Wings of Honor: Meeting The Enemy

Chapter 15: Stand

We had to keep moving.
The sun was barely rising, coating the land with a dim gold. The evergreen trees looked to be coated with golden ribbon and silver ornaments.
But still, we had to keep moving.
I expended over half a clip fighting off those wolves. My jacket stained with blood on my right arm, where one of the bastards tried to bite me. My jacket was thick enough to blunt the attack, but it left me with debilitating bruises. It hurt just to raise my pistol, but I still held it firmly in my right hand.
Anthony took a bite to his other leg, crippling him totally. I would have to carry him, and he was the only person who could hold a rifle.
I found a large enough tree. Using my knife, I stripped it of its bark, using the buttstock of the rifle as a hammer. With ample amounts of duct tape, a poncho, and charring with my lighter, I had a sled that I could use to pull the general.
Using what remained of the tape, I fashioned a rope that I affixed to the sled that I could pull, which I wrapped around my waist.
The general was in awe of my makeshift creation.
"How did you know how to do this?"
I looked up while I changed out his bandages. "I had the materials, I knew what could help. So I just made what I needed. Rope, a sled, made it work. Thanks to AP Physics." I muttered through my teeth. "Now get on. We're going."
The general, stripped of all his flamboyant colors and shinies, except for a ragged uniform and a ragged jacket, piled on along with our supplies resting on his lap.
I handed him my rifle.
"I don't know how to use this." He looked up at me.
"It's easy. Just point and squeeze." I showed him. "Don't jerk it around. Safety's that little tab in front of the trigger. With it out of the way, you have a range day." I showed him. "Reload with the clips facing towards the thing you want to kill, push down, and watch your thumb."
I loaded a clip so he could see.
"Shoot anything that moves in the trees. I'd rather waste ammo then fall into an ambush. We still got a good ten or so clips. Let's get moving."
I leaned hard into our makeshift sled. The rough bottom scooped snow a little, but it wasn't anything I could tend to right now.
Heaving hard, we began making our way to the back lines.
The coming blizzard engulfing the land in blinding cream.

Morale was low, needless to say, we were in a very bad place.
Our sudden displacement meant most of our supplies were left in camp. Combined with the possible sabotage of what little supplies we had with us, meant that we were all running as lean as we could possibly go. We had no idea if Goldman or Darkstalker could track us through their items, would they purposely fail and harm us in any way, or just be rendered inert or something similar. We couldn't take that chance, so I gave the order after a unanimous vote. We stuffed all of the supplies we got from Goldman into a Dakota fire pit, incinerated them, then buried it all. We didn't take any more risks.
I was brought back into the fold. I found that most of my previous actions were downright rude and totally illogical. And after expressing my concerns and apologies to Travers and Grace, I was brought back in. Grace scanned through the timelines, verifying that this would never happen again, that Ken (and by consequence Tatsuo) were truly dead, and that Goldman wouldn't find us. In the end, I was fully vetted, and allowed to have my full permission of mindreading back.
The private channel that Travers set up was also abolished. McManis welcomed my return, and also had a few choice words for some of the stupid things I did.
In return, I also adjusted my policy on how animus spells affect me, using my rank pins. Now, instead of an "open door" policy, I instilled an "expressed permission" method of guarding against possibly dangerous spells. I still had no way of safely having Grace or Travers be the final say on whether or not a spell was dangerous, and have it instantly removed from me; not at the moment. But we settled on having a small meeting for every spell that needs considering. And should any concerns arise, a unanimous decision was necessary. I know, that's what killed the articles of Confederation, but it was the safest I had at the moment. And in our situation, anything at all remotely safe was a luxury we were blessed to have.
The silver lining was that Kinkajou was awake. That was what Travers was coming to get me about, when he found Tatsuo, when he found Ken...
At least she's okay. That's what matters. Grace and I want to go see her, but it is still too dangerous with Goldman and Darkstalker so close by, not without a major distraction. Something I was not willing to risk at the moment.