6. Chapter 4 : Une proie trop facile
Name : UnknownSex : FemaleAge : Unknown (estimated between 20 and 25)Height : 176 cmWeight : 70 kgHair : Long, blondInjuries / Symptoms : Hypothermia due to prolonged exposition to cold water, light head traumaNote : Pointed ears, maybe different species, correspond to description of an "elf"
Trevis first report on the forest village survivor
Coda Village, November 8th 2016, 1032 hours AT
Recon Team 3 left the village only 15 minutes after the survivor was found to go back to Alnus. Even if the small team knew about a road that should have allowed them to reduce their ETA by at least a hour, the Lieutenant still ordered that the convoy pass by Coda. The soldiers had witnessed the destruction that this dragon could bring, so everyone agreed on informing the villagers about such a threat.
It was even decided that the speed of the convoy was increased to the maximum speed possible to the armoured cars.
Thus, one hour and a half later, the three NATO cars entered in the village they had discovered the day before, scaring the villagers that didn't expected such a surprising entrance.
Anthony opened the Humvee's door and got out of the 4x4, searching for the village chief.
« What is happening ? Why did you appeared so suddenly ? »
« Sir, answered the Lieutenant, do you know anything about giant dragons ? »
« Giant dragons ? You mean the Fire Dragon ? What is happening ? » In his eyes, everyone could see the fear appearing.
« I don't know how you call it, but a giant red dragon just burnt down the entire forest you showed us on the map yesterday. »
« What ? A Fire Dragon destroyed the village of Kowan ? Is there any survivor ? »
« Follow me. »
Anthony led the chief to the back of the American vehicle and opened the back doors, revealing to any observer the figure of the unconscious girl tucked in survival covers, peaceful, like she was just sleeping, like her village was still existing.
« She just suffer of hypothermia, you think you can take care of her ? » asked Trevis, checking the heartbeat of the girl.
« I hate to disrespect the hospitality tradition, but we can't. We must evacuate, and our resources are limited, so we can't welcome her. »
« You're evacuating ? interrupted Anthony. To where ? »
« We don't have another choice. If we want to live, we must go to the big cities on the Tessalia Highway. There we will be protected. »
The chief called a villager and ordered him to pass the evacuation order to everyone. As the man left running towards the houses, Marc approached.
« The Tessalia Highway ? Isn't that the big road 15 clicks to the west ? » he asked.
« I don't know your units for the distance, but if we leave now, we will reach it in the early evening. »
« And you'll be completely exposed until then. Anthony, we must escort them to that road, it's on our way back at Alnus. »
« Marc, our orders were to be back at base before 1200 hours. It will slow us down too much. LaPointe won't be happy with it. He wants the first report on his desk this evening ! »
« What ? They don't have a single man trained to wield weapons. We can't leave them unprotected. »
« I know but we have our orders, and a convoy of hundreds of people will attract this fucking dragon that we can't fight ! »
Anthony hadn't noticed that he had yelled his last sentence, and that all the team was now watching him as he observed panicked villagers starting to pack their belongings.
The silence of the scene was broken by Trevis, getting out of the back of the Humvee.
« On this point I totally agree with the corporal, we can't leave that many civilians without protection. Plus think about the good publicity that it can make for all the NATO soldiers : we'll no longer be invaders, but people that try to help. This is why I joined, to help the people in need. Who's with me ? »
« Me » answered Marc, raising his hand. The same answer came from the rest of Recon Team 3.
« Fuck ! » barked the young Lieutenant that didn't knew what to do. Obey orders that'll doom an entire village, or put the life of his men at risk to protect civilians. Everyone was watching him, awaiting the decision and the fate of the whole Coda village.
« Fuck ! Chaumond ! Contact Alnus and tell them that we won't be able to arrive at 1200 and that our new ETA is unknown. »
All the soldiers sighed in relief as the private turned on the long-range radio.
« Sir, started Anthony toward the village's chief, gather everyone on the main road. We'll leave in one hour and escort the villagers to the highway. »
From then, everyone was busy trying to coordinate the panicked villagers with hand gestures and basic words in the local language. It wasn't an easy task, but the dozen of soldiers managed to keep a little of order, even when a wheel of a carriage broke in the middle of the forming convoy, blocking the road, and the injured horse almost managed to hit a silver-haired teenager trying to examine a small girl that fell out of the carriage. The almost being here thanks to a lucky shot by Elkader, putting a 5.56mm round in the neck of the beast. After this little incident, the only thing that happened was a small theft and fight that followed when the thief was discovered trying to steal food from one carriage.
In his mind, Marc started to make calculations about the time that is necessary to reach the road. Just thinking about it put a clear thought I his head : it was going to be a long day.
Between Coda and Alnus Hill, November 8th 2016, 1419 hours AT
When the convoy first passed on this road the day before, those that weren't driving were bored. Boredom was there even at a normal speed for military convoy. But this day, they were rolling way slower than this speed. In fact, the cars were rolling at the speed of walk, which mean that from roughly 20 minutes, the time needed to reach the Tessalia Highway from Coda extended to at least 5 hours. Obviously, the RCT3's ETA was impacted, which wasn't for the joy of the HQ, but apparently when LaPointe discovered that it was for the protection of local populations, he authorised the team to modify their ETA. Now, they were expected for 1700 hours.
Not having the fear of sanctions allowed everyone to work at full capability to keep the giant train of carriages rolling at the highest speed possible.
The convoy was lead by the Humvee, barely moving faster than a man on foot. Jenkins had the experience of driving this kind of vehicle at low speed, but normally it happens on small streets while trying to protect infantry, not on wide open spaces.
400 meters behind, the VBL was closing the march. Cavendish, still behind the .50 cal, was scanning the skies to see if Smaug, as he called the Fire Dragon, was ever going to attack them. The danger that this flying monster represented was enough to keep him focuses on his sentry duty.
Between them were all the villagers' carriages, moving as fast as they could. But the dirt road suffered from the storm that happened the night before, and thus every now and then the wheel of a carriage got stuck in the mud that had replaced the trail.
In situation where one's survival is at stake, it's often observed that feelings like compassion and solidarity disappear. This situation was a perfect example. When a family's cart can no longer move, it's heartbreaking to see the members of this "united community" just passing by. So to give a hand and to further show their good intentions, the passengers of the P4 were ordered to help to get the cart unstuck, to the confusion of the villagers. Who were those men that actually cared about the inhabitants of a worthless village ? Never have they seen soldiers trying to help the peasants when they needed it.
The situation was like that for the last several hours, and so far not a single major incident happened.
But it was "so far".
As the convoy was passing over a small bridge, the radio of the Humvee started to spit out the voice of Marc, scaring the kids and the two pregnant women that were allowed to sit at the back of the vehicle.
« RCT3 Actual, RCT3-2, we have a problem in the middle of the convoy. The axis of a carriage broke and the people that own it refuse to move. Can you come ? »
« RCT3-2, RCT3 Actual, affirmative. Jenkins, I'm going to see what's going on, continue without me. »
« Ok. » replied Jenkins as Anthony opened the door and jumped off, the car was still going forward.
As Marc described it, in the middle of the queue, a wooden carriage was laying on the ground, the axis cut at only a few centimetres of the right wheel.
Everything owned by those unlucky people was all over the ground. The woman of the young couple was trying, with the help of Strauss and Clark, to pick up anything that she could to make a little of order. The man was in an intense discussion with the chief and Marc, but the Corporal cut him in the middle of his sentence as the Lieutenant was getting next to them.
« The wood of the axis didn't supported the weight and broke. We can't repair it. The chief says that Mister must abandon all of his belongings and continue on foot, but Mister refuses and says that he couldn't survive without them. I think the Chief is right, but still we can't abandon someone there. »
Anthony nodded and turned his head toward the man. He was, at least according to his clothes, one of the richest habitant of the village, thus explaining why the cart was so much filled.
« Sir, your chief is right. I understand that you're attached to your stuff, but you have to take the most important things and continue on foot. We can't afford to stop until every single one of you is safe at the Highway. You must continue without your carriage. »
« But... But... I already took the most important... I can't take less... » answered the villager, despair in his eyes.
« I'm sorry sir, but I can't make any exception. This convoy must roll to safety. Strauss, what's the distance between us and the Highway ? »
The German private put down a crate of cabbages and opened the map that he had hand drawn the day before.
« Huh... The bridge here is at around 7 clicks of the Highway, sir. » He spoke back with his marked german accent.
The Lieutenant looked at his watch and started to do mental calculations. They made 8 kilometres in a little less two hours and forty minutes, so it mean than the speed of the convoy was around 3 kilometres per hour, thus the remaining distance should be covered in around two hours and a half. The French officer put his hand on the man shoulder and looked at him directly in the eyes.
« We're halfway to the road. Grab anything useful and go, or I'll be forced to burn your belongings. Ok ? »
The village sadly nodded and turned towards his wife, pointing the few things that they'll have to carry.
« We can't ask command for trucks or something ? It'll be way more practical for everybody. » asked Clark, opening a bag full of potatoes and throwing the two third of it, thus allowing the couple to have a bag to put their stuff into.
« No sergeant. We are technically more than 15 clicks deep into enemy territory, and all resources are needed in the construction of the base. I know this is utter bullshit, but this time command won't give us anything. Understood ? »
« Yes lieutenant. »
The woman was clearly crying and refused to let go of a box full of jewellery, but she finally accepted her fate when Strauss approached with a self made torch improvised with a piece of the axis and a piece of cloth normally covering the carriage.
Almost everything started to burn immediately, and the couple painfully started walking alongside the rest of the convoy, tears running down their cheeks.
Marc, Strauss and Clark returned in the P4 that was parked a few meters behind them, guarded by Elkader, while Anthony started to run towards the front of the convoy to catch up with the Humvee.
« Why ? » was the question that Trevis immediately after Anthony sat down on the passenger of the vehicle.
« I didn't have the choice. They were just standing there, refusing to move. If the higher ups end up somehow knowing that we abandoned civilians, everything will point me as the responsible. Nobody was hurt, so consider that everything is alright. Point. »
The lieutenant sighed and turned his head. On the two benches that were at the back of the Humvee were sat two pregnant women and a few kids that were too tired to even stand up. Denham was sat by the door, trying to give a small amount of water to those that suffered of thirst. In front of him was Trevis, finishing a check up of the unconscious girl.
« How is she going ? » asked Anthony trying to change the mind of the group.
« Better. Her body temperature and her cardiac rhythm is normal, at least for a human. She should wake up soon. I really hope that she will have access to a psychological treatment. Seeing your entire village burn down is really a traumatic experience. »
The answer given by the Staff Sergeant warmed the heart of the soldiers.
This moment of happiness was cut by Jenkins, remarking the numerous crows flying in circles over a part of the road hidden by a small hill that was by-passed by the trail. Anthony grabbed his binoculars and ordered to stop when they'll have a visual on the source of this bird gathering.
With the magnification device, he counted at least twelve crows, but when he started to bring his look down towards the ground, all of his vision was blocked by a giant halberd.
A giant axe in the colour of ebony.
It appeared so suddenly that Anthony instinctively backed off, to instantly put back the googles in front of his eyes to see who was caring it.
His observation ?
A girl.
A girl not older than 14 in a gothic dress.
« C'est quoi ce bordel ? A gothic girl with an axe ? » was the first statement made by the Lieutenant.
« The fuck ? Jenkins said before reaching, like everyone else in the car, for her binoculars. I think she saw us. »
In the distance, the girl stood up and started to walk towards the group of vehicles.
She was still pretty far, but she started to shout.
« Who are you ? Where are you going ? » Her voice was the voice of a child, slightly high pitched, but deep enough to show that she was in her early teenage years.
« You know who this is ? » asked Anthony to the passengers of the Humvee, but before anyone could answer, the kids that were at the back jumped of the car and started to run toward the girl.
« Oracle ! Oracle ! »
« Oracle ? » muttered a confused Jenkins. « That weird outfit has a religious meaning ? »
« The outfit isn't the weirdest thing for me, replied muttered back Trevis. I'm more concerned about the giant freaking axe that she carries. »
A group of elder came and kneeled before the girl like during a prayer, confirming the suspicions of the American soldier.
One of the elder started to talk to the girl, like a priest talking to a deity.
« Your holiness, we are fleeing the village of Coda. The men that control those iron carriages warned us about a Fire Dragon that burned the forest of Kowan. They are nice to us and they don't expect anything in return. »
The girl respectfully nodded, like in some sort of protocol, and started to walk toward the car.
« How does those thing move ? she asked, looking at the Humvee. What is this "NATO" ? »
« I don't know, answered one of the kid, but it's way more comfortable than our carts. »
« Comfortable you say ? »
The look she gave to the lieutenant was strange, like filled with envy but at a terrifying level. After touching the door a few times with her child hand, she managed to open it. The surprised that it caused allowed her, with a really quick movement, to sat on Anthony's lap.
He was embarrassed, a unknown small girl managed to sat on the lap of a trained soldier, almost without him noticing. The girl, on the other side, was having a lot of fun and was giggling.
« Huh... Excuse-me, but I think this is not going to be possible. Please move ! » tried the Lieutenant in the local language.
The only result he got was more giggles and the girl changing her position almost like she knew were to sit to make the military equipment feel uncomfortable. This time, he tried to grab her by her shoulders to push her out of the car but he met resistance.
For the outside observer, this "fight" looked ridiculous, like for Marc when he approached the car to see why there wasn't any update on the radio, only to see his commanding officer trying to prevent a girl to sit on his lap and touch everything on the dashboard by curiosity.
This world was definitely getting weirder every second.
Junction between Tessalia Highway and Coda Road, November 8th 2016, 1613 hours AT
When the villagers and the soldiers saw the Tessalia Highway, an unanimous feeling of relief swept through everyone. The fleeing inhabitants of Coda were seeing their salvation and the access to bigger cities where the will be protected while the members of RCT3 were seeing the end of this escort mission.
For the last few kilometres, the area was rocky and arid, like a small desert. The sun was striking as hard as it could on the unprotected skin of everybody.
Cavendish, still behind the machine-gun mounted on the VBL, was really maybe the one suffering the most of the heat. The green of the camouflage pattern and the black of the Browning were absorbing the light, raising the temperature of the metal can. The occupants of the lightly armoured car were trying to ration the water consumption between them and the thirsty villagers from the start of the escort, but now the quantity of water they had started to diminish pretty rapidly.
The British private let the gun position unmanned when he decided to quench his thirst. Even inside the vehicle, the sun was getting in by the open hatch, and thus giving a feeling of heat on his neck.
« What's the distance left ? » he asked, grabbing one of the last water bottle.
« Less than a mile, answered Gomez, and then we'll finally go back to base. »
« I think I never wanted a shower so bad. » intervened Chaumond.
« Oh my god yes, the sh... »
Cavendish was interrupted by a sound.
A sound of large wings moving through the air.
He also felt the shadow on his neck.
He passed his head through the hatch.
It was there.
The dragon was there.
Already starting to crush carriages.
So that was the real fourth chapter of OMJ, hope you enjoyed. Now that I have all the time I want for writing, I'm now able to bring you a real full sized chapter written with love in the course of a full week instead of a rushed filler made in three days. But to my surprise it seems that a lot of you enjoyed last week's entry, maybe because of the base idea more than the chapter in itself. Usually people don't like when you throw a filler in the middle of a ongoing story, but who am I to judge ?
To add assault to injury, this interlude is currently the most reviewed entry of the fic, so here we go (again lol).
Systemman - Thanks for the info. I edited this part from "30 moon" to "a moon". I think I know where my mistake comes from : I saw Warcraft in theatres, and at a moment character A say to character B « meet me there in two moons », then a few scenes later character B say to other characters « he want us to meet him there in two days. » Maybe it's a translation error, or I'm prematurely deaf, but thanks for pointing out my mistake.
The Tundra Fox - Glad you enjoyed. Always found weird that there wasn't any "major" fanfic that has for main focus the locals. Still, this fic relies more on reports and interviews made after the story like on a documentary and not really only on the general's diary. The problem with writing the PoV of war prisoners is that they only see what is happening during the battle and what happens in prison. Then they are realised in the SR. So maybe I'll introduce more secondary characters, or use for example the refugees for this kind of story telling.
Faust1812 - So THE Faust1812 is the first reviewer to criticise my fic. Your observation might be only about the Interlude, that I admit I rushed to give everyone at least something to read instead of nothing, but I tried to put less transitioning in this chapter. This is more than 3,5k words, instead of the 2,5k that I make usually, to cover around half an anime episode, so I hope that I'm at least improving on this point.
Wacko12 - Thanks for pointing out this grammatical mistake. It's fixed.