Depth of Silence (LSoE Series)

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

18 November, Year 658

East Caspian, 14:37 - Rei Marcotte

As fast as I climbed the ranks of a soldier, I just couldn't get high enough. Once I got a new position, I only wanted the next one. I even requested to be part of the conversations held by higher ranking officers. I wasn't actually allowed admittance into these meetings, but I had Lucas on my side. Regretful as he may be, he always got the dirt for me.

Now, you may be wondering what kind of "dirt" the generals would hide from us for whatever reason. Well, Eulir allegedly suffered from a nasty attack from these insane people who wanted to eat everyone's face. One kid--poor guy must be in therapy now--discovered that if you injure the person enough, this gross black steam is released through the gash. It eventually turns to blood, but that added fact doesn't make anything sound any better. It sounds grosser, actually. The medics never actually came to any conclusions about how or why this happened, but all the Caspites (or the military, at least) were informed about it in case the epidemic came here. They told us the bare basics, like if you see someone acting crazy, use these steps. But they left out a huge chunk when explaining everything to us... these "people" had a grey pigmentation to their skin, and they eyes were pure black.

"I'm telling you, those meetings aren't interesting anyway," Arianna muttered while resting her back along the side of the military base.

She lethargically flipped her wrist around as she talked and gazed at the cloudless sky. Sometimes I think the only thing she puts more effort in than usual is whenever she defends her opinions.

I shook my head. "Don't you want to know their secrets? All of the things they won't tell us? I mean, they didn't even mention the freakin' zombie people! They just said that we needed extra training!"

"All that matters is the important information they do reveal. I thought that after three years you'd let go of some enthusiasm."

"You had way too much hope for me, then," I grinned. "Have you ever thought about decreasing your daily serenity intake? Life's better when there's a risk of getting into trouble."

"Serenity means everything is working correctly, as it should."

"If you ask me, everything's running a bit too smoothly," I sighed.

For the past few days--actually, it may be a week by now--Arianna and I have been serving as stationary soldiers. I didn't want to make a big deal about it, but it rubbed me the wrong way. Ever since we were admitted to the Falcon Squad, General Zonen had kept us on the team that ventured outside the walls. And it wasn't like we were the worst ones out there, either! It was just all of a sudden, poof! I'm pulled out.

So our new station was at one of the minor entrances into the base, on the opposite side of the town entrance gates. Sometimes we checked people in, sometimes we kicked people out, sometimes we opened both sides of the door to welcome a cart filled with wheat or pumpkins. But most of the time we took turns sitting down and taking naps. For just a moment, I closed my eyes, hoping we'd switch off soon. I wasn't sleeping much lately. A distractingly sweet smell paddled around my head, though, meaning that Arianna was at it again. I didn't realize when I first started this that the only thing she ate all day was oranges. Not once have I seen her eat something that wasn't an orange or bread; maybe peanuts just to get some protein. But really, I swear she always had four to six oranges stuffed into her pockets. By now, she was probably on one of her last ones until she refilled her stock.

But anyway, when the fruity smell pulled me out of my lull, everything was frigid, painted in a frosted pallet. No, it hadn't started snowing or anything like that, it just looked like a grey film had lowered in front of my eyes, or like I had sunglasses on. I patted my face and blinked a few times. Nope. Although an icy breeze brushed against my bare skin, every inch of the sky was shrouded with a fluffy, toasty warm blanket.