-27-Sord stopped walking just as a carriage passed in front of him. He scowled as the driver - who was looking at him all sorry with his cap off - stared at him. Sord swung his hand in the air.The sun was out and the streets were littered with people as always. The northern part of the barricade was as polluted with people as the southern part, if not more.At the very least the southern part was more tolerable for Sord. Here, he caught wafts of some foreign scent - which he smelled since the first day - which made him want to puke.Sord barely held it together on his way to the infirmaries. He had no doubts he was scowling as he walked.In front of him were a cluster of tents dyed in a colour that reminded him of milk gone bad. They were the infirmaries, as were the buildings behind where the tents ended.All the sick and wounded and people with problems were treated in these tents, and those they couldn't were treated in the buildings behind. And those they couldn't treat there, well, that was none of Sord's business.He parted the curtain of the nearest tent and peered inside. His target wasn't inside, so he went to another tent and did the same.He repeated until he went to a tent where he found his target. Lain on a bed with his face covered in cloth, but Sord didn't miss the belly or the bandage on his leg. Nor the hairy arms or what the cloth covered.He entered the tent and walked to his target. The repugnant smell inside the tent was apparent as he neared his target. It was passable, no worse than the sewers.Sord removed the cloth and glared at the face it covered."Get up, dumbass. Could tell you're pretending with my eyes closed." Sord said as Elk opened his eyes. His dark brown hair now reached his shoulders, his stubble now a messy beard linked with his moustache. He stared at Sord with his grey eyes as he lay on the bed."Checkin' in on your pal head rat? Nice to know you still care." Elk replied as he lay on the bed."I said get up. I ain't speaking to you if I have to peer down to see your face.""Well, sorry 'bout that but nurse's orders. I twisted my back and I'm to not get up.""Really? Twisted your back? You with the broken leg?" Sord looked at the bandages of Elk's left foot which extended up beneath his pale pants."How about we check if it still hurts? I'll start with the leg." Sord rose as he reached for the Elk's leg.Elk quickly sat atop the bed and shielded his leg with his arms. Sort sat down on the bed next to him."Twisted your back, dumbass?" Sord said."Well, didn't twist it but the nurse said I should take it easy." Elk replied. He had a grin on his face as he spoke to Sord."How 'bout your shoulder? That fine?" Sord asked."No problems with this," Elk replied as he swung his left arm around, "Just the leg. Oh, and my back."For a patient, the dumbass sure was lively and loud. It's a wonder they haven't kicked him out yet."Now, what're you here for Sord? You ain't visited since that first time. And that was weeks ago." Elk said.Sord didn't want to be here this time either. The smell being slightly more bearable meant it still sucked."It's about the kid, Elk. He's spiralling, spiralling bad. You gotta talk with him." Sord said."Kind of much to ask someone with a broken leg when the kid ain't even been here once." Elk replied.Some weeks past, a burning piece of bark had burst through a tower where the two idiots kept watch. It toppled parts of the tower and brought Elk down with it. The dumbass said he'd pushed Mark away right before he fell.By all means the sun-blessed idiot should be dead and not just limping. Or he should be limping to his death at the very least.How did he survive? The dumbass said he had a rope coil on him that he held as he fell, and felt the rope pull taut. That paused his fall for a moment, then he fell again as it slackened.He landed on the ground and ended up with a broken leg and not a broken head. The lucky fool.As for how the rope saved him, Sord grilled it out of Mark and connected the dots.Mark said he tried to grab something as he was suddenly pushed, so he must've grabbed the rope with its hook. The hook was lodged in the stone for a moment as Elk fell and then got dragged off after.Seriously lucky dumbass."The kid stopped guard duty. Haven't even seen him out at night since." Sord continued, "And there's the crazy things he's been up to. He joined the fools picking grass and the friggin sappers."At night Mark would just sleep in his bed at their unit tent. Then join the grass pickers or the sappers the next day. Though it seemed he was doing something else now. Hopefully something less dumb.Elk shivered when he heard what Sord said."He's hanging out with both? Both!?" Elk shook his head, "What the heck has that kid been up to!?"Sord understood Elk's reaction. It was barricade know-how to stay away from the two. One went to the most glaring red zone in the area every day, while the other was full of lunatics."Isn't Finnit still bedridden from their explosives?" Elk asked."He is." Sord replied. Though it was Finnit's fault for falling in the ditch. The explosion just plastered him in mud and dirt."Speak with the kid, Elk. I'm no good with crap like this." Sord said, "You've been skirting him too. Don't bother lying about it. I know you've been wandering with a stick."As Sord was returning from his patrol one night, a figure trudging along the path caught his eye. It was a certain dumbass walking with a stick on one hand, returning from who-knows-where to the infirmary."Shhh! Keep it down!" Elk whispered as he curved his back and lowered his head, "If the nurse hears you I'm dead."And what did Sord care? Not like he was the one who'd suffer."If you can walk, you can find him. If you can find him, you can speak with him." Sord said."I can't do that Sord." Elk shook his head,"It's not that I don't want to. I can't."Elk remained silent as he stared at the ground."Well, go on." Sord said.Elk turned to Sord and continued."Whatever I say or do, nothing will work so long as I'm me. Think about it," Elk continued, "He sees me now, what does he do?"Sord eyed Elk up and down and thought for a moment, then responded,"Blame himself, probably."A sentiment Sord would never share, not for a dumbass like Elk."Right," Elk nodded, "Nothing I say will get through his head. He sees me and that night pops back in his mind. It's best we don't meet."Sord hated that he agreed with the dumbass on this one."But do tell 'im I'm wilding here. Can't have him thinking I'm on death's door." Elk added."I'll do that," Sord nodded, "Then what else? Leave him on his own?""What else can we do? We ain't cut for things like this Sord," Elk sighed, "Well, I guess you can get 'im other 'spectives or 'pinions. Maybe send 'im to many groups if ya' can. Who knows, the kid may meet people who can help 'im more than us.""Fine then. I'll do that as well." Sord replied. So long as it kept Mark from losing his head or out of trouble, then he'd take his chances."What 'bout you then?" Sord asked,"When you returning?"Sord had a mind to drag the dumbass back right now but handling a lame Elk was a hassle."Nurse said I'll need a few weeks more to heal. So I'll be staying a few weeks more." Elk smirked at Sord.Just who was that nurse? Sord had to find out somehow."I'm leaving." Sord stood up to leave."You gotta visit more often. And bring the kid with you when you do!" Sord shouted."We just agreed to split you two up dumbass." Sord shook his head.If Sord didn't need to be here then he wouldn't. If the dumbass was fine alone then he would be alone.If he could, Sord would spend his days in the southern side of the city. But a volunteer was a volunteer. He had to work and get paid.He turned and left the tent.