Chronicles of War

Part 1: Way of the Storm

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

    "Good King, that must approve the common saw,
     Thou out of heaven's benediction comest
     To the warm sun!"

    - William Shakespear, King Lear.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 3: The Scenario

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

James was back in the music store before the mall was cleared. From
outside, police officers called to the last few security guards still
leaving the building, and tried to restrain the disrupted crowd of
holidary shoppers. He seemed calm, calmer than before, and was almost
smiling to himself.

"Ready?" Ed asked as James entered the store.

"Just had a few things to check on." James said. "Everybody buttoned
down?"

"They're fine." Said the guard curtly. "Where have you been?"

"Elsewhere." James said with a frown. Kat walked up to him and poked him
lightly in the arm. James stopped reaching for his gun and stared at her
blankly for a minute.

She chuckled. "Don't remember me?"

"I'm searching for a name." James said with a scowl. "I remember you
just fine."

Kat almost swallowed her tongue in surprise. There was no doubt,
physically, that the man standing before her was James, but the words
belonged to another person. An unfamiliar fear began to gnaw at her
stomach.

"Kate." He said finally, then glared at Ed. "What's she doing here?"

Ed looked uneasy as he answered. "She... uh, demanded to stay and help
out."

James turned his glare on Kat, his hand still resting on the grip of his
gun. "Why are you here?"

"I work in the mall." Kat explained, pointing over her shoulder. "I
asked him to let me stay and help." She bit her lip; that was all she
really wanted him to know. Something was terribly, terribly wrong with
this James. The boy had grown into a man, but it had been some time
since she had met a man that felt quite like he did....

James blinked at this, glanced at Ed one last time, and then nodded. He
rapidly pulled out pistol and checked its magazine with blinding speed.
The gun went back into its holster as rapidly as it had come out. "You
didn't have to hit him." James said.

"He was being a jerk!" Kat said defensively. She crossed her arms over
her chest and glared at James.

James walked around her, his face blank, and grabbed a magic marker from
a cup sitting on the counter. He tapped the counter's surface with his
finger for a second, then shrugged and began drawing right on the
counter top with the marker.

"What are you doing?" Ed asked with a confused look on his face. He
walked up to the counter and leaned against it, trying to look relaxed,
but watching James' movements nervously.

"I thought that would be obvious." Said James patiently. "I'm drawing up
a map; a plan of attack."

Ed looked ready to throw up. Kat just stared at the new arrival with
wide eyes.

"What?"

Ed hunted his voice down, found it, and managed to get a solid hold on
it. "Excuse me? I thought you were speaking English there for a moment,
but apparently I was mistaken.... You said that you were preparing a
plan of attack?"

"I am." James said curtly. "Look, it's really nice to be back and a
great reunion is probably in order, but I have much bigger fish to fry
at the moment."

"They aren't going to let us off easy." Ed said, sighing the sigh of the
incredibly tired.

Kat had been listening to their exchange in a surreal state of mind. She
wasn't entirely sure that she could believe her own eyes or ears at the
moment, but everything was simply too unreal not to pay attention to.
She felt like she was participating in one of those horrible "live" news
stories that CNN took great pleasure in broadcasting all over the
globe. Desert Storm all over again.

"What on earth are you planning to do?" Kat finally asked.

"I'm going to find a few not-nice people, interrogate said not-nice
people, then kill said not-nice people. So far these so-called
'terrorists' haven't given the police any demands. There's more here
than meets the eye." James said coldly. He finished his drawing, leaving
his two old friends gasping like beached fish in the silence.

The shape he drew on the counter was an outline of the mall, looking
much like a thick letter 'Y' with an extra horizontal line attached to
the bottom. At the bottom of the Y and at the end of every line, there
was a larger open square with a store's name written within. JC Pennys.
Bon Marche. Sears. Lamontz. There was an open spot at one end, which
James pointed to. "Construction. The building's partially completed,
right?"

Ed nodded.

"The Chief said an outdoors expo was scheduled to occupy the place this
weekend. Their stuff's already moved in."

"I noticed." Ed said.

"They usually hold these things in May. What kind of moron suggested
they put it up November?" James muttered to himself.

"Revenue?" Ed suggested.

Kat shrugged.

James slapped the marker's cap back in place, a smile on his lips. "Now,
where to first?"

Both of the people opposite the counter blinked at him and then looked
at each other. Kat spoke first. "Negotiations?"

"Sears." Ed suggested.

James hung his head in shame. "Well, you aren't completely useless."

"Hey!" Protested Ed.

Kat glared.

"Just kidding. Negotiation _would_ be good." James said, pulling out his
cell-phone. "But should that fail..." He looked down at the map. "Sears
it will be."

While James dialed on the cell-phone, Kat dragged Ed aside for a talk.

"He has a cell-phone and a gun. What's next? A police badge?" She said
in a harsh whisper.

"I don't know." Ed said, the worry clear on his face. "He's been acting
strange every since he showed up. Secretive... crazy."

Kat nodded in agreement. "I don't like this one bit."

"WHAT?! You try that on me and I'll rip your fucking head off and piss
down your neck, asshole!" James suddenly yelled. He turned off the phone
and slammed it onto the counter. "I'm gonna cut that fucker's liver out
with a rusty spoon when I get my hands on him!"

Ed and Kat, along with most of the hostages squeezed into the back of
the store, simply stared at James in shock and fear. The man's neck was
a spider-web of throbbing veins, his teeth mashed together in a snarl
that his hatefully curled lip did little to hide. He looked more like a
barely restrained beast than a man at that moment. After a few moments
of hard breathing, however, he seemed to get a better grip on his anger
and his flushed face slowly returned to normal. He still scowled at the
phone like it had just raped a member of his family, but at least he was
no longer preparing to extract vengeance from the electronic nuisance
right then and there.

"He has no name." James said slowly, his voice rhaspy from the shouting.
"But I _will_ find him and kill him. Soon... oh, so very soon...." A
cruel smile grabbed ahold of his lips again.

Kat proved the bravest present and tried to speak to James. "J-James...
are you okay?"

"Okay?!" Yelled James in a booming voice. "Never better! Ed!" He
continued, pointing at the guard. "Get your gun out. We're going
hunting."

"Hunting?" Ed said, the question mark plain on his face.

"Hunting..." James said, his 'dramatic' pause dragging on longer than
necessary. "For terrorists!"

"Okay." Ed said. He started checking the handgun he wore as well. His
actions were not as fast as James', but were certainly more methodical.
He treated the weapon with a large amount of respect.

Kat rubbed her chin thoughtfully and looked at the map James had drawn.
A litle star had been added while he was on the phone, indicating their
position. A sloppy numeral 1 was written in the store labeled "Sears."

"Sears first?" She asked James.

"Yes."

"You're acting like a goofball, James." She said with a blush on her
face.

"I know." He said, smiling. "Need to break the ice."

Kat looked at the sea of frightened faces locked in the mall with her
and this maniac. "You're scaring them half to death, dork-boy."

"D-d-dork boy?!" James shouted indignantly.

Kat glared at him. She didn't know how he did it, but that sounded like
a line from a cheesy eighties movie coming from him. Just to heart it
was mocking to her in the worst way. Her glare hardened into a scowl.
Bastard! He was acting even _worse_ than he did in high school!

James ignored her, turning instead to the assembled crowd. "Ladies and
gentlemen, I am sorry to bother you today... but it seems some twisted,
idiotic, father-raping terrorist got tired of blowing up planes and
decided that scaring the piss out of us would be more interesting." He
paused. "I am about to prove him wrong in the worst way. We can survive
this. Despite what the media has to say on the matter, we are not
helpless. In fact, you could say that I'm here to prove them wrong.
However, I need to ask some things of you right now. Important things.
Firstly, if there is anyone here with a military background, preferably
from actual combat, please come forward."

To his amazement, two people did walk to the front of the crowd. The
first was a tall but young-looking man with hard eyes. He had brown hair
lopped down by a lazy crew cut, which was matched by a solid build.
Behind him, a shorter, even thinner man with chinese features walked
into view. He wore a pair of horn-rimmed glasses, and while he wasn't as
bulky as the first man, he didn't have an ounce of fat showing.

"Who are you two supposed to be?" James asked the pair.

"This is Jimmy." Said the taller man, jerking his thumb in the direction
of the second man. "I'm Carl. We used to be in the Marines Corps."

"The Marines Corps, huh." James said flatly, then glanced at Ed. "Not
bad."

Kat poked him in the shoulder. "And what am I? Chopped liver?"

James grinned. It was a huge, impossible to surpress, face-splitting
grin that spoke volumes even while James remained utterly silent. After
a moment, the grin faded, though it took some force on James' part to
push it down.

"Kat." He said. "If you want to help, that is perfectly fine with me.
However, for five people we have only three guns." He raised an eyebrow
in the direction of the two recruits.

"We aren't armed." Carl said quickly.

"Two guns." James continued, looking Kat in the eye. "For now, just keep
an eye on these people. Don't worry; you have a pair of Marines backing
you up."

"Just like old times." Said Jimmy. His voice was quiet and level. His
gaze took everything in at once, but his face remained impassive,
reminding James of an expert chess player.

James indicated himself. "The name is James Rahn, but you can call me
James." He pointed at Kat. "She's an old friend of mine. Help her keep
an eye out for danger. Now, one last thing. Who has combat experience?"

Jimmy looked at the floor. Carl snorted. "Few weeks wandering around in
the desert. Didn't see much action."

James nodded. "It's settled. Don't be heroes; that's my job." He grinned
again, this time in a distinctly unpleasant manner, and turned to leave
the store with a "swoosh" kind of sound.

"Come, Ed." The man said.

Carl and Jimmy stared at each other.

Kat was staring at James.

Carl lifted a finger into the air. "Ah, James?"

James turned around, standing in the entrance to the music store in a
casual stance. "Yes?"

"How did you do that, uh... 'swoosh' exit?"

"Lots of practice." James said. "Think of a ventrilloquist; add a
dummy."

He smiled and left without another word, the image of his grin seeming
to hang in the air after his passage. Ed followed on his heels.

----------

Ed and James walked toward Sears at a fast clip, both watching the
hallway and storefronts for any signs of an ambush. James had his chest
puffed out an a wild smirk on his face. Ed was scowling slightly and his
brow was creased in either great worry or deep thought.

"Nothing about this seems right." Ed finally said, breaking the steady
sound their footsteps.

"I've told myself that for five years before I learned to roll with the
punches, Ed."

Ed looked at his friend. James had changed a lot since high school. The
high-strung look was back, along with the occasional disturbing grin,
but other things seemed different. He moved like a predator in its
element all the time, and seemed to have eyes in the back of his head,
to say nothing of how he handled his gun. Was he in the military? He
hadn't said anything about military service, even when he was talking to
the two Marines.

"What kind of punches?" Ed asked tentatively.

"Life, Ed. Life's hard. There's a certain kind of poetry in living it;
that's what I mean."

Ed thought about this for a moment. "But you said punches."

"Life is combat." James replied cryptically.

Ed decided to quit while he could. This was another familiar trait;
turning aside important questions by spouting almost-bullshit. They
couldn't talk forever and remember the good old times together, sadly.
Not far away, the entrance to Sears beckoned. It stood like a lighthouse
in a storm, a light that signified land, but also warned of danger.
Setting his jaw, Ed kept in step with James. He had neither the time nor
the desire to face his slowly growing fear.

For now, he would simply have to trust James.

----------

"Who the Hell was that guy?" Carl asked.

James had left the occupants of the store in a state of mild shock. Most
were just being quiet, contemplating their situation. For most, it had
happened too fast for them to really get a handle on what was going
down. Carl and Jimmy looked like they were hardly concerned with what
was happening, but wanted a piece of the action.

Answering Carl's question, Kat waved her hand in the air. "He's an old
friend of mine; knows Ed too."

"Ed?" Carl asked her.

"The big security guard."

"We don't have any weapons." Jimmy said, his voice carrying a hint of
irritation.

"Sorry, this place doesn't stock guns." Kat said, her voice casual and
slightly mocking.

Carl snapped his fingers. "Damn."

Jimmy quickly found a stool behind the register and took a seat there.
The tan jacket he wore was unzipped, revealing a blue turtleneck sweater
underneath. If not for his super-short haircut, Kat would have pegged
him as a college student. He gazed at the map James had just recently
made a permanent feature of the store, and spoke. "How well do you know
this James character?"

Kat choked for a moment before she answered. "We, ah... knew each other
in high school."

"Goes back that far, eh?" Said Carl from behind her.

Kat quickly moved to the end of the cashier's counter. It was set into
the corner of the store, just inside the entrance. She didn't like the
position the two men seemed to be putting her in. It was like they were
drilling her for information, and it was damn unpleasant.

"How long were you two in the Corps?" She prodded.

Carl shrugged, looking into the hall in front of the store. "Two years.
Couldn't take college."

Jimmy just nodded to himself, staring pensively into nowhere.

Kat pressed on. "So, I take it you were involved in Desert Storm?"

"Yes. Fighting a few soldiers in the sand dunes. There really wasn't
anything left by the time the ground troops got there." He said
casually.

Kat really didn't feel comfortable with these guys around. Now she could
see why James had left her in control, but--

He left her in control?

He had told those two to listen to her. They had obeyed her requests
thus far, even though they were asking a lot of questions. Hell, she
felt like asking a lot of questions herself. "Any suggestions, guys?"

"Running around unarmed is probably not a good idea." Jimmy said from
his perch.

"Running around at all is bad." Carl snapped. "We have no idea who's out
there or what they want. We're sitting ducks--no, worse--we're
hostages."

But James isn't. Kat was thinking. James wasn't a hostage at all.

There had always been a mysterious and slightly nutty quality to James'
existence. Kat had once found it fun and quite enduring, but she grew
tired of it quickly. The man was clearly obsessed with something, and it
ran deep. His friends paid no attention to it, accepting him personality
quirk and all. On the other hand, Kat couldn't stand it. The paranoia,
the way he seemed to watch her every movement like some foreign spy
studying the enemy. It was entertaining from a distance, but she didn't
like being on the receiving end.

When she meet him again today, the feeling was much, much different. A
dark certainy lurked within his gaze today, replacing the rapt
observation of years past. Had he finally found what he was looking for
all those years ago?

It looked as though he had indeed, but didn't like it one bit.

All that bravado, that can-do attitude, like a rooster parading before a
flock of hens... what was all that acting a shield for? What had
happened to James?

And moreover, how on earth was he going to save the rest of the
hostages, herself included?

"I wonder who that guy thinks he is...." Carl muttered to himself.

Kat heard him, and decided that it was time to stop asking such silly
questions.