The warm glow of the rising sun shone through the window. The Major General paced around the cafeteria. Usually this place would be full with Grand Navy personnel, not today. The atmosphere was tense and lighthearted at the same time.
“It’s been 3 days. Fletcher and Gallagher should have been back by now. Where the hell are they?”
“Perhaps they have been turned into calamari rings!” A soldier sitting on a table near me yelled. The soldiers erupted. Some burst into laughter, other banging the tables… in laughter.
“I… I don’t really think it’s that good of a time to make fun of people who might be dead.” I stuttered.
The Corporal got up and slapped me in the back. “Oh Private Harrison! You absolute piece of dogshit! Can’t even crack a joke to lighten up the mood eh? All 'cuz of people like you!”. I looked up at his face. He wasn’t smiling.
“Shut up all of you!” The Major General commanded. “Go and grab your weapons immediately and report back here! We’re going to Palo Town!”
“YES MA’AM!”
The sea was rough. Staying standing was impossible. I clutched my EF88 tightly, as it was the only thing that gave me a sense of safety and security in these tumultuous and uncertain times. It’s been three days since Fletcher and Gallagher had left.
A gulp went down my throat as the reality of the situation sank in. Fletcher and Gallagher was mostly likely dead. It would have been a miracle if they survived, for they were armed with nothing but muskets and flintlocks and their fists at their disposals, as well as a lousy sailor uniforms instead of proper AMCU that we wore.
I timidly approached the Major General.
“M-Ma’am.” I said quietly, “Are… Are you sure about this? B-besides, the Grand Navy didn’t authorize this operation.”
The Major General turned to face me. She reached for her waist and pulled out a saber. The Mameluke Sabre. A symbol of power in the Australian Army. Held only by Major Generals and above. The light radiated off the surface of the blade, just like how the command of respect radiated off her. She pressed the blade against my neck. Her piercing sky-blue eyes looked at me sternly.
“I don’t give a crap about the damn Navy.” The Major General said coldly, “I only ever serve our own forces, our own mates. Besides, we have a strong force of 25 personnel.”
She stopped for a second, choosing her words.
“Well, 24, considering how pathetically weak and cowardly you are. I don’t even know why a miserable weakling like you even signed up to our Defence Force. But, if I had to give my own life to protect even the most useless soldier, then so be it. I am a Major General, after all. But that shouldn’t be necessary. You, along with the others, are armed with the best our nation can offer. Who cares if we are magicless? We’ll tear through them easily.”
The boat bumped onto the dock, and the Major General let out a fierce war cry, followed by the war cries of the others… one by one. They would march to fight the monstrosities that had taken over the seas. I watch them march one by one into the long-abandoned town. To kill those monstrosities. To save Gallagher and Fletcher.
“Oh god, oh god.” I whimpered, “they’re… they’re all going to… I… I want to go home.”
I watched as everyone ran into the town, the sounds of guns firing and the growls of mutated humans as they clashed. And yet I stood there, clutching my EF88 tightly.
And then I ran. I turned the corner. A waterfall.
Ahhh… Peace and quiet. I didn’t care that the uniform was soaked. The sounds of the rushing waterfall was as soothing as the spring breeze. It reminded me of the shores of Bondi Beach crashing against its golden sands. I could almost hear the seagulls chirping in the background. At least for me, this was heaven.
I firmly grabbed my rifle. Now was not the time to cower down. I had to go back. Otherwise I would be the weakling that they all viewed me as.
I turned the corner, raising my rifle.
The place was silent. Dead silent.
…
GRAB
“Ahhh!” I screamed, as I felt something press against my shoulder, I turned around.
It was the Major General. But there was something off about her. Her skin was pale, wrinkled and withered. Her pupils were dilated to a point that I thought would have been impossible for the human eye to achieve, and they were almost pitch black, not blue anymore. To say that she looked like someone that walked out of a POW camp was a massive understatement.
“P…Private Harrison.” She said, a growl evident in her voice.
She picked up the Mameluke sword, swaying and clutching her waist before entrusting the sword into me.
She growled again. “You have to kill me.”
I took a step back. My face etched with shock. There were some moral obligations that soldiers break during warfare or times of chaos. But killing, let alone disobeying, a superior was a length that soldiers would never go. No matter how willing to die the superior was.
“No, I will not kill you ma’am!” I shouted, my voice resolute and filled with strength for the first time. “I will not take the life of a superior! A survivor!”
The Major General let out a feral snarl and lunged at me, grabbing me suddenly.
“I’m fucking infected, Harrison! You dare show cowardice in times like this!? Kill me right now Harrison! That is an order!”
I gritted my teeth and looked away, and closed my eyes.
WHOOSH.
The Mameluke sabre sliced through the air cleanly, gallantly.
It drove itself into the neck of the Major General. There were no screams from her. No growls, no tears, just the silence acceptance of the grim reaper offering his hand, reading to take the Major General away.
The sword drove deeper into her body, and hit the heart, before finally I retracted it out with a sickening Squelch.
I finally looked back. The body of the Major General laid on the ground. Put to rest. The mameluke was covered in crimson red, blood of mutants dripping down onto the ground, merging with the Earth once more. And yet the blade of the sabre still shone valiantly from the sun and its golden hilt radiated all forms of glory.
I looked around, finally having a chance to survey the area. The shining sun watched above me, and just like me, it was no longer cowering in the safety of the clouds, as there was none to protect it anyways. The drumming of bullets and shots from EF88s were silenced, put to rest. The wind hummed its gentle breeze as the waves gently washed onto the shores of Palo Town. All was calm.
I looked around the place carefully. I foolishly expected survivors, but all there was none. All there were was the blood soaked pavement of the abandoned town, colored red with the blood of soldiers and mutants alike. It didn’t matter that they were either human, or humans that grew scales, as their bodies laid on the ground, they were brothers once more with peace washing over them.
The Mameluke sabre was still in my hands. It looked as clean as if it was brand new.
I walked back to the docks, ready to sail a small sailboat back to Silverhold. But not before looking back at the fallen.
“So long, mates.”
