Speed And Agility (1)
“Mhmhm, are you thinkin' naughty?” The wonderful, mystical blonde smiled and turned her head around, looking at him with mirth in her brown eyes. He shook his head and hugged her from behind, stretching his arms over her pregnant, massive belly.
“I’m only thinking. What will I do when I become president? Make a 10 kilometer tall statue for my first baby?” He said, smiling. The woman widened her eyes, “Hmmm?! First?! You want more?”
“What do you mean? You’re the first,” the man said, caressing her head. The woman’s eyes dropped, becoming so annoyed. “Tsk! You’ll see. My turn comes first, then yours, if I feel like it. Then… oohohoho, our daughter will form a dynasty!”
“That’s not how it works-” The man commented, but she turned around and glared at him. He stopped and surrendered, lifting his hands in the air. “But it could work.”
“Hmph!” The woman harrumphed before walking forward, not forgetting to take his hands so they could feel the little thing, getting impatient to come out. The man followed suit, gluing to her as they walked to the endless white.
Behind them was a beautiful lady. She looked a little old, but striking and strict. However, only they knew how much presence she’s had over the past years of their lives. What’s more, she would become their daughter’s nanny, whether she wanted it or not!
The man looked back, feeling her stare. She looked at him, not smiling a lot, but showing hints of it. Then, he suddenly felt his hands grab soft, comfortable, cool air. He looked to the front, but his wife was far gone, disappearing far away, with a flatness on her stomach.
“!” Luis Heartez woke up, nearly sitting up as his eyes abruptly opened. His hands were near his chest, like a mummy, which he relaxed after waking up. His body sweated, and he felt his hair all wet.
He stared at the ceiling for a second, then 3, 10, and 15 seconds at last, before his eyes hurt like hell. Tears spilled out as his hands turned into fists, and his belly jerked. Blinking, trying to clear the pain and tears away from his eyes, he only felt more pain in the chest as the last memories emerged one after another.
“Uf- hah…” Luis placed his wrist over his forehead before slowly forcing his state. He may start another day with another headache, a bad one, but he had to now be decisive. Reminding himself he could be determined, his eyes changed. Luis looked at the ceiling with a will only he could act upon.
***
‘No, let me wake up. Let me wake up, let me wake up!’
“GASP.” Phesx Caolia lifted his eyelids and welcomed light into his light black eyes. He was being dragged backwards, with his lower body semi-limp on the floor, and hearing muffled voices as the blurriness disappeared. At least, the total blackness wasn’t in his mind anymore.
“Put it in, now…!” One of the voices came from Paul, while another, from Em, sounded while giving orders to others. Phesx Caolia’s eyes widened, and his eyes concentrated as he saw a medic aim a syringe to his right shin.
He painfully retracted his leg, sounding like bones wrongly placed together, and stopped the startled medic’s hands. Paul stopped dragging his body, while the medic glanced between his light black eyes and Paul’s.
“I don’t need it,” Phesx Caolia said, trying to lift himself up, using Paul’s hold as support. The medic was about to say something, when Paul beat him to it, “Ok, but calm down! You’re bleeding still!”
“Mfhh!” Phesx Caolia groaned softly before freeing himself from the hands under his armpits. He turned himself to the right to face the ground and pushed down with his left foot. Tumbling to the left, he leaned on the wall. That was when the surrounding sounds became better audible, and to him, overly sensitive.
“WUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” - “Mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy!!” - “More medics over here!” - “Shit, they had it the worst here…” - “So, you were brought here with mom, eh? And, where is she?” - “Right… over there! Why are you bringing me away? My mom, mommy…!!”
‘Ugh…’ Phesx Caolia frowned deeply as he struggled to turn around, but failed and had to support his back on the wall to rest. He breathed, realizing his organs weren’t shot, but they were still weak from his previous injuries.
“What?” Phesx Caolia asked Paul, who leaned on his left. Paul looked at him and moved his head in gestures before finally finding something to say. Paul took a long breath in, “They tried to take the lights out everywhere, but… I have no idea. They either received wrong information, or didn’t know how this subterranean area worked. They fucked themselves up with their goggles and the lights in the corridors.”
“We… cough, managed to notify the other groups, but ours and another 2 received heavy casualties. There were more scum here than in the oth- hey!” Paul shouted as Phesx Caolia stubbornly moved his body back into the garage room after a fit of coughing.
Phesx Caolia walked past many refugees and some soldiers from the other groups who came here after the situation was reported, probably by Paul. He gave it no importance, and when he stepped back inside, he looked up at some lights and the ceiling that was shot and broken apart.
Giving those a brief glance, Phesx Caolia calculated with his eyes and weakened, hurting mind before returning to the place he suffered the most. Before arriving, with the other flashlights and some illumination from the corridor, he could already see 3 corpses.
Phesx Caolia walked until he stood before them. The little girl had bullet wounds on her jaw, cheek, and neck, making a rough mess. They were all from a clearly less potent weapon than Phesx Caolia’s rifle, and were caused by the criminal’s submachine gun.
However, she had a large wound on the right side of her head, while her mother had one on the left side of her head, both starting from the middle of the forehead. Meanwhile, the bulky man had a huge wound starting from the upper bridge of his nose to both sides of his forehead. Exploded into a gory mess.
They were lying on the floor on their right, seemingly impulsed by something, probably the man wanting to fire away, use them as shields, and run away somehow.
Pat. Paul placed his hands on Phesx Caolia’s shoulders. Before he could speak, Phesx Caolia’s eyes seemed able to identify colors again. He looked around at all the dozens of corpses, and then at his body. His right leg began bleeding. It wasn’t that much, but he was already weak and feeling wobbly.
“Let us go back first. Reinforcements have been confirmed, so we just ought to rest before returning. Come, I don’t want to bring a dead boy back to the camp. Miss doctor Sofia would make me accompany you.” Paul slowly helped Phesx Caolia move away.
“Where’s my rifle?” Phesx Caolia asked, lowering his head. His eyes slowly became vacant as his whole body relaxed through the pain any other would agonize over. Feeling tired, Paul said, “It’s back at the truck already. Come on.”
“Oh.” Phesx Caolia lightly nodded. It was the last thing he would say before leaving the subway, unbeknownst to Paul. As they walked, a long path back up, Phesx Caolia saw images around him of soldiers, refugees, and equipment being moved. It seemed like the whole company had focused on this part of the subway.
When they arrived at the surface, Paul slowed down, helping an already limping Phesx Caolia who seemed to show no signs of pain with his head lowered still. Paul remained silent after noticing this, looking ahead where their truck was.
A few moments later, Hellcat seemed to notice something. He lifted his head, indifferent and exhausted, only to see the team’s truck with 8 people moving around, waiting for them to come. When they neared, one of them immediately shouted. “Feeling sleepy, kitty?!”
Those weren’t from the same team, but of the same group. Phesx Caolia looked at Paul and asked, “What happened to the rest? That medic wasn’t one of our groups’ team members.”
“They were all killed in action, along the technician. 8 in total. It’s a… ‘good’ number when you consider the number of enemies we faced. Unfortunately, many refugees’ lives were… ‘used’ at that moment.” Paul quickly whispered into Phesx Caolia’s face, just before the group of soldiers barged towards them.
“How you feelin’? Not good? Ah, can’t run anymore, ey?” - “Too tired, kitty? Want us to lick your leg for you?” - “Hahahaha.” - “Hey, did you not know cats don’t fall on their backs? Nearly died there! 8 more to go, right. But that doesn’t mean you can just waste them, kid… Seriously.”
‘Ah, what a coping method. Just like Paul.’ Phesx Caolia looked at these fellas who wouldn’t stop shitting him, even those who also received gunshots, and looked at Paul. As if to confirm his thoughts, Paul looked at them and blurted, “I know, right? I even saw a wound at the back of his head, and he was bleeding a little. Maybe he’s lost 7 other lives on the way here.”
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
“Bwakakahaha!” The soldiers laughed it off, simply bashing their attitude to Phesx Caolia, who remained bent over with pain. He struggled to stretch his neck, and even stammered a little in the beginning before voicing at them, ”T- then, since you’ve still got energy left, use it to bandage and put cream on me first!”
“…” Everyone went silent, even the team Em led behind them. They stopped whatever shit they were saying or doing and looked at him. Then, smiles appeared before their bellies shook, “Hahahaha…!”
Thus, Phesx Caolia was brought to the truck and stripped off his pants, also taking his jacket and shirt off while placing a curtain around the truck to cover from the incoming black clouds. When Paul was about to put cream on his leg’s bullet wounds after taking a couple out of his body, he hesitated. In the end, he lifted the cream with its lid covering it, and warned.
“This is one of the most painf-”
“Just put it on. Sofia has been doing that since months ago. It won’t matter much to me,” Phesx Caolia groaned, interrupting Paul. The latter lowered his eyelids, narrowing them, before slapping some yellow cream on Phesx Caolia. The burning, stabbing sensation like multiple scalding red needles and mini flamethrowers torturing his body began again.
Soon after, Phesx Caolia was bandaged from his right foot to his neck, focusing on the right side of his body. The bullet in his arm and some at his right thigh were taken out beforehand, although the others left his body when he was shot. It still took a heavy toll on Phesx Caolia. Even with his ‘self-medicated’ body, Phesx Caolia knew he might’ve fucked up his recuperation.
When it was late morning, the sky was all gray, and a rather decent rain descended. The trucks became the immediate hospital tents, where many soldiers and refugees were attended. The medics weren’t too experienced, but it was ‘enough’ to deal with gunshots.
Simulating the nearly coming night so soon, Phesx Caolia didn’t feel like sleeping. He laid on the truck, with the other 8 fellas and Paul also on it in their sleeping bags. Only he and Paul were on the floor, while the others sat or lay on the seats, sleeping or keeping a bit of guard around their truck. There were patrols outside, but as they experienced today, a bit more isn’t too much.
“I think I was too hesitating.” Phesx Caolia softly voiced. Paul, whose eyes were closed, smoothly opened. He smirked before uttering in a low volume, “At least you’re talking about it. Don’t blame you-”
“He was aiming at you and my shadow. I tried to see if I could move, changing his aim just a little. I was successful, I believe. But it was still… I tried doing what you would. Save everyone, not just you and the shad-”
“That was enough,” Paul muttered. The 2 other soldiers sitting near the rain looked at them when they first spoke, but returned their attention outside right after. Nevertheless, Phesx Caolia was shut up. He leaned his head on his pillow before lightly exclaiming with a little nod, “Mn.”
Paul saw the light black eyes finally give it a rest. He felt tiredness looming over him, then, heavy eyelids. Before he knew it, he was falling asleep. It was too damn tiring and emotional trauma for everyone, not just Phesx Caolia. His team had the ‘most’ survivors, but they also did the most. And now, many experienced soldiers seemed to believe in a little someone with an alias of Hellcat.
When Phesx Caolia felt his body waking up a little, the truck was started, and the movement of the truck, bumpy and a little to the sides before joining the long, paved road, comforted him. Feeling too good, and like he wouldn’t have a bad sleeping time, he kept his eyes closed and soon fell asleep again.
… Phesx Caolia was like a kitten, the small animal kind, as he lay in the middle of the seats, with the other soldiers woken up and reminded of their day. Half of them received gunshots, while those who didn’t were either physically overly tired or mentally drained.
“Hey, time to wake up.” A tired voice sounded in his ears as he felt the back of someone’s hand push his cheek. Phesx Caolia opened his eyes to look at a tired soldier with his helmet off. The expression made him wonder if they felt sober now and were no longer as close as a few hours ago. But then, the soldier teasingly smiled, “Or… don't tell me you really liked being carried, princess?”
“Tsk!” Phesx Caolia threw his head the other side before forcing his body to sit up. He suddenly stopped as the other soldiers looked at him, just staring. “Ouch.”
“Pfffft!” - “So smaaart! Blwaaah!” - “Hahaha. Nice one~!”
After they teased the young boy, Paul exited the front of the truck and picked Hellcat up in a stretcher, also modded with thicker equipment. When Phesx Caolia saw he was being brought to Sofia, already waiting with a soldier holding an umbrella for her, he felt a little helpless.
In the distance, León seemed pleased at last, seeing the state Phesx Caolia was in.
“I’ll take it from here,” Sofia said to Paul, who saluted at her and nodded before stepping back. The soldier beside Sofia wanted to push the stretcher, but Sofia didn’t let him. She took the umbrella from him and put it at a corner of the stretcher. The umbrella broadened as Sofia brought the young boy to her cave.
“Am I in trouble? Aunty?” Phesx Caolia said, nearly spilling out ‘big sis’ instead. Sofia looked down, about to respond, when she saw his indifferent, vacant eyes. “Sigh. Later.”
Phesx Caolia exhaled from his mouth, a little humorously. He watched as the umbrella turned slightly transparent, letting him see part of… the rain dropping on its roof.
When they arrived at Sofia’s office, she helped him sit down before checking his bandages. She only left one at his leg and the one in his arm open before bringing contraptions to inject his body with liquid cream. Then, she gave him a good ol’ hot chocolate.
As he drank a hot drink, something anyone injured like him shouldn’t do, internally or externally, he became pensive. Noticing this, Sofia waited at the side, sitting on the same stretcher. The sounds of the rain were muffled by a little mechanism.
Sofia showed him a control remote before asking, “Would you like to hear it more this time, or none at all?”
“Mn,” Phesx Caolia immediately nodded. Sofia returned the gesture before making the sounds of rain a little louder. Phesx Caolia straightaway felt a bit more at ease. His body also welcomed coldness, but not a sickly one like he has felt since waking up.
“One was a little kid, like me, but younger. The other the mother,” Phesx Caolia commented. Sofia’s eyes softly opened, trembling a little at first. She looked at him, holding his left wrist with just her fingertips, not going further to hold him.
“They were held together, very cleverly…” His voice wasn’t faked anymore, sounding semi-broken and soft, and without any spirit. Sofia lightly pressed her lips together, looking at his stomach or the floor. After a bit of coughing, Phesx continued, “I tried doing everything and couldn’t in the end.”
“You’re not to blame.” Sofia lightly whispered. Phesx Caolia didn’t react and just went on, “I should’ve acted first, and quick.”
Rustle~.
Sofia softly threw her arms around his head and hugged him, letting him near her warmth and careful hold. She placed her right cheek atop his head, wrapped her arms around his ears, and covered the back of his head. Phesx Caolia felt very safe now.
Tears streamed down her cheeks, holding the young boy whose face remained… vacant. His lips opened slightly to breathe in and out, while Sofia’s nose became a little difficult to do the same with her sobs. Her face scrunched up beautifully as she cried, hugging the impassive young boy tightly close.
Those light black eyes went back to that moment. The steps he last made on the floor before having achieved the desired result and making the man run to his left. The man’s footsteps as he was led by Phesx Caolia’s movements. Hellcat had aimed and was ready to go, but he was still bested by the man, who immediately fired towards him while moving.
Phesx Caolia fired his rifle, seconding the man, putting a hole in his head with all his senses and something within him writhing. The man and the little girl tripped. The hand holding the submachine gun was affected by the headshot impact as it moved to the left, unnaturally, pushing the trigger even more.
Bullets went into the little girl’s neck, followed by the submachine’s recoil, forcing more onto her jaw, dislocating and throwing pieces of her anatomy away, followed by her cheek. Her nose and lips were broken apart as blood profusely stormed out.
The mother looked with terrified eyes, shocked and heartstruck. Thus, Phesx Caolia acted quickly, but later than supposed. He fired his readied second bullet to the girl’s head, followed by doing the same to the mother, before throwing himself backwards to receive the incoming bullets.
The girl was no adult, so those injuries in the neck were lethal. The dislocation and dismembering of her jaw were even worse off, but with her neck penetrated, and her nose destroyed, with no lips, her daily life would be a hell. A shot in the head.
As for the mother… Who could live after seeing their child suffer like this? Phesx Caolia surely didn’t know for personal experience, but he had seen far too many other families die in the encampment out of hunger or sickness that were considered nothing before the civil war.
“…” Phesx Caolia’s light black eyes’ contents bulged a little without his eyelids moving. He tilted his head to rest on Sofia’s left shoulder, falling into a more comfortable position. Although he didn’t like the skin-to-skin sticky sensation, his tired body felt rested.
. . .
1 month and 3 weeks later.
After the heavy situation near the end of the 5th month, the encampment sent 2,000 soldiers to deal with the criminal scum holed in there. 2 tanks made their appearance, cleaning and scaring the shit out of the scum like they never thought in their lives.
There were also 6 carrier helicopters, larger than ordinary choppers, carrying hundreds of soldiers across the battlefield every day. With these, and the fury of the encampment’s military zone, an entire district was cleaned after several weeks.
Paul, Em, and many of the kittens Phesx Caolia has talked about life with went to fight them a few times. Some returned with injuries, but others were very careful, supporting the special forces whenever possible and remaining safe.
Dealing with such scum, rushing at them was the same as asking to be blown up. They had an insane amount of grenades and other sticky explosives, enough to kill at least 2 soldiers if placed together. Their weaponry was perhaps deplorable, and their tactics useless with no strategy, but they still knew how to move around, costing time to the encampment’s forces.
At last, the enemy was taken care of, with whatever bits were left fleeing through the centralized avenue, the largest and widest roads in Preut, and maybe even in the world.
Phesx Caolia would welcome them a little each time they returned. He heard that León also went to fight the scum once, before never coming out of the military zone again, very cowardly.
Meanwhile, Phesx Caolia advanced in his recuperation and experiments with Sofia. Today, just a few hours before departing to his fourth mission after healing up, he went to Sofia with Lisa. Sofia told him to arrive at the office before leaving with his little experiment partner.
He was about to join another mission. After the scum was forced out, a week and several days ago, the encampment has been restless, sending experienced platoons to scout in advancement. The encampment’s goals were clear, to increase their range of influence. Who knew where and how many millions of refugees were hidden in the fields or destroyed districts after all this time? Few escaped this disaster because of so many irregularities.
Thus, with many soldiers having hopes of finding at least a known civilian, the number of volunteers was high. Now, the only thing that mattered was the experience they had.
As for Hellcat, considering how close the battle for the Centralized Parliament seemed to be, and his ever-growing reputation in the military zone, his petition to join the next advancement scouting mission was approved. What more to fill one’s record, and continue ‘going on’, but to keep oneself busy?
…