by Samuel Small
“Dante, don’t,” Sara said but stopped, and Jake knew why. Major Miles rolled his wrist toward Dante, an indication that he should go ahead. The frustrated look he gave Jake indicated that this wasn’t a matter of courtesy, but an understanding that Dante would bother him to no end if he refused. He had a good silent chuckle at how Dante had managed to manipulate the Major so easily, despite the fact that Jake had been attempting the same for years.
The trainee couldn’t contain his curiosity, however, so he made his way over to Dante, Sara trailing at his side. Once they both reached him Dante nodded, his hand on the mask, then pulled it violently back. Blonde hair raised up for a moment as the mask was pulled off of her, then fell to all sides. Dante shot Jake a grin.
“Man, I didn’t know you struck out that bad.”
Chapter 4
The morning after dealing with the Vigilante Jake found that he was to report to the city’s west gate and bring enough supplies for a week’s journey with him. Confused but not able to refuse orders, Jake went to the barracks and grabbed as many ration packs as he could stuff into his backpack. He rolled up a tent and slung the bag over his shoulder, heading for the west gate.
It wasn’t long before Jake arrived and he could already tell what was going on from the silhouettes in the distance. One moved their arms about erratically at two standing figures. Jake was able to make all three out: Dante was the energetic one, the tall one was Major Miles, and the female with her hair tied in a long ponytail was Sara. What Jake couldn’t wrap his head around was the fourth silhouette, who appeared to be someone on their knees. As Jake got closer he realized that this person wore the Republic’s prisoner uniform: light gray sweatpants with a matching sweater. They had a white bag placed over their face, obstructing both vision and identity, although Jake had a good idea as to who it was. Just as he reached them he was able to catch the tail end of their conversation.
“All I’m sayin’ is—”
“She’s a criminal. The government isn’t going to hold her in high regard just because you think she’s cool,” Sara said. She glanced at the sound of footsteps to her side and took in Jake. “Oh Jake, hey.”
“Sara, Major Miles,” Jake looked to Dante and scowled. “Dante…”
The boy didn’t seem to notice Jake’s obvious anger toward him after the events of the previous night and only gave him a slight nod before fixing his gaze back on the Vigilante’s kneeling form. “What’s she doing here?” Jake asked. Sara and Dante exchanged a look then turned to Major Miles. He cleared his throat, visibly blushing, then spoke. “After yesterday’s incident the Republic is severely short on manpower. The girl can fight, so I’ve made the decision to allow her to come with you.”
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
As soon as Jake voiced his doubt at the plan Major Miles’ head jerked to him. He was clearly nervous, his body unnaturally stiff. “She’s also very powerful.”
Before Jake could tell the Major he’d already said that he grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him away from the rest of the group, much to Dante and Sara’s confusion. Major Miles looked to them for a few seconds, the time clearly eating away at him. With each passing second his fingers dug deeper into Jake’s shoulders, although the trainee dared not verbalize his pain. The obsessive look Major Miles gave to Dante and Sara indicated that it was very important they not overhear this next exchange. After about half a minute Dante began talking to Sara and making expansive, looping gestures with his arms. When the Major was sure they were too preoccupied with their conversation to hear, he spoke to Jake.
“Listen, can you just trust me on this one?”
Jake shook his head. “It doesn’t make any sense. That girl’s a criminal and Dante… well, he’s Dante.”
Major Miles gave himself a solid smack to his face, then slowly slid his hand downward, revealing an expression creased with frustration. He sighed. “You have to understand, there are very few people who Dante can interact with without attacking them – you, Sara, and that girl are among them.” Jake knew this wasn’t true as just last night Dante had tried to blow him up, but he held his tongue and waited for the Major to continue. “We tried to assemble a squad of guards with Dante for this mission shortly after we captured the Vigilante. Do you know what he did?”
Jake said he figured that the Republic was now even more short-staffed than ever.
“Exactly.”
“In that case why have Dante around at all?” Jake asked.
“Do you want him loose in the city?”
It was a fair point. Major Miles took Jake’s silence as an indication that the conversation was over and began walking with the boy back toward the group.
“In regards to the Vigilante, she’s good at combat and is among the few people who can actually interact with Dante positively. I don’t think she’s going to compromise your operation either – if her goal is to overthrow the government she can’t do that if these monsters kill everyone in the country.”
They were now approaching the group, able to see that Dante was fuming at Sara, who stared at him resolutely with her arms crossed. Jake supposed this ragtag team could use all the help they could get, but still. “I don’t like it. She nearly killed me yesterday.”
“I won’t do anything,” a muffled voice said.
Despite the bag that covered her face, the girl continued to look at the ground, as if trying not to make eye contact even though it was impossible. Some kind of feeling sparked in Jake’s chest as he stared at the girl’s defeated posture, one that he didn’t fully understand. Dante walked toward her, interrupting Jake’s thoughts. He was ready to tell him not to do anything but a casual glance at both Sara and Major Miles indicated that they were going to allow him to have his way. Knowing that it would be too much trouble to stop him alone, Jake sighed and allowed Dante to carry out whatever weird ritual he was going on about.
The boy knelt in front of the girl, inspecting her features like she was a fresh crime scene. His gaze went from her shoes all the way up to the bag that covered her head. He studied it for a few moments then placed his hand on the top of the cloth. Once again he removed something that covered the girl’s face and tossed it aside, and once again the girl’s hair flew up then floated down and covered her face. She made no attempt to move and didn’t acknowledge that she’d been unmasked at all. Seeming unaware of the mood this girl gave off, Dante gave her a big thumbs-up and grinned. “It’ll be nice working with you as long as you play nicely.”
The girl puffed some hair out of her face, revealing an annoyed expression. She stared at Dante for a few seconds, the boy frozen in his welcoming posture until he seemed to realize she wasn’t going to return it. He huffed and rose to his feet. “Whatever.”
The girl stood up, scanning each of her new teammates with disdain. Her eyes seemed to linger on Jake for so long that he almost spoke up but she turned her head away and scoffed. Then she looked at Major Miles.
“And what does this mission entail? Don’t tell me you’re going to send us off without even a basic briefing.”
“Right,” Major Miles said then walked around the girl so that he could face the entire group. He stood before them, his hands folded behind his back, exemplifying the authoritarian aura Jake had come to know. “Over the past few weeks the Republic has received multiple reports of sightings of mysterious creatures lingering around nearby villages. Initially these reports were written off as nothing more than a few superstitious country bumpkins making up exaggerated tales, but in light of recent events we feel a full investigation is in order. Sara, Jake, the location of the village is on your comps. They are the closest to the Republic and also the most recent to report any suspicious activity. As of yesterday, however, we haven’t been able to contact them. Your current assignment is to go to this village, make contact with its citizens, and report any new findings to the Republic. If necessary, you can have more time to continue your investigation. Understood?”
&n
bsp; Jake and Sara uttered, “Understood,” in unison, and he thought that was an eerily terrible start to the mission. Only half the team even bothered to follow the most basic protocol. He glanced at the Vigilante, who stared at the open field beyond the raised gate as if she wanted to just get this over with, then to Dante, who casually picked at his ear. Scratch that, half of his team was bound to be a liability.
A firm hand grasped Jake’s shoulder and he looked up to see Major Miles, comforting him through the trepidation he was still feeling. It seemed he had one more order to give, so Jake straightened his posture. “On to the topic of who should be in charge of the mission. General Iroh recommended Dante take the lead but I… overruled that sentiment. With his recommendation in mind, I’ve decided to give joint leadership to you three: Jake, Sara, and Dante. Please put your heads together and make the best decisions possible.”
“Three leaders? Don’t that kinda defeat the point of having a leader?” Dante asked.
“Well, Dante,” Major Miles said, quickly jerking his attention to the boy. Jake could swear he saw a red aura emanating from his ears, such was his barely suppressed rage. “Since Jake and Sara have some form of leadership training and, despite your high recommendations from General Iroh, you have a habit of blowing my city up and incapacitating my guards, I’ve decided that joint leadership is the best option.”
“Yeah, but if it’s joint leadership, why can’t she be a leader too?” Dante said, pointing to the Vigilante who, despite being able to benefit from Dante’s suggestion, stared at him with her mouth agape. Still, Dante didn’t seem to get it at all. He stared up at Major Miles like he wanted a response. Major Miles raised a finger and opened his mouth to say something but an object flew from Jake’s peripheral and slammed into the back of the orange-haired boy’s head. He collapsed face first into the ground as the block of ice hit the concrete and shattered, leading Major Miles to take a casual step to the side to avoid Dante’s falling body. Before he could shake himself off and stand up, Major Miles gave a nod to Sara, thanking her for ending his line of questioning.
“What the hell was that about!?” Dante shouted at Sara, who couldn’t contain her giggle. He glared for a little while longer but quickly calmed down. Jake didn’t exactly understand what it was about Sara that could put him in his place, but he was grateful for it.
“If the pleasantries are complete, can we be on our way?” the Vigilante girl said. Her body was already turned toward the gate but her outfit seemed oddly plain, and that wasn’t just because it was a prisoner’s uniform. Before Jake could wrap his head around why that was, Major Miles knelt down and fumbled with a long duffle bag at his feet. He unzipped it then pulled out a rapier and a sheath, handing them to the Vigilante girl. They whispered a few things to one another before the girl’s face flushed and she quickly tore the rapier from Major Miles’ hands. When she was done securing the sheath to her belt she lifted her eyes and looked at Jake.
“Well? Shall we get going?”
“Er, right!” Jake said then began to awkwardly march past the gate. The girl looked at him like he had a third eye as she followed beside him with normal strides, and Jake realized his gait was weird and returned to even steps. Behind him, Dante snickered but Jake ignored him and pulled out his comp. After clicking a few times he discovered that the location was a good distance away. As Dante quickened his pace to walk beside the Vigilante, Jake couldn’t help but heath a sigh. This is going be a long walk, he thought as he looked up to the wilting autumn leaves hanging from the trees.
***
“Come on, just tell me,” Dante said, but the Vigilante girl remained silent. He’d been asking her the same question for about an hour and she’d managed to ignore him entirely the whole time. Even the frantic claps, snaps, and the “Hey! Hey!” were ignored with expert indifference. Frankly, Jake was impressed.
“All I’m askin’ is what shitty pick up line he used to make you wanna kill him.”
“Dante, will just stop?” Sara said.
The two began to bicker but the loud voices seemed to fade into the distance as Jake focused on the trees that surrounded them along the path. He’d never left the Republic until now and being outside was something he still hadn’t quite gotten used to. The scent of leaves was fresh and crisp, nothing like the metallic smells that lingered throughout the Republic. The dirt too, compact but still clearly loosened by the rain, was a new sensation on his feet altogether. Nothing like solid concrete. He looked back up, just in time to see Sara try to smack Dante, but he slipped his upper body back and shouted something at her. She sped up her pace to walk next to the Vigilante. The sun shined through the gaps in the leaves, leaving little particles of light enveloping Sara, while the Vigilante was painted in shadow.
“I’m sorry, I know he can be annoying but I think in his own way he’s trying to make things less awkward,” Sara said. “He has a point though, we should try to get to know each other.”
“I don’t want to get to know any of you.”
“Listen,” Sara said, then pulled her comp off her waist and pressed its screen a few times. “This place is a whole day and a half away and its possible we might have to camp out later. If we encounter any kind of enemy our teamwork’s going to be shot to pieces. Can we please start over?” Sara extended a hand out for the Vigilante to shake. “I’m Sara.”
“Elizabeth,” the Vigilante girl said while limply grasping Sara’s hand by the fingers and shaking lightly up and down. As soon as she uttered her name, Dante picked up his pace and jumped between the two, slinging his arms over each shoulder. The action prompted them both to stop walking in order to take his weight without falling.
“I’m Dante, and the angry dude over there is Jason!”
“It’s Jake.”
Jake took a step to the side to avoid Dante’s body as it was thrown across the way via the combined effort of Sara and Elizabeth. Dante tumbled and fell on his butt beside Jake. Elizabeth’s arms were clenched tightly at her sides, almost like she was ready to fight right then and there. Jake knew Dante was annoying but her posture was unlike Sara, who seemed annoyed but at least didn’t look ready to attack, her brow simply drawn down. Elizabeth locked her eyes with Jake once again then uttered an angry, “Charmed.” She pivoted and continued forward. At Jake’s side, Dante rose to his feet, rubbing dirt out of his hair.
“Nothing but feisty bitches in this group, eh?” he mumbled to Jake. He tried to ignore him and continue walking along the path.
“Hey, bedhead! Don’t you think it’s weird we haven’t seen any more of those Void things?”
“Not really,” Jake answered, keeping his gaze forward. Elizabeth and Sara walked only a few feet in front of them in silence. “We’ve only been out a couple of hours. I’m sure we’ll encounter some before nightfall.”
“Yeah, somehow I doubt that,” Dante said.
“What do you mean?”
“Remember what I said? There’s one in charge, controllin’ ’em. Unless we see them I don’t think the others’ll follow.”
“Okay, well you let me know if you spot any. Currently I doubt they exist,” Jake said.
Dante nodded then sped up to walk beside the girls. He said a few things casually and Sara moved around Elizabeth to talk with him. Elizabeth’s movements slowed until she brought up the rear of the group next to Jake. The presence of another person right next to him wasn’t comforting at all, however. He couldn’t say anything after Dante had practically taken a shit in the stew that was their brewing relationship. He looked ahead to where Dante and Sara conversed civilly for once, in need of a method to cure the boredom of what would be a very long walk then Jake turned his attention once again to the forest as he and Elizabeth continued in silence.
After several hours of walking the sun began to dip in the sky. Jake uttered his first meaningful words of the trip and suggested they make camp for the night. They continued walking for maybe another mile or two before discovering a clearing just
off the path where leaves covered the grass like a blanket and Jake could hear running water somewhere in the distance. Dante said it was the perfect place to set up and Jake had to agree, following the overly energetic boy.
Everyone set up their own sleeping arrangements. Jake rummaged through his backpack until he found everything he needed for his tent then began laying out the poles, Sara doing the same not far from him. Elizabeth pulled a sleeping bag out of her limited supplies, which had been provided by Major Miles, and asked Sara if she could sleep in her tent, to which Sara replied yes, then found a spot next to a tree and opened a paperback novel. As Jake continued to set up his tent he wondered if it was the same book he’d seen her reading before, although he dared not get close enough to see lest the girl decide to finish what she started last night.
Jake’s attention was suddenly brought to yet more hammering, louder than his and Sara’s which was dulled by the compact cushion of the earth. He jerked his head to take in Dante, who hammered a stake into a nearby tree. Once it was in, he moved to a tree across from it and hammered another in. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a hammock like a clown ripping steamers out of their sleeve. Given his personality Jake should’ve figured Dante would sleep in something that provided little protection from the elements.
“You always use a hammock?” Jake found himself saying.
Dante looked over his shoulder and blinked at Jake a few times, apparently surprised that Jake addressed him at all after his silent treatment earlier. He started to tie the hammock’s ends around the stakes. “Hell yeah. It’s easy to carry and nice and comfy. Unlike all that bullshit you’ve got.”