Chapter 17 Fiora's team
Rohan got up early in the morning, packed his stuff and left for the exit where Lynn was standing.
"You can go up, the others are there. Good luck and get back safely!" Lynn cheered him on as she looked very enthusiastic.
Rohan thanked her and went upstairs into the mall. Not much had changed, only a couple stores seemed to be more empty than before as some stuff was used for the shelter. In the central square Fiora's team members were waiting for Rohan.
Fiora was standing with her ankles in the white marble fountain, admiring the mermaid sculpture in the center. The mermaid was holding a hornlike marble seashell in her hands that was pouring water into the fountain. The roof of the building was partially stained glass which would create colors in the water and make the mermaid have a rainbow of colors flowing out of the seashell.
She was admiring the fountain in pure peace and none of the team members wanted to disturb her, so Rohan quietly joined them, waiting for Fiora.
Shortly after, Fiora got out and got ready to leave. They were heading northwest in an almost direct line to Duran's cross, but had to take some other routes to get into the inner city.
The navigator of the team was Leslie, the guy that calculated the barrier circumference with Follin, he was carrying a couple of maps, binoculars and a compass. He was shorter than Rohan and didn't look as fit, but he knew every street, waypoint and important landmarks that made him irreplaceable.
Leslie was brown pants with a rather non-matching blue blouse with the arm parts rolled up to his elbow, showing his dark-brown skin and scars from outdoor activities. He was wearing hiking boots that looked like they made a couple miles too much, but when Rohan would ask about them later Leslie would say that they were his most trusted items.
Leslie would often take out his sunglasses to switch them with his normal glasses or just put the sunglasses over them when he needed both. Leslie didn't mind much how he looked as long as it was functional.
The brawny dude next to Leslie was Ragnar, having a long brown-reddish beard made him look wild, while being bald on his head. Ragnar was wearing a black tank top that showed his tattoos on his arms and chest. He also carried most of Leslie's load, but he wasn't slowed down by it.
Ragnar wasn't a person for long pants, and you would only catch him wearing shorts. Even in winter he would still be rocking up in short pants no matter the condition. His calves were the size of Rohan's thighs so he probably didn't fit in most pants anyways. Even more so was Ragnar's height, who had to be around 2 meters tall.
Rohan expected Ragnar to carry a massive twin axe or hammer, but he just used his hands, with brass knuckles he carried on the side. He did carry a short range weapon on one side if he really needed to, but he said that he wouldn't use it most of the time.
Although Fiora's was the team leader, she was still more in the front of the group. Britta, short for Brigitta, would command how the team went and what direction, with help from Leslie of course. Rohan didn't like to use the word commanding, but that was how it felt.
Britta was like Ragnar, but more intimidating. Broad shoulders showing muscle, blond hair, hands that were like sandpaper. She could break a rock with her bare hands. She had zigzagging blue tattoos over her arms and legs, and wore real leather boots, pants and top. Rohan guessed that she used to work in the northern mines, which were infamous for the cold and harsh conditions.
How she ended up back in Duran, Rohan didn't know and was afraid to ask. Ragnar sometimes called her Birna to tease her but he was the only one brave enough to do so. Britta was also close to 2 meters tall, as she was a few centimeters shorter than Ragnar.
Britta carried two axes on her side that were almost as long as her arms, suitable for throwing and chopping wood. Next to that she had a shotgun that she seemed to like as she had painted many blue zigzag stripes on it and made a fitting holster.
The last team member was Johannes but he was fine with Jan. He was a very plain guy, short light brown hair, blue eyes, average height and stature. Someone who wouldn't fall out of place within any group. The only odd thing might be that he was too plain. Wearing normal everyday clothes made it look like he was just out for a walk, the only thing that was off was the backpack and machine gun he was carrying.
It made him look smaller with a gun in his hands or on his back. He didn't carry any other weapons like Britta and Ragnar, as the gun was more than heavy enough and he wouldn't need much else.
Rohan had also received a gun, two actually, one was a standard police sidearm handgun and the other was an automatic submachine gun. All with suppression, which everyone got except for Britta and Ragnar. Rohan was very impressed with how the team function and even more with how quickly they managed to include him in the tasks.
Rohan was now walking ahead around 20 meters, scouting out the next crossing for any activity of strange patterns. They hadn't encountered any enemies yet, but did see a few destroyed buildings, which were becoming more frequent.
It didn't take much longer until they had their first encounter with an enemy close to the inner city. Just before the corner of 12th street the 3rd store on the right had its door flung out and landed on the street. Rohan quickly came to his senses and pointed his gun while walking to some cover, seeing Britta and Ragnar move ahead.