Work Text:
Thorns
By: me (duh)
Kaela ran.
The smoke created a thick haze around her that made it difficult to breathe. The dust and rubble coated her scrubs in dirt and grime. One second she was in class. The next the city's alarms blared. And last she ran as Eastern troops stormed the med school.
Kaela witnessed her closest friend get shot. Her parents were almost certainly dead. Now all she could do was run. Run in hopes to find safety. The direction she was running in would lead her to her place of work. A Flower shop Named Rose and Thorne after the Owner’s first and last name.
She watched in horror as blood trickled slowly from the rubble finding its way into the gutter. Training to be a nurse had grown her accustomed to occasional blood but something about knowing there is a crushed human corpse under the rubble of a collapsed building didn’t sit well in her stomach.
Losing her focus she tripped and like the universe slapping her in the face she fell into a pile of broken glass cutting open her palms. Kaela winced in pain as blood slowly dripped down her palm onto the pavement but she kept running forward.
The distant sounds of gunfire made her flinch. She swore she could hear the screams of men and women far in the distance. All she could think of was her possible demise. Would artillery blow her to bits. Would a collapsing building bury her. Would she be shot. Still she ran. Petrified by fear but driven by an animal sense to run away.
As the Rose and Thorne slowly came into view she noticed a group of armed soldiers in the distance just a ways down the street. Kaela ducked behind the rubble of a collapsed apartment building and held her breath waiting for the patrol to pass.
Her heart beat sped up when she heard the soldiers'voices grow instead of diminish. Trying to come up with a way out she picked up a brick and peaked to try and get a view on the squad. The soldiers had walked closer to her position but something was in her favor. All the soldiers were facing away from her so gathering her courage she threw the brick into a nearby alleyway in hopes the soldiers would walk away.
The brick made an audible crash when it hit a metal trashcan which startled the soldiers. Kaela prayed to the gods that they would leave her and her prayer was answered as the squad slowly moved away from her and into the alley.
She thanked whatever just blessed her and quietly made her way into the flower shop. The shop smelled of fertilizer. The building beside the shop collapsing had left the shop broken and mangled. It was a blessing that all 4 walls and the roof were still standing.
Kaela sat behind the counter reaching for the medical pack Ms. Rose had stored there for her to use if she even got hurt. Injury was common for her at the shop. It had gotten to such a point that Ms. Rose had to stop her from using the clippers.
Carefully pulling a pack of gauze out of the container and trying her best to wrap her hand as pain screamed at her through her hands. She had completely neglected to clean the wound as protocol called for but she was too preoccupied to remember or even think of it.
After patching up her hands she leaned back to rest. The run had taken all her energy and she was really hoping no more patrols would come by to possibly find her because she was in no shape to move.
She thought over what had just happened. Or how it happened. There was no prior notice. First they heard the raid sirens that had been recently installed thank the gods. Then the artillery came, lucky for her nothing hit the medical school building. Unlucky for her Eastern troops soon entered the building. All her classmates hid in the classroom as the professor ran out to call for help from the nearby NCF base. He was dead. Gunshot was heard from downstairs not even 5 minutes after he had left.
As she looked around she saw all her classmates either horrified, crying, or defeated. Then her close friend, Mary, spoke up and said that they needed to escape. She knew there was a way out just down the hall and that she would lead all of them there. Her friend led the evacuation being the brave type.
They had managed to get out of the classroom without any hiccups and made their way toward the exit. Then as Mary peaked the corridor adjacent to the exit a gunshot rang out. Blood and bits of flesh splattered over Kaela’s face. Someone in the back of the pack screamed. The soldiers down the hall yelled. Then as Kaela slowly came back to her senses she yelled. Yelled at everyone to run. So they did. Kaela didn’t look back as she ran. She saw people frozen in terror. Ones hiding behind cover. Ones running just like her.
More shots rang out behind her. Bullets whizzed past her head. One hit a boy running parallel to her. She didn’t look back. At the end of the hall was a window. Her one chance at Escape. She gathered all she had prayed to the gods then jumped.
The glass broke around her as she jumped and another bullet whizzed past her head. Then she landed feet first on the pavement below patted herself down for injuries then quickly started running in whatever direction she could. Away from the screams.
***
It had been around an hour. Kaela was well rested but still too scared to venture out the city. Her hope was someone had managed to contact the nearby NCF outpost to send help to secure the city. Now all she could do was wait.
She never was good at being alone with her thoughts. Especially now when all she could think of was death. Mary. Her parents. Almost everyone she knew. She had never traveled out of her city. Everyone was certainly dead by now. She could only hope some survived.
As she applied a dressing onto a cut on her calf she stopped. Her breath hitched. Footsteps. Heavy. Mechanical. Almost not human. Then the bell on the door rang out. She had to cover her mouth to stop herself from gasping. She dared to peek through the glass display cabinet.
To her horror she saw a towering soldier covered head to toe in armor. The type she had only seen in propaganda posters ones with a towering soldier in fog being followed by a reaper. The posters promoted a so-called “Super-Soldier” of the new era.
She always thought it was stupid. Now she saw what it really was. The eyes of someone who didn’t look human peered out the eyeslits of the solid metal faceplate. The Ace of Spades tucked into the leather strap of the helmet. The old roger crudely painted onto the faceplate. It was a storm. And they… It would kill her
—
Alarms
Hask woke to the sound of the alarm in the base. He was quite happy to be moved to this sector. No engagements due to being deep in friendly territory and a city close by for beer runs. He had finally thought he could rest but the universe decided to screw him over.
He rolled out of his bunk stretching his neck. “Fuck me. I wanted to sleep in” he muttered to his bunk mate and fellow storm Matt. “Yeah well this is important. The city is being invaded, we need to move quick” Hask rolled his eyes. He never cared for anyone in the city. It was a shithole but maybe the promise of beer was enough to get him to pull his boots on.
The following briefing was the shortest briefing Hask had ever received. It was simple. The city has been invaded by Eastern troops. Their job was to secure the city. Due to an influx, Eastern supporters in said city command believe that it was a rebel effort. So this mission was simple. Get in and kill everyone. All non-rebel citizens were thought to be dead or captured so anyone and everyone is fair game.
Hask left the briefing room and went straight for the armory. Opening the large metal doors he was met by the base's resident quartermaster. Halfway through suiting up Matt entered the room with their doses of the Ameliorate, the mix of drugs most “Super-Soldiers” used. It was a crude mixture of all sorts of performance enhancing drugs put into one mixture to make humans almost invincible. Almost.
Hask tucked the injection and backup injection into the field pouch before donning the last of his armor plating. He picked up his helmet from the rack, easily different from any other storm helmet by the signature Ace of Spades carefully tucked in the leather strap of the helmet and the painting of the old roger he did a year or so back.
“Hey you have got to paint that on my faceplate sometime” Matt said to him as Hask put his helmet on. “Come on be original” He replied “Do something to make it your own”. Matt put his own helmet on before resting his hand on Hask's shoulder. “Guess ill think about it” Hask heard him say through the layers of metal separating his ears and matts mouth “See you on the field brother”
Matt quickly acquired his FR-12 Fury Rifle from the quarter master and Hask followed suit.
***
The transport was moving quickly toward the city. Hask was separated from Matt and put in a squad with other NCF soldiers. They looked at him in fear as he observed them. The driver gave Hask the 20 minute warning and Hask swiftly injected the Ameliorate into his body.
Around 10 minutes after he felt it start to kick in. The doctors reported to him when he was first issued the drug that he would feel heightened anxiety around 10 minutes after injection. It only really settled in after 15.
Hasks entire body was screaming at him to run. That he would die. It took everything he had to suppress the thoughts until the drug fully settled in. Sometimes he thought about if it was the drugs doing or his own. Suddenly Hask felt calmer. The Ameliorate kicked in. He was inhuman now.
Swiftly jumping out the Transport Hask discarded his backup Ameliorate mixture and pushed forward without his squad. He could take care of himself. Approaching what seemed to be a blockade by the Eastern forces it seems commands suspicions were true. Civilians were armed and standing beside the Eastern forces. “Fucking traitors” Hask muttered before poping up from his cover and firing at the Soldier standing Guard.
***
After acquiring about 7 new dogtags and 3 civilian's identification cards he kept moving past the blockade. The streets looked dead. Almost everything was destroyed and it no longer resembled the city hask remembered visiting. Most buildings were either destroyed or covered in the rubble of destroyed buildings.
The air was thick with smoke and the sounds of gunfire could be heard in the distance. Judging by how there were traitors within the city they could have informed Eastern troops that the NCF base was North of the city so they set up defenses there. It was a good command planned for that and planned a frontal assault as a distraction as a rear assault was carried out by Matt's squadron.
Moving past the corpses lying in the street Hask found a building that had yet to be destroyed. It was small but could still hold enemy soldiers. He drew his rifle and slowly made his way into the building. A small bell rang as he opened the door which proceeded to fall to the floor.
Hask swept the store in a mechanical fashion just the way he was instructed. Then he heard it. The faintest sound of glass cracking. He spun around and slowly made his way behind the counter.
—
Kaela was scared.
She covered her mouth with the bloodied gauze on her hands trying to hold her breath as much as possible to hopefully not alert the Storm of her presence. Slowly backing away she made her way closer to the store room adjacent to the counter.
Then she felt it. Then she heard it. Small glass shards under her hands cracked and cut open the bandages. She covered her mouth again, staining her lips with her own crimson. She peeked again.
The soldier noticed the noise.
A tear dripped down her cheek and was absorbed by the gauze. This was it. This was the end of her. She would get shot. Then she would die. And become forgotten. Nothing but a casualty of the war.
Her breathing became faster as the storm mechanically started turning to face behind the counter. The tears ran down her cheek faster. Then she saw it. Those dead eyes behind the faceplate locked on to her. She raised her hands and yelled “PLEASE DON’T”
The soldier didn’t hesitate. A gunshot rang out. Kaela felt a searing pain in her leg. Her vision blurred from shock and tears. She couldn’t tell if she was yelling or not. She couldn’t hear anything deaf from the fear and shock.
She continued to try and back up yelling more prayers that fell on deaf ears. The storm approached her. Its boots shattered the tile floor below it as it slowly moved closer to her. The tears ran faster now. She yelled more prayers that were not heard.
The Storm moved right up to her. She tried her hardest to make it hear her pleas. She yelled. cried. Sobbed. “I DON’T WANT TO DIE” Her breath hitched “PLEASE DON’T KILL ME”. Something animal awakened inside her. A primal fear of death. Her worst nightmare is coming for her.
Then she felt it. The cold metal of the gun’s barrel. Right on her forehead. She stopped sobbing. Though the tears still flowed. She stopped yelling. Her eyes became dead. And she accepted fate.
—
Something inside Hask Cracked. He was used to people crying. It was part of the job. But something about seeing someone young has to beg for mercy. To not be killed. Made something inside him crack. He didn’t know what it was but whatever it was it made him lower his gun.
Then open his field pouch to pull out his crude medical kit. And throw the poor girl some dressings and painkillers. Then without saying a word mainly because he didn’t know what he was doing. He started to walk out the door. Not mechanically. But calmly.
That's when he heard it. He turned back to see the girl fumbling with the wrapping of the dressing as she muttered softly “I don’t want to die”. That was enough to get Hask to turn back but then he heard the last bit. “I don’t want to die alone” Hask still didn’t know what, but something cracked inside him.
He turned back and approached the girl who looked horrified at the sight of him.Hask forced her to down the painkillers then he picked up the dressing showing her how to apply it to a bullet wound. After patching her up he took the bandages from the medical pack she had and wrapped it around the dressing then re-wrapped her hands.
Without a word he picked her up and slowly started carrying her outside. Then the building next door decided to collapse. Hask quickly ducked down covering the girl as his Armor was pelted with debris.
The look on the girl's face was horror. He couldn’t imagine what she had just gone through in possibly the past hour. He was surprised when he saw the medical scrubs she was wearing. She should know how to patch herself up but maybe she was too startled to do it correctly. Either way if he brings her back she could be a great help to the effort.
As the dust settled Hask slowly stood up and helped the girl to her feet, propping her against the counter again checking for any further injury. After checking her over twice he sat next to her and stayed in that position. “T…t” He heard the girl mutter “Thank you”. Hask quickly snapped his head to face her and gave her a polite nod before surveying the rubble for a way out.
***
It had been around an hour and Hask saw a small opening near the door that he might be able to push through. He helped the girl up again and set her down as he dug through the rubble. After a minute of clawing at the rubble he managed to find daylight. He made the opening wider then assisted in pulling the girl up and out of the rubble.
He checked her yet again for injury before picking her up again. He took note of the green flare that seemed to have been fired in the air about a few minutes prior to him emerging from the rubble. It was a signal from an officer that the city had been cleared and that was the rally point. He asked the girl for directions to the location of the flare which she gave to him. He then looked back at the destroyed flower shop before setting off in the direction of the rally point.
***
When Hask walked into the makeshift camp many people gave him slightly confused looks but didn’t question him. It was common for NCF to bring in POWs. They were Soldiers after all, not dogs. It was more him bringing a civilian in a mission to kill all civilians.
Hask pushed the flap of the medical tent open and found an unoccupied bed to place the girl on. He located a medic and informed her of the situation “Try to recruit her to a medical corp, she looks like a doctor or nurse. Also please get that fucking bullet out her leg” he said before begining to leave the tent.
That's when he heard someone call out to him “Wait!” He flipped around to face the girl who was now sitting up in the cot he laid her on. "Please, tell me your name".
Hask thought about it. Telling people his name never ended well. Because then he learned theirs. And then he read it on a casualty report. Even then, against all odds, it was on the tip of his tongue but still, he repressed it and then left without saying a word.