Jamie’s advice.. desperate times require desperate measures

The sun, high and blistering, shone down on the military shooting range just on the outskirts of the base. It baked the desert floor, drawing out thin waves of heat that made the horizon quiver.

The skeletal remains of distant plants formed hazy silhouettes against the vast expanse of sand and scrub. Far away from the main hub of the military base, the range seemed isolated, and eerily silent except for the loud crack of gunfire. Shadows of sharpshooters moved with disciplined poise in a very well-rehearsed, methodical and intentional motion.

As I approached the shooting range, I spotted Jamie’s silhouette against the sun-bleached backdrop. The dust was swirling around her boots as a gentle breeze was moving the sand around.

“Quite the spot you’ve chosen for our rendezvous,” I commented with a raised eyebrow, taking in the vast expanse of the arid terrain that stretched endlessly around them. Jamie met my gaze with inscrutable eyes. “Open spaces, clear sightlines,” she responded cryptically with a voice barely rising above the whisper of the desert wind. “In our current situation, it pays to avoid shadows.”

The bad news keeps rolling in

I had a feeling she was going to drop another bomb.

“Jack,” she began without preamble as I approached, her voice carrying a weight I hadn’t heard before. “Rashmoor summoned me. Speedright and Rangemaster were there too. He knows. Everything.”

I felt my stomach drop as the weight of her words settled heavily within me. “Well, we always knew he might piece it together,” I replied, trying to mask the unease in my voice, “I just hoped we’d have more time.”, I finished scratching the top of my head.

Jamie exhaled, her gaze never leaving the vast emptiness before her. “He’s aware of The Bended, of our infiltration into the security centre, everything. I played dumb and tried to feed him half-truths, but Rashmoor’s no fool. He knows he’s cornered, and a cornered animal is the most dangerous.”

I attempted to interject some optimism, though it felt feeble even to me. “Surely it’s not that dire. We can navigate this, like we have every other challenge.”

But Jamie cut me off, her eyes finally meeting mine. “This isn’t one of our usual escapades, Jack. Rashmoor isn’t some inconsequential hurdle. He’s like a wounded lion, and he’ll lash out with everything he has. The man’s pride and this project are intertwined. He won’t distinguish between an actual threat and a perceived one.”

She paused, allowing her gaze to linger momentarily on the distant target with holes peppered across its silhouette. The methodical rhythm of her breathing could be heard above the ambient sound of distant gunshots.

Rashmoor’s rage reaches new levels

“Jack,” she started, her voice low, almost a whisper as if even the wind could betray them. “Rashmoor… he’s not just after The Bender or our careers. It’s deeper. More personal.” Her fingers were preoccupied with tracing the edge of her firearm, the cold metal contrasting with the desert heat.

She took a moment, letting the weight of her words sink in, then locked her eyes on mine with an intensity I hadn’t seen before. “I’ve seen men like him, driven by a kind of rage that blurs reason. His unpredictability and violent past… it’s what makes him even more dangerous. Remember what you just told me a couple of days ago..” She leaned in closer with a clear urgency in her eyes.

“You need to be prepared for anything.” Then, with a gravity that hung heavily in the air, she lifted up the pistol she was holding in her hand as if she were trying to display it to me. And then delivered her final counsel.

“I would strongly suggest you get one of those, Jack.”

A cold, anxious knot formed in my stomach. “A gun?” I murmured. The words tasted foreign on my lips. “I’ve always tried to stay away from any form of violence, Jamie. That’s why I left the army. You really think it came to this…?” my eyes were searching hers for reassurance but the reality of the situation, the very real and imminent danger we were in, suddenly became oppressively clear.