The Burning Flames: "" I
Everyone stares at Theo in shock. They can't believe that he just asked the whole unit to back away from their tasks.
"What? Private William James, are you insane?" the Assistant Team Leader of the searching team asks in a displeased manner. Everyone doesn't seem pleased to hear his idea, and he already guessed it to be that way.
Team Leader Justin can sees Theo's determination to go back, but he wonders why. What's the reason for him to bring the searching team back? What's necessary about it? So he asks.
"And why do you suggest us to go back, Private William James?" the team leader asks in hope to find a good reasoning behind this. The whole team waits for Theo's answer. What's reasonable for that?
"I have my reasons. But I do need us to go back," Theo's answer is not convincing enough. Theo can't answer truthfully because it is only based on his instinct and hunch. There's nothing to back it up.
Some of them sigh in annoyance and some of them just keep themselves quiet, not knowing what to say as the whole situation unfolding in front of them.
"Stop this nonsense, Private William James. We are not going back," Team Leader Justin sighs in disappointment. He thought maybe Theo could give him some valid reasons to go back, and not just a hunch. Theo already got the grasp of the answer that the team leader is going to give him, but he can't risk it here.
"But team leader-" Theo's word got cut off by the Assistant Team Leader.
"Team leader already told you to stop. Your reasons are baseless," the Assistant Team Leader looks a bit frustrated. None of them seems fond of this idea at all. Theo knows that he is alone in this one. But he still insist on going.
"Team leader, if so then please excuse me from the team. I will go back by myself," he said sternly. He got a feeling that he needs to go back no matter what. This only make the whole unit frustrated.
"Listen here, kid. We know that you have PTSD from what happened to Unit 109, but that doesn't mean everything will turn out the same way. The area has already been cleared." Lieutenant Nebir starts to meddle in. Theo is furious when he mentioned Unit 109 in front of him.
"This has nothing to do with my personal feelings, Lieutenant," Theo answers fiercely. He won't tolerate anyone who dares to mention Unit 109, especially after he knew about the fact that the higher ups were responsible. Some other units were involved, and this one might not be an exception after all.
Theo doubts that the Commander of Unit 125, or Commander Henry would smile and try to be friendly without any reason. That guy must've tried to pissed Theo off.
"Then what? You said that you can't state your reasons and decided to keep it to yourself, but the real reason behind that is because you only follow your hunch, no?" Lieutenant Nebir's tone is as if he's trying to provoke Theo. He also looks at Theo fiercely.
Theo glares at him because what Lieutenant Nebir said was the truth, but he can't admit to that. If he did, it would be a lost on his side. The both of them look like they are going to punch each other nonstop. It's tense as if a fight is about to break out.
Seeing them acting 'immature', Team Leader Justin sighs in frustration, before he gets between their conversation to stop them.
"Lieutenant Nebir and Private William James, stop this childish act now." said the team leader with strict and loud tone. Both Theo and Lieutenant Nebir shut their mouth and lower their gaze to show respect.
"Lieutenant Nebir, you should quit arguing with someone's younger than you. This is the last warning from me," the team leader turns to Lieutenant Nebir as he gave him a warning. Then, he turns his head to Theo.
"Private William James, your idea is unnecessary, and you did not get my permission to move alone. End of discussion." the team leader silence the both of them. Theo can't really do anything since he needs to obey the command. Every other soldiers that are witnessing the scenario keep themselves quiet, no one dare to talk about it.
When the night comes, they decided to rest for a while before going back to the secure area where the recovery team and guarding team stayed. They build a campfire to stay warm for the night. Everyone sits near each other, though some of them distance themselves, like Theo and Lieutenant Nebir. The both of them refuse to blend in with the rest since the moment they got silenced.
"Should we really let them isolate themselves from the rest?" Assistant Team Leader approaches Team Leader Justin with a bottle of water. The team leader was changing the route that the searching team will take since he wants to check the surrounding area too.
Team Leader Justin turns his attention to the assistant team leader and look at both the separate area where Theo and Lieutenant Nebir isolate themselves. Theo is sitting behind a tent, meanwhile Lieutenant Nebir stood behind a tree. Hiding their appearance.
"The both of them are quite stubborn. What do you suggest we do to alter that? We don't have anything to do with them, we're not at school trying to educate children," he said sternly, refuse to even try. They will only give him headache.
"I believe that trying to make them blend in and feel familiar with the team is one of the duty of a Team Leader," the Assistant Team Leader hands the bottle of water to Team Leader Justin. Trying to make a comforting gesture, along with showing him that a small act might help the two of them blends in with the rest.
Team Leader Justin stares at the water bottle, before he glances at the Assistant Team Leader. Seems like being on a battlefield for too long almost makes him forgot all about empathy and connections.
"You have never changed even one bit, John.." Team Leader Justin sighs as he takes the water bottle from the Assistant Team Leader.
"I will go talk to Private William James. You should talk to Aqua-.. Lieutenant Nebir and calm him down," he said as he stands up and approaches Theo. Theo is just staring at the ground, not making a single noise. He's not up for the camping mood at all.
"Private William James," the team leader calls out to Theo. Theo turns his head to look at the one that called his 'name'. He stares back at the ground when he realized it was the team leader. He acts like a rebellious child in Team Leader Justin's eyes.
"Drink a bit of water. You need to stay hydrated," he sits down next to Theo and hands the water bottle to him. Trying to at least make it easy to talk to Theo after this. Theo glances at the bottle, but forget his needs for water. He refuses to drink.
"..." the Team Leader notices Theo's gesture, and put down the water bottle on the ground next to Theo. He just stares at the star after, thinking of a way to create a conversation between him and this rookie.
"You started training when you were 19 right?" The Team Leader thought that he needs to start with something that could at least connects their feelings together. Theo keeps himself quiet, contemplating whether to answer or not. He didn't want to talk to anyone, but it will be disrespectful to not answer the team leader.
Team Leader Justin swap his attention to Theo. He keeps quiet for a long time, it seems that he didn't really want to talk at the moment.
"Quite young for this generation. But I guess it's really can't be helped. It was bound to happen," he said, continuing the conversation even though he is the only one talking. The age to join the military was at least 24 back in the day. But now, even a 17 years old can join the military, either by force or willingly.
The youngest recorded to join the military was 18 years old. 19 years old is considered as young too. These youngsters should focus on education and trying to apply for college. But in this age of doom, education can't be spread elsewhere. Even the most civilized island was completely destroyed by those machines, now becoming nothing but a history to everyone that live until this day.
"Drink the water and rest. We will continue our moves tomorrow," Team Leader Justin stands up. Theo nods slowly upon hearing that. The bad feeling just lingers around, he can't get a grasp of the situation with it haunting his mind. The team leader noticed Theo's troubled face, and attempted to try giving him comfort.
"You shouldn't worry too much," he said as he places his hand on Theo's head, giving him some sort of a head pat. Theo looks at the team leader, startled.
"Ah... I apologize," the team leader removes his hand from Theo's head. It was a habit of his back when he was still a bit young. The situation is a bit awkward now, so Team Leader Justin excuses himself and leaves Theo alone.
Theo continues to stare into the horizon before glancing at the water bottle. Maybe he should stop acting immature.. he takes the water bottle and drinks slowly.
***********
As the sun rises behind the grey clouds, the searching teams pack their stuffs, and getting ready to leave the area. Following the map that has been marked by the team leader, they will take a turn once they nearly reach the Western border.
As they continue on their search, they found nothing. No survivors, or machines on their way. It might put them at ease, but Theo can't shake off the feeling of dread washing over him. Lieutenant Nebir feels the same, along with some others.
"Troops, we will head back to the recovery team area. Prepare to move," Team Leader Justin command the team to fall back. There's nothing to search for anymore. They start to move back towards the recovery team area.
Everyone still keeps their guard up as they move through the tall trees, heading back. The ground is getting slippery since it's starting to pour. Looks like it's not going to be an easy way back.
They continue to move downhill, searching for materials on their way. As they nearly reach the area, they can sense the smell of something burning, even if its subtle. They can see smokes around the area too.
Team Leader Justin command everyone to stop as he walk up front to get a better look. The smoke covering the area is fading as the rain gets heavier. They didn't notice the smoke earlier because of the 6 meters tall trees, but it seems like something have happened at the area, since they couldn't see any soldier from the guarding team.
Theo, getting a hunch of something really bad had happened, rushes down the hill, through the bushes. He left the searching team and head to the area.
"Private William James!" Team Leader Justin calls out Theo's name loudly, but got ignored. The whole team is dumbfounded by this situation, but then, Lieutenant Nebir also follows Theo as he runs down too. Assistant Team Leader looks at Team Leader Justin, waiting for the next command. The team leader grunts before giving his command.
"All troops prepare for battle!" he said as everyone raises their shotgun, pointing it forward, and starts to march ahead. Team Leader Justin hopes for nothing bad, but there's no way nothing happened when there's smoke around the area.
As they get closer, they start to smell the scent of blood and flesh. The color drained from their faces as they move faster. When they finally arrive, they can see Theo standing still, looking at the area in front of him. Meanwhile Lieutenant Nebir just rushed into the area, looking around in panic.
As they saw a glimpse of what happened, they stop moving. They can't believe what they're seeing.
Another massacre... had occured.