Rene felt a huge surge of relief when Solae relented. A tightness in his chest, something he hadn't been aware of until it departed, relaxed.  He had only known her for a few days but he already cared for her more than he cared to admit. It wasn't a good idea to become emotionally involved. All of his training underscored that fact, but he wasn't able to stop himself. Solae's body trembled slightly and he hugged her close to him for a moment, offering what comfort he could. Instinctively he pressed his lips to her forehead for a moment and then released her.

"I could never regret keeping you safe Solae, no matter what it might cost."

The darkness and the pressure were unpleasant enough but the slightly sticky itch against his skin was worse by far. The truck rumbled along the rough dirt road, its heavy diesel engine snorting and snarling over the pothole pocked surface. Each jolt shifted the overburden of sugar cane atop of them, smearing the sweltering ponchos they wore with more of he sticky juice. They had left Oanh and Hyun Tae two hours earlier. Min Ho had provided them with a backpack full of supplies as well as some weapons and ammunition. As a Marine, Rene felt under equipped but it was hard to imagine a situation that extra firepower would solve. 

They had said their goodbyes a few hours earlier. Min Ho, whose land produced sugar cane along with his other fruits and vegetables had arranged for a local trucker to pick up a load of the sticky stalks and take it to a mill outside the city. Because of the stink of the milling process the ramshakle factories were far outside the city and the one Min Ho had chosen was In the general direction of the Shyshin encampment. During the stifling ride the truck had been stopped twice at what Rene could only assume were checkpoints. Thankfully none of the Gids manning those stations had seen fit to give the truck more than a cursory inspection.

After a sweltering eternity the engine grumbled to a stop. Rene squeezed Solae’s hand and checked the pocket chronometer Min Ho had included with his gift of supplies. Two hours and eleven minutes of travel time. Twenty minutes more than the journey was predicted to take but reasonable considering the road blocks. Rene waited five more minutes before squeezing Solae’s hand a second time.

“Lets go,” he whispered and started shoving the stalks aside. It took a minute to shift enough of the crop to break free into the bright noonday soon. To Rene’s immense relief the truck was parked in a holding lot of hard packed earth, dusty and rough. A massive mill squatted across the lot, sending smoke and steam into the sky in slow lazy streams  The air smelled of stinking steam and chemicals. According to Oanh, the driver would be waiting to negotiate the price with the factors a process that would take at least a half hour. There were a half dozen trucks in the yard, uniformly battered and all still loaded with piles of recently cut sugar cane. There was no one else in sight for the moment and Rene’s grip on his pistol relaxed.

“Looks like we are clear for now,” he told Solae as he helped her down. Both of them were covered in thin plastic rain ponchos, disposable garments now smeared with dirt and sugar cane sap. Rene peeled his off and shoved it into his pack before helping Solae out of hers. Across the lot there was a scrubby swale marked by unhealthy looking trees. They walked as rapidly as they dared across the dirt and slid down into the concealment of the low ground. An ancient railway track ran along the bottom of the swale but judging by the orange brown rust of the rails and the small sapling that grew up between them it had been abandoned for some time. Rene sank back against the embankment and sucked in a deep breath. He peered up over the edge of the swale but saw no sign that anyone was the wiser.

“Ok,” he said, mopping at the sweat and dirt on his brow. From here on out Solae, more familiar with the Shyshin would have to take the lead.

“Where to from here?”