A/N:
Vikingz-87: I'm glad you are enjoying the story and that's for the clarification.
Hellisonfire345: There is precedence sooooo maybe? Might fit them in as a mercenary force later on, but they are not going through a quarantined gate anytime soon.
UN Peacekeeper: I know I didn't enjoy thinking about this chapter, at least you didn't do the research.
I am writing this note before I start writing this chapter. I have an extremely rough plan for this chapter and am already regretting where my thoughts lead. I don't know how dark this is going to get. So good luck and I am going to start the research.
Chapter 9: Picking up the Pieces
The body count was somewhat low for the population of 7,700 civilians in the town of Rubkona and the approximate 100,000 refugees left behind after the UN forces evacuation from the Unity POC site. Only 105 civilians were rescued from the ruins of the town, mostly children and women who were hidden by their families, surviving through the sacrifice of parents or spouses, and witnessed their loved ones gruesome torture and death. Another 5,637 enslaved peoples were freed, 945 of which were handed over by Colt Formal, in the subsequent liberation of the area from Saderan hands. 47,247 unarmed bodies were recovered in a variety of different forms. Peacekeepers would spend half a month combing the buildings, town outskirts, and POC camp for bodies and body parts, painstakingly performing shoulder-to-shoulder rank sweeps across open areas and tearing the town apart in vain attempts to slightly ease the sorrow of the living. However, the bodies, bones, and flesh of the deceased would continue to surface in the area in the following months, animals digging up mass graves, or a finger or toe being discovered behind unmoved furniture. Around 57,000 were unaccounted, either not recovered yet, or sent through the gate to an unknown fate.
Of the 700 UN personnel and volunteers, 560 which were evacuated during the attack on the POC site, only 32 bodies were recovered, 2 in the camp, and the rest from the destroyed helicopters. The defenders took many more casualties, only 347 UN officers were able to report in, with 153 bodies found. India lost the most soldiers with 318, as they held the gate long enough for their comrades to mount up and fall back. The Mongolians were next with 257 lost, mostly caused by the reckless bayonet charge into the mass of the enemy. These were followed by the Chinese and Rwandans losing 30 each, from loading their vehicles and the aerial attacks during the retreat. The Koreans lost 15 from the wyverns landing on their trucks and tearing the passengers apart.
The gate was now surrounded by barbed wire and directional anti-personnel landmines. Sandbags line and trenches were propped up and dug, UN infantry vigilantly watching the opening. 2 T-72B3s guarded the gate, guns pointed at the construct. 4 BMPT-72s, each pair sandwiching a main battle tank, had full ammunition loads of 850 30mm HE-FRAG rounds in its 2A42 autocannon as well as 600 30mm grenades loaded in both its AGS-30 automatic grenade launchers.
Body recovery was done mostly by leftover UN infantry units by hand with hazmat units in the area, carrying tanks of disinfectant and cleaning the viscera left behind after the body parts were removed.
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Itami picked up a severed right hand of the rug, the jagged severing found 2 inches past the wrist, placing it into the black body bag. The floppy jointed hand was missing half of the middle and ring fingers, the cut located at the middle knuckles, leading the soldier to shift the nearby couch to discover them under the furniture. These were also picked up and returned to the hand's side. The latex medical gloves protected Itami from the dried red bodily fluids that contrasted and coated the black flesh, but not from the squishy tenderness of human flesh. His gas mask also wasn't helping much either, the suffocating effect of the rubber face-covering restricting his breath, replacing the sickly stench of rotting flesh on the other side of the rubber. Flies coated the exposed flesh, their green metallic sheen glistening in the little light entering from the door. The lieutenant swatted in vain, trying to keep the bugs away from the deceased, but they just kept buzzing back.
Zipping the bag up, he dragged the plastic bag out of the narrow doorway, allowing a soldier covered in a full NBC hazmat suit to step in and spray the room. Leaving the fly riddled enclosure, Itami took a deep breath, the rubber plastic smell of the Type 4* gas mask almost causing him to gag. Looking through the large circular lenses, he saw Kurbayashi and Katsumoto stumble out of a nearby building, nearly tripping face-first into the street. Itami gestured to Kurata, who was standing to the side listening for reports on his radio. The two walked haphazardly as the street itself was lined with half-chewed corpses, rations for the humanoid monsters, everyone still wondering how to clean the civilians as the bite marked limbs were all mixed together. As they approached, Tomita and Kawahara appeared through the door, each dragging a body bag to the street before reentering the building.
With a heavy heart, Itami patted Katsumoto's shoulder before asking.
"What did you guys find?"
The big man just dropped his head as his shoulders drooped further before replying, "another one."
This was quickly understood by the pair. The Saderans had captured large numbers of female civilians and brought other females from the POC site into the city, before setting up their own whorehouses. Women of all ages were gang-raped with many being raped to death or raped then stabbed to death. Some of the corpses even showed signs of necrophilia. Surprisingly or unfortunately, no female UN volunteers or peacekeepers were recovered from such places. This meant that either the bodies of these women from around the globe were hidden away or, more likely, taken through the gate. Eviscerated male bodies were also recovered from the corners of the rooms, chained to the wall, probably loved ones who were forced to watch their spouses or families suffer and die in front of them before following after.
This situation was widespread across the small town, as the UN soldiers had to put in long shifts to clean and sanitize the area. The morale of these units plummeted as they continued to work day after day, piling bags of the deceased and seeing extremely depressing sights. The creativity of the human mind also acts heavily in such situations, as the reimagining of the victims' last breaths began to wear away at the minds of the living.
Itami finished helping his squad pull bodies out of the house of ill intentions, taking a breather in the middle of the dirt road. Most of the squad were staring blankly at the ground, only Kawakara was still moving around, left fist clenched at his side as he said prayers with his right. Suddenly, a single 5.56 round sounded off around a block away, echoing through the quiet area. The gunshot woke everyone from their trance, grabbing rifles and checking gear. Nodding to his troops, Itami moved towards the shooting, before stacking up against the offending building. Tomita and Kuribayashi leaned up on either side of the doorway, making eye contact before the buff man smashed the door open and stepped back, allowing the short, curvy soldier to slip in to clear the first room. However, as soon as she entered, she halted and stared at the corner. Tomita, Kawahara, and Itami piled in afterward, moving room to room as they pointed their rifles from corner to corner, inspecting for enemy contacts. After finishing their sweep, they returned to the female soldier, still standing and staring at the wall. The rest of the squad entered as well, Kurokawa quickly taking a knee before shaking her head.
Leaned up against the wall was an Indian soldier, young maybe 18 years old, his blue bloodied helmet on the ground at his side and a blood splatter painted the wall behind him. He sat with his legs splayed out, an INSAS rifle in between his arms against his body. A rather large dark hole covered the back of his head, a much smaller one dripping blood from under his chin. In front of the dead soldier were a mother and baby, the long-deceased female was tightly wrapped protectively around the stone-cold tender body of the woman's baby. A layer of flies and maggots shifted like a tide around the spear impaled through the mother and into the infant. Bloody prints and the enlarged wounds indicated both struggled during their last moments.
The medic pulled out body bags before the men helped her place the remains into the plastic wrappings. Kurata ran out and passed other responding infantry units before driving the Komatsu just outside as the soldier's body was carried out. The soldiers from different countries opened up a path as the Japanese exited the building. The civilian bodies were placed together in the same bag and moved onto the street. They drove the boy to the Indian barracks. No words were passed as the body was handed over, Itami just gestured a finger gun under his chin before dropping his thumb as a hammer with the Indian Sergeant just nodding. Everyone was too tired to speak and try to translate.
The Japanese returned to the town to finish their shift before crashing at their own barracks, resting from yet another taxing day.
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*Take this information with a grain of salt. I was unable to find the actual name for the Japanese standard-issue gas mask, with only the Type 4 and Type 00 showing up. The Type 00 is also said to be the full NBC suit, and you would not be wearing something like that so I went with the Type 4. If anyone does know, please, do tell.
Not going to lie, this got pretty dark for me. I am basing most of this stuff off my own first aid training, but some things still need to be found out before put to words. I rewatched episode 1 of Goblinslayer in an attempt to see how to soften the chapter, but I think watching the Youtube video by Shadiversity about making monsters monstrous really affected this chapter. I do apologize if this got a bit graphic. My thought process is, in theory, to make the Saderans look like monsters to make the massacre of the buggers more...rewarding? I think that's the word to use at least. Luckily this should be the last chapter of this dark stuff so stay tuned, hopefully, I didn't scare you guys away, and let's move on to happier stuff. Sorry for the very short chapter as well, I was honestly stuck on how to add to this chapter for 2 days and I just gave up. Once again, thanks for the support, keep putting reviews as I love reading and answering questions and the next chapter will be out once I pull myself out of depression.
