XCOM 2- Resurrection Read online

  Not his problem. Nothing to be done.

  He lifted the bottle.

  Then, with a heavy sigh, he set it back on the crate and screwed the cap back on. He went into his shack, found his shotgun, and checked to make sure it was loaded.

  Something was happening out there, finally. It was time he found out what.

  The boy looked up at him when he returned. He saw the shotgun and jumped for his rifle.

  “Hang on, son,” he said. “Just give me the shovel so we can get this done and get out of here.”

  The boy stared at him as if he was kidding, but when it sunk in that he wasn’t, he handed him the shovel.

  “When Ivan came to see me,” he said, pushing the shovel into the dense soil, “he had someone he wanted me to see. Would you know who that was?”

  “Yeah,” he said. “I think so.”

  “When we’re finished here, you’ll take me there. Okay?”

  “Yes,” the boy said. “Yes, sir.”

  He kept digging.

  “It’s Bradford, right?” the boy said, after a moment. “Mr. Bradford?”

  He leaned on the shovel and looked at the boy. “What’s your name?”

  “Arturo.”

  “Don’t call me that, Arturo,” he said. “That’s not a name that needs to get around. Just call me Central.”

  They laid Ivan in the ground, went back to his place, and packed up what few possessions they would need. When the patrol found his shack, he and Arturo were long gone.

  THE END

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  I WOULD LIKE to thank Matt Knoles at 2K Games. To the Firaxis team—Peter Murray, Lindsay Riehl, Garth DeAngelis, Scott Wittbeker, Jacob Solomon, Chad Rocco, and Garrett Bittner—thanks for creating such an amazing universe and navigating me through it. At Insight Editions, thanks to Vanessa Lopez, Elaine Ou, Greg Solano, and Chrissy Kwasnik, and special thanks to my editor, Ramin Zahed.

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