Aaron stood taking in his surroundings and Miles read through the letter. To him everything that was laid before him reeked of the Militia, and the nightmares that it had caused in the past. Aaron hadn't had the deep and meaningful conversation about how reforming the Militia will help everyone against the uprising of the Patriots and the so called Government.
To him it was just having a war for the sake of it, and he would be happy to just get away from all of it find a quiet space and settle, and let's face it the world was now big enough.
Miles dropped the letter to his side and looked over at Bass, who had just walked through the door.
"Great" He said re reading the letter again.
"What?" Miles handed the note to Bass to read. "How do they know about us? No one has left the area but you Miles?"
"I don't think they know everything, She says they know there is military activity here, that isn't patriot. And it could have been anyone, scouts, who knows. Considering we have managed to get away with this for quite a while now i would say we were overdue"
"You know what I'm gonna go outside find Charlie, I'll leave you two to your battle plans" Aaron gave a half smile to Miles and walked out.
Bass looked up at Miles, who stood with his hands on his hips as being defeated.
"Are we ready for this?" He asked Bass
"Do we have a choice?"
There was a moment of pause, both picturing the in their minds the outcome, the losses, the fear. It had been spoken of and had been played out many a time, but somehow now life had seemed so much more precious, that to potentially throw it all way on a battle that could destroy everything seemed senseless.
o0o
Charlie had been standing talking to one of the soldier's wives when Aaron spotted her, she looked so different somehow, she had gone from a young innocent girl, to a battle fuelled woman and you could see it in her eyes, fighting was now what she lived for.
She turned and saw him and instantly smiled.
"It is so good to see you, come with me our house is just down here, you're staying with us right?"
"Yes, and it's so good to see you too, something is different though what is it?"
"Different? Nothing I don't think" Remembering that she hadn't seen Aaron since she had escaped with Bass.
She opened the door and showed him around the house.
"You seem settled here Charlie"
"Yeah I am, never thought I would be but, well I like it here, I like what we are doing, and I don't know it just feels right, you know?"
"Okay?" Aaron walked past her to look out of the window, seeing Bass and Miles making their way towards a hoard of troops.
"What?" Charlie asked him.
Aaron hesitated as he turned to her. "Your mum told me"
"About what?"
"About him being with you" He nodded towards them outside.
Charlie walked over knowing he was talking about Bass.
"Aaron, it's..." Before she could finish he cut her off.
"Are you mad?"
"Aaron! Really?"
"I get using him for his fighting skills and fighting this war but, you and him, is it real?"
"Yes it's real, and we are not using him we are all fighting this war, everyone needs one another." She looked away disappointed "You know I never expected to hear this from you Aaron, my mum yes, Miles of course, but you?"
"I'm sorry Charlie, it just looks wrong, he killed half your family, and you're happy to just get into bed with him"
Charlie hand met his face with brute force, harsh eyes pinned to his. "Don't" she spoke firm, but instantly regretted her action.
"I deserved that, I spoke out of line, I'm sorry, but Charlie, do you seriously see this going anywhere. You gonna play happy families after all this is over, without one fear that he will turn bad again?"
"I have thought about everything you have just said and more, he knows that he has to have more control of himself, also he isn't up against the same thing this time. Who knows if we ever get the power back ever again? The people who do know how all that worked however are all in the same circle now"
She walked away with her arms crossed turned to face him leaning against the kitchen side.
"And lastly, will we all survive this war? Will I forever be regretting not doing something outrageous like this with him if he doesn't make it through? What if I don't make it through Aaron? Should I not go there just because the past keeps haunting everyone else?"
"I can imagine it hard everyone still living in the past all the time, I see now Charlie...Doesn't mean I like him anymore though" He grinned at her.
"You and everyone else then, I swear sometimes I seem too have many battles Im fighting" She grinned back.
o0o
"I want scouts sent out in civvies, I wanna know where they are if they are coming I wanna know how much time we have, stay out there until you see or hear anything. We need to know what we are up against. I want people posted on a 5 mile and 10 mile perimeter. Go now!"
Miles walked in to the office "Bass, how we doing?"
"Im sending scouts out on horseback, to see if we can get a heads up, are we walled?"
"Yeah were walled, as best as we can be, armoury is ready, we just need to get the people all together and explain the situation, I'll get that sorted." Miles paused "We will need Charlie, you know that don't you?"
"Maybe, think I might have that bit covered" He looked up at Miles and wandered out of the office.
o0o
The room was silent as Miles spoke to everyone about the probable events, people were given a choice they could stay or they could leave the choice was entirely up to them, however if they were to stay they would need to fight.
Questions started to ring out among the crowd.
"What about our children" one woman shouted.
"We will be doing everything to keep any enemy out of the village, being breached is a possibility, this is why I have given you the option to stay or to seek safety away from the Village" Miles responded.
"There are some of us who have never held a gun, what are we supposed to do?" Called another
"If you want a basic quick instruction in anything that you think may help you, we will be giving training, it will be basic, but all you need to know is how to pull a trigger, you just need to have the strength to be able to do it, not everyone can kill another human being, it's not something that just comes easy. But if you want this battle won, then help us."
Bass spotted Charlie over the other side of the room, he nodded over to the doors, they both left the hall and walked outside, he grabbed hold of her hand.
"I need to show you something"
"Ok, why does this not sound good?" She said smiling at him as he pulled her towards the wooded area.
"Trust me its good and will put my mind at ease a bit"
They walked further into the forest until they were on the very edge of the village where the walls were. He stopped in front of her looking at her
"We are here"
"Charlie looked around her "Well…ok….I don't get it"
Bass pointed up into the trees.
Charlie squinted as she looked up then her eyes grew large and mouth opened curving into a smile " Is that a tree house? We had one of these in the garden when I was a kid. How did you, I mean when did you manage to get this done?"
She walked closer to the trees
"It's for you, I don't want you on the ground in this battle, I thought that as this is the front facing wall and we are more likely to be approached from here, you could be up here with all the crossbows and arrows you need, you are camouflaged and no one can get up there if you are already up there."
"What about you?"
He looked at her then put his hand on the ladder, "Shall we?"
o0o
Miles and Aaron sat in the Inn exhausted from thought and planning, the bar wasn't as bustling as normal, people had stayed in, packed or huddled down with loved ones. The meeting in the hall had put everyone in a very quiet mood. It was almost a negative feeling, worry in the atmosphere. Aaron sat staring out in to oblivion. Miles head was in his hand whilst the other toyed with the rim of his glass.
A group of men walked in some were from the armoury some were soldiers, they seemed in good spirits albeit a little tipsy, they sat down at a table not far from Miles and Aaron, chatting about the day's events.
"So what you reckon then a win?" One said
"Hell yeah, we have the best fighters here" Another responded.
"Do you think they will do it before it all begins?"
"I would if I knew that we could all just die yeah, wouldn't you?"
"Do what?" a young lad asked.
"Get married, don't you know?"
"Yeah General Monroe asked Charlie to marry him and she said yes!" the other butted in.
Miles looked up frowning , Aarons eyes wide staring back at him.