To Be A Warrior

Chapter 65: We'll Meet Again

"Hello, Colonel Sage!" Sam says cheerfully. "Good to see you again."

"Thank you, Sam. It's good to be back in the field and running alongside you, Runner Five, and uh," He frowns at the boy beside me. "I'm sorry, I don't believe we've met."

"Milo Scotts. Abel Township Runner Eight," Milo greets. "My mum said I could come on this mission with her today. Lucky coincidence it just so happens to be my birthday, too."

I force a smile. Seventeen years old. How fast time flies.

Sage nods curtly. "I see. Uh, Runner Five, I know you have recovered, but Jones asked me to pass on his sincere and heartfelt apologies for being taken in by that rogue element in that A.N.N.I.E. device. He has good in his heart, but he's suspicious where he should be open and trusting where he should be cautious. I've had a chance to talk with him as he works on the cliff excavations, and I think he's understood where he went wrong. I'm sorry you went through that."

It takes me a moment to respond. "Oh. Uh, yeah. Honestly with what happened in New Oban a few days ago, I forgot about A.N.N.I.E. trying to kill me. I'm still pretty sore for that, but I feel okay enough to run this mission. Wouldn't want to miss the celebration."

He hums. "Still, I am pleased to see you."

"We all are. It was a near thing," Sam says. "Still, lots to celebrate today. Veronica's got some good leads on the V-Type problem. The country's coming together at last, and the Exmoore Militia are welcoming the Undaunted home."

Milo grins excitedly. It's been a while since we're heard much about the Undaunted, but he remembers all that we went through to stop Sigrid from using them and destroying the UK. I guess to him this might be like seeing it through, since going with me on that mission was probably the most exciting and most terrifying run he's ever been on.

"I'm grateful to you for introducing me to the Exmoore Militia," Sage says. "Their accomplishments make them a good choice to form a country-wide government. I want to know them. They're understandably cautious about outsiders, but they do trust Abel. I'm very happy to be here today."

"Well, you've helped us out a lot too," I say. "You saved me and Maxine from the zombie goo, and that's enough for us to owe you one. Not to mention how you saved Peter in the necropolis, and you're-" I stop and look over at Milo, who's listening much more intently that I thought he would be. I quickly clear my throat. "Well, you get the point. We owe you a lot."

He nods, turning his eyes ahead. "My settlements have enough volunteers with navy experience to form a full replacement crew for the Undaunted. Give the Exmoore family members a chance to come onto dry land. It's an offer I'm happy to make to cement trust. We so badly need one single organizing principle to unite against the V-Type horde. Runner Five getting New Oban to join the alliance was a great stepping stone to doing that, and with the Exmoore families united, it will be time to suggest that they take a leading role in government."

Sam laughs. "Yeah, well, they're going to find it hard to turn that down. If you guys speed up, you may just beat the Undaunted to port. The entrance is just through that flowered arch at the end of this next field."

We follow Sam's instructions, and even from here I can see the mass amount of people gathering for the celebration. I'm sure most, if not all of them, are the Exmoore people, since many other settlements either don't trust the Exmoores or the Exmoores don't trust them. No one from New Oban will be able to come, just offer their support of the Exmoore since Abel supports them.

I don't blame New Oban though. They're still trying to rebuild their government, change the laws, the rules, rebuild communications and learn just what's going on outside their walls. They've missed a lot and I can understand why they didn't come.