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Act I: Chapter X
Greg's funeral took place in GSV 1, it was the first of its kind in the Green Smurf Colony. Normally when someone dies in the colony, their body is disposed of by incineration with little time to say goodbye. It all had to do with prestige and how the green smurf died, since Greg was well known and he died in order to save others, why not have a funeral?
A lot of green smurfs attended the funeral, maybe half of the colony was there. Even though the Smurf Village was well informed about the funeral, not a single blue smurf came since it was too far. Chernov, Rachael, and their children on the other hand, had came to the colony by steamboat since Chernov needed to get his smurfvee back from the workshop. They all stood there with Rick, Dashie, and the rest of the green smurfs as they watch Greg's body, wrapped up in white cloth, be dumped into the incinerator by Chad and Judd with full military honors. After a 10 shot salute, the funeral was over in less than 30 minutes.
Chernov found himself driving home in his repaired smurfvee with his small family group down the very road where he got ambushed, he constantly checked his rear-view mirror to make sure no one was following him, the last thing he needs is a shootout with his kids in harm's way. Thankfully, no incident took place and Chernov made it home without problems. Once Chernov parks the car, he was about to get out when Rachael stopped him, "Can you take the kids out with you today?" she asked.
"Sure," said Chernov, "Where to?"
"Somewhere quiet, you need it Chernov, you worked to hard."
"Of course, what will you do in the time being?"
"Visit Smurfette."
"I imagine Smurfette rocking back and forth in a corner as you blabber away-"
Rachael poked Chernov in the side hard, and Chernov tickled her sided. The two chuckled as they hugged and kiss, "The kids are watching Chernov."
"Don't worry, they don't know what they're looking at."
"Yes we do." said the twins in unison.
"Get out Rachael," laughed Chernov, "Get out."
Rachael giggled as she unbuckled her seat belt and got out of the car, as she heads for the Smurf Village, she walked in front of the smurfvee. Chernov honked the horn, causing Rachael to jump, he can't help but laugh as Rachael pouted like an immature child at him. When she was finished, she heads to the Smurf Village and was out of site within seconds. Now alone with the kids, Chernov set the smurfvee to drive and turned it around to get back onto the road.
"Where we're going?" asked Cherskey.
"There's a spot I know of that can enable us to see far across the land." said Chernov.
"The high ground?"
"Yup, good sniping and recon if you think about it."
"Now if we ever get lost, can we use it as a rendezvous point?" asked Nelly.
"Yup."
"Oh dad," asked Cherskey, "Why did mama say you work to hard?"
"Well... Ever since that attack on the colony, I couldn't even think straight. For some reason, it became difficult to focus on the work. Like an illness, it consumes you. If you missed one part of the work, then your world explodes and cascades down onto your head like a ton of bricks."
"Ouch."
"Your mother wants me to try to live without it for once, she's right, I can't take much more than I can handle. Just one day with you two might help ease everything and get my course set straight again, besides, there is so much to do to complete your education."
"Why does the blue Smurflings work anyway?" asked Cherskey.
"Papa Smurf has them to, I don't actually approve but he's the boss. Old folks like him are mostly conservative, their brains had forever rust solid due to age as the neurons slowly degrade and die. They have trouble learning new things, so they unconsciously refuse to learn anymore. Sure they might still be able to acquire new knowledge, but that's only in their way of thinking. They will tremble in fear or be ridiculously amaze at something so simple when it comes to math and science. I don't blame them, time goes by fast."
"What about Grandpa Smurf?"
"He mellowed with old age, you might have some luck with old folks who mellowed."
"Ancients perhaps?" asked Nelly.
"We're surrounded by ancients, we as a species are new to this old world. See those trees, they're hundreds of years old. That big-ass Great Oak Tree, Grandpa Smurf planted it long ago when he was a smurfling. Now look at it, its big enough for a bear to live inside it, assuming that the bear can hollow the tree out and such."
Chernov made a turn and slowly they began to head uphill, few minutes later, Chernov was able to see above the treeline. It wasn't long before he approached a small flat area where he could park the smurfvee, once he stopped he turned off the electric engine and unbuckled the seatbelt, "What is this place dad?" ask Cherskey.
"This place is called Iron Hill, it is one of the few highest hills in the region. The hill is too rigid for any humans to climb, but its good enough for small critters like us to walk its face. Iron Hill was established sometime after the first red smurf attack in the Post-Humanoid war era, the green smurfs crafted the mountain for a strategic vantage in the region. It turned out that the hill was utterly useless, other than the solid iron ores that lie deep within its heart, hence the name Iron Hill."
"What do we do now?" asked Cherskey.
"We climb. See those wooden stairs, that's one of the few ways up to the summit."
The green smurfs got out of the smurfvee before Chernov locked it, the twins began to follow their father as he started climbing the wooden stairs he talked about. The stairs looked gray and a little old, some of the steps were rotted by mold and termites, some steps were cracked and busted. Since the stairs were bolted into the face of the hill and its rails were made out of copper, the stairway seemed safe enough. The walk up the hill was short, after climbing about 3 stories the green smurfs reached the summit.
Once there, Chernov did a bit of a security sweep. The summit was a bit wide, in fact it was big enough for the green smurfs to build an outpost up here. 5 towers made out of wood and copper dot each side of Iron Hill, as the interior had only 4 square concrete bunkers and a single landing pad for Vertical Takeoff & Landing (VTOL) vehicles built in, the abandoned green smurf outpost was derelict with its coding of paint flaking off, vegetation was covering the structures as they decay from lack of maintenance. Chernov remembered that the outpost was abandoned since last year, he wasn't sure if anyone had pissed around this hill between the day it had been abandoned and today. What Chernov did know was that the green smurfs left everything there rather than taking it with them, so it was a time capsule in a sense.
He glanced at the flag pole, its rope swayed in the wind like the time it once had a flag. All doubt that this was a green smurf outpost was thrown out the window once the green smurfs saw the green hammer & sickle, painted on the face on the side of one of the bunkers as vegetation and weather tries to erode it away. "Stick close kids," said Chernov, "There's no telling if anyone is still living here."
Chernov approached the main bunker as the twins followed, he looked for any sign of recent activity and listened for anything unusual. The front door of the bunker was a solid steel door, its white paint had cracked and the elements corroded the metal inside. Heck, all of the bunkers were painted white. Back then, they were painted white to symbolize their colors. Painting of military bunkers changed from white to a camouflage pattern just a few months ago, it seemed like a long time since it had been last painted. Chernov grabbed the door handle and attempted to turn it, it didn't budge, so he put in some muscle before the handle popped open and the door creaked open, releasing a smell that's similar to the body odor of Grandpa Smurf into his nostrils.
"Stay outside," said Chernov, "Holler if there are any problems."
"Okay dad." said the twins in unison.
He pulled out his flashlight and clicked it on, then head inside the bunker. Inside the pitch blackness of the bunker lay green smurf equipment and books, all were covered in dust. Surprisingly everything seemed to be in good working order, maybe the bunker did a good job at protecting it all from the elements. CRT computers and radio equipment lay in the far back of the room where the green smurfs left it long ago, the bookshelves stalked with books from the early days after the Humanoid Wars still stood without any sign of decay.
Chernov heads into the back room, his flashlight revealed a small conference table with wooden chairs scooted underneath. In the back was a fridge, a microwave, and a small wood-burning stove. He approached the fridge and opened it up, it was empty. Thank god that my half-siblings cleaned out the fridge, thought Chernov, Or else this place will smell like death.
He returned to his children who were waiting outside, "The place is vacant, let's check the other bunkers."
"Kay dad." said Cherskey.
Chernov continued his security sweep, checking the towers and the tree other bunkers. One bunker was a barracks, rows of bunk beds perfectly made as the footlockers were cleaned out. The cafeteria bunker was also empty, rows of tables and benches were covered with dust as the kitchen was cleaned out with food, only the utensils and cooking equipment remained. Finally, the utility bunker, which was mostly filled with rusted tools and equipment. Chernov looked around in there and found the generator that powered the outpost, still in good condition besides the slight rust on its surface. He had his back turned when he heard the familiar cranking of the cord being pulled, Chernov turned around and saw Cherskey giving the ignition cord a good pull before the generator roared to life. The LED lights of the bunker flickered on, illuminating the bunker's interior.
"We've got power." said Cherskey.
"How ironic," said Chernov, "This place is still functional after all."
. . .
For hours, Chernov sat back outside as the children played around in the outpost. When the twins got tired, they head inside the Command Center to check out the stuff stored inside. After going through several of the books on the shelves, they turned their attention towards the communications equipment. They managed to turn on the computers and dust off the CRT screens, once set up they went through the files stored on the computer. Most of it was insignificant, just daily logs about the outpost and weather. Not one single thing was interesting, no wonder the outpost had been abandoned in the first place.
"Anything on the computers bro?" asked Nelly.
"Just random crap," said Cherskey, "Nothing useful."
"Damn."
Nelly turned towards the HAM radio and took a look at it, "I wonder if this still works."
She pushed the power button and the HAM radio booted to life, and the familiar voice of Richard Reznov buzzed through the speakers, "Former Secretary of Defense Gregory Reznov had finally been laid to rest this afternoon," said Rick, "It won't be long till he fade from our memory, I like to thank those who had attended his funeral, as it was the very first in the Green Smurf Colony."
"I like to thank you for not crying in the middle of it Rick," chuckled Cherskey as he propped his legs on the table and tilt the chair back, "That would probably ruin anyone's day."
"In other news, we had received reports of red smurf scouts near the Green Smurf Colony once again. Though these reports remained unconfirmed, an Attack Watch had been placed on the colony for the next three days. Speaking of warfare, the recently appointed Secretary of Defense, Chad Reznov, had invented a new scope for our assault rifles. It is nothing new of course, but he successfully made a prototype of the Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight, also known as ACOG. This gunsight will increase its users accuracy to a ridiculous level. It is expected to go into mass production next week. For just..."
Rick paused for a moment before changing the subject, "Well looky here, Secretary of Defense Chad Reznov had just walked in. Hey bro, how are things?"
"Fine Rick," said Chad, "Had the tears dried yet?"
"Please don't tease me Chad."
"Okay then."
"So what are you here for?"
"I always wondered about Supreme Commander Chernov Reznov, he seemed like another person to me."
"Why you say that Chad?"
"Had you noticed Rick, he's been kinda down lately. I know he always feels a bit down, but this time its serious. Ever since the recent red smurf attack, Chernov wouldn't even speak to anyone. Rachael, his girlfriend, had told me about his problems and feeling alone inside their house."
"What about Papa Smurf, what was his opinion?"
"Papa Smurf confirmed Chernov's problems, siting that he couldn't take his job as he used to. I always wondered what goes on inside his head, he's a great leader, yet the way I see it, he couldn't even lead himself."
"What are you saying Chad?"
"I'm saying that our half-brother is suffering from depression, the popular belief was that he was saddened by not growing up without a mother and didn't had the time to enjoy his brief childhood: A mere 100 days. When he's angry at any of us, or so angry that us, that he puts his boot to where it hurts if you know what I'm saying. He punched me in the eye for injuring a member of an endangered species for example."
"I don't blame him Chad, he's trying to find a balance between his siblings and his children. To him, its a challenge, and I'm sure some people like a good challenge."
"You're missing my point Rick, he needs help, even if he had to be dragged awhile kicking and screaming."
"I don't actually understand his past well enough, what did he spend his entire childhood doing?"
"Our father trained him, trained him to till he was at the breaking point. It was a bit of tough love, it wasn't the love he wanted."
Nelly turned off the HAM radio in shock, the twins remained silent for a minute to let the feeling sink in. The two looked at each other for a brief second before they scrambled towards the door, Cherskey fell off his chair and quickly got back up as the duo ran outside. They saw Chernov, who was laying against a small tree awhile facing over the landscape as the sun nears the horizon. They calmly walked over to him and sat beside him, snuggling up into his side in the process, "Had enough to look at?" he asked.
"Yeah," said Cherskey, "I need to ask you something dad."
"What is it?"
"Are you depressed?"
"I'm afraid so, did Rick told you on that HAM radio in the bunker?"
"Yup." said Nelly.
"Well kids," said Chernov as he placed his arms over their shoulders, "Its a long story, your grandfather made my childhood brief using this hormone in a form of a special powder dissolved in milk. Drinking the stuff made me feel good, and I nearly got addicted. Since he stopped giving the stuff to me, I had been in the downtime ever since. It was a bit rude, maybe violent at those early days. But you two and Rachael made life worth living. Though deep down, something was missing."
"What's missing?"
"A legacy I presume, I don't know what to leave behind once the world doesn't need me anymore."
"How about that machete," said Cherskey, "Can I have it once you grow old and mellow?"
Chernov's signature machete completed his image, he used it to gut his hunting kills and slaughter red smurfs with a single slash. The familiar long blade with a chip above its center that allowed for shredding was precious to him, he simply looked at Cherskey with a grin, "Over my dead body."
"Agreed."
"Can we go home now," asked Nelly, "The forest feels spooky when its dark."
"Sure Nelly," said Chernov, "Let's shut off that generator Cherskey turned on, then let's go home."
"Okay."
"Speaking of home," said Cherskey, "I can see it from here."
"Where?"
"Over there."
The green smurfs had to focus their eyes a little, but they can see the tiny mushroom houses over at the distance. The Smurf Village was within sight, albeit barely, "Is that 4 kilometers?" asked Cherskey.
"Yup," said Chernov, "I guess this hill isn't so useless after all, let's get outta here kids."
TO BE CONTINUED...