The next day I started preparing for the hunt. I took my time cleaning my rifle, honed the edge on my sword, and ran around gathering each piece of my protective gear. I grabbed an MRE from the pantry, and filled up my hydration pack. I picked out an extra layer of clothes, something warm and with muted tones. It was critical that I blend in with my surroundings, and the foothills were predominantly sage green and a grey-brown from the soil and sand. I made sure my fighting knife was as sharp as my long blade, and snapped the hollow-point rounds into my .40cal. I was so focused that I didn't hear Grace at the door until she whispered "Hey."
I jumped a little, almost guiltily. "Hello. Didn't hear you come up. You're footsteps are getting quieter," I said lightly, trying to make her smile. Her eyes were flat and her mouth held none of the flirtatious humor that drew people to her. Then, just when I thought she might never smile again, her mouth twitched.
"Well. Recent events have lent weight to your insistence that I learn to move about more quietly," she said in her best impersonation of British understatement.
"I can see that. What's up?"
"I was going to ask you the same thing. Looks like you're rolling out."
"Only for a couple days. I'm going hunting."
"Are you?"
"What do you mean?"
"I think you're going hunting. But you're not bringing back an elk," Grace pronounced, her prescience rocking me back on my heels.
I struggled to remain impassive. "What makes you say that?"
"Thanks for not denying it, lying right to my face. Brandon, before we left on the sweep, Sheilah told me to keep an eye on you. She said you were all broken up about that Bandit getting the drop on you. You're going back there, aren't you. You're going to get her."
I sighed. Ninety-nine problems... "Yes. I'm going to get her. And in doing so, maybe I'll get that piece of myself back that she stole away. Don't worry, Grace. I'm not going into this half-cocked, it's not a blind-rage vendetta. It's more than repairing my pride. We need her."
"We need her? Why do we need her?" Grace demanded.
"We need her and her people on our side, simple as that. We don't win the war against the Leaders and the Beloved without them."
"Bullshit."
"I thought so, too. It's a losing game, Grace, don't you see it? Casino's odds. They have us outnumbered at every turn. An alliance with the Bandits gives us a hell of a lot better chance of overcoming our fate. I don't know about you, but if you told me that by getting the Bandits on our side I wouldn't have to kill another person ever again, I'd do anything to make that a reality."
Grace remained silent, eyes searching mine for any trace of disbelief or a lie. I gazed back steadily, not mad at her for questioning. It was all of a sudden important to me that she understood what I was attempting to undertake. She must have seen what she was looking for, because she nodded once, then came up to me and gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. She turned and left. From the doorway, she looked back at me with a grave smile, her eyes clear and her words simple.
"So go get her," she said, leaving me to the task of claiming my kill.
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