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After Earth Went Dark: Part III Chapter 8
"Mathias." Elliot whispered quietly as Tyr held onto him. Immediately, he felt Tyr tense up. His arm locked a little tighter around Elliot's waist.
"What?" Came the gruff response.
"That's... your name isn't it?" Elliot asked in confusion. "You told me once before."
Tyr relaxed again slightly and exhaled heavily before answering. "Yes. It was. A very long time ago."
After their sexual release, the two had sat cuddled together at the base of the tree, Tyr holding Elliot tightly and running his fingers gently though Elliot's long hair. These were the first words they had spoken since.
"I like it." Elliot told him softly. "It fits, somehow."
"I don't prefer to use it." Tyr's voice was gentle, but Elliot could hear a mix of emotions hidden underneath his trademark stoicism.
"Why did you tell me then?" Elliot questioned boldly. Earlier in their relationship he would never have dared to press Tyr in this way.
Tyr took his time in responding. "I wanted you to know." He said eventually. "Know that I wasn't always... this way. I was more... like you once."
On the face of it, this statement almost made Elliot laugh. The thought of Tyr being like him was nearly too foreign to be real. It took a moment for the heartbreaking reality of the fact to set in. Elliot imagined Tyr, or Mathias, young and alone. Terrified with no one to turn to.
Thinking back, Elliot traced the events of his own life over the past year and how drastically different things would have been without Tyr, his protector. Nobody would have saved him from those men in the woods. Nobody would have saved his mother and sister. And if he had survived the encounter, he would not have been the same person. He imagined that, if all those horrible things had come to pass, he would not want to be Elliot anymore either, in the same way that Tyr did not want to be Mathias.
Elliot felt a tear fall from his eye as he thought about the tragedy of Tyr's stolen childhood. He turned so that he could put his arms around Tyr's shoulders and hold him. Even though Tyr never sought out comforting or reassurance, Elliot wanted to give it to him, just as Tyr had been his constant support and comfort for so long.
Tyr put a strong hand on Elliot's back and sighed. Elliot felt himself lifted gently by Tyr's deep inhale.
"Well I'm glad you told me." Elliot finally whispered in Tyr's ear before giving him a kiss on the cheek.
Tyr pulled Elliot back to cradle him in his lap and gave him a sincere smile. "It was past time, I think."
They sat together for a few precious moments more before Tyr decided that they should return to camp. It took him only a matter of minutes to hunt down a couple of rabbits so that it did not seem like their trip was entirely for nothing.
Elliot found himself limping slightly after their rather intense intimacy. He was not hurt, just sore, but in all the right ways. His face went beet red however when they returned to the camp and Uncle Mark noted his near hobble with a raised eyebrow.
Most of the camp was not paying much attention but Marcel greeted their return and also gave Elliot a knowing smile, only serving to deepen his embarrassment. It was starting to seem like he couldn't hide anything from anyone.
"We should reach the capital tomorrow." Marcel reminded as Tyr began preparing the rabbits for cooking.
"And we should review the plan before then." Ullr interjected, joining the conversation.
Tyr nodded his agreement, continuing his work. "Get everyone together. We will talk while the food cooks."
Once Tyr had stripped the rabbits down and laid out the meat to cook over the embers their small group of twelve had been gathered to hear what he had to say.
"We travel through the night again tonight and will reach the capital tomorrow morning." Tyr informed them. "We will spend the day tomorrow moving into the capital in groups of twos and threes. One every couple of hours so as not to arouse any suspicion. There will likely be plenty of commerce coming and going, so getting in should not be a problem as long as we are careful."
Ullr picked up where Tyr left off. "Once we have split into smaller groups, we will not communicate verbally again until we are ready to move to the next phase. I spent some time in the capital before coming to the mountains. There is a large hotel near the center of the city. It is the only one the is big enough to hide our numbers. We will rent separate rooms there for each group, but we will not acknowledge each other. There are a series of phrases, words, and actions that we can use to communicate subtly if absolutely necessary. Tyr and I will teach you all those and their meanings. They should only be employed in the event of an emergency."
"It is unlikely," Tyr spoke again, "That any group should be stopped or hassled by guards. Traffic moves in and out of the capital regularly, so we hopefully will go unnoticed until the time is right. If not however, each group will have a pretense for coming to the capital to share with anyone that might stop them."
Around the small fire, heads nodded in understanding, faces set and serious. Marcel voiced a question that Elliot had been thinking as well.
"And what if the worst happens? If one of the groups gets taken or can't make it to the hotel."
Tyr nodded. "Ullr has established an emergency rendezvous point as well. An alleyway near one of the city parks. If anyone becomes separated and it is unsafe to get to the hotel, wait there and someone will find you."
"Team one, under Tyr, will meet near the south side of the capitol building. Killian Barnes, the primary target, has taken over the building as his personal compound. It will be heavily guarded." Ullr explained. "The diversionary team, under me, will be meeting to the east of the building inside what was formerly the city hall. It's abandoned now but will provide a good vantage point. That's when the fun starts."
"Once Ullr's group is prepared, they will begin their distraction with the goal of drawing as many of the New State guards away from the building as possible, or at least away from our point of access." Tyr explained. "If they believe they are being attacked then they will hopefully divert most of their attention to the east side.
"We'll only have six people in the diversion group." Jay pointed out. "How are we going to make them think it's a real attack?"
Ullr chuckled. "Don't worry, six will be more than enough."
Tyr and Ullr spent the next hour or so detailing the specific roles of the two groups. As usual when Tyr explained his plans Elliot felt inspiration building in him, overtaking the worry. The others seemed to feel the same as there were nods of affirmation around the small circle. By midday Elliot felt more ready than he ever had for such an important mission.
The first group consisted of Tyr, Elliot, and Uncle Mark, as well as three other men who had proven themselves to be capable fighters. They were Thomas, a tall man in his mid-forties who looked much younger, and two brothers Martin and Roger who were about Marcel's age. The diversionary group was made up of Ullr, Marcel, Jay, and Jay's friend Eric. They also had two others from the Vanir with them. Dean was a broad-shouldered man with a military background and Charlie was another younger man who had shown himself to be an excellent shot with both a bow and a rifle.
Although it was a small squad, made smaller still by the division of the two groups, Elliot felt like they had a winning team. Even against such large numbers, he looked around their little camp and thought that there was no way they could fail.
Elliot tried to sleep but only succeeded in dozing throughout the day. The excitement of their imminent arrival in the capital kept his mind whirring at a mile a minute. Many of the others seemed to have the same problem as low conversations could almost always be heard around the camp. Uncle Mark, Elliot noticed, did not have this issue and had fallen asleep almost immediately, snoring quietly.
All too soon the sun had set, and it was time for them to be on their way. Tyr roused the ones that had managed to fall asleep and they quickly were off once more.
Elliot found that the anticipation that had kept him awake most of the afternoon naturally gave way to tiredness not long after they had set out. That didn't seem fair that he would only become tired when he wasn't able to sleep any more. He did not complain however and trudged wearily on after Tyr, not wanting to slow them down.
It was the longest trek of all the nights they had spent on the march. Elliot longed for any sign that they were approaching their destination. After what felt like an eternity however, he got his wish. They emerged suddenly from the forest into an abandoned town.
The dark of night was just beginning to give way to a dusky gray morning as they picked their way through the little ghost town.
"This was one of the suburbs of the capital before." Ullr told them. "The towns closest to the cities were the first to be pillaged and destroyed. We're very close now."
Elliot could see that Ullr was right. Most of the houses were in various stages of disrepair and nature had begun to reclaim some of the town with overgrown grass and vines clinging to the structures. Glass was shattered and doors were broken in. It looked like it had once been a very pleasant neighborhood, but now was only a tragic shadow. Elliot wondered what his hometown looked like now. If the violence from the city had spilled farther north, then it could very well be destroyed like this one.
"This will do." Tyr pointed to a mostly intact building as they passed through the center of town. "We'll hold here while we wait for the groups to move into the city."
Eying the dilapidated structure skeptically, Elliot almost didn't want to set foot inside. The simple two-story home reminded him a little too much of his own house. Once they had moved inside, Tyr and Ullr began assigning groups as well as giving everyone their fake backgrounds. Ullr and Eric would go in first, posing as father and son. Then Marcel and Jay, then Uncle Marc and Thomas.
Uncle Mark protested, wanting to take Elliot with him, but was outvoted by Ullr and Tyr, as well as Elliot himself.
After them would go the two brothers Roger and Martin, then Dean and Charlie, and finally Tyr and Elliot would be the last two to enter. The entire process would take them most of the day since they would only send one group every few hours.
Before he and Eric departed, Ullr made sure that each person could recite the directions from their location to the hotel or to the emergency alley way, as well as the directions from the hotel to their respective staging areas. Since he was the only one that had actually been in the capital before, his knowledge was the key.
The pit in Elliot's gut was growing heavier as time passed. His nervousness was beginning to show, and he became jumpy. To occupy his mind, he explored the little house. Most of the furniture was completely destroyed, either by vandals or by time and lack of care. The mattresses were slashed, and one wall had an ominous dark stain on it that Elliot did not care to think about. Maybe exploring was not the best of ideas.
Elliot hugged both Marcel and Jay as they prepared to leave. Both of them promised that they would stay safe and they would see him at the hotel soon. Even though Elliot knew they would not be able to speak to one another there, he still would be relieved to see them.
By the time Uncle Mark's group left, again with a big hug from Elliot, Elliot's nerves were beginning to be overtaken by his tiredness. At Tyr's suggestion, Elliot unfolded his bedroll for a nap while he awaited his turn.
It was nearly dusk when Tyr roused him once more. All the nervous excitement came rushing back to him as he stretched and shook off the drowsiness.
"We need to be quick." Tyr told him. "They will be closing the city off at nightfall."
Tyr led Elliot through the deserted town. Every part of Elliot's body tingled with anticipation knowing that tomorrow was the day that they would put their plan into action.
It felt good to travel with just Tyr again. Elliot wished they could do it more often. Maybe when their task was done, they would be able to roam the countryside at their leisure.
They did not speak as they took up a brisk pace toward the entrance to the city. Elliot was shocked when he saw the large walls loom up suddenly. They were built of scrap and junk, welded together and topped with crude spikes and barbed wire. The city had been turned into a fortress.
Elliot was again surprised to see a sizable crowd of people gathered at the edge of the city. Tyr had told him there would be traffic in and out, but Elliot had not expected a line to wait in. The crowd set him decidedly on edge. He had spent too long training himself to be wary of strangers.
Tyr placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, sensing his unease. The simple gesture calmed Elliot as he took in a deep breath. The air was not nearly as clear and clean as it was up in the mountains. It carried a sulfurous odor that stung at the insides of Elliot's nostrils.
Armed men stood at a primitive gate, four of them in total. They were mostly ignoring the crowd as it flowed continuously in and out of the gate, but Elliot could tell they were watching the people carefully. His heart rate quickened.
Elliot was well-versed in their cover story. He and Tyr were two brothers searching for a better life in the New State capital. Even though carrying weapons was common, Tyr and Ullr had decided that the groups would conceal theirs so as to arouse even less suspicion. Tyr had traded his black armored clothing for simple casual wear. Seeing him in a pair of worn blue jeans and a hooded sweatshirt was very strange for Elliot. He looked almost too normal.
Despite Elliot's fears, they made it into the city without incident. Elliot thought for sure that the guards at the gate would be able to see him sweating or notice the slight tremor of his hands that felt empty without a weapon in them.
The capital of the New State was, Elliot had to admit, impressive. It was not the derelict slum that he had been expecting after seeing many of the smaller towns in New State territory. There were street vendors and people of all sorts milling about. In some ways, it reminded Elliot of the tent city that they had explored at the Tournament. This was a bit different though, grittier. Nice on the surface but with a seedy underbelly not far off.
And into that seedy underbelly was exactly where Tyr led him. They quickly passed out of the more populated streets and away from the markets and crowds. This, Elliot thought, had been more what he was expecting. They moved through avenues bordered by two- and three-story buildings that were obviously still occupied but dangerously decrepit. Where the streets before had contained throngs of people going this way and that, taking their time to look at the market stalls, these byways only ever had a handful of pedestrians. All of whom moved quickly and furtively, keeping their heads down and their business unknown.
The hotel that Ullr had mentioned, surprisingly, appeared to have always been a hotel, even pre-flare. Even knowing that there had never been a solar flare, it was easier in Elliot's mind to think of things in terms of pre and post flare. The old sign that stood out front read simply "Inn and Suites". The name of that particular hotel chain had been snapped off of the sign. It had once been one of the many tall buildings bosting five and six stories, but it looked as if at least the top two stories were unoccupied judging by the broken glass.
There was an inside lobby with a bar, where Elliot immediately spotted Marcel. He had an instantaneous rush of relief to see the tall dancer there and to pick out the shape of Jay partially hidden behind him. His relief was tempered however when he realized just how easy it was to pick Marcel out of a crowd.
Marcel gave Elliot a subtle wink but made no other indication that he even noticed their entry. Looking around the populated bar, Elliot spotted several faces he recognized. Ullr and Erik were positioned at a table in the corner. Ullr was giving off the impression of sharing a humorous conversation with young Erik, but Elliot noticed that the former Aesir had picked his position carefully with his chair against the wall giving him a view of the entire room.
Tyr ordered them a room and a meal, and they took seats at the bar. They sat themselves where they had a decent scope of the room but without being too close to Marcel and Jay. Elliot hoped that the thick suspenseful mood that seemed to lay over the bar was all in his mind. It had to be just his nerves getting the better of him. He forced himself to eat some of the bland meal and gulp down some water.
On the far wall he saw a tattered framed picture that had seen better days. It was a large painting of a majestic structure at the far end of a beautiful park. Tyr pointed to it and explained in a low voice. "That is the capitol building..."
Tyr's tone left a great deal unsaid, but Elliot could read it clearly. He stared down the ragged painting like he was looking deep into the eyes of a lifelong enemy, both unwilling to break the connection. That was the capitol building. That was where Killian Barnes, the man responsible for the death of his father was right now.
That was where Elliot and all his friends would live or die. Tomorrow.