Going Gray, Chapter 1: Abandoned

It was supposed to be abandoned. The village grew steadily larger as the small group approached. Its gray buildings crept towards them and loomed from the ground like a forest of dead trees. The fading sun stretched the building’s shadows towards them like fingers reaching out to pull them inside.

The group consisted of little more than a dozen men. They were dressed in metal armor and carried weapons but walked in relaxed manner, not in marching formation. The sun still gave off enough light to see the large emblazoned F on their chest plates.

One soldier removed his helmet and shook his sweat matted hair. “This sucks. I hate scouting duty.”

“Get over it, Marks.” The words came from the only man wearing any kind of insignia or rank. Judging by the markings on his forearms he was a sergeant in the army of FEAR.

Marks shifted his helmet in his hand, “Yea but Sarge, why are we even out here? We should be on the fronts fighting, not in some backwoods empty village.”

“We are here because we were told to be here. Lord Dbow wants us to scout out the village and see if we can bring back anything worthwhile.”

“What is a village doing out here anyways? Who would build it in this place?”

“Some fool who thought he could play at being king. He quickly abandoned his village after finding his neighbors none too friendly. The village has sat empty since. Lord Dbow thinks it might make for a good forward outpost. It is a simple scout and collect mission, Marks. Be glad you have an easy assignment and shut up about it.”

Marks sighed and kept walking. Sergeant Hill was right he guessed. Things could be worse. At least he was out getting to see some of the surrounding world and not cooped up in a base somewhere at the center of their lands.

And Lord Dbow was as good as any to serve. He had been making a large push lately and Marks thought he might be a part of the main action but he supposed that would have to wait.

Marks looked at the others in his group. They were traveling light for this mission. Most wore lighter armor than the standard plate mail of FEAR; Marks was one of the few to bring a helmet. They all carried weapons of course, but most brought just the minimum sword or axe. Few packed spare knives, and no one carried spears. Their small group warranted no trained archers either. They were a single patrol on a non-combat mission. They wouldn’t run into trouble.

Dixson and Hath were on the end of the line, both in full gear. They always brought everything. Said it was regulation. They were more serious than most of the soldiers Marks knew, but they were good friends to everyone.

Next to them was Tor. Tor was too large to wear the standard armor; it didn’t fit over his gut, so he wore a loose chain shirt instead. Marks never understood how such a large man made it through training or managed to keep up on forced marches. Tor was already carrying his two handed axe. He had a gleam in his eye and smile on his face. Marks realized Tor was in the right army.

Marks got a nudge from his right. It was Plimith, “Yo, focus man. We’re here.”

Marks paid attention again to what he was doing. The patrol stood at the edge of the abandoned village. It definitely looked abandoned. The dirt streets were empty. No sound came from inside. The buildings had lost their whitewash finish, turning a dull gray color. The entire place was eerie, even to a trained soldier.

Sergeant Hill began issuing orders and men moved to comply. They drew weapons and split into groups of two or three. Each group headed down different streets looking for anything useful. Marks went with Plimith and Memo towards the center of the village.

The three fighters walked down the main street eyeing the empty buildings and black window spaces around them.

Plimith increased his pace, “Let’s hurry up and check this place so we can get out of here. This place gives me the creeps.”

Memo was murmuring something nervously under his breath in his native language. Marks assumed it was prayers. “You two need to man up and grow a pair. It’s an empty village. No one is here, remember? That’s what abandoned means.”

They reached the town square and found a large, dry fountain in the middle. It was three tiered and large enough for people to bathe in. Marks scoffed at such ornate architecture in a small village. No wonder this place went abandoned. This guy had his priorities all wrong. Should have built some walls instead of pretty fountains, then he might still be here.

They searched a few over turned market stalls, a ruined covered wagon, peeked their heads in a couple doors. There was nothing here. They sat down on the edge of the fountain and waited for the rest of the patrol to meet them here.

The others came back slowly, mostly empty handed. A few had found an item or two of small value but they were more trinkets and souvenirs than actual loot.

Sergeant Hill carried what appeared to be a large rolled up map and a sheaf of papers. “Alright, report in. What’d you find out there?”

The men went through their reports of checking the streets and nosing into a few buildings. No one had much to report as this was just a quick sweep of the city.

As the sergeant listened to the useless reports, Marks stood up. He did a quick count of the soldiers and then counted again. Eleven. “Where are Malek and Hughes?”