Cleanup and aftermath.

The few scouts we had left at the city reported no movements. It was silent. Where we knew women had been held captive, we entered and freed them. All were directed to the same village we had set up for them.

The city was surrounded again. And infiltrated with shields. Reports were coming in at rapid pace. We had divided the city into sectors. Each squad was going in now, covered by five snipers. Intel was gathered at the village of the rescued women. They had left guards, they should have left guards. It should have been the older ones, the unfit ones, the fat ones, like Gina’s ex. I should have killed him the first time, and then pretended he had left. I wouldn’t make the same mistake again. Then again, who would have thought he would end up here, in a city full of like-minded people?

Houses were identified on the map. Where women had been held captive, where men were seen entering and exiting. One man was found and quickly killed by a sniper. Another man surrendered with a white flag, exited the city via the west, taken into custody and tied up, before his interrogation would begin. He seemed most surprised he was taken in by a few young women, but armed to the teeth.

“Show him the picture. I want to find the fucker.” Tom radioed in to the young women.

Not many hostages were left. It was a true exodus out of the city. Suddenly gunfire was heard. It came out of a children’s school but when we entered it, we saw a few women dead together with their captor. About ten more women were extracted.

“Fuck! Couldn’t they have waited?”

“The women don’t know who we are. In their eyes we could be Russians, Alex. They saw an opportunity and they freed themselves.”

“Main HQ at top of city in some kind of high school.”

“Right, remain scouting the sectors as planned.”

Like an onion. Peeling off layer by layer. Fuck, I was nervous. One brave idiot on the wrong moment...

A man got shot while he tried to run from the city to the north. The noose was tightening. Another man had fortified himself in a reported house, but thermal imagery revealed only himself. The house was simply blown up. The women weren’t taking half measures. Eventually only the high school at the top was left. But it was getting dark again. Luckily for us.

We could enter with night vision. We wouldn’t wait another night if the Asses were hoping for that. Silencers, knives and **** rifles and one sniper gun. We broke locks, breached windows and entered with only one squad. No need for accidental friendly fire. Tom, Kylie, Ella, Sophia and well... me of course. My heart was pounding. Fuck, I was afraid. Section by section was cleared. Hostages could be captors and vice versa, hiding and waiting it out. Scared shitless, just like me. Shielded.

Thank the Fates for the shields...

Automatic gunfire suddenly burst, bullets were ricocheting against the shields and helmets. We dropped down on our knees the same moment as we had practiced a long time ago. Perhaps he had heard our footsteps. He kept firing until his rifle was empty. Then we closed in rapidly and shot him while he was running down a hallway.

Only one room left. The basketball arena.

“Ella, could you use your voice again? All the women flat on their bellies, please.”

German, a language way too difficult to understand for me. Even after all the language lessons by Mia, I still couldn’t form decent sentences. But I could understand the gist of what Ella was saying. Or rather was yelling with her booming voice. Something about having rescued all the other women, they were the last one to get into safety, but with their captors still in the arena, we needed them to lie on their chests. We breached the doors behind our shields. One captor was yelling orders at the women not to listen to Ella. Another one was hiding behind a woman holding her at gunpoint. A fat one. I gestured at Tom, but he had seen him. He was holding his sniper rifle now, behind the shield carefully aiming.

“Ella? Once more please, directed at the woman held by the fat man.”

And she did. The young woman fell to her knees at the count of three. If the fat one had tried to hold her upright, he failed as his face was suddenly uncovered. Tom was masterful. And Gina had no longer an ex. The last one was hiding amongst the women.

“One left, Ella, just order them to crawl on their stomach to the exit here. The ones surrounding the captor can’t shoot them.”

The women listened and one by one they were recovered. Until a small circle of women were left.

“What now, Alex? The women won’t move, they are too scared to be shot.”

“Tell him we have all the time in the world. That we have slaughtered all his comrades. No one is left alive in the city. All women, except the ones he is hiding behind like a coward, are free. He has one chance to make it out alive. After all, we have honor against fellow citizens. Not for Russians, but for fellow Germans, we have. He only needs to stand up. For once in his life, to stand up like a real man.”

Of course I shot him the moment he stood up.

“Right, just like before, but return them to here. They will know where the food and all is, let them gather it in this school. Explain them their choices, but we rather want them to stay united. The ones too hurt by the captors we will train in our area, by the Birds, the rest... well... we train one group of representatives in a nearby village, they train their respective squads. And so on...”

“You will give them the city?” Sophia asked.

“What good is it to us? We eliminated the threat, the women here need food, there is plenty for them here. We simply return, we have an allied city-state, and a village in between covered as training ground. They can use all the facilities the men have made for themselves. Sure we could move here with all the villagers we have, but eventually we would run out of food. And the hunting grounds would get depleted. The Hawks will...”

“Hawks?”

“Yes, Sophia, the Hawks will stay here until they are trained, then we will motivate them to spread out in the villages between here and us. We can make our entire east border safe. If they don’t want to stay, tell them, if they get captured, they will be tortured to give any information they have, including what remains of their families at home, should there be any left. It is better for them to try to get them here, than to stay at remote cities or villages where no support is left.”

“The Hawks will be the ones coming back to our village. The rest gets another name: the Gi’s.”

“Fine, whatever...”

Sadly for them, the prettiest women were also the ones most abused. They were persuaded they would feel safer and better cared for at high command. Since we had a high command now, we could use the term. They would remain there until their extensive training was completed, fed, equipped and then could choose to remain at high command or go join the Gi’s as experts.

I remained far away from the women, joining us or not. They all had been abused. They had thought the Asses would bring safety and food, but upon arriving they were simply divided, and taken to the inner circle of the Asses to be bid upon like slaves.

I won’t repeat the stories about the horrors the younger pretty women had endured. I had heard enough the last time. I wanted to go home, to my cave, try to relax, shake off my nerves and anxieties.

Three hundred women. Divided in squads of six, meant fifty squads. It meant fifty representatives. It would be quite the training setup... About twenty went to high command. Kate would have her work cut out, again.