Love Amidst War

Chapter Two: Legion Alert

September 12th 2049
(Cereza's POV)

As we stand in front of the mall, I can hear the sounds of the Legion moving inside and growling. An instant urge to bolt in there and kill them all, to watch their blood spill out from their broken bones overtakes me, but I force myself to stand still and listen to the Commander as he explains the strategy I came up with to the rest of the soldiers who came.

" Since the mall is so big, you'll each be split into squads of 20. Each squad will take a different section of stores and make sure to clear them out throughly... " He looks to me as I sniff the air smelling the familiar mix of salt and tainted blood. I pull out the floor plan he gave me and point to a place labeled the food court. It's one of the larger sections of the mall. " Most of them are in the food court. Once you're done with your section of the mall get back out here and make sure no one has any maso on them. "

I know he only told them where most of the Legion were in order to let them know what area to avoid. Despite the fact that he doesn't care much for the lives of the other soldiers, he would rather not have them in the area while I'm on a murder spree and at risk of losing control.

The soldiers reluctantly nod and begin to form into squads. I can hear a few of them making whispered complaints about having to follow the plan of a Half Legion and also wondering whether that plan is to lead them to their deaths at the hands of the Legion. The Commander's glare silences them before they can even voice these concerns.

He raises his weapon and pulls this little trigger causing a loud noise that makes my ears want to bleed and a little object to fly out the top hole of the weapon. I assume it's like a cannon just smaller, more portable, more accurate, and far, far less powerful.

Before the little object can land, we all rush towards the mall.

***

The minute we enter the mall, I'm already running towards a massive group of Legion at the back of the area visible from the entrance. The smell of years and years of rot and mold growing on whatever food remains is a helpful indicator that it is the food court. Even if it does make my nostrils burn and my head pound.

And then as soon as I draw close to the Legion shambling about waiting for some helpless fool to infect, I draw my sword and rush towards them. The skeletal looking creatures with no lower jaw and the back of their heads missing are much taller than me despite the fact that I'm over 6 feet tall, even taller than my father was. They spot me and suddenly charge.

Many of them are normal looking as far as the Legion go, though I see some that have odd looking folded wings sticking out of their shoulder blades. I've never seen them used though so I suppose it's just a weird mutation.

Before they can take more than a couple steps, 5 of the little squad of 50 are already gone. I smile as I see their blood splatter onto the floor and their destroyed bodies begin to dissolve into maso. Some of the blood sprays all over my skin and clothes though I just continue to smile and cut them down.

A few of them charge past me attempting to run. I turn towards them only to witness them rush towards the Commander who's standing at the entrance away from the fight. I know that he pretends he's guarding the entrance and making sure no Legion escape but in reality he's a coward who will take any opportunity to preserve his own life without caring for anyone else's.

For now, anyway I seem to be the exception. We'll see how long that lasts....

Before they can even get out of the food court, the Legion are burnt to a crisp by the magic contained in my sword. I refuse to let them hurt the Commander. My vision begins to turn red at the thought and I desperately try and clear my head to stop the red from spreading.