Saviors [GiyuShino] [Apocolypse AU]

Chapter Two: Deployment

"I assume you know about the zombies reaching the underground?" A masked man leans forward, resting  his elbows atop the wooden desk in front of him.

I nod at him. "Yes." My hands are still and resting in my lap. Fidgeting is unprofessional.

My squad stays silent behind me. The man is not addressing them; they have no need to speak. He twirls his pen around in lazy figure eights, perhaps trying to intimidate us, to test us. It won't work. I am an elite soldier, one who has fought through far more than his fair share of battles. And while my subordinates may be young, they were selected to operate under me for a reason.

These facts alone are enough to tell me that the man I am talking to is not at the head of the military. He is only a messenger who happened to be assigned an important task. No one special, no one important, yet we still bow our heads. If I was an egotistical bastard like the rest of them, I would be offended.

After a long pauses, he speaks again. "Then I don't need to waste time explaining." he sets a scroll on the table in front of me.

I bow respectfully and accept the mission. "When must we leave?"

"You are to leave when the sun disappears behind the horizon. By sunset, you should be on your way." the candlelight casts flickering shadows that dance over the wall and across his mask. This man talks in circles. He is trying to sound powerful but he is only wasting his breath. As a man of few words, I find it ridiculous. To a soldier, the mission itself is all that matters.

"Yes." I say again. The man dismisses us and we leave, slipping through the hallways like silent shadows, the layout of the base so familiar that we whisper through like the wind, not the slightest falter in our step.

"Captain?" Kamado, the kindest of my men, asks as we enter our barracks.

I hand him the parchment. He smiles and unfurls it without much fanfare. I nod at him to start reading and he nods back, clearing his throat. He is the most disciplined soldier on my squad, so I can count on him to listen to me and follow my orders properly. Another thing he is useful for is stopping Agatsuma and Hashibira's arguments, which I find very helpful.

"Your mission this time is to go to District Eleven and ensure the safety of Doctor Kocho until she has discovered the cure to the mysterious zombie virus. Do not return to base until the mission has been successfully completed. Doctor Kocho is humanities last hope." Kamado finishes reading and turns the scroll around to show us all the attached picture of the doctor.

Agatsuma's eyes widen as his cheeks turn pink. "Wow! She's gorgeous!" he exclaims. He's not wrong. The doctor is probably the most beautiful woman I've met, but her looks are hardly relevant to the mission. I'm about to tell him to focus when someone else beats me to it.

Nezuko, Kamado's little sister whom he refuses to leave behind, smacks him on the head, huffing indignantly. She's probably jealous. I can't say I particularly care.

Agatsuma rubs his head and apologizes sheepishly, blushing all the while. He has the biggest crush on the younger girl. Then his face pales. "Wait! Isn't District Eleven, like, right next to District Ten? Hasn't District Ten already been invaded? Then that means District Eleven is next! We're gonna die!" he screams, tugging at his yellow hair. He shrieks for a little longer, seemingly experiencing a panic attack.

The Kamado siblings look on worriedly, while Hashibira calls him a coward, declaring his own eagerness to fight. I bite back a groan. They may be talented, but sometimes I wonder why Agatsuma even decided to become a soldier. I can understand Kamado, who's parents and younger siblings were slaughtered when the zombie virus first infected the people of his town aboveground. And Hashibira, who enjoys violence but has a soft spot for his comrades. But sometimes I wonder if Agatsuma will even have the courage to stand up and fight.

I shake my head. It doesn't matter if he's scared or not. The fact that he's here means that he's proven himself. All I have to do is give the order.

"Enough wasting time! Start getting ready." I'm already zipping up my bulletproof vest. I pull my gloves out of one of my pockets and tug them on, then slide the glass screen over my face.

The three snap to attention immediately. "Yes sir!"

---

Sunset approaches quickly, and before we know it, we're climbing into the helicopter, about to take off for District Eleven. Our pilot, a soldier named Murata, does one last safety check and lifts off. It'll be five hours until we reach our destination. Until then, all we can do is wait.

A/N: So here's chapter two! Thank you so much for reading! :D