Visari Square, Part II
Velasquez and I casually trudged trough the barren, shelled-out remains of what the Higs called "Visari Square". I remember studying about Helghan civilization back in high school on my home planet, Vekta. According to our textbooks, Helghan was "a barren, desolate wasteland of a planet with a toxic, blackened atmosphere, hostile wildlife, and very little means of sustaining life." In other words, it was a shithole; they couldn't be more right. If it wasn't for the mandatory environment simulations and viral inoculations the ISA puts all trainees through, we probably wouldn't last three seconds on this rock. But even with all that preparation, the planet's caustic atmosphere still burned our lungs every time we breathed it; some of our guys even came down with lung cancer because of it! I couldn't imagine how the Helghast managed to survive here for as long as they did-I guess it was their gas masks that saved them.
As the Corporal and I cautiously humped through the war-torn street, I looked over our surroundings. Our warships were not kind to Phyrrus. Before we came, the Helghan capital was already a miserable collection of tiny, rustic shanties and broken, poorly-lit apartments. Now, it's a neverending labyrinth of shelled out-buildings, crumbling monuments, burning vehicles, and lifeless, bullet-riddled corpses. The city was as quiet as a for the sounds of my nervous breathing and the loud, tentative footsteps Marco and I made, there was nothing but eerie, deathly silence all throughout Visari Square. As I looked at all the damages our invasion caused, I started to get a burning feeling in my stomach. I didn't know what it was, but I felt like I'd just taken a sucker-punch to the gut, and it only grew more intense as we walked. Maybe it was my nagging anxiety of another surprise attack by the enemy. Maybe it was my concern for the safety of my brother and the rest of the squad. Or... maybe it was my guilt over how we've just taken away from the Higs what little they have for a home.
"Damn," Velasquez said, breaking up the painful silence. "Our airstrikes sure did a number on this city."
"Yeah." I hesitantly replied, "The... the whole town's gone to Hell."
The Latino corporal turned his head towards me.
"You all right, kid? It's not like you to be this quiet. You worried about your brother?"
"No, no, Marco. It's not about Jakob, it's just... look at this town. I know it belongs to the Higs and that it's a rusty, broken-down pile of crap, but still: people used to live here! Hell, men, women- people died for this town, however crappy it may be! Also, those men we just killed: all of them had families- mothers, fathers, wives, kids- people who they'll never see again." I started to feel an annoying lump in my throat (God, please don't let me break down in tears in front of Velasquez). "I guess.. what I'm trying to say is, did we do the right thing? Are we right to break into these guys' town, riddle them with bullets, and crap missiles and lasers all over their town?"
The Corporal let out a heavyhearted sigh and pointed his gun downward.
"Well, I understand how you feel, kid. I know you're a rookie, so, this is harder for you to take in than for most of us. However, there's one thing you gotta understand: the Helghast started this war. They brought all this shit upon themselves when they invaded Vekta. All the damage we did to this town is nothing- I repeat: nothing... compared to all the chaos and destruction that Visari's hounds brought upon us! This whole operation is just God's judgment at work. Besides, all the Higs we killed swore to their king Visari that they would 'give up their lives to preserve the Helghast race' or some shit like that. We're just givin' them exactly what they wished for... let's just hope they're all fuckin' happy."
"Yeah", I replied, with nothing more to say. When we finally made our way to the enemy's side of the street, what we saw there damn near stopped my heart! The street was covered-no, littered with dozens of Helghan corpses! The sight was almost unbearable- the Higs's bodies were spread around the ground in gruesome, freakish ways: their torsos and limbs were drilled through by our bullets, their blood literally painted the ground a putrid red beneath them, some of them were even completely decapitated because of a few well-placed shots (definitely Andy and Yoshi's handiwork)! Even the Higs' masks, which used to glow a bright, demonic red had become just as dead and lifeless as their wearers. But, by far, the worst... most horrendous thing about this... the smell. Oh, God... the smell. That horrible, putrid, nauseating smell of rotting corpses all around the street. Imagine the smell of 500 garbage bags combined with the odor of 1200 pounds of roadkill- but worse. I just couldn't stand it; not even my the medical scarf around my face could shield my mouth and nose from this Godawful smell. It nearly caused me to vomit in my own helmet! The whole image was so nauseating, it almost literally froze my mind and put me into a walking coma.
Velasquez, with a worried look on his face, put his hand on my left shoulder and said, ''Markus? Markus! Are you alright? Look, kid, I know you're just a rookie. You've been on this planet for barely one hour and you're not used to seein' this kind of shit before. If you want, I'll scout ahead by myself and you can just sit here and rest. You understand."
I didn't reply. "Kid? Kid, can you here me!?"
Finally, I came to my senses and saw the Corporal reaching out to me. Crap. I did not want to go any further towards that mass grave we'd just created, but I also did not want to shy away from my duties as a soldier. Jakob once told me that a soldier must always be prepared to accomplish any task, no matter how much he despises it. I couldn't let my disgust and horror cause me to neglect my orders and put Cpl. Velasquez at risk. After all, I was a Medic; it's my job to keep him alive.
Still reeling from my traumatized state, I simply said "No. No. I'll stay with you, Marco." I couldn't just look like a coward.
The Latino Corporal let out an uneasy sigh and replied, "All right then. Remember your orders: scout around and look for supplies. Find anything good, we report to Redfield."
"Yes sir." And with that, we followed our orders and began our grave robbing mission. Like Marco said, the Higs wanted to die for their planet- they got it.
End of Chapter II. I know this took me a long time to finish. Between going to school and family vacations, I didn't have a lot of time to write. But, no matter! On to chapter III!