"I will accept your offer!" The woman exclaimed as she took April's hand.
April smiled with glee as she nodded happily. "Good!" She exclaimed with joy.
She then turned around and led the woman toward Don, Ion, and Jessica. "And so there you have it. I hope that is okay with you, Don?" April looked towards him with 'pretty please with a cheery on top' eyes.
Don looked at her for a solid moment before releasing a soft sigh. "Do what you want. Our plans remain the same." Don responded.
April squealed happily before turning towards the woman. "By the way, what is your name?" April inquired, to which the woman looked from her towards everyone looking at her. "Oh... uhh... I go by the code name Shade." The woman answered.
April shook her head in dismissal. "No, silly. What is your real name?" April asked to which the woman gave her a puzzled look for a moment. "My real name?" She inquired, and April nodded. "Mhm, the one you had before you came here."
The woman was a bit taken aback by this. She hadn't really used her real name since the General gave her the code name: Shade. Her real name was the only thing she held onto, but saying it felt hollow even then. "Rose..." The woman murmured.
"Rose?" April inquired, and the woman nodded.
"Well, welcome aboard, Rose. My name is April. That is my best friend forever, Jessica and her boyfriend Ion. This hunk of a man behind me is my husband, Don!" April exclaimed with a bright smile. Jessica nodded happily while being called April's best friend forever. Ion's brow rose since all he got was 'Jessica's boyfriend' introduction while Don got the 'hunk of a man' introduction.
"I see..." Rose muttered as she looked at everyone that April introduced before blinking lightly at the final remark since it hit her. "Umm... Husband?" Rose inquired, and April nodded gleefully while moving up to cuddle beside Don. "Yup!" Rose studied both Don and April several times over. There was mainly one thought that ran through her head.
Impossible.
However, the proof was in front of her. A cold stone killer was married to a warm ball of positivity and brightness. These two couldn't be more opposite, yet they seemed to fit just fine together. "Alright then." Rose nodded.
"If we are done here, let's get a move on. Dusk is drawing in soon. I want to be back by nightfall." Don commented while turning towards the direction they needed to head in. Then, everyone fell in line and proceeded toward their original destination.
Rose seemed to be on Don's left side, while April was clinging to Don's right arm. Jessica was walking beside April, and Ion was on Jessica's other side. They made their way peacefully toward the weapon's place. No bugs or undead seemed to bother them, which was interesting considering all the attention they drew in; however, four figures looked out over them from a distance.
"Shade has failed her mission. What are your orders, Ma'am?" A husky, profoundly masculine voice came forth. The person had their finger pressed to an earpiece on their visor. They were wearing some kind of combat suit, just like Rose was; however, this one appeared far more advanced and sleek.
It was a lovely jet-black; however, various dimly-lite neon lines ran throughout the body armor. The lines converged towards the torso, though, more specifically, the heart. This part of the suit seemed to act like a core of sorts. The dimly-lite neon lights and core had a crimson shade. The visor, which had two eye pockets, was also a shade of crimson.
"Regroup with the rest of your squad and return to base, Ire. We need your squad on another mission." A voice called back over the earpiece. "Roger. Returning to base." Ire replied.
"So what were the orders? Do we eliminate Shade for going rogue?" A raspy sensual voice perched forth. The person had the same combat suit as Ire, except the color was dark pink. The eye pockets were only one significant pocket instead of two, and they also had a coloration of pink.
"No. We are returning to base, Avidity." Ire responded to the woman, who sighed softly with a pout.
"Are you sure it's wise to let Shade go, Ire?" Another voice spoke up. Masculine, but not as husky or deep. Still, it held depth. The voice came from someone with the same combat suit as the others, except his coloration was a deep blue. The visor was split into eight slits symmetrically, with four on the left side of the visor and four on the right side. All eight were horizontal. "If it were up to me, we would kill them all; however, our orders are to return to base, Lax." Ire replied to the man who had just asked him a question.
"Well, whatever. Let's just go already. I assume we have to regroup with the other three, right?" Another voice came out; this one was not like the others. It held both feminity and masculinity, so it was hard to tell if the person was male or female. However, the tone of their voice was full of arrogance. The voice came from someone in the same type of suit with the coloration of dark green. The visor had a single slit instead of two pockets. This single slit was going down vertically in the center of the visor.
"We do, Ego." Ire responded to the one who just spoke to him. "So, let's not waste time." He added as to address the others.
The four turned away from Don and the others to walk away. "Still... I wonder why Shade decided to go rogue..." Lax said bluntly.
"Does it matter? She decided to do her own thing. Besides, she was a pain in the ass. She only ever listened to the General." Avidity scoffed.
"Who knows what someone soo simple is thinking." Ego pitched in.
"Enough chit-chat. It doesn't matter why Shade disobeyed orders. We have our orders." Ire remarked, and everyone seemed to fall silent.
Don and the others eventually arrived at the weapon's place. Don took point and carefully made his way inside the place. He surveyed the area to make sure nothing was inside. Interestingly enough, it was empty. The place wasn't too big, but the display for guns was quite visible, from various pistols to rifles.
Don signaled that everything was good before making his way over the counter. He hopped over the counter with ease and went into the back, assuming there would be more back there. He wasn't wrong. The back seemed to act like an office and storeroom combined. There were cardboard boxes here and there on shelves with labels for what was what.
Don decided to take a box off the shelf for rounds that had to do with pistols. He found several boxes wrapped in a ceramic wrap that held the boxes together. Don decided to leave them wrapped up and place them inside his bag. Afterward, he looked for the rounds for his rifle and stocked up on those and the slugs for his shotgun. Once he had a decent hull, he returned to the front of the store. Everyone seemed to be looking over the guns, but no one seemed to really take anything.
"Since you aren't interested. Can you just grab a few pistols? Colts and Glocks will be fine. April, can you grab a shotgun." Don asked Ion and Jessica to grab some pistols and April to grab a shotgun.
Rose decided to do her own thing for now. They nodded and went about doing so. Everyone knew what a gun looked like, so it wasn't hard to find what they were looking for. Don decided to search for some modifications he could apply to the guns. Interestingly enough, he did come across some stuff. Some silencers, magazine extensions, and even a few laser sights. He decided to take those as well.
After everyone had gathered everything, they returned to the store's front.
"We grabbed what you asked. I also found this. Thought you might want it." Ion handed Don a Desert Eagle.
"Oh?" Don hadn't seen it, mainly because he wasn't looking for one.
Generally, a Desert Eagle was a poor choice compared to your typical 9mm pistol because one needs the experience to use it. If one used one without experience, one could end up hurting themselves. In addition, the Desert Eagle was a hassle to maintain, mainly due to the bullet size. Although, Don enjoyed the gun because it had a big impact. It was also more potent than your standard 9mm pistol.
Don took the gun and slid back the chamber to see it was empty. For now, he holstered the magnum in the shoulder holster. "And I found this one." Jessica offered Don another gun. The Desert Eagle Ion gave him was a lovely silver color, but Jessica offered a slim, sleek black gun. It was also a Desert Eagle, but a different variation from the one Ion offered. Both were pretty heavy.
Don holstered the one Jessica offered into the shoulder holster before returning to the shop's back to get ammunition for the new guns.
Once he returned, April was standing with Ion and Jessica. They seemed to be having some conversation. When Don arrived, April offered Don something else she had found. "Here!" She exclaimed with glee.
Don looked into her hands to see three different types of knives, each in their sheath. A Karambit, A Neck Knife, and a Boot Knife. Don took all three from her and placed each somewhere along his body. The Boot Knife went inside his boot obliviously; as for the Neck Knife, he decided to attach it to the inside of his shirt. The Karambit was set inside his back pocket.
"Thanks, everyone." Don expressed with a smile, and everyone made some kind of no-problem expression.
"Did you three find anything for yourselves?" Don asked.
"You already know we don't care for guns. However, I did grab a knife. As did Jessica." Ion replied, and Jessica nodded.
"I already have a hunting knife but decided to grab a boot knife as well." April commented.
Don nodded before looking around since it seemed they were missing someone. "Where is Rose?" Don inquired. Everyone had a quizzed look as they all seemed to search for her.
"Right here." Rose stated as she came up with an assault rifle in her hands.
The rifle seemed to have attachments as well as extended mags. Rose even found a utility belt and shoulder holster with mags in them and on the belt. Ion whistled sharply, and Jessica elbowed him in the ribs for it, causing him to winch in pain while defensively apologizing with his hands.
"What?" Rose inquired, to which Don shook his head. "Nothing. I see you also found yourself some pistols." Don also noticed a few pistols holstered, and Rose nodded. "I have been trained well with firearms of all kinds. Shall we get going?" Rose asked.
"Yeah." Don responded.
April chuckled softly. "Now we have another strong person on our side. I suspect you plan on teaching everyone how to use basic firearms?" April asked while looking up at Don, who nodded. "Everyone should learn how to use a pistol. Which is why I told Ion and Jessica to grab them. For these next few weeks, I plan on teaching everyone how to use a pistol." Don answered.
Everyone seemed stunned by this, which caused Ion to ask, "Even us?" Don nodded. "I suggest you learn how to as well as keep one on you. You never know when you may need the extra help." Don answered, and Ion nodded his head lightly. "I suppose." He grumbled.
Jessica chuckled, "I don't see why not. It'll most likely just stay there, though, since I prefer to blow shit up." She added, which caused Don to sigh exhaustively with a shake of his head.
"Umm... what about your Boss and Jennifer?" April asked out of nowhere which caused everyone to shift their glances toward Don. No one else seemed to know about Jen or Boss, which was understandable since Don never mentioned it.
"After the training, I plan on going to look for them. I want to go sooner, but I don't want to leave you all without proper training. I don't plan on being gone for longer than two days, but still... a lot can happen in two days." Don stated as they left the shop and started making their way back.
"I see... wait, are you planning on going by yourself!?" April asked with haste which caused Don to nod.
"Yes. My bike can only hold two people. If Jen or Boss happens to be here, I can get them and come back. If they are both there, then I would need to make two trips. So, I will be going alone for this one." Don explained.
This caused April to pout. "B-but..." April was about to protest. "I need you to help Rebecca keep watch over everyone. Besides, I doubt those two are gonna be around after I leave." Don pointed towards Ion and Jessica.
"Us?" Jessica inquired, and Don nodded. "I figured you two have other things to do. A base of your own and whatnot." Don added.
"Well, that's true. However, I don't see the need to hurry back. The others are merely hired mercs. So without a job, they just relax and do whatever they want." Ion responded in tow. "Yeah. Besides, Natalie is here. So, I would rather be here. I doubt Natalie plans on leaving anytime soon anyway. I suspect that Mark will begin to worry, though." Jessica added, which caused Don's brow to rise.
"You mean the guy that was with Natalie? He is a part of your group, right?" Don inquired, and Jessica nodded. "Yeah. He's like Natalie's bodyguard. Although, it's clear as day that he likes her. I doubt Natalie likes him, though." Jessica shrugged. "Do you have any way of contacting him?" Don inquired, and Ion shook his head.
"We did, but our comms device was destroyed a while back. Natalie told us that Mark still has his comms device. If we could find a way to make a device, I could set it up and contact Mark. I already know all of the codes and coordinates as well as the frequency since I was the one who set up our last comms device." Ion answered with a prideful expression. "You mean, everyone worked on it." Jessica expressed, which caused Ion to sigh lightly. "Yeah, yeah." Ion muttered.
"I can see if Noah can help you out." Don stated, and Ion shifted his glance toward Don. "Really?" He seemed a bit in disbelief since it seemed like Don was telling him Noah would create one from scratch or something.
"Yeah. I'll ask when we get back. I'll call a meeting, and we can introduce the new person. I'll go over the plans for the next few weeks and tell everyone I am going out to find out if Jen or Boss arrived." Don answered. He seemed to be taking to the Leadership role quite nicely. As if it was a perfect fit for him.
"So, you are the Leader?" Rose inquired, looking over at Don. "Forced into it, but yeah." Don replied bluntly, which caused her brow to raise.
April giggled softly, "I'll tell you when we get back." She smiled at Rose, who seemed to nod in response. "For now..." April turned towards Ion and Jessica. "Tell me about your escapades with Ion!" April gleefully suggest.
"Only if you tell me about yours with Don!" Jessica remarked. "Deal!" April exclaimed happily.
The two of them began talking about the time spent with their lovers. They were giggling, laughing, and having a merry time. A few embarrassing moments here and there caused Ion to blush and Don to turn away.
As for Rose, she seemed to gain a bit more information on how someone like Don could retain his sense of self. She walked in silence and stared at him from time to time. They were both hitmen. Trained killers, assassins. Yet... she felt a difference between them.
Compared to Don, she was empty. She had no one. She had nothing. She didn't even feel like she had a sense of self. Her only purpose was to serve the General and obey his orders. It was strange to her being in an environment like this.
They were stuck in a world where they had to survive every day, yet none seemed to despair. Finally, her glance settled back onto April. She felt that April was a piece of the reasoning. Mostly for Don. She felt that April was the one keeping Don's killer instinct back. It wasn't necessarily a terrible thing, but it meant that, without April, Don may have killed her without word or question.
Sure they had been fighting nearly an hour ago, but it wasn't personal. There was no reason to keep fighting. She tried to kill them simply because she was ordered to, and they tried to kill her out of self-defense. However, she had to wonder.
Suppose April wasn't here, and if there was no one to hold back Don, would she still even be alive?
She remembered that look she saw in Don's eyes. It was similar to her own when she looked at herself in the mirror; however, it felt soo much more. It felt like she was looking directly into the abyss, and the abyss was looking back at her as if sucking her soul away. Just recalling that memory sent chills down her spine. She came to the conclusion that without April... Don would seize to be human.