Bells and Uniforms and Flowers, Oh My
Chapter Sixteen
In the north, Roy's Calvery met up with the remanding fifteen of Calvery two and the ten from Calvery four. The set up camp in the shadows of the forest. They made camp at the edge of the forest so they could watch everything from the desert side easily. Two officers were set up as look out. There were about five wounded who needed to rest and three who could continue to fight with injuries.
"I'll go get some more water."
Edward stood up from where he was leaning over a fight officer. He was helping the others fix up the wounded. The one man he was next to had a large cut on his left lag that went from his knee down to his ankle. Once back to Central, it would have to be removed. but on the battle field, they didn't have the equipment.
"Edward, come here."
Havoc called out from where he was helping another wounded man.
"Yes sir?"
"How many alchemists are left?"
"Roy, me, and Armstrong."
"Thats all?"
Havoc looked shocked. Roy was currently resting inside a small tent. He was shot in the left arm and had a bandage on it. It wasn't bad enough, he could still fight, but he needed rest.
"Yes sir."
Riza walked up from behind them. In her hands were three empty water bottles and one bucket. On her hip were four more bottles. Ed had in his hand another empty bottle. The bottles had belt clips on them for easy carry. She walked up to the boys. It was a hot night and most of the men had removed their jacket and under shirts. Riza however, could only remove her jacket. It was a black tank top. Her silver dog tags were hanging down just below her breasts. One tag said her name. The other said her rank. She bent down next to Havoc.
"Do you need more water sir?"
She asked.
"No, we are good. We still have two bottles left."
"Edward?"
"Yeah, We're out."
He handed her his empty bottle and she clipped it to her belt. She began to place the empty bottles in her hands, into the empty bucket.
"You going?"
Havoc asked.
"Yes, sir."
She replied as she began to turn.
"I'll send someone with you. Your unarmed."
"I'm good sir. I have one bullet left. I'll defend myself."
"I don't know."
"I can take care of myself. I've survived worse."
She smiled and began to walk away. She stopped at Breda and bent down to talk to him. He, too, was helping a wounded man. Breda looked at her then reached into his pocket. He pulled out a flashlight and handed it and an empty bottle to her. She turned on the flashlight and began walking into the forest where she knew their was a fresh water stream. She carefully moved the flashlight from side to side. Stopping to scan the forest whenever she heard a noise. Behind her the glow of the campfire and noises of the military began to fade away into the distance as the noise of the stream and glow of the moonlight got closer.
"So beautiful."
Riza smiled as she looked at the stream. An almost full moon hung overhead and reflected white light onto the stream. A gap in the tress gave a perfect view of the stars over head. A few flowering trees and bushes surrounded the stream. To the left, the stream went down a small waterfall then continued on. To the right, the stream curved and disappeared around a corner and more flowers could be seen. She stared for a moment.
"This is not something you usually see in a battle."
Then, she removed the bottles from her belt and bucket and lined them up. A total of nine bottles were laid empty next to the stream. She decided to fill the bucket first. As the water rushed in, it splashed onto her hands which were dirty and sore from the gun. Once the bucket was full of fresh, clean, and cold water, she placed it back on the shore. She then leaned forward on her knees and placed her hands into the water. She allowed the water to clean the dirt from her hands then splashed the water onto her face and cooled off for a moment. She looked at her hands in the stream. The water moving gracefully over them. She saw the small golden ring which circled her left ring finger. She smiled. Her ears still listening for anything. Then behind her, she heard a snap of a branch. She quickly turned on her side, drew her gun and aimed.
"Easy their. I'm just getting some water."
It was only a military officer. He had short brown hair. He walked past her and sat down next to the stream. He filled his bottle and took a long swig. Then he filled it again.
"You okay out here... ma'am..?"
He looked at her with concern. He then re clipped his bottle to his belt.
"I'm fine. And it's Brigadier General."
"Right, sorry. I just didn't see any rank."
He blushed and smiled as he then walked past her heading back to camp. She breathed a sigh of relief. She was almost caught relaxing. In battle, an officer is not allowed to relax. She looked back at the stream and began to fill the bottles.
"This breeze by the stream feel nice."
After four bottles were filled, Riza decided to unclip her hair. She again ran her hand through the stream, then splashed the back of her neck, cooling her off instantly. She put her hair back up and filled the rest of the bottles. She placed the bucket in her left hand and one bottle in the right. She opened the bottle and took a drink. It felt really good to have the coldness. Once she felt more cooled off she got off her knees and stood. She brushed dirt from her legs and stood up straight. She was about to pick up the eight bottles on the ground when she heard something.
snap.
click.
Someone was behind her. She figured it was that same officer. The beat of the feet on the ground were exactly the same as the officer's. She slowly turned around about to tell him she was fine. But instead of looking that military private, she was looking down the barrel of a black riffle and at the face of the man holding the riffle. She dropped her bottle of water and the bucket and reached for her gun. Quickly she put her finger on the trigger.
A/N - Please review. Constructive criticism accepted. No Flames (Thats Roy's job only). Please look in my profile oo0AnimeChild0oo for all my other stories. And again, thanks for reading.
"Write a wise saying and your name will live forever"
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