Republic of Tactics

Republic of Tactics: Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Minutes go by until I hear footsteps. I can't see who it is from my spy hole. I fear the worse; the Alphas finding me and probably killing me on the spot. The palm branches begin to shift and the logs are being pulled away. Olden peers his brown haired head in.

"Are you okay?" Olden asks. I nod exiting the chamber which I loath due it's uncomfortable conditions. I stretch and let the warming light hit me. I turn to Olden, who is exhausted and has a few bruises on his face.

"What happened?" I simply ask him.

"The Alphas came in and attacked. They were looking for you. I.... I told them you were dead." He says unexpectedly. I look at him saying WHY? with my look.

"I said you got lost in the desert and starved to death.... It was for your protection." He tells me.

"What if they tell mother. She already lost my father, and if she believes I'm dead...." I pause my thought.

"The Alphas will return to Dorothea late today, tell her tomorrow, and tomorrow, the battle begins." He says. I sigh looking at his bruises.

"Where is everybody?" I ask him. His look reads calamity and I have a grievous hair-rising sensation.

"Many didn't make it.... including Sgt.Wolace." Olden said, his voice sounding drawled. My mouth was hanging open, I couldn't believe these news about Wolace.

"I thought he was returning to Dertus." I added. Olden began to walk back from the meadow as he talked.

"Right when the bombs were going off, his hovercraft was landing. The Alphas spotted them and brought them down a with bombs." Says Olden. I saunter behind him, looking down at the ground, kicking some rocks with my shoe.

"The city is in terrible condition. Some buildings were barely scratched though." Olden says.

"What about Ellis?" I ask.

"He's in critical condition. Life threatening." Olden disclosed.

Great, more depressing news.

"Anything else I should know about?" I tell Olden.

"Why don't you see for yourself." He points down the hill we've been hiking through and I have a clear view of Septimus.

Drenched in smoke and ash with the buildings collapsed to the ground. The gate that was struck by the missile has an enormous hole in it. Right next to the hole, in red letters, says Alphas. Our catapult vehicle has been crushed by concrete from the wall. There are still a few patches of flames spread out around the perimeter of the town, heating the weather even more than usual. Some buildings are gone, the arena, immense and upright has vanished.

Olden and I continue hiking down the hill. The smell of ash increasing as we near the entrance of Septimus. Yesterday, I caught a good look at Alpha soldiers. Still wearing the gray uniform and the titanium vest for chest protection. It made me wonder how MY uniform was going to be, I don't want to ask Olden right now though. Will it have a bullet-proof torso jacket with secret compartments for explosives?

We have reached the gate and I'm standing besides the crushed catapult. Olden examines the hole in the gate and signals to keep going. Entering the perimeter through the hole.

Once inside the gate, the homes are devastated. Demolished to the ground, heavy lumber and metal crushing everyone inside. The thought sends grief through my system. Some homes were blasted right in the middle, leaving one side completely fine and the other blown to bits. The street I'm walking on is beyond recognition as a street, it's covered in ash and debris. Particles of dust vaporizing into the air when is step in the ash.

I turn my attention to city hall once we are standing yards away. The roof had disintegrated and its walls are charring down. Some people on the streets are begging for help and I see that some of them aren't even scratched. Others however, are fighting against the pain and are scavenging through the rubble for anything profitable. I can't bear to look at them. I feel guilty for all this and I just feel like throwing myself off a cliff and ending all this madness.

"Your apartment building is fine. They've set up a rescue station in there." Olden says.

"Let's go." I say, too depressed to add any attitude to my tone. I walk with Olden, with my back to city hall. I didn't need to look back to know it collapsed right there and then.