Twokinds: Lone Soldier

Part 16

It was dark. I couldn't see anything and couldn't feel anything, although my ability to think was still here. Am I dead? Is this what the afterlife looks like? Am I going to finally wake up in an army camp and realized that it was just a dream? I found that wasn't the case when I soon slowly opened my eyes.

The sunlight that pierced through the window beside me stung my eyes as if I was being flashed by flashlights up close. I blinked a couple of times and soon, my eyes adjusted to the light and the blurriness went away and my vision was restored.

I found myself looking up at the ceiling of a building I was being kept in. I gazed around to see I was in some sort of hospital room. I looked down at myself and my plate carrier and carbine was missing. Confusion and fear soon washed over me as I realized my gear and primary weapon is missing and could be anywhere at this moment.

I quickly placed a hand on my waist and didn't feel my warbelt. I pulled myself up to sit upright and shifted to the edge of the bed and hopped off.

"Oh, one of you has finally woken up! Your injuries weren't very severe but I expected you to wake up earlier." Someone said behind me.

My heart jumped and I quickly turned around to who spoke. I got one good glance at the Basitin and I was left with confusion. He had bandages wrapped around his eyes and had snow-white hair. He also wore a white lab coat, with white gloves and white boots that matched his feet but wore a red shirt and red pants underneath.

"What the..." I mumbled.

"Is there something wrong, sir?"

"Yeah... What's up with the bandages around your fuckin' eyes?"

"Oh, the mask. It's for privacy. Prevents... temptation. Many Basitin would be unwilling to receive treatment if there was a chance of being exposed. Many would also be unwilling if it were public knowledge that they needed help at all. So, we hide our eyes and instead rely on our ears."

"Strange, but I won't judge. So... am I being held prisoner here?"

"A prisoner? No... Or... maybe? I'm not actually sure. I won't stop you from leaving this room. But I suspect those guards stationed at the exits are there to keep you here."

"Great..." I mumbled.

"To be honest... I'm not really sure what's going on. We haven't been getting orders recently. With the king and her generals absent, the lieutenants have been fighting amongst themselves to determine who should take command. It's dissolving into chaos... But for now, it would probably be best for you to stay here."

Like hell I am, I need to find my equipment and get the hell out of here. Speaking of gear, this doctor probably knows where my things are. "Say, doc. You wouldn't happen to know where my things are, right?" I asked as I slowly shifted towards the door.

"Uh... all of your possessions from when you arrived were taken to the storeroom. It's one floor down from here. Why do you ask?"

With the location of where my things were, I quickly headed out of the room. "Sir?" I didn't respond and quickly jogged down the hallway. I passed by closed rooms and when I reached the stairs, I headed down and got to the first floor and began to go through a hallway.

As I was walking through the hallway, I picked up voices coming from the end of the hallway however I recognized the voices to be Natani's and Keith's. When I arrived at the end of the hallway, I saw both of them in the storeroom and they must've heard me coming because they instantly turned to face me.

Keith looked depressing as shit. He had a piece of cloth covering his right eye with bandages that went around his head and over the piece of cloth to keep it there. He also had bandages wrapped around a cut wound on his right ear and had no shirt on. He had an arm sling that supported his right arm and bandages wrapped around his chest. The only clothes he had were his brown pants and bandages covered his feet while Natani only had a grey blanket to cover himself.