Mistakes Made

4 - Failure.

It was 5 o'clock on the Friday morning, the sky cloudy with the breeze soft and cold. The streets of the abandoned neighbourhood was vacant and quiet. It was suspicious how there wasn't so much as a growl from the infected. Something felt off.

To cover ground quicker, Squad D split up into four smaller units, about twenty-five soldiers in each one. I moved with unit one towards the north while the other three went either east, south, or west.

The fog made it somewhat hard to navigate past the abandoned houses and rusting cars. I could feel the tension exuding from the soldiers following behind me. They were scared, as per usual. All except one. Alexander. The ballerina. She looked as happy as always, looking around curiously. I made sure she stuck close to me like glue. She was nowhere ready to be out here with rest of Squad D, let alone carry a gun. As much as I hated the idea, I had to look after her. I had to protect her - make sure she doesn't die.

I tried to keep my mind on the mission, on getting out of here alive but it kept drifting its way back to Alex. She was too vulnerable. If one of the infected got hold of her and I wasn't there, what was she going to do? Pirouette? I chuckled lightly at the thought. She was royally fucked if she found herself surrounded with no one able to help her.

We neared the end of the neighbourhood, still having no sight of the infected. I signaled for the unit to stop and take five. They all looked apprehensive. After the last mission we had, I understood why but they couldn't let that get to their heads. Everyone sat on the curb trying to collect themselves aside from Alex. She stayed standing, looking around at the different houses."Take a seat, Alex. This is a high risk mission, not a tour.", I said sternly. She narrowed her eyes at me before sitting on the curb, pouting. I was about to get comfortable when the ground shook with a slight tremor. The air thickened with tension and fear as the soldiers around me stiffened, their eyes darting toward the source of the sound.

A deep roar came from the distance, growing louder with each passing thud. I've heard this sound before. "Gravemind!", a soldier yelled.

The fog parted as a ten foot monstrous Gravemind barrel down the streets, its roaring ripping through the silence. Its patchwork flesh with multiple limps sticking out in various places of its body with razor sharp teeth was a terrifying sight. It sprouted from multiple infected bodies merging together to form a tough layer of skin, making it impossible to kill it with just a pistol. It was a smart, quick beast with a hunger for blood. Human or infected. This nearly impossible to kill ten foot monster was charging right at us with malicious intent. I needed to act quickly. "Open fire!", I called out as I aimed my rifle at it. Bullets whizzed through the air as the Gravemind tumbled down the street, ramming the rusting cars out of the way. My finger pressed down on the trigger, firing multiple shots at the beast's legs in an attempt to slow it down. It roared, stumbling slightly as the bullets made contact but that didn't stop it from charging towards us at full force.

"Split up! Get behind some cover now!", I ordered as we scattered. Alex and I managed to get behind a car as the Gravemind rammed into a few soldiers, sending them flying into the house walls. Nobody could survive being slammed into a wall with such strength. I looked back at Alex who was sitting on the cement, panting heavily. I knew if I kept her anywhere near the battle field, she'd die. I needed her to find someplace safe. "Alex, I need you to run. Run far, far away and take cover in one of the houses.", I said.

She stared at me with furrowed eyebrows, "What? No way! I won't abandon-" "You will die out here if you don't listen to me.", I quickly take off my walkie talkie, placing it into her hand, "Once you're safe, tell Squad C we're in dire need of help. Do you understand me?"

She stared down at the walkie talkie for a moment before glaring at me with a determined look, "Yes, sir!" "Good! Now go!", I ordered as I reloaded my rifle, coming out from the cover and shooting rapidly at the Gravemind. It roared again as it glared at me with anger. It charged towards me with terrifying speed, barely giving me enough time to move out of the way before it slammed its fist into the pavement just beside me.

The blast wave made me stumble backwards but I quickly steadied and continued to fire at it. But unfortunately for me, my shots were the equivalent to throwing pebbles. This thing was definitely putting up a fight. Before I could react, it swung an arm at me, sending me flying down the street. I skidded down the street, my skin being scrapped by the harsh concrete as I rolled. When I finally came to a stop, I quickly tried to force myself up as I heard the Gravemind closing in to finish the job.

I tried so desperately to get to my feet but my body gave out. I was in immense pain, pretty sure I had a broken rib or two. I felt blood oozing through my gritted teeth as I kept trying to get up. After many attempts, I finally gave in, laying flat on my stomach as the Gravemind towered over me. I glared at it as it raised its fist to deal the final blow. Strangely enough, I wasn't afraid. I didn't feel anything but resignation. In fact, I welcomed my inevitable death.

Whether I lived or died, I still had my comrade's blood on my hands. Whether I lived or died, I was responsible for Squad D being the squad with the least soldiers even though we're the most vital. Whether I lived or died, I will forever be recognised as a failure. A disappointment. Whether I lived or died didn't matter. All the outcomes would be the same.

I closed my eyes as I waited for my skull to crushed. A swift and supposedly painless death. But suddenly a bullet penetrated through the Gravemind, causing it to roar loudly in pain. I opened my eyes in confusion to see Alex standing there with a rifle in her hands. "Why don't you pick on someone who's nowhere near your size, huh?! Come on, lemme make your life a whole lot easier!", she yelled mockingly.

The Gravemind turned towards her, roaring as it began charging. She squealed as it neared, quickly running out of sight. She lead it around the area, houses and cars being ran through as she taunted it. "Can't keep up?! Let's go, hop to it, big guy!", she chuckled as continued to run around.

She manged to gap the Gravemind, ducking behind a car. It was then when the last remaining soldiers of the unit emerged from their hiding spots, firing rapidly at the beast. It was caught off guard, stumbling back. With a final bullet to the eye, it collapsed to the ground, letting out one final wail.

I found myself smiling softly at the sight. Alex managed to coordinate a successful attack without any causalities. I felt proud. Proud and tired. At least I could die knowing that we got a somewhat good ending.

My body felt heavy. So did my eyelids. I struggled to keep them open as they began to flutter, my breathing growing shallow and slow. My hearing became muffled as I slowly succumbed to the inevitable. As my eyelids slid shut, I saw Alex running towards me, screaming my name.

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