Chapter 5
Several months pass as Zack, Kunsel, and Zen continued their training. Everyday was a new learning experience as they worked hard to get stronger while keeping up each other's morale along the way. Before long, it was time to put their training to the test as the three of them were finally sent on their first ever field mission.
It was a cool day around the area of Fort Condor with gentle breezes that continually sent chills stronger than previous down everyone's back. Kunsel lets out a sneeze and nearly knocks his trooper helmet right off his head. Unlike Zack and Zen, he wasn't used to the climate and terrain of southern areas on the big continents. The conditions back home in Mideel were generally pleasant, with the occasional light snowfall and rain. No amount of virtual simulation could properly prepare him for such an extreme environment.
"You okay, Kunsel?" wonders Zack, stopping to let his friend catch up while the other troopers in their squad continue forward.
"Yeah," Kunsel assures meekly, sniffling as he did.
"I'd offer you a tissue if I had any," speaks up Zen, pulling her pockets inside out to show nothing but lint.
"I'm fine, really," says Kunsel, trying to show a smile through his helmet.
"Just take it easy," says Zack, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder. "No sense dying here of all places. Especially since it's our first mission on the field."
Zen smiles at Kunsel and gives him the thumbs-up. "Remember, we're all getting into SOLDIER together."
Kunsel couldn't help but smile in return, the three of them continuing to walk along with the rest of their squad.
The last year and a half was quite the learning experience for him as he underwent training with the two upbeat and optimistic soldiers. Thanks to his acute observation skills, he's become quite perceptive to Zack and Zen's particular mannerisms that any other person would've overlooked. In addition, he's also noticed how Zack had been becoming more and more flirtatious with female Shin-Ra employees as of late, likely a result of being exposed to Zen's adventurous spirit for so long. Despite there having been times when the two of them would bump heads (and quite explosively, he might add), Kunsel wouldn't have them any other way. They were the type to bounce back quickly and not hold a grudge, a quality of theirs he greatly admired.
Suddenly, the captain up ahead raises up his hand and the squad stops in its tracks.
"Unit 1 on the left, Unit 2 on the right."
As ordered, the squad splits up in two and the resulting two groups go their separate ways with Zen on Unit 1 and Zack and Kunsel on Unit 2. It was a little nerve-wracking for the three of them, for they had never been separated on a mission until now. Despite the new and unfamiliar situation, the teenagers all had faith in one another's combative abilities. If anything, the boys were more concerned about Zen resorting back to her gung ho ways and giving their squad captain yet another headache to deal with.
Zack and Kunsel follow along a different pathway in a line with their fellow infantrymen until they could see another unit far ahead of them and another unit to their side. After a few minutes, they stop in a certain spot and kneel down in position facing the fort to await further commands from their captain. Zack lays a hand over the handle of the Shin-Ra issued broadsword attached to his back, ready to start attacking at a moment's notice. Kunsel looks over at his friend and grips his gun tightly. Even though he completed sword training alongside Zack and Zen, he didn't feel as confident with the weapon as those two were. Compared to him, Zack and Zen were much better candidates for SOLDIER than he was with their outstanding spirit and dedication.
Recalling Zen's words earlier, Kunsel's heart sank knowing very well he was not going to get into SOLDIER with the friends he's come to be so close to. Their talks of getting into SOLDIER seemed to distance him farther and farther away from them without them knowing. The smiles he continually gave them were not only of happiness but also despair knowing that their time together was not for long. The thought of being left behind made him sadder and sadder with each passing day.
He feels a hand on his shoulder and turns to see Zack give him a grin just as the receiver inside his helmet crackled with static. Next thing they knew, a voice rang out within their helmets.
"First wave, move out!"
"That's where Zen's group is," utters Zack, his fingers wrapped around the handle of his sword tightly. "Get ready, Kunsel."
Kunsel gulps nervously and nods in response. No matter what happens, he was going to take what he could get and enjoy every moment he had left to spend with Zack and Zen. Even if he didn't make it into SOLDIER, the least he could do is help his friends achieve their dream.
"Second wave, move out!"
"That's our cue!" Zack exclaims as he draws out his sword and began running. "Let's go, Kunsel!"
Together, the boys leave their positions and began running towards Fort Condor at full force with Zack slashing at every enemy he ran into while Kunsel picks off the survivors. The going was tough as the two boys had to climb over rocks and other hindering parts of the rough terrain as bullets from both sides rain down upon them. Before either of them realized it, they were at least ten feet away from each other and the gap was increasing. They were close enough to see each other, but too far to provide quick help should one need it.
Just then, a bullet goes through Kunsel's leg, sending the teenage boy down on one knee. Zack tries to get to his friend, but was speedily stopped by oncoming Fort Condor soldiers.
Kunsel tries to get up, but the searing pain was too much for him to bear. Still holding onto his gun, he grabs his injured leg as blood began to seep into the fabric.
"Damn it!" he winces as he feels the bullet lodged between the bones of his shin. He looks up to see a group of the enemies come at him with guns blazing.
In the blink of an eye, a blue blur passes by him and he watches as a Shin-Ra trooper makes short work of the enemies with a sword, the sound of slashing and clanging filling the air. Once done, the Shin-Ra trooper then turns around and runs towards him with sword still in hand.
"Kunsel, how bad is it?" the trooper asks him.
"Zen!" he exclaims, recognizing her voice through the discord of bullets and carnage around them.
"C'mon, I'll help you out of here," she says to him.
As she bends down to pick up the young man with her free hand, Kunsel spies an enemy soldier quickly coming up behind Zen with a sword at the ready.
"Behind you!" he exclaims in a panic.
Kunsel's eyes widen in horror as Zen turns around in time for the enemy to stick his sword clear through her stomach. Blood began trickling down the sword's blade on the other side of her body, rendering Kunsel speechless at the sight before him. But unbeknownst to the teenage boy at that moment, Zen had also managed to pierce her sword through the enemy's heart, killing him instantly. Once Zen pulls her blade out of the enemy's body, the man falls to the ground like a sack of potatoes. It was then that Kunsel realizes what had just transpired.
"Zen!" he exclaims as the girl stumbles a bit from the major injury she had received.
"Let's… go…" she manages to utter after breaking off more than half of the enemy's sword, leaving a little of it in her body to help keep the blood plugged in.
"You can't move, you're hurt!" says Kunsel, getting up on his good leg.
Zen says nothing more as she goes up to Kunsel and puts his arm around her neck to help support him off his injured leg, abandoning her sword on the ground in the process. More Shin-Ra troops along with Zack rush up near them and began covering their escape. Since he was far away when it happened, Zack didn't know that Zen had been injured until he led them back to a safe distance from the fighting. By then, Zen had used up all her remaining strength and collapses in a heap on her side next to Kunsel, her helmet rolling off her head onto the ground beside her.
"Holy shit, Zen!" Zack cries out in surprise upon noticing the sword piece sticking out of her body. "Hang on, I'll get the medics!"
He reattaches his sword onto his back and dashes off to the nearest medical tent. Meanwhile, Kunsel rips off a piece of his sleeve and manages to wrap a tourniquet around his injured leg to prevent it from bleeding further. He looks over to his friend who was now uncharacteristically silent.
"You… okay…?" she manages to say with a weak smile.
"I'm fine, you should be more worried about yourself," he says to her, total worry and concern written all over his face.
"It's okay, it's just a flesh wound," she tries to laugh, but cringes from the immense pain, her split black bangs flopped over her face.
"Take it easy!" Kunsel tells the girl.
He notices that Zen's usually bright and wide eyes were now halfway open and slowly closing more and more as if she was falling asleep.
"Zen! Hang on!" he yells at her, gently shaking her to keep her awake. "Don't you die on us! You said that we were all going to get into SOLDIER, remember? You're not dying here, understand?"
Just then, Zack arrives with medics that were carrying two stretchers. A pair of them carefully lay Zen on one while the other pair move Kunsel onto the other. Zack watches helplessly as he helps lead them back to the medic tents, his heart heavy with frustration and panic. He only suffered cuts and bruises from enemy bombs and guns while his two best friends were injured more heavily than him. If only he had kept a better watch out for them, none of this would've happened. How can he become a member of SOLDIER if he couldn't even protect those closest to him?
Once at the medic area, Zack watches as both of his friends were taken into the tents to be treated. He was caught between returning to the battlefield and waiting around to hear if his friends were going to be okay. Sitting around and doing nothing will do nothing to help his cause to become a member of SOLDIER, but his heart couldn't take it if he didn't know if Kunsel and Zen were going to make it.
How did things get so damn complicated all of a sudden?