Chapter 64: Warheads

  “Sitrep: The enemy has retreated its forces from the entire northern European region to inland Norway. Further south, east and west is still managed chaos, and there are no reports of our defences there being breached.”

  The general spoke over the radio, relaying the information both to Angela’s team and the forces further behind, back at Bridgefort.

  “The situation in the Empire is as follows: we have our first official victory against the enemy.”

  She paused for a while, allowing everyone listening some time to celebrate. Her forces on location were shouting and screaming with wide smiles despite this not being breaking news to them. The corpses covering the road had already clued them in.

  “Based on the number of enemy combatants taken down on location, more than half of those retreating from further south and the numbers we estimate were patrolling the area, have been killed. I repeat, more than half.”

  This news hadn’t been shared with anyone before now, and the raucous yelling could probably be heard all the way back to Bridgefort even without radio. The numbers were estimates but should be more or less correct. Calling the estimate ‘half’ was perhaps more important than saying a lower number. Morale was everything after fighting a losing war for months.

  “Warhead 1 and Warhead 2 are safe and accounted for, but are severely wounded. Infiltration Force will hunker down for the time being to allow them time to recuperate.”

  Once more she paused, and her own officers on site paced around her. They knew this, but they felt for their comrades learning this over the radio. It would be a punch in the throat after the massive morale boost from earlier, but everyone knew this would be a fight of attrition from the start, especially given that was how the war had been going these past months.

  The radio beeped and let through some static, a voice over the radio that wasn’t the general’s breaking the silence:

  “This is Warhead 1 speaking. Apologies for the temporary delay. Warhead 1 and Warhead 2 will be back in fighting form after a good night’s rest,” the voice said.

  The radio went silent as the general tried to look above the crowd, towards the medical tent. The radio beeped again, letting another voice through:

  “This is Warhead 2, can confirm.”

  “Warhead 2, this is Warhead 1 speaking. You could try saying something to boost their morale, you know?”

  “That’s what I did, Warhead 1.”

  “Warhead 2, that’s a negative. Try again.”

  “Fine. Tomorrow’s the first day of the rest of our lives?”

  “Warhead 1, Warhead 2…get off my channel,” said the general, now standing in front of the giggling Erik and Jessie outside the medical tent.

  Jessie and General Mathisen greeted each other at the end of the radio update, Erik introducing them both. Jessie had already heard Erik’s story and as such already knew of Mathisen, but she took great pleasure in meeting her in person. Mathisen’s trust in Erik—a stranger to her—was what turned a young man’s search for his best friend into the world’s last hope and only effective countermeasure in a losing war.

  The general made it clear she was very distrustful of the fact that the two would be back on their feet by the next day, despite both of them trying to reassure her of that fact. When Jessie had rested and recouped enough of her energy, she healed Erik on and off, both keeping him as comfortable as he could be whilst not bottoming herself out anymore. When one of Erik’s ribs made a loud cracking sound during healing, Mathisen had to believe the fact that the healing would, in fact, go as quickly as they said. She left the matter closed for further discussion.

  They kept this healing up during the night. Erik and Jessie were both surprised at how long it took to heal his injuries. Sometimes a bone would snap back into place without them even knowing it had been broken. By the middle of the night, the Titan was back at full strength, leaving only Jessie’s small wounds and energy recovery.

  “Hey,” said the Witch, her voice gentle as a pair of soldiers walked past them, openly eyeing them through a polite greeting. “Do you think everyone will be this weird around us moving forward?”

  The patrolling soldiers just then—and most everyone in the temporary camp since they woke up—had acted like the Remnants were miracles, or someone to worship. Not only was it awkward, but it didn’t bode well for the future, either. If the trained military personnel here acted like this, how would normal people treat them? They had been anxious because of their fear of being test subjects, but it somehow seemed worse to both of them to be worshipped as gods.

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  “Possibly. I don’t know,” Erik answered.

  “Can I…visit your mindplace again?” she then asked.

  “Of course you can. Why wouldn’t you?”

  “Well, it’s…private, isn’t it? It’s basically your soul, I guess.”

  “My magically separate soul-dimension is your magically separate soul-dimension,” Erik said with a smile. “Have you seen Sophie? I haven’t seen her since I woke up.”

  “No,” she sighed. “She’s probably keeping to herself somewhere, beating herself up. Can you—”

  “I’m on it. Hey, it’s almost like we’re the parents, isn’t it?” Erik laughed as he got up, letting Jessie rest.

  “And you think going around making out with your children is okay, do you?”

  “I…retract my previous statement. And we never made out. I’ll be back,” he said, and walked off towards the rest of the camp. He ignored the teasing tone of his best friend as she said, ‘But you’re about to’.

  It wasn’t difficult to find Sophie. Erik’s aura senses were potent enough to recognise the people he had been travelling with, at least. Angela and Emma were both asleep in their tent, their presence calm, if not a bit restless despite their slumbering state. Dunham was in his own tent doing the same, or at least trying to. Sophie was…by their only surviving, beat-up car, it turned out.

  “Sophie?” he asked as he walked closer, peeping into the open door to the back seat.

  She mumbled in response, something Erik couldn’t quite hear. He sat down in the car beside her, seeing the gun she held firm in her pale hands.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, his eyes darting between her face and her hands. “You should get some sleep.”

  “I’m fine,” was all she said, her voice distant and breathy.

  “Have you been here all night?”

  “It’s night?” She asked, finally turning to look at him, the slightest hint of a smile visible a moment later.

  Erik let out a sigh, releasing the nervous breath he hadn’t noticed he had held.

  “Technically, it’s morning, I think. I’m not quite sure, I’ve been mostly in and out of it today, to be honest.”

  “You’re growing lazy,” she said, her smile growing wide.

  “Nah, just revealing my true self, I think. I’m sorry you fell in love with the pretend me.”

  “Oh, I fell in love, did I?” she said, blinking ferociously at him.

  “Just wishful thinking for my part, maybe.” Erik leaned back into the seat next to her, stretching his back. “Hoping you’d reciprocate my feelings, you know?”

  “Really now? What’s with this new…aggressive honesty?” She asked, her eyes locking with his.

  “Nothing. I’m fine,” Erik lied, just as she had moments earlier.

  “You’re not funny. Tell me first, then I’ll tell you,” she offered.

  “Well…I was scared today. Really scared. Scared of getting hurt, scared of you guys getting hurt. I get scared every time. But every time, it ended…well, not great, honestly, but at least positively. I’ve just been thinking that maybe it doesn’t matter if you and I are waiting until this is over to define what we are or if we just…do it now. Would anything have ended differently if you were my girlfriend rather than my best friend’s sister that I may or may not have feelings for?”

  He breathed, pausing to keep his roiling thoughts in order. “So I think I’m maybe going for it? I mean, if you approve. Uh, consent is the right word, not approve,” he rambled.

  “Okay, shush. My turn,” Sophie said, her eyes sparkling with emotion while her lips retracted into a serious furrow. “I…think you get hurt a lot. I’m tired of being worried. The same goes for my sister, of course, but she isn’t a pain magnet like you. So, I’ve decided. I’m going to stop worrying. I’m going to stop crying,” she said just as a single tear fell down her face. “Not a word!” She wiped it from her face. “I’m going to fight with you, just like Angela and Emma. I’ll protect you, my sister, everyone.”

  Erik looked at her determined eyes. “I don’t want you to—”

  “And I don’t want to get hurt. But I don’t want you to get hurt either.” She looked down on the gun clutched in her hands. “To circle back to what you said…can you promise me you won’t die?”

  “I can’t,” Erik answered. He had struggled with the fact that he’d been hurt a lot the past month, but he was still going to see this through to the end, even if that meant he’d die…again.

  “So promise me that you’ll let me protect you. And that you’ll protect me. I’ll let you be my boyfriend if you do,” she winked with a devious smile.

  “I promise,” Erik said, touching her face to wipe a second trailing tear.

  “Then you better kiss me,” Sophie answered, her lips clashing against his the moment her words left them.

  “So, how did it go?” Jessie asked as she sensed Erik approaching her again.

  “It went…fine,” he said, looking away from her.

  “Did someone get a girlfriend?” she sang in a playful tone.

  “You listened in?” Erik asked, placing his hand on top of his heart to feign a wound.

  “Please, you glow more than a bioluminescent pregnant lady. You can’t fool a fellow Warhead, dummy.”

  “So, I guess that makes us siblings-in-law? Minus the law-part, obviously.”

  “Oh no, you better believe that you’ll have to marry her for that privilege.”

  “I’ll take that under advisement, sis,” Erik smiled and sat down next to her. “She went to bed. And she’s fine. Can you go to sleep now? You better be well-rested tomorrow morning,” he continued.

  “Yeah…I guess I don’t have a reason not to.”

  “Are you okay?” the Titan asked.

  “No. How could I be? I’m scared. I miss Hosu. I miss when it was just the three of us, when we didn’t need to worry about anything. Is that bad?”

  “No, I don’t think it is. I think it’s more than fair to feel that way. None of us asked for this. Want me to big-spoon you until you fall asleep?”

  “You better,” she said, flipping over on the thin mattress and scooting to make room for Erik.

  He lay down with his arms around her. “Hey,” he whispered. “Can I see yours?”

  “It’s the middle of the night,” she groaned. “We should sleep.”

  “Just for a bit? You got to see mine. I promise, you won’t even notice,” he argued, still whispering.

  Jessie sighed. “You say that now, but then you’ll get so enthusiastic about going in there.”

  “Please?” Erik tried again at a higher pitch.

  “Fine, go at it. Just don’t wake me up, or there will be hell to pay,” she groaned, nudging to get more comfortable.

  “Yes!” Erik exclaimed in a half-whisper, Jessie immediately clearing her throat threateningly. “S-sorry…” he whispered.