Fullmetal Alchemist: The Way To The Top

Chapter 32: Hopelessness

When the entrance of Roy's tent opened, Riza jumped to her feet immediately, holding a gun in her hand. Havoc entered the tent. Roy still slept peacefully. "Lieutenant! Did something happen?" Roy woke up, as he heard voices. "What is it?" Then he saw Havoc and stood up immediately. It was clear he wouldn't come in the middle of the night if he wouldn't have to.

"General, we captured some suspicious persons, who were running around." Roy came to his chair and took his jacket. "Where are they?" Havoc answered: "They are in the huge tent on the border of the camp." Roy and Riza put on their jackets quickly. "Is there anyone important?" Havoc shook his head. "We don't know yet, but I don't think so. I think their highest leader was probably the first one, whom the Captain shot." Riza thought for a while. "You are right. The first one caused the most chaos of all of them." Roy nodded. He went out from the tent, Riza and Havoc right behind him.

The sky  was getting red. They slept just three hours. Roy sighed. Not that he would expect a lot of sleep here. Riza and Havoc thought about warm bed, too. Roy watched all the men they passed by on their way. He ordered the Major to have enough watches in the whole camp. They should change often, so that the men would get some sleep. Roy had to admit the Major did his job properly.

When they reached the end of the camp, the sun was slowly rising from behind the horizon. Roy looked to the east. It took a long while, until his eyes got used to the strong light. The desert was red. It was red like blood. Roy tried not to think about it. He just wanted to be happy, that a new day was coming. A day he was happy to live with all of his friends. And with Riza. He turned to look at her. She was standing there in the red light of the sunrise. She was as beautiful as always. She looked back at him. The expression in her face didn't change. But her eyes gave him a clear signal. It showed endless love. A signal he gave her back. She smiled a bit.

They entered a huge tent, which stood a little bit away from the others. There they found eight men, kneeling on the ground. There was one man behind each one of them, who held a gun pointing on their heads. The enemies gave Roy, Riza and Havoc a look full of hate. Roy walked in front of them. Riza was extremely careful. She watched the situation, searching for any suspicious movement. Then Roy stood in front of the prisoners. He put on his gloves. Riza and Havoc stood behind him. In the eyes of the enemies, a little bit of respect shone. The three of them were obviously very famous.

"So," Roy said, "I would like to know, what you were planning to do here in Ishval. Why did you choose such a distant city to hide? What did you want to do here? What was your goal? How many of you were there?" One of them laughed. He seemed to be very strong and not very smart. "Why do you think we will tell you anything?" Roy gave him a scary smile. "I am not planning to leave you just go away. I will not be nice to you. You were not nice to us. I want to return you your hospitality." The man wasn't easy to scare. "As far as I remember, that woman killed our guards. I am happy to see that she will have a little memory of that." He looked on Riza's right hand with bandages. The officer, who stood behind him, put the gun closer to his head. Roy stood there for a while. "I am giving you your very last chance to speak and answer my questions." The man looked at Roy. The only thing he said was a sentence made up of curses. Roy gave the officer a short nod. He shot. The man fell dead on the ground. The rest of the prisoners looked surprised at him. They watched Roy with fear. "Is someone ready to answer my questions yet?" Roy saw there was a young man, not older than him. Obviously he hasn't seen much yet. He watched the dead man with wide eyes. Then he looked at Roy, his eyes even wider. He was shivering and his voice was shaking, as he said: "I - I will speak, Sir." Roy gave him a smile. "Very well." One of the older men looked at the young one with disgust. "Hey! You traitor! How can you?! He is a dog! Nothing more! A machine for killing!" He calmed down, first when he felt a gun touching his head.