(Chapter 10) SSgt Boros

The following interview was transcribed verbatim from a recorded session and written alongside several personal observations.

I must admit to a curiosity about my next candidate, I have heard much about him during me time in this town and the majority of it is...not favourable. Which leads to the next question, why is he here? The man sitting across from me is five foot eight, give or take, well built and aged, several scars across his face that look quite old.

AA - What a morning! Now then-

SB - Is this going to take long?

AA - Oh, I wouldn't think so. Just a quick interview to-

SB - Skip the small talk, some of us have actual work to do.

(A poor start certainly, SB is rather overtly hostile.)

AA - Very well. State your name for the record.

SB - Staff Sergeant Boros, Militia Commander.

AA - I assume you appointed yourself that title?

SB - No one else had the common sense around here to do it.

AA - I wouldn't have thought there'd be a need-

SB - Yeah well that's what these idiots thought too. Just because the world ended doesn't mean it's all sparkly rainbows and sunshine out there.

(Tsxirxmep yrwergxmsrih wyvzmzsv hixigxih.)

AA - Yes, I'd always thought when your civilisation ended the world would become a utopia…

(Maybe not the best response on my part.)

SB - Listen, sonny, there are things out there worse than anything you can imagine. Someone had to organise a defence here.

AA - That may be the case, but I find it refreshing that the first thought in most people's minds here was to find more survivors and build around them.

SB - Don't get me started on that now, these people just let anyone in here.

AA - You think humans should stay divided?

SB - That's just the natural order of things. Some people are on top for a reason.

AA - And by 'some people' I can only assume you mean-

SB - White people, and I'm not afraid to say it.

AA - Clearly.

SB - Be as snobby as you like, I served before the world ended. I saw how the rest of the world saw us.

AA - Shocking, given your enlightened attitude towards it all.

SB - Mind that lip, I can have you thrown out of this town.

AA - I very much doubt that. I'm just here to collect-

SB - I don't give two shits why you're here. You're not being productive which means you're just a liability at this point.

AA - Well, good thing your town leader says different.

SB - That moron? He won't be around for much longer, the militia is mine and he knows that.

AA - You're already planning a coup? That didn't take long-

SB - I wouldn't have to think of these things if people just listened to me.

AA - If they did, this town would just be another smoking crater.

SB - Better than the rat's nest it is now, full of niggers, chinks and rag-heads it's only a matter of time before one of them remembers who they really are and turns on the rest of us.

AA - So you haven't noticed it then?

SB - What?

AA - That there's something about these people in this town, their behaviours, their ideals?

SB - There all lefty snowflakes?

AA - If by that you mean they share the same fundamentals regarding equality and the future of humanity being based on the principle of cooperation, then yes.

SB - Please, some people are just meant to be in charge. You can't be that naive.

AA - I like to think of it as hopeful.

SB - You know what happened to the last hopeful generation?

(He gestures around vaguely.)

AA - Funny, I was just about to ask if you remember what happened to the last generation of people that shared your...outlook.

SB - I'm still here.

AA - As are the rest of these good people.

SB - I took a bunch of untrained princesses and turned them into an organised fighting force.

AA - Clearly there's a demand for that sort of thing.

SB - Look to the future, I doubt we're the only settlement out there. What happens when we all start expanding?

AA - I've heard the townsfolk talk of unification and working together with new survivors.

SB - Don't be stupid! They'll want what we have, and once they see who runs this town they'll just roll in and take us!

AA - I hate to say you sound paranoid but-

SB - Smart, not paranoid! It's common bloody sense man!

AA - Speaking of, how exactly did you survive all this?

SB - I was smart enough to see to my own defence when it all started going to shit.

AA - I thought you said you 'served' before all this.

SB - Served a spineless bunch of cretins, only I saw all this coming!

AA - So you deserted to see to your own-

SB - Don't accuse me of things you couldn't possibly understand, boy. It was all falling apart, the only thing left to do was make sure someone was around who could remember how it all really happened.

(Mrmxmexi uyeverxmri tvsxsgsp.)

AA - And how did you live?

SB - I built my own bunker, stocked it to survive and came out before everyone else did. I've seen what's out there, behind these walls. If the town heard of it, they'd melt and panic in an instant.

AA - So the scouts, they just-

SB - Scouts, hah! Don't believe in what they say, they just loot what they can and get back as quick as their little trucks will carry them!

AA - I see. And you remember everything that happened before the world ended?

SB - Perfectly clearly. I've written it down, several books in fact. And we all know exactly who's to blame.

AA - Some minority I expect. I'd very much like to see these notes of yours.

SB - Taking me seriously now?

(Mrmxmexi hmwtswep tvsxsgsp.)

AA - Oh, absolutely. Maybe you could show me them during a tour of the outer defences?

SB - Perfect! I'll show you our new minefield.

AA - Perfect indeed.

(END)

I had to cut this one short, my tolerance for the man was wearing thin. Needless to say, the town could do without this particular...nuisance troubling them in the future.