"It's ok, I'm human, you can come out" three young kids and a woman that would have barely looked older than them, if she wasn't covered in dirt and grime, clambered out of the small basement opening, Bradley who was now looking much more toned and rugged with his dark green cloak and woodland camouflage trousers stood over them helping them up, he didn't look particularly menacing with his brown hair and short scruffy beard but the sword strapped to his hip opposite a silenced pistol (a SIG Sauer P226) made them nervous, he saw them staring at them and shifted slightly so that the long cloak covered them from sight, he helped the last one out and asked them if they were all ok before giving them a mouthful of water each from his hydration pack. The hardest part came now as somehow the creatures, or Kaiju as people have started calling them, could sense people by either their life force or heartbeat, and would descend on them in ever increasing waves depending on how many people there were. The simple solution to this was to send out teams of one or two to find the survivors and call in the military for extraction, the problem with this was that if they did get seen or sensed they would be on their own until a team could get to them, and they almost never got to them in time. These people who risked themselves over and over again came to be called 'Rangers'.
Bradley, who was one of these vaunted Rangers headed to the doorway so he could send a message to the extract team, he told them he would meet them in a nearby football field, rattled of the grid coordinates and asked for an ETA, after recieving his answer he preceded back inside and told the family to gather their things and be ready to move. The older women was trying to keep a brave face but he could see the fear in her eyes and so he pulled her aside and attempted to calm her by saying "its ok all the kaiju have been drawn away by another operation and I can deal with a few stragglers, trust me" she gave a slight nod but didn't seem at all calmed, he would just have to hope that they could hold their nerve for a bit longer.
They slipped out in to the street, it was a mess, like something you would see in an apocalypse movie with rubbish and debris scattered everywhere, though luckily most of the buildings were still intact with just a few bullet holes and scorch marks where some unlucky soul had his or her last stand, there were many smashed windows but no bodies though which was a good thing since Bradley wasn't sure the kids could handle seeing something like that and it meant the beasts had no reason to come back. They continued down the street with the ranger in the front and the woman at the back, Bradley listened and scanned the shadows as he walked and at the same time he used his… other… senses which told him if a kaiju was near, it was more of an instinct than a real sense and it didn't give the exact location either, it would just get stronger the more beasts there were or if they got closer. The football field was in sight now, it wasn't a huge stadium like you would see in the premier league, but it was more than just a field, it had seating around the sides and a commentator's box, Bradley decided that this was the best place for them to wait.
They settled down and made sure to keep out of sight, looking over them the Ranger could see that they were on their last legs, they wouldn't have made it more than a few weeks, a month at most. Brad handed out a few biscuits to hold them over until they got back to safety, where they could be fully but carefully nourished back to health.
The extraction team came within twenty minutes, they were U.S Navy SEALs, normally it would be SAS or Royal Marines but the SEALs just happened to be closer this time, unfortunately but not surprisingly they didn't arrive before the kaiju, thankfully the operation in another area had drawn most of them away and so they were easily beaten by the experienced Ranger, who with a few silenced shots to vulnerable parts killed every one that came before they even got close.
Once the helicopter had landed the small group left the relative safety of the commentator's box and piled into the chopper before it rose into the air. After checking the civilians were all strapped in properly one of the crew members pointed to her ear motioning for him to put the headset on, which he did. A message from his area co-ordinator told him that he was being routed to the HMS Prince of Wales, a British aircraft carrier stationed just off of the north east coast of England, near Newcastle, it was to take him and thousands of civilians to America where they would be settled in refugee camps until the time came where the land lost to the kaiju was retaken.
The trip, both to the carrier and across the Atlantic was simple, boring even, Bradley had no friends here, he wasn't officially a part of the military but he wasn't really a civilian either, an outcast, though they all treated him and the other rangers on board with the utmost respect. Bradley didn't talk too much to the other rangers either though they would sit together sometimes in the mess hall, they were all solitary types, but they all understood and found a silent friendship with each other, they just wanted to relax after years of walking and fighting and being terrified out of their minds, they all understood.
When they came into port in Boston there were crowds, thousands of people, ready to welcome their hero's and their allies, but while the other rangers received this warm welcome, Bradley slipped away and found his way to the British refugee camp and searched until he found his mothers tent, it was only a small thing with barely enough room to stand, she was lucky that she didn't have to share it with anyone else, though it was less luck and more the privileges and respect of the Ranger's title.
She was well, though she had more wrinkles and lines than the last time he saw her and her brown hair had gained a few more grey streaks, she leapt up and started crying when he walked in, she wasn't expecting him and she hadn't seen him in over 6 months. Bradley felt awful for doing this to his mother, it was always hard leaving her but she never asked him to stay, she knew how much this meant to him and she knew that if he didn't do it he would regret it for the rest of his life, that's just the person he was.
They sat down inside away from the blazing heat and chatted for a while about everything and nothing, Brad made sure she was being treated well and got everything she needed while his mum made sure he wasn't pushing himself too far and made him some homemade Lasagna, his favorite.
Soon a young American lieutenant appeared at the entrance and Bradley stepped outside with him, "you have been requested by Lieutenant General Twitty to attend the Joint militaries HQ, I can take you there now sir, if you would like, though the meeting doesnt start until tomorrow morning there are makeshift dorms you can rest in or you can make your own way there later" Bradley thought about this for a moment before sighing and saying "sure, one moment".
He returned to his mother, Jackie, and explained that he would have to go for now but promised to come see her again if he was going away, she got up and told him to be careful in the city, tensions will be bit high right now as they always are after a large influx of refugees.
"Alright, lead on", they started walking and though Bradley knew his mother would be standing and waving goodbye he didn't want to look back, he didn't want to see the pain in his mothers eyes as she watched him walk away once again, even if it would only be for a short while this time, he promised to himself then that he would come back as soon as this meeting was over and spend as much time with her as possible and he wouldnt accept any interruptions.