No One Cares For Soldiers

Three soldiers got more than what they bargained.

Over here! I found ‘em!

Two soldiers rushed over to the call of their comrade, who was pointing at two stale bodies lying lifelessly at his feet behind a bush and a lamppost. The bush was infested with overgrown leaves and branches sprouting in all sorts of directions, loose leaves, and the only thing keeping the growth from spreading was the thick crack in the pavement that it could call home. The lamppost had a large weed reaching nearly to the top and the light had been shattered somehow, leaving shards of glass scattered across the pavement below, creating a hazard for any foolish soul who dared to step towards it.

Jesus. Looks like someone did the job for us, huh. Ya know who shot ‘em?

Prob’ly someone looking for a fight. Shot ‘em good, didn’t they? Looks like six bullets in this old gen’leman and four in her. Musta been one o’ those automatic rifles or som’in. Let’s see what we got here.

One of the soldiers sat down on his knees and scavenged through the dead man’s clothes in search of supplies while one of the others just watched. The third one held his heavy gun in both hands as he surveyed the area, looking for any signs of infected or Lanterns1.

Hey! Come look at this!

Ah, god. Looks like someone was jumped on by a pack o’ growlers2. Poor son-of-a-b***h.

The girl too. Got a lot of ‘em here. Musta hurt a lot.

The three men all examined the bodies, trying to imagine the struggle the two poor souls had to endure, but none of them could. Their minds were clouded with years spent doing military service and just that was enough to make it seemingly impossible for them to remember their days as civilians. Outlines of irritated skin could be seen around the bites, the affected area so disturbed that you couldn’t even tell the difference between the flesh and the dry blood. The area was clearly infected, the blisters formed around the wound to show it, but the soldiers knew it had to be at least a few hours old.

They’re pretty much naked except for a bottle of disinfectant. You’d think that they’d at least have some rations on them.

Geez. This whole f*****g thing was a waste of time. Let’s just leave ‘em and the get the hell outa here before we end up just like ‘em.

The soldier holding the rifle suddenly lifted his weapon and pulled the trigger at a nearby building. The sound of the bullet firing from its barrel cut through the air like a razor and startled the other two soldiers. The bullet went through a doorway and hit something, but the other two soldiers couldn’t figure out what.

What the hell! What are you doing?

I saw someone over there! Come out a*****e!

The two soldiers looked questioningly at their comrade before following his gaze and witnessing as someone emerged from the shadows of the building. The figure approached cautiously and could barely be seen from a distance, but as it slowly approached, it could be identified as a man whose age got the best of him. His face was worn with thin lines that traced along his forehead and eyelids, his once black hair had small gray patches sprouting from his scalp, his jeans and loose t-shirt had seen better days, and his boots, all covered in mud and dirt, was no younger. He had his hands in the air, his eyes fixed worried on the three soldiers, and his lips parted as he hesitated to speak.

Please! I mean no harm!

Stop!

The man came to a halt near a pile of rubble which was once a statue, but was now dust and stone. His hands remained in the air, but they were slightly limp. His face glistened in the sunrise with sweat and his hands were stained with small traces of mud and loose dirt. It looked like he hadn’t had access to any water in days.

I’m just passin’ through.

Didn’t you read the sign? No civilians are allowed here!

We were just lookin’ for the fastest route to Johnson City. We didn’t mean no harm.

‘We?’

Out of the shadows came three more figures. One of them was a lady who looked to be no younger (or cleaner) than the man and the other two were children, one boy and one girl, both wore faces covered in dirt and bruises. The two other soldiers immediately directed the barrels of their guns towards the mother and children, who nearly flinched at the sight, but all were used to it by now. The mother was squeezing her children towards her as though they could run off and never return at any given moment. They all stared at the soldiers in waiting. All they could clearly think about was being shot on the spot.

We just wanna get to Johnson City. That’s all.

The soldiers didn’t put down their guns. Soldiers never put down their guns. You could shoot them anywhere and they’ll just keep their fingers curled tightly around the trigger. Soldiers are stubborn and they won’t hesitate for so much as a split second to shoot your brains right out of your skull if you’re not careful.

Turn around.

The man motioned for his kids and wife to turn their backs and they did. They all turned towards the building and kept their mouths shut and eyes forward. Without so much as another moment to lose, the soldiers took small steps towards them, their rifles just as ready as their unfazed minds. Their fingers were on the triggers as always as they crept forward ever so cautiously.

Hands on your heads.

When the family failed to comply, the soldier raised his voice like a bloodhound giving a warning.

I said hands on your f****n’ heads!

The family barely even flinched at the sudden change in volume. The man was the first to place his hands behind his skull and the others were slow to obey. It seemed that they were moving in echo of the man, sparking even more caution in the soldiers that were approaching them. The soldiers broke into a walk with their guns pointed and were quick to ram their toes into the passerby’s knees to get them on the ground. All four bruised their knees with a grunt and the two children made a small protest, but the mother silenced them with a harsh shush. The children saw the seriousness in their mother’s face and immediately tightened their lips into lines.

The soldiers took out their scanners from their belts and pressed them behind each person’s ear and awaited the pips that would sound from the small device to indicate whether or not the individual was infected. The moment the pips sounded, giving the all-clear, the man swiftly turned around and grabbed the soldier’s arm, causing him to aim his gun towards the wall and shoot it. The two other soldiers were quick to react, but the mother was already armed with a knife and dodged a bullet as she took down one of the soldiers with great force and pinned him on the ground.

The two children pulled out pistols from their boots and pulled the trigger three times, all three bullets piercing the soldier’s bullet proof vest, until a fourth shot was fired that tunneled right through his eye and was lodged right at the back of his skull. The first to hit the ground was the soldier that was pinned down, but the first to bleed was the soldier with a bloody mess of bulging muscle and naked flesh as an eye. The woman dug her knife into the soldier’s throat and kept it there as he struggled to breathe. He began choking on his own blood and saliva as she forced all of her weight on the knife before pulling it out, causing the sound of blade against wet muscle and blood bubbles to sound through the noises of struggle coming from the third soldier, who was being pinned against a large chunk of stone by the man. The man held him in place and stretched to reach the nearest heavy piece of stone that he could use to smash the soldier’s head in, but as his fingers just barely grazed the rough surface of the sharp stone, the woman grabbed the gun from her daughter’s hands and with one gunshot to echo about the surrounding buildings, the soldier laid limp with a hole in the side of his head.

The man let go of the soldier and turned to his wife, who simply stretched her arm back behind her to return the gun to her daughter and looked back at the man.

That should be all of ‘em. You know where ta go?

Map says we head on to main street. Can’t miss it.

How long you figger it’s gon’ take?

The woman shrugged and crossed her arms. She idled in place and sighed.

Could take all night. Could take all day. I don’t give a damn. As long as we get there before Ruggs, it don’t matter. Now let’s move before any more decide to show up. The kids are hungry. We should git some food while we’re at it. I think the sun’s comin’ up, so we gotta go now.

The man groaned and looked towards the horizon.

Fine then. Let’s git a move on. I’m hungry too and I know that the river is nearby. Let’s go git some water and then let’s head on to main street. Can’t be that far. We’ll prob’ly git there before anyone’ll find ‘em here. Hell, might even git to Johnson City before these sons-a-b*****s git found. It’s gettin’ cold, so let’s not walk out ‘ere for long.

The four of them walked away from the soldiers and walked right over all of the rubble that was in their way. Blood streamed from their bodies that cooled against the pavement and stone, a shade casting over them. The eyes of the soldier with a bullet in his head and his ear against the stone bore into the man’s back as he walked away, his boots crushing small fragments of the remains, but he didn’t look back. He just kept walking. His eyes were looking down to see where he was stepping and his feet just kept moving. Oh no, he never looked back. He was afraid he might hurt his neck if he turned his head to see what he was leaving behind and his children might run off and never return if he didn’t keep his eyes on them and his wife might cry if he let her walk off by herself without knowing where she was going.

Oh no, he didn’t care for soldiers. No one cares for soldiers.

Author's Note

Includes some harsh language and violence. The numbers are references to the following:
1. Lanterns are groups of rebels that attack the military as a way of exploiting the corruption in all branches of government. Their goal is to provide "hope" or "light" for the remaining survivors.

2. Growlers are infected that have been infected for over a week, causing them to start to lose the flesh around their mouths, revealing their teeth and causing them to growl and drool aggressively.