I do not own any of the characters or any song lyrics in this story.
Maxim pov
Mark, Elias, and Julien came to join us, so we took the van that could contain all 11 of us. Once we were settled in, Jordan hooked his phone up to the Bluetooth in the van and put on Avenged Sevenfold, from his Spotify app. As I drove up to the booth we all showed our ID's to the security. We were let through, and made our way out of Harford base. I turned to Jordan and asked him to put on Shepherd of Fire. He turned, surprised. He thought I had never listened to them before.
"What?" I demanded.
"Nothing. It's just, you never struck me to be someone to listened to A7X"
"I love them" I replied.
"When did you start listening to them?"
"When I was still in Spetsnaz back in 2012/2013 I used to be a gamer but I had to stop once I got into Rainbow because now I don't really have much free time to play, but I used to play Call of Duty and I loved the zombies mode in it, so when the last DLC came out for Black Ops 2 and the trailer for the zombies map had Shepherd of Fire playing in the background, I loved it so much I bought it, and after a couple of years I was hooked on their music and recently, I started playing it on the guitar too." (based on a true story)
"So that's where that horrible racket is coming from" He said with a chuckle.
"Oh yeah, fuck you too" I say sarcastically.
"Well, when we get back I challenge you to a 1v1 on-"
"Nuketown? Da, the 'best' 1v1 map in cod history. Sniping only?"
Timur appeared behind us.
"What about sniping!" Yelling in our ears, which scared the shit out of both of us.
"Jesus Christ Timur! Don't do that when I'm driving you okunt'sya" (Dip shit)
Jordan and Timur were laughing so I started to join in. We slowly stopped and I looked in the back and see the Germans talking to Oliver, probably chatting about themselves or some fucked up story that Dom came up with, and they're just going with it. The Brits are talking to Alex about what tea is their favourite or something along those lines and Julien is just looking out the window, twiddling his thumbs. I feel bad since he doesn't talk much, and he has feelings for Zofia which everybody knows about because he used to stare at her while eating and he sits alone so that made it even more obvious. We teased him about it every day to make him mad but we stopped because Dom took it way too far one day like he always does, and then Julien fell into a deep state of depression. A couple of days later Zofia found him playing Russian roulette out in the cafeteria where he usually sits. Thank god she went to get a drink at 1 in the morning or the next pull of the trigger would have taken the precious life of a team member. We are all thankful he's still here. After that mess, we all said sorry especially Dom, who felt the worst about it. We now always had someone watching him so he wouldn't try and do it again, but so far he's been good. We've been getting him to hang out with us more as well.
"Hey Julien. Do you still like Zofia?" I ask to try to make conversation and also to try to interrupt any suicidal thoughts he might be having.
"What?"
"Do you still like Zo? And I'm being serious this time"
"Well ya I do... but I don't know how she's going to react after what happened, I just wish... I could ask her... but I just..."
Jordan butted in the conversation.
"Hey bud! It's alright. If you want, I could ask her for you"
"Really!?"
"Yeah!"
"Merci beaucoup. It would mean the world to me Jordan"
"No problem brother." as they both smiled at each other.
"So Jordan, you going to play Shepherd of Fire or not?"
"Hm? Oh, shit. yeah."
(if you want to, you can play it during this section of the chapter)
Jordan and I played air guitar when the first rift came on and Julien started playing the drums. We both watched in shock as he hit every drum beat in the song.
Jordan started to sing as I joined him.
Song
"Let's take a moment and break the ice.
So my intentions are known.
See I pity in watching you suffer.
I know the feeling of being damned alone,
I got a storybook of my own.
Don't you see I am your pride?
Agent of wealth
Bearer of needs
And you know it right
I am your war
Arming the strong
Aiding the weak
Know me by name
Shepherd of fire
well I can promise you paradise
No need to serve on your knees
And when you're lost in the darkest of hours
Take a moment and tell me who you see *pointing at each other*
don't tell ya who not to be
you know I am your pride
Agent of wealth
Bearer of needs
And you know it right
I am your war
Arming the strong
Aiding the weak
Know me by name
Shepherd of fire"
Jordan starts ripping the guitar solo and Julian is still drumming like a god.
"Disciple of the cross and champion in suffering
immerse yourself into the kingdom of redemption
pardon your mind through the chains of the divine
make way the shepherd of fire
Through the ages of time *trying to make an echoing sound effect*
I've been known for my hate
but I'm a dealer of simple choices
for me it never too late
I am your pride
Agent of wealth
Bearer of needs
And you know it right
cause I am your war
Arming the strong
Aiding the weak
I am your warth
I am your guilt
I am your lust
and you know it's right
I am your love
I am your stall
I am your trust
Know me by name
SHEPHERD OF FIRE!"
Julien was still drumming as the song faded away.
"Damn Julien, I didn't know you played the drums"
"Oui, I used to be a drummer in a punk band back home when I was younger"
"Heiluge Scheie you're good!"
"Merci Dominic"
A hour later
We got to our hotel. We were sharing our rooms so we didn't have to spend too much money. We booked three rooms all on the same floor so we didn't have to go too far if we needed to get something. Olivier went with the Germans, Timur and Alexsandr went with the two brits and Jordan, Julien, and I were in the last room as we were still rocking to Avenged Sevenfold. As the song ended I asked Jordon what his favourite song is.
"Either their new one 'The stage' or 'Welcome to the family'. What about you comrade?"
"'Unholy confessions' or 'Hail to the king'"
"Fuck, I forgot about that song"
"Have you been to one of their concerts yet?"
"Yep, when they went to Texas I just had to see them"
"Lucky sukin syn (son of bitch)" I said with a short laugh.
"Julien what are you doing?"
"Nothing much. Just looking around"
"You guys hungry?" I ask them.
"Yeah, a little" they both said.
"Alright, let's go eat then."