November 18, 2056
2:44 P.M.
Vicerole, Location Unknown
Renee Luna
My head is still spinning despite lying on the ground. My ears are also ringing and my whole body feels numb, no matter how hard I try to get up I can't. The fire slowly encroaching on me is what finally forces me to start crawling. I grab my gun and make my way over to the downed shard next to me.
I grab hold of his vest and flip him upright. His face is covered but, on his balaclava, I can see the blood soaking through. I continue to crawl out through an opening, dragging the lifeless body behind me when I'm soon met by Carel who helps me pull him out.
Once outside, she checks his pulse and after a moment she shakes her head. "Along with the pilots, that's six KIA..." She states in a hushed voice.
"Are you okay? Is anywhere hurting?" She then asks and begins patting me down for any injuries.
"I'm fine," I say and stop her. "Just dazed, that's all."
She takes a breath of relief before helping me to my feet. "Come on. Let's regroup with the others."
Some few meters away from our crash, I spot Macy and Zoe near a tree, with Macy busy talking on her radio. Only four of us survived the crash... We approach their tree and that's when I can clearly hear Macy's voice.
"Yes, I understand that Admiral, but I have my men scattered with multiple casualties on hand. Not to mention that Crimson Shard is miles away from our position!"
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She waits a moment before replying.
"...Copy. We'll keep you updated, out." She finishes and slams her fist on the bark of the tree.
She looks up and I catch the glimmer of anger in her eyes. It's only for an instant as she takes a deep breath and recomposes herself.
"We're not getting any help anytime soon."
"What the hell happened? Didn't Crimson Shard report that they didn't take any fire?" Zoe asks.
"False sense of security," she states, "By letting Crimson Shard through without any trouble, we fell for their trap. They knew we were coming and are more than ready for a fight. Why didn't I think something like this could've happened..."
"It's not your fault, Macy," I say, "It was a lack of intel that caused this, not you."
"...I guess you're right. Sorry for my outburst."
"It's okay. Now what do you want us to do?"
"Start spreading out to the other crash sites and gather any remaining survivors. I want to know what our remaining strength is at. Let's go!" She orders and we immediately head to the surrounding smoke pillars.
With each wreckage we come upon, the bodies keep stacking until I count that only forty-three of us remain. We had arrived with sixty-four...
I'm relieved when I find Frost and everyone else alive with only minor injuries. They were the lucky ones; however, out of our forty-three, we have seven badly injured Shards. Some have broken bones and deep wounds while others are severely burned from flames.
"Is this everyone?"
"Yes, Major."
"Alright... Flash, pull up a map for me," Macy says, approaching him.
He nods and, on his wrist tablet, pulls up a digital location of where we are. "This is where we roughly are..." He then swiped further up the screen. "And this is where Crimson Shard should be. We've already made contact with them, and they've agreed to converge with us halfway to White Shards base."
Macy crosses her arms. "We could expect resistance on our way there. How long would it take for us to get there?"
"If we don't receive any contact, maybe in a day. However, that's a big if," Flash responds.
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She makes a tsk noise and turns to Frost. "How fast can we move with the injured?"
"Not fast, especially in this snow. They'll need to be dragged on whatever we find. Even if we have no contact, we won't get there in a day," He states.
"Okay. I'll update Crimson about our situation. Before we move out, let's collect supplies and anything we can carry with us from the dead. I have a feeling we're going to need them."
After a couple of minutes of reorganizing and looting off our dead comrades, we form into a double column and begin our trek through the snow with our guns at low ready. The injured stay in the middle, having been laid on metal sheets from the crashed birds.
My breath heats my face with every exhale hitting my balaclava and my legs ache with every step pushing away more snow. Hours pass by as we walk through the endless woods, with the notion that we'll be under fire at any moment. All of a sudden, Macy stops in her tracks as we do the same behind her. I look around and spot nothing. Not a single thing... not even a sound. It's dead silent.
"What is it?" Frost says in a whisper.
Macy scans slowly around in each direction.
"You sense it too, right?" She finally asks.
He looks around at our surroundings, knowing fully well what she means. At first, you wouldn't guess it.
All you would hear would be the wind howling through the branches and the heavy breathing from soldiers around you.
All you would see would be the never-ending trees in every direction.
But it's there...
The feeling of being watched...
Stalked.
"Pick up the pace," Macy now says and I catch the slightest tremble in her voice. "I don't want to be out here when the sun goes down."
After more walking, the feeling we felt earlier goes away, but it doesn't make us feel any better. We walk for a little more until we find a dry enough spot where we plan to rest for the night. We each huddle around a group of trees and set up our tents just as the sun sets behind the horizon. It becomes pitch black quickly, with the only light sources coming from the fires we erected.
That said, I take the initiative and take the first watch as I find a tree to sit against. I have to practically sit on the fire to get the heat effect, but it works. Enough that I can lower my balaclava and goggles without my face getting frostbitten.
Alice eventually joins me as the two of us stay silent, staring directly at the flames that reflect off our eyes, all the while scanning the forest for any movement. I don't know how much time passes but at some point, in the night I hear her voice.
"Luna. You awake?" She asks.
"Yeah," I reply, "We're on lookout, aren't we?"
"Just making sure you didn't freeze to death."
It takes another minute for her to speak again.
"...The stars are beautiful out here."
I look up and notice all the dots that scatter the sky. They're brighter than the ones I've seen from Atlis or Rambell. They bring back memories in my head.
"So, they are... Kinda reminds me of when I was a kid," I whisper.
Smith always took me out to see the stars. He always said that the best place to view them was away from cities, away from civilization. A place untouched by man or technology. Although, this isn't the place I imagined I'd have a chance to see the stars again.
"You know, if it wasn't for the fact that we're being stranded on this forsaken island, I would call this place beautiful," she says while bringing her knees up to her chest.
"...Alice, are you scared?" I say in a low voice.
It knows was sudden, but I had to ask. Even if I already knew the answer.
"I'd be lying if I wasn't. What about you?"
"...I'm more worried about Macy. I feel like she's taking responsibility for this happening."
"That sounds like her... but we'll get through this. I know we will. We have each other, and that's all we need. Right?"
"Right." I give her a slight smile.
Minutes pass in silence and that's when I turn my head to find that she'd fallen into a slumber, leaving me alone with only my thoughts keeping me awake. I lay the back of my hand on her and feel that she's still breathing and warm. Good. Didn't freeze to death.
I manage to keep myself awake but the urge to sleep finally sinks. I pull up my mask and goggles and let my eyes slowly close.
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I don't know how long I was asleep but when I open my eyes, my fire has gone out, but the night still lingers. I sit up straight and look around at my surroundings. Alice and the others are still sleeping next to me as I carefully scan the other bases of the trees. It takes a while for my eyes to adjust but everyone seems to be asleep as well, and so are the lookouts. Their fires still burn.
I was awakened when I felt a rumble beneath me. It was very slight, but I guess it was enough to wake me. I pull my gun close to me and stand to my feet. It's still eerily quiet with only the sound of wind and snow crunching below my boots with each step I take.
I stand over the fire pit we made and notice that the embers still glowing under the charred pile of sticks. I grab from the stockpile we made and add a fresh new pile of sticks over the ember and begin to blow on it. I get the fire back up and feel the warmth again. I check on Alice and pull her blanket higher up as I start to get up, but before that, something catches my eye.
In the pitch-black forest, I spot... dim yellow orbs. They resemble how animal eyes shine in the dark. There are four of them, and they're staring directly at me. I stand frozen, unable to move as the orbs refuse to disappear, and if it's an animal, it doesn't appear to move or blink.
Am I hallucinating? Or is whatever I'm seeing some kind of creature? I go to raise my hand to turn on my flashlight on my helmet and that's when the yellow dots dash away into the darkness.
When my light turns on, there's nothing there. I move closer to inspect if what I just saw was real or not I but stop myself. How idiotic am I to venture out into the darkness? It was probably some kind of bug anyway. Who knows what type of things evolved to live in this environment... I'm surprised something is even able to survive here at all.
All of a sudden, I feel a presence behind me and turn at such a speed that I almost unsheathe my blade on a startled shard.
"Son of a- Don't walk up on me like that!"
"S-Sorry. I came to tell you that your shift is up..."
I can still feel my heart beating fast...
"Oh. Alright..."
With that, I head back to my spot and wake up Alice as the two other shards take our spots.
At our tent, she falls back to sleep quickly but I'm unable to do so.
Those orbs never emerged from darkness again either.