to home?” Adrian asked.
Bollinger spoke. “We talked about it some in the beginning, but none of us thought it would do much good. We’re all so far away from our original homes that it would take months of walking to get there, and what are the odds? All of us were city boys, and you know what happened in the cities. If we did get back there, we would have just about less than zero chances of finding any surviving family, and none of us had any close family to start with. Not having close kin was why we were all in that unit—or, at least, one of the main reasons.” The other men nodded.
Isaac said, “This is home. It was home from the moment we walked out of that bamboo and Roman called us his sons. I’d never been called ‘son’ by anyone before, and he genuinely meant it—still does. I wouldn’t leave here; it’s home, Adrian, the home I never had. I’m married and happy and I do work I enjoy.”
Clif, who rarely spoke, chimed in. “What would we go back to? An orphanage? Foster parents who only saw me as a meal ticket? No, I’m here and staying.” Adrian was impressed by what, for Clif, was a long speech. Clif had been with Adrian the longest, had been on the most missions with him. There was a special bond between the two because of the years together and the dangers faced. He could always count on Clif to have his back and do what needed to be done. Adrian reflected, “That’s the most he’s said at one time in years.”
Adrian replied, “You know, when I think back on it, we were more like a family than a military unit. I think that’s why Roman took to you guys so quickly. He sensed the bond we already had. Roman raised me as best I would let him after my parents died. He treated me exactly the same as he did his own children, loved me just as much. He’s truly been like a second father to me”.
Adrian shifted around to face the men more fully.
“Okay guys, we’ve apparently got some raiders headed this way. A bunch of them, maybe up to two hundred. We don’t know enough about them yet. Getting good, solid information is absolutely essential. I’m going to be organizing a fighting unit here with the men from the village and surrounding area. My first thought was to put each of you in charge of a group. It makes sense because you have the most experience. But our first priority is intel. We need detailed, rock solid intel. I trust you guys to find the raiders, scope them out, and report back what needs to be known. I can’t expect anyone else in the village to provide the in-depth quality or type of information that you guys would. You know what we need to know; anyone else would have to be trained and there isn’t time for that.
“I also considered having you guys take over the fighting groups when we have the information we need, but there’s a problem with that. I’ll be training the fighting groups while the information is coming in. That means each group will have a leader, and they’ll get used to that leader while training. Even though each of you would be ten times better at leading them, there would be a lack of that comfort the men get training together. You wouldn’t have shared the training with them, wouldn’t know what to expect from each individual, and they wouldn’t know what to expect from you.
“So what I’m thinking is that initially, you men will do the scouting. When the scouting is done, I won’t put you in charge of a group, I’ll assign each of you to two groups—maybe three, depending on how many men I can round up. To keep the group leaders from becoming jealous or resentful of you being put in charge, I’m going to call you ‘combat advisors.’ I’ll explain how we have been sent out on many missions to advise indigent combat groups, how we fought beside them and provided them with technical expertise without being in command. I believe this will prevent potential misunderstandings, and provide the best possible way of assisting them. In many ways, this really is just like those advisory missions we went on. I’ll have the confidence of knowing you’ll be in the thick of things, able to adjust the