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"We could use a man to disarm land mines, and to distract enemy fire." The comments were obviously sarcastic, suggestive that John would be performing suicidal duties. In reality, Kelly recognized that it would be helpful to have a smoothskin on hand when trading and negotiating.

Yates snickered at Kelly's suggestion.

"No thanks, i am flattened by the offer, but i am good at negotiating, and can handle myself in a fight. I even know a little about electronics, but not much."

Kelly lit his second cigarette of the day and placed it into his mouth. "C'mon now. You've wasted enough time." He held the cigarette with his teeth and slung his rifle around his back. "Let's get moving again. Gratix, you walk in front of us, until I know we can trust you."

"Sounds good, we need a smoothskin who can talk, and one who can fight.

"Well, it helps if i know where we're going." John said sarcastically.

"We don't have any specific destination yet. We are just heading east."

"Sounds fun, and what exactly are we doing?"

"Hunting down the man, that basically screwed us all over in The republic."

Lenka Dragoon was being watched.

He didn't know it, but from several hundred meters away, Jorey, Keran and his Mr. Gutsy Jets were watching with binoculars.
"We'll ambush him when he leaves the compound."
____

Meanwhile, the ghouls headed northeast, towards Kiernan.

"Alright then," Adi said to Lenka as she and her raiders readied the last pieces of their equipment. "Are we ready to go?"

"Not yet." Lenka replied. He reached into his coat threw a balaclava to Adi and each of the raiders. "We will wear those during the mission." he said. "Let's go."

Jorey was waiting at the base of the encampment for Lenka. "Just a matter of time." He whispered. "The State wants blood, and blood is what they shall get."

The three ghouls, and John, had been traveling for some time; Kelly suggested a short break as the group approached an obviously abandoned shelter built from sheets of metal and fencing. He lit a smoke as they approached, placing it carelessly between what was left of his lips, and then began to search the containers that lay strewn about the ground surrounding the makeshift structure. Few interesting items were to be found; the "loot" consisted of a small amount of conventional ammunition and electrical components. Kelly set his rifle against the side of the structure, momentarily removing the cigarette from his mouth to take a drink of water.

"We should reach Kiernan pretty soon," Kelly stated while looking towards the northeast.

"We might be able to pick up some leads once we get there, along with some more equipment. What I'm wondering, though, is what we want to do with Patterson once we get our hands on him. I'm thinking that he might know some information we could use. Maybe some of Merill's secrets."

"Hey," Kelly said, looking towards Mars, "Don't worry about Gratix. I've got my eye on him." He spoke openly, uncaring as to whether John heard his words.

"We're running the show here, not him. He's only a temporary ally."

"What? Why?" Kelly was taken off guard. "C'mon, Mars! Remember - we stand to profit from all this! It's not our fault this happened, it's Patterson's. And soon, he'll be dead."

Kelly was annoyed by Mars' apparent self-pity, never having been a people-person. "God, Mars- would you knock it off? We've spent way too long on this! F--k!" He stormed off to the northeast, motioning for the others, including Mars, to follow.

"We're not talking anymore. Let's move!"

"What the f--k can we do about it? Nothing! You need a reality check, Mars!"

"Speaking your mind is going to [&@%!] somebody off real bad, Mars. Now let's get going!" Kelly turned and began to move once again, without waiting for a response from Mars.