Three Strikes [✓]

The Beginning of the End

Chapter Forty-Seven: The Beginning of the End

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Tyler Island, Spring Sea.
October 2nd, 2019.
0700hrs.

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There was no choice but to keep moving. After crossing paths with Major Hamilton, they informed Avril, Bandog, and the Princess of the actions of the Erusean military. The kind of heartlessness required to execute civilians was something else. Though whether the Princess' lack of any real reaction was the result of her exhaustion, guilt, or prior knowledge Avril didn't know. And she didn't really care much, it wasn't like it did them any good. Either way, the decision was unanimous among those that were actually soldiers. They would keep moving in hopes of finding supplies, rescuing any other civilians not yet murdered by the Erusean forces and maybe finding allies along the way.

Everyone was more or less convinced they wouldn't be safe with anyone, though. Even Major Hamilton expressed her doubts they'd find any Oseans willing to take them in, and on the off chance they did, what would come of all these people? The children and civilian parents may be safe, but the Princess and the two Erusean soldiers wouldn't be so lucky. No, right now their tiny little group was all they had. Not the best chance of survival, but it beat a 0% chance.

In the week that had passed they hadn't covered much ground. The main reason they were slowed down was the children and the man that the Princess was very adamant about helping. She'd pleaded and begged for them to find some way to treat his injury, and they were just lucky they had some people with medical knowledge among the civilians. Or maybe what had been lucky was finding a trashed Erusean medical unit, with enough supplies intact for a very improvised surgery.

Avril found out after the fact that he was the Princess' bodyguard, a man named Henri, and he'd gotten that wound trying to fend off Erusean soldiers ordered to kill her. What could have possibly driven the Eruseans to attack their precious princess, let alone want her dead? As far as anyone could tell she was the voice and the face of their country, or at least in the recent months that's what she'd become. In any case, Henri had served her family for years, and the Princess insisted that the only way she could repay him was to do her best to make sure he stayed alive.

At least it seemed he was starting to recover. The two Erusean soldiers – a man she was certain was named Anton and another named Georg – volunteered to carry him across the battlefield. The woman that had performed the surgery to remove the bullet and treat Henri's infection was Georg's wife, Adelaide, who apparently had spent her years in med school and never went on to complete her residency. She assured them she was capable, and sure enough she'd managed well enough, though Avril hadn't been interested in observing the procedure.

He wasn't out of the woods yet, but he might make it. In cauterizing his wound the Princess may have kept him from bleeding out, but in exchange the wound had become a breeding ground for bacteria and infection. Properly treating it, or treating it as they were able with what they found, would put him on the right path to recovery. Right now he was in and out of consciousness and delirious whenever he was awake, which Avril was sure brought down morale. Even if not everyone had the same personal stake in his survival that the Princess did, it didn't mean they wanted him to die.

Speaking of the Princess...she'd been quiet. Speaking only when spoken to and keeping everything she said low and to the point. She avoided looking at any of them, especially the children, and hobbled along at an awkward pace in her heels. She looked awful, not that anyone here was in a much better state. Her pet dog walked slowly beside her, only ever reacting to anything around him when they heard gunfire and explosions or when Sarge was sent ahead by Bandog to clear an area.