Chapter 3. The General's Motorcade

To say that the Hares were a religious people isn't completely accurate. Spiritual perhaps, but there were no codified tenets of their faith. Yes they had customs and would often pray together to a god, but this god was not defined. He was neither male nor female, or in the image of any earthly animal. You could just as easily say they were praying to the universe itself. Whether it ever worked or not probably changes depending on who you asked, but they did pray. They did talk to someone.

The boy was older now. Basically a man.

He kneeled down with his face to the floor. In his mind he uttered prayers to whatever force commanded his little universe, for better or for worse.

He asked god if he would be so kind as to let them live this day. A big ask, he thought, given the magnitude of the mission they were facing. It was one of those impossible missions.

He really signed on, not so much out of sheer courage, which he did have, but because Daniel was the first to volunteer. He had always admired Daniel. Wished he was just like Daniel, but he knew he could never really be. Daniel has a sort of grit and courage, or boldness he had never seen in anyone else, coupled with a bizarre softness and humility. He was very quiet, but brimming with intent.

Years ago when the boy had been in the only battle of his life with that monster, if you could even call it that.., he still doubted his recollection..Did he see what he thought he saw?

The only other child to survive with him that day bore testament to his own recollection, though none of the others back at the safe zone really believed the wild story.

A collection of elders from the safe zone had led a search party back to the site that day only to find what the boys had described. A handful of dead children's body parts and a huge dead monster at the centre of it all.

Though the boy's own parents were certainly overcome with gratitude that their own children survived, the mood of the tribe was agony. Horror and anger. And some of that anger was directed straight at the boy.

Most of the tribe's members knew the boy to play loose with the rules and some blamed him for the tragedy. It was a palpable anger. Somewhat understandable coming from people who lost their own kids in the most bloody tragic way.

It was Daniel at the end of the day who managed to sow peace through the tribe, but even to this day, the boy could feel the lingering resentment from some members. He knew nobody believed what him and the other boy described that day... or at best perhaps they thought the boys had suffered such trauma that their minds created a mutual delusion.. I mean, even he himself barely believed what he remembered, and since then nothing had occurred to reinforce the idea.

He wondered what life would be like if Daniel hadn't been around. There's no way the tribe would have stuck together through everything as they had.

Its also possible he felt this way because of Daniel's relationship with the boy's mother.. They tried to hide it of course, but you can't really hide that. Its there even when its not. So maybe he looked at Daniel as a father figure of sorts as he never had one to begin with.

Whenever the subject of the boy's father came up, which was usually by him directly asking her, she would immediately shut down the conversation. It was always so blunt and hard edged. He stopped trying years ago.. I dunno. Maybe he was a dickhead who cheated on her or something.. Maybe she had her reasons.. as the subject clearly pained her.

The boy and Daniel were in a bird's nest. The military kind, not the natural one. They were holed up in an old church tower with bolt action rifles and rounds of ammunition.

Daniel was still lost in prayer. Sometimes he would disappear like this for 20 minutes. As if pulled there by some force.

The boy could never pray that long. In fact after a few words, he never knew what else to say.. Whereas Daniel would seem to have long, epic conversations with.. Someone or something.

Daniel came to. "They're here." He whispered.

The mission that was given to these two small creatures that day truly was an impossible one. Intel had come in that the Leaders battalion, including the Special Guard would be passing by that church tower that day, on their way to a nearby bridge crossing, and the Leader's right hand man would be with them.

The Leader's right hand man was not just a puppet who simped deeply for the Leader, but one entirely sold out to the Leader's darkness, such that if he were to ever replace the Leader, there would be no pause on this force of suffering that plagues this world. In fact it could get worse. His sadistic nihilism was known throughout the world of animals, especially among the Hares. He was a doctor. A scientist himself, though there is no mistaking him for the scientists of old. The great Hogs who once managed this world through peace and altruistic intent. No, science, in this hogs mind, was simply a means to inflict more perfect suffering and to obtain more destructive power.

So it was given to Daniel to see this mission through, at all costs. This of course made sense, as Daniel was literally not only the most trusted hare in the tribe, but also the keenest long distance sniper. The boy saw this talent on display many times, often watching Daniel hit targets a full kilometre away, over and over again.

They of course had the best technology to do this from constant raids on Leader outposts. The best gun is a stolen one I guess.

When Daniel took this mission, the boy begged him to take him along. His mother protested, but this time nothing would disway him. One part of him wanted to be closer to Daniel and the other wanted to win back some confidence from the tribe. In either case, here he was. But confidence was not something that followed him that day. The boy was scared.

He didn't know if Daniel was scared. Perhaps he was, but he certainly didnt let it show.

The rumble of tanks and marching soldiers approaches and the two men take up their positions. Rifles in hand. Peering down their scopes. They would get maybe one or two shots at this before the full force of that battalion would be levied against them with as much fury as a raging storm. And to top it off, they don't know how they would even recognize the officer in the first place. I mean he's not going to be carrying a sign above his head.

If by some miracle they were able to both locate him and take him out with a perfectly aimed round to the cranium, there would still be the matter of getting the fuck out of there before rockets and bullets start pummeling the tower they are hiding in.. So ya. Impossible.

The boy peers down his scope, searching the horizon. The tanks roll in first, rumbling the ground underneath them for miles. God they're huge, the boy thinks to himself. He glances over at Daniel out of the corner of his eye. He is focused. Pure intent. So calm somehow.. As if his heart simply stopped beating to facilitate the moment.

More machines of war appear flanking the tanks.. 5, 10, 20... shit.. This is getting real. The boy tries to calm his breathing, but he is afraid..this is not going to end well.

Daniel calls to him.. "There.. Just coming around the bend now. See? It's the general's motorcade.. One of those vehicles has the target. Stay focussed."

"I see them... but which one is it?"

Theyre black vehicles with blacked out windows.. There's no way. How can we possibly know where he is? And even if we did, those have to be armoured vehicles..

"These rounds are .50 cal rounds.. They will easily tear through the metal armour on those vehicles.", Daniel whispers, almost as if to reply to the boy's thoughts. " We hit all of them and we hit them hard.. We keep shooting until the ammo runs out, or.. Well, basically anything else".

There it was. A subtle admission that even he likely regarded this a suicide mission. Impossible.

For some reason that hit the boy harder than his own assessment and a feeling of dread crept up his stomach into his chest and just sat there and burned. "We're going to die. Today.. Im going to die." He thought to himself

Daniel looked over at the boy, realizing what was happening. "Listen.. Im here.. You're here.. There is only here right now... look past the fear.. Understand how important you are right here. Right now. There is nothing else.."

The boy nods in agreement and looks back down the deep barrel of his rifle.

" We hit all the trucks in the motorcade. Aim for the rear seats.. Fire calm and true.. Then reload quickly and gently and fire again and again and again. We don't stop until it's done" Daniel said

Daniel is looking through his scope now. He is fully confident.

"You start on the right side and work inward... I will start on the left side.. In 3.....2....1" Daniel counts down.

The heavy rounds explode from their rifles, rocketing through the sky shattering car windows and ripping through metal. Their quiet arms pull the bolts back and go again. Round after round pulses through the bodies of the vehicles, tearing and ripping through any flesh that lies in their path.

Nearly ten rounds blast through these vehicles before the rest of the battalion becomes aware and turns their focus to the most obvious source of the assault. The old church tower.

A rocket hits the building adjacent to the tower, but the they keep firing...

Enemy bullets start whipping, slamming into the bricks of the tower and church building.