The wardens and knights screamed in pain and agony as surgeons, nurses, and medics tended to their wounds. The stench of blood, death, and decay permeated field hospital as the surgeons amputated limbs, performed blood transfusions, and many other things.
“Hold him still.” Ordered Haldane as he amputated the man’s leg.
The nurses tried to hold the man down as best they could, but the pain was too much for him to bear.
“Doctor we need morphine!” Said one of the nurses.
“We don’t have any. Just give him more alcohol to drink or something. I’m almost there.” Haldane said as he reached the bone with his saw.
When the saw made contact he applied even more force to cut through the bone. The man’s leg suddenly jolted, and forced Haldane to cut through an artery. Blood splattered all over his face as he closed his eyes immediately.
“Shit! Someone find the artery and clamp it down now! And get me a towel for my face.”
Haldane cut through the bone faster than ever with his eyes shut.
“How are we doing with that artery?”
“He’s losing a lot of blood.”
“Fuck!”
Haldane finally cut through the bone, and tore through what was left of the man’s leg.
“It’s finished now cauterize the wound, and…”
“He’s not moving.” Said one of the nurses.
Haldane checked for a pulse on his wrist then he moved towards the neck. There was nothing.
“Should we give them adrenaline?”
“No. Move on to the next one.”
Haldane left the small building, and made his way towards the hand crank water pump. He grabbed one of the small buckets, and filled it with water. When he filled the bucket he washed his hands and face. Haldane then threw the bucket at the pump in frustration.
“Fuck!”
“You best watch yourself that’s military property right there.”
Haldane looked at the knight. “Yeah… Are you looking for someone in the field hospital?”
“Yeah I’m looking for a Haldane Noram. Do you know where I can find them?”
“That’d be me. Is something the matter?”
“Something like that you best follow me.”
Haldane followed the knight towards the command building. The buildings themselves were probably as old as the war itself, and it showed as it looked dilapidated. With the constant skirmishes they have had with Karash there was never any time to properly repair them or even maintain them.
“I’ve brought them in as requested General Ungur!”
“Good work. Now then as you all may know those Karashian bastards hit hard. Thankfully we were able to repel them. Now command wants us to answer in kind by marching our army across the deadman’s lands to overwhelm the enemy. However, no good plan can be formed without any intelligence, and that’s where you all come in. Captain Ahren here will lead a small patrol into the deadman’s lands, and search for any Karashian survivors. You will then bring those survivors here for questioning. That’s assuming that you can. If not then surgeon Haldane Noram here will stabilize them out in the field, and you stall question them out there if you can’t bring them here. You will move at night in the cover of darkness so get some rest, and get your gear ready.”
“Sir!”
“Surgeon Noram one last thing.”
“Sir!”
“As much as it pains me to get rid of a surgeon you will be transferred to a different company.”
“Sir? Will I be moving to somewhere else along the Zibellian Line?”
“No, actually you will be going home. In a manner of speaking. They are building up new companies, and since most of these kids are green they want to put some veteran troops along with them.”
“I’ve only been here a season sir.”
“Yeah you survived a season in the Zibellian Line. Aspio Company will be your new home. You leave as soon as you’re done with the mission.”
“Sir!” With that Haldane left.
----------------------------------------
Haldane ran along the trench as the hands tried to grab him. The trench itself, if it could even be called that anymore, was made of bodies that had their arms stretched out, and tried to reach for something to grab on to. Haldane was pulled back as he tried to escape the maze of bodies. Finally, he reached the end of the maze, and arrived at a dead end. Haldane was forced to move with his back against the wall as the hands overtook him. Then more hands grabbed him from behind as the bodies came out of the walls, and pulled on him.
“Join us.” Said the dead as they pulled on him.
Haldane immediately shot up from his rack in a cold sweat.
“Bad dreams?” Asked Captain Ahren, who was standing at the entrance to the tent.
“Yeah…”
“It’s time to move.”
----------------------------------------
The entire team was composed of a surgeon, two medics, and nine knights.
“Instead of climbing over the the trench we’ll take the tunnels, and climb from there.”
The group moved along the network of trenches, that when put together came up to six hundred miles of trenches. The group reached a pillbox with several knights standing guard. When the captain explained his mission to them they were let through. Inside the pillbox was a massive shaft that was seven feet wide, and reached thirty feet below, at least. When the group reached the bottom they were met with a torchlit path. Before they could even take a step the hear footsteps, and saw a group of animalists walking their way. The animalists in question were part of a task force called “Mole Rats” that were tasked with making tunnels, and trenches.
“You all venturing out there?” Asked one of them.
“Yeah. How’s it looking? Are the tunnels collapsed?” Asked Captain Ahren.
“Nah we just fixed them. You’ll find the ladder to climb up at five hundred yards.”
“That’s a long way.” Noted Haldane.
“Not as much as you think doc. If we weren’t shelling the Karashians every time they attacked us we’d be well under their trenches by now.”
“Alright let’s move out.”
“A word of caution Captain…”
“What is it?”
“The living do not belong amongst the dead, and when the dead do find you… They will take you with them. Nobody wants to die alone after all.”
“Hmph. We’ll take our chances. Let’s move out.”
“What did he mean exactly?” Asked Haldane.
“Well doc when you’re out here long enough eventually you hear what we like to call “soldier stories,” it’s more common than you’d think.” Explained Captain Ahren.
“So those mole rats back there…”
“They’ve been down here a long time. Besides they eventually end up digging old bones from decades ago.”
“That a fact?”
“Yeah. In fact I bet you could probably find the remains of your grandfather out in that battlefield.”
After a while the group reached the ladder, and saw a large pile of bodies stacked up nearby.
“Anybody you know?” Asked Haldane.
“No. Okay people we’ll split in pairs. The odd man out will stay by the entrance at the top. We’re here to get ourselves a Karashian prisoner not trophies. Am I understood?” Ordered Captain Ahren.
“Sir!”
“Into the land of the dead then.”
When the group reached the top they were met with the sight of death, putrefaction, and carnage. Despite the darkness the moons still showed a fraction of the results of yesterday’s battle. Bodies mangled, torn, and shredded into pieces. Skeletons from years ago still remained. Worms, rodents, and other scavengers feasted upon the dead.
“Okay then doc you’re with me. The rest of you search within a three hundred yard radius. Now move.”
Haldane and the captain moved towards the enemy’s side of the battlefield. Both Karashian and Dolsurian trenches were anywhere between two hundred fifty yards apart to five hundred yards apart, depending on where you found yourself on the trench. They were located on the four hundred yard section of the trench. Both men searched the bodies for any signs of survivors, but found none in the immediate area. They moved just a bit closer to the enemy line. As Haldane crawled towards the enemy line after Ahren he felt something that tugged at his leg. When he looked back he saw a hand that pulled on him.
“Captain over here!” He whispered.
“Go check on him I’ll keep an eye out, and keep us covered.”
Haldane went back, and followed the arm back to its body. Haldane found the body of a paladin with a grave injury. They were missing a leg, there were also some injuries in their abdomen as he clutched it, all in all he would not survive. The paladin wheezed as he struggled to get some air into his lungs.
“Hopefully your lungs are collapsed, and not punctured.”
The paladin grabbed Haldane before he could open his surgery kit. Haldane was shocked at how much strength he had left in his grip.
“Don’t let… I don’t wanna be with them.” Wheezed the paladin.
“Them? Who are you talking about?”
“Can’t you hear them weep?”
“You’re delirious just let me patch you up and…”
The paladin was then dragged away. Haldane grabbed onto the paladin.
“Please kill me! Don’t let them take me!”
“Argh!” Haldane grunted as he pulled the paladin back towards him. Haldane tried to get a look at whatever it was that pulled the paladin away, but all he saw were hands that belonged to the dead.
“Impossible…”
Haldane eventually lost, and saw the paladin join the corpses. Haldane quickly grabbed his kit, and ran back to the shaft’s entrance.
He quickly came up on the knight that was left behind. “Any luck doc?”
Haldane didn’t even respond as he tried to catch his breath.
“Doc are you alright?”
“Something like that shouldn’t be possible.” He said as he caught the last of his breath. Haldane then grabbed the knight. “What about the others? Have they reported back?”
“No. Did something happen?”
“I’m not sure what happened.”
The knight sighed. “Do you wanna stay here, and wait then?”
“Yeah that’d… That’s probably for the best.”
A second turned into a minute then into an hour as both of them waited for the others to return.
“We should go out there, and look for them. We don’t want the Karashians to figure out what we’re doing out here.” Said the knight.
Haldane had his reservations, but kept his mouth shut as he had no explanations for what he saw. He followed the knight out as they looked for the others. After a short while they saw Ahren headed their way.
“Captain! Where are the others?” Asked the knight.
“Stabilizing our prisoner, but we need your help doc. What happened back there? When I went back you were gone?”
“I… Got lost is all.”
Ahren sighed. “Well whatever let’s go doc.”
Haldane followed Ahren back to where they were stabilizing their patient. They had the patient’s mouth gagged as they treated some of his minor injuries. Haldane looked at the patient, and saw that an arm was missing and what was left had gone sceptic. To top it all off his legs were in bad shape as well.
“Will he make it?” Asked Ahren.
“How much blood loss?” Asked Haldane.
“A lot. We started him on plasma, but at this point it’s a stopgap measure.”
“Well?” Asked Ahren.
“He’s done for. If you’re gonna question him it’s gotta be now. All that we can do is keep him conscious.”
“Shit! Alright leave him. The mission was a failure.”
“Give me… How much morphine did you give him?”
“Thirty milligrams anymore than that, and he’d be dead.” Answered one of the medics.
“Give me eighty milligrams then.”
“Why? He’s dead anyways.” Asked Ahren.
“Because he can hear them weep. Isn’t that right?” Asked Haldane.
The patient nodded to confirm his question. Haldane immediately administered the morphine to kill his patient before they could take him. As the group started to head back Haldane looked back, and saw the patient being dragged by the dead. The whole ordeal sent shivers down his spine as he hurriedly walked past the group, and down into the tunnels.
Haldane saw the mole rat that had told him the story waiting for him a ways down the tunnel with a lit cigarette.
“You saw them did you?” Asked the mole rat.
“I don’t know what I saw.”
“Old folks that used to live here called them “Aratare” supposed to mean ghosts of the battlefield, ghosts of war, or something to that effect.”
“What do they want?”
“Who knows? Only those that get dragged know the answer. Did you hear any weeping?”
“No.”
“Yeah that’s a good sign. Usually they only grab the dead and dying.”
“Something like that should not exist.”
“And yet it does.”
----------------------------------------
Sethos
Sethos walked across the battlefield as he could hear the incessant weeping of the dead. Every so often one would grab his ankles, and try to pull him.
“Ugh this is why I hate being dead. Seriously Lamia what the fuck are we doing here?”
“Just curious is all.” Answered Lamia as she examined the corpses. “To think something like this exists. I’m kind of disappointed that you don’t share an interest in this.”
“Well what can I say? I prefer the living more so than the dead. Seriously…” Sethos pulled out his sword, and cut off the dead man’s hands.
“In any case it seems to be working as intended. The fresh material should be enough.”
“Whatever you say sis.”