"Excuse me? Madam?"
"Hm?"
Yarane had been standing with her arms crossed, watching the black SUV drive away. She had been focusing on the crunch of the gravel under the tires to hear what the meek sounding soldier had said.
"I just- It's not- It's not really protocol to have an Item of Interest be given away like that... we didn't even record it."
The woman in the helmet stepped back when Yarane swiftly turned around to face her. They continued staring at each other until the soldier bowed slightly and started apologizing. Before she left, Yarane started speaking up.
"Have you ever lost everything?"
"Huh?"
"Like this." Yarane gestured around her with an unlit cigarette on her hand. The soldier followed the motion of her hands to look at the scenery surrounding them. Burnt houses, black smoke curling through the air but most importantly the complete silence that had replaced what both of them knew must've been the bustle of the small town.
"No..."
"Neither have I," Yarane's voice cracked as she said those words. Ignoring it, she used her lighter to set her cigarette ablaze. She took a puff. "But those kids did. You think that's protocol? We've let them down enough."
The soldier stood there for a few more moments, taking in her own thoughts.
"I understand." She said eventually.
Yarane walked back towards the convoy of cars with a grimace on her face. They had been loading all the bodies up into the massive trucks and as Yarane walked past each one, she heard the soldiers taking count and checking the fuel and asking for ETAs and whatnot. Nobody had the actual deceased people on their mind.
But she did. She had been part of the celebrations just a day ago. The people that had lived here were not people she agreed with or would've ever tolerated but they still deserved the life that had been wrenched away from them by the same beliefs they held onto. Yarane gritted her teeth. Twenty years of work to take down this evil church all ruined by some children.
It was silly and immature to pin the blame on any one person, especially the little boy, but the thought had already taken root in her mind. She walked up to the last truck, the one she intended to ride in. It was smaller, intended only for transportation for one body. Ignoring the protests from the driver, she climbed into the back compartment and closed the door behind her. As expected, it was freezing in there, but the cold helped narrow her thoughts. Her cigarette went out, leaving her lungs begging for the sensation, but she ignored it and grasped the metal on the stretcher. She looked at the blanket covering the body of the little girl underneathe and felt the tears start painfully bubbling up again.
"You didn't even let me bury you," She thought to herself, still gritting her teeth to keep the tears in.
YOU ARE READING
FALTER
Misterio / Suspenso"Do you remember what we used to say?" "Never falter." "Yeah. Forever after." When a familiar cult emerges from the shadows of Youth City, underground rockstar Imti has to choose between hiding his demons behind a mask or finally facing everyone bur...
