Chapter 63

Chapter 63
Platon questioned in a quivering tone, gazing at the blood spots, asking if they had already been targeted by beasts. However, both the commander and I shook our heads simultaneously. The commander seemed to have identified the nature of the blood right away just as I did; I paused for a second waiting for him to talk, but he only stared at me, signaling me to provide the explanation. I gave a soft sigh, stating that this was not the work of monsters. Platon recoiled in sheer amazement. When he asked what the blood was if not from beasts, I told him he would not understand since he had never fired a weapon at a human. He tilted his head in brief confusion until the realization dawned on him, his eyes widening as he looked back at the crimson marks and asked if it was the evidence of people shooting people. I confirmed that these were indeed the traces of humans firing upon humans. Platon’s gaze shifted back and forth between the commander and me, noting that the commander seemed to share this assessment and asking how the two of us could tell. I gestured at the marks with the tip of the rifle I carried, explaining that the blood was sprayed outward like a fine mist. Minute droplets indicated that the fluid had been flung away at high velocity, which is precisely what occurs with a firearm. Such delicate drops could only originate from a gun, and since creatures do not use firearms against people, this was clearly human-on-human violence. When I finished, the commander nodded in agreement while Platon’s mouth gaped slightly. He wondered how Haydam could possibly know even if the commander could tell, pointing out that I had never shot anyone either. I noted that while I had never pulled the trigger on a person, I had witnessed plenty of individuals who had been shot.

He must have recalled that I was present during Lieutenant General Bartom’s execution, where I had been spattered by the blood of men killed by gunfire and had even taken a bullet myself from a Unicorn Area operative, making me entirely familiar with the spray pattern. It also helped that similar scenes constantly appeared in the crime dramas I used to watch prior to my possession. The commander showed zero doubt, clearly believing I had witnessed such events countless times prior to my regression. When Platon asked if it was an attack originating from a different zone, his mind immediately leaped to an external raid upon hearing about gunfire. I had considered Unicorn Area players myself, but our group had been moving northward to hunt monsters, and the Cola Area sat further north than any other zone, meaning outsiders had no reason to strike us from a position beyond which only the crevasse fields lay. Furthermore, the pattern of the blood spots pointed to a single, isolated exchange of gunfire rather than an ongoing assault. If it had been an ambush, the blood would have been scattered haphazardly everywhere, whereas these were individuals who knew one another. Platon stared at me in disbelief, asking if I meant they had fired upon soldiers belonging to their own zone, to which I replied that it certainly appeared that way. He wondered how they could do such a thing, gazing in a dazed state at the crimson splattered across the snow before clutching at a final shred of hope, suggesting it might have been a friendly fire accident since they had taken the bodies with them. I noted that there was not an overwhelming amount of blood, meaning whoever was struck was likely still alive, and the commander added that it was no accident because the trails of blood led in opposing directions, indicating that after trading gunfire, Team Two appeared to have scattered separate ways. I crouched down to inspect the snow underneath the fresh layer of powder, where what the blizzard had half-concealed now became evident. Just as the commander mentioned, the blood spots trailed off in distinct routes, accompanied by undisturbed boot tracks that did not belong to soldiers from any other zone, showing both footsteps and blood leading away from each other as if the injured had staggered off in opposite directions while continuing to bleed. If it had been an accident, there would have been no rationale for them to head separate ways, proving something was fundamentally wrong with Team Two, making it fortunate that we pursued them. Had we failed to follow, these tracks would have been covered by snow, and when the new officers failed to return, everyone would have simply assumed beasts got the better of them. The Team Two leader had purposely chosen Lucas and Bones to accompany them, driven from the outset by a hidden purpose entirely distinct from mere promotion.

Supporting the bleeding Bones as they moved forward, Lucas muttered a subdued curse, prompting Bones to offer a faint, mocking laugh as he asked if Lucas even knew how to swear, to which Lucas retorted by asking if he found the current situation amusing. Lucas and Bones had been selected for the search party by the Team Two leader, though one of the veteran soldiers was the first to notice that the leader was leading them in an unfamiliar direction, pointing out that Team Three was located elsewhere. When that soldier highlighted the error, the leader responded that he was carrying out separate orders. Because the leader had previously served on the commander’s personal team, the rest followed him half-convinced, only realizing something was amiss and confronting him when the return signal was given yet the leader refused to turn back, at which point he simply barked at them to think about earning merit and returning home if they were real men, claiming he had intended to hunt monsters from the beginning and that anyone wishing to leave was free to do so. Naturally, Lucas, Bones, and several others insisted on heading back immediately, but the majority of the team declared themselves men who wanted to claim their glory first, shifting the atmosphere toward extending the search. By that stage, the naturally suspicious Bones already sensed something was wrong, sticking close to Lucas and whispering a warning that they were surrounded. When Lucas flinched and surveyed the surroundings, seeing only their own teammates, Bones clarified that he meant the others were walking in a circle around them. Lucas casually scanned the area as if checking for monsters, noticing that the formation was far too mindful of him and Bones to resemble a standard search line, causing him to realize the situation was deeply flawed as the men who advocated returning lagged behind without much thought while those pushing to continue kept their weapon muzzles aimed directly at Lucas and Bones. While Lucas struggled to comprehend this and opened his mouth to question the leader, the man at the front abruptly spun around with his weapon raised and ordered them to halt. Bones instantly chambered a round and trained his rifle on the leader, who froze for a fraction of a second at the speed of that reaction, just long enough for a bullet to fly in from the side and graze Bones’s arm. The shooter cursed and raised his weapon for a headshot, but Lucas fired first, striking the man’s arm so that his bullet merely whistled past Bones’s head. Bones clenched his teeth against the searing agony racing down his elbow and the scream struggling to escape, never releasing his grip on his rifle as he pulled the trigger, sending a round into the leader’s shoulder and sending him flying backward. Another teammate swung his muzzle toward Bones, but Lucas stepped directly in front of him just as several other men formed a protective barrier in front of both of them—these being the exact individuals who had argued for turning back the moment the return signal went up.

When those men asked why they were shooting the new officers, it became apparent they had received no orders whatsoever, as the team aside from Lucas and Bones had been reorganized by the commander and Meursault, meaning not everyone belonged to the Team Two leader’s personal faction. While others tended to his shoulder wound, the Team Two leader looked over the faces of the men who had blocked him, spotted someone he recognized, and spoke with a sneer, noting that he had also earned his commission under Lieutenant General Max’s sponsorship. Forcing himself upright while holding the dressing against his shoulder, he stated that the lieutenant general had remarked that the little dog he used to pamper had started acting like a wolf, so they should simply boil and consume him. Every eye on the team immediately turned toward Bones, as everyone present knew Bones was Lieutenant General Max’s most devoted admirer, leaving Bones and the shielding soldiers wearing expressions of complete disbelief. Pointing out the absurdity of a newly graduated academy kid screwing up badly enough for Lieutenant General Max to order his execution, someone mentioned the rebellion at the graduation ceremony, noting that word had already spread among senior officers about the newest batch of junior officers pushing to abolish the recommendation system in favor of entrance exams. Even so, questioning whether they would kill a young officer over something so minor and asking if they were expected to believe that, the leader warned that it was no small matter and told them to lower their weapons and step aside if they did not wish to die as well. Refusing to comply and declaring that they could not do such a thing even if Lieutenant General Max commanded it, Team Two ultimately split squarely in half with each faction leveling weapons at the opposite side, while one of the senior officers glanced sideways at Lucas, who was still propping Bones up, and urged him to take Bones and run. When Lucas hesitated, the officer yelled at him to run until his blisters formed and link up with another team. Lucas clenched his jaw, hooked an arm beneath the deathly pale Bones, and began to run, though after a while he had to acknowledge they were lost on the open tundra with endless white stretching in every direction, accompanied by the even more terrifying sound of distant gunfire echoing from their flight, leaving them to wonder how many of those men remained alive.

Lucas spat out a curse in the style of Bones, who gave a weak laugh through his groans of pain and gave him a feeble push, telling him to stop trying so hard and simply get lost by leaving him behind so he could find the way easier without dead weight. Refusing and calling it crazy because he would die, Lucas was told by Bones that dying was the exact idea and to let him go, prompting Lucas to shout his name while Bones roared back that Lieutenant General Max wanted him dead. That silenced Lucas completely, as he still found it unbelievable that the general would order soldiers to kill Bones, especially since Lieutenant General Max was renowned for treating both his adopted sons and ordinary soldiers without pretense, and though Lucas was sponsored by a different officer, he had always respected the man who had supposedly ordered a newly commissioned officer dragged into the wilderness and murdered simply for disobedience. Bones wept that his father wanted him dead and that the only way to repay his kindness was to die for him, causing Lucas to snap and let go after hearing him still babble about kindness, letting Bones collapse face-first into the snow to sob over how his father could do this to him when being recognized by him meant everything and he had become an officer for his sake. Though Lucas understood the profound despair, he could not simply abandon Bones as suggested. A deep rumble shook the earth, stealing Lucas’s balance and throwing him onto the snow beside Bones as the tremors repeated over and over in response to Bones’s anguish, until finally a long shadow fell across Lucas after the shaking ceased. With dread prickling the back of his neck, Lucas looked up to find a colossal monster towering over them and staring down. For a moment, Lucas lost his ability to speak, realizing the large-class beasts they had fought that morning were nothing compared to the sheer mass of this creature that made it feel like standing before a living cliff, covered in white fur from head to toe with blood thickly smeared around its mouth as it regarded them with idle curiosity. Managing to force out Bones’s name and telling him to get up, Lucas watched the monster observe the tiny voice before curving its lips into an unsettling smile. Snapping back to reality, Lucas shouted at Bones to get up like a bastard, raised his rifle, and stumbled backward while Bones lay there with an expression of pure resignation. Telling Bones not to give up and asking if he truly intended to die in such a place, Lucas shouted even though he doubted his voice reached him anymore, knowing that running would not save his life either, yet instead of fleeing he leveled his trembling weapon muzzle at the beast. Just then, a familiar voice called out from behind the creature, a deafening crack split the air, and the monster’s midsection blew outward, revealing a gaping hole straight through to the other side where Haydam stood gripping a thick, heavy rifle whose recoil no child should have been able to manage.