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ACT III: Chapter XXXVII
It was a rough hike, Chernov at times had to push Cuddles along since she couldn't keep up with him. After they ran for at least half an hour, Chernov found a hollowed out log and shoved Cuddles into it. She collapsed onto the ground and started crying as Chernov slumped onto his rear, What a wake up call. He thought.
The walls of the log amplified Cuddles' crying, she sat up and held her head down to let out all of her grief. Chernov wrapped his arm around her and pressed her head into his shoulder, she wrapped her arms around him as he stroke her back, "There there," he said, "You're safe now."
After a few minutes of her crying, Cuddles calmed down but kept her grasp on Chernov firm. Having seen this kind of grief before, Chernov comfort her the best he can. It wasn't long before she stopped crying altogether. A minute later, she fell asleep.
Chernov laid her on the floor of the log and stepped out, he needed some fresh air. The shock that he had endured through was the most surprising moment in his life, the fact that the red smurf wiped out a family of human beings means it was a game changer. He sat down on the snow and stared out over to the horizon, it looked like there's a frozen lake in the distance. It seemed far, yet some landmarks suggest it was just a short walk. For the search of food and water, that may be the place to go.
A gust of wind blew past him, he wrapped his arms around his bare torso in an effort to retain some body heat. God I hate this cold. Already his rear was getting cold from the snow, yet he didn't move. He just needed a moment to think of a plan to get back home. Once he get there, he'll reorganize the green smurfs and finish off the retreating red smurf armies. But only if he can get back to the colony, which will take awhile.
He felt someone gently wrapping their arms around him, he turned and saw Cuddles behind him. She doesn't wanna leave his side, Chernov wondered if she's forever in his debt after saving her from a horrible demise. Or maybe... he's the only family she knew now.
"See that frozen lake right there," said Chernov as he pointed towards it, "That's where we'll find fresh food and water. Come on, the sun's about to set and this isn't a good place to camp."
The two green smurfs got to their feet and they head towards the lake, between them and their destination was a steep incline. It goes at least 15 meters down to the elevation of the lake, all they have to do is to-
"Oomph!" yelped Chernov as Cuddles gave him a hard shove in the back.
He dropped to the ground and his momentum caused him to roll, Chernov wrapped his arms around his head and waited for the dizzying world to settle. After a few rolls head over head, Chernov plowed into a pile of snow, the cold bite his exposed skin harder than what's on the hill. Chernov groaned as he brushed the snow off of him and sat up, he saw Cuddles sliding down the hill on her rear all the way to the bottom. She enjoyed it, and she was giggling as she got back onto her feet. That seem to be a good sign she's finally moving on, he thought, I guess the family genes are kicking in now.
Cuddles walked over to Chernov with a smile on her face and lend him a hand, he grabbed it and she helped him back up to his feet, "Why!" he grumbled.
The green smurfette simply shrugged, Chernov wasn't in the mood to be angry, he knew Cuddles was speeding up the journey similar to how fast he got her out of harm's way, "Fine then," said Chernov, "Let's keep going, you can have your fun later when we find our relatives."
. . .
"The hole isn't big enough," said Lori, "The cold will freeze it over in minutes."
"Okay then," said Sally, "Let's make it wider."
Sally grabbed a hammer, a tool she made out of a rock and stick, and started hammering away at the ice, "Why not make an ax?" asked Lori.
"I can't find a long enough stick for one," said Sally, "Not even a stone to make the sharp edge."
"I'll go look for one then."
"Don't waste all day Lori."
"I won't Sal, there's a pile of rocks over there so there."
"I didn't noticed."
"That's why it was covered in snow, the wind just recently blew some off and revealed the natural resource."
"Oh I wish we have some manufactured tools with us, that would make our day a whole lot better."
"I do too."
Lori walked off, leaving Sally to tend to the fishing. Suddenly something caught the line, Sally was just about to pull it out when the line snapped, it soon disappeared into the pitch blackness of the lake below, "Oh crap!"
. . .
When the duo got to the lake, Chernov saw something at the other side, "Get down." said Chernov.
Chernov dropped to the ground as Cuddles dropped with him, "Look," said Chernov, "Someone's over there!"
Looking closely, the green smurfs saw two figures on the ice. One was working at something as the other was heading towards a pile of rocks. They were too far to see anymore detail of what their race might be, so Chernov couldn't tell what their faction was, "150 meters at best, they shouldn't see us if we stay low. Look, I see smoke coming out of the trees. There's more than two of them."
Chernov thought for a brief moment, "Let's get off the ice and move into the treeline, we'll walk around the lake using the vegetation to cover our approach. Once we find their camp, we figure out who they are and why they are there," he grabbed Cuddles by the hand and they got to their feet, "Follow me and stay quiet, there isn't much I can do if you get hurt."
Cuddles nodded, agreeing with him. He pulled her along and got off the lake, then ran towards the hibernating bushes nearby.
. . .
The sun was now skimming the horizon, it was already dark enough to where the twins can move without being spotted. Cherskey and Nelly ran towards the side of the outpost and peeked through the open gate, there's only a couple of red smurfs at a campfire. Their backs were turned towards them, they sneaked in without alerting them to their presence.
Once inside, Cherskey saw a couple of small cabins and a large one. A couple of jeeps and a light-armored tank were parked around the back, followed by some crates of ammunition for that tank, "What do we do Cherskey?" whispered Nelly.
"I'm thinking," he whispered back, "Grab a radio, a weapon, and something we're able to drive and get the hell out of here."
One of the red smurfs started to turn around, the twins quickly ran behind one of the buildings for cover, "Okay," whispered Cherskey, "I have a plan."
"Does it involve blowing up some of the explosives and stealing a vehicle right under their noses?"
Cherskey gave her a puzzling look, "In fact it does..." I'm way too predictable for my own sister. He thought.
"Okay, how about-"
An explosion interrupted Cherskey mid-sentence, the vibrations nearly knocked the duo off-balance. Once the noise of the explosion subside, they heard red smurfs scream. But it doesn't sound like they were panicking, they sounded like they were angry. Cherskey and Nelly looked around the corner and saw several red smurfs yelling at each other, the light armored tank was now a twisted shell of its former self. The turret was blown off, flames billowed out, and it appeared that it was dismantling itself from the intense heat. Cherskey can't believe their luck, he thought he would be here all night to pull the plan off. He watched as the red smurfs started throwing fists and punches at each other as the commanding officer there tried to break it off: It was a perfect distraction in the making.
"Let's go!" he said.
The twins kept to the side of the outpost walls as they made their way around the show that was unfolding, once they made it to the other side they saw the jeeps completely intact and untouched by the explosion. Keeping their heads low, they made their way towards the closest jeep and climbed into the seats as the red smurfs a meter away increase their aggression upon each other, "You know how to drive?" asked Nelly.
"Yeah," said Cherskey, "You want to take the wheel awhile I get the 3mm machine gun?"
"Sure."
Nelly got behind the wheel as Cherskey climbed behind the wheel of the machine gun, he settled into the seat as he cocked the gun. The sound of metal parts clicking into each other caught the red smurfs' attention, Oh sh*t! Cherskey thought.
His sister started up the engine as he aim the gun at the red smurfs, "Drive sis!"
Nelly shifted the gear to drive and she floored it as Cherskey fired upon the red smurfs, he managed to injure a couple of them and killing one in the process. The twins drove out of the outpost and onto the road, heading towards the setting sun, "Keep at it sis!" said Cherskey, "They may be on our tails yet!"
. . .
Chernov pushed aside some vegetation and peaked through it, he saw a makeshift shelter made out of packed snow and branches. It had a rectangular roof and a square frame, whoever built it was trained well. Chernov looked further into the camp and saw a green smurf tending to a fire, he was soon relieved that it was a friendly. Even better, he knew who it was. All those bruises and scars on the green smurf's body mean one thing, the green smurf was Jammy.
He turned back towards Cuddles and put his finger over his lips, then gestured to follow him. Jammy's back was turned towards him, so Chernov had no problem tiptoeing towards him without making much of the sound. Once he got within arm's reach, Chernov wrapped his arm around Jammy's neck and gave him a choke hold, "Oh God," he screamed like a little girl, "Please don't hurt me!"
The way he said his plea meant that he knew he was screwed, or so what it seemed, "Never let your guard down Jammy," said Chernov, "Maybe I'll beat the sense into you like old times, add some marks to your growing collection for you to remember."
Chernov let's go of Jammy and he spun around, "Oh crap, Chernov!" he cried, "I'm glad too see you! Wait, am I going insane!"
"I thought I was until I saw your mug." chuckled Chernov.
Jammy got onto his feet, "You came here to save us?"
"Whose the green smurfs on the frozen lake?"
"Sally and Lori."
"Well, let's fine them."
Jammy saw Cuddles approach, "Uhh... who's...?"
"I'll explain once Sally and Lori's here." said Chernov.
Chernov, Jammy, and Cuddles made their way to the lake and called out for the green smurfettes. Sally got off of her rump and rushed towards them as Lori came running from the pile of rocks with a stone ax in her hands, "Chernov," pant Sally as she put a hand on her chest, "Oh my god, I didn't expect you to find us?"
"Neither have I sis." said Chernov.
"Whose the big girl here?" asked Lori as she pointed towards Cuddles with her ax.
"Let's head back to camp and I'll tell you what happened."
The green smurfs made their way back to camp, they sat down around the campfire and got themselves settled in, "You didn't answer my question earlier," said Jammy, "Did you come to save us?"
"No," said Chernov, "I'm also MIA, so what happened to The Baron Avenger?"
"The bomber was shot down," said Sally, "Me, Jammy, and Lori were the only survivors. I don't know if there were more or not."
"You've accomplished your mission Sally, I had an army surround and raid Fort Romanov. Once we got in there, our blue buddies told me about the aftermath of your work."
"Oh, what did they say?"
"They told me the red smurf general in command of the place was furious, and so executed a relative of ours. That relative happens to be Baldwin."
"Baldwin," asked Jammy, "Sh*t, no wonder he went missing. Had we known that he was there-"
"He wasn't the only green smurf Jam," said Chernov, "My own two children were kidnapped along with the blue smurfs."
Everyone went silent for a moment, "Are they okay?" asked Lori.
"The general had them shot, they took the bullets and somehow managed to escape after being injured."
"Oh my god!" cried Sally.
"Oh I'm getting to the good part, the general's high-ranking officers started to turn on him. We got them divided in their leadership alright, clearly we found someone to blame of this tragedy."
"So what happened to you?" asked Jammy.
"We were getting the blue smurfs out of there and I was injured in the process, first I was shot by sniper and then blown up by an enemy artillery shell. Everything went numb after that, Rachael tried to get me out but she dropped me. I heard her run away as I loose consciousness so I know she's alright."
"Were you later saved?" asked Lori.
"Laura, aka Cuddles' owner, found me. You know about the domesticated green smurfs our Dad brought to the world right? No need to explain anything there."
"No need indeed," Jammy let out a smile, "Chad told me about his encounter with Cuddles."
"Laura's father called in a doctor and treated my wounds, I got a moments of rest before the red smurf's come knocking. To wrap this all up, the red smurfs murdered everybody and I managed to get myself and Cuddles out of their house before they burned everything."
"That's horrible!" cried Sally.
"Well now I have to find Cuddles a new home, might as well give her to Chad as a reward for our victory in Fort Romanov."
Everyone chuckled, "I'm sure he'll like that." said Sally.
All the green smurfs laughed, "I bet he will." said Chernov.
"Wait," said Jammy, "If you were shot and blown up by an artillery shell, why don't you have any noticeable battle wounds on you?"
"What?"
Chernov examined himself, the gauze wrapping had fallen off, revealing healthy skin. There was no sign of any wounds nor scars on him whatsoever, "I was hurting when I regained consciousness."
"Since you're wearing no jacket and your pants had holes," said Sally, "I believe you. You are the Wunderwaffe after all, I do remember during the Humanoid Wars you regenerated quickly after that enemy human stabbed you."
"Maybe I past this trait to my children, I've trained them for this kind of scenario. I'm sure they're alright."
. . .
The red smurfs quickly caught up with the twins in the remaining jeep, Cherskey fired away at them as the red smurf machine gunner fired back. They couldn't get clean shots since they were moving all over the place, "Keep going faster sis!" cried Cherskey.
"I'm trying," cried Nelly, "Damn jeep is too slow!"
Cherskey fired a few sporadic rounds at the red smurfs and managed to put a round into the body of the enemy vehicle, it did no damage to the jeep's performance whatsoever. He had fired a machine gun before, but not when it was mounted on a moving vehicle. He struggle to line up the iron sights and put a few rounds at the perusing red smurfs but they were moving all over the place. A round whizzed by Cherskey's shoulder, he felt the wind whipped past his skin, "Damn it," he cursed, "Take a detour Nelly!"
Nelly veered off the round and plowed into the ditched, Cherskey struggled to hang on as they plowed through mounds of vegetation, jumped a small cliff, and crashed deep into a pile of branches and snow.
TO BE CONTINUED...