Dead Reckoning - A Gregorio del Pilar x Reader story

XXI - Silience

n. the kind of unnoticed excellence that carries on around you every day, unremarkably—the hidden talents of friends and coworkers, the fleeting solos of subway buskers, the slapdash eloquence of anonymous users, the unseen portfolios of aspiring artists—which would be renowned as masterpieces if only they'd been appraised by the cartel of popular taste, who assume that brilliance is a rare and precious quality, accidentally overlooking buried jewels that may not be flawless but are still somehow perfect.

* * *

It was evening when I returned to the world of the game. I find myself, as usual, to a place that is completely foreign to me. I guess, the world of the game will always be a foreign sight for me to behold. After all, I am not used with the scenery of seeing too much greenery instead of building after building.

Anyway, I hear a rustle in the leaves that before I can even turn to the direction of the sound, I find myself face-to-face with the end of a rifle pointed at my forehead. I immediately hold my breath, not thinking that I'll be placed on this very peculiar situation in the first place. The last times that I've returned to the game, it is always in the side of the allies, and not beyond enemy lines.

A full minute passed before the rifle is lowered down against me and I hear Colonel Vicente Enriquez's voice after a sigh. "Ah, ikaw pala yan, (Y/N). Akala ko kung sino. Bakit ka kasi nandito?"

I pull myself up, brushing the dirt away from my skirt and sigh in relief. "N-Nag-ikot-ikot lang. Baka may mahanap ako na paraan para silipin ang galaw ng mga kalaban."

He raises an eyebrow at me. "Kailan ka pa binigyan ng ganoong utos ni Goyong? Hindi ba dapat ay kasama mo ang mga mediko sa paghahanap ng mga dahon na maaring makatulong sa panggagamot?"

"Ah. Isa pa yun." I shake my head at once. "Ibig kong sabihin, yun talaga ang rason kung bakit ako nandito. Upang maghanap ng mga dahon na makakatulong sa panggagamot."

He looks at me intently, as if unsure if he'll believe in my words or not. In the end, he nods slowly and sighs. "Naiintindihan ko. Pero, sana, maintindihan mo rin na delikado maparito. Ilang tapak na lamang ay linya na ng mga kalaban. Sino makakapagsabi kung walang mga nakatanim na bomba dito?"

I press my lips together. Siguro kung marinig nilang may sumabog na bomba pagkatapos ko makatapak sa isa.

In the end, Enteng offers for him to walk me back to camp. I comply with him, not wanting to arouse his confusion and curiosity of the real reason that I've been there at that position out of all things and given the hour. I didn't realize how late it had been until I finally decide to look up at the sky and realize the presence of bright stars in an otherwise blanketed dark sky.

Enteng ushers me to a set-up tent by a church square and when he pulls the flap open, urging me to enter in, I realize that it had just been Goyo and his brother Julian present inside. The two appears to be talking about some heart-to-heart talk when we interrupt them, finding them two whispering at each other, a little agitated about whatever topic they are talking about. Enteng breaks the tension, "Goyong. Julian. Nakita ko ito muntikan na pumasok sa linya ng mga kalaban. Buti na lang at nandoon ako upang pigilan siya."

Goyo immediately breaks into a smirk and crosses his arms across his chest, leaning on his seat. "Ano pa ba ang aasahan mo sa isang Pendejo?"

"Goyong," Julian remarks, standing from his seat with a heavy sigh. He doesn't even break into a smile, as if he is all in business as matters currently rest. "May kakaibang nangyayari dito. Hindi naman basta-basta magpapadala ng telegrama ang Presidente ng ganito-ganito lamang."

"Anong telegrama?" Enteng immediately inquires. His curiousity, I guess, will surely one day be the death of him. He, after all, continues asking and interrogating every new information he recovers. In a different life, or possibly in my own world, that will surely make him a target of many for knowing too much. He looks at the brothers, and so do I. "Ano itong telegrama? Goyong, ano iyon?"