Beast Tamer: A Soldiers Life For Me (Book 2)

Chapter 3: Consolation for The Damned

(Y/n) Pov.

I bolt upwards in my bed, sweating and short of breath, "Just another nightmare... None of that really happened..." I told myself as I closed my eyes and tried to steady my breathing.

"Sorry but... That wasn't a dream." I hear a voice from next to me. I don't need to look at him to know it was Jace, "W-what? You mean..." I trail off as the images of Alex, Butch, and my dying father came to mind, nearly making me puke my guts out. Jace sits there for a moment, "Bishop Fang died 10 hours ago. Unfortunately, his death was not quick as he had drowned in his own blood..." He said sadly taking a seat on a couch near the bed I was sitting in, however, rather than his signature leather jacket he is in a more uniform-like outfit consisting of a grey long sleeve shirt and tan cargo pants.

I quickly scramble out of my bed and throw open a door hoping it was the bathroom of wherever we were. Luckily, it was as I dropped to my knees and finally lost the contents of my stomach. After a minute or two, I get off the ground and walk back out of the bathroom, finally getting a good look at the room. It was as large as my bedroom at home but, it had absolutely nothing it other than the bed and couch. Looking back at Jace, I've noticed that he has started bouncing his leg, filling the would be silence with the sound of his combat boot's heel hitting the concrete floor.

"Where are we?" I ask him trying to take in whatever was happening. He stops tapping his foot as he looks up at me, "Well, we are in an old laboratory that was made into a military camp nearly eight years ago." He said leaning back into the couch, "What about everyone else? Is it only you and I?!" I asked frantically as the thought of losing more people I love scared me. Jace quickly got out of his seat and held up his hands trying to calm me, "Hey! They're here too, it's alright. Emma and Jackie are down the hall, Nick and Alex are in medical, and everyone else is with a friend of mine." His words calmed me and even made me happy to know that Alex somehow didn't die.

"What about my father...?" I asked quietly. At first, I'm not sure if he heard me as he just stared at me, but what he said next shocked me, "We left his body back home." He said dropping his arms to his sides. I stared at him, my shock quickly becoming a rage, "Why the fuck would you leave him there!? Just to rot!?" I scream at him making him back up a bit, "Calm down! I know what you're going through is tough but-" I quickly cut him off, "No! You don't fucking know! You have no fucking idea what pain I feel right now!" I yell stomping towards him as I slowly start seeing red. Jace stops backing away and starts yelling as well, "Will you shut the fuck up and let me talk!?"

This sends me over the edge as I slug him in the face dropping him to the ground. However, he doesn't stay there long as he jumps back onto his feet. He moves quickly as he moves back down getting in a three-point position and sweeping my legs out from under me faster than I could react. He stands back up as my ass hits the floor, "You don't think I've experienced loss! That I haven't lost someone I love!" He yells with fury looking down at me, "My father was taken from me!!! He got cancer 4 years ago when he and I moved into town!" He starts pacing the room while roughly grabbing his head in anger, "When he was in the hospital, his asshole of a son didn't visit him, not even when he received panicked calls from his father asking him to just see him on more time b-before he-!" Jace crashed onto the couch still holding his head as his voice cracked and he sobbed.

I sit there shocked as I see my normally calm and held together friend starts breaking down, showing me a side I never expected to see from him. I sit upon the ground, not knowing what to say to the friend I punched not a moment ago as he starts releasing what he has seemingly locked away for a long time, "Why didn't whatever god is up there kill me instead? W-why didn't he kill the depressed a-asshole w-who hurts the people around h-him...?" He said as he continued to sob as tears drenched the fur under his eyes.