O'Connell said goodbye to his Pteras and gathered his belongings, which he had packed earlier. He looked at his old Command Wolf. He hadn't piloted it for so long. The Wolf rumbled, picking up on his friend's sadness.
"Bye," O'Connell whispered. He suddenly felt a pang of despair. He felt as though this would be the last time he would see his beloved Command Wolf. He didn't notice President Camford was watching him from a short distance.
"Wolfie?" He asked, confused. The white Command Wolf rumbled again, and reached out its nose to nuzzle the major before returning to his normal position, only his head was lowered.
O'Connell said goodbye again and started to walk away. He stopped once and looked around. His Zoid was trying to tell him something, but he wasn't sure what it was. A warning? His heart skipped a beat. Maybe something bad wasn't going to happen to his Zoid, maybe something bad was going to happen to him. He swallowed hard, and stared straight into his Command Wolf's eyes. He suddenly wished he had gone with Hermann. O'Connell shook his head and turned around, walking off with a quickened pace.
The teal-haired major looked around at the other Republican soldiers on the bus. They were all chatting about Christmas and their families. O'Connell felt upset, but tried not to show it. He began to feel a bit sick, and again that strange feeling of something bad going to happen to him came back. He concentrated on calming his stomach and tried to ignore the foreboding feeling. It was just what his Zoid had thought, wasn't it? One or two of the younger soldiers noticed he was sitting by himself and keeping quiet, but most of them decided he must be feeling a little bus sick.
One of them, though, kept his eye on the major. He knew who O'Connell was, and knew that he piloted a Pteras. He had also seen him driving, and knew that something else must be upsetting the major. O'Connell looked out of the window. He thought he saw a glimpse of something black, but then it disappeared. He shook his head. It must have been his imagination. The sick feeling left as quickly as it had come, but he couldn't entirely shake off the foreboding feeling.
The bus stopped at a few places, until only three soldiers were left on the bus, O'Connell and two lieutenants, including the one that had been studying him beforehand. As their bus stop came closer, the trio prepared to leave. They filed off the bus and jumped down into the snow. Two sets of families were waiting for the other pair, but no one was there to meet O'Connell. The bus driver noticed this.
"Merry Christmas Major," he said cheerfully.
"What? Oh, Merry Christmas to you too," O'Connell said, smiling. The bus driver winked at him, then closed the doors and drove away. O'Connell turned around and started walking in the direction of his farm. It was a fair walk, but not too long. He ignored the two families that watched him walking alone.