Maria winced as the sound of an exploding grenade rang out through the beforehand thrumming silence. Sparks flew and orange flames rose against the blackness. "Did I hit something? Did I? Did I?" she asked, wringing her hands, as a child would ask whether or not they did a good job on a scribbled drawing.
"I dunno, but that was a pretty big un," Chance said, and patted her shoulder.
Then, speaking of children, shock peirced through her as the grey cat saw Atreyu climbing out of the Hummer. He looked nervous, probably knowing he was disobeying a direct order. He held up his hands submissively. "Just relax. All I'm wanting to do is make sure none of you died out here. A boy can't just sit still in one spot if he hears a freaking grenade blow up." Then, after jumping down to the ground, Atreyu froze when his gaze finally passed over Howl. "W-what's he doing here?........."
"He's a refugee. A refugee with a gun, but you see a lot more of those nowadays," Maria said.
Atreyu shook his head sullenly. "No he's not. I know very well who he is. Never got the pleasure of meeting him in person, though." Rapidly, burning rage flowed through Atreyu's blood. This was Howl Ackhart. A former nuclear scientist....for the Fourth Reich.
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Burgandy winced as he awoke, and, as he slowly opened his eyes, it started to look like doomsday all over again. Fallen ceiling. Broken walls and burning buildings. A small while ago, he had fallen asleep in his room, peaceful, just like a little angel...now look how quickly images could be shattered. Groaning, the fox reached for the radio on his belt: "Colonel Entaru?.........*spiiiirrtt*........Phillip?............Anyone?" He climbed out of his bed and then up and over a fallen chunk of rafter, amazed at how lucky he was to still be alive.