Vanilla Dusk ✓

Dusk Part 7

This is their last mission of the day.

They are almost making it.

Elli crouches behind the fortification, his fingers trembling as usual as he clasps the rifle. Every now and then, the ground is blasted, showering their bodies with smuts and blood. The momentum of each shoot shoves Elli backwards. He tries to steady himself but the weight of his equipment holds him down. With a mindless slip, he sprains his ankle and staggers to his right, almost bumping into Shaan. Shaan holds Elli's arm firmly, keeping him from the fall. Elli smiles bashfully and gets back to his feet before he starts shooting again. Shaan is preoccupied with the grenades and mini-bombs their squad has prepared. He is the best handler of IEDs on the team. He gestures for his comrades to bend down and cover their ears as he pulls out the pins from a few grenades and tosses them out onto the field. The grenades explode in a second and the ground quakes massively. Ren, the best sniper on their side, seizes the chance to take down a few of their enemies, shooting each through the head or the neck or the chest. Shaan and Ren repeat their actions a few more times, taking turns to detonate grenades, causing enough explosions to panic their opponents before shooting them down. Kaiden is inside one of the tanks, manoeuvring the titanic machine through the field and firing the cannons simultaneously.

Elli hides behind the fortification, lost. He doesn't fit in anywhere. He watches back and forth as Shaan hurls the grenades out to the field and Ren pulls the trigger once every second, the cannons firing non-stop from Kaiden's tank, flattening half of the woods on the other side. And here he is, squatting behind the ditch, face covered with soot and scratches, skin burning and almost dropping his rifle.

Every mission can be his last, but his comrades never stop shielding him, keeping a watch on him as he trips and shoots the wrong person, almost steps onto a mime or falls on their own grenade by accident.

'Don't close your eyes, Elli!' shouts Shaan, sliding to his side. He has put aside the grenades and crawled to Elli's back. Wrapping his arms around Elli from behind and guiding his hands back on the rifle, he helps pull the trigger and shoot down a few soldiers on the field.

'If you close your eyes, you'll only get more frightened,' whispers Shaan into his right ear, his own index finger pressing hard on Elli's inside the trigger guard.

'I...can't –' stammers Elli, his hands shivering.

'Yes, you can,' assures Shaan, steering the rifle to another side and firing multiple times. A few shadows collapse immediately. 'Believe me, you can.'

Shaan lets go of Elli and returns to his position. He picks up a grenade and bites the pin off, flinging it towards an enemy's tank. Elli cringes as another explosion rings in their ears. This time, he keeps his eyes wide open and stares at the field ahead, at the dashing, advancing figures, the accelerating tanks and artillery, the bullets flying in his way. His finger laces around the trigger tightly and he fires. Shaan glimpses him with a grin.

A couple of minutes later, their enemies start retreating back into the woods, vanishing slowly from the field. Elli sits on the ground, exhausted. Shaan, satisfied with his own performance, wipes his hands on his pants and walks over to Elli, holding out his hand.

'Come on, we're getting back,' says Shaan.

Elli, still barely able to move, takes Shaan's hand and struggles to stand up.

'Stop being such a weakling,' teases Ren, giving Elli a hard pat on his back. Elli only stumbles forward. Shaan shoots Ren a disapproving glare before taking Elli's rifle and rucksack.

'Stop spoiling him,' says Ren. 'What's he going to do without you?'

Elli sighs and stares at the ground.