Can't say goodbye to yesterday - Done by Garrand
Shivering with tears upon my face, I lay in my bunk in the back of the tavern in togetheart. I'd lived here since the days after the raid, memories of which had me in my current state. It was roughly noon and most townsfolk had received their food rations and left. A nightmare of the years I'd passed struck around midnight yesterday just as it had for weeks. My dwellings consisted of a herb pantry filled with your standard food products with a particularly heavy garlic scent. My bed was a bag of flour and I required no blanket. It was a simple, if not moderately cruel living space. The city refused me the right to a proper housing installment like the rest of us had for my past aggressions. The aggressions in question was being in the Radosian raid army seven years ago. I was a conscript in the 85th Corsocoast motor rifles. Nowadays, I serve the city of Togetheart as an outward intelligence agent for the local security forces. All in the name of avenging the victim of the other aggression, the murder of a civilian Lucario by the name of Mia, which was pinned on me during the aftermath. Looking around the room calmed my body and the violent spasms began to halt. Luckily my screaming ended an hour ago. Hell, my screaming might be why the people ate so fast. They likely eyed up my door and ran fearing the worst. however, my thoughts were interrupted by my door opening which cast light in the otherwise dark room. A feminine voice projected itself directly into my head leading me to recognize the person before my eyes could adjust.
"Are you okay, hon?" she asked, "You were getting kind of loud. I got worried, Kohl."
"Don't worry about me Rosemary, I'll get over it," I replied.
"You've been telling me that for years, Kohl. I just wish you'd tell me why. I-is it the raid?" I remained silent. Her answer was correct but I didn't want to tell her. I had been living in her tavern's pantry for six years yet never told her. Knowing psychics, however, she likely received my confirmation straight from my head.
"That is correct." Rosemary confirmed before approaching me. In response, I turned on my other side to not face her. I didn't think I could, "Kohl… please tell me?"
"What do you need to know?"
"Seven years ago… what happened?"
"We met on the battlefield. I was doing my job… until I wasn't."
"You saved my life," she laughed out before laying down behind me and hugging me from behind, "I'd be dead if you weren't around! You're my hero, you know that?"
"I'm no hero, Rose. I never was. I'm just a rusting cog in the machine." She began to hug tighter. I wasn't really into pokemon in any romantic regard. If it were anyone else I would have thrown them off me. Rose, however, was a special case. I knew she was aware I wasn't interested. She never came off as flirtatious towards me despite the knowledge that she did, in fact, have a thing for me. I guess she likes dead men. She scoffed loudly.
"Sorry Rose, I forgot you don't like it when I talk that kind of dirty." I chuckled.
"Beyond that, though. what did they do to you in the raid? Please I-I need to know. I just want to comfort you, Kohl."
"I can't talk about it."
"Well, I could just go through your memories, if you don't mind, of course." for a moment I wrote this off as stupid but was quickly met with a euphoric high, likely induced by the vixen holding me. She giggled lightly as I realized this and I concluded that the idea wasn't too bad. By all means, I knew she was listening. Sure enough, I felt her move one hand up to my head and a gentle pulse beaming against me. Before I knew it, everything faded to black.
Seven Years Ago
It was a gentle and bright afternoon. Not too different from the average autumn day in Rados. The smell of burning diesel and cigarette smoke hung above the truck convoy I was riding in. we were Heading to some backwater shithole called Togetheart. It would seem that they were pokephiliacs. There was nothing wrong with this, of course, but opinions like that might have you executed by your friendly neighborhood morale officer. Speaking of whom, the morale officer for the combat sector was posted up behind a wall we stopped in front of. Our web gear shook and made metallic clanging noises. Our steel helmets with brown cloth covers shook causing me and a few other men to reach up and adjust our visors. Dust from the dirt road we were using kicked up hard, causing a neat, concealing veil.
"Dismount You stupid Fucks," the officer screamed, "Gunner, rip the dephiling pieces of shit up with the MG!" as if on cue, the truck's front machine gun screeched to life. In a matter of seconds, my entire squad dismounted the truck and stacked up behind the officer. "Well, none of you are dead… yet. We've been losing too many around here and we haven't made ground on the damn square since six in the morning!" looking around, I saw about twenty other trucks completing an identical maneuver to what my squad had pulled. Throughout the town ahead, bodies of man and pokemon alike were sprawled out in different states of dismemberment. Some men took cover in front of a fountain in the square with two riflemen covering their flanks. A wounded Arcanine with a red cross on its side cried while sniffing the corpse of a medic. To the right were two gaps where the buildings broke up. Most buildings had holes in them from the preliminary rocket barrage. The morale officer looked to his watch while some of my squadmates lit smokes and passed around cartons and lighters. One man put a carton in front of me but I waved him off.
"I don't smoke," I said. The man smiled wide and chuckled. The morale officer reached down and drew his revolver.
"It is time to take this god damn square you fucking degenerates! The treacherous bastards must die for our Radosian earth! Load rifles… NOW!" the officer shouted. As instructed, we each pulled a magazine from our pouches and lined up the magazine's front tab with the rifle's magazine well before rocking back the magazine and chambering a round. The officer grinned before reaching for the whistle on his chest. Taking a deep breath in, he blows a horrid screech from his old, slightly rusted whistle which, in all reality, was probably used in the last war Rados was in. "GO GO GO! EXECUTE YOU FUCKING MORONS," he shouted. instantly, a few men ran around the wall and began pressing toward the square. I did the same. While passing his shouting became louder. "THE FUCK ARE YOU STANDING THERE FOR?! MOVE! COME ON, LET'S GO!". As I ran towards the first low wall in front of me, the loud noises of battle intensified with more automatic rifle fire. To my left, a man kicked in a door and his Houndoom sprayed a stream of fire through the entire building that leaked through the windows of the upper floors. I dove to the low wall to avoid a Charizard making a strafe and looked back. The flying tank flew too far and was pelted by .50 calibre gunfire and twenty-millimeter autocannons. The man who offered me a smoke quickly approached the wall behind me but a stray round punched a clean hole in his helmet which leaked blood profusely. He fell forward and struck the wall hard. His stare was blank and directionless.
"KYLE! SHIT!" I screamed as I began reaching for medical equipment before the type and area of wound set in. knowing no better option, I got up and pressed forwards towards a blown-out and burning tank. On the way, my leg got caught on a piece of rubble which threw me to the ground. An intense fear built up as I desperately tried to get my foot free. Everything seemed to slow down as I looked around the rubble-filled and mostly destroyed plaza. Two men were engaged in hand to hand. A Radosian federal was pummeling an Absol with a brick. The burned building on my left began pouring smoke along with men and pokemon from both sides jumping out of the windows. Most were completely on fire. The rubble began to move and I looked down. It was the morale officer.
"PRIVATE BERGMANN! YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO FUCKING DIE HERE YOU COWARD! MOVE!" he shouted while pulling me up and shoving me towards a second low wall with a bit taken off the top for a nice shooting position. I ran as fast as I could before reaching the wall and set my gun in the hole to watch an alley. I could see a shoe peeking around a corner in the second gap between buildings. A man ran in front of me from behind which startled me, causing my vision to blur. In that blur, I saw figures that were not olive in color leaving the wall. Following my training, I squeezed off two bursts of four to five rounds and one figure collapsed on the spot. The second fell behind it and began screaming and crying loudly.
"What have you done to my Husband?!" the second blur cried out.
My first kill on the enemy. When my eyes focused, however, I was met with a horrible sight. A Lucario was crying on the torso of a man. The man in question, however, was carrying no gun and wore no gear. I had just shot an unarmed civilian. I immediately lowered my rifle and put a hand to my head.
"Oh… oh god. F-Fuck, man. I-I just killed a man. What have I done…" I wept to myself. I felt a hand grasp my gear and A voice bellow to my ear,
"YOU DUMBASS! WHY ARE YOU EXPOSING YOURSE-". A wet feeling encroached on my face and I lifted a hand to it. Upon pulling my hand down, it was red. I looked behind me and saw the morale officer flailing on the ground with a red froth erupting from his throat. Peeking back into the hole, I noticed the Lucario was still there. Gathering my courage, I vaulted the wall and sprinted toward the weeping pokemon. Nothing stopped me and before I knew it, I grabbed her and pulled her to a blown-out wall along with the human I'd shot. I began trying to bandage his wounds as his jackal began wailing into my arm. For about five minutes, I continued this process before a small ball rolled next to me. Just a moment's look and I knew immediately what was going on. I grabbed the Lucario and pulled her over the wall and dove after her.
"GRENADE!" I shouted. The blast was loud and snappy. Pieces of shrapnel slammed all around us. The man was dead, there was no doubt in my mind. The Lucario jolted and fell unconscious. She was still breathing, however. Once again, I had no choice but to complete the mission. After leaning the Lucario against the wall, I grabbed my rifle and continued moving into the area it came from. It was a tight alley with a door at the end. Looking around the brick walls, I saw no windows, holes, or alleys and proceeded faster. Reaching the door, a gentle whimper emanated from beyond. I took a deep breath and gently opened the door. An overturned table caught my eye, yet the whimper was from elsewhere. Books were scattered about and pots were haphazardly thrown about. A sweet aroma wafted from a liquid on the floor. Suddenly a voice rang in my head
"Help me, please! Somebody, anybody! I know someone is here. M-my bookcase! I'm trapped under my bookcase!" It beckoned. It was a gentle voice, quite shaky. The voice of a civilian. I moved through a door at the end of the room and saw the legs of a Delphox who was indeed trapped under a bookcase.
"I gotcha! Just give me a second." I assured. The bookcase seemed relatively light. A grabbed the front and pulled it over my back before reaching under and grabbing what I could. However, it struck my hand.
"Not there you pervert!" she cried.
"My apologies… I uhh can't see well under here," I gently replied, reaching under once more, "Just grab my hand." I instructed. As instructed, she grabbed my hand, and with little effort, I pulled her out. I smiled reassuringly but was interrupted by a burst of fire sounding off nearby. Now alert, I stood up and moved towards a window atop a small staircase about eight meters ahead of me, scattering tattered paper and coffee mug shards along the way. My boots were loud, and the distinctive noise of hobnail boots against wood rang out. The window was shattered, its glass was scattered all over the stairs. With my rifle up, I peered through the window and say clearly a machine gun team. As trained, I squeezed the trigger. Around eighteen shots rang out before my rifle stopped due to a lack of ammunition. The Delphox began screaming and crying wildly. The three men who manned the gun were dead. Their bodies collapsed on the tripod mount and each other, and my eyes, met with horrified, shocked faces contorted to agony. A small blur in the corner of my field of vision caught my attention along with the rocket-propelled explosive it had sent my way. I attempted to get away, but the rocket struck the wall. The explosion threw me against the wall behind me and I rolled down the stairs. Ending on my back, the Delphox crawled to me with whimpers as glass shards cut her arms. Getting to my side, she held me tightly and cried into my chest. In return, I coughed and wheezed. I could feel myself losing consciousness. The last thing I saw was the face of the Delphox, completely mortified.
Later…
I woke up in the familiar house I'd been hit in, now with an extra-large window. Unfortunately, a far smaller window's worth of glass was on the floor. The floor was wet due to the rain pouring into the building through the hole. I struggled to get up, every part of my body ached intensely and I felt extremely weak. I began to walk out of the house but the Delphox was leaning against the bookshelf, covered in cuts. She would die if left there. I won't be responsible for two dead civilians. I approached slowly, she was awake and staring at me with a faint smile.
"Y-you are well? I was so worried, sir." she gasped,
"I'm fine. Nothing like a bomb to get the blood flowing. You, on the other hand, need help." I affirmed.
"The guard s-set up a h-hospital to t-the n-n-north. I-in tent by a pokemart," she said, "D-do you have a n-name? Mine is R-Rosemary." she coughed out.
"Kohl, my name is Kohl. We need to get you to that hospital." I informed. With this said, I walked to her and picked her up. She wrapped her arms around my neck and legs around my waist. She was oddly light for someone above 5 feet in height. Slowly, we left the house and were met with the pouring, cold rain. I struggled down the alley before A small jingle played over an intercom.
"Hello everyone! We are happy to report that the invaders have been repelled thanks to our wonderful guardsmen, and togetheart has retaken all sectors lost this month! A search party is looking for any people hurt in the fighting. Do not be afraid to let them know if you're hurt. Glory to our home, Glory to our unified city!" It cheerfully chirped out.
"Damn… it's probably better this way. Y'know before I got here I uhh hah didn't know this place was here." I chuckled yet was met with gentle snoring. I continued out the way I originally came in and found the Lucario, still where she was when I left. I looked left, I looked right, and I carefully scooped her up and slung her over my back. She was a bit heavy and my knees started to buckle, but I managed to keep standing.
"I'll get you out of here too, I swear it!" I whisper-yelled to the Lucario. I was back in the plaza after about 5 minutes of stumbling through the pitch-black city. Street lights flickered on one side but were completely out on the other. The main sources of light were the still-burning buildings. I turned right and staggered to the far side of the plaza, which I knew was north. The caged flowers and trees were smoldering and the corpses stank. The bodies were scattered everywhere but impossible to identify by any metric other than whether or not they were human. As I walked through, a voice kept entering my mind, not quite as gentle as the Delphox. It was stern, almost boyish and it kept repeating a droning phrase.
"Don't worry, I forgive you. Don't worry, I forgive you. Its all okay." It slurred constantly. The volume and time between repetitions were inconsistent. I had once heard that Lucario could use the aura to speak to the minds of others, yet I never really believed it. The voice was maddening. I continued forth for almost an hour. My body burned from the exertion. That voice laid quiet, faded ten minutes ago. The pavilion was in sight. a flag with the red cross fluttered in the heavy winds. Guardsmen with rifles stood at the tent's opened flap. Upon seeing my helmet, the two men in their blue and brown battle dress uniforms raised their rifles but stopped when they saw that I came unarmed and had two pokemon on me. They moved towards me quickly and helped me into the tent. On the left were two open beds. I laid Rosemary onto one and she smiled at me. I reached for the limp Jackal on my back and put her in another bed with my right hand supporting her legs, and my left hand supporting her neck. Yet as I pulled away from her I noticed my left hand was coated in blood. I stared at it intently. Having become worried, one of the guardsmen patted me on the back.
"You might be a federal scumbag, but you did the right thing. I won't shoot you if that makes you feel any better about this mess" he said, coldly. I sat down at the foot of a bed and raised my eyes to see his. He looked at me as if I'd seen a ghost of some kind, uncomfortable and anxious. My eyes hovered on him, I didn't blink, I felt no need to.
"Mess? This was all bullshit. Hell, I still don't know why I'm here. This shit is stupid. I haven't a rhyme or reason to fight you. This is a tragedy, this is no mess." I laughed out. I was so mentally drained by it all that I couldn't help but laugh. There was no real humor in all the death and pain to me yet somehow I couldn't help it. The broken families, the endless sea of rubble half a city was reduced to, and the bodies that made it happen became chuckles. The chuckles became laughs, the laughs became howls, the howls became wails, and the wails became a complete breakdown. My head fell in my hands as tears streamed down my face, mixing with the blood and rain I already had. I was a complete mess. I felt a hand reach my face and I violently slapped it away. Looking at the source of the hand, my eyes met a young nurse. Behind her, the Delphox had an IV and multiple bandages on her. The Lucario had nothing. The nurse looked at me and started speaking,
"Hey mister. The Delphox you brought in is just fine. She will make it. But Mia," she halted her words. Seemingly she was choking back tears while looking at the Lucario, "Mia is gone," the nurse stammered on, "w-we found m-metal shards in her n-neck" she began crying upon informing me about this. Quickly, she stood up and ran away. The guardsmen took one last look at me before leaving the tent. I stared at the corpse of Mia the Lucario yet could project no reaction. The tears kept coming but I felt nothing. It was all so surreal. I stared on as I began to white out. I began to say goodbye to a far yesterday.
In the present
When I opened my eyes, I found myself in a peculiar situation. I was sitting upright on my bed of flour bags. Rose, however, had managed to get on my lap and held on to me tightly while sobbing. Noticing my awakening, Rose began to get off of me and I followed. I was about to go on an assignment. Apparently, some crimson Gardevoir came through town half a year ago who happens to be the only surviving subject to the Weapons of tomorrow project, and the Radosian government wants their little science fair project back. This is what we call in Togetheart a 'security concern' so I have to stop those fed boys from bagging her. Rose took my hand and led me to the door to leave. She hugged me after wiping her tears on the woodland camouflage tunic I wore on operations and gave me my helmet, which had a matching woodland cloth cover and a tan set of computerized magnification goggles. I put it on and checked my equipment before I began to walk towards the door to leave yet Rose began to speak
"Kohl," she said. I turned around to meet her, "I love you!" I smiled.
"Somebody has to"
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