"Can you walk properly?" Before going outside, Sionnach asked him.
"I can walk, but run and fight are out of the question."
"Yeah, I know this at least. And don't worry, if I were willing to run around carelessly I would bring someone less wounded with me."
Casper was starting to think that these masks were really a hassle. He could not read the expressions and emotions of anyone because of that barrier. The least he could do was to inspect someone's eyes and gamble what was going on inside their heads just with this little information.
What made him think of it just then, was the fact that he wanted to have an idea of how honest Nach was being.
She said that Casper was there just because it was convenient for her, and acted as if there were more options despite him. But was that really the case? Or was that woman needing specifically his help? If that was how it was, then for what reason?
"She is a trained soldier just like me. I am certain that she would make her way towards that Energy tower alone if she wanted to, even though her weapons are worthless now."
Casper thought in state his thoughts, but it was advantageous anyways. It was better to pretend to be unaware of this and play her game. Certainly, some opportunities to turn the table would come.
"Stop rambling and keep quiet." She sighed, suddenly coming close to him. "I was intending to bring you in this state until the tower, but you would get in the way being so hurt."
"Yes. It's more practical."
She took out the pot containing the oil she had used before, smearing her palms with a small amount.
"This much will do just for the most serious wounds. Choose some of the most debilitating and I will apply the medicine."
"You are unwilling to apply in all of them, right?"
"Yes. It would be a waste of time and resources. Besides, these wounds are an advantage for me too, if you got too daring."
Casper was expecting this much coldness and rudeness from her, so he did not get pissed off. Besides, he would do the same in her place, probably…
"Or not. I mean, if it was a beautiful woman, I wouldn't mind spending the entire pot…"
He pointed at his back, the most hurt of all, and a huge wound on his leg, that he even did not know the cause.
"My pain on the back is muscular, or maybe a fracture on the spine. Does this oil treat these types of injuries?"
"Don't worry. And shut up."
She started to apply the medicine quickly, after demanding Casper to wash his wounds himself with some water, to avoid dirt.
The oil burnt his skin at the same moment it touched. The pain was so strong that he screamed. Nach needed to yell at him to take something to bite and hold the scream.
The feeling would be the same if someone had splashed lava on his back and leg. He was biting his own arm because could not think of anything better while in so much pain. Casper's bite was so strong, that his teeth slashed the arm's skin.
It was a miserable and pitiful scene.
The torture remained for minutes but looked like hours.
When they finished, Casper was breathing heavily and his eyes were empty as if he had fainted.
Indeed, he had fainted a few times, but at that point, he was just aloof, because of the huge amount of adrenaline and endorphin his body produced to soften the pain.
"H-how… you applied… in yourself…?" He could not state correctly.
"You mean, without apparent pain? Well, you get used to it, and this oil is useful enough to make someone bear the pain with their mouth shut."
She was right. Despite the suffering, the oil provided immediate effects. The pain in the back was lessened by way more than a half, and even the wound on the leg closed significantly.
"Someone… could be invincible… with it…" Little by little, the soldier was coming back, with his breath more steady.
"Not at all. There are limits." But she did not explain what limits.
As always, Casper needed to discover by himself. Which was something he kind of did already.
When she was applying the oil, she also focused on the worst wounds, even though the pot was still filled with the medicine.
"Maybe it's an effect similar to have an overdose when you use huge amounts of medicine. This oil is very strong and effective, so probably the body can't handle more than that. Besides, there are its possible side effects…"
However, it was just a guess. Casper was aware of his ignorance of that world, and that a lot of principles and rules of his own could sometimes not apply the same way.
"Ok, let's get going. Every second is precious and the gunshots didn't even decrease until now."
Of course, those gunshots were coming from the civilians - or Ridire who had stolen their weapons - since they are monopolizing the useful weapons now.
"What's the plan, then?"
"First of all, we need to sneak until the building complex of the corporation responsible for the energy supply of the city. The Energy tower will be at the center of this complex.
"The rest I tell you later. Now, we must focus on how to get there." She pointed at a huge metallic tower located some blocks away from where they were. Casper thought that it looked very similar to the Eiffel Tower.
"That's the Energy tower, huh?"
"As I said, no run. We need to be stealthy. Gather the citizen's attention until there will just lead us more troubles when we need to enter the building complex."
"Sure. I think we can do it circling all this area in the middle."
"Why?"
"It's difficult to keep a spreading formation in a Battlefield forever, and it's inefficient. Since the citizens were starting to push the Ridire, they probably started to advance even more, pressing forward, and leaving the borders of this region free."
Sionnach did not bother to question him more. She noticed that Casper knew what he was doing, and that plan made sense. Even she realized that the battle noises became more centralized than spread across the midwest region.
"Okay, fine. It will take more time though, but this way we can go on a faster pace without being noticed." She nodded in agreement.
Then, instead of going straight to the Energy tower, they decided to circle some blocks around it.
But it was not so easy as they thought, due to the psychological pressure.
Just two individuals walking on an empty and silent street plunged into darkness, was not a good experience to deal with. Besides, there was always the possibility of an enemy to come, even if the odds were very low.
Their breaths could be heard, and they were strangely heavy. They started to walk there with fast and firm steps, but after some time, both were nearly walking on the tips of their toes, avoiding as much as they could to do any noise.
The sound of the guns firing a considerable distance away sent chills down their spines every time. With the quietude, the shoots seemed to be right next to their ears.
"You heard?" Casper economized in his words.
"Maybe."
Cold sweat was going down his back, making him tremble. Casper barely blinked and kept looking around him like he was trying to find a ghost.
"They're pranking with us." Nach muttered, licking her dry lips. She also was sweating all over.
Despite those effects, both seemed as composed as possible. If they faltered for even a single second, if their weaknesses and worries got exposed clearly, it would mean their death.
"Calm down. We don't know if there is someone indeed."
She reached her hand to her waist, touching the pistol at first, but then reconsidering and changing to the grip of her machete. She did it so discretely, that even Casper who was right behind her could barely notice.
They walked for twenty minutes under this same pressure.
Sometimes, they thought to hear a laugh, or something scraping the ground. Footsteps were also noticed, and a figure would appear in sight but vanish in the night.
Every time they heard a strange sound, they would change ways, but always aiming at the tower. They were almost there, but with those detours, it took more longer.
"What she said was right…" Casper thought. "They are playing with us… Bastard."
"Damn it…" Nach cursed, seeming astonished.
When Casper looked in front, to where they were walking, he gulped. It was a dead-end street.
"Turn around! They will arrive from behind! Take a cover!" Casper was heading to a car stopped by the street, trying to hide. It was a basic protocol since he was unarmed and he did not know if the enemy was wielding a gun.
"No, wait!!" Sionnach, with surreal agility, leaped in front of Casper, drawing her machete and defending a powerful attack aimed towards him. She was wielding the machete with her right hand, but the left was pressing her wrist to not let it break or falter.
With her waist, she pushed Casper away.
The soldier was shocked enough to stumble with that simple push and nearly fell to the ground.
"Where did that guy come from? That construction in front? But it's huge, there is no way someone could jump from there!"
The Ridire woman would not handle locking blades with the person for much more time, she was almost kneeling.
Casper did not waste any more time and rushed forward. He closed in, avoiding a punch that the person aimed at his face with his free hand. When close enough, he aimed a kick upwards, hitting the arm of the attacker and sending it flying.
Sionnach, now liberated, followed with a diagonal slash with her machete. But it missed, the person jumped backward dodging by a hair.
They regrouped, facing their attacker.
It was a huge man, with large shoulders and a strong imposing aura. He had the eyes of a murderer, a maniac, a person who killed many, and was willing to kill some more right now. He wore a black cape, that hid his body until just before his knees.
He had a disturbing grin on his face, and his eyes were lit with an evil determination behind them.
The thing that most startled Casper though, was the fact that just half of his face was covered with the mask.
They could not decide if the man was a demon or just crazy.
He once again took one of his arms out of the cover. The right arm seemed common until you take a good look. His whole arm, shoulder to the tip of the fingers, was substituted for a prosthesis. It was made of dark and sturdy material, that seemed like black steel. In his hands, a weapon big enough to be considered a short sword at least.
Casper had seen that kind of person before. There were always some of them. The kind of individual who would kill for fun, instead of duty or necessity. The kind of person that breathed battles and violence, lived fed by suffering, and dyed their worlds with the bright crimson of blood.
Sionnach and Casper exchanged glances for less than a second, deciding on what to do.
"You run." She stated something that Casper would never expect.
A lot of thoughts passed through his mind. Plenty of words of refuse, questions, and exasperation. But he was a soldier. He did not have the time to argue on this kind of thing. It was not time to be a sentimental human, he needed to be a heartless warrior, although he hated it the most.
Seeing that he did not reply, and just stood still in the same place, Nach seemed relieved and explained quickly.
"I don't know how, but in that little exchange of blows, he cut my thigh. I can't accompany you like this, he will catch me anyway. You, go to the tower, and never look back. I will be a bit late, but soon I will catch up with you again." Her eyes were most confident.
Casper nodded, turning his back and starting to run. He did not hesitate. Anyways, she was not an important person to him, so he did not care if she died - or, at least, he tried to believe so. But she was a convenient tool, and it would be a hassle if something happened - or, at least, he was convincing himself to think like this.
In the end, Casper was more human than he would show or admit.
Sionnach stood in front of the man, looking at him with enraged eyes. She took a glance at the device she was wearing on her left wrist, clicking her tongue, and then staring at the enemy again.
"Frelsi…" She snarled.
"Ridire, I presume?" The man said his first words since the encounter.
The two began to walk slowly forward. Then, with a pace each time faster.
Both gave a war cry and the sound of their blades locking was the louder that echoed on the streets of the midwest that night