“Eighty dead Bertrand, we lost eighty brothers. We didn't lose them for a grand cause like liberating a city or saving a legion. We lost them to mapping out a fucking forest. A Seer forsaken forest.” Francois said, bowing his head down to the ground, jaw clenched.”
Not wanting to see if he was tearing up Bertrand just kept patting him on the shoulder. It was distraughting to see them so vulnerable, it really hammered home just dangerous the military life was.
The fact Bertrand was even alive right now was because he was in a squad with the two of them, otherwise he would have kept following orders, scouting the terrain even if he knew something was wrong.
So to see his indirect saviour so upset, was almost agonising. He just didn't know what to say or do. Training hadn't prepared him for this. It had taught him how to keep going not how to keep others going.
“I'm sorry, Seer, it's just this is the first time it’s been this bad. Such a monumental loss for no gain.” Francois growls looking up at Bertrand and that's when he notices it. Francois isn't depressed and drinking away his sorrows, he's furious and trying to subdue his rage. His jaw wasn’t clenched to stop sobs, it was clenched so he wouldn't start yelling.
Bertrand hadn't seen someone this mad since he left boot camp, the instructor back then had been an incarnation of wraith but looking at Francois, Bertrand figured they could probably hold their own.
“We’re going to get revenge and achieve our objective if it's the last thing we do. On that note wake that lump of skin and bones up, Olivier was a better witness than us so they just brought him in for questioning. While he's doing that we’re going to be doing some more scouting.”
“Ah, right okay.” Bertrand said, still quite shocked by the fire in the man's eyes.
Wandering over to the snoring Césaire and giving him a slight kick, it obviously didn't work, the man fully embraced in sleeps loving arms. Bertrand could honestly go for another sleep now that he was full and the pain had subsided thanks to the Fargoth.
"Actually on second thought let him rest. You should go back to sleep too, we leave in the afternoon not morning."
Even drunk and enraged, Francois had managed to noticed his tiredness, still it’s not like Bertrand could go to sleep. Leaving the poor man alone with his thoughts and his bottle.
Not wanting to say that though he instead asks. "Won't the others think ill of us?"
It didn't work though, with Francois looking over and scoffing at him before stating. “Only thing that matters is orders, not opinions." It was the most grenadiers like answer he had ever heard.
Unable to think of anything to say and honestly feeling quite sleepy Bertrand just nods his head, before going and collapsing on his bedroll. Letting the whispers of sleep steal him away.
His dream was quite strange, it was like he was in the sea, underwater and blind, yet perfectly fine. Not needing to breathe at all. Then when he finally did open his mouth and breath in, he woke up.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
It was quite a strange dream and left him feeling more restless than anything, he didn't even know how long he was asleep, it could have been minutes or it could have been hours.
The harsh rays of the sun that were battering down on the tent and leaking through any tiny tears they could find, gave him a rough idea of the time though.
Looking over to his right he found Francois and Césaire playing a game of cards, rubbing at his bleary eyes, he tried to rub away some of the sleepiness that still clung to him like a shadow.
“Look who’s finally awake, how's your head?” Césaire called out mirthfully. Seeming completely fine, as though all the bottles of liquor he had didn't even affect him in the slightest.
“Feeling better than I was earlier. How about you two.” Bertrand replies, ignoring his headache as he rummages around his pocket for the medical weed.
“Oh, you looking for the Fargoth, here mate, catch.” Césaire said, before throwing a clump of green across the tent.
Reaching out his hand to grab it midair, expecting to grab hold of it. Bertrand was shocked to find that the clump simply broke apart, the force of the impact breaking it apart.
Hurridly clenching his fist to preserve what little was left, he brought his hand up to his mouth and just stuff the Fargoth in, feeling like a pig in the process.
Césaire and Francois just stared at him incredulously. “Bertrand if you need some more I can go get it.” Césaire offered, before continuing rudely. “Shit just how much did you drink.”
“I second that, are you Césaire’s cousin or some other relative?” Francois asked, sounding genuine.
“No, I'm not, at least, I don’t think I am.” Bertrand said after he finished munching on the weeds. Feeling a little offended Francois had compared him to Césaire. It’s not that he disliked the guy, he just didn't like being compared to him when it came to drinking.
“So what's the plan?” Bertrand asked quickly, before they could switch to another topic.
He had made a promise to himself last night, it was the only actual thing he could remember. It was a promise to pay more attention to what his orders were. He didn't want a repeat of last time when he didn't even know he was on a response team.
“We’re going to be scouting for any survivors, well on the outlook out for any sites of ambush. The zombies had to have hidden somewhere to avoid the front rank. We’re thinking possibly in some sort of cave system, or perhaps tunnels.” Césaire explained, there was just one problem with their explanation though.
“What's a zombie?”
“What? Are you messing with me Bertrand.” Césaire says, eyebrows raised up in surprise.
Francois on the other hand doesn't look too surprised, only having one eyebrow slightly raised before they got to work explaining. "We don't quite have enough time to properly explain to you what they are as we have to leave soon, we were actually just about to wake you up. However long story short, the facts are that zombies are reanimated humans driven by a need to kill every living thing they come across. I’ve only just recently learned about this when the officers gave me our orders this morning and even they hardly have any information about this new threat.”
“The important to know is that you kill them by destroying the head, or the spine. Have to break the uhh, nervous system was it Francois?” Césaire says, glancing over at Francois for some assurance.
“Either destroy the nervous system, so the head and spine, or you have to wipe out enough mass. How much is enough isn't known. It’s partly why this information wasn't given to us earlier. So much of it is speculation and rumours.” Francois articulates, elaborating on what Césaire said. Like he was some sort of professor teaching a class.
It made Bertrand feel quite stupid but at least he actually knew a bit of what he was getting into now. Would have been nice to know this information yesterday though.