Here's the next chapter. Please enjoy!
The group of armed children led Delta deeper into the forest, the group leading them into a underground cave. Water was running into the mouth, making the descent slick as the cave went deeper underground. The members of Delta knew that this certain cave wasn't naturally made. The walls were too smooth and floor too flat.
"Wait here." A child spoke, disappearing into the darkness of the cave as several of the children stared at the adults with curiosity.
"What's taking so long?" Alura asked, worried as she glanced at Carmine in Marcus' arms. The sound of blood dripping onto the stone floor echoed and his gasps and wheezes for breath amplified by the open cavities.
"He's getting Harvey." A child answered, Marcus looking at the young boy. Getting a better look at the children, they all had to be at least twelve to sixteen. Some looked younger.
"Who's Harvey?" Marcus asked, multiple footsteps echoing from the cave's depths as older looking boys emerged out of the darkness.
"I am." Harvey answered, his voice unwavering as he moved with pride in each step. Harvey had to be at least seventeen, his body more developed, his hair short with signs of beginning stubble, his eyes cold.
"You their leader?" Marcus asked, Harvey nodding in response.
"That I am. I was informed you have a downed man. How is he?" Harvey asked, Marcus remained quiet as he looked down at the Rook for a brief second before looking at the young man.
"He's slipping." Marcus spoke lowly, Alura's heart skipping a beat in fear. He couldn't die! Ben couldn't die, she should die! It wasn't fair! Ben had no reason to die!
"Rother." Harvey spoke, an equally tall boy snapping his head in Harvey's direction at the mention of his name. The young man looked to be about sixteen or seventeen with dirty blond hair and blue eyes. He also had a pair of glasses.
"Got it." Rother responded, pushing a stretcher towards Marcus as he laid Carmine down on it, the young Gear groaning in pain as he was rushed deeper into the cave.
"Where are you taking Carmine?" Dom asked, not entirely sure about this place. They were only kids. What could they do that a COG medic couldn't?
"To our hospital wing. He's in good hands with Rother." Harvey responded, Marcus narrowing his eyes.
"A kid can handle that kind of injuries? He should have people with more experience help him." Marcus growled, not trusting the competence of some stranded kid as he took a step forward, only to have several weapons trained on him.
"If you want to go deeper into the cave I'm afraid you'll have to give us all your weapons." Harvey replied, smirking slightly.
"Hey, who are you to tell us what to do you little shit!?" Baird hissed. "I swear, Marcus, these stranded brats are setting us up! I can smell it!"
"We don't know you. Why would we let armed strangers into the very heart of our home?" Harvey countered, Marcus growling.
"Let us see Carmine."
"Not without handing over your weapons. It would be so unfortunate if I let you in with weapons and something happened. What if your man would get caught in the crossfire? Or worse?" Harvey asked, smirking as Marcus grunted, enraged by the hidden threat.
"Fine, you spoiled brat, we'll give you our weapons. But if anything-and I mean anything happens to Carmine I'll have your crying for your god damn mother." Marcus hissed darkly, Harvey's eyes showing a brief hint of fear. He could tell that this man would hold true to his word.
"He isn't one of us." Harvey hissed, motioning for several boys to take their weapons.
"Hey! What the fuck are you doin'?!" Baird yelled, the children taking their weapons, Marcus telling Baird to shut up once again as the other members complied.
"The woman too." Harvey ordered, Alura not noticing Carmine's handgun was still in her hand. She had been unconsciously holding it in a death grip. Looking at the weapon, Alura hesitantly gave it to the open hand of a boy.
"Great. Guess what's up ahead, Marcus? They're gonna jump us, that's what!" Baird shot out, Cole laughing.
"So? Did you see the size of these kids, Baird? We'll just punt their little asses right outta this cave!"
As the squad followed Harvey deeper into the cave, they could hear the laughter of children bouncing off the walls.
Rounding the corner, the squad was greeted by a large number of children. They were all younger than the kid soldiers, ranging anywhere from three to eleven.
"You're...all children..." Alura spoke, looking at the children from afar. She could swear some seemed familiar. But from where she couldn't remember.
"Guns scare them. That's why we don't let anyone into this part of the cave with firearms." Harvey explained, Dom and Cole looking on almost sadly.
"Are they all orphans?" Dom asked, Harvey nodding.
"Yeah. We all are. I'm one of the oldest here." Harvey explained, a young boy approaching them almost cautiously. He wasn't used to seeing such large people and the change was scary.
"Hey, Lions! What's up, buddy?" Harvey asked, Lions smiling with a big grin, several of his teeth missing. He looked about five years of age.
"I heard you saw the snowmen, Hawvey! Is it true? Did you see the snowmen?" Lions asked, his eyes wide with excitement and fear. The adults looked at the child almost strangely.
"No, Lions. I didn't see any snowmen today. Why? Are you scared of them?"
"Uh huh. Mikey says they'll come out of the walls and eat me." Lions confessed, Harvey shaking his head.
"Don't listen to Mikey, Lions. The snowmen aren't going to come out of the walls. It's solid rock. And they don't eat good kids. They eat bad kids." Harvey explained, Lions eyes going wide with terror, tears welling up in his eyes.
"But I'm a good boy, Hawvey! I am!" Lions protested, Harvey messing Lions' hair as he laughed slightly.
"Then don't worry about it, buddy. Just don't listen to Mikey, he doesn't know what he's talking about." Harvey spoke, Lions breaking into a smile.
"Okay!" Lions then looked up at the adults, his fear gone. "Hello!"
"Hey, little man! What's up?" Dom asked, kneeling down to the boy's eye level. "I'm Dom!"
"I'm Lions! I like to play ball!" Lions stated, Cole smiling at that.
"You like to play ball too? So do I!" Cole exclaimed, Lions' eyes shining suddenly.
"I can throw the ball really far! Do you want to play?" Lions asked, looking at each of the adults, hoping for an answer.
"Sorry, Lions, but they are busy at the moment. They'll play with you later okay?" Harvey answered for them, Lions looking crestfallen as he walked away, looking for someone else to play with him
"Snowmen?" Baird asked.
"It's what we call the locusts. At least around the kids here. It makes them sound less scary." Harvey answered, Marcus grunting in response.
Harvey led them to the 'hospital' which was a smaller section of the cave with makeshift wooden walls for privacy.
"How is he?" Harvey asked, Rother leaning over Carmine, his upper armor and muscle shirt removed, revealing his pale skin stained red with blood, a bloodied cloth on the table. Alura recognized it as her torn shirt.
"Stable. I managed to get the bullet out of his shoulder." Rother stated, pointing to a bloodied pan containing a bullet. "But..."
"But what?" Marcus asked, Rother looking back and forth from them, his lips pierced.
"The bullet in his stomach never went through. That bullet is the more lethal and if I pull it out I could damage his organs in doing so. He...also needs blood. He's lost too much already. If I do anything else now he might go into shock again and bleed out." Rother explained, the group falling silent. "Does anyone know his blood type?"
"A." Marcus stated, remembering Carmine's bloodtype on his profile.
"A? Hmmm...are any of you A or O?" Rother asked, Marcus' eyes falling on Baird.
"Baird."
"What? Oh, ohhhh, no! I am not giving my blood just so some guying idiot might survive! D-Do you know how unsanitary this is? Look at this place!" Baird countered, flailing his arms dramatically.
"What? Awww, Baird, that's cold!" Cole commented, frowning.
"C'mon, man, Carmine would do it for you." Dom urged, Baird's mouth agape like he had just been slapped.
"So now I'm the bad guy?" Baird asked, Marcus staring at Baird intently.
"Baird, I made a promise to Carmine. He's not fucking dying! Just do it." Marcus growled lowly, Baird sneering at the Delta Commander in disgust.
"Fuckin' asshole." Baird muttered.
"You got your donor. Need any help?" Marcus asked, Rother shaking his head.
"I got this. Thanks though."
"Let's go Delta." Marcus ordered, Dom and Cole following as Harvey stood for several seconds before following the squad out.
"Oh, oh, that's fine. Just leave me here. Yeah, I'll just stay here until I need blood drained from me." Baird commented sarcastically.
Alura approached Carmine, sighing sadly as she looked at the wound on his arm, looking around at she saw some clean gauze.
"You did a good job pluggin' up that wound." Rother commented, Alura shocked slightly as her head snapped up. Wordlessly, Rother nodded his head toward her town undershirt, Alura looking down to see her slightly exposed stomach.
"Oh. Thank you. I...I didn't know what else to use." Alura responded, clearing her throat as her face flushed slightly in embarrassment. "Do you...do you, umm...get a lot of...injuries around here?" Alura asked, trying to change the topic to something else.
"Mainly scrapes and small cuts with the younger kids. With the older kids though it could be anything a COG soldier could get. We try to avoid any kind of major injuries whenever possible. The forest is too dangerous with the locust around so we don't go very far from home." Rother answered, watching as Alura began to bandage Carmine's arm.
"Did anyone ever get...badly hurt?" Alura asked, Rother failing to answer for several seconds causing the woman to look at him quizzically with her blue eyes.
"Of course." Rother replied after several seconds, his voice soft. "But I tried, ya know? We've lost a few to infections, flues, stab wounds, gunshot wounds, burn wounds. They come to me and...they expect me to help them-and I do try. It's just that...well, sometimes they are just too far gone. It's not like I have the best equipment either, I mean there's no way to sanitize the equipment properly."
"Oh." Alura replied softly, her hand resting almost unconsciously on Carmine's arm, her eyes falling on his chest slowly rising up and down. "I understand."
"Ok, enough of these hospital terrors! I'm outta here!" Baird cried, leaving. He sure as hell didn't want to die because of infected surgical equipment.
Alura began to run her small hand up and down Carmine's rather muscular arm, her eyes trailing down his body. He wasn't as heavily built as the men that had raped her. His size didn't scare her as much as the other men. Still, she felt a dull sense of fear rise in her gut upon making physical contact with the youngest brother's skin. She didn't know what this feeling was. Maybe it was a new form of fear? She had been fearful almost all her life so what did she know about any other emotions beside fear? Besides being used?
Alura was confused. It didn't feel like fear. But it must be fear. What else could it be? The only other feeling she felt as she gently trailed his arm with the very tips of her fingers was warmth. Ben was warm. It was so nice to finally feel something soft and warm and not hard and cold.
Rother stared at the woman, studying her.
"I remember you." Rother whispered, Alura breaking out of her inner tance as she looked at the young man, confused.
"Pardon?"
"You were at the village. Before the attack. Yes, I remember you." Rother nodded his head, Alura trying to remember anything before the darkness. She didn't remember much. Most of her memory consisted of being in a breeding facility, Jediah, and her daughter. And the darkness. The darkness that was silent, hard and cold.
Alura shook her head. She couldn't even remember if her daughter was still alive when she came to the village. Why did she even go to the village in the first place? Was she running from something? Or looking for something? She didn't know.
"I...don't remember." Alura answered, shaking her head.
"Do you remember a man named Carl Rother? That was my father! He was the doctor and-and I would help him with the people! I'm Tom!" Rother exclaimed, almost excitedly.
Alura tried to remember. She remember screaming, and blood. And the locusts attacking. She remembered their horrible stench. But in the end, she smelled like them. She heard their odd tongue and hiss in the darkness.
"My father...he told me to run. So I did. Me and a few other kids. Most of us are from the village, but others we found along the way. Last I saw my father...he went underground."
Alura thought back to the time before the silent darkness. In the past, but not too far in the past with the screams and blood. In the darkness, with the smell and grumbles of empty stomachs. Yes, she remembered!
"I remember...there was a man. Blond hair...blue eyes..."
"What happened?" Rother asked.
"We were...hungry, starving. Sick. They wouldn't give us food. So we starved. And slept. Hoping it was all a dream. Some...they never woke up. It seemed like a blessing to just...go to sleep and never wake up. To wait to die. Some started eating the bodies, and those that didn't...died." Alura answered, her voice quivering, faltering.
"But you wanted to die." Rother stated, Alura sniffing, scratching
her neck.
"I did. And I don't know...know why I did such horrible things. I never wanted to."
"Were you the only one that...got out?" Rother asked, Alura nodding as a tear rolled down her cheek. "I'm sorry for what you went through. I can't imagine such terrors." Rother added, clearing his throat as he adjusted his glasses, his eyes watering slightly.
"Neither can I." Alura stated softly, looking down at Carmine as a tear fell onto the floor, Alura licking her lip.
"I'm sorry, Rother."
I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I would like to thank all my readering and those who reviewed! Please review and give me your imput on this story!