Wherever that may be

Arc II (1) - 1594

Eliza stays as close to the ground as possible, just like her father told her. The defense system fell hours ago.

The explosive sounds of weapons firing nonstop deafens her for a minute. She recovers.

She takes the bullets out of the pocket sewed to her attire with ease, precise. She struggles with her gun for a second before getting ready.

Somebody screams at her left. Somebody falls to the floor at her right.

There are many. Too many. Bullets miss her body in what can only be a lucky strike.

Might as well take advantage of it.

Eliza fixes her gaze in her target and shoots once. Twice.

She fails. Her grip is not strong enough. She hasn't been eating properly for days, and her body is starting to resent her.

Her vision gets blurry as the wind hits her face directly, carrying tons of dust that the enemy forces lift with their feet.

Damn it, damn it, damn it.

It's not an excuse to stop fighting. Nothing is an excuse to stop fighting.

Impulsively, she pulls her body off the ground to get into a kneeling position.

It's risky, but it's all she can do to protect the territory until the arrival of the reinforcements that were promised two weeks ago.

An enemy soldier manages to throw a fire bomb meters away, just at the center of the counterattack. The sudden light and the noise of people screeching make Eliza loose her balance.

She feels a sharp pain in her left thigh and a broken scream escapes from her throat.

Her agony lasts only for some seconds.

Then, her world turns black.

-

Jenna walks quickly along the dirt road, tightening her uniform around her waist. It's too big for her.

She's late. She knows she's late.

She only hopes that her coworkers don't realize how late she is. She has just lost her home -or at least that's what the passive-aggressive letter sent by her landlord said. She doesn't feel like losing her job as well.

She opens the wooden hospital doors as sneakily as possible, but she realizes soon that nobody is really paying attention.

Health workers in white uniforms move quickly from one place to another, their hands full of bandages, scissors and alcohol, their faces masked all the way up their noses. Patients are being taken care of right there, in the waiting room, which is an event that only has place when every other room of the building is occupied.

Jenna stands dumbfounded for a second, before a voice snaps her out of her stupor.

"Kim, where were you?"

Jenna flinches and turns around ready to receive a heated scolding mixed with the ice of a petulant stare.

Instead, her boss moves besides her, still talking.

"The soldiers of the Hansado platoon arrived this morning. Wear your damn mask! You have it for a reason!"

Jenna puts the mask up her nose, frowning. Her boss comes back in a matter of seconds, a piece of paper and a bunch of medical equipment in his hands.

"1408. That's the number of the soldier you got assigned".

Jenna's stare changes. Her eyes narrow and start to shine with the spark of purpose.