World Ashen

Chapter 25 - Jensen

Running into the wasteland with my army following made it feel like a proper war. Wyatt, Thomas, Gavriel, and Cayler all looked at each other and nodded, then split. The Psychos were marching toward us, stopping a suitable distance from us. New Haven had around one hundred soldiers. Some men fell silent, others screaming, but I remained focused on the mansion ahead. Cayler had told me he was working with Dawson, Aaliyah, and Émilie to get inside. "Incoming!" Sarah yelled as a pipe bomb flew overhead. I ran faster, hoping to avoid getting caught in the blast. Why was Sarah using the bombs now?

My heart was pounding out of my chest as I yelled, "don't use them now, Sarah! Wait until we get closer!"

"Sorry, sir!" she yelled, switching over to an M1911. Little by little, we were getting closer. More of our men fell, but we continued pressing on.

Wyatt whistled, making me look at him as he was pedaling one of Dawson's vehicles. "Get in, Jensen," he said, stopping and letting me into the canoe.

"What's going on?" I asked, looking around. Other bikes were stopping and letting in some of our people.

Wyatt said with a smile. "This will be a faster and safer way to Jonah's. Yes, it's not the best, but it's better than nothing."

"Go slowly. I'll shoot from here."

"Jensen, that's not—"

"Do it."

Wyatt peddled slower than before, and I stuck my left arm out with an M9 in hand. "Gavriel and Flight 0116 have a plan once we get inside Jonah's place."

"It may kill some of our people, but it's worth a shot."

"Tell me what it is, and I'll see if they should execute the plan or not."

"Aaliyah somehow got her hands on some tear gas, including gas masks. She'll hand us one as we enter. I think there is enough for most of us."

"What about the Psychos who ran out? If we shoot them, then we might shoot our men, too. What about Jonah?"

"The Psychos are going to crawl out, and we should still be inside, heading to Jonah."

I nodded, "go ahead with the plan."

Wyatt told Gavriel the plan was a go as we arrived at the mansion. The doors were open as New Haven filled in, receiving gas masks. About an hour later, we were ready to continue with the plan. Tear gas began filling the mansion. A woman yelled something in German. I caught something sounding like Bösch. Piper said in my ear, "his name is Werner Bösch, and that lady just warned him about the gas, so we might have to go to the top."

"That's fine," I said, looking around at my surroundings. Tons of Psychos ran outside just to get sprayed with bullets. They were honestly stuck like cattle in a pin. My army marched upstairs, shooting the Psychos who ran down to escape.

Then Aaliyah yelled down to us, "We're out!"

I cursed under my breath, but yelled, "That's alright! We have an army on our side. We can do this!"

We all continued marching upstairs and reached the top shortly after. A man with platinum blonde hair and sky-blue eyes stood in the doorway of a suite. "Welcome to my humble home. Would you like a drink?" He asked, despite having rifles in his face.

"No, thank you," I said bitterly. "You've slaughtered one-hundred and fifty-six innocent people over the past two years."

Werner laughed, "No, I didn't. Sweet little Peter did."

From behind, Piper growled and started screaming, "You became the leader after Peter left to murder all of you psychos!"

"Oh, did he now? Where is he, huh?" Werner smiled, enjoying it. "Come inside, it's getting a little cramped out here in the hallway."