Carriages give me headaches and motion sickness. It's all of the jostling around on the bumpy roads, and the lurching stops. No matter how much I pleaded with Commander Perry though, he still made me accompany him in the death-wagon.
"You're my second in command. It would look bad for you to be riding on horseback or walking with the others."
His reasoning was absolutely ridiculous to me, but I respected his decision nonetheless. When I decided to choose Phoenix over death by hanging, Perry had taken me under his wing. He showed me the ropes, the ins and outs of the military world, and treated me like his own daughter. Even when people scolded for having a 'young woman' as his corporal he didn't seem to care. He taught me not to care as well, so I guess I really have him to blame for my so-called "cynical" attitude.
Perry was sat across from me with his head leaned back and eyes closed. I knew he wasn't asleep, simply "resting his eyes" as he liked to say. The slowness of his breathing told me that he would fall asleep soon though, and we were set to arrive any minute.
"Sir?"
He hums in response, his eyes not opening.
"Are these soldiers going to respect us while we're here, or only look down on us?"
Most branches of the military have mixed views on PS. Some don't believe it's actually real, mainly the Military Police. Others sneer at us, saying things like 'Why don't we just kill them now?'. I've never met anyone from the Survey Corps, though, but I have heard that some of the older soldiers treat our unit like an urban legend to scare young cadets into working harder.
"Commander Erwin will make sure that all of our needs are fulfilled. We've spoken many times. Erwin Smith is a good man, and an old friend." Perry opens his eyes slowly, straightening up his back. He turns to me and gives me one of his reassuring smiles, but his friendly gesture doesn't change the fact that he didn't even answer my questions. Just as I'm about to open my mouth in protest, the carriage jostles to a halt and I'm thrown into the side.
The older man laughs heartily at me. I send him a glare to let him know I'm not in the mood. Perry is my superior, but he's also like the father I never had. He's the only man I've ever had truly care for me.
Perry stands up, opening the door and stepping down the tiny little steps. I follow him, but I'm stunned at what I see.
A hundred or so soldiers are standing outside in front of an old castle. All of them stare at us intently, and some are even gasping. I'm not sure how our sixteen soldiers will fill in for the fallen fifty or so. I'm normally not the nervous type, but I haven't been around this many people in a long time. My hands itch to pull the crimson hood on the back of my cape over my head so that no one can see me.
"Commander Perry! Welcome to the Survey Corps Headquarters." A man with blonde hair and a handsome, chiseled chin walks up to Perry and extends his hand. Perry takes it firmly and shakes it once.
"Erwin, I'm glad to see you again so soon. Under terrible circumstances I'm afraid, though."
The man I presume to be Commander Erwin of the Survey Corps nods his head one time.
"Cruel world. But, they fought the necessary fight."
I scan the faces of the other soldiers for any form of emotion in reaction to the mention of their fallen comrades. A few of them begin to tear up, but others just stare blankly ahead of them.
The spoils of war.
"Erwin, this is my second in command Captain Lux Elton." Perry turns his head to me and slightly nudges me forward.
YOU ARE READING
Hellfire • L.A.
Fanfiction*this book is unedited, as well as a work of fiction* To the public, the Survey Corps are the most elite branch of the military, but that's not true. The Phoenix Squadron is a secret operations team with just as much, if not more, skill as the Surve...
