Chapter 98: South of the Habitable Zone

Aidan and his men had locked themselves in the foundry. They were down to less than a hundred men now and were rapidly running out of supplies.

Jack had left and gone God knows where, bringing eighty of the others with him. As for Aidan, he had lost his most powerful and loyal supporters, leaving behind those who were too uncertain or too fearful to follow Jack into the unknown.

But in the end, Jack was right, as far as Aidan was concerned. He hated to admit it to himself, but they didn’t have enough men to launch a full scale siege of Paradise Falls. If they even attempted it, they would end up like Lorenzo and his men.

But they also couldn’t stay hiding away in the foundry. To do so would certainly be their end. They would starve, or worse fight over what little remained and kill one another before they could do so.

In their rage, they had burned down the only supply system they had. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people were dispersed to the winds. And they had wasted a considerable amount of fuel and munitions during their punitive attacks.

Aidan didn’t know what to do. He sat at the brotherhood’s round table and looked at all the empty seats. They had lost so many captains over such a short span of time that their absence was almost mocking him.

The remaining captains also looked unsure of what to do, or even say. If they moved against Aidan, they might provoke him, if they remained silent they would continue to stagnate until they starved.

Finally, Aidan sighed and shook his head.

“I am open to suggestions on how to move forward…. But if nobody has any ideas, there is only one path for us now.”

They all knew what the one path was… And no matter how much they may look at one another, silently, and desperately pleading for anyone to give voice to a thought. Nobody spoke….

Aidan sighed once more… That was it then, was it?

“Very well… since nobody else has a better solution…. We have no choice now but to attack Paradise Falls, and since we cannot afford to stage a proper siege, our only option left is to attack once night falls and hope we catch their sentries off guard.”

The captains remained silent… None of them immediately agreed. But they also didn’t verbally disagree. And to Aidan that was enough. He stood up and walked out the door, for the first time since the brotherhood began he was both the last to arrive and the first to depart from their little meetings.

Once he was gone, and most certainly out of earshot, one of the captains finally spoke.

“Don’t drones have night vision? Or thermal sights? Or something that can see us coming a mile away before we even try to catch them off guard? If that’s the case, we’re as good as dead if we attack Paradise Falls. Fuck this, Jack was right, I’m grabbing my men and getting out of here.”

None of the men really knew much about drones, other than what they had heard in the media about wars on the other side of the world that used them efficiently on foreign battlefields.

But the one thing they were certain about was that the enemy had drones, and if there was even a 10% chance those drones could see the minutes the dark, then any attack on Paradise Falls was a suicide mission.

However, some were willing to make that gamble. And in the end, the Raiders’ numbers divided by half again, with half of the captains fleeing overnight, taking what they could manage to steal from the stockpiles, and driving off down south.

Aidan would awake to the news and say nothing. For a long while he hid himself in his room, secluding himself in its warmth while thinking about what to do.

Finally he emerged to the remaining men beneath his command. Nearly a hundred in total. Their morale had taken repeated blows over the course of the last few weeks, but now they were barely holding themselves together.

Some were even cursing themselves under their breath, knowing that they should have fled in the night.

But Aidan didn’t let the fear of the enemy consume them. Instead, he clanged his spoon against his glass, gathering everyone’s attention. The number of captains who sat on either side of him had dwindled even more.

And yet he pretended not to notice as he began to speak.

“The enemy has bled us dry, hiding cowardly in the snow, striking when we least expect it, and capitalizing on our bonds as brothers. There is no choice left now but to stage a siege. Because we know the enemy has advanced technology and has been keeping track of us during the day, we will move at night when they can’t see us. And in doing so, we will show them why our brotherhood is the undisputed ruler of these snows!”

Nobody clapped. Nobody roared or cheered. Nobody spoke words of encouragement, or boasting about a brave victory.

They simply sat there silently. They were out of options. And to many this was their last gamble.

Those who knew the most about their enemy’s capabilities understood that this was likely to be a suicide mission and silently plotted behind Aidan’s back. But for the rest of them, Aidan’s plan was the only one that made sense now.

If they did not take control of Paradise Falls, then they would no longer have the means to feed themselves, and they would starve in a week, maybe two at most.

This was the last time any of them would have the nutrition and strength to fight a battle. And so fight they would.

—

Down south, in a bunker buried beneath the earth, a man wearing a multicam uniform sat. The flag behind them belonged to a government that no longer existed, and a world it had once ruled over as the supreme hegemon.

The Stars and Bars of the Union of Columbia. The middle aged man read a field report.

We were dispatched to the border of the habitable zone after hearing reports of rogue activity in the region.

Communities which deep cover operatives have made contact with reported recent attacks on their neighbors. Our investigation concluded that these survivor settlements had been raided.

We tracked the suspects about two hundred kilometers south of the habitable zone, where we found eighty heavily armed rogues.

They were terminated without witnesses contest. However, upon a brief interrogation of the last rogue actor, he revealed that he believed we were a pursuing force from north of the boundary.

It is my formal recommendation that we dispatch a team north beyond the boundary of the habitable zone. If there are units that were cut off from the extraction and are operating alone, it would be wise to recover them and integrate them into the proper chain of command.

The Colonel then looked over the reports from the lab of the weapons recovered from the fleeing rogues. Some of the weapons included parts with serial numbers that matched those with National Guard inventory.

When he read this, the colonel put the papers down and folded his hands in silent contemplation.

After a few seconds to himself, he nodded his head before reaching towards his landline. There he dialed a number, which went through the internal communications network of the bunker complex.

“Yes, this is Colonel Nathaniel Cross, I am requesting emergency contact with high command. I need approval for sending a deep reconnaissance mission beyond the habitable zone. Yes… I’ll wait….”

He remained silent for several seconds before hearing a voice on the other side of the line.

“Give me one good reason I should allow you to risk men and materiel in such a dangerous and foolish mission?”

Nathaniel pinched the bridge of his nose and bit his tongue. Not saying the words he wanted to say to the general on the other end of the line. He instead took a deep breath and calmed his nerves before putting forward the mission request in the most formal and bureaucratic way he could possibly conceive.

“Intelligence assets near the border have found evidence of units trapped behind the habitable zone. It is entirely possible that we underestimated the ability for life to exist beyond the boundary. If we do not send a mission north, we are either letting valuable assets remain AWOL, or we are risking the rise of something more sinister. Either way, recent intelligence supersedes whatever our scientists have theorized is the current state of reality up north.”

There was a long and silent pause… Perhaps the General was even communicated with his superiors to gain permission. Either way, the Colonel didn’t speculate, he simply waited for the response.

“Your mission is currently under review, send the evidence you have collected to the General Staff and they will give you a response within the next seven business days. Until then, keep your guys south of the boundary, or you will be NJPd.”

The line went dead, and the colonel placed his phone on the receiver, ensuring it was properly hung up before resting his head in his hands.

“Fucking useless bureaucracy! It’s the end of the world and I still can’t escape this bullshit! Whatever… there’s nothing I can do but wait.”

Nathaniel looked back down at the report. Seven days was a long time. Long enough for something to grow beyond control.

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