The End Of Life

The General walked into his own office with the officer who shouted back at Marcus behind him. The officer closed the door as Kroc sat on his chair behind the large desk filled with various documents and looked at the officer in front of him. 

"Tell me what is on your mind, Bark." 

The officer, Bark, looked at Kroc and said while lowering his head, "General, I think it's unfair. The military is doing most of the work like supply runs and defending the camp. Without us, this camp would not survive until now. Those people out there are who we saved in the past few days." Peeking at Kroc's expression, which remained the same. 

"I just think, we deserve more respect than what we receive here. Especially from those dogs which were in the government." 

Kroc could only sigh hearing the frustrated officer. He looked out the window towards the other buildings and workers constantly moving.

"The world is at its lowest point right now, Bark. The thing we need the most right now isn't anything other than to survive. We need to survive and try to go back to the old days when everything is back to normal. When we formed this camp, the people did not trust us, the outsiders. But rather the Mayor, who they voted for and represented them. This is their power. Without enough people, we can not survive for long." 

"But still Mayor, we can't take all this disrespect to our face. Can't we just leave this camp and instead build our own. Leave this place to the Mayor and his people to rule. It would be better for us." 

Kroc turned back towards the young man and said, "If we leave then who will protect the people, Bark? The people might hate us, but we can't abandon them to their deaths at a time like this. When we all join the army, the one thing we all did in common was to swear in front of our national flag to protect the country and its people. Now the people need our protection the most, we can't leave them. Tell me, will you be able to shoulder the death of the people in this camp after we move out?" 

Bark didn't reply as he remained calm after listening to Korc's words. He couldn't even imagine the burden of the deaths of hundreds of people who would die without their support. 

"But don't worry, there will be a time when the ones who don't respect us will eventually touch our legs and beg us to save them. We just need to stay calm and wait for now." Korc assured the officer. 

"General, I have something to ask you." 

Korc nodded as he sat back in his seat and Bark continued, "Even though those people are the worst, they had a point, General. Why give the camp in Evergreen City the equipment?" 

Korc smiled hearing this and replied, "The camp in Evergreen city must be under Donald Cox. I know that man since the time we both were just normal soldiers. We fought a war together and I trust the man. He isn't someone who won't forget a favor once he takes it or gives it. Now he asked for a favor and would return it whenever we asked him one free of charge. He is a man of his word. So think of this exchange as a small investment which could give us high returns during our crucial times." 

Bark nodded hearing the man's answer and asked, "General, before I leave for my duties one more question." 

Korc chuckled hearing his officer and nodded. 

"General, I am sure those people would not let the equipment get transported in peace and would do anything in their power so that they could get it. Should we provide the people who came with some support for the transport?"

Korc shook his head and replied, "No, we don't. Our only task was to provide them with the equipment, that is all. Whether they can take it out of this place or not is something they have to think about. Not us. But something tells me that the man Donald sent isn't as simple as he seems. Donald rarely takes decisions like these, and we can also see that the man doesn't work under Donald.

"Do you think a General ranked military officer would give such an important mission to an outsider when he didn't have confidence in him?" 

Bark shook his head and Korc waved his hand before saying, "Alright, you can leave now. Just get them the equipment tomorrow morning." 

Bark saluted before exiting the room, leaving Korc all alone inside. 

'That man isn't as simple as he seems. The feeling he gives off is like a tiger ready to hunt. I wonder when Donald met such a feisty boy. He always had the luck when it came to finding people.' thinking about Mark. 

He noticed Mark when they were being taken towards the hospital. We were on rounds checking the work in the camp when colonel Dan reported to him. He knew the man wasn't simple at all. 

'If that small group of four people could cross borders of one state to another and even cross a town in the middle, in this kind of situation, unscathed. They are by no means simple. They shouldn't have a problem dealing with a few underlings sent by those bastards. I wonder how their faces would be when their plan would be spoiled. Ah, Daniel, you're still too young to deal with these things.' chuckling to himself, he contemplated.

As the two sides were making their own plans, the group was taking a long-needed rest inside the house they were given. They took a bath when a soldier informed them that water would be available in the room they were staying in for a specific amount of time only because of the scarcity. 

After a nice bath, they all went to take a nap until they heard their house door being knocked.