Leadership [Short Story] ✅

Part 4

They are mafias.

After the whole skirmish, we held them captive and interrogated them – which wasn't a simple, undemanding task. The story is that they had been devising the plan for a year, bringing in new activists, as they like to call it. I haven't exactly heard the details, since it isn't exactly my job to conduct such interrogation. One thing for certain, though, is that these mafias, these raiders, aren't going to rest even though they have retreated.

That is why Squads One until Four have been instructed to stay while the rest flew off to some other boroughs that have been envisaged to undergo similar events. Not that we forced the information out of the captives – we're not that immoral. Besides, we are perceptive people with sharp minds, so we merely did the maths. The captives had refused to tell us anything more when they were asked about the whereabouts of their other bands, so we detained them.

Staying in Sheffield for almost a month now hasn't exactly been a holiday even though there are hardly any movement. The reason to that might just be the fact that the mafias have, in some way, been informed about our temporal settling. Every night, for the past four weeks, we set up watch-outs to observe any dubious movements, in case someone is spying on us or some sort. I came up with the idea just a couple of weeks ago that our watching schedules shouldn't be the same for each soldier for each night. "Someone clever out there might be jotting down notes when they watch us try to watch out for them," I'd pointed out one evening. "They might know who's not alert and who is, and they'll definitely take advantage of that."

They had assented then. I have to admit that it gets quite gruelling as nights pass. Sometimes, a few of us forget we're on shifts and sleep throughout the entire night – myself included, after trekking the forest the entire day and forgetting that I was on clock at three in the morning.

Apart from that, us soldiers also do other tasks rather than just performing the military operation. Just a couple of weeks ago, a few of the townspeople asked the privates whether they have any other proficiencies apart from handling guns and rifles and breathing a thousand volume of oxygen per second ("Excuse me?" Terry Watkinson from Squad Three had retorted when asked such question). Not that I didn't see the questions coming, seeing as most of the dwellers of this part of the town have evacuated, leaving the militaries and a handful of the townspeople who are in charge to watch over the town. It is still in its ruins, and they need to do some reparation if the militaries are going to inhabit the area for who knows how long.

That is how I know that more than a handful of us are mechanics – Ranel included. "I used to do engineering," he'd told me that day.

In result, the privates have their part-time duties in this town. Whenever they are off their tasks, they would simply leave the encampment to go to other parts of the town to do some reparation and whatnot. Since I'm not a private, and nobody asked whether I have other skills rather than just "handling guns and rifles and breathing a thousand volume of oxygen per second" – I mean, I can cook – I remain with my operation. We have not settled the issue with the mafias, after all. Of course, there are more armed forces out there currently doing the same task. Still, the thought of doing something else that we simply enjoy seems great. Besides that – and much to my let-down – I don't get to see Ranel a lot often after duties. After growing fond of that boy, it's quite difficult to not at least have a small, casual talk with him each day – even if it just feeding birds.

Whenever I am relieved off duty, I would explore the town all by myself for the reason that I, in some way, don't always feel like I'm living up to my maximum potential at operating the tasks, which makes me dissatisfied with myself. Besides that, I have nothing better to do. Either that, or I just need to clear my head – boost, as Caden would like to call it – away from everyone. Though, at times when I'm wandering alone, I find myself craving for a company.