"S-Sarge! I-I...ummm..." Carmine stuttered, stopping himself. He couldn't defend himself for his choice of actions. He had disobeyed a direct order from his Sergeant when he was specifically told not to go looking for survivors.
"What did I tell you, Carmine?" Marcus asked, his voice filled with withheld anger as Carmine shifted in place.
"You...you told me not to go back, Sarge." Carmine whispered, fear causing his voice to waver.
"But you did anyway, Rook! And now we're in the middle of hostile fucking territory with a civilian!" Marcus cursed, Carmine shrinking into himself as Alura began to shake in fear. Ben had said this man could help. He wasn't going to help at all.
"I'm sorry!" Carmine cried, his voice slightly shrill. He could feel the eyes of his squad mates on him and could feel their judgments. Carmine had let down both himself and his squad.
"You're goddamn fucking right you're sorry!" Marcus barked before calming down some. "Get back to camp, Carmine. This will never happen again." Marcus seethed, Carmine practically running in terror and embarrassment back to the makeshift camp.
"Ahhh, shit." Marcus cursed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he looked at the woman, Alura stiff in terror. She had to be a stranded.
"Don't you think you were hard on the kid, Marcus?" Dom asked. "I mean, Carmine was only doing what he thought was right."
"I know, Dom. I know, but..." Marcus sighed. "He can't disobey orders like that. It'll get him court martialed one day when he pisses off the wrong officer."
"Yeah, lovely. So what are we gonna do with this?" Baird asked, gesturing to the woman. "She looks like a damn twig."
"We leave her." Marcus stated rather flatly, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Leave her? We can't just leave her, Marcus!" Dom argued, Baird rolling his eyes.
"Sure we can! This is the part where we walk away, pretend we never saw the bum and leave her body for the buzzards!" Baird explained, eager to get away from the standard. Baird eyed her over a second time. He was hoping he could use her to get his rocks off but looking at her...he didn't even want to get within twenty feet of the woman. He'd rather jack off than fuck a filthy stranded. She didn't even look healthy enough for sex, like one thrust would snap her in half.
"Mmmmhmmm, Dom's right, Marcus. We can't leave the little lady here. My Mama raised me with manners unlike Baird." Cole joked slightly, jabbing at the blonde.
"Stop it, asshole!" Baird snapped, Cole laughing. "We don't need a lazy bum to take up space around here! She'll eat all our food like a fat cow!" Baird hissed, Alura's facial features twitching slightly at the insult. She was too terrified to even speak. These men scared her.
"Aaaaww, don't worry lil' lady! Baby Baird's just in a bad mood 'cause his mama never loved him!" Cole laughed, smiling brightly at Alura. She didn't respond in the slightest. She just...started, her eyes wide with fear.
"Do you think she's traumatized, Marcus? She's not doing anything." Dom asked, approaching the woman, Alura jumping back, her eyes wild with fear. Her legs could barely support her she was shaking so bad.
"Don't touch me!" Alura hissed, her voice failing to sound threatening at the softness in her voice, Dom raising his hands.
"Hey, hey! Calm down! We won't hurt you." Dom spoke, his voice soft and gentle as Alura watched his movements closely.
"No need to fear! The Co-" Cole stopped dead in mid sentence as the woman fell over with a soft thump, Cole starring at the unconscious woman. She was so terrified she fainted.
"Is she dead? Good, let's go!" Baird turned around and walked back to camp without a seconds thought. One less bum on the face of Sera.
"I'm not that scary am I?" Cole asked, crestfallen as he looked to Marcus then to Dom, both refusing to answer.
Dom looked at Marcus, Marcus shaking his head.
"No, Dom. We're not taking her."
"She'll die out here, Marcus! What if she was Maria? If Maria was in this condition I sure as hell wouldn't leave her!" Dom asked, Marcus falling silent. Damn. Dom did have a point.
Marcus sighed, pressing his earpiece, Dom smiling and nodding in thanks.
"Command? This is Delta requesting a KR to our position." Marcus spoke into his earpiece. He doubted they would send one, but it was worth a try.
"Negative, Delta. Your position it far too deep into enemy territory. Continue with the mission."
Marcus signed, Dom and Cole looking crestfallen. They felt bad for the woman, and the squad was torn about her fate.
Sometimes, Marcus hated being the squad leader.
Carmine shifted nervously where he stood. He felt horrible that he had let his squad down, but he had done what he thought was right.
Carmine kept glancing in the direction of the abandoned ruins. He knew what he did was stupid, but he didn't care. That poor woman needed his help. He couldn't stop his heart from beating so fast. He feared for her. He knew he shouldn't, but he felt almost responsible for what happened to Alura. He couldn't imagine what she went through. It must have been horrible.
Carmine kept imaging he would hear a single gunshot from a pistol or a lancer, the noise echoing in his head. That was what he feared. He feared them killing Alura for being in too poor condition or a nuisance to the mission. Who gave them the power to choose who lived and died? They couldn't kill Alura. She survived all this time and had to be kept alive for some reason.
The young soldier thought back to a saying in the Bible he had read once, and held fast to it ever since. Do unto others as you would have do unto you. He certainly didn't want someone ending his life just because he was deemed too weak to live. He wasn't sure if he could do that to another person if need be.
The youngest Carmine brother turned in the direction of footsteps approaching, his heart hammering.
Baird cursed as he pushed his way through the foliage, Carmine calming down slightly at the fact that it wasn't his Sargent.
"What happened?" Carmine asked, Baird glancing at his squad mate before shrugging his shoulders carelessly.
"How should I know? Bitch dropped over dead."
"D...Dead?" Carmine stuttered. "Really?"
"I wish." Baird muttered to himself, Carmine releasing a sigh.
"Oh. Good. Ya know for a second I really thought-" Carmine was cut off as a single shot ran through the air, the sky echoing with the sound of a lancer shot. Carmine could feel his heart skip a beat and freeze in fear.
"Oh, God...oh, no..."