– Who's that? That other kid…” Fred asked, pointing his finger at Ted.

– That's Theodore. He's been through a lot, too. The outcasts killed his father. – Michael also whispered and introduced the second hostage to the mercenary.

Fred: “Don't be afraid, boy! We're taking you home too!”

Michael: “Fred, he has no parents left and nowhere to go.”

Fred: “Okay, we'll settle that on the way then. Anyway, first things first, we need to get out of here. Let's go!”

Together they went outside and headed toward the vehicles. The camp was brightly lit by the headlights of jeeps and motorcycles on all sides. It was no longer as lively as it had been a few hours earlier. There were lead-laden corpses of outcasts everywhere, and the already dilapidated structures they had built out of whatever they had made as shelter were ablaze. There were several groups of mercenaries present: one was Fred's group, and the second (larger) was Lauren's group. Michael knew her as well, though he didn't see her that often. From time to time, the girl also accompanied his father on trips when Fred was too busy to take orders. Michael stopped dead in his tracks. Forgetting his recent joy. He suddenly remembered, “Fred, what about my father? What about him? Did you find him? Is he alive?”

Fred turned to the boy: “The doctors are fighting for his life right now. I'll be back to see him at the hospital tomorrow. You can come with me if you want to. It's a good thing the SOS signal somehow miraculously managed to reach the logistician before losing communication. Gerry had called us, since city services don't serve the area outside of the settlement. Gathering a team, we arrived on the scene fairly promptly. First thing we did was get your father to the hospital and start looking for you. George would never forgive me if anything happened to you.

Michael breathed a sigh of relief. He was relieved. Theodore patted the boy on the back and said enthusiastically: “Lucky you! You see, we didn't even have to come up with a plan, they did it all for us! And you were afraid!”

He never ceased to amaze Michael. Unlike him, Theodore's father had recently died, and the boy was enthusiastic, upbeat, and without a trace of regret in his voice. Michael began to look over each of the dead looking for Reno. He wanted to make sure that the scumbag who had infringed on his father's life got what he deserved. The fourth body he examined belonged to the masked man. He was already dead. There was a weapon lying around the bandit, apparently dropped during the gunfight.

– It's him! The man who almost killed my father, but killed Theodore's father! – Michael said loudly, pointing at his abuser. Theodore walked over to Michael, looking angrily at the dead outcast. Ted picked up one of the guns lying near the body and began firing at his abuser until he ran out of ammunition. Despite the fact that the boy had decent physical data, even for him the recoil when firing the gun was unexpectedly strong. Therefore, his hands jumped up after each shot he fired, changing the direction of the bullet. Theodore then threw the weapon to the ground. All this was happening so close to Michael that the sounds of the shots partially deafened him. The schoolboy was not used to such loud noises. Silver covered his ears with his hands for a while, but he did it a little too late. Theodore surprised him again. Or rather, another sudden change in the minor's mood, from joy and enthusiasm to wild hatred and anger. On the other hand, when the emotions of hatred are so overwhelming, how to know what even the calmest person in the world is capable of during such a stressful and overwhelming experience.