Chapter 2: Bump in the NIght

Chapter 2: Bump in the Night

Sleeping was impossible, the wind was blowing through some small holes scattered all around the camp. I heard shifting around; I guess the others can’t get any sleep either. Slowly getting up from the dirt ground, stretched out a bit, and made my way outside to the cold night air. The sky was pitch black not even the stars were out, crickets were chirping away slicing the dead quiet. Marco looked to the sky for what seemed like hours but maybe 2 or 3 minutes had gone by, smiling he heard a rustling behind him. Tatsu came out still wearing his combat boots and combat jack still kept neatly. "You look like you haven't closed your eyes once tonight" Marco gave a little smirk, looking back up towards the starless sky. "We must be prepared for any sort of attack that could befall us. Is that not the reason you are also up Officer?" Marco looked down at ground, "Well that's part of the reason, the other part is that I can't really close my eyes after everything I saw today" Marco clenched his fists so hard the leather gloves might have split. Tatsu frowned at this "Aren't you an officer, I'm sure you've seen your fair share of violence before, today should've been everyday work for you".

Marco didn't have the guts, the guts to tell them that he'd only been an officer for a month. Yes he had seen a fair share of violence, but his time as a solder was mostly him capturing enemy soldiers and integrating them. Hell, the worst thing he did was slice off one man's fingers, but that was a direct order from a General. The scream the prisoner let out still haunts him to this day.  I'm not officer material, he remembered thinking when he got promoted, I only got lucky for surviving in this world for this long.

A cold gust of wind brought him out his memory, he rubbed his bare arms and looked to Tatsu, "Yeah, I guess you're right, and Officer should be ready for anything-".Just then a loud explosion was heard, goosebumps appeared all over Marcos body as he turned to the sound. "What the hell, is it a Hornet attack?" Tatsu gave Marco a look of confusion, "Do Hornet units have that kind of firepower?" Marco without answering ran into the tent and shook Syria and Ro violently. "WAKE UP YOU TWO WE GOTTA GET OUT OF HERE!" Ro looked at him groggily as Syria was quicker to read the situation and frantically searched for her own combat boots and jacket. "RO GET DRESSED WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!" Marco quickly grabbed the radio, fear of being found fueling his every action. Tatsu came in wide eyed "A-are you sure this is an attack sir, maybe it was some sort of signal or-"more explosions cut off Tatsu and the fear in his face become more apparent.

"L-look everyone, we need to head as far away as possible from the war zone alright", Marco looked them all over and they were all visibly shaken. Ro ran over to Syria's side and helped in putting on shoes and jacket, "Come on Syria we got to go, here hold on to my hand", Syria grabbed on to Ro's sweat covered hand which was only made worse with the addition of her own cold trembling one. Marco and Tatsu were quickly storing as much rations and water as they could fit into their jackets. Marco scrambled over to the radio carrying it with both arms and giving a quick look around making sure they weren't forgetting anything.

"Officer where do you plan for us to go in the dead of night" Tatsu tried putting as much of a brave face as possible. "A-are we going to die?" Ro's teeth chattering fear completely gripping his soul. "No! its going to be just fine Ro, isn't that right Officer Marco?" Syria now was also looking over the panicking Marco with a hint of desperation on her face. "I-I-I..." I DONT KNOW I DONT KNOW I DONT KNOW I DONT KNOW WHAT THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?! Marco dropped the radio and ran over to the little table in the back, turned on the crank flashlight, and unfolded the map that was almost forgotten. Marco dug into his pocket and pulled out a worn down compass, placing the compass next to the map he began to set a plan in motion. "Ok Kumagawas territory is north-east of where we currently are. However, the explosions that we heard came from that very directions, and we don't know the enemies numbers so we can't exactly move around". Marco glanced to his left and right, back to the map he made the only decision his fear rattled brain could come up with. He jabbed his finger onto the map "We're going west-south", Tatsu look of confusion once again returned, "But if we're going that direction that would lead us to..." "That's right", Marco cut him off, "the desert".

Marco quickly pocketed the map, light, and compass and hurried to the exit of the tent. "H-hold on Officer" Tatsu raced in front of Marco, "I don't think I'll be able to follow this order Officer". With no waver in his voice< Marco sternly said "I am being serious recruit, it's time to follow orders and head out". This time Ro was the one that spoke up "W-wait Marco you can't be serious". Marco stopped dead in his tracks and turned towards Ro with a look of surprise "Ro, are you going to start questioning me too?" Ro looked down slightly, regretting that he opened up his mouth, "No it's just that area is called No Man's Land for a reason isn't it?" Syria tightened her grip on Ro's hand at the mention of the name "Yes, isn't there a better route that we could take?" Marcos teeth were clenched so tight that he sore they were starting to crack, "There are no other way recruits; the plan is to retreat into the desert. From there we can recuperate for a while then come back within radio distance and call for an escort. I know you've all grown up hearing the stories about the place, we all have, but those were just fairy tales>" Marco then reached forward, hand clenched "C'mon, we've already been through so much if we can make this last stretch we'll be back at base in no time sipping on some nice warm soup, so, whose with me". Reluctantly at first, Ro slowly extended his own fist and bumped it with Marco, we haven't done this kind of thing in such a long time, and you've really changed haven't you Marco.

Ro turned to Syria "You coming with us?", Syria slowly nodded her head "Yes, please lets endure this together". Ro and Marco turned their attention to Tatsu, Tatsu had an annoyed look on his face "Well, it's either go with you all or end up killed in the woods, I don't really have much of a choice now do I" and with that Tatsu walked out of the tent.