One to Won

Chapter 4: Missing Body

Coming back from her duty, Aura brings some hot chocolate for Cila. "I'm back, you guys. What did I miss?" "Nothing, we just talked about experiences." "By the way Mei, the commander is asking for Cila. He is itching to find out who she is." Grabbing someone by their arm while walking out the medical center, she pulls someone in. "Go get Cila to the commander for me, will you?" "Oh, of course!" "Don't worry, nobody will hurt you here, Cila." Cila stays silent but grabs the person's hand anyways. While Cila heads for the commander's office, it was just Mei and Aura left. "Mei, you said things about losing your friends, right?" "Where's this conversation going?" "Don't you want to at least try to find their bodies? I always think it's right you bury a friend's body." "You think people are going to be alright with that? I mean, it's my personal request." Before Aura answers, several people from the blue team show up, rushing to her. "Of course we'll be alright with it!" Surprising Mei, she jolts backwards. "What in the world?! Have you been eavesdropping?" "Ignore that for now, you helped the community grow! We got to do something in return, don't we?" "I think your service is more than enough for me." "But that's for the community! This one is for you. Give us the word, and we'll prepare right away!" Mei's silence made them a bit nervous, but she spoke up after a while. "Tomorrow morning, we leave for the borders of Echolysis City. I've heard about a bridge that covers the distance of the water between here and there." "Right! We'll notify the commander right away!" Before Mei can say anything else, they leave for preparations. "Aura, take care of Cila for me, alright?" "You can count on me, Mei. You always can. Just don't get yourself killed, alright?" "I'll try my best." "Not the answer I wanted, you know." "It's what you get, so deal with it." "Hah! Deal with it she says." Waving goodbye, Mei heads for a nearby shipping container. Climbing on it, she lies down, looking at the clear, starry sky. Twinkling lights of blue, purple, red, and white light up the sky, looking down at Mei. "I miss you all..." She sighs as a tear drops from her eye, remembering her favorite memories before everything happened. As she stares at the night sky, her eyes slowly close as she drifts off to sleep.

The night passes quickly as she wakes up from the sun's light, shining at her face. Groaning and stretching, a few cracks from her back can be heard. She looks behind her, seeing the blue team preparing for their leave. It was early in the morning, they usually don't wake up until their usual morning routines, but they are awake now. She jumps down, making her way to the blue team's area. "You already informed the commander?" "Of course! He already gave us permission, so we should be alright!" "What about preparations. Are those done?" "Everything we need and possibly need are already loaded. We're having a final check right now." "Well, that should be everything, right?" "We're also bringing journalists, if you don't mind." "To note about our story? Shouldn't be an issue. If we have the space for it, we can afford it." "We have more than enough space, fitting them in will be no problem." Wait, why do we need more than one?" "Well, there might be something another journalist didn't catch." "Well, that definitely comes with its effectiveness." "Well, you were the one who recommended us bringing multiple of the same profession, no? We're now using that in our regular work." "Great to hear that." Mei keeps walking, looking at people excited and discussing about the trip they were about to experience. All this positive energy brough her memories of Botany back, making her shed a tear, but she quickly wipes it off her face. "Mei! We're ready to go! Are you ready?" "Uh... Yeah, let's go!" Everybody steps into their vehicles. One by one, sounds of engines layer on top of another. Driving off, people at the base behind them wave goodbye, hoping they will return safely. Their journey lasted for several hours. As planned, they look for a bridge that connects the two places together. The bridge ride itself took almost half an hour, but at least it was stable to drive on. After a very long wait, they finally reached the port. The very port that she escaped from in the balloon. Everybody steps out of their vehicles, venturing into the port. "This place brings back memories..." The smell of rotten flesh filled everybody's nose, and nobody was enjoying it. The very truck they used to get to the port in the first place is still there, all burnt up. Bodies of dead and burnt infected Zombies, the signal tower that fell over, and leftover bullet casings. The smell of gasoline is still in the air.