ENEMIES IN DISGUISE

Night descended on the ravaged village as weeping mingled with cries of pain from the poisoned…………..

Ruka told jiro , Lucy has been the one causing the villagers to get sick he poisoned the water hole.

……. And he is also a spy from cassou.

………….Jiro stormed through the compound searching for Lucy,

his only illumination the twilight torches casting ominous shadows.

*****************

……The recent refuge now took on aspects of a forsaken landscape.

He discovered her empty quarters, meager belongings strewn outside the doorway haphazardly as if she had fled in haste.

No trace remained except a scrap of paper hidden beneath her sleeping mat with unfamiliar markings.

…….Jiro grabbed it to study under flickering light - his blood turned to ice realizing it was cryptic communication in the authoritarian code used by Cassou's security forces.

Ruka approached behind him gravely, companions all bearing arms against the unseen foe.

……..Her face was streaked with tears from the suffering they had witnessed along the water's edge,

…………but determination steeled her voice:

“Tracks lead out of the rear gates into the wilderness. Ones not made by her solitary feet. She fled aided, though whether by force or design, I cannot discern."

……..Jiro crumpled the cypher fragment, mind racing with implications.

"Our persecutors found passage here using her as their pawn, likely exchanging liberty for this chance to poison us all.

They will show no mercy when they return to finish off survivors."

He moved swiftly, rallying the able-bodied who had not yet ingested tainted water to fortify their perimeter against an attack

…………he felt increasingly certain would come under night's cloak.

…………..Their casualties were still untallied, but he ordered the infirmary stocked with arms for the last defense.

…………If their enemies tracked back expecting easy extermination of the sickened populace, a violent surprise awaited them in turn.

………….Through the darkness,

…………….Jiro caught glimpses of Ruka speaking quietly with each distressed citizen, calming children and directing families to a haven.

*********Always scanning skywards, she anticipated assault from multiple vectors their hunters preferred.

………….. Her shotgun was never slung from her shoulder now.

……… Whatever justice required, Ruka had long ago signed that covenant in blood.

Jiro realized with sadness their short-lived season of gentle refuge perished with the day's cruel light.

…..

This humble colony forged in the aftermath days must now answer for its survival against the depraved plans of arrogant and ruthless men.

…….Their best defence rested inside hearts unwilling to retreat further into oblivion. He only prayed it would suffice until dawn.

The night stretched taut as bowstrings as Jiro's sentries manned the palisade gates.

…… Fires were extinguished allowing eyes to adjust gaining advantage over any shielded attackers.

…………Adrenaline held fatigue's pleas at bay. They knew slaughter waited near, the scale of violence still unfathomable except to those who had seen humanity's depths before.

……This night was but a prologue to some worse unveiling.

When infrared motion detectors salvaged from the underground bunker silently tripled perimeter alarms,

…..

Jiro gripped his rifle - the wait ended.

………His garrison rushed to stations between log cabins as wakes of missile trails crested the ridge walls under the camouflage of darkness.

….Seeker ordnance and plasma cannon salvos smashed buildings randomly, intended to spread panic in the chaos.

Their long-prepared strategy held fast against impulse reaction.

Marksmen sighted weapon emplacements revealed by firing signatures and illuminated the ridge line disruption systems.

They traded shots brutally until battering rams breached the front gates.

Armored assassins poured through before impaling themselves on razor fencing strung across the opening.

……….Screams of surprise echoed from ruined structures as mechanical horrors like giant insects swarmed suddenly over makeshift barricades with razor limbs thrashing indiscriminately.

The machines had been deposited from low-flying drones while attention was fixed on ridge assaults.

……..Their programming maximized terror amidst the helpless as countermeasures collapsed.

Jiro emptied his magazine into an arachnid construct before it could shred cowering families.

Rallying each defender, he noted with pride that Ruka coordinated evacuation toward the thickest fortifications as elders led the children away from immediate danger.

……Their discipline continually denied bloodthirsty fulfilment to an enemy expecting hysteria.

Gradually the pitched battles turned their way.

Armored corpses littered shattered gate remnants and laser-sighted marksmen found their range against identifiable commanders.

…….The coordinated remote madness relied upon relentless violence unhindered by cost. Deprived of momentum, their campaign fell vulnerable.

Down to pistols against mechanical horrors still crawling through the wreckage,

……..Jiro's forces neutralized the last monstrosity before an unsettling silence took hold. No further assault waves emerged. Jiro waved torch signals to confirm they still held defensive lines.

……Had probability weapons depleted the enemy?

Perhaps desperate Lucy could be squeezed for information now the failure of her betrayal must be obvious.

In the rebuilding infirmary, Jiro urged their most trusted lieutenants closer as he knelt beside a restrained prisoner.

Lucy spat blood, sneering. "Go ahead and kill me...the flock has already been marked for cleansing.

What happened tonight was merely entertainment.

" Fear stirred that she spoke an imminent reality, not delirious boasts.

Before questions probing her masters' plans could extract actionable clues, Lucy choked suddenly, eyes rolling back inside spasming sockets.

……Seizures ended as quickly, blackened veins tracing her face signal the truth -

Lucy was expendable bait, her ultimate usefulness as an example.

Jiro realized she had been implanted with timed osmotic poison capsules during her debriefing for just this scenario.

"A puppet that outlives her show gets stuffed back in the box through any means…

" Jiro murmured bitterly, closing Lucy's staring eyes gently.

"We must burn our dead swiftly and prepare survivors for transport westward.

This colony is fatally exposed now."

He chose swift mercy for Lucy receiving none herself.

A harder, less forgiving wisdom was required for the days accelerating toward them.

Tonight proved unambiguously that old powers held long memories waiting to crystallize.

……..

Jiro only prayed their elderly and infirm could endure a forced exodus into winter's teeth. No compassion was spared for stragglers anymore.

At midnight,

Jiro watched the funeral pyres consume bandaged forms alongside

…..Lucy’s betrayer corpse rendered back to ash universality.

All remaining provisions were distributed to lighten loads for weaker members facing extended exposure. Between shifting families toward escape,

Jiro grasped Ruka's hand tenderly. So few who began this journey still breathed to write its closing stanzas.

They stood on uncertain cliffs above a darker plunge. But dawn must be given space to rewrite all shadows. Jiro squeezed her calloused hand tightly then returned to shepherding their battered flock before crueler trials.

........

Ice sheets groaned under trudging feet as Jiro’s band navigated narrow ravines northeast towards rumours of sanctuary settlements.

Weaker members rode makeshift supply sledges pulled by the heartier souls still shocked by the sudden flight from their once-safe enclave.

The Coordinate hordes south seemed content allowing winter elements to erase forward evidence of targets fled.

Squinting against relentless wind,

Jiro spied Ruka scouting their winding path just within sight, shotgun jutting above her fur mantle identifiable at a distance.

Always she led them onward when exhaustion drowned hope itself in deeper snowdrifts.

….He wondered what inner heart she kept stoked through this nightmare exodus from dreams of refuge now ash on the wind. Each arduous mile strained the belief that safety or answers lay over the next ridge.

Surely despair circled closer than imagined warmth.

When whiteout conditions blinded their way ahead,

…..Ruka circled back mittened hand outstretched to grasp Jiro’s arm insistently pulling his steps forward.

…..Neither ice nor darkness held the power to halt her intuitive compass towards life and promise. When she spoke encouragement into his frosted ears, the words held warmth breaching his core

Her fiery spirit kindled beacons that drove numb limbs another mile and more before night fell without mercy. Around their measly camp, eight souls had frozen for good, beyond all curatives. Further casualties without rapid shelter would surely accelerate beyond any registrar’s tally.

Jiro murmured last rites while the camp buried their dead under rocks against scavengers.

…… Grim work refocused resolve to continue ahead however name remained unworn.

If this forced death march failed to locate shelter on the morrow,

….their ragtag community would sink into nameless snows. Not one expected mercy or markers from the elements. Eyes closed upon familiar mountain stars for coveted rest knowing tomorrow held only suffering or salvation uncaring.

At dawn,

Jiro shook crystals from his matted beard rising to pull boots slowly against worsening frostbite.

Their band was fading faster than the weak light exposing endless Frozen desolation before them.

…. Faces once treasured lay buried days back. Had they sacrificed everything for the freedom to die anonymously?

He sucked frozen air deeper to shout the waking call when movement caught his eye on the peaks above their camp.

Bobbing shapes flowed downward with purpose he feared reading, given recent past deceptions.

But options expired once temperatures plummeted this far from hearths or hospitals.

…..Jiro rallied the band to defensive postures, their fate arriving with daybreak.

..

Come what may, they would stand together until night welcomed them home.

As pale sunlight bled sideways over the range, their uncanny visitors reached the valley.