It All Came Falling Down

fourteen

    A swift bullet whizzed through the air, grazing across my left sleeve, tearing the uniform fabric and forming a bleeding horizontal slash with a burning sensation. The assailant readjusted his aim and was itching to shoot again.
    “Hold your fire!” Hero shouted, pulling me back and stepping forward. She removed her helmet, revealing her face and shoulder-length hair. “Hold your fire,” she said again. “We’re friendlies.”
    I had gotten a better look at the combatants. They wore camouflage militia-style clothing and held weapons that weren’t exactly state of the art but got the job done. 
    “Hirokulysia!” called one of the insurgents, who was older than the one who tried to kill me, with relief. 
    “Uncle!” Hero ran and embraced him. “You all launched the invasion early?”
    “Your mother reached our camp, dear. We heard about your brother and deployed most of our strength as soon as we heard. Is he…” the man responded, pausing at the end.
    “Androleus is gone, Uncle,” she told him, withholding tears. “And we would be too if we don’t get out of here. The Esdrusians are retreating, and an artillery strike is imminent. This town is crucial for supply lines, and they will indubitably return.”
    The insurgent turned towards me, continuing to speak. “We will pull back then. It’s only a matter of time before the enemy becomes clear of the bombing radius. But who is this?”
    “A friend,” Hero said, letting go of her uncle. 
    “Is he Resistance?” he asked sceptically. His niece shook her head. “If not what is he then?”
    “Esdrusian Army soldier.” When this was said, the combatants raised their rifles at me again. I was gripping the weapon graze with my opposite hand, but I did not move. The most that I did was roll my eyes and groan. They obviously didn’t trust me.
    “Alright, look people! Stop wasting time,” I finally blurted out. “We need to go now!”
    “How can we trust you?” asked an insurgent. 
    “Because he helped me out. He’s different, and I’m telling you all, he is on our side!” Hero chimed in. “Uncle, let him go!”
    The man nodded with slight reluctance and ordered the others to relax. “Let’s go!” The combatants turned back to the way they came from and headed off. Hero stayed behind for another short moment.
    “I apologise for earlier, Kanston. I really do like you, but it is not the most appropriate thing right now. Perhaps we can grow closer together in another life, or another time, shall we meet again in the future by destiny... are you coming with us?” She spoke to me softly. 
    I nodded with half of a smile. “No. I have to head back to my unit.”
    Hero chuckled, but her eyes told me that my answer was not the one she was hoping for. She looked up at my face for the last time, longing— just internally begging— for me to maybe change my mind. But at last, she stood up on the tip of her toes and pressed her lips against my cheek with a kiss that shared a combination of varying emotion: sadness, happiness, stress, and maybe even a sense of excitement. This was her way of saying goodbye— her way of saying there was a possibility of never meeting me, embracing me, or kissing me again. A teardrop rolled down her cheek. She turned around and took off into the night.
    With salty tears streaming down my dirty cheeks myself, I breathed in and began to head the other direction. It was then, a sharp, unbearable ringing sound brought me to my knees. I gripped my ears with both hands, and my mouth was wide open and screaming, although I did not hear anything. I hadn’t even realised my whole body was covered in dirt and ash. A building nearby was completely obliterated, and splinters and small debris particles had torn many parts of my skin. I guessed it was the adrenaline, which was immediately rushing through my system, that prevented me from feeling pain at the time. Something fell out of the sky landed not too far from where I knelt, exploding and creating a large pit in the ground. I was sent flying backwards with a force I could not withstand. I rotated mid-air and slammed onto the ground with the front of my body, completely winded. My head smashed into the cobblestone, warm blood then dripping out and onto the street. The world spun, and everything became blurry. I gasped desperately for a breath before it all went black.

    I blinked twice, but my vision was still blurred. I did not know what was going on, but u could sense myself being dragged out of rubble. There were multiple non-fatal lacerations on my body; I felt the pain and the blood oozing out of them. After a short while of being pulled out, the dust that only made my sight worse was beginning to settle. The figure who was moving me had then set me on my back, down on a cobblestone street. That person walked around and knelt down: she was a young woman wearing scratched spectacles and had  shoulder-length hair. Beneath the sweat and dust, cut lips, tattered clothes, she was a breathtakingly beautiful lady with slightly tinted skin and glimmering eyes. 
    “Kanston! Are you well?” she practically shouted, but I barely heard. “Kanston, how are you feeling?”
    I groaned, feeling myself with uncontrollable shaking hands. “Who are you?” I managed to reply. “Where am I? What happened?” The questions raced around my mind, making the headache I already had more painful. Everything was sore— my face, throat, limbs, torso. I tried my best, even through all of the chaos and disorganisation to try to get a grasp of the events that occurred. It appeared we were amidst a bombardment of some sort.
    “What do you mean? Kanston!” the woman laid a hand on my face and began to examine me. Upon closer analysis, it seemed she donned an Esdrusian Army uniform, but it was too stained and damaged to tell for sure. Most of it was gone— likely torn or blown away— exposing much of her wounds and her skin from beneath.
    “Southern Anfaria,” I gasped, as my mind flooded with memories. “Anti-insurgency mission, Captain Daven’s company. Lurissa: garden and flowers. My partner, Sergeant Jorlan Gabros. General Hanley’s brigade is coming.”
    “Kanston! Listen to me! What are you trying to say?” The young woman was persistent with her questions. 
    “Who the hell are you?! Are you Resistance?!” I panicked at the thought of being disabled and vulnerable to an enemy who would want me dead. Without any hesitation, I lifted a weak arm and a clenched fist and attempted to swing a punch at the stranger. It worked; I sent her flinching in some pain and knocked her spectacles off. 
    She recovered quickly and held me down, and I was not in the state to resist. “Kanston!” she said, looking me in the eyes. “It’s me, Hero! Do you see me? We have to go! It’s almost daybreak, and they’re coming back soon!”
    “I don’t know you! Who is coming back?! Get away from me! Get the hell away from me!” I yelled, trying to find the combat knife that should’ve been sheathed and attached to my belt. Just as I figured, it was; I yanked it out and stuck it at the woman’s throat. “Don’t make me ask again!”
    The lady did not dare to move a muscle. I saw her eyes clearly enough; they were fixed on me. Tears were pouring out of them and dripping down her cheeks and onto my chest. She did not even blink. For the moment, she just stared at me as if there was some part within me that recognised her and reached out. But she just looked away and stood up with her hands raised, indicating she didn’t want any harm. “I just want to help,” was what she finally said.