Rustling of the nearby bushes and canopies signaled something sinister was nearby. Dilleas prepared his weapons.

  “Now’s not the time, Dilleas, we need to go now,” Hraldi grabbed him. “You can act cool for these rookies another time.

  It was too late, two shadowy Corpse monkeys grabbed Dilleas by the foot. It caught him by surprise as he fell to the ground. He desperately grabbed onto Hraldi’s hand. Tvira moved in to take a shot, but the monkeys were too fast, even for her. Dilleas was then dragged by more of the monkeys. He was already far away from the group. His flesh was torn to shreds by their claws. His cries were heard by the group from where he was. Jovie had to make a hard decision in these precious moments. The noise would just attract more Corpses near to them. Their only option left…was to flee.

  “Fuck! Back to the jeeps!” he ordered.

  “But what about--” Avryn spoke.

  “Back to the jeeps, man!” Jovie did not want to be second guessed.

  Leifren was the first to obey the order. The rest followed suit. They turned around and prepared to leave. Leifren got to the back of his jeep. He took aim at Dilleas, who was still screaming. His innards was now being feasted on by the Corpse monkeys.

  “Mom--mommy!” he screamed.

  Leifren shot and put Dilleas to sleep. That earned the ire of Hraldi.

  “What the hell did you just do?!” her fury was great.

  “Putting an end to his suffering,” Leifren defended his actions.

  “Go, go!” Jovie gestured.

  Avryn looked behind to see the lifeless body of Dilleas being consumed. He had never seen such a sight in his life. They made their long way back to the outpost. Hraldi went after Leifren and grabbed him by the collar.

  “We don’t kill our comrades, rook,” she threatened.

  “Listen, ma’am. I liked Dilleas, but if we left him like that, he would still suffer being eaten alive until the shock of death took him,” he reasoned with her.

  Jovie was scratching his head. He had Rengo separate Hraldi away from Leifren.

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  “We don’t leave comrades like that behind, man,” Avryn backed her up.

  “The guy was taken from us, and not even our best shooters could react. What I did was the best mercy I could give,” Leifren stood adamant.

  Avryn had his hands on his hips as he hanged his head low,

  “I really hate it when you’re right. Damn,” he expressed regret.

  He looked around him. The medic bay was starting to get full. Many rookies were admitted there. Avryn never saw so much wounded. Groans ocassionally escaped from their lips. Many had started to express regret for even joining the expeditions. Was this to be the life he would lead? Surely not.

  “Look, I’ll let you all rest up, and we’ll report to the major,” Jovie suggested.

  There was no arguing with that. They were still recovering from the absolute shock of it all. A life taken away in an instant. Avryn seemed the most effected by this. They all sat around the campfire. Avryn stood and paced around like a mad man. He was trying to come to sense of it.

  The next day, Jovie had Leifren and Avryn join up with him. They took a ship back to Ordellia. Avryn thought they would come back to the place so soon. He asked what was the occasion to Jovie.

  “You’re gonna do this a lot,” he showed a dog tag to them.

  Dilleas’s name was on it. They both understood.

  “His parents lives in one of the northern towns, Marchway. We’re gonna have to break it to them,” he leaned on his seat.

  Silence overtook them for the rest of the voyage. There was a sad note in the sound of the waves riding under the boat. Not another word was spoken until they disembarked at their destination. Jovie led the way, and found Dilleas’s parents’ house.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll do the talking this time around,” he reassured them.

  One knock after, a middle aged looking woman answered. She saw the uniforms and already assumed the worst.

  “Is this about my Dilleas?” she asked.

  “Yes. May we come in?” Jovie asked in turn.

  The woman nodded, opened the door wider and ushered them inside. They all took a seat. Jovie presented her Dilleas’s dog tag wrapped in the flag of Ordellia. She cupped her mouth, and tried to stifle her tears.

  “He gave his life to protect our squad. We promised we would not put his sacrifice in vain,” he reassured her.

  Avryn and Leifren shared a puzzled look, but quickly understood. They just nodded along. The mother finally broke down in tears as she could not hold it any longer.

  “That’s all I needed to hear. Thank you, boys,” she told them.

  “That’ll be all, ma’am. We’ll show ourselves out,” he gestures to the two.

  They exited the house and closed the door behind them.

  “Does it ever get easier?” Avryn asked.

  “Nope,” Jovie was honest.

  They took a ship back to the outpost. Avryn was curious as to why they didn’t take an airship instead. Jovie told them the additional construction of airdocks would be needed. Avryn frowned from hearing that.

  “That’s fair,” he said.

  They returned to the outpost by the afternoon. A call from Major Shalshukein had the three squads help out with the burial for the dead. Avryn looked at the pile of bodies. A few of them veterans, and a lot of them looked like classmates he had seen before. The moment he realized that, he started to fear his own mortality. Harver sensed it and pat Avryn on the back.

  “Hey man, I got your back,” he reassured him.

  The two shared a nod to each other. They went to get the shovels and helped the others. Avryn overhead some form of singing from the fellow soldiers. It was a hymn for the dead, honoring their sacrifices. He hummed along to their tune as a show of respect. He then spent the rest of his time wrapping up dog tags in the flags of its respective nation. They all finished their job by night’s start.

  They huddled around a campfire afterwards, reflecting past events. It was one thing in the simulations, and another in real life. The Expeditions were not for the faint of heart. It was a real wake up call for them to step it up and take it seriously. Avryn started a chat with Leifren.

  “Look, I understand where you’re coming from and I agree. But I’m still holding on to my principles. As far as I’m concerned, I’m leaving no man behind. From my squad,” he gestured. “Or yours.”

  “No harm done. Trust me, I hope you prove me wrong when the time comes,” he nodded along.

  Jovie’s squad joined them afterwards. Hraldi offered her apologies to Leifren. She commented what he did was the right decision. Dilleas didn’t deserve to suffer for long. Jovie opened up the conversation, asking if any of them had experienced loss before. None of them answered, which was encouraging. He offered his sage advice to them: continue building their bonds.

  “If all else fails, you can always count on that.”