Army of the Damned

VOLUME 15 BONUS CHAPTER

Amongst the flattened and burning buildings of the massive city, a young girl in ragged clothes sat down a slab of fallen concrete as the threads of tanks that had crossed the once clean and manicured streets had beaten and destroyed the already tired asphalt and rendered it down to a mere gravel road with potholes of varying sizes, some large enough to fit an entire sedan.

But this wasn't enough to stop the massive convoys of logistics trucks of the foreign Eastern army from passing through as parks and lots were turned into stockpiles. The transport companies relentlessly pursued the moving frontline as the ground would occasionally quake from the sound of the artillery and missile launchers firing on the outskirts of the metropolis.

With shoulder length black hair, a frail and boney body, she gently sat down a linen sack and opened it. Revealing the fresh potatoes inside and the placard with a badly written "For Sale, Potato 25 Lira". The Sun was particularly harsh that day as the thin smokestacks leftover from the brutal fighting covered some of the view to the blue sky above.

"Please! Buy a potato!" she cried out to the endless line of haggard and beaten civilians. All of them, wearing badly torn clothes, some even burnt marks on them and others, even missing a part of their shoe or its pair. "Potato for sale! Only Twenty Five Lira!"

One old bald man, with his hands on his torn slacks, hears the kid and walks to her. His legs were visibly damaged as he walked with a heavy limp. "Two, please." He brought out his wallet that had dust stuck to its surface and handed out a Fifty Lira bill. As she takes it, the ground rumbles with a battered and heavily damaged Main Battle Tank with ten passengers on it passes by behind them rustling the already battered ceiling with dusk covering his already brown hair, its original black color all gone. Its tracks cranking with the driver constantly performing small adjustments to make it fit on the beaten road.

Low flying helicopters suddenly flew right above her. The downwash of the Super Hind Gunships Making debris fall from the already destroyed buildings.

Turning around, all she could do was stare at the sharp blocks of concrete falling right towards her. "Ah, sis. I'm sorry."

Closer and closer it got, the soldiers and the people were all too tired to even look around and be aware as she stared right towards her impending death.

"Maria!" a young voice cries out and shields her with a thick aluminum plate. The shards of concrete falling off from its smooth side as he drops the heavy piece of junk and turns around to her. "How's the business going?" This made the little girl hug him and hold his hand as she bowed her head. "Thank you! Thank you so much, Eren!"

"Geez, you should really react."

"I... my body just froze when I saw it."

"Come on, you should sell where the Alliance is handing out rations."

The young boy then took the sack of potatoes as he held Maria's hands. The two kids walked into the muddy street where undetonated bombs with green stickers on them were still present, and Asian soldiers with EODs were busy at the ones without stickers. The professional worked hard in removing the caps and disabling the warhead as distant sounds of diesel engines and the sporadic bangs of the sound barrier were broken.

Far from their homes, the foreign soldiers just looked on to the two kids passing them. The pitiful young girl and the rugged and unbathed boy heading West into a park and at an intersection, the wheels of the 5 and 7 ton transport trucks were larger than them as carts of MREs and canned foods was bought left and right and Humanitarian groups were hard at work aiding those in need.

The young boy quickly approached one of the soldiers standing guard on the curb as the long line of citizens waiting for their turn at the food center had no end to it. "Mister! Do you speak English?" looking down, the exoskeleton grunt with his futuristic combat helmet complete with a head on display tilts his head at the visitors. "Yes. I was formerly College student. How may I help you?"