This Isn’t the Type of Paradise I Expected
Chapter 6.5: A Fleeting Dream
As I feel my body lifting from rest, I feel my body getting dragged back into the dark.
“Ji-ji…”
…
“I know you hear me. C’mon I want to talk for a bit.”
Her distant voice had reached me upon this tall tree overlooking the camp.
I continue to look out into the forest towards the setting sun, noting the young girl’s presence in my mind.
“I can hear you from here. Just say what you have to say and be on your way.”
It’s hard to protect someone who constantly puts themselves in danger. This raven haired girl was just an expert at that.
“Hmm, I wonder what would happen to me if, I were to jump into this river.”
“Nothing…”
Merely a façade to make me jump at her every whim, nothing more. That “river” was nothing less than a steam with a few stones.
--No real injuries could be gained from that. I continue to watch for activity in the forest.
“Here I go—ah!”
What?! I hear her sandals scrape the ground roughly.
“Sheria!!”
I see her falling backwards on one foot. I grab my knife, hang on the tree branch and kick off of its trunk.
Despite a rough landing, I land near her grabbing her hand and pulling her towards me.
Without words, I lift her up and carry her over my shoulder back to the camp. The surrounding soldiers and civilians giving me looks that question my motives makes me hurry faster. I go into my tent and toss her onto the bunker.
“I made you look! You even said my name. It’s been awhile, I was feeling kind of lonely.”
She pretends to fall over and irritates me because she’s lonely?
“Don’t you realize what situation you’re in? You’re near a battlefield you know? That’s why I’m here, not to babysit you.”
“But I’m older than you, aren’t I?”
“Not the point!”
I don’t know why, but I think of her too much when I’m out on recon. Whether he’s okay or not. Is she getting along with the other soldiers? What if the camp gets attacked while I’m gone?
I can’t focus around her, but I can’t stand when she’s not near.
…what a pain I am.
I walk towards the exit of the tent.
“It’s hard to protect you if you keep putting yourself in danger. I’ll come back later tonight. I’ll be back in a couple of hours. At least try to stay out of trouble.”
“I know you’ll protect me and in turn, as I promised, I’ll give you a normal life. That’s what we promised right?”
She gives me a smile that makes me uncomfortable.
“I can only do what I can.”
“Hey.”
“What is it now?”
She grabs my hand and puts it on her head.
“Why do you always do this…?”
“It relaxes me.”
Like you’re the one who needs relaxing. She then puts her hands on my cheeks.
“I know you can create the world you told me about. And if you need some help; I’ll be here too.”
Her face gets close, doing a number on my nerves. I can never guess what she’s going to do next.
…I really can’t stand her.
She sits back down on the bed, waving, bidding me farewell.
“Hey Ji-Ji!”
“What is it now?”
“I love you, my deeear!”
…
I walk fast outside and head towards the gate, trying to hide my face which is increasing in temperature. The other civilians and soldiers grinning and making faces at the loud display of affection I was graced with.
...I seriously can’t stand her.
I put my hood on and walk towards the captain, looking out towards the rubble that was once a city.
“Having fun I see?”
…
“You should. Take your time with kids your age. The battlefield is no place for a child, but since you are here I will ask nothing of your past or how you got here.
“Your concern is noted, but I ceased to be a “kid” a long time ago.”
I don’t think I’ll be going back to those days anytime soon.
“I understand. Well, regardless, I won’t have you do anything heavy, just recon and support as usual.”
The captain wiped the sweat from his forehead.
“The first platoon up north near the city has located wounded enemy soldiers and we need to get supplies to them quickly. Since our last scramble we’ve lost most of our vehicles and are waiting on back up to come. But that will take days.” Since this camp is on a high mountain we would have to drive around to get to the site.”
“And you’re just helping enemy soldiers… after wounding them?”
A bit anticlimactic… I thought.
“It’s been a long war kid. Many lives lost from both sides. I’d like to reduce the numbers if at all possible. And truly, I wish we wouldn’t have to kill them either and I’m sure some of them think the same way.”
“And so?”
“Let’s try to get all of us home. We both have families waiting for us right? And you have a surprise left in your tent…”
I sigh in response, and change the subject. So there are humans like you after all.
“So it would be faster to just send me? Correct?”
“…Yes.”
I grab the bag at his feet and jump off of the mountain.
“Hey---wait a minute.”
The wind rushing at my whole body made it hard to hear his warnings.
As the mountain behind me gets farther away, and the forest below closer, I see large piece of rock to the side of me showing a thick branch. I detach a cable from my waist and dodge the branch. The cable’s hook attaches to the rock and I pull on it causing me to swing forward. I jump onto the tree in front of me, safety landing.
As I draw closer to the town I begin to smell decay. The remaining sun shining brightly through the trees made it easier to see during sunset. I push through she bushes adjusting the bag of medical supplies and I smell something that I’ve sadly grown accustomed to.
…The smell of death
I see the soldiers leaning on a wall formed of the remains of a store. The soldiers were surrounded by other deceased soldiers.
I rush over and one the soldiers jumped out from the other side of the wall.
“Haaaaa!”
I grab his wrist and take the knife and put it back in his jacket.
“Calm down. Joe. Here, your supplies.”
The man with a surprised look on his face collapsed as his other teammates sighed with relief.
“Don’t scare us like that Shinji. Geez, we already have wild animals out looking for food.”
…
“So these are the wounded? Are these all of them?”
I look at the soldiers spread across the ground bleeding profusely. They’re all alive, with their will to fight exhausted. They all had gunshot wounds to various parts of their bodies. If they didn’t stop the bleeding, they would die in a few minutes
More like 10 minutes, on average, because of the areas.
“Does anyone here know how to do this?”
…
Silence grows all around me.
“Our medic, Roy he…pushed me out of the way when the roof collapsed.”
I see a body under a pile of rubble.
I turn back to the wounded men in front of me. I open the bag a place the various medical tools out onto a blue cloth on the bag.
There are 1 upper extremity wounds 1 lower extremity wound and one wound to the abdominopelvic region.
I decide to treat the wounds based on severity. I first check the stomach for swelling.
No swelling, good. That means no infection, at least not yet.
After wiping off the tools I perform the quick operation at the spot, using my limited knowledge using the books I’ve read around the man who likes to be called master.
I didn’t really care about calling him that, as much us the other people. I just wanted his knowledge. He ended up being just as pushy, as Sheria.
He also taught me what I know about swordplay. He used it more or less to relax than a means to fight.
After 30 minutes I managed to stop the bleeding and clean his wounds. I start the next one, despite the soldiers’ moaning and groaning. The soldiers yelling about how they don’t want to fight anymore didn’t make it any easier
“No one’s forcing you to watch, you know that?”
“I’m fine, I can handle this much. I’m no pussy!”
“If you mean coward, then I would hope not.
The other two wounds were entry/exit as well, which made them easier to deal with, since there is a lesser chance of infection. However, there would be more blood loss.
I made sure to treat the other soldiers to get them back to camp as soon as possible.
I pack up the supplies I didn’t use and prepare to go back.
“You people okay from here? I was only told to deliver the supplies. I didn’t plan on doing this much more.”
“I think we got it now. Go back to the captain.”
I turn back towards the direction of the camp and realize I hear the sound of a chopper overhead.
Is it friendly?
“Everyone drop down!”
I run into the forest, realizing that was not a friendly chopper. It was a transport chopper, used to carry multiple units to a destination. It was heading in the direction of the camp, where the others were.
Stolen story; please report.
I hurry through the dark forest until I am faced with a large cliff under the camp. I climb up the cliff by throwing the hook from ledge to ledge.
I eventually hear the sound of gunfire and explosives.
Am I too late? Did they at least evacuate the civilians?
I climb up the mountain and see the whole camp, illuminated by flames.
Is Sheria okay? Knowing her, she would be escorting the other villagers near the lake in the forest.
I sneak around the advancing infanty yelling commands out.
Once I reach the back of their ranks, I take one out by hitting the back of their neck with my sheath.
Another one has notices the absence of gunfire and I take him out with a kick to the face, causing him to hit the side of the rock he was using as cover.
After tying them up I continue to move onward, searching for the captain.
I walk past many bodies which I couldn’t discern whether they were alive or dead. I had no time to check.
I look into my tent and I find Sheria huddled up into the corner. When I tap her back, she springs up and raises her arm up with a knife in her hand.
I grab her hand and restrain her.
“What are you doing? You need to go.”
“I was worried about you…”
“You need to worry about yourself—how are the villagers?”
“They’re fine. I took them to the shelter near the lake. I don’t know where the big guy went.”
I slowly sneak my way over to the entrance of the tent after hearing a group of footsteps. It seems the are three of them, from what I can tell.
“Stay here, I’m going to dispose of them.”
“Dispose of them? You promised you wouldn’t hurt anymore people.”
“I’m just going to render them unconscious. Don’t overreact.”
I walk outside and throw a rock at the armored vehicle causing the soldiers to avert their attention away from the tent.
I put my scabbard around his neck and pulled back into the nearby bushes. The body stopped resisting.
I move the next one until they all were incapacitated.
After that I begin to access the damages to the camp. I couple of tents were burning and it has yet to spread to the forest. Cinders dance along the wind. There are scattered bodies of friendly and enemy soldiers about.
I suppose now would be a good time to check on their wounds.
I walk over to the body of a fallen soldier. Sounds of bushes rustling to my right.
I let the hook on the ground and walk forward. The man springs out and starts to shoot at me.
I stab my blade into the ground and press the button on the hilt. The hilt grows and covers the blade and fans outward.
“I suppose that’s why Master called this weapon “Peacock”
He continues to shoot at the barrier and it deflects all of the bullets towards him.
He flinches in reaction.
The soldier runs to the side and attempts to get a better view while suppressing me with fire.
I pull the hook that I left behind and it attaches onto his leg. I pull even harder and it causes him to fall backwards, hitting his head on the ground.
“Is that all of them? Squads of six are usually in transport choppers like those."
“Shinji look out!”
I snap my head in the direction of the voice.
I see a man in the forest as my eyes adjust to the dark. A sniper rifle. It looks like he aiming for me. Sheria pushed me out the way before I could react.
…Sheria.
A gunshot rang into my ears. I drew my pistol at my side and shot his weapon causing him to recoil backwards. He drops his rifle and takes a knife out.
I turn towards the raven haired girl, clutching my chest.
The bullet seems to have pierced her chest. But when I look at her face, I see her smiling.
“Are you alright Shinji?”
“You should worry about yourself more. Stop talking, I can still save you.
If the bullet avoided her heart and her spine, there’s a chance I could save her. I have to get away.
But I find myself unable to let him go.
“Shinji, don’t.”
I learn her against the wall and turn towards the soldier wearing a bulletproof vest.
I draw my blade behind my waist and ready myself. He aims his pistol looking cocky.
“What era do you think we’re in? That sword couldn’t possibly touch me. And just because you’re a kid, doesn’t mean I’ll go easy on you. This is war.”
I stand ready, despite his comments.
I see his eyes shift to my leg. I lower my sword as I see him move his hands.
A loud gunshot rang throughout my ears once more. I feel the bullet grace my blade.
“What?!”
"I think it’s very easy to read where someone is going if you look carefully. When someone is aiming you can follow their eye movements and finger to know when they’re going to shoot.
The only hard thing is however, moving your body to adapt to the bullet that is currently going 768 miles per hour. The bullet would hit you before hear it. Basically, clap."
I clap my hands together, causing him the flinch.
"If you heard the clap, you’re already shot. But look for the motions before the clap and you’ll be able to avoid the sound."
He repeats the action, shooting in a different area, but expecting a different outcome. But I block the bullet with the blade.
…and again…and again.
After multiple attempts, I start to charge in after realizing he’s out of rounds. The specific pistol only contains 8 rounds in a clip.
I slash at his hand and he falls.
Sounds of a helicopter comes into my mind.
“If you run from here, your life will be spared. I take no joy in killing.”
“You should be the one who’s afraid,monster, I got people coming for me now.”
I turn towards Sheria, whose condition is deteriorating fast. I pick her up and turn away from the man.
I have to head to the lake. The others have the supplies I need.
The helicopter inches closer, while opening its shutter, revealing a trooper with a rocket launcher.
“Seriously?!”
I start to run away towards the direction of the lake. The rocket explodes at the ground away from my feet causing me to drop Sheria.
I crawl over to the ledge and grab her hand before she falls.
“Shinji, I think---“
“No, I’m not going to let you die. I promised you right. You said you’d help me.”
“Shinji…your expression, you’re crying. I like seeing your other expressions. You always looked so distant, I wanted to make you smile at least once.”
I shake my head, trying to rid myself of these tears.
“Shut up and hang on.”
“Shinji…please. Let me go, and live. If you don’t, who is going to make our dream come true. A world with no wars. Where no one has to die.”
I hear the other soldier’s footsteps getting closer.
“I’m sorry…and I really do love----you.”
Her grip weakens and her hand slips out of my hand.
“No, no no!”
I frantically grab at the air in front of me, in hopes that I would grab something.
You fool. Always annoying me, talking to me when I’m trying to work. Always going out of your way for other people. I really hate that, but I couldn’t stop looking your way. Your way of living, I thought if I watched you more, I could learn to trust people the way you could. But then this happened. It made me realize.
… I really did love you, didn’t I?
Realizing that, I can’t just let these people go.
I…
…black out.
****************************
As I fade back in, I realized I have the worst headache. I look out towards me and see countless bodies in front of me. I walk around, stumbling, barely able to keep my balance. Trying to find a way out.
I look at my hands and realized they were covered in blood. It caused me to shake in fear. Was it mine? I start to run towards the lake. When I reach the lake I don’t see anyone.
They must have gotten away. At least I was able to save these people. I walk down in front of the waters to wash my face. When I looked down into the waters I was overcome with a great sense of fear and discomfort.
I saw my body painted with blood. And I know… it was not my own.
Not fear of the blood, but fear of myself.
“Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!”
I feel myself getting dragged into the dark.
…I really hate this world. I’ll leave it to someone else.
We’ll see if you can change humanity as it is.
“Wake up… my other self.”
“h-huh?”
I slowly open my eyes to see the door in front of me.
Oh, it seems I fell asleep.
What was with that dream. That guy…was that me? I---
Just as I try to recall some of the dream I had a splitting headache.
I nod my head and push those thoughts to the back of my head.
“Shinji! Can you come down here for a second?”
I hear Ms.Falsa’s voice from downstairs
Well, whatever. It’s a new day. Time to head off.