyway? How about this? You eat the grass, and then I eat you.”
Another one of the animals looked up suddenly, alarmed.
“Oh. You heard me that time.”
No sooner than the words were out of his mouth, a shadow passed over him immediately and took form as it landed on the back of one of the elks. The other three scattered in an instant. Ramius scrambled to his feet but took care to face the grisly scene while backing away as carefully but as quickly as possible. It was a large mountain lion. When Ramius made his way around the big rocks, he ran.
His adrenaline was nicely primed by the events so far on this exciting morning. He noted that the terrain was flat. Maybe this is the summit. He reached a clearing, where he had a good view of the west. Sure enough, he was looking across the great valley and could see the lake in the distance and the mountains beyond. His spirits rose with his cadence as he used all of his agility to negotiate the terrain and descend to the valley below.
Once on the valley floor, he found fresh stream water and some wild berries, which he attacked viciously to quench his hunger but also to not waste time.
By nightfall, after a full day of running, he was rounding the south side of the lake at the foot of the steep mountain range to the south. He was determined to reach his destination tonight. But it was overcast and grew dark. He was losing visibility, and soon, he could barely proceed. He walked toward the lake, which was only meters away, and sat on a rock, disappointed that he would have to sleep in the wild again. He was still mentally shaken up from the night before.
He drew a deep breath and started to stand, when he heard a fluttering sound. A bird, he thought, and he paid little notice. But then, as he stood there, looking and deciding where he should sleep, he heard the fluttering again. He looked up, and right in front of him was a bird hovering. He was a bit startled because it seemed odd. It was too big to be a hummingbird, yet it was able to remain in a fixed position just like a hummingbird could.
“That’s odd,” he voiced. “I have never seen such a thing.” Then, he noticed that there was a small green light emanating from the bird’s head. Then, it came to him. “Dream!”
The light blinked several times, and the bird started to move away from him and along the shore toward Eden.
Ramius followed close behind, moving as fast as he could but taking care not to trip. Even when the bird was flying away, he could still see the light. After about an hour, the bird stopped and hovered just as it had before. Ramius walked up to it, but as he got very close, the bird was gone in an instant, flying up and away so rapidly that it was out of sight almost instantly. Ramius was amazed. He then looked around and realized that he was there. This was the place.
“Dream?”
“Heh heh heh heh! Das what I’m talkin’ ’bout.” Saul beamed as his men laid out a basket with four or five good-sized trout. “See? Ya can learn stuff. Not so dumb like ya look,” he chided the men. He was reclined in one of Marco’s big chairs while Megan massaged one of his beefy arms.
“Saul, SSSSaul! Wwwwe can catch ’em jus’ like you showed us. They’s ten guys doin’ it. Can wwwwe live heya? Is nice heya.”
Saul had already shaken off Megan, grabbed one of the big trout, and ripped its head off. He looked at the man as he took a big bite of the raw, pink flesh and chewed it, mouth wide open until he got to the point where he could speak.
“Youz go n catch ’em. Many as ya can. But we ain’t livin’ here. Ya t’ink dem fish gon’ feed all a us? Deez guys heya, dey know howda grow stuff. And hunt fo’ wild aneemals. Youz useless bastads could’n catch da clap. How you gon’ feed all deez folks? No, we gon’ find doze big freaks. An’ Mista Li. I can smell dat oriental all ovah dis. He t’inks he’s clevah. I’ma fin’ dem and string up dat little shit. Den dis time, we gon’ learn howda hunt n grow stuff from deez people.”
Saul took another big bite with a ripping motion that he must have learned from the watchdogs. “We gon’ find ’em.”
“Oooookay, Saul. We gon’ fish now.” With that, the men left the cave, backing out as if they feared that Saul was about to pounce on them and take a bite.
Saul laughed as they left. “Ha ha ha ha! Mo fish, boys! Keep it goin’!” he bellowed.
Manfred continued his diligent watch over the dynamic situation below. The flow of men and dogs across the river seemed never-ending. But eventually, he saw that the waiting group was starting to thin out. Finally, the man who they assumed was leading this crossing effort, based on his arm waving and running about, crossed with the final group.
It still appeared that many had remained in the village— perhaps half, Manfred ventured to guess. He decided on some estimates and immediately sent runners ahead with the information. Then, he decided to leave only a six-man squad at the observation point. The rest would go with him to shadow this large, mobile threat of men and dogs heading toward Victory’s entire population.
“Harper, you are in charge here. Anything important, send out a team to report. I will resupply you men. Do not get spotted. That’s the most important thing. We need your eyes,”
Manfred instructed.
“Yes, sir!” snapped Harper, and Manfred and the other dozen soldiers pulled out.
Harper had recovered emotionally and insisted on being on the front line. He was also valuable in that he had the closest proximity to and, thus, the best understanding of the minions.
He thought that the girl on the platform with Saul was one of the girls who had helped him and Rusty escape, but from that distance, he wasn’t sure. He felt a strong obligation to return their kindness.
“Marco, the courier has come in,” Zeus alerted as he entered Marco’s cabin.
“Okay. Bring him in. I don’t want Mr. Li in on this one.” Marco, Zeus, and several council members listened intently to the courier’s report.
“After the minions fully occupied the village, they sent small detachments upriver and into the northern hills. But the largest force crossed the river and is headed this way. We estimate at least five hundred men and perhaps two hundred dogs. So, the majority of the forces are still in Victory village.
Manfred’s assessment is that the other forces are small, so they are just making sure. But, obviously, they have somehow assumed correctly.”
“How long until they arrive here?” inquired Zeus.
“They move slowly, and we estimate six more days at that pace,” the courier replied.
“It’s a smaller portion of their strength. We can move toward them and ambush them like before. It will weaken them overall,” added one of the council members.
“It’s a good idea, but with that many men and dogs, we will lose some of ours, which pains me,” said Marco solemnly but evenly. “It would require half of our soldiers to make sure we prevail quickly and completely,” he continued. “Do we all support this approach?”
“Aye!” said all present.
“Before we start, Zeus, you plan it out … where the best position would be. I will have a conversation with Mr. Li. I will not share this plan, but I will solicit his opinion.”
The meeting broke up, and Marco went to find Mr. Li.
They met alone.
“Your suggestion only gained us an extra week before a confrontation. Meanwhile, we gave up our homes to these animals. You tell me why we are better off now than if we had waited and fought them,” Marco challenged.
Li hung his head, listening but not protesting. Without looking up, he asked, “How many men are marching this way?”
“We estimate five hundred. They also counted about two hundred dogs,” responded Marco, growing impatient.
“If you know when they will arrive, you could clear this site as if you were never here. They will be forced to return and report. Meanwhile, five hundred men and dogs marched perhaps eight days to your northern village from the east. Then, with only one day of rest, they marched another week, only to march yet another week back to your northern village. Those in the village will not have enough to eat. They will also be growing weak, eating dogs, and eating each other.” Li looked up.
“Are you just dreaming this up? Or did you have such a contingency plan before?” asked Marco angrily.
“I admit, I did not think they would send so many resources this way so soon. They would have had no way to know for sure. And if they were sure, they would have sent the entire army. It was a guess, and they guessed right. But we must let them think they guessed wrong. My path is always the path of life, never death. Avoid violence unless unavoidable.”
“Men can be fooled. But what about dogs?” asked Marco, calming himself and trying to understand Li’s thinking.
“This is the main point. If this deception is to work, then you must leave this camp as soon as possible. Remove all traces.
Allow nature to carry away the human fragrance. It may well be that Saul will send them back here again. But time is your friend. You have food and knowledge. They are starving to death and uncertain. At some point, there will be a fight, and you will lose men. My advice to you is to minimize the deaths among your own people.”
Marco looked at Li intently. In his mind, he could see the logic, but others would consider it cowardly. Marco himself did not want to be seen as a coward. More importantly, he did not want to appear to be taking direction from Mr. Li, whom no one trusted yet.
“I have seen other nations perish under Saul,” Li went on. “But where they have failed, you will succeed. It is your destiny. The only question is how much sorrow and heartache you must endure.”
“Thank you, Mr. Li, for your thoughts. I see your points clearly.”
With that, Marco left to go find his family, eat, and consider the next move.
Ramius awoke to soft, soothing flute music. Then, he realized where he was and why, and his eyes opened suddenly.
The lights immediately illuminated to a dim brightness. I’m being watched, he realized. The lights reacted to me opening my eyes. He thought about it for a moment. But it’s not a person watching me. It’s a machine of some sort … machine by the name of Dream, made by my ancestors. He held this thought and others related to it as he stared at the ceiling and looked around the sleeping quarters of the habitat. “Dream?”
“Yes, Ramius,” she answered instantly.
“Do we have a lot of food stored here?”
“The food stores expired or were consumed long ago.
We developed certain choices based on available items in the vicinity,” she replied. “UV2 has the ability to retrieve nutrients from the lake, including fish, and Drake is able to forage for items on land. In addition, Saginaw can tranquilize animals such as deer, and Drake can retrieve them, bringing them here to be processed. When you discovered the shelter, we did harvest these things, process them, and store them in the freezer. If you are hungry, we can prepare many things.”
“Yes. I am weak. I need something to eat, and I don’t think there is much outside the cave. How about water?” he requested.
“Water is filtered directly from the lake, and the filtration system is in good working order. All the water is potable.”
“Can I take that as a yes?”
“Yes.”
“How do I wash myself?”
“Your sleeping quarters are for command-level personnel. You have a private bathing facility and an office area.”
“Do you watch too?”
“Yes.”
“Ha ha ha. Oh, Dream. I guess we have reached that point in our relationship.”
“Excuse me?”
“Please show me the ah … bathing facilities.”
Ramius explored and found the things that Dream described, and then, with her help, he figured out how to use them. This was precisely his reason for being there. He needed Dream to teach him things. He needed to learn how to kill.
“Dream, I want to know what your weapons can do.
Then, I need to understand how to use them.”
Ramius stood outside of the cave entrance. He was wearing a type of headset. It had clear lenses but they were shaded, and the headset covered one of his ears. This allowed Ramius to dialogue with Dream even when he was outside. He was holding a Zephyr 55 long-range ballistic rifle. It was fitted with a scope that could be used independently. But as Dream had informed him, “It will require a long period of practice to become highly proficient using the rifle alone. Even so, most people are never able to target the rifle at over one thousand yards with accuracy. Therefore, you must wear the headset, and your targeting information will come from Saginaw, the drone you met last night.”
As Ramius pointed the weapon in various directions, the image on his headset told him the distances, and there was a spot in the middle of his view indicating where the weapon would presumably hit. He heard the faint flapping sound of Saginaw as the bird climbed to a higher altitude. Ramius scanned the area, looking for a distant target at about two thousand yards. He found a distant, lonely, slender tree with white bark, and “1,927yds” registered on the illuminated screen before his eyes.
Just as he had learned from the recorded training movie, he found a stable base, which, in this case, was a smooth boulder, and he rested the bottom of the rifle on it. He did not have to bend over nor strain to look through the scope, as the image, with correction data fed in by Saginaw, allowed him to target the tree precisely.
Furthermore, the barrel of the rifle was held in place by six very precise, active transducers that were capable of nearinstantaneous correction at the time of firing. This took the real skill requirement away from the shooter and put it in the hands of Dream and Saginaw.
As Ramius pulled the trigger, it merely closed an electrical switch that signaled to Dream that it was time to fire, which she did within three microseconds, following final calculations and adjustments.
Although Ramius believed himself to be a fast learner, when he saw the projectile, traveling over a thousand yards per second, strike and obliterate the tree precisely where he had intended, he realized that his only real responsibility was not to injure himself. This involved simply holding the dampened spring butt of the rifle firmly against his shoulder as instructed.
He felt the thrill of accomplishment and a rush of adrenaline due to the unexpected power of the recoil.
“Good job, Ramius. Shall we try a more distant target?”
Ramius laughed, a brief respite from the stress and urgency driving him.
Back in the cave, Ramius prepared himself for the return journey. He would be slowed by the twenty-five-pound weapon, so he was determined to travel through the night with the aid of the same headset that he’d used when firing the weapon and which also allowed him to see in the dark.
“You will need to conserve the headset’s power by only wearing it in the dark. This way, it will last about seven days.”
“Will I be able to talk to you? And what about the bird?
I will be far away,” Ramius wondered aloud.
“You will not be able to talk to me until I send Saginaw, which will be five days from now. Once Saginaw arrives, your headset will alert you. You have only two days before Saginaw must return for charging. Good luck to you, Ramius.”
“Okay, here we go.”
Ramius exited the outer cave door and ascended the stone steps toward the light, which was already sinking behind the large peaks to the west. He set out east along the lakeshore, intending to retrace his course.
The minion dogs charged into Victory south camp, barking and desperate. They began surveying every corner with their powerful noses. Given the ability to speak, they would have told Baggus that a massive number of people had been there recently. But all they could do was concur with one another that this was the case, leaving the unwitting soldiers to conclude that the place was empty, and there were no obvious signs that anyone had been there.
Baggus was frustrated and howled loudly. He wondered what wrath he would now surely have to endure once Saul arrived. Surely, he was headed for the butcher this time. He wondered whether the other search parties had found something. That would buy him a reprieve. He decided to double down on his original hunch.
He addressed the other commanders. “We go split up.
Half is stayin’ heya wit’ me. Da uddas a y’all is goin’ back. I t’ink They’s heya and hidin’. I can see it in da dogs,” he lied. “Y’all tell Saul what I say and dat we’s gon’ look all ova dis place til we fin’
’em.” The commanders who had some sense knew that he was just scared and was now delegating the fate to others. But no one protested. They just mumbled, and some laughed.
“What choo findin’ so funny?” Baggus barked defensively.
The carefully concealed observers in the distance dispatched couriers to inform Marco that some, but not all, the minions were moving out. This once again increased the pressure by the council to move in on this weakened force.
“You people are not thinking clearly,” declared Marco.
“Right now, they have no clue. If they believed we had come here, why would they send back half the men? And if we attack without a better position and the element of surprise, we will lose men. We don’t need to do that.”
“Eventually, we will have to fight. They are not just going to leave. We should have stayed and fought from the beginning,” protested one council member.
“I heard two objections coming only from our younger members with small children. The rest of you have sons and daughters at stake. I have come to believe that saving lives is the number-one priority.” Marco had absorbed Mr. Li’s philosophy completely. He had asked Mr. Li to never mention his views to others. If they knew that Marco had taken his advice, they wouldn’t understand. Mr. Li had understood completely.
“Why don’t we take a vote right now? If my position is voted down, I will step aside and let another lead us into battle.
Will anyone call for a vote?”
But even those who had been voicing their disagreement remained silent.
“Good! Now, let us concentrate on how to cause them to unravel and disband. If they cannot find enough food, they will eat their dogs and each other. Despite a little fishing, which we know does not yield much, we have seen no evidence that they can hunt, because they can’t run and do not know our ways. They will collapse soon. There was a fight with every nation or tribe they encountered. This is what they want. Saul doesn’t care how many he loses. He just wants to win in the end. And he has the numbers.”
“Marco, we are with you,” declared Zeus, basically confirming that the military was behind this strategy. Marco nodded in appreciation.
“There is a new runner from the northern lookout. The other search parties have already returned to the village. So, now, there is no other movement that we can see. They are just waiting.”
Saul was ranting and raving. He had even lost his temper and backhanded Megan, who now had a purplish and partially closed eye. Saul looked at her, as the evidence of his brutality gained prominence over her lovely features, and he sighed with regret. But he didn’t apologize nor comment. Angie was now present at all times, and Saul knew that she meant this as some form of punishment. His guilt made him tolerate it.
A grizzly-looking, tattooed man walked into Saul’s cave.
“Lobo!”
“Saul!” he responded sharply.
“Da udda places come up empty. So, by process a’ ’limination, day mus’ be cross dat rivah and down dat road. So, weez gon’ pick up an’ head dat way. But I can’t swim, so how'z we gon’ get me ova deya?”
Megan and Angie looked at each other, alarmed by the fact that they also did not know how to swim, and they knew many others in a similar predicament. Victory had not left a single strand of thread, let alone rope. So, they could only cross the swift current by swimming.
“I gon’ ask roun’ ’n see if anyone got ideas to solve dis problem,” replied Lobo.
“Hmm,” grunted Saul, waving his hand, ushering Lobo off to go and find the solution. As Lobo was leaving, Saul called out to him. “I wanna go tomorrow!” Lobo raised one arm high to acknowledge his understanding, and then he hurried out.
A few hours later, he returned. “Saul. Da only t’ing we come up wit’ is dat da butcha says we leave dead dogs in da sun ’bout two days, den day blow up and float real nice. For mos’ people, one dog’s enough. Fo’ you, he say two dogs.”
“Okay den. Fin’ out who can’t swim, den git goin’ on dem dogs. Sheeit! I wan’ leave tomorrow! Okay, we wait. Git goin’ now!” Saul waved Lobo off again.
Sadly, the people who couldn’t swim had to sacrifice their own dogs, but they did so reluctantly when presented with a choice between either using their dogs to cross or watching someone else use them as floatation devices. The soldiers and the butcher’s team laid out the dogs in rows in a sunny spot near the river. There were hundreds of them, and it was a grisly sight. By evening, their odor was also becoming a problem.
The next morning, Lobo and others were horrified to find that a good percentage of the corpses had been mutilated or dragged away by wolves. The stench had carried many miles downwind, and the wolves had crept in cleverly and silently, thereby not encountering the typical humans who were constantly watched every entry to the village.
Dozens of wolves wreaked havoc on the poor dogs, whose lives had been taken in vain due to the ineptitude of their minion masters. They had lost about a third of the useful corpses. Saul exploded, throwing a ceramic pitcher of some sort that ricocheted off Lobo’s head and smashed into a cave wall.
Other items flew, nearly injuring any bystanders.
Once Saul calmed down enough to speak, he gave his directions. “Tomorrow, everybody goes ’cept doze dat can’t swim and got no dog. Me ’n Megan ’n you, Lobo … weez goin’ da second day … last ones out. Git mo dogs lined up. An’ please, watch ’em dis time, you stupid-ass mudda fuckas!”
Two days later, Saul, with a bloated dog under each arm, waded into the frigid waters. He was unsteady and was being helped by Lobo and his men. Megan, Angie, and Baggus’s wife were right beside him.
“Now da wattah gon’ take ya fast. But it’s okay. Just go wid it, and face da udda side all da time. An’ ya gotta kick. My boys will help you an’ da ladies. We be swimming right deya,”
Saul declared.
He wasn’t used to being so vulnerable, helpless, and dependent on others. But with Lobo, he knew there was no problem. Lobo was as loyal as the two dogs that now kept him alive as his feet suddenly lost touch with the river bottom. He gasped for air and kicked desperately as he headed for the far shore.
In all, there were at least a dozen drownings caused by the mass crossing. Not bad, in Saul’s view.
About a day into their march southeast through a large canyon with a well-worn road at the bottom, the minion soldiers who were coming the other way informed Saul that Baggus had found a village in the south and that it, too, was empty. The soldiers shared Baggus’s belief that the Victorians were there, and they had moved again, to avoid confrontation.
“Dat fuckin’ Confucius cock sucka! He gon’ die ten times!” Others listened to his tirade, wondering why he was talking about Mr. Li in that manner. “Let’s git movin’!” These were inspiring words coming from a fat man sitting on a giant wooden platform being carried by eight poor souls beneath it.
As he labored under the extra weight, Ramius still pushed himself. In the last three days, he had stopped and slept only twice for a few hours at a time. His whole body was sore, especially his shoulders and arms, which were unaccustomed to carrying such an awkwardly heavy item. Nearly delirious at times, he mused that he was quite certainly the only man walking around these mountains carrying a Zephyr 55. When he wasn’t delirious, he was deeply concerned about the timetable limitations. He still would not see Saginaw for another two days, and then he had a two day window in which to act. Oh well.
Perhaps the army has already wiped out the minions, and Saul is in jail at this very moment, Ramius pondered.
His mind kept churning as he fought the urge to simply stop, collapse, and sleep for half a day. At the end of his fourth day, Ramius came to the top of the canyon ridge, below which was the main road between the Victory north and south villages. There was no one below, as far as he could see in either direction.
Ramius estimated that he was near the midpoint of the road, and he now had the dilemma of which way to go. It would be safe to go toward the south camp so that he could be there in case they had trouble. But he believed that Saul was still at north camp.
He decided to go north. It was his one chance. So, he stayed close to the ridge, never losing sight of the bottom of the canyon for very long. He was at least a couple of days out, so he picked up the pace, hoping to cover as much distance as possible before Saginaw arrived.
A day later, Ramius spotted a team of three female military couriers coming from the north and headed south. They were also following the ridgeline to avoid detection. He quickly stashed the rifle away from the ridge trail before they were close enough to notice it. Ramius was relieved to see them.
“I’m Delia, and this is Nora and Kat,” said the squad leader.
“I am Ramius.”
The couriers looked at each other.
“We know who you are.” Nora smiled. “Where are you going?”
“I was in the south village, and I wanted to come to the northern lookout to see what’s happening in the village.”
The ladies looked at each other once again, this time a little concerned. “We are the last squad. Manfred pulled out yesterday. All the minions are headed south. You must have seen them,” Delia offered.
“What?” Ramius was shocked. “I wasn’t on the ridge. I didn’t see them.”
“Well, no point going north. Nobody there. You can come with us,” said Nora.
“Thanks for your suggestion. But I still want to take a look.”
He was worried that it would sound strange that he wanted to move away from the mob of insane people and their insane dogs bearing down on his people and his family. But the ladies deferred to his authority, and if they found it odd, they certainly did not show it.
“Are you sure?” asked Delia one last time, impatient to resume their rapid pace.
“Yes. Please continue. Tell Marco I will be there very soon.”
The ladies sped off, and Ramius waited a few minutes before scaling down to retrieve the rifle. At least he now knew what was happening. He did a quick mental calculation and realized that Saginaw would probably arrive by that evening, and then he had only a two-day window.
He didn’t know how far south the minions were, but it sounded as if it was at least a day. This meant that Ramius would have to travel twice as fast as Saul to intercept him within two days. Because he was carrying the rifle, he wasn’t sure it would be possible. All I can do is try … and hope, he said to himself.
He managed to maintain a slow run, gliding to prevent the rifle from bouncing, which was so painful. He squinted, furrowed his brow, and grunted with nearly each step. I should have asked them for food, he thought, reprimanding himself for not taking advantage of such an obvious opportunity. He was hungry and had exhausted his last rations more than a day ago.
If he could just push through the night, he could catch them comfortably while he still had Saginaw there. This is what he was determined to do.
For Ramius, the headset’s night vision was a miracle. It was as easy as running in full daylight, as every feature and obstacle was perfectly visible. He suddenly spied what looked like berry vines in a wooded area off to the side of the trail. It was the right season as well. Realizing that he was starting to function poorly due to having not eaten, Ramius took a quick detour so that he could take a closer look.
He did find some berries, though not many. He devoured whatever he could get his hands on. He was in a stand of pine trees, and there were pine cones scattered all over the ground. He grabbed an armful of the big ones that looked reasonably fresh, and then he went over to a big rock and started to pound the cones on their sides to release their seeds.
He extracted a brimming handful of the rich and nutritious seeds, and he began peeling and eating them as fast as he could. The sugar from the berries was already working its magic, and Ramius suddenly felt worlds better.
The pine nuts would help carry him through a much longer period and allow him to continue sustainably toward his destination. With renewed vigor and urgency, as well as a clear head, he resumed his forced march at a trot. A few hours later, he heard the fluttering sound and then looked up and searched the skies. Saginaw was right on schedule, and Ramius really felt the pressure now. He let out a primal scream and redoubled his efforts.
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