Silence of the Apocalypse

Chapter 14: Flower Girl

Creak.
The large, wooden gates opened, barely visible to the scout team across the highway and it's dividers. Silently, each soldier raised his weapon, ready to begin the onslaught. Ryu Okinawa had been the runt of their task force, but had the steely determination of their own commander. Unlike his comrades, he did not ease his grip on his rifle.

Three small children pranced past the sequoyia gates onto the cracked and chipped roadway; to Ryu, it seemed they hadn't a care in the world. Two had begun a game of tag, while the other strolled about the dividers as if she were choosing a dress to wear.
Perhaps they can be coerced, they'd make fine cadets, he thought to himself.
However, while deep in thought, one of the small children had wandered towards them.

She begun by picking a snappy flower, barely a daisy, and clumped it into her tiny hands. Soon after, blades of grass and proper tulips joined in her tiny grasp. Ryu allowed himself a smile then at the innocence of the small one. She couldn't be more than three or four, her blonde pigtails bouncing about as she skipped along the road with her bouquet of nature.

Then, all of a sudden, she stopped, And in doing so, she piqued his curiosity. The other small ones had gone inside the gate, the sound of galloping feet and playing long since gone. The girl had found the prize of her collection: a firey rose.

The rose seemed to be the first of the season, And, as Ryu noted, had bloomed alongside him as the morning sun lifted into view. Her Amber eyes grew wide, a smile adorning her rosy cheeks that stretched ear to ear. Giggling, she strolled over to the rose.

As she completed her bouquet, Ryu found her looking at something else; him. This child looked on him in a way that concerned him. She was calm, collected, almost as if she were studying him. Several minutes passed, a silent conversation darting between the girl and the mysterious bush man.

She raised her hand to her left pigtail, and from it came a tarnished rubber band. Her hair came down past her shoulders, covering part of her face. She carefully tied off the bouquet as she hummed pitchless tune.

What happened next was surprising to Ryu most.

The young girl skipped past him, right towards their commanding officer. He could hear his superior shift, apparently sharing his confusion and unease as well. The young girl plopped on the ground beside the commander, and set down a pink Hello Kitty backpack.

After surveying the many soldiers around her in the thick brush, the girl decided she would play along too! To the shock of Ryu and his squadron, the girl produced, from the pack, a compact rifle, seemingly a high-grade G36. The rifle was adorned with many things: stickers; crayon sketches of people and houses and whatnots; a silencer with the word "Twinkie" on its side, written in blue sharpie. However the most compelling accessory was the name "Ruby" etched into the stock, the R turned backwards.

Shifting sounded out from all of the soldiers, shocked at what had just occurred. Most had shifted into a sitting position, still very well hidden from the gates and towers of the enclosed canyon city. The commander, however, had begun grinning from ear to ear, much like the little girl.

When she saw this, her smile shined like the morning. And, to much avail, the smile spread among the troops, and even earned a few chuckles from them. She waved at the odd bush people, and they waved back, seemingly unable to avert their eyes from this dainty little spirit.

The commander begun to play with the little one, using his own rifle to pretend he was shooting the walls; "pew, pew!" he whispered, first with the towers, then the walls.. The girl followed suite in charming fashion, making small "pew" noises with each shot. It seemed this group had earned a wonderful friend.

A call rang out into thw wilderness. The squad stiffened, as did the girl. To Ryu's surprise, the commander draped his arm around the girl, the ghillie netting hiding her from view. The girl's blond hair shifted, but not much; she was very good at copying her new friend.

After the wall guard had rotated, the girl picked up her pack and began loading her rifle into it; unscrewing the stock and the magazine with care. Before she sauntered off, the commander stopped her. Briefly taking off his ghillie hood, he removed his militia helmet, and offered it as a gift to the girl.

Her eyes beamed at the gift, and she adorned it with pride. Ryu and the others chuckled as she pranced about with the helmet, pretending to march in an imaginary squadron. The small one then returned to the commander her bouquet, which he kindly adorned upon his netting. After receiving smiles from all the new people, the girl skipped about into the gates. They closed behind her with a deep slam, and she ran about to join her friends. She simply could not wait to show them the wonderful new hat she'd gotten from the Bush Monster outside the gate.

"Commander," Ryu whispered.

His superior glanced at him, nodding for him to speak.

"May we spare the little one?" he asked. It seemed the others felt the same, as he felt their pleading gazes reach out to meet their commander's.

With a sincere smile, he gave them a sharp nod. Each man now adorned her smile, and we're now fully contempt with their mission now. It's was simply a matter of time until the opportune moment...