Broken Armageddon

5.Hidelburg - The Iron City

The group of hamlet dwellers led by Father Paul and Karl trudged through the woods along with their injured military companions, dry leaves crunching beneath their feet; treading with little care.

Up ahead was a clearing which Stronzko, the de facto leader, immediately pointed out to Karl who was by his side.

They could hear chatter, human voices and the rumbling of vehicle engines mixed with marching of footsteps on a solid asphalt road.

Rushing out through the clearing, they emerged from the forest only to be greeted by the barrel ends of rifles from perimeter guards.

"Stand down, men. They're one of us! ," an officer commanded the guards who looked rather uneasy. Perhaps, they had come across infiltrators, collaborators or worse, fellow men who lost all hope and had turned to banditry just to find a sense of purpose and fulfillment.

The officer, a Captain, approached the group and went up to Karl recognising his stern face thus coming to a conclusion that he was in charge.

"I apologize about that. We've been dealing with attempted sabotages and night raids by the Tengu for three days, " said the Captain pointing at a pile of dead bodies which belonged to the Tengu invaders laying in varying degrees of death; limbless bodies, spilled entrails, and missing heads.

The stench was sour, piercing through their olfactory incurring a gagging reflex in all of them except Karl and the soldiers.

Quickly, Paul told the children of their group to cover their eyes and nose.
When asked why by the innocent young chaps, he told them with a wide smile that the devil had appeared and would whisk away anyone that saw or sensed his rotten scent.

A disgusting sight indeed, made even more so when they saw the injured army soldiers writhing in pain while walking past the medical tents.

"Don't look. ," said the officer leading them when passing by one particular tent where an emergency operation was being performed on a severely wounded fighter.

Shaking hands, Karl jokingly thanked her for not shooting at them after which he asked, " My group is tired and we'd be happy if you could help us get to Hidelburg as soon as possible."

After listening to his request, the female officer immediately pointed them towards a tent surrounded by machine gun posts and mortar pits.

"You'll find Major Ievanic inside, he might be able to arrange a mode of transportation. ," she informed, a light smile forming upon her face.

Unknowingly, Karl gave her a bear hug which startled the troops around them at first but then chuckled after realising what it was.

"Can't... breathe... ," uttered the Captain tapping on Karl's shoulder who then released her.

"S-sorry about that. Well, uh, we must be going now."

"It's fine, sir and goodluck."

With his weary group, they marched towards a tent covered in camouflage nettings.

"Sir, we have a civilian who wishes to see you. Shall I let him in ?," informed a guard through the intercom.

"No,tell him and whoever he is with to wait. Crucial meeting. , " replied Major Ievanic who was busy planning out a defensive strategy with the staff.

"Roger that, " responded the guard turning to inform Karl who was stood in front of his post with a withered look upon his weary face.

The information seemed to annoy him but nothing could be done about it. So, with no choice left they dragged their feet away from there however, fate played its hand through their military companion - Lance Corporal Sokoly Svitmir.