Chapter 2:Rain

Joseph's heart continued thumping against his rib cage while his lungs breathed in and out rapidly, his hand was clenching the sheets tightly and his eyes just slowly watched the sun rising. His pulse slowly started to calm down, his breathing became steady and his hand let go while he observed his reflection.

Joseph's hair was like a freshly cut forest seen from above, with his brown hair trimmed into a buzz cut while his deep green eyes looked like slowly rotting leaves. His face looked tired even after just waking up, with light eye bags showing along his average face. He did not have any prominent scars on his face nor any moles, his angular face made him a bit attractive, slightly above average.

His body was well trained with some fat here and there. He weighed 190 pounds give or take while 6 foot 1, this led to him getting the nickname of tree while growing up, but he had to admit that he preferred that childish nickname over his current one.

-"Hey stump! Would ya stop gazing into the sunrise like some poet? Get washed and dressed, we have a new escort coming through and we were assigned to it". The man that got him out of his trance was Adam, his superior and the leader of the squad. He was taller than Joseph by a bit but was much more muscular, with a balding head and a face that you would see from a slightly melted wax sculpture. His face was oval and almost devoured by that horrid beast of a beard he grew.

-"Scheisse!" a slightly stout middle aged man said in frustration while slowly getting out of bed and going to get ready. The man that just shouted was a German soldier that got reassigned to the French side of the border due to a lack of soldiers, and he got the lucky lot of the draw to be included in this unfortunate squad.

-"Where are you going Adolph? Off to kiss some mold?" Adam said while slowly helping Joseph out of bed. The German soldier wasn't actually called Adolph but his real name was mispronounced so many times by Adam that he just decided to use the name Adolph.

-"Why do you keep antagonizing him so much? Did that promotion get to your head or what? And who or what exactly are we escorting this time? I hope it isn't another animal, I still have nightmares over what happened last time when it entered one of the Domes."

-"First off, fuck off. Second, this time it is a bunch of researchers that decided to go on a little vacation over here, I hear that section Delta has a nice view this time of the year. And yes, they will be bringing animals along with some plants and seeds."

-"If by 'nice view', you mean flesh corroding gas, then yea, I could see why it is so popular." Joseph then went to the showers so that he could clean all of the sweat off him, plus it would get all of the moisture out of the air.

{}{}{}

Once he entered the showers and turned on the tap, Joseph slowly started cleaning himself, making sure to let all of the heat enter his body and to breathe in the hot air. The water flew across his body like body like a hot river, taking with it the grime, sweat and his worries.

After a few minutes the Pilot then got a tap on his shoulder and then got asked by a younger member of the squad, a french boy that just got enlisted.

-"How could you just talk to the sergeant that way? Adolph I can understand a bit due to him being transferred and having a chip off his shoulder, but you act too rebellious towards our commanding officer". The young boy was Louis, a pretty small guy and horrifically skinny when compared to the other members of the squad, but that was mostly because of the nature of his position.

-"I speak to the bloke that way because we used to know each other before we enlisted, though I do not know why a person from the Royal Navy suddenly got assigned to The Wound." Joseph wasn't a big fan of Louis, mostly because he was french, but also because he was too much of a stickler to the rules.

Louis is a field medic and biologist. Due to the nature of The Wound every squad must have a field medic and can only operate in squads of at most 10. Going in a big group both increases the risk of any pathogen still existing in this place to more people, but also requires more resources, something that is very hard to come by when you can only enter the territory of Switzerland if you have some kind of protective suit or mask unless you wish to cough your lungs out.

The blond haired, blue eyed field medic is also in a hate/respect relationship with Adolph, which is several levels of ironic. Louis respects Adolph due to his expertise and his proficiency with fire arms, while Adolph respects the Frenchman either because of how he looks or because Germans tend to respect doctors or people that dabble in medicine. The hate comes from the tense relations between the three powers that protect the borders and try to figure out how to fix the issues that they started. These powers are France, Germany and Italy.

-"um, no offense Joseph but can I ask you something personal?" the young man asked while trying very hard to mask his accent. Joseph respects him a bit because he at least tries to accommodate the other soldiers that don't speak french even though we are technically on french territory. Most soldiers didn't really have enough time before getting reassigned or drafted here.

-"I swear Lou, if you are going to ask me again about what my favorite dessert is, I will drown you in the latrine".

-"Hey! That was a question that you never answered anyway! Plus I only asked because my mother used to tell me that you can learn a lot about a person from what they eat. My question is why you, a pilot, was reassigned here? I mean I was already confused enough when I learned you were a pilot, but you coming here doesn't really make sense. I mean sure, we always need more people to explore and to protect the borders, but I'm sure a pilot could be used somewhere else besides Dome exploration and escorting."

Joseph then stopped the water and went to dry himself, trying to come up with an answer. He was not sure whether he should say the truth or just make a random excuse, but at this point even he wasn't sure why he came here. To atone for what he did? That doesn't make sense since he would still need to shoot down mercenaries or people stupid enough to try and go inside out of curiosity or to flee the country.

To help humanity? He wasn't that stupid, he knew that most likely he would either get irreparable damage to his health, shot down and killed or many other things. Even if he would want to get reassigned, unless he was promoted or another war started, he still had a few more years until his military service was over.

-"Maybe he wants to go for a smoke in the fields?"

Both Louis and Joseph looked over at Adolph as he walked over to clean himself. All of the other members of the squad that were still showering or that could hear him also looked over before either remaining, or continuing to get ready.

-"Abelard! How could you say such a thing? Take that back!" Louis went over and tried puffing his chest to appear more intimidating, but it had the opposite effect and most of the squad members just either snickered or were more focused on what Adolph said.

Joseph was a bit surprised that Louis knew what the phrase meant but that didn't stop him from also getting a bit pissed off at Adolph said. He was just about to punch the man in his gut before Adam came over and stopped them.

-"Enough! It looks like you little rat shits got a bit heated from the showers, but unless you want to be punished, I suggest to take that heat in your souls and use it out on the field! Now go get ready, we are expected to be waiting for the research team at 0900 hours, now get moving!" Adam then went out of the showers and started getting his equipment on.

Joseph, Louis and Adolph looked at each other for a bit and then just went to prepare all of the equipment and get ready. Joseph got his MP40 and made sure that it was properly maintained and ready to be used just in case something unexpected happened. While Joseph was sure Adolph didn't like him, he wasn't sure the squad mechanic would tamper with his gun, but he wanted to make sure.

Louis organized his medical kit and put a bunch of notes and books in a specialized briefcase while Adolph went over to each squad member, fixed whatever could be fixed out of some of the other weapons, made sure every weapon had their safety on and properly loaded while cursing each time he got a weapon from a squad member that "got broken by sheer stupidity".

{}{}{}

Adam did the honors and opened the air tight exit chamber doors and revealed the infected wound of Europe to everyone yet again. The members cursed a bit under their protective suits and masks, making them sound like a badly made trombone.

While all of the members slowly climbed aboard the DEAV(Diseased Environment Armored Vehicle), or Dave, Joseph started looking around the land that was still being pelted by the rain and he wished that the Research Team would be going to the nearest Dome, or even better, around the perimeter of the barracks.

The Wound where they were at currently looked a necrotic wound, with thin gasses blanketing the ground and the remaining living vegetation. The ground was black and muddy while the trees and plants ranged wildly. Some plants looked covered in various types of mold, others were covered in fungi that sapped the life out of this dying land. The rivers and lakes had dead animals populating the surface.

It was a world of rot, mold and fungi. The rain had slight acidic properties, with some pockets of gas that could strip flesh from bone, make you grow things inside your body, bleed from every orifice and much more. Joseph was already used to these sights, but what truly scared him were the domes that could be seen out in the distance.

The Domes were created over settlements, trenches, military fortifications, any kind of place that could be bombed, gassed or infected by the opposing side. In there lay things that most researchers could barely explain, that the government would wish to remain secret, and that mercenaries killed and got paid for.

The rain pelted the suits and the DEAV, with each drop, bits of paint scattered into the air or in the puddles.When the vehicle doors opened, all of the members of the squadron went inside, got decontaminated and then took their seats. Joseph tried to calm himself as watched the the land around him run away from his sight. The long drive started, and a briefing would determine whether he would come back as flesh or fungus.