Groaning from a headache, Robert opened his eyes only to see a white ceiling. The moment the memories had rushed inside his cloudy mind, he immediately started to rise in an attempt to find the source of the threat. However, the vertigo effectively stopped him, darkening the surroundings while making them rotate at insane speed. Rob almost dropped out of the bed, in which he appeared to be lying all this time. Finally stabilizing himself in one place, he slowly started to breathe trying to endure an unpleasant feeling.
“Hey, big guy, you better stay on your place.”
The woman’s voice sounded managed to break through the veil over his consciousness. Exhaling one more time, Rob repeated his attempt to open his eyes, while slowly sitting vertically. This time everything went fine. Looking around, he found himself in a huge room, filled with dozens of beds. The latter were all occupied by wounded men. Their state differed by a lot – from a few bloodied bandages to a trembling in a fever after evident amputation of the limb. Quite a few were breathing heavily as if struggling to make even one.
Rob’s neighbor on the left was one of them. His pale young face was distorted from the pain, while the owner was fighting for his life even not knowing it. However, there were at least two not far away from him who had lost this battle. Their frozen expression and unmoving chest were clear signs of missing so-desired victory. But in such a densely packed place, where the gaps between a pair of beds were not even a meter (3 ft.) wide, and with a single nurse to look over them – it wasn’t hard to understand why it was completely missed. Except for the gender and injuries, the single thing that united them all was the soldier’s uniform.
“Do you hear me? Let me check you.”
Turning his eyes back to the woman, Robert finally managed to see her clearly. Despite his initial thought, she was quite young. His mistake was caused by the clear exhaustion that she was bearing. Big bags under the light blue eyes, sunken cheeks, hoarse voice from tiredness, and wrinkled clothes made her look older than she was. By Earth standards, Rob would describe her as mid-to-late twenties. Here – he couldn’t be so sure.
“How is your head? As far as I remember, a fragment of the shell had almost pierced your skull. Luckily, it stuck in the bone. You must be glad to have ogres in your lineage.”
Continuing to speak without waiting for any answer, she started to unwind the bandage. Robert meanwhile was trying to pick key points in here monologue, not showing any signs of surprise at unusual terms or words. The welcoming meeting in this world was too harsh to his liking, putting him in an odd position.
Do I fake a loss of memory? The head injury is convenient for that… But not sure if it is going to work with someone with medical knowledge.
“Yeah, everything heals like on a real one, and not on mixed race. Great genetics you have… Oh, if I may ask, do you have a dwarfish ancestor? We have a bet between nurses about that. I was thinking about dwarf as one of your parents with ogre further in line. Maybe a grandparent or even a great-grandparent. However, Beth is absolutely sure that you are a direct mixture of both… That can’t be, right? Ogres are almost gone by now. A few tribes live on reservations and are not willing to communicate with the outside world in an attempt to save their culture. Futile efforts, I must say. The progress can’t be stopped. Moreover, they can’t hide from the War…”
Not even stopping for a moment while changing his bandage, the nurse was jumping from one topic to another. Such torrent of words had completely overwhelmed Robert, pushing him into some kind of stupor. Soon her voice turned into a background noise, while he was looking around again with more attention to details this time.
The musty air was mixed with the smells of sweat, and drugs and overall felt almost like a morgue. The nurse wasn’t loud, but she wasn’t whispering either. Still, there was almost no reaction from most of the patients here. Only several of them raised their heads before continuing to sleep. Therefore, such lack of movement had pushed Rob’s thoughts in the direction of the corpse’s storage.
Another thing he didn’t notice at first was his bed, which appeared to be too short for him. A quick look confirmed that he was the biggest here. Despite his position, his eyes were only slightly lower than the nurse’s face, so she had to stand on tiptoe all the time while tending his wound. Moreover, someone had dressed him in dark gray pants and a linen white shirt. Both were too small for him, leaving his ankles and chest uncovered. Robert’s messy beard, on the other hand, wasn’t an exception as at least a fourth part of injured soldiers had it. And in most cases, it wasn’t some short and neat variant but a fully grown one.
Classic dwarfish.
Huge, it covered most of the faces of their owners. The latter’s lying position didn’t help with the examination of their heights. Rob only could confirm that they were on average smaller than others. Not bookishly massive, they had slightly odd proportions with bigger heads and broader shoulders. Overall they definitely couldn’t be described as walking barrels like they were often shown in fictional stories. The possible humans, on the other hand, also had some hair on their faces. It wasn’t so thick, had clear gaps, or sometimes was limited to a just mustache. Nothing like the messy appearance of Robert.
So, half-ogre, half-dwarf. Damn, with my face I indeed look like one. Adding height and beard – no wonder if they assumed it. But from the wounds and overall surroundings, it doesn’t look like a fantasy world.
The view from the long window on the other side of the room could show only the corner of another building. The latter looked quite ordinally – made from brown bricks, it even had a simple lamp hanging down from a protruding pole.
“…So, you haven’t answered me – who were your parents? You are shorter and much leaner than the average ogre, which can be a result of dwarfish blood. But I just refuse to believe that it is physically possible to do IT when the height difference is so huge!”
Before Robert managed to open his mouth, another nurse came in. Not looking any different from the first in her baggy grey clothes and in an odd hat to cover the hair, she was similarly tired, openly yawning. However, the curiosity was so strong that it couldn’t be hidden even if she tried. Her cute face with a tiny nose and big brown eyes was almost radiating anticipation.
“So, Marg, who was right? Maybe it was a dwarf father and an ogre mother? No, it couldn’t be – it is so perverted!”
Her sparking eyes were telling completely opposite. She almost imagined herself in such a role, ignoring the surroundings with dozens of wounded soldiers.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Ogre grandfather, dwarf father, others were humans,” answered Robert after a short consideration.
“Yeah!”
“Oh nature, not again…”
Both exclamations sounded simultaneously. Sticking a tongue to her colleague, the first nurse quickly rushed out from the room, while Beth sighed with a clear disappointment. Not knowing what to do, Robert looked around again only to see the same scenery. Most of the soldiers were unconscious, while a few were watching with interest, unable to raise up because of wounds. Moving his sight to the left, Rob found that his young neighbor wasn’t breathing. However, it was not the death that struck him, but the apathy of everyone about it, including nurses. It was as if this was so common that no one was bothered to show any compassion.
“Why are you sitting like that? I can see you are almost fine, so help me with the corpses. We need to vacant the beds before new wounded will arrive. We don’t have enough free space. The sudden attack of the dirigible almost wiped out the whole train with new recruits, filling us in a moment. You are quite lucky to survive with just a scratch on your head… Good, let’s start with this one.”
Pointing to the nearest soldier, Beth checked him just to be sure of her diagnosis before shooting a demanding look at Robert. He only silently nodded. Looking at his feet, he found a simple pair of flip-flops. After putting them on, Rob only sighed at the image of his stuck-out fingers. Surprisingly, standing up didn’t create any uncomfortable feelings, despite his expectations. Therefore he quickly went to the standing nurse, who was already gazing at him as if evaluating the item on the shelf of a store before deciding about a purchase.
“You can come to me later in the night… But bath first. You smell. The bathhouse is behind the building. Now, pick him up and carry him to the next room. We need to undress him before burying him… What? Nobody will throw away the new uniform with just a few holes. Move, big guy, or else I will think that such an idiot doesn’t deserve anything from me… despite your big capabilities. What again? Who do you think has dressed you?”
Directly looking into her huge eyes, Robert just nodded again, not even thinking about being ashamed. He had spent an unknown amount of time completely nude on the forsaken island. The experience of living in camps with hundreds of men also didn’t disappear.
And a meeting with a woman. Not a chance I am screwing it up by blushing like a virgin. My first and last was almost like in my previous life in that holy brothel, and opportunity for the next may not arise. So, Robert, just smile and radiate the confidence.
Picking up the lifeless body of the man with a bandaged face, Rob only felt… lightness. As if after the soul of the unlucky guy had left the body, the empty shell had lost most of its weight. He knew it wasn’t the reason as his improved strength was dealing with it with ease, but just couldn’t get rid of such odd thought. Robert didn’t show any emotions when he carried his load in another room through the long corridor.
Passing by a few opened doors, he noticed even more wounded in them. However, there was more activity in them as many soldiers were not only speaking but also laughing or playing cards. Noticing his direction of gaze, Beth commented with a sigh:
“Your room is for those with a little chance to recover. Even you lied for three days straight without waking up. I am surprised that you are not only walking but not even showing any signs of hunger or thirst. Ogre’s lineage is indeed a blessing in this time of War.”
“I am indeed not hungry, but will not refuse from the water,” Robert asked , mentally checking his state. He wasn’t in a peak form. The surroundings darkened a few times, stopping him for a moment. The empty space in my stomach was starting to remind me about itself. However, exactly the dried lips and throat were the most disturbing feelings for him. Everything was on the level of annoyance, not critical for him.
“Wait here then.”
Pointing on the floor in front of him as if just in case he didn’t understand, Beth turned around and quickly went back. Robert continued to stand in the place, holding the corpse of the unknown man. The feeling was so unnaturally strange that he unintentionally tried to find something to do. The surroundings were not helpful – bared and simple, they seemed long stripped of anything valuable. He still could notice whiter spots on the wall, where pictures were hanging previously.
His odd state continued for around ten minutes, but they felt like an eternity. Robert didn’t think it was a good idea to drop the body but standing with it looked dumb. Especially when a man in clearly doctor’s apparel walked by, sparing him a long glance with a silent question inside. The question that the medical worker decided not to ask as the towering figure, to which he was barely on the chest level, was too intimidating. The motionless corpse in the hands and bandaged head only made it worse. Therefore, the doctor just nodded only to receive the same quick nod in return.
I bet he is scared. The biggest problem is that he is scared because of me, and not the corpse itself. Only from his look, it seems he thought I became crazy after the head injury. What the actual fuck? I do understand you can be used to everything… Shit, I guess, this war will be just another hell for me. Almost WW3 – third world war… Wait, it might be a third war, but a fourth world. Oh well, no WW3 for me apparently.
“Here, drink it.”
Deep in his thoughts, Robert missed the return of the nurse. Looking at the flask, he pushed the body on his shoulder before taking it and starting to drink. The overwhelming feeling of freshness and purity had clouded his mind. The taste of ordinary water without the addition of salt was almost as ambrosia for Gods. Rob didn’t top until he gulped everything. Not hiding his increased mood, he smiled widely.
“You can keep it… And I see you don’t look stressed around the bodies. That is good. Will help later. Yes, now…”
Before she managed to continue, the very same doctor appeared from the other side of the corridor. This time he wasn’t alone but accompanied by a few soldiers with long rifles. Looking at their tense faces, Rob confirmed his assumption about being labeled as a madman.
“Beth, is everything okay?”
“Yeah, the guy is helping me with moving the corpses. Everything is under control, Roger!” she shouted back, not paying any more attention to her colleague, “So, we will go to the morgue and drop the body there. You will help me to undress them – the clothes might be used later after a few patches – and put them in the bags. After that, we will go for the next one until will move all of them. You got it?”
Looking down at the young girl who was easily speaking about the dead, who was barely reaching the middle of his chest, whose eyes were faded under the constant stress, Robert simply nodded.
Yet another fucked up world. I can understand that professional deformation from any medical worker can make them see death as an ordinary case but not on such a level of cynicism about the value of life. There is absolutely not a single sign of comparison in their eyes. Not even traces. It sounds as if we are moving trash, not dead humans.
Despite this, he answered with another smile, while trying to flirt with his amateurish almost non-existent skills of seducing.
“I hope the body I am interested in is worth digging through so many of others.”
“You can’t tell before you try… And for that, you will need to earn it.”
“I will try as much as possible to please you!”
“You better… This is the place where only woman chooses. Moreover, tomorrow you will need to report – Roger has already seen you walking by yourself, so I can’t hold you here for more than one night. I’ve heard they already forming new companies from the survivors to patch up the possible gap in lines. Soon you will go to frontlines… It’s a pity to lose such a big body in that meat grinder.”
Touching his arm as if he were an animal on the stand, she slightly raised the tips of her bitten lips. Robert knew that he wasn’t special, and with absolute guarantee, she would find someone else on the next day after his dispatching, but so what? It wasn’t about the love – just a way to release some stress. He wasn’t even sure that she was so attractive in the first place in her current exhausted state. Rob himself wasn’t handsome – otherwise, no one would mistake him for an ogre. However, it’s not like had any other options. And between saving pride or having sex he voted for the second.
At least I don’t need to pay with money like previously. The progress is obvious, Rob!
“Don’t just stand there. We don’t have much time – I will not refrain from sleeping in the night just because of your big potential. So, move your ogrish ass, dear!”