Opening Passage Lucid Part 1: Omnipotent

Young Ahren is soldier in a civil war that pits The System and The Rebellion against one another. This is the beginning of his struggle to find the truth.

 Boom! The mortar round crashed in the distance. He pushed himself up against the pine tree in front of him as he heard the screams of his fellow soldiers fill the damp morning air. He took a deep breath. He would never get used to this. He was good at it, in fact, the best but he could not help but wonder why?

He chuckled as he thought the question. He fought wars and won battles for The System because they told him to. What other reason did he need?  After all it was the foolish rebels who started this war. The System had wanted them implanted with microchips to help them with life, to help make decisions, to prevent them from getting lost. The biochips were meant to maintain individual personalities while removing the undesirable characteristics of the individual. The poor mongrels didn’t even realize The System was the best way forward. So in the year 2018 they rebelled.  

Now he was here. Screams filled the air as the rebel bombardment continued to hammer their position. He had survived many battles; a lot more than he would have liked to. He supposed he would survive this battle too. His thoughts were interrupted by an agonizing scream. He looked around his position trying to determine where the scream was coming from, whether it was friend or foe. Then he heard it again and jerked to his left. Crawling across the forest floor maybe 15 feet away was a fellow soldier. He knew this one. He had stopped many of the other soldiers from beating him on multiple occasions.

Just then the soldier caught sight of him. “Ahren!” the young soldier screamed in agony. “Please help me!”

Ahren looked on from his position behind the pine. They young soldier was gravely wounded. His left eye was completely missing as were all the fingers on his left hand. One leg was left mangled most torn off from the force of the blast. Blood flowed from the gaping wounds like a crimson waterfall.

Ahren took a deep breath and pushed back his long black hair. He had stayed alive for so long by killing others not by saving them. This one was different though. Ahren did not know why, but in his heart he knew what he must do. Coming to his conclusion Ahren stood in his position. He was not large but not small. He was five foot 6 inches and lean. His skin was dark and tan from his extensive time in the elements, and his boyish face belied the ruthless killer he was underneath.

 He reassured himself that moments like this were why he trained but he was not fooled. He had only been trained to kill rebels that was it. After all, killing was a soldiers only mission.

Setting aside his misgivings Ahren took off his gear and set down his rifle. He unholstered his sidearm, a Sig Sauer 9mm, and readied a grenade. He took one last deep breath then he stepped out from the safety of his position behind the pine.

He moved as fast as he could staying low and tossing the grenade for cover. He covered the distance quickly and was soon dragging the mangled young soul back to cover. He glanced at the soldier as he did so. Ahren could tell just by looking at him that this was his first time on the line.

The soldier was in bad shape. If he wanted any chance of staying alive, he would need to be evacuated for treatment.

Ahren had no other option. He put the young man over his shoulders, gathered his equipment, and hastily retreated. The soldiers warm blood bathed Ahrens body as he ran. The feeling was repulsive but there was nothing that could be done for it so he trudged on.

He moved quickly through the forest trying to use its trees as cover. His mind wandered as he carried on. His body ached with the extra burden of the injured man. Every breathe and step brought a new challenge.

Suddenly he felt a strong punch in his gut from the injured man. He threw the injured man down in reaction. Grunting as he hit the floor the man roared in agony then began laboring to breathe. Eyes closing, he looked to Ahren and said with his dying breathe “Now I am free…”.

The words hit Ahren like a freight train. What did the young soldier mean? How did death make him free? Was he not already free? Surely, he was. His thoughts were interrupted by rustling in the forest behind him. Quickly turning to the trees, he could see what remained of his unit retreating across the forest floor faces pale as if they had seen a ghost. They hadn’t seen a ghost; Ahren knew this could not be good.

As his fellow soldiers retreated, Ahren followed suit. He fell in pace beside a grizzled soldier, who was obviously a veteran of the conflict with his scarred face and middle age.

“What is going on?” Screamed Ahren as he picked his way through the forest.

Never even sparing a glance the soldier replied “The rebel artillery is too heavy. We have suffered heavy casualties and a great loss of leadership. We need to regroup in the city before we attempt to retake the rebel positions again”.

“A great loss of leadership” Ahren repeated in an inaudible whisper. He knew what that meant and it gave him more urgency to get out of the forest and back to the safety of the city. After all, soldiers without leaders were just asking to die.

Author's Note

Any and all input welcome.

Reviews

[EssenceofDaringx]

This was very well written. A nice insight into the character of Ahren. I look forward to reading more!