Confusion
Sarah walked inside and made her way to the couch. Michael followed slowly behind her. She sat first, and he was going to sit, but paused and pondered.
PTSD? Could that be it? I can't seem to remember what happened.
The distinct sound of a performance car's engine roared as a car approached the house. Michael listened to see if it was a visitor. He heard the car stop in front of the house, the engine shut off. A car door slammed.
Could it be him?
The front door opened.
"Hey, Mike, what's up?"
It is him! Michael turned to face the door.
"Thomas, you're… here?"
"Yeah, Mike. Of course I'm here! What's with the whole Thomas schtick? You always call me Tommy."
"Yeah, well you…"
My brother, Thomas. He died. Died in that car wreck. Tommy was street racing and wrecked his car into a telephone pole.
Both Michael and Thomas liked cars. Once Michael got his commission into the Army, he bought a 2001 Pontiac Trans Am Firehawk, with a 6-Speed manual and T-tops. Michael loved the car and working on it, keeping it mostly stock. Thomas, Michael's younger brother, followed not too long after, buying a 2000 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 4-Speed automatic hardtop. Thomas went to trade school and became a mechanic after high school. He was always working on ways to mod his car.
"I what?"
"You…" He paused, collecting his thoughts. I don't know what is going on anymore. I just gotta roll with it. Michael walked up to Tommy. "It's good to see you, bro." He hugged his brother.
"It's good to see you, too. Back safe and sound from war." They broke. "You alright, not too shaken up? I heard you were in the thick of it all."
"Yeah, I'm alright."
"Well, you're a hero, bro. Saved your platoon and everything."
"Uh-huh." the lieutenant answered, still unsure of the details of his heroic deed. "Enough about that, though. How's your car?"
"Its great. I just got a new catback installed, Borla. She purrs, it's great."
"What happened to the old aftermarket exhaust you had on there?"
"Oh, it had rust problems from the previous owner, some holes rusted through. Gonna avoid buying used exhausts from now on."
"Yeah. Is my car doing alright?"
"Your hawk? Yeah, it's alright. Dad drove it a few times to keep it from sitting. I just changed the oil for you a month ago. You're welcome."
"Thanks."
"You know, you haven't drove in a while, shifting gears'll probably be a bit rusty and slow for you. I bet I could beat you off a dig. Wanna race?"
"I just get back and not one minute into the conversation, you are already asking to race."
"Well?"
"Do you ever not think about racing?"
"No. Now, wanna race?"
"No, Tommy. Not right now."
"Well, yeah, of course not right now. But what about later."
"Chill, Tommy."
"All right, all right."
"Anyways, I know I said it already, but it's good to see you, bro. I missed you." Michael couldn't help but smile, happy to see his brother still alive.
Renamon opened her eyes. Her head throbbed. She couldn't really make out her surroundings, everything was blurred. She brought her hand to her forehead, caressing it in a feeble attempt to relieve the pain. After realizing the futility, she stopped and rubbed her eyes instead. Sitting up fully, she took a look around.
The room I found Veemon in earlier. I need to find him before he hurts himself.
She slowly stood up, fighting the dizziness and pain. She looked at the concrete wall she was lying against, cracked where she was thrown against it.
He is stronger now as Ex-Veemon. I need to be careful.
She walked out the room, entering the hallway. She decided to head back to the room they were in before, where the cages were. Alarms were still blaring, but she did not see anyone roaming the hallways. She made her way to the room, and looked inside.
"Michael?" she said loud enough to be heard throughout the room. She received no reply. Standing in the doorway, she looked around the room. The cages, they were open and empty. She did not see any of the digimon around. To the right, on the floor, were the bodies of the dead technician and soldiers. To the left, Corporal Ku. She slowly walked to his lifeless corpse. Standing above it, she stared down at Ku's poor, mangled body.
When human's die, their data does not dissolve. They do not absorb the vanquished's data. She stared at the corporal's pale face, his empty expression. If they do not get stronger from destroying their foes, why do they fight at all? She pondered the philosophical question. Slowly realizing the implications, she became disgusted at the waste of life. Their deaths, in her eyes, were meaningless.
"That's horrible." she whispered to herself. No wonder Michael was so broken up about Ku's death, it was so wasteful and useless. I need to find him and help him. She heard footsteps in the hallway, getting loader, approaching the doorway.
"Michael?" she said. A North Korean soldier entered the room quickly and fired his rifle at her. She jumped in the air inhumanly fast towards him, coming down feet-first on his head, knocking him down. She picked him up with her left arm and wound up her right, her fist glowing with a blue aura.
"Power Paw!" Her fist caved his face in and sent him flying back into the hallway, body smacking against the opposite wall.
"Grenade" another North Korean soldier in the hallway said in his native language as he threw in a live grenade and began to close the heavy metal door. Renamon, reacting at superhuman speed, caught the grenade and threw it through the door crack before he could fully close it, striking him in the face, knocking him down. The grenade fell onto his lap just as the door closed from momentum. Renamon heard the explosion on the other side of the door. She opened the door to find the soldier on the ground, legs blown completely off, blood and other debris scattered throughout the local area. One leg was thrown quite a ways down the hallway, the other resting in the lap of the other soldier who's head was crushed by her punch. Both soldiers were clearly dead.
What a waste.
