A Sense of Realisation

Amidst the gentle evening breeze, the few remaining recruits waited in the clearing. They sat on the ground with exhausted expressions. The brutality of the day's event was jarring to them.

It was only after a while that more military trucks arrived at the area. These were the soldiers stationed in Baywich. They quickly put Marco in the ambulance and gave him an oxygen mask. His breathing was very unsteady and he had lost a lot of blood.

Richard's minor wounds were treated and the rest of the recruits, numbering 80, were led to the trucks. Those that required treatment were attended to and given first aid treatment.

The rest of the reinforcement proceeded into the forest to check for survivors. Bodies were scattered across the area. Some were still intact with a few bullets wounds but some were completely dismembered or reduced to splinters. They checked the whole forest and the first battle scene. There were no survivors. The soldiers scanned the area and accounted for three exoskeleton suits. They checked the suits and found that they were completely destroyed.

This left them in surprise. One of these 'metallic soldiers' was enough to take on a hundred soldiers without losing steam. How could three of them be beaten to such a state?

"Sir," one of the soldiers saluted. "Some parts are still salvageable but the overall suit is nothing but scrap metal."

The man he was addressing nodded with a sigh. He glanced at the symbols on the attackers' chests and nodded solemnly. "This was a well calculated attempt but for what?"

"It could be that the training group interrupted their mission here so they retaliated." Another soldier suggested.

"I guess so…" the leader of the reinforcement nodded.

"Gather the dead ones," he pointed around the area. "We'll bury our men and keep the enemies for investigation purposes."

"Yes, sir!" they saluted and fanned out to pack up the corpses.

….

Arianna sat in the truck alongside other recruits. Like the others she was totally drained and her eyes dimmed slightly. She didn't know what to think or what to feel. This was the first time she had come so close to death.

It was the first time she had been close to so many deaths. It was the first time she had been in a war zone. It was the first time she had seen bodies being dismembered and flesh and blood being spattered like water.

'Meat paste…' she thought. She sighed and looked up at Richard who was still leaning back to help fight off the pain. Although he had been given pain relievers, he still didn't feel better.

Arianna pressed her hand into her thigh. "Is this how a war front looks like? Is this how it makes one feel?"

Richard looked up at her and nodded. "The war front is mostly like this. Very gruesome."

"Was this supposed to happen?" she couldn't help but wonder since Marco had been telling them that the field training was supposed to make them get a feeling of what a real war zone looked and felt like.

Richard shook his head.

Arianna sighed and rubbed her chin. She could still smell blood on her hand. Most of it wasn't hers at all. She had killed all those people yet she felt no remorse for them. They would've killed her if she had hesitated. It was the law of survival she had learned.

"I now understand why Lieutenant Marco often said that most of us will drop out after the field training." She nodded with gloomy eyes.

Richard didn't say a word. He looked to the side and after a while, he closed his eyes. Lily had taken the fighter jet back home while he waited for the reinforcement. This was his fault. He felt that he was a magnet for trouble for his team.

'The Zeros always attack me…' he thought. 'What do they want? Who are they?'

His thoughts were interrupted when Edwin suddenly said, "I'm cold…"

Arianna glanced at him before gripping his shoulder tightly in a bid to comfort him. The truck drove forward in silence as they returned back to Misthill.

….

Richard returned home and was taken to the hospital to receive treatment. Lily came to visit him after a while and brought food with her.

Richard smiled on seeing her. "You still do your duties well."

Lily snorted. "When have I not done my duty?"

Richard sighed and sat up. He observed her for a while before asking, "Have you told my mother about this?"

Lily shook her head. "It was…not so important."

Richard nodded. He somehow felt like he knew the major reason she hadn't told his mother that he had just escaped another near-death encounter with the Zeros. He smiled bitterly. "Thank you."

"Now I feel like your mother." Lily teased.

"You should change your bearing a bit otherwise you won't get any man to like you with your bossy character."

Lily laughed at his comment and simply flexed her muscle. "Who needs to convince a man through gentleness when you've got these?"

"What does that imply?"

"It means I can force any man into a relationship with me."

"Please don't. It adds another level of awkwardness to your already awkward attitude."

Richard ate the food she brought and after talking for a bit, she left. He sat there in silence. His waist was hurting less and he had rested enough to regain the strength to walk if not run.

He thought back at the events of the attack but he couldn't make any sense of it. As he was thinking about this, the door opened and Priscilla stumbled in with a worried face. She didn't give him the time to react but simply trapped him in a tight hug.

"I was so worried about you when I heard the news." She said and wrapped her arms around him tightly. Richard put his arms to her back and stroked her gently.

"I'm fine."

In fact, he was more than fine. Having her here made it all go away.