The girls stayed on the surface finishing off the stragglers, but 'something didn't feel right, something wasn't going as planned'
"Girls, do you hear me, anyone?"
The hand-sized walkie-talkie we used to communicate wasn't working, maybe because of the gigantic structure. Although it was almost impossible for anyone to beat them, they were worried that they had received a surprise attack and hadn't had time to take shelter.
"The exit is close captain, we should speed up"
"Okay, but we'll be alert for an ambush at the exit"
"I wouldn't be worried captain, those girls may be young, but they're anything but weak"
"…I know"
Ethan was right; each one could take care of themselves.
'We're already at the exit…'
What they saw left them stunned.
"What happened here?"
What were supposed to be various buildings in gray work, camps and laboratories…everything had been leveled.
"Cloe, Emily do you hear me?"
"Captain I hear you!, what a relief. I'm fine, but I don't know where Cloe is, she's not responding"
"Tell me what happened here"
Through the device an agitated breathing could be heard.
"Yes…"
The voice reflected the atrocity she experienced, even if the answer was weak, you could feel her nerves.
"We'll search for Cloe as soon as we determine the situation, be brief, and Ethan, go take a round to see if you can find any clue about her, hopefully she's just out of communication"
The priority was always to complete the mission, but since the boy is dead, what we have left is to get out of here even without being able to eliminate the cargo that's here.
"We were here finishing off the stragglers, approximately 5 minutes before you arrived"
'We had taken more than 30 minutes inside, we took too long'
"Then I heard cannon explosions about 3 kilometers away, then projectiles fell that embedded themselves in the ground and created craters, lastly flames spread throughout the place, burning left and right"
What she was describing were progressive elimination weapons for tanks and squads. The method is simple, charges of 1 ton of weight, with a combustant that disperses from the interior after impact.
This initiates the spark so everything burns.
"I understand it's in the process of being banned for being considered an extermination weapon"
The talks for the (Cold Fire) pact began with the intention to dismantle and eliminate nuclear weapons by all countries, after the massacre and tragedy that occurred in France and surrounding areas, precisely these types of weapons were what sparked the creation of the cold fire pact initiative.
'I remember the images of the country falling in flames while men, women, children and elderly were burned, there were images of people running from the fire and others trying to put out the fire from those who were burning'
"… How could someone do this.., they fell and…"
A broken voice that could be felt as if it tore the soul of whoever heard it.
It was clear that the factions that were still fighting were wiped out by the bombardment. They didn't care about sacrificing their companions as long as they finished quickly.
There was nothing more to say.
It was an approximation for the zone, but it was likely they spent about 6 or 7 projectiles to leave everything like this, just the impact alone is enough to break a tank in half, the craters created in the semi-sedimented ground….
These projectiles spray the combustant over extensions, giving the first round of liquid as rotated shots toward the 4 axes sprayed at 45 degrees, reaching up to 50 meters and then disperses the rest in sprinkler form at a distance of 10 meters.
It's a weapon designed to crush tanks and incinerate any support near those distances, creating an internal circle of fire where it burns everything and an external one where it can trap anyone, being the end of whoever gets caught.
An alternative to large-range explosive ammunition that was harder to get.
"Calm down Emily, for now scan the area and try to find Cloe, we need to get out of here as soon as possible, this bombardment wasn't the only problem, compared to the one coming"
The words showed what sometimes displayed concern from the team leader, and that was something she noticed.
"…."
Her voice stopped mid-sentence of what would be other words, but she decided to be quiet and search for her companion who was more important.
"I can't see anything with the infrared sight, although the flames from the impact have gone out, they've already spread…, if I don't find her…."
"We'll find her!, don't doubt it, just keep going, even if the entire place catches fire, we won't leave without her"
No matter that the flames had already reached halfway down the branches, even if they reached the tree tops, they wouldn't leave without finding her trace.
But time was no longer on their side.
"Captain, several vans are coming from the northeast side, it's a convoy with the same men in black suits that were here"
Ethan arrived at a quick pace reporting, and at the same time Emily checked the direction.
"Confirmed, 3 vans with men at their backs, plus 3 armored vehicles. Looks like they're coming to verify and finish what they left"
"!skk!"
A click came from his mouth, the orders no longer mattered, in the moment only a memory arrived, one that came every time he found himself in a bind, and this time his integrity was the one screaming.
***
He remembered what the person he treasures most and fights for once told him, words with truth, but with feelings that no one had ever shown him.
"Stand up"
It seemed I was bleeding, it was my head.
I didn't recognize the voice, I supposed I had been caught and that I would be executed once and for all.
"Hello, do you hear me… hmm maybe you're deaf from the shock, ….mm or maybe from an explosion"
Some bare feet appeared in front of me, not those of a man, they were of a girl.
"..aaah, shaa.."
My voice wouldn't come out, they were just moans, when I looked at my body I understood why.
"So you can hear me, but can't move, let's check…"
I felt a hand pass gently over my skin, touching my chest carefully, a skin that didn't match a girl, but for some reason felt good.
"Apparently you have broken ribs and other lower bones, non-negligible lacerations, and possibly internal bleeding.."
She leaned down and looked at me with her crystal green eyes; it was as if she was trying to see something, I wondered if it was because I had another injury or if it was because I definitely wasn't going to survive.
"I saw you fight"
Did she see me?, where and who is she?, did I win?, …NO, there were more, so she's one of them…. If that were the case I'd be dead.
But then… who was she?.
"You must be confused, but we don't have much time and I'd like to save myself the speech"
"I'll ask you, do you want to live?"
Is she crazy? Or is she blind, if she saw how I fought she must have known I tried to give it everything tearing out everything I could, dirt, mud, flesh. My hands were full of everything, except peace and still…..
"I see I offended you, don't misunderstand me. I know how you fought, the question is why?, for what?, what was the point if at the end your buyers were waiting for you"
"….."
"Did you really think this path in the middle of nowhere would take you somewhere?, would you save yourself?, would they find you?"
'How long had she been watching me?'
"..iiyo...!coff!"
"Nile, help him"
"As you command"
When I could lift my gaze I squinted my eyes and opened them again from the fatigue, but above all from the scene before me.
"You.."
Bodies everywhere were thrown, some I thought I remembered others I didn't know.
"Aaa yes, I killed them all"
My memories began to clear…everything in my escape, everything went wrong.
In the end the hunters came to take me to the buyer. The fight, the blood, those who sacrificed themselves…everything for me to fall again.
I remember killing 5 or 6 before they hit me with a shotgun butt. Only 6 dead at most…
And then why was there a pile of bodies the size of the man who accompanied her. That didn't terrify me entirely, it was the eyes of that girl that scared me the most.
"Who.."
Interrupting the girl answered.
"Who am I?, it's not important"
A soft voice, but gentle. And then...
"You're the one who should be paying attention"
"I asked you if you wanted to live or not?"
There wasn't much I could respond to, I only hoped that wasn't my end. But it wasn't the answer he was looking for anymore, my conviction….
"YYeess..!"
A hoarse voice came from my mouth, it was rougher because of the sand that had entered my mouth and the lips cracked from lack of water, with equal amounts of plea the answer resonated.
"I don't want a half answer; I asked you because, if you were going to die anyway, I want to know why fight"
I can't speak, and yet he still wants an answer?, if it were so simple…
Then...
How should I answer that question?
Being free is what any person wants, or at least that's what I thought before knowing those who sacrificed themselves for me.
Perhaps...…when did I stop fighting alone?, when did I start fighting for what would be in honor of their memories?, was it like that?, and if it was, then what this girl says was true, because I ran, did that promise deserve my life to keep running?.
I always fought alone, and they came to rescue me, they fought and died because of me and I still didn't understand why I should be free. Was it because they wanted to be free?, me? Or perhaps their memories?, their laments while being tortured, when they drove those screws and nails into their feet, the voices of those who took pity on a homeless street kid and whom never blamed for that mistreatment, that confinement….that torture.
With all the strength I had left I let out at the top of my lungs what oppressed my chest.
"I fight….I fight because…it's what they would have done!"
Those words that wanted to come out screaming were given in dry tears and received by her, rough and inelegant, but with a gentle gaze knowing my answer.
"You are immature and perhaps in the future you'll realize that those words are merely a sketch of what they really should have meant to you"
I couldn't give another word, I felt my body burning and my consciousness leaving. Not before receiving what I would consider as the greatest gift life gave me.
"You will find that those who fight for themselves alone will have their survival; but those who fight for someone else, will be rewarded to live forever, with those who have the right, just like them. You're halfway there…but for now that's good"
***
"We'll continue with what we planned, but it will be Emily who searches for Cloe; Ethan will come with me, we'll take care of them, if more come we can only delay them, I'm counting on you to find her"
"Yes!"
As for their strength, 'if it were them there would be nothing to worry about', that was Emily's thought as she descended at full speed down the slope where she was.