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Hiram looked up towards Rufus, sparing him an apathetic glance as he watches the sun slowly break free from the horizon, enjoying the vivid splash of colour as it raced across the night sky. Hunching his shoulders, he sighed into the confines of his coat, shifting uncomfortably upon the tree stump he had taken to using as a seat on these long, uneventful nights, wishing again the man would stop his moaning. Not an hour had passed where his fellow guardsman hadn't found some sort of complaint to add to his unending list.
It was hard to sympathize with Rufus, he'd volunteered for the night guard, just as Hiram had. Where the two differed was in their motivation, Rufus saw an easy job, one where all he would be expected to do was stare out into the darkness, and hail whatever passerby might wander close enough to draw alarm. Hiram, on the other hand, recognized that while most nights passed by without due cause for alarm, in the event of any co-ordinated attacks, it only made sense to attack at night, if that day were to come, Hiram planned to be on the frontlines. It also helped that the night shift kept his interaction with the everyday people of the settlement to a minimum, he didn't hate any of them, it simply was difficult for him to inspire enough of a commanding presence to get the citizens to listen, let alone obey, not to mention that it pained him whenever they were expected to act as police within the settlement. Despite all this, Hiram would admit a certain displeasure of his own at the endless monotony that the nightshift presented.
"I swear to god, if you're sleeping down there..." The faint sound of rustling fabric drifted to Hiram's ear from above him; craning his neck backwards, Hiram looked up past the palisade to the rusted watchtower sheltered behind the wooden wall. Atop the listening post's rail, Rufus stood brazenly, his pants undone and his privates freely exposed, as he took steady aim down onto Hiram.
Leaping from his stump, Hiram snatched up the heavy shield he carried with him, raising it over his head to deflect his fellow guards foul assault. He stood there, knelt upon the dirt road with his shield upraised for the anticipated shower for a long moment, before summoning the courage to glance out from behind the protective barrier, "What the hell, Rufus!". No answer was fast coming though, still standing upon the corrugated metal of the watchtower, Rufus was staring out into the darkness, his attention torn away from Hiram as he squinted towards the forest. Ignoring Hiram's demands for an explanation, Rufus hastily re-buttoned his trousers, scrambling through the box kept within the tower to retrieve the binoculars.
"It looks like a fire."Hiram gathered up his gear, before slowly retreating behind the gate, smacking the Gate-Guard over the head as he walked past, "Stop snoring your idiot, you're supposed to operate the winch! What if mutants had attacked?" He hissed not waiting for a reply before beginning his ascent to the top of the watchtower, leaving the shield resting at the base; his leather gloves creaked soothingly, distracting his mind from the feeling of the thorns as they caught and dragged against the same leather. Hand over hand he climbed, until finally he was dragging himself through hole in the floor. Standing next to Rufus as he looked through the binoculars, Hiram squinted in the same direction, picking up the telltale flicker of fire, and smoke wafting into the air above the trees. "A fire? So someone set a campfire, I don't see why you're acting all antsy." Now it was Rufus' turn to ignore Hiram, his expression merely darkening in response.
Frustrated at the refusal to share the binoculars, Hiram unholstered his rifle from his back and peered through the scope. As he scanned the woods, Hiram felt a sinking feeling within his stomach, he couldn't make out the details, but the intensity of fire and the amount of smoke told him all he needed to know; he had seen houses burn before after all.
Why is it always fire... he thought grimly to himself, slowly lowering the rifle to his side, trying to push away the haunting screams that rose unbidden to memory. He felt his hands ball into fists, before he swung himself back onto the ladder, rapidly descending back to the ground, followed quickly behind by Rufus.
As the two were staring out against the smokey horizon, the morning replacement arrived to the gate, laughing and joking between the 3 of them. Their laughter was quickly put to an end as they noticed the two upon the watchtower. Inquiring to the Gate-Guard as to what was occurring, they were only answered with a quick grunt, and low grumbling as the Guard trudged off quickly back into the Settlement, hasty to return to his soft bed, and away from the uppity youngster who clearly misunderstood how the night guard was supposed to work. The three stood with their arms crossed against their chests as Hiram and Rufus stepped of of the ladder, demanding an explanation. Stumbling clumsily through his words, Rufus struggled to explain what they had seen, shifting between grandiose embellishments, and drastic understatement in the course of seconds. Hiram stood by, gloomily looking down towards the ground, wishing that Rufus would fall silent, if even for a moment, so that he could offer up his own explanation.
To their credit, somehow the three managed to parse the important information from the mad ramblings of Rufus. "Listen, we can't go out and check on that fire, for obvious reasons. Chiefly being someone has to watch the gate." Listening passively, Hiram felt his hand tighten around his rifle, his mouth opening in protest before suddenly being cut off by the apparent leader of the three. "WE, have to. You two are free to do whatever you want, that fire isn't a direct threat to the settlement." Rufus and Hiram gaped at the main, shocked at his callousness. "Don't look at me like two helpless children, I don't outrank either of you... If I was you though," The man's eyes narrowed towards the two of them dangerously, commanding attention despite his previous claims, "I would have one of us run to alert the other Guards, where someone in command can prepare a proper expedition, while the other would head out, to serve as a forward scout for the expedition, and hopefully lend whatever aid they can, to whomever may need it. The two of you are dismissed."
Hiram stood speechless, staring blankly at the man as he was shouldered out of the way, and the man began his own ascent to the watchtower, ignoring the two, Hiram and Rufus, with utter disregard. Far to the east, the sun rapidly tore away nights shroud, the golden glow of dawn giving Hiram false hope, even now, with the promise of a new day. Taking a deep breath, he grabbed Rufus by the shoulder, giving him a hard shake to stir him from his own reverie. "I'm going out, make sure no one runs off with my shield alright?" Clamping a hand over Rufus's mouth, Hiram leaned in closer, his breath hot against Rufus's face, "No arguing, and do exactly what that guy-" Hiram jerked his head towards the watchtower, "-said. Someone could be trying to draw us out, though. Make sure they know that's a possibility."
Hiram didn't wait for an answer, breaking away from Rufus and rushing out past the gate as he ran off in the direction of the fire, his limbs feeling awkward and stiff from the hours spent upon the tree-stump. Memories of fire flickered within his mind as he raced into the woods.
