Fiddei looked lost, his eyes seemed to be just foggy.
Fiddei continued "I woke up in the hospital two days later, a nurse was there watching me as I was the only one injured in the attack. I turned my head to the left, and I could hear the nurse calling out to other staff. I don't remember the details, but in the end, Mrs. Kira came and apologized and she should have checked the towers better"
Fiddei took in a deep breath, "After I recovered, I didn't have to complete the rest of my guard duty, so I never went back above the walls, never really looked out except for a glance when the gate was open.
Bratan, it scares me, I'm pretty sure it scares Yemelyan and Venedikt as well, all the mechanics have been protected and haven't worried about it. But it kept me up last night, you probably are fine, but we aren't."
The car was silent, Fiddei was staring out and I was mulling over what he had just said,
I, Bratan, had been thrown into the world head first, and came out better.
Fiddei, he tested the waters and it scarred him.
It was humbling, and as I opened my mouth to speak, I could hear more engines approaching.
The two of us turned and looked back, The KamAz's were huge compared to our Volga, the driver was about 5 feet above and the engine was powerful.
As the trucks approached they came to an idle then a stop.
Yemelyan hopped out from the passenger side of the lead truck and approached my side of the Volga.
"Bratan! Ready to go! We will need to leave soon, Borislav and Yaromir will be here soon so we should head out!"
I continued walking towards him and just smiled "Alright Yemelyan, once they open they gate we will leave" I turned towards the gate and waved.
A part of the plan was to have extra men guarding the gate so we could go and leave without having to worry.
We had 4 days to accomplish our objectives. It would be hell and we would have to bust ass to get to the car graveyard.
The gate began to open and I turned to Yemelyan, "Follow me, and try to stay on my tracks, there could be an wild boar or something, so stick close, let's head out."
Yemelyan just nodded and jogged to his truck and waved to the passenger behind him.
As he opened the door and climbed in, he said something to the driver, most likely what I had said, but that was anyone's guess.
I hopped into the Volga and looked at Fiddei, he was looking more confident now which was an improvement from what it had been before.
Sticking the keys into the ignition, she rang to life and lurched forward. Looking into the rear view mirror, I could see the truck start to move.
The gate was open and we had 4 days, there and back, in 4 days, to find the bodies and get the cars.
As I drove through the gates, it felt the four men on the gates were watching, it felt nerve wracking, it felt like the world was watching.
I cleared the gates, Yemelyan cleared the gate and I assume the third truck cleared it twenty seconds later and I saw the gates close.
I turned west and brought the convoy up to 50 kilometers an hour and they followed closely behind. Our goal was to get there as fast as possible.
It would take about 5 hours without any interruptions, hopefully nothing would happen.
- 2 hours later -
Manchegorsk came into view, about the half way point of the journey. I looked back and could see Yemelyan and the driver talking.
I stuck my had out the window and stuck a thumbs up out. I waited for a response from them, if he gave me a thumbs up we would continue on. But if Yemelyan waved his had we would stop.
Looking back I could see them talking, and then Yemelyan waved.
I drove up to one of the first buildings in the city and got out of the Volga.
Yemelyan hopped out, so did the crews and drivers as they began to stretch out.
I started to walk over towards Yemelyan when I heard my cars door open.
Fiddei had hopped out and was stretching as well.
I made way towards Yemelyan and asked him a quick question, "Why are we stopping, if we wanted to stretch we could have gone a little further? Yemelyan?"
It seemed like he didn't care for what I was saying, then he spoke in a calm voice, "Bratan, relax, the men aren't traveller's like you, they need to relax"
I became pissed, "Yemelyan, we are on a tight schedule here, we have an hour and half ish left to get there, 3 days Yemelyan, we have to comp through over 200 kilometers of highways and a 30 kilometer search zone, Yemelyan, in 3 days, while also disassembling and packaging those cars for transport back to base, where I have to be back within those three days Yemelyan." I looked into his eyes, "You got your stretch in, we are heading out, let's go."
I turned back to my car and walked back. I motioned for Fiddei to get back in and he got next the car door.
Before I got in I looked back and the rest of them were climbing back in. I slid in and so did Fiddei.
I waved to Yemelyan and he waved back and I started up and drove through the city down its main street.
This would be a dangerous area, since those dammed rats could be lurking, but we couldn't rule out a boar or wolf either.
Fiddei had his window rolled down and was leaning out with his AK on the top of the car so he could survey the whole area.
I wish I had told the other vehicles to be more prepared for what would be coming.