Our Time Bomb

Chapter 51 ~ Of other battles I know not

5 days later... (Jefferson's pov)

"What do you mean, half the village is dead?" I tiredly run a cloth over my sword, every bone in my body aches terribly. 

"there is no apparent cause for all of these deaths Captain, but suddenly the other day they just started dying from an unknown sickness. There is chaos at the hospitals and everyone is going crazy, the battlefront has not been informed of it until now." Miles is by my side with a worried look on his young face. 

"Is it an epidemic? an attack from Shadow nation?"

"No I don't think Shadow Nation has got anything to do with it Sir, they are occupied with defending their compound." he says.

"there will be another battle tonight... keep me informed of this epidemic but it cannot be investigated at the moment." I say.

"yes Sir." Miles nods and begins to walk away.

"wait." I call after  him. We are in a small camp we've made a mile or two away from the compound. 

"Yes?"

"are you..." I hesitantly ask, "having a hard time with this? I mean, you're Shadow Nation and all, is this not at least the littlest affect on you?"

He turns around and stares blankly at me, perhaps it was a bad time to bring this up.

"umm..." He sighs, "well I suppose I've been trying to force myself not to think about it. I don't live that life anymore, you know?"

"Yeah I understand, good for you Miles. You can talk to me anytime you like though if you are having a hard time."

"thanks..."

I lay back in my cot and close my throbbing eyes. I have not slept for about twenty-four hours, an even then, it was not more than perhaps five hours that I got to sleep. I think over the last few days. It's been hectic. I thought that this would be an easy victory, but the Shadow Nation have incredible defenses. I don't know how long this will take us. 

On the day that we first attacked, we learned some things about our enemy that we should have seen coming. They are not stupid, and neither is their leader, they would not pick a fight with us if they didn't think they could drive us back. I have so many responsibilities and things I have to deal with. Now another thing... some epidemic that is killing people. 

I close my eyes and sigh, what will I do... Thinking about the attacks we've been launching, they have not proved successful thus far. We have been trying to think of a way to draw the Shadow Nation out of their strategic defenses which have proved hard to penetrate. Just the thought that my wife is behind all of this... I can't help feeling so angry, so cheated. I've never heard of relationship drama quite like ours. I would do anything to have her in my arms right now, yet at the same time, I want to strangle her to death. 

The next day...

I dodge an arrow that whizzes past my ear. How their range is so great even in the midst of a forest, I don't know. They are certainly Shadow Nation, they know the forest like the back of their hands. So far, they have mostly succeeded at mowing us down as we come. I have developed a new tactic where we all hold a shield above our heads to block the attacks. It is better for sure, but many of us are still being weeded out. Suddenly I struggle to breathe. What's going on?! It feels like I'm being suffocated. Everyone around me stops moving forward. I look up at the makeshift fortresses made by the Shadow Nation that tower above our heads. Is this a gas attack that they've released?  I didn't know that they had that technology here. But no, they too are struggling to breathe. Several of them lose their balance from their posts hidden in the trees and they fall to the ground, dozens at a time, dropping like flies.