Commander Li stood in silence for several long seconds after the screaming started again somewhere deeper in the civilian district.
The sound carried strangely through the rain-soaked tents and broken streets, rising above the coughing, crying, and arguing before fading back into the background noise of survival. Around him, people continued moving through the mud like none of it mattered anymore.
Or maybe they just couldn't afford to care.
Luo Xin slowly stood from the ground after handing the dead infant back to its mother. Mud clung to the medic's knees and lower coat, but he didn't seem to notice. His expression had gone distant in a way Li didn't like.
No one spoke as they started walking back toward the military sector.
The civilian district stayed behind them physically, but Li found that the smell followed anyway. Rot, sickness, starvation. It clung to every part of him and he wondered for a brief moment if he would ever be able to get himself clean again.
