After Atlas had helped Charlie bandage as many people as they could the squads then started to fortify their position in the woods, nobody besides Charlie said a word to Atlas but he didn't seem to mind the peace of mind he still held.
Atlas could have time to rethink about what happened today since the anger and drowsiness made his body take control over most of his actions. He thought about the Gyrun he had killed today and how they had family or a life back at their home and he killed them.
Atlas started to panic a little as he started to think about it more, he just killed some people, human beings that could've had a son or daughter who would be expecting them to come home and he ended their lives with the pill of a trigger.
As if sensing his panic Julie walked over to him with a sigh, he was leaning against a tree with a blank face. He was so engrossed into his thoughts that he hadn't realized someone was next to him.
"J-Julie, um… would you like me to leave or-" He started but Julie cut him off.
"Thank you for saving her, my cousin I mean. She's the only family I have left and I was so angry with the Gyrun that I threw my anger out on you" She admitted. Atlas was taken aback by this since he never expected Julie to act like this to him.
"Y-yeah, I just moved without thinking honestly. But I'm not so sure that I did the right thing killing those wounded soldiers" Atlas replied while facing the ground.
He felt Julie lay her arm around him and pull him in for a hug but the next thing that happened really threw him in for a surprise. Julie started to cry with her tears running down her face and landing on Atlas' shoulder.
"You did the right thing Atlas, those men are the enemy so don't forget that they will try anything to hurt you" She whispered. With all the adrenaline gone the Ghost Squad realized how tired they actually were, they all had decided to sleep for a few hours to gain back some strength that they would need later.
They all sat around the same tree trunk while drifting to sleep at last.
***************************************
The cool breeze of the late evening air blew through the forest, waking Atlas, he found that all his squadmates were gone and could smell smoke coming from a close location.
He grabbed his rifle and began to sneak into the location while thinking about where they went, as he slowly got closer the smell of food filled his nose making his mouth water.
He could finally see that his squad along with the Armor Squad had been cooking food for everyone, with a sigh of relief Atlas relaxed and stood up.
"Hey Atlas, what took you so long to wake up ey?" Charlie said when he finally noticed Atlas who was leaning on a tree while yawning.
"Sorry, I guess I didn't think about how much I didn't sleep until we did" He replied and began walking over to everyone, he received looks from the Armor Squad that was completely different then before.
He was nervous as everyone stared at him with admiration and respect, Atlas felt a little nervous as these soldiers who were keeping their distance and talking bad about him seemed to be wanting to get close to him.
"Are you ready for my very special mushroom stew?" Charlie asked with a prideful look, Atlas' stomach growled like it hasn't eaten in days making them all laugh.
"Guess I'll take that as a yes then ey" Charlie added and began pouring a bowl of the stew, once the bowl had been given over to the hungry Ghost Atlas had started to scarf the food down like it was his last meal.
With a happy grin on his face Atlas finally felt like this nightmare of a day was over, some soldiers had even begun to speak with him making his day even better.
***************************************
Atlas was told by Julie that he would have a night watch since the reinforcements would arrive in about three days after their call from this morning, the next would be Charlie's and finally Julie's with the help of the Armor Squad.
It was starting to get dark in the woods as everyone huddled up in a close area, the wounded would be kept closer to the tanks for better protection if anyone did come into the woods.
Atlas was leaning next to a tree with his rifle right next to him, the dimly lit forest made it hard to see anything far away. It was dark enough to scare any child who had heard about a scary story.
With a sigh Atlas pulled out his photo of his family, he missed them very much and hasn't received any word from them and now with this mission it seems like it could be his last time thinking about them.
A ruffle within the bushes not far from where he stood made Atlas become alert and quickly stash his photo and hold his rifle up with his finger on the trigger. The noise grew silent as Atlas waited for something to happen.
Just when Atlas was about to move a rabbit jumped out of the bushes making him jump, he quickly pulled the trigger out of instinct making the shot go through the rabbit's skull and it's head get blown off.
He relaxed after and heard someone run up from behind him, he quickly pulled his bolt back and waited until he saw who it was. A man wearing the Armor Squad uniform had his rifle out with fear in his eyes as if something terrible happened.
"I heard a shot go off, what happened?" He asked while looking around.
"A rabbit jumped out of the bushes making me jump, the body's right over there" Atlas replied and pointed to the headless animal.
"A rabbit, why the hell would you shoot an animal when we're behind enemy lines, if anyone else heard that shot then we could've been found and killed" The man roared at Atlas.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to, it just appeared out of nowhere. I swear that it was an accident" Atlas said with head down.
"Stupid Gyrun, you're going to get us all killed just by your stupidity" The man spat and walked off, Atlas looked down at the dead rabbit with a sigh.
'If only I wasn't half Gyrun then I could've been treated differently' Atlas thought to himself, he was feeling a bit anxious as the night grew darker.
The trees creaked as the wind howled through the forest, the animals would make noises and birds fell silent. Atlas felt a bit uneasy when he heard some tapping nearby, part of him tried to think that it was another animal but the other part wanted him to check it out.
With him choosing the latter he decided to walk into the forest and see where the noise came from, it was hard to see much of anything since the thick foliage blocked out most of the moon light.
He stopped when he was just mere feet away from the area, he scanned his surroundings to find nothing out of the ordinary. He still felt a pit in his stomach so he decided to investigate further.
Atlas looked at a tree and rubbed his hand on the bark, it had deep cuts in it that were used by either a knife or an axe. Just as he was about to turn around a knife was against his throat.
"Les mains en l'air, laisse tomber ton fusil et ne fais pas de bruit ou tu es mort" A man's rugged voice whispered, Atlas couldn't understand what the words meant but he knew what was expected of him to do.
"I can't understand you, but please don't do this" Atlas replied. He slowly lowered his gun and put his hands up into the air.
"So you weren't taught the enemy's tongue, well good thing I know yours" The man said, inching his face closer, Atlas' breath hitched as the knife was pulled to his skin.
"W-who are you?" Atlas asked and the man sighed.
"Fine, since you're about to die then let me tell you, Adrian Teppish. The commander of Inferno Squad in the GSP, also known as Gyrun Special Forces" The man replied.
Atlas almost choked on the air hearing his father's last name, his father had told his siblings that he was an only child in the Teppish family tree with no parents.
"What's wrong boy, accepting your fate already?" The man asked with a bit of malice in his tone.
"This can't be true, father said he was an only child, but does that mean he lied?" Atlas voiced his thoughts.
"What are you saying, final words? Please if you are then say something more heart felt" Adrian chuckled.
"Do you have a brother by the name of Arthur?" Atlas asked, the man flinched and his breathing seemed to spike.
"How do you know this, are you a spy or something?" Adrian asked while tightening his grip on the knife.
"N-no, I'm actually his son Atlas" He said quickly, the man froze and his grip on the knife loosened.
With a swift movement Atlas took the knife from the man and held it at his throat now facing the man, his blue eyes were matched with Atlas' purple orbs.
The man knew right away that Atlas wasn't lying, he didn't move but only stood there. Atlas didn't bother to move either since he was full of fear, he felt like he was about to drop to his knees with his legs going weak.
"My nephew is with the FAF huh" The man said as if he still couldn't grasp the idea that Atlas was his nephew.
He looked at his patch on Atlas' shoulder that read *Ghost Squad*, with that he chuckled and his eyes started to tear up.
"And in the squad that rivals mine at that too" Adrian added, Atlas was confused since he couldn't understand the tears or why this man was acting like this to his enemy.
"W-what are you saying old man?" Atlas asked Adrian, with a good look he could now see this man had white hair growing within the locks of brown. He had a similar facial structure to that of his fathers but his eyes and build were different.
Adrian was bulkier and had blue eyes as his father had purple eyes and a slim structure like Atlas, this man was well into his late 40s or early 50s judging by his voice and looks.
"So is Arthur really alive, did he make it out to Fendel?" Adrian questioned Atlas who was now confused.
"Y-yeah, father is in Fendel with my siblings and mother, why?" Atlas asked, the noise of someone whistling made him flinch.
"Sorry I need to get going, my squad was about to attack you all but I've changed my mind since I found out I have a nephew" Adrian said, before Atlas could ask any more questions Adrian ran off into the woods with a slight smile on his face as if a part of him was just put back together.
Atlas fell to his knees with deep breaths once Adrian was out of sight, his knife was still in Atlas' hands. He quickly took his rifle and continued to watch for more enemies since he could tell that these men were similar to his from his newly found uncle's words.
The night flew by quickly as many thoughts ran through Atlas' mind, he wondered what would happen then once he got home and had to think about this new piece of information.
With that Atlas had worn himself out when morning rolled by making him finally sleep quietly for the day.