"What do you mean you left her there?!" a furious father grabs the commander by his collar.
"We were under attack, and she wasn't with the rest of the group," the commander takes hold of the man's wrist, forcing him to let him go. "I'm very sorry, but we couldn't stop to take inventory on who was and wasn't following along."
""Inventory"?! Is that all your soldiers are to you? Livestock?!" he shouts. His comment cuts deep into the entire squad. They understand the accusations, but know trying to explain would only cause more grief. She wasn't the only casualty of the mission.
"I value my soldiers lives more than my own, I can assure you," the commander asserts. "I do not hold the casualties on our missions lightly. I am deeply, deeply troubled that we couldn't save her, but there was nothing we could have done."
He backs away in disbelief, in shock, asking how this could have happened. His youngest daughter, lost beyond the walls, in that forsaken forest. And the light was soon fading. As much as he didn't want to believe it, he knew she wouldn't last the night.
No one could.