***Warning - Chapter contains blood, physical violence and topics of war as well as PTSD
Kenneth was glad she had a bed she could finally lie on. She was surprised to know that accommodations were already provided for all the new recruits. This just went to show how prestigious the academy truly was.
Laying on the big bed in her hotel room, she closed her eyes recounting everything that had happened to her since coming to this new world. She still didn't know why she was here or how she even got here.
Kenneth could barely remember what happened to her in her own world before coming to Caüs. She knew that there was probably no way back to Hagar or to the America's so she could only resign herself to her fate. Closing her eyes, she fell into a deep sleep.
She could feel the smell of smoke and gunfire entering her lungs every time she attempted to exhale. The sound of explosions echoed in her ears and despite not being able to hear properly, she could still make out the screams of people getting caught in the crossfires. She instantly knew she was back on the field, witnessing another political dispute between allies of the America's and their enemies.
Kenneth could feel the heavy weight of her uniform on her back, her fingers gripping her rifle tightly and the adrenaline pumping through her body. Looking around her, she could see her colleagues retreating to their posts as well as the personnel recovery on standby, waiting for their commander to give them their orders.
Kenneth was back in Hagar on another special reconnaissance mission. Her memories of that day were finally coming back to her. They were currently operating behind enemy lines and weren't suppose to engage in direct combat unless absolutely necessary. She remembered that during this time, she had been reassigned to the special reconnaissance unit, which surprised her because she had always been a soldier who fought on the front lines.
It took her awhile to get used to this more 'covert' way of fighting but since she had been specially recommended by her boss, she wanted to make a good impression.
Their current mission was to prevent a terrorist attack through surveillance. They were ordered not to engage with the enemy, but something happened that day, that caused her to have to use her firearm. A child no older than three was standing in the middle of the field scared out of their mind.
It was quite obvious the enemy was holding this child hostage and using him as a way to get them to stand down. Unfortunately while trying to give the child safe passage, a soldier went off on his own trying to use this to their advantage and strike at the enemy while they also had their guard down.
The American soldier greatly miscalculated because the enemy line had the same idea. Kenneth saw from the corner of her eye, a shot being fired at her colleague. Trying to save his life she also pointed her firearm at him but apparently this was merely a distraction because the next thing they saw was a nuke coming straight at them.
It was too late, no one could move and her unit had been wiped out. Still feeling the aftershock, Kenneth could hear the ringing in her ears, it felt like they were going to explode.
Looking around she saw all her fellow soldiers torn to pieces, completely unrecognisable. Looking down at her legs, she saw that both limbs had been blown off and a piece of debris was lodged into her left side. She knew in that moment that she didn't have a lot of time left in this world. She saw in the corner of her eye near the enemy line that the child was safe and she breathed a sigh of relief.
Looking up at the sky gray with smoke and gunpowder, she only had one thought in mind. She wanted to keep fighting. Kenneth was never afraid of death as it had been a constant in her turbulent life from the moment she could form a coherent thought.
She was a soldier that came face to face with life and death everyday and every time she walked on the field she knew her last breath could follow. What kept her alive however wasn't the fear of having to die. No, what kept her alive was being able to experience the thrill of having to fight another day.
She signed regrettably, coughing up a mouthful of blood. She probably had a couple minutes left to live as she knew she was slowly losing blood and her body was shutting down due to hemorrhagic shock.
Kenneth knew that by the time the para rescue team would arrive on scene, it would be too late.
She didn't want this to be the end. Kenneth didn't really believe in God. She always thought that if there truly was a God, then someone like her wouldn't be allowed to exist. All the pain and suffering she had to endure was evidence that she was being slighted by the universe. Maybe he was finally coming to his senses and decided it was time for her to go. She had suffered enough.
But something in her made her want to believe in God or any God for that matter just for a couple seconds.
"G-god, i-if you're out there, p-please send m-me to a p-place…where I can f-fight. W-where I-I…c-can use…my s-skills…f-for good." She managed to wheeze out one last prayer before closing her eyes and exhaling for the last time.
Kenneth jolted awake drenched in sweat. She was sweating profusely and her body felt cold to the touch.
Thinking back on her dream—no more like recovered memories put a bad taste in her mouth. Having to recall how she went out wasn't a pleasant experience.
She could still feel the pain on her legs and sides unconsciously attempting to move her legs. It was like those cases where people had their limbs amputated but could still feel their missing limbs even after years of not having them.
It was a strange and indescribable feeling. Kenneth took a couple deep breaths in order to calm herself down. Looking at the holographic clock on the wall, it was only 6 AM. She still had three hours before departure time so she decided to take this moment to workout and do some callisthenics to regain her strength.
She thought starting out with weights on a body that wasn't used to muscle training would be too much. She would slowly train this body in order to gain back the body she used to have.
Since the hotel room was quite spacious, she had enough room to do her stretches and do some light exercises.
Kenneth spent one hour doing that and decided to take a shower, get dressed and fuel up. By the time she was done, it was already 8:30 and since she didn't want to be late, she decided to make her way towards the square after checking out.
She could still feel some lingering resentment after remembering her past life and the moment of her death. But since God had answered her prayers and sent her to a world where she could fight once again, she decided to put all her lingering attachments to the side and focus on living this brand new life she had been given.
She grew excited at the thought of going to school since she didn't have the chance to attend a proper institution in her past life.
Thinking about learning new fighting techniques fuelled her desires even more.
This is going to be fun, she thought.