Sacrifice

Chapter Two

The next morning was quiet. Soldiers woke up before first light in order to march onto the battlefield in darkness. That way, they had the element of surprise. Rowan wasn't one of them, instead, he stayed back at the base where he cleaned up after the brave ones, they told him to feel blessed to be allowed to pick up their trash. Rowan was scooping oatmeal from the table when he heard footsteps creeping up behind him, he spun around and met eyes with a man twice his size.

Dax was one of the toughest in the camp, his build consisted mostly of muscles and testosterone. Rowan gulped, intimidated by the 6"5 feet tall monster. He was the one responsible for "taking care of" prisoners that had become useless or those who were dying in irresistible horror. 

"After you're done here, meet me in interrogation room 17."

Before Rowan could speak, he was being shoved to the side so the monstrous man could pass. That's when he remembered that Malik was waiting in that room. If he didn't break and tell Dax where his village is, he's not going to survive this.

Rowan looked at the mess around him, he had to clean this up before he could take over Dax's shift. Rapidly, he reached for a bucket then poured bleach and soap into the mixture of hot water before reaching for a cloth and dipping it in order to soak it. His hands stung as the chemicals ate at his skin but it did not seem to slow him down from wiping every table and bench.

His next step was the dishes, so he ran around, piling metal trays on his arm, dozens at a time, and threw them all in the first sink where he used a soaped cloth to wash them each with great speed. The second sink was filled with boiling water - intended to soak the trays - but Rowan simply ducked his hands in to rinse off the trays, each one burning more than the last, until he was done. He looked down at his red hands, shaking with pain but he chose to ignore it and ran to where7Malik was crying out in pain. His screams echoed within the base, going Rowan to interrogation room 17 where he kicked the door open.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Their eyes meet and Rowan could see the devil smiling back at him. 

If he doesn't talk by tonight, Luke told me to take out the trash." Dax smirked and threw another punch to Malik's bloody face before walking out and slamming the door shut

Malik was shaking, though when he recognized Rowan's voice, he smiled at the familiarity of it. His hands were bound together but they were caked in his own blood. Dax had used a pair of rusted pliers to rip off his fingernails, one at a time. Thankfully, Rowan interrupted before he could move on to his right hand.

"Are you okay, Malik?" Rowan asked after seeing his nails on the floor by his feet. This was a stupid question, he knew Malik was far from okay.

"Thanks for your help."

Malik was still blindfolded so he flinched when he felt something wet and cold on his mutilated hand. "It's okay, I'm just trying to help you."

Rowan reassured him and he loosed, soon realizing that Rowan was using a cloth to remove the caked blood around his fingertips. He knew what was to come. His lies could only get them so far. No matter how much he hated doing this, he knew if he didn't use the given tactics that they would punish him. He had too much to live for only to die for someone he's just met.

"I want to help you, believe me. But if you won't tell me anything, I'll have no choice but to persuade you using tactics that aren't necessarily legal...Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Malik understood it as clear as day: Rowan had a job to do and expectations. If he didn't do this then they would punish him which is something Malik couldn't allow.

"I understand what you have to do. Just please, make it quick."

Rowan gulped and looked around the dirty room until his eyes landed on a knife. He picked it up and used it to cut the fabric that remained of Malik's shirt, exposing his skin to the air. His chest was rising quickly, his breathing shallow and riled with fear. The boy was still wearing a blindfold which exacerbating the experience. Rowan's conscience was testing him, whispering in his ear the mistakes he was committing over and over again.

"Malik, If you tell me the truth than I won't have to this." He took a deep breath, "Please, Malik, don't make me do this."

He remained silent, he wished he could bare it all but he was stuck at a crossroad but his core insisted he remained silent and took his punishment like a man rather than to cower away as his brother had done. I'm not a traitor, I'm not a traitor...

"That's not what I wanted to hear, Malik." Rowan hesitated for a short moment but still managed to place the knife against his shirt. "I'm so sorry for this."

In one swift movement, Rowan had broken the skin of the boy's brown skin till the blood gushed out. He continued to cut, dozens of them like he'd been trained to do. He wasn't going deep, that was the one thing he had control over. After a dozen cuts painted Malik's chest like a canvas,  Rowan stopped and grabbed the wet cloth to help clean him up. It was the least he could do.

Malik swallowed his screams, tears streaming down his dirty face as he pleads for mercy.

Rowan shut his eyes tightly at Malik's screams; every single one of them excruciating and full of pain. He hated that Malik for refusing to talk yet he respected him for his loyalty to his family. 

"I'm gonna ask you again, Malik. What were you doing in the field of our military base?"

"Just get it over with, Rowan."

"But you can stop this if you just say something. Why here? You knew we'd catch you, so why did you come here? There must be a reason."

Malik sighed, the soldier could read him like an open book. He wanted to tell him, he was starting to trust him deeply, however, it was the other that he didn't trust."

Malik sighed, "I can't tell you because otherwise you'll report it to your boss or whatever and he'll kill her."

Rowan's eyes widened, "Her?"

Malik didn't respond, he looked down at the ground and tears began to cluster underneath the dirty blindfold.

"I promise I won't tell my lieutenant. Whatever you tell me won't ever leave this room."

Rowan could tell that Malik was considering telling him who she was and why he was willing to risk his life to protect her. The boy took a deep breath and lifted his head, sniffling his runny nose before finally deciding to open up. Rowan immediately took the cloth and put it back into the bucket of water beside them and lifted a bottle of clean, fresh, spring water to Malik's lips and offered him a drink.

"Thank you." Malik swallowed and settled himself. "Before my brother was caught, he was trying to find our little sister. This military base used to be our old playing field, there used to be the skeleton of a soccer field, with only the metal bars remaining. I was looking for her. She's the only family I have left, she's just a little girl."

Rowan felt something deep inside of him; a sort of mixture composed of rage and anger that had been bottled up for too long. This war wasn't only about what's right or wrong, this was the complete and utter destruction of humanity. Rowan couldn't believe he was taking part in such a sick act. If it weren't for the government's brutal mandatory enrollment in the military for anyone over the age of eighteen then he'd be at home right now, with his family, focusing on his studies and his future career. Instead, he's being forced to bleed for someone's mistakes whereas they are sitting in security, peace, and luxury while thousands of young men are slaughtered fighting for them.

As Rowan was leaning forward to further clean his wounds, the door swung open for he had forgotten to lock it, and Dax barged in with a look of fury painted across his demonic face.

"What the hell is going in here?"