A Grey-Haired Boy

Search & Recover Part 3:Rolling On

Aleksandr Smirnov's soft guitar played over the vehicle's radio as the four reunited Misfits rolled forward into the dark forests of the Valeian mountainous border at nightfall. Vic sang along to the song in an off-pitch tune as he held onto the M2 Browning on top of the Warhound, scanning the forest around them for the fabled 'Grimm', Remnant's fairly hostile demon fauna.

'Forward, KamaZ!' was a rather funny song to be listening to while on a trip like this. Especially considering they were in somewhat the US equivalent to a Kamaz truck, the Mastiff MRAP. It wasn't a one-to-one like the US's Deuce-and-a-Halves or HEMTTs might've been, but the extended passenger and cargo bed with an armored roof over their heads gave off the same vibe. Especially since they were now rolling up the side road of a mountain, the only thing separating them from a tumble into the abyss to the right of their vehicle being a few concrete barriers that barely reached the halfway point of the transport's wheels.

Vic dipped back into the truck, gagging a bit. His sister patted him on the shoulder and watched him sit himself down as he rubbed his face, with Paul snorting and Paula giggling as they recalled that, indeed, the young man before them had a fear of or just a sickness in regarding to heights. He swallowed empty, looking a bit pale, then pulled out his canteen and took a sip.

Diana at the front laughed, but let the song play instead of starting up a conversation, simply driving their War Truck up the road and praying that nothing would fuck with them on either ascent or descent. Vic and Vicky both remembered Afghanistan, too, having travelled up and down the same roads those brave suicidal fucks from the Supply Companies of the Soviet Army had travelled with the Warhound. From Kabul to Herat and back, to Kandahar and so on.

They'd only been in-country that one year during the Pandemic, just before the NATO withdrawal from the country. It had been enough to see everything go to shit, obviously, but at least they got their butts up and managed to put down some bastards trying to assault the airport. Meanwhile, Paul and Paula had been stuck back home in the HDF before 2022, then left the moment Russia's collapse had come about.

The stories the pairs had told each-other on the trip over were heartwarming, Diana thought. She swore to herself as they went over a bump and she almost felt the truck slip off the side of the hill. She grit her teeth and called out, "Sorry! Sorry! Christ, Vale's road infrastructure outside the city's dogshit, I tell you..." as she managed to bring the vehicle back on the normal road.

"Jesus, Sarge, talk about driving like a woman," murmured Vicky, causing the three others to burst into laughter. Despite her smile, Diana flipped the bird Vicky's way, causing the girl to laugh too as they rolled forward. She was, however, laughing a little at the quip as the vehicle continued rolling. Aside from 'Forward, KamaZ!' other Soviet-Afghan War songs with a slightly melancholic tinge played over the radio. 'Soldat', 'kombat', 'Don't Tell Mom I'm In Afghanistan'.

Truth be told the first two were closer to Chechnya than Afghan, but alas. Paul began a discussion as they moved, "Hey, Vic. Did you hear you could probably make your own new firearm if you want? Beacon has a whole suite of tools for this kind of stuff in their workshops if you wanna. Could even tune and modify the PKM for any type of cartridge you can make here."

"Been thinking about getting myself a custom-made BR55HB more as a joke than anything," Vic snorted as he leaned back, "Big ol, 9,5 round too if I can make it..." and he looked over to see a few lights in the valley below. Distant lights, obviously. Yeah, he wanted a Halo Battle Rifle. That felt like pretty bog standard for him, honestly. He'd been a Halo nerd ever since he was a kid.

"Of course, the Halo nerd asks for a weapon like that," Vicky chuckled, then hummed, "Hey, come to think of it... What weapons did team RWBY have?"

"We'll ask them when we get back. I'm actually curious myself," Paula replied as she felt them finally reach more even ground. The roadway went down and toward a path in the forest that was wide enough for cars and carts to move through, sort of like an old medieval pathway. Meaning possible bandits. Vic was quick to man the fifty again as the others readied up.