"Caw! Caw!" an angry bird yelled into my ear.
I slightly look around and pull my head up far enough to see Nyx sitting on a tree stump. I begin to crawl to her, but the gunshot wound to my shoulder ached way too much. It burned and stung like hell. It was dark and cold. I must have been accidentally left behind. How dreadful of a thought...
"Caw! Caw!" Nyx announced loudly once again.
"What are you doing... trying to get me caught?" I grumbled, wincing in pain as I reached for my shoulder.
I pulled my hand back to see my hand had turned red from my blood.
I sat up against the stump and continued to try to reach for the bullet hole. The bullet must still have been inside if my Pathogenic Healing wasn't working.
Nyx did the work for me, painfully.
She pecked into the hole and pulled the bullet out, dropping it on the stump.
I turned around and looked at the bullet. I then gently patted Nyx on her head. I could feel the wound healing right away, but not very fast.
I wiped my blood on the snow, painting it red. The smell of iron was quite vile.
I sat up and used the log to pull myself up. I looked around and began walking (to the best of my ability, given my condition). I could see Nyx flying from tree to tree, monitoring me closely.
I smiled at her and continued through the dense forest, which was becoming quite foggy.
"You saw one go in here?" A voice traveled through the forest.
"Yes! I saw him get shot, and he ran in here with his horse! He must be dead or injured. It'd be best to find him quickly. Nato thinks this one is the half-half kid." Another voice spoke.
Both were male.
I knew I had to find my way out of the forest as quickly as possible.
I looked for Nyx, but she was flying toward the voices.
I waited for them to get closer and Nyx was loudly cawing. It must have been her way of signaling to me where they were.
"Stupid bird." One of them growled. I knew I couldn't just shoot them with a finger bullet and hope for the best, so I shot a finger bullet at a tree quite far away. They began running over there, thinking I was there.
"Yes!" I thought, making my way through the forest and exiting through the treeline. I looked around for my horse, but didn't expect to find it so easily.
My horse wasn't given a name yet... but due to its dark color and white mane and tail, I came up with the name Grim for him. Grim Reaper being his full name.
Back to looking around, I could hear slight running in the forest behind me. I looked behind me to see the two men running at me. They realized it was a fluke and were approaching quickly!
"Shoot him! Hit him anywhere but the vital points!" one yelled, with the other agreeing.
"W-wait!-" I tried to yell, but I was suddenly hit by something.
I was moving quite quickly now, and I was practically hanging onto something moving fast. I looked up and could see Grim, he had run into me, either on purpose, or on accident, but either way, he saved me.
Luckily the rock that was very easy to spot on the way to Savito was still easy to spot. I climbed onto Grim's saddle and led him through the snowy landscape. The cold snow would sometimes fly up and hit me in the face, but I was already sweating, so it was just a relief for me.
The men from before were far back, and had no chance to catch up without horses.
***
I could have sworn hours had passed with me riding on my horse. The cold was agonizing. My fingers were pale and hard to move. I could barely move my body, and it had begun snowing quite heavily.
Grim grunted from being tired, so I had him slow down and rest for a bit. We sat in the snow, and I began eating it, expecting to be hydrated. I soon learned the hard way that eating snow actually made you more dehydrated. I'm just glad I didn't give Grim any of the snow.
While riding back to camp still, I was more dehydrated than ever before. I could barely move my lips or tongue at this point and I almost fell off of Grim.
There was something in the distance... a faint structure... no... a city... Kioka City.
***
Banging on the gate from the forest where the first mission took place, I hoped to get someone's attention. Had anyone made it back?!
Did Kayla, Byul and Markus make it back?!
What about Pika, Jian or Kai?!
That's when the gate opened and Instructor Miko was waiting on the other end.
"We thought you died." he said, seemingly a bit happy I didn't.
"Yeah... me too." I said, pointing to the bullet shaped hole in my shirt.
"Come in. I heard about you being... half Pathogen." he mentioned, "Imode told me earlier when we first arrived. She planned to send a search team after you when you didn't arrive with us. I'd be best for me to call her." He said, leaving me alone.
I tied Grim up in the stables, feeding him some food and giving him some water before going into my tent and laying down.
***
The next morning, I was practically swarmed with people. Pika, Kayla, Markus, Byul, Kai, Jian, and a bunch of people.
They wanted to know how I survived, and so I told them, maybe just overexaggerating the details a bit.
Soon the people left, and it was just Pika, Kayla, Byul, and Markus.
"I can't believe you were shot! Are you alright?!" Kayla asked, sweating.
"Yeah, I was just a bit... tired really." I said, looking away awkwardly.
I didn't really know what to do now. A war had begun, and we were part of the beginning of this war.
***
It was pretty bright when I arrived, since I had traveled for a couple of hours, but the day went fast, and it was soon nighttime once again. Almost twenty-four hours since I was shot.
"Rise and Shine everyone!" A voice yelled from outside the gate. It was a familiar voice, but I couldn't exactly tell who it was.
I exited my tent and peered at the gate. I could see the screen that showed the person on the other end, but it was off. So I snuck up to it and tapped it gently. It lit up, showing footage of the other side.
It was Nato.
He was standing proudly and was holding a large sharp blade.
He had people with him, with guns of many variations.
I backed up quietly and climbed up the stairs to the cover of the building. I aimed my finger toward one of the men, knowing they couldn't see me, yet I couldn't do it.
Why couldn't I shoot to kill?
A bullet came out and hit the man I was targeting in his leg. He knelt down in pain.
I ducked behind the cover of the wall.
"Cal? Come out here. If you do, nobody has to die!" Nato said.
I cowered behind the cover still, I could see Instructor Miko making his way toward me quietly crouched.
He tapped on the panel and warned the group to leave. When they didn't he tapped a button and a thick smoke covered the group, coming out of what I thought were cameras.
Miko covered my mouth and nose and the men outside began screaming.
Once the sound of the smoke spraying stopped, Miko let me go and climbed the stairs. He looked over the ledge, and I was curious. So I did as well.
The group of men looked dead. Everyone was there except for Nato.
I realized they weren't dead when I saw them breathing.
Miko opened the gate and I helped him drag the people inside the base. We closed the gate and tied the people up, putting them in the locked room, which was used for Pathogen Hunters who were not following rules. It was like solitary confinement.
I tried to sleep, but had no luck doing so.
The next morning, the people Miko captured were banging on the door. Kai even almost let them out, only being stopped by Miko at the last minute. After that, Kai just sat against the door playing on a small portable console.
How annoying the banging was. All day... they begged to be let out. Miko had told us that he was going to get them to cooperate and join us somehow, or just get them arrested as Prisoners of War.
I hoped the one who shot me was trapped as well.
For a moment, I caught myself hoping they'd be executed... why would I want that? People who were only fighting for their home... their land... why should anyone have to die now?
***
Several drones flew over the base on different occasions. They had cameras on them, so it seemed Nato was watching our every move. Instructor Miko had just kept shooting them down though.
On one occasion however... he dropped some kind of explosive. I thought it was just another drone, but when I shot it with a finger bullet, it exploded in the sky and dropped pieces of the bomb everywhere.
"Jesus!" Miko yelled. Everyone was panicking, and Miko had some large covers. He attached them to the fences and tents, acting as a roof, so if an explosive was dropped, it would hit the covers and not us.
***
Jax had approached me. It had been a while since I'd seen him, especially after getting shot.
"Hey." he said, probably expecting me to be nice.
"What do you want?" I asked in a harsh tone.
"Just wanted to say I'm glad you made your way back... and I'm sorry." Jax said, which made me almost gasp.
"It's... alright... I guess." I said, looking away nervously.
With that, he walked away.
He certainly changed after all the stuff that happened. What caused this unlikely change?
***
(Jax)
I never really got along with Cal. I kind of thought of him as a loser, a nobody.
I thought of him that way because it's what I was and still am. I had no purpose. I was not wanted, nor was I needed by anyone.
My friends only stayed with me because I bullied. I bullied, because I was bullied. My parents never cared much for me either.
"You want to join the Pathogen Hunters? Go right ahead! Just make sure you don't come back! Go die on the field while on a mission! Die a nobody!" My father yelled.
My blond hair was long at the time, it covered my eyes as I cried slightly.
"What a disappointment. We thought you'd do greater than that. Whatever. Just go. Leave us alone for good this time." My mother said so cruelly.
To be honest, I wish I had died on that first mission. I wish they would have cried and cared, begged me not to join the Hunters.
But they didn't.
***
"Wait... Jax." I said.
He turned his head and looked back at me. Seemingly remembering a painful memory, as his eyes had begun watering.
"How come whenever we get breaks, you never visit your parents?" I asked, maybe a little insensitively.
"They don't want to see me anymore." He said, continuing to walk away.
I stared in his direction, feeling guilty for some reason. I may have lost my parents, but he has to live knowing they don't want to see him... that has to be worse... maybe.
***
I left the camp to go into the city by myself. That's where I saw Cressa.
"C-cressa?" I whimpered out. After all... she did... die... right?
Cressa turned her head to look at me and her blue eyes shone into my soul.
"Yes?" Cressa answered.
"How... are you... here?" I asked, staring wide-eyed.
"I didn't die. Did you think I died?! You guys left me when I went unconscious. In that tree. I thought you guys left me for dead. Did you guys think I died?" She asked, running up to me now.
"Y-yeah..." I said, cursing out Jian in my head for her horrible skills. How did she not hear a heartbeat...
"How come we don't see you at the camp?" I asked.
She grabbed my hands and giggled.
"I left. After almost dying, I realized there is much more to do." She said, beginning to walk away.
That was one part of my guilt going away. I'm glad she wasn't dead. I felt so bad.
***
Later that night while I was trying to sleep, I was interrupted by a quiet rustling sound. I peeked out of the tent and looked around a bit. Finally, I saw the thing moving around in a bush.
"Nyx?" I asked, walking up to her. I put my finger near her feet, and she jumped on my finger. I went back to the tent and placed her in a small cage, which wasn't designed for a bird, but I had bought it earlier that day in case I saw her again.
I just needed to find a birdcage now.
"Hey Cal." Kai said, causing me to jump in fear. I turned around quickly and calmed myself.
"Yeah?"
"What do you think is wrong with that Nato guy?"
"Maybe he's a weirdo or something. He's a creep." I remarked.
"Maybe... do you think we'll die?" he asked politely.
"No. I think we can take Nato down. He is apparently the President of Savito, which I just learned from a text from Imode earlier in the afternoon. He is under control of what he is doing." I said.
"What if we need to kill people to get him?" Kai asked.
"Well...then we have to do it and believe it's for a good reason." I said. Strange for a guy who couldn't kill the Man who killed his parents, or kill an enemy of war outside the gate. I'm so weak... I was weak.
No longer will I hesitate to take a life if it's a matter of life or death for me or my friends.
"Thank you. I'll try my hardest to... fight for everyone. To keep everyone safe." he said, turning over and going quiet.
I felt bad. Everyone must be so worried, and yet I was just stalling by thinking of other things.
I lay in bed, quietly running through possibilities in my mind before finally going to bed.
***
"Hey! Everyone up!" Insturctor Miko yelled. My watch vibrated and I looked it with my tired eyes.
"It is 6:01 AM." Was the first notification, the second was...
"A Pathogen has been detected. Take caution."
I looked around and around outside the tent, but there was nothing, nobody.
"Stupid thing." I said, hitting my misfunctioning watch.
"Cal!" I heard Kayla yell. She was holding two plates of food, she... looked really beautiful today. Her hair was brushed and pretty...
"Cal, don't keep Kayla waiting!" Markus said, patting me on the back as he snuck his way over to the breakfast area.
Right. I snapped out of my daze and approached Kayla. She handed me a plate and I began eating at a table. Byul was late, but arrived sooner rather than later.
We chatted for a bit, with them expressing their concern for today's mission.
"It's not a mission." A girl at another table said, staring down at her untouched plate of food.
"It's a war. That we have to fight in. We are Pathogen Hunters for god's sake... not some... soldiers!" She said, now holding her head.
"Calm down everyone." Instructor Miko said, calmer than ever before.
"We are needed in this battle because the military has decided to turn their backs on the President. Which might just start a Civil War in and of itself." He said.
"The cover provided there will keep you all safe and there is only small slits in the covers for you to shoot."
He passed out guns of all sorts, depending on the skill the person had shown throughout their time here.
"Shit... we're out." he said, reaching Byul. I looked at my gun and back to Byul.
"Here. I have my finger bullets." I said, handing him the gun.
Instructor Miko smiled and we all got our horses.
It was time to fight.
***
"Hey Cal, how are you feeling today?" Father asked me, holding my burning forehead.
"Dad..." I muttered, pointing to the ice-pack.
"Yes. Give me a moment." He states, standing up and reaching from the couch to the counter. He wraps a small towel around it and puts it on my forehead.
"I promise you it will be okay. When you feel better, I'll bring you some Ice Cream. Your favorite kind too!" He said. He kissed my forehead, his beard pricked my forehead a bit.
I smiled at the thought of Ice Cream... especially Sherbert Ice Cream... with such a hot summer ahead of us...
Why did I hate dad? I couldn't remember, but all I knew was that I hated him. It's not because he didn't protect mom... but is it because he... died? Why don't I hate mom then?
"How are you feeling today?" My dad asked.
Still, the same of course.
"The same..." I muttered, coughing up a storm.
"I see." he opens up a bottle of water and gives me some. He then puts his hand on my forehead once again.
I felt something slither under my skin and my dad stood up. He wiped some blood off of my forehead, but I couldn't get him to answer why blood was there in the first place.
I do know however, that within twenty minutes I was suddenly feeling better.
***
We had arrived. The memories I was regaining had blurred the whole journey to Savito.
Some people were already behind cover, so our large Pathogen Hunter squad joined them. I guess with over a hundred Pathogen Hunter Trainees, it'd be hard to learn all of their names.
I found a spot behind cover to aim through with my hand. I could see people in the distance, but they had yet to spot us.
A gunshot went off. It was from Jax, he now had his eyes closed and someone fell off of the edge, they were dead. The night breeze carried the smell of blood through the air to us.
I looked back and all the people on the ledge were now aiming at us. They began firing, hitting the cover, and missing the little slits.
I turned my head to look into the forest and could see a boy from their side, dressed in white and blue, the official Savito uniform.
I ran at him, hiding behind trees in case he decided to shoot.
Instead, he began running.
I chased behind him, finally tackling him deep into the forest. I aimed my hand to his head... ready to kill.
"Please! I mean no harm! I want to surrender! I don't want to die!" The boy screamed. He seemed to be the same age as me.
I tied his arms up and returned to cover. I tied him against the cover and told him to stay quiet or I'd kill him.
Did I mean it this time? I thought so.
Bullets were constantly hitting our cover, and Instructor Miko had an idea for us to try if we felt up to it. I volunteered, I wanted to try to end this quickly for some reason.
"Sneak through the forest and go to the left side since it is now clear of Savito Soldiers. Get inside and find Nato." He stated, continuing to shoot.
I did as he asked, and noticed the boy was following me.
"Hey! Get back there!" I yelled in a whispered tone.
"Wait! I need to give you this!" The boy said, falling to the ground with his tied up legs and hands. He turned on his side and saw a pistol sticking out of his belt.
He could have shot me before... but he didn't...
"Thanks." I said, forcefully pulling the gun out of it's holster.
***
Climbing the wall wasn't too hard since I used my nails, which sharpened when I touched the wall. It looked like my Pathogenic side knew what to do.
I climbed the wall and snuck inside, dodging and weaving through and past buildings was easy. I finally found the main building, or what looked to be the Town Hall of this town in Savito.
I entered and peered into many empty rooms. I eventually saw Nato at a table, eating some kind of meat in a bowl.
I crouched up to him, my heart beating heavily. I pulled the gun and placed it a mere meter away from the back of his head. I began shaking slightly, but I pulled the trigger. The bullet went through Nato's head and his head slammed onto the table. His bowl spilled, spilling blood everywhere, and a human eyeball rolled out of the bowl.
I felt sick and vomited for what I just did, but that wasn't the main problem.
Nato was convulsing. Shaking, spasming, whatever you want to call it. His body violently shook and he stood up. He turned to look at me, and his eyes were pure white, his eyes had rolled back. The bullet wound began to heal, and he charged at me. Tenticles had emerged from his back and wrapped around my chest, squeezing tightly.
"This is just a huge snafu isn't it!?" he said, his voice hollow and dark.
"You- Pathogen!" I got out before he threw me through the wall.
I flew through a house and landed on my stomach. I quickly clambered to my feet and climbed the wall. It seemed he was approaching quickly.
I ran back behind cover and alerted Instructor Miko.
"Nato's a Pathogen!" Instructor was as confused as me, and listened to my story. He took a note ad continued shooting.
I made my way over to the boy soldier I tied up and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.
"You could have told me he was a Pathogen!" I yelled, pointing to my wounds.
"He's a... what?!" the boy asked, and I could tell he wasn't lying about not knowing either.
"Damn it!" I yelled. Anger filled me in many ways. Our problem was now bigger, by tenfold.
Nato was making his way out of the base and toward us quite quickly. Everyone was shooting at him, and the soldiers on the wall were surprised. They still shot at us however.
With him getting closer with each passing second, Instructor had us get on our horses and flee.
***
Instructor was counting heads, everyone was still here, plus one of course.
"I want to help! Savito... it's falling apart! I need to stop my homeland!" the boy said.
"The only way to stop this war... is to kill their president. We need to infiltrate their base." Byul noted.
"I got this. Hey, you! Get changed and give me your uniform." I told the boy. He took off his hat and handed it to me. His brown hair looked just like mine, so it only made sense to switch places.
He gave me his uniform, with him switching into our camp's uniform.
I put his uniform on and read the name tag: "Taku Kuwahara"
I needed to get used to that name if I'm going to pretend to be him. Let's just hope Nato mistakes me for this "Taku".
Time to get back at that nasty pest. I just couldn't wait anymore for our attack.