...Wake up..
..Wake up now..
..He is watching.. open your eyes and wake up..
"WAKE UP THEO SMITH!" I find the man in the military uniform to be a little ambiguous. The area is obscured by smoke, and it's hazy. It's difficult to breathe.
"...Commander...?" At last, I can clearly see his face. He appears angry. Or concern? His expression was still beyond my comprehension. There he is, crouched beside me, holding an empty shotgun. The shotgun's mana must have run out.
"Snap out of it and seize the gun now! They're approaching towards this direction!" I still fail to hear him clearly despite his loud voice. Have my eardrums burst?
He lifts me upwards by grabbing my right arm. Once I stand up again and clear my head, everything is ruined. Everywhere I look, there are fires.
A machine that was roughly eight metres high. I notice its red flashing light, and it's moving in this direction. The sight of the machine brings me back to reality. I'm sweating and anxious.
'It's moving in this direction! I'm finished! I'm—' my hands begin to shake. At this pace, I will die. As soon as he hears me, the commander takes hold of my hands and comforts me. He instructed me to flee with any weapon I had.
I'm aware that I shouldn't. I shouldn't flee from terror because I'm a soldier. But I'm afraid in my heart. I'm afraid of dying because I still desire to live. How could I possibly abandon him there and flee as the commander demands? He has a serious wound on his right shoulder, his shotgun ran out of mana, and he has nothing to fight with.
"Leave me here and stop being obstinate. The rest of us are severely battered; we're no longer able to walk. You have minor injuries, so you should at least survive." Instead of calming me down, their words increase my level of anxiety.
He puts his hand on my shoulder and says, "Leave us be," with a dying smile.
It really gets to me. The truth of our circumstances.
I ran away as soon as he smiled because I could handle it no more. I never turn back; bringing a blade with me. The fake smile he put on to persuade me is disturbing, and I cannot bear seeing his face any more.
I dash through the bushes and into the forest. I continue to run despite getting scratched by the plants' thorns.
Knowing full well that I'm abandoning my companions makes running painful.
My body is becoming sore, and my legs are beginning to hurt. My mind is whirring and I'm tired. I continue to run for my own survival even though I have no idea where I'm going. My legs give out and I drop to the ground. Even if my entire body hurts, I continue to move forward, even if it means crawling.
I'm covered with blood and mud. I'm feeling queasy and lightheaded from the stench. I continue to crawl up until my hands also give up on me. I'm immobile now. I didn't even realise I was crying; I'm exhausted. It's sucks.
The pain in my heart is killing me. In the end, I started bawling like a child. I was unable to make any noise as my face became buried in the dirt. I'm so exhausted from crying that I'm unable to think. The world is vanishing.
It's no longer shining in my eyes. All hazy.
"I'm sorry."
The final words I spoke before my vision turned totally black.
[...Live for us. Even if you're alone, you'll be alright...]