Both Bert and Roland had abandoned the ice cream for the moment, although the latter was no less fascinated by its sweetness. This was more important, and for the time being, the wonders of another world could wait.
"I took command over Gilead after you left," Bert said after a moment, glancing between Roland and Nariko. "I wasn't the best at it. But we got some semblance of a wall up, and charges laid in the lower town where we figured they would pass. Women, children, the sick and elderly... we sent them down into the crypts, and I gave Jared a map I made up as best I could. There's a way out down under there, if they could find it. So far as I saw it, our job was to win them time." Wetting his lips, he took another spoonful of ice cream, as if its sweetness could damp out the bitterness of what he was saying. "Farson came from the west. We had no reports of his troops to the south or east. I gave our civilians instructions to move by night and at the fastest pace they could, and set them up with the last of our supplies." His eyes were on Roland alone now, partly because it was Roland he was really reporting to, and partly out of a barely-veiled need to be told he'd done the right thing. All he got was a barely-perceptible nod, but that was enough.
He took a deep breath. "We set up a front line. Everyone with a weapon to carry, gunslingers on the high wall. We were in pretty poor shape after Claude. I had a broken leg and ribs, and I wasn't the worst off. Jared had to go down to the crypts, because his fingers were smashed up so bad the poor bastard could hardly hold a gun." He grimaced, and closed his eyes for a moment. "Jamie took a shell to the head about five minutes after the first volley. Died quick, if not clean. I took a bolt in the belly, that's when Kaine did... whatever she did. Only it didn't look like it was lasting, and I didn't want to watch her die out there fighting someone else's war." Opening his eyes, he looked between Nariko and Roland as if daring either of them to comment. He knew it had been stupid, that look said; knew, and didn't give a flying fuck about it. "Apparently Al didn't mean to come with us. He said he wanted someone to give you a report. I think he was just too chickenshit to deal with being the last one left. Either way, he sent us out here, and I guess he got pulled along. Serves him right. Trying to hog all the fun."
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2015-03-13 04:11 am (UTC)"I took command over Gilead after you left," Bert said after a moment, glancing between Roland and Nariko. "I wasn't the best at it. But we got some semblance of a wall up, and charges laid in the lower town where we figured they would pass. Women, children, the sick and elderly... we sent them down into the crypts, and I gave Jared a map I made up as best I could. There's a way out down under there, if they could find it. So far as I saw it, our job was to win them time." Wetting his lips, he took another spoonful of ice cream, as if its sweetness could damp out the bitterness of what he was saying. "Farson came from the west. We had no reports of his troops to the south or east. I gave our civilians instructions to move by night and at the fastest pace they could, and set them up with the last of our supplies." His eyes were on Roland alone now, partly because it was Roland he was really reporting to, and partly out of a barely-veiled need to be told he'd done the right thing. All he got was a barely-perceptible nod, but that was enough.
He took a deep breath. "We set up a front line. Everyone with a weapon to carry, gunslingers on the high wall. We were in pretty poor shape after Claude. I had a broken leg and ribs, and I wasn't the worst off. Jared had to go down to the crypts, because his fingers were smashed up so bad the poor bastard could hardly hold a gun." He grimaced, and closed his eyes for a moment. "Jamie took a shell to the head about five minutes after the first volley. Died quick, if not clean. I took a bolt in the belly, that's when Kaine did... whatever she did. Only it didn't look like it was lasting, and I didn't want to watch her die out there fighting someone else's war." Opening his eyes, he looked between Nariko and Roland as if daring either of them to comment. He knew it had been stupid, that look said; knew, and didn't give a flying fuck about it. "Apparently Al didn't mean to come with us. He said he wanted someone to give you a report. I think he was just too chickenshit to deal with being the last one left. Either way, he sent us out here, and I guess he got pulled along. Serves him right. Trying to hog all the fun."