A loud strike can be heard, kicking down into the wooden door, crumbling as the wood breaks apart with a shine of light entering from the outside. They kept on kicking and kicking, until the fifth kick the door could no longer hold itself apart.
The soldiers hastily poured in and checked each room in the house with no presence in sight, not even a little rat crawling in the ground can be found.
It was just a quiet room left standing in silence. It was a house abandoned. No, a village left to rot in the battlefield.
"There's nothing here. Supplies, food, clothing, nothing, it's just nothing."
"The villagers here must have carry every possession they have, huh. No bother, let's check the next one."
Hurriedly the soldiers left the house and checked another one, breaking its doors open like the last.
They were now plundering the small village for the past hour without the orders from their sergeant. They were searching to find food, supplies, and most importantly medicine that would help their wounded.
Three men in two groups were deployed, searching endlessly. They were already exhausted, yet persistent.
Those who were wounded were left to rest down outside a house taking cover from the rain, while some stood waiting for what their sergeant's upcoming commands are.
However, he was just sitting there in his wooden chair with his feet laying down to a crate, looking carefree like nothing had happened at all. He was taking cover from the rain as well, writing as his eyes wander in the piece of paper.
It seemed peaceful for him, like all he was doing was literature with no disturbance other than the sizzling rain that was hitting the roofs; however, in the distance, gun fire can still be heard, and the artillery strikes shaking the ground won't calm those who had seen enough.
"I thought you were dead," Kazuto drawled to Hanz.
Kazuto sitting on a crate next to Otto had been very interested on what happened to Hanz. His chest was covered with bandages, and blood can still be seen staining the white cloth.
Kazuto already knew what happened to Hanz, he was shot by machine gun fire, and he had seen it with his own eyes. However, Hanz was still alive. He already looked like he was dying back in the tree, yet here he is, breathing.
Hanz slowly opened his eyes from fatigue, forcing himself to look at Kazuto's emotionless expression, yet his hands shaking tells it all. Kazuto was still afraid, always been afraid. He chuckled for a bit and answered.
"I did say I can handle myself, didn't I."
His tone filled with confidence, yet at the same time sounded sickly and in pain.
"No one could survive that many shots from a machine gun," Kazuto scoffed, but his tone later became solemn as he continued, "not that long at least."
"I only got shot three times, and I think the bullets didn't hit anything lethal. Guess you can say I'm lucky... just lucky. Blessed, if you will," Hanz replied, faintly chuckling.
"You're lucky, all right. Though how did you even manage to survive for that long with those bullets stuck inside you. Just look at your face, you look like a mess," Otto added.
Hanz tried to answer back. However, his chuckles later turned into heavy coughs as the soldiers looked around.
Gunther, who was gazing at the rain drops which were falling down in the puddle of mud quickly took notice. He stopped idling, and walked towards Hanz'.
"Maybe that's enough questions for today," Gunther told them.
He then looked at Hanz, seeing as his face were becoming more pale than he initially found him.
"Don't push yourself too much, you're gonna get yourself killed," Gunther scolded Hanz.
"I'm fine...." He said coughing even further, "I just need... a little... water." Hanz replied, losing the little consciousness he has left.
Gunther hurriedly looked at his pockets, grabbing his bottle of water and gave it to Hanz.
Hanz drank almost all of it, quenching his thirst as his pale lips slowly turned back to its original color. However, he still looked tired and hopeless. All of the wounded soldiers looked tired and hopeless.
Hanz closed his eyes as he felt his eyelids being heavy, sleeping once again in the shelter as he tried to ignore the pain from his abdomen.
"All of you get some rest, I'm sure the medics will arrive soon," Gunther informed them.
The wounded men looked at one another doubting his words, some stared, while some looked away, but what they all have in common was that they all have the same thought, and that's that they knew that help was not coming.
One of men in the line of the wounded couldn't wait any longer and started laughing with a sense of dread.
"Huh, medics? Do you really think the generals would hear out our cries?"
"What are you talking about?" Gunther said solemnly, placing back his water bottle to his pocket, and standing up.
"There are many things medics could save that are more important than us."
The man stopped laughing as he slowly stood up. His knees could be seen bleeding from the wound, yet it didn't stop him. His frustration was enough that the pain can't even signal him anymore.
"Sit down your losing more of your own blood," Gunther said in concern.
"I don't care anymore, there's no hope for us either way!! Look at the man who's leading us, he's just there sitting carefree! He doesn't even look mildly interested in helping his own men! Do you really think I'll believe a man like that would bring us medics!? He's just gonna leave us all here to rot and die, beside were all expendable to his eyes!! It's all over... It's just all over!!" The man yelled in a tantrum. "Just kill us already, at least there we won't have to feel the pain any longer..." he continued slowly with desperation as he gaze to Gunther.
Gunther was left silent as the rest watched, waiting for what rebuttal he would give out. However, not a single word came out from his mouth.
Kazuto hearing this widened his eyes, clenching his fists. He wanted the man to stop and at least have a little hope, but for him what the man had said had almost been exactly true and had aligned with the things he had believed since day one.
Kazuto took a breather, retracing his courage and as he was about rebut for Gunther. However, Otto stopped him in the last second, shaking his head not to do so.
Otto understood the perspective of the desperate. For the wounded not a single news were told that medics were to come to their aid. Their squad did had a medic with them, but died in the first confrontation. To them they were just people left neglected to die. The sergeant who once told them brave speeches to continue on fighting was now just there having the time of his life despite in the middle of a war zone, abandoning his own men who believed him.
The once morale and brave, turned into spite and anger, and the wounded were finally fed up with all of this.
"That's enough of your ranting.. don't you think?" Adolph said in a grim. He had enough listening to this worthless words.
The soldiers looked at him as Adolph walked towards the man. Each step he takes, dread could be felt those near him. He was getting closer, as the man stood there with his eyes shivering yet ready for what was coming next.
"We served into Sergeant Wilhelm's footing not long ago... and not once did he let his men be abandoned! So why are we doubting him now when he had already proven himself enough that he cared!?" Adolph said, glaring his eyes towards the man.
Everyone looked at Adolph, as the man in front of him gulped, a sweat beading out of his forehead.
"You want it to be all over, right? You wanted the pain to be gone and be treated, right...? Then why not go kill yourself..." Adolph whispered to his ear.
"Wh-What?"
Adolph slowly took a pistol from his pocket and gave it to the poor man's hands. The man held the gun as Adolph's gripped his hand tighter, he slowly forced the tip of the pistol to aim at the man's jaw, with the man's fingers already in the trigger.
"Now's your chance do end it all...besides.. you're worthless now." Adolph kept on whispering.
Gunther hurriedly held Adolph's shoulder tight, as he glared at him.
"Adolph, that's enough! You can't keep doing this," Gunther tried to reason with him. However, Adolph only glared at him and looked back to the scared soldier's eyes.
"I know what I'm doing, Gunther. Besides, we don't need cowards in our ranks."
The man started to cry, closing his eyes, with his tears mixing with his blood that were now lying on the floor. The pistol was shaking, as Adolph tried to steadily aim it in the man's jaws.
"PULL THE TRIGGER!!"
"Adolph!" Sergeant Wilhelm yelled in the distance as he watched everything unfold on the other side.
For a mere minute the village was left quite, only the rain disrupted the silence between the sergeant and his men. He glares in disappointment, waiting for Adolph to come to him.
Adolph grabbed the pistol from the man's hands, as the man was left petrified from what had just happened. The man slowly sat down back in the floor, his trousers were covered by his own blood, as his eyes kept on shaking.
Gunther hurriedly approached the man as he treated the injured leg, wrapping it with bandages.
One step, Adolph is drenched in the rain with his hair wet once more, walking slowly towards sergeant Wilhelm. Soon he reached him, with the two of them glaring each other in the eye, both having the same expression of an unyielding man.
Sergeant Wilhelm sighed for a moment and punched Adolph in the head as hard as he can. However, Adolph didn't even flinched. He just stood there and took the punch.
Kazuto was left in shock seeing him still standing, while the rest simply ignored it or secretly in joy knowing that fact that the man was punished accordingly.
Sergeant Wilhelm then grabbed a piece paper from the crate his feet once rests, and gave it Adolph. Adolph simply nodded and walked away.
He soon started running off with the piece of paper hidden in his pockets. He was quick as in a matter of seconds he was now gone in the mists of the woods.
"Where is that guy think his going?" Kazuto asked.
"Who knows... but what I do know is that it's probably important," Otto replied, standing from the crate and checking the wounds of the wounded.
Kazuto was left to ponder sitting on that crate, looking at his right seeing as the sergeant once again being carefree. He looked in the sky next, as he thought to himself the only thing he could think of in the moment.
'I'm so close.'