Chapter 7

Flashback – Jack – Undisclosed location

As I finished my second beer, I thought about finding the rest of them and polishing them off, but I didn't want to piss Banzai off even more. After I teased him about how he fucked up (because he didn't screw) the Old Man's underage daughter, he wandered off and I hadn't seen him for a few hours. I did notice his rifle was gone, so the little fart at least had the good sense to take a weapon (damn I trained him well!).

I climbed out of the ravine, looked around but didn't see him - in fact I didn't see much of anything at all. Everything in this fucking desert looked the same to me...

Flashback – Ben – Undisclosed location

Damn I hated it when Jack was right! I really should have slept with Maria (the Old Man's daughter) and Mira too. What the hell was wrong with me? I listened to Anna and she mind-fucked me, that's what! I've since remembered a pearl of wisdom Jack shared with me (not that I would ever admit it). He said to me, 'When you get older, your biggest regrets aren't going to be the things you did, it's going to be the things you didn't do'. And I regretted the hell out of not 'doing' those two.

I made a decision! The old Ben was back - the heart breaker and life taker!

An unusual noise suddenly snapped me out of my thoughts. Now what the hell was that?

I dropped to the ground and crawled toward the top of a dune to see what the hell caused that noise since I couldn't immediately recognize what it was...

Flashback – Jack – Undisclosed location

I decided since Banzai was gone, I was going to mess with the radio and might even see if the Major has sent us any messages. I fired up the radio, went to check the messages but couldn't believe what I found. Damn this was a fucking goldmine! Now where the hell did Banzai go?

I headed out of the ravine but I didn't have a clue for direction because the damn ever present wind had obliterated his tracks...

Flashback – Ben – Undisclosed location

I got to the top of the dune and cursed myself for not having my assault pack with me. If I had brought it I would have my periscope, but instead I had to risk exposing myself. I slowly slipped my head above the dune, then just as quickly pulled it back down. I couldn't believe what I just fucking saw. I needed to get back to Jack ASAP.

I turned around to head back when I realized I didn't know where the hell back was! I could see a few footsteps but the rest were gone. I looked for landmarks and cursed myself again because I never turned and looked at what was behind me.

Most people in this situation panicked and thought they were lost, however I was not most people. I slid back down the dune, faced the direction I just came from and started walking backwards. Yeah this worked, even distracted as I was I still kept a mental image of my route.

I tripped over a damn root and cursed. Walking backward was going to take some time to get back to camp and I sure as hell hoped I had that much time...

Flashback – Mira and Ira – Undisclosed location

Ira surmised the harlequins, who we determined operated Baskerville, had been secretly directed by Massively Malodorous Major M to terminate us. This factoid I had never considered and when she posed her supposition things began to logically coalesce. I remembered when the harlequin had attempted to terminate me with his Kamaz, an occurrence which incredibly incited my ire. And the insipid Major's avoidance of contacting us further concreted my belief in my sister Ira's supposition.