Ch 31: Feel no remorse for animals.

As the carriage came to a halt, Marco opened the door and jumped out onto the pavement. Followed by Star then Tom.

Straightening his uniform, Marco asked "How do I look?"

"You look great!" Star said "Tom, what do you think?"

"You look like how you normally do."

"Er, is that bad or… you know what nevermind." Marco looked around.

The street had multiple crates in the open that served as tables. Most people were drinking and playing cards, probably celebrating the recently won battle. There were some horses tied to hitching rails. One person, probably a field commander, approached them.

"Field Commander Andrew Murphy sir!" Murphy saluted them.

"Yes, yes, formalities and all that. How did the battle go?" Marco said as he followed him to the warehouse.

"There was barely any opposing military force here. Although there was heavy civilian resistance. They've been incapacitated though, sir. Captured or otherwise."

"Good, good. Did you take the warehouse?"

"Erm, that's a different matter. Civilians within it are threatening to burn the place down." As they walked, Marco thought about what he could do about this.

Maybe I could bribe them? Or maybe surround the place and block off all exits? No they probably already did that. Maybe I could-

"Marco! We're here!" Tom snapped Marco out of his thoughts.

"Oh, thanks." Marco looked at the warehouse. It had two stories, the second had a balcony and the bottom had a garage barricaded by two trucks.

"IF YOU COME ANY CLOSER SAY BYE BYE TO THE OIL!" Someone from the balcony shouted with an accent Marco couldn't pinpoint.

"YOU DO REALIZE YOU'LL DIE AS WELL? WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED YOU CAN'T ESCAPE!" Someone from the ground shouted.

"WE WOULD GLADLY DO IT TO SPITE YOU!"

"Do you have any ideas to get them to come down?" Field Commander Murphy said.

Marco noticed the cages near them. Civilians were locked in there. "HEY! IF YOU COME DOWN WE'LL SET THE CIVILIANS FREE!"

A few moments passed. It then turned to minutes. Then the man on the balcony said "THE MILITARY'S GONNA LIBERATE THEM ANYWAY! NO!"

Marco pointed to one of the prisoners "Unlock it."

"Marco, where are you going with this?" Star asked.

Marco ignored her. One of the soldiers held the prisoner by the tied hands as he walked out of the cage.

"MILITARY CAN'T SAVE THE DEAD!" Marco shouted "KEEP RESISTING AND THIS ONE DIES!"

"YOU'RE BLUFFING!" The warehouse resistor shouted. And he was right, Marco was bluffing.

"NO I'M NOT-" The prisoner suddenly got free and procured a knife from his sleeve. He stabbed the soldier holding him in the neck.

"What the-" The prisoner faced to stab another. Everyone was already drawing their swords. "WAIT! DON'T KILL HIM! THAT'S AN ORDER!" Almost everyone didn't hear him except two people. They managed to tackle the prisoner before anyone else got to him.

The prisoner was restrained once again, shank confiscated.

Marco walked to the stabbed soldier and knelt down to get a close look. He never knew him, but he still felt a connection. Was it pity because he was dead? Guilt that he chose the rebellious prisoner? Maybe it's that in the dead man's eyes, he could still see some thoughts. This made him not a stranger, but a real, conscious person in Marco's perception of him.

"He's dead…" Marco stood up and walked to the prisoner.

"What should we do with him, sir?" one of the soldiers asked.

Marco made a slashing gesture on his neck.

"Sir, it's still a civilian I don't think-"

"Knock him down to his knees." Marco commanded.

The soldier hesitated. Then he pushed him down. The prisoner laughed.

"We will never stop fighting, you know?" The prisoner said "I think this battle shows that."

"Wild animals will never stop fighting as well."

The prisoner smiled. And he started to sing in a forgeign language.

"That's their anthem, sir." A soldier informed Marco.

"What a way to go." Marco said. "Do it now."

The soldier raised his sword and struck the prisoner in the neck. Marco felt no remorse for the killer.

"YOU WANT MORE? MORE DEATH? YOU CAUSED TWO DEATHS! THAT SOLDIER WAS A PERSON TOO!"

"WE SURRENDER YOU WEREN'T BLUFFING!"

After a few minutes, a team of civilians walked out of the warehouse with their hands up.