VIII: Vilomah

[Martzin]

He stood in the middle of the road staring with disgust at the dead body in the middle of the road. He had just shot him. Watched the young man charge at him with a grenade in hand, right down the middle of the street in the center of the town; blood was leaking out of his forehead into a puddle, mixing with the asphalt gravel and pebbles being drowned in the wash of the boy's blood. He was young. Just a teenager.

I didn't mean to kill the bastard. Maybe what happened then was circumstance. Maybe I'm lucky I hit him anyway because he probably would've killed me if I didn't. I was young then and felt like a kid. Well, any kid in me died then.

Holy fuck, you did him in. Rotten gazed at the gaping head of the boy. You did him in bad, Ed. He looked in juvenile fascination. He's a-okay fucked, I'd say.

Trevor could feel his legs getting weak and he started to feel light-headed. Stop it, Ed. Don't talk about him like that. He's just a kid.

Rotten whistled in response and shrugged. Whatever ya say, kid, and the man walked some way's away before turning to look again.

Ed's breathing got heavier and he himself felt the nausea rising like toxic gas into his mouth and his brain and his spine tingled as he fell backward into the street. The last thing he felt was the hard clink of his helmet against his head, felt the reverberation highlight his skull and he groaned in sickening agony.

Ed? He heard Rotten's voice. Ed! The heavy running got closer to him and the last thing he saw was Rotten's face over his shaking him. Medic! Medic!!!


...


Pawolski walked by the scene, slowing as he neared the body, clicking his tongue and shaking his head. He ain't coming back from that. You can see his brain, he said, pointing at the exposed skull that had a neat hole in it, and the brain matter was spilt out of the empty space onto the asphalt next to him. Garth made eye contact with the dead boy. He gazed stupidly at the sky. His face was stoic.

Behind him was Vanechka. He looked towards her. You see, sarge? Look at his brains. Little kid brains.

Sleepy turned and walked away. She grumbled and threw her fists in the air, and Garth knew she was upset. Somewhere in this village, some old lady's gonna be crying tonight. Damn. This sucks.

Sleepy turned and yelled at Garth. Get that body off the street. I don't want anyone seeing it.

Pawolski shrugged. Okay, he said, and grabbed the boy by the arms.


The shroud lifted from his mind and the darkness cleared like fog from his surroundings as he stared up to the ceiling. On a nightstand a little lantern shone yellow across the room where he slept on his green cot motionless. Leaning up his body ached and he squinted at the feeling but stood up anyway and stretched upward. He stumbled out the door and into the kitchen.

He shivered on the couch and drank juice as he closed his eyes and remembered what happened.

A voice broke his train of thought and he looked up at Cowper. Her eyes were baggy and she looked sleepless. She grinned at him and said, Glad to see you awake, Ed. Ready to head out?


Ed stepped through the door and breathed in the crisp cool air. He walked for a while under the street-light and in some homes people were still up and cars were lined across the street. Eventually he made it to a point in the road, where dried blood was splattered on the ground, dim under the moon-light, chunks of congealed brain here and there forming a trail out to the woods where they must've buried the child. Just some hours ago there would be a kid here and a bullet with his name on it, and he would've been standing a few feet away pulling the trigger. He could almost see it play out in real life as it did in his head. He walked up the road and the memory numbed, forgetting about it for years to come. He went back to the house where his squad slept and poured himself a drink of cider, watching the news until dawn came.

...
Through all my days I sorta willfully suppressed the thought until recently, when I got the doctor's report of dementia. If there's one thing I would've said its that no matter what else I lose the one thing I won't lose now is that memory. One night I'll be sleeping not knowing anything in the world and the dream I've seen before will come to me again and it'll be the last thing I remember.
...

Carson was filled on the reports by his Lieutenants, holding a paper in his hands Walker had given to him. A map detailing the area around Suzu Beach assembled by satellite photography and drawings made by the officers. He gave the order for an outpost to be assembled near Pinghai to establish their control of the region. Just a few hundred meters from Pinghai was a river given it's name-sake they would cross to advance while companies I and L sweeped the jungle and captured more towns. He looked out the window and faced the immense blank spot that was the planet. They were orbiting on it's dark side. He could see lights that signified colonies on the ground, and the dark void stared back into his eyes, and he sat back in a chair to rest, thinking of the different lives under his command, how their stories played out on the field and that he was responsible for each of them. Ninety lives following him.

He knew better than to think. In his position it would only de-moralize him, which spreads in the unit, and that would be terrible for the mission. He carried the duty with honor and like many other campaigns would finish this one. Quick and concise, the men will return to hyper-sleep and go to fight another war, killing people across stars and beyond. The next moment he opened his eyes, and could see the sun peaking over the orange horizon, and the darkness was subsiding.

[Martzin]

Here's a list of each chapter for people who want to read the whole series.
K/2/7
1-Prologue
2-Hawaru Island
3-The Deep Breath
The Field Hospital - A Side Story for the War of Nonpo
4-Pink Beaches
5-SOTS
6-Syrup
7-Orthoclase Falls
That's all folks, enjoy.

[Kavlo]

Inb4 next chapter like 20 marines dead.

This was good like the rest of them. Should probably use quotation marks though.

[Martzin]

This was good like the rest of them. Should probably use quotation marks though.

I choose to not use quotation marks to practice sentence clarity. If I can write good and clear enough there's no need for quotations.

[CrimsonAerospace]

I choose to not use quotation marks to practice sentence clarity. If I can write good and clear enough there's no need for quotations.

You're not wrong, and the story is good. You are writing very clearly. However, I personally, and I believe some others, appreciated the old style. Very book-like.

[Martzin]

You're not wrong, and the story is good. You are writing very clearly. However, I personally, and I believe some others, appreciated the old style. Very book-like.

Fair enough, but I know there's people who prefer the new way as well, so I'll leave it to a poll.

https://strawpoll.com/48716hez

I'll let it run until tomorrow around 5 PM and check the results.