Chapter Seventy-Two - In Service to the Prevention of Stupidity

Chapter Seventy-Two - In Service to the Prevention of Stupidity

Chapter Seventy-Two - In Service to the Prevention of Stupidity

Theres this tendency for people to act a certain way in different situations. A person will act in a certain fashion around friends, in a different way with co-workers, and in an entirely different way with customers or their employer.

The amount of respect and submissiveness most people show to Samurai though, is sometimes quite impressive.

I suppose it goes to show that someone that can light you on fire with little difficulty and no consequences deserves some amount of respect, at least in appearance.

That doesnt mean that people actually think how they act.

--Quote from a discussion on the Void Fight forums, 2031

***

I walked next to Gomorrah, Whisper in hand and tail swaying contentedly with every step.

That last was growing to be really annoying, but Id wasted enough of our time already that I didnt want to lose any more with telling Myalis to turn that off.

We crossed another bridge, this one at a slight jog because I didnt feel like being caught out in the open again, but there were no huge-ass flying aliens out to get us this time. And then, just like that, we were on the same block as the hospital.

I can see something, I said as I shifted over to the side of the corridor we were walking down and looked to the street below.

Through the maze of passages and the faint haze of rain, I could just make out a dozen trucks parked across the street with maybe half that number of armoured transports set between them. There were civilians moving around there, easy to make out thanks to their colourful clothes, and soldiers in much more drab colours.

I couldnt tell how many were moving about, but it was more than the one squad Id had with me.

It seemed as if they were shifting people around from one vehicle to another already while also setting up a barricade with their trucks and their mounted roof-weapons.

We need to get down there, I said.

You dont trust them to figure things out? Gomorrah asked.

Oh, theyll do a much better job than I would, I said. No doubt about that. Im just worried they might follow some asanine protocol and leave some people behind or do something else equally stupid. I figure being there with a big gun will keep everyone nice and honest.

Gomorrah sighed. Thats... probably more true than Id want to admit. We should get down.

We left the windowed corridor and headed deeper into the building. It wasnt too hard to find a way to the next building, then the next. Myalis, and Gomorrahs own AI, both had maps of the interior of the buildings and most of the locks we came across were either electronic, which were laughably poor at stopping Myalis, or they were big clunky things that Gomorah seemed to enjoy melting.

I hesitated a bit. Those had been in the green zone earlier. Now the orange zone had moved down, so they were probably just on the edge of being at risk. But I also had to keep in mind that there were two thousand people jammed into trucks here with no way to know what was going on.

No, I decided. Well get all of these people to the FOB, then maybe mount a rescue for the others. Itll be harder to get to them that way, but it wont put all of this bunch at risk.

Cool, Speedy said. Ill bring you to the new boss man. Monroes being all stoic and shit but you can tell hes this close to popping the colonels head off. She pinched her fingers together an inch apart.

I snorted. Well see what I can do.

Cat, Gomorrah said. Im not one for talking things through. Ill be around still, but I want to patrol the edges of the barricades.

I nodded. Alright. Will you be heading back with us?

Of course, she said. With this many people... I wouldnt trust them all to you alone.

I snorted and waved her off. Have fun. Make some points and so on.

She nodded and walked off with a straight-back stride and her hands tucked in their opposites sleeve. I watched her go for a bit before turning back to Speedy. Speedy who was staring at my backside. Enjoying the view? I asked wryly.

She barked a laugh and shook her head. You have a tail now, she pointed out. Thatll make sitting down interesting.

I glared at her, but it was Myalis who deserved the wrath. Its new, I said. So, want to bring me to this colonel of yours?

Urgh, hes not mine. Snooty little paperpusher like him. The opposite of attractive, Speedy said as she started off. The kind of guy my mom would love. Probably has retirement savings instead of planning on going out in a blaze of glory and unpaid healthcare bills like a normal person.

I kept a lid on my grin as we walked into the crowd of civvies milling about and being directed into lines by harried looking soldiers. We got a surprisingly nice berth, either because of Speedys uniform or because people recognized me in passing. Dumbass the First and the other remaining Dumbass flanked me.

Speedy brought us past the mess with the trucks and to a sort of temporary base set up in the middle of the intersection. There were two transport vehicles. Low-slung things that opened at the back to reveal twin rows of seats that were being filled by the staff of the hospital.

A row of armoured cars created a barrier on the other side, while in the middle of it all sat a huge six-wheeled monstrosity of a vehicle and a single light tank with its barrel pointing off down the road.

Damn, I said. I hadnt expected them to roll out with quite that much firepower, especially not for what was meant to be an otherwise simple pickup as far as I could tell.

Maybe it was a good thing, seeing as how Id turned the simple pick-up into something a bit more complex.

I know, right? Speedy said. Cmon, the big boss guy is in the mobile base.

Right, I said.