18 Walls

by Teo Xue Shen

  “Damn son of a…” Raine roars as she vaults over a wall.

  I don’t hear the rest. The ringing in my ears is too loud. She’s fallen into a makeshift trench, her fall cushioned by the rotting bodies at the bottom. It’s a common sight. There are corpses everywhere. The stench is overbearing. Raine strikes the wall hard with her Extension, sending herself flying into the air and out of the trench. Before her feet touch the ground again, she immediately becomes a target for every Savage in a ten-metre radius. I snatch her out of the air with my Extension, narrowly avoiding the hail of bullets which follows.

  “Thanks,” she pants, running hard to catch up with the rest of us.

  In the distance, a familiar thundering roar drowns out our voices. The seven-tonners. Our supply line. We’re just in time. Even before we draw up close to the tonners, I sense another presence approaching. Or rather, another couple of presences approaching. I can’t tell if they’re friends or foes, but it’s probably wise to assume the latter.

  “Group of unknown personnel sighted,” I speak into the radio. “Permission to engage, sir!”

  “Permission granted. Do not let them anywhere near the tonners.”

  “Yes, sir!”

  I whistle to Rick, who nods and brings his Extension high over his head. Raine takes a running start, catapulting herself into the air as she clubs Rick’s Extension with her own. I’m next. Except instead of catapulting myself through the air, I pole vault. With my tail. Moving about with my Extension is a strange feeling that I haven’t completely gotten used to yet. It feels as though there’s an invisible pair of limbs holding me up in the air. Nevertheless, it’s way faster than running on foot.

  We engage.

  They attack the supply line before we get within range. A paw slams into one of the tonners, ripping through the vehicle as if it were made of wet clay. The front end of the tonner continues onwards, careening wildly off the road and onto its side, screeching to an ungainly halt next to the remains of a building. The rest of the tonners scatter. There’s blood, a bright red, blindingly painful contrast to the otherwise greyish ground. An arm, a leg, half a body. There’s no time to think about it any further.

  I surprise a Savage as I land, crushing its skull with my Extension. The Savage with the paw, a bear, I think, takes a swing at me. I ignore the paw and shoot it in the torso thrice. The bullets explode out of its back and the paw disintegrates. I got lucky. If its Strachea didn’t originate from its back, it would have continued moving for a good few seconds even after it died. And getting hit by that thing would be highly undesirable. Something like getting hit by a truck. There’s an explosion of gunfire as Rick and April arrive, backing us up while we engage the Savages. Sean is on the far right of the ravaged tonner, slashing at the Savages with his Extension. That’s unusual. After what he had seen back at the watchtower, I didn’t think he’d have the guts to face them again. Then, I see a hand at the window of the driver’s seat of the tonner. The driver’s face is bloody, his eyes wide with shock as the mayhem unfolds around him. Raine and I lay into the group of Savages, giving Sean the opportunity he needs to rescue the driver.

  “Hey…hey…”

  It must’ve been my imagination. I spin around and find a Savage, pulling desperately on its comrade’s shoulders. The comrade is the one I shot in the torso, the one with the bear paw. Even though it’s obviously dead, the other Savage doesn’t seem to care. It’s dragging the body along like a man possessed. There’s something running down its face. Tears? Sweat? I don’t know. Can they even cry? Or rather, do they even have the ability to cry? Or feel any emotions, for that matter. For now, it doesn’t matter. I have my orders. I step towards the Savage. When it sees me, a tinge of primal desperation taints its eyes. It must know that it’s over. It must know that I’m its Reaper. But it doesn’t let go of the body. Instead, it keeps pulling, its head lowered in resignation. Somehow, it’s hard to strike. My Extension feels heavier than usual. The Savage dies on the spot.

  “Why?” a small voice asks. “Why did you do that?”

  Sean’s beside me. He must have seen what I did.

  “Our orders are to eliminate the Savages,” I explain coldly. “That was a Savage, was it not?”

  “But he wasn’t a threat. He was just trying to get his friend back home. So why? Why did you kill him?”

  “I told you.” I’m starting to feel like a broken tape recorder. “We have orders.”

  “We are people,” Sean argues. “We have the capacity for compassion and we should hold on to that no matter what. No matter when! I don’t care about orders! If we can’t show that little bit of humanity, then aren’t we just savages ourselves?”

  I’ve never seen him argue so vehemently about anything. His eyes are red and puffy and he looks like he’s about to puke again. He turns to leave.

  “What the hell does it even mean to be human?” I whisper.

  His back offers no response.

  “Squad Seventy-Two, report your status,” the radio crackles. “I repeat, Squad Seventy-Two, report your status.”

  I stare at Sean’s shrinking figure.

  “Squad Seventy-Two, are…”

  “The Savages have been eliminated.” I snap out of my daze and hit the button on the radio. “One tonner has been destroyed. Two dead, one injured. Squad Seventy-Two has suffered no damages, sir!”

  “Assist in taking the city.”

  “Yes, sir!”

  “We just don’t get a break, huh?” Rick says ruefully.

  He and April are holding out pretty well, the barrels of their guns scalding hot from all that firing. He’s an excellent soldier. With his armour-like Extension, he has the ability to not only protect himself, but April too, enabling the rest of us to focus on fighting the Savages.

  “Orders are orders,” I shrug. “Restock on ammunition. We’re going in.”

  He grips my shoulder and takes a deep breath.

  “Let’s go.”

  I gather the rest of Squad 72 and we enter the city, Sean tagging along, albeit reluctantly. I pass April the radio and she speaks rapidly into it, informing the other squads in the area of our position. She’s hellishly good at it, her fingers flying across knobs which I don’t even know the functions of.

  “Squad Fifty-Seven is to our left,” she yells. “They’ve got three people left, one critically injured! Your call?”

  “We move in.”

  Twenty metres ahead is a trench. With bullets whizzing above our heads, we drop to the ground and crawl, rolling into the trench to join the last remaining members of Squad 57. I land beside a red-haired girl, who immediately turns her pistol towards my head.

  “Ivy, stop! They’re friendly!”

  A tall, lanky boy stops her before she can fire. He’s pressed against the front wall of the trench, clutching his rifle as dirt and debris rain down from above. Another boy is lying at his feet, gasping periodically. The pistol stops. Ivy doesn’t question us any further. Raine and I pop our heads out of the trench, take aim and open fire. There’s a four-storey building opposite us, where the enemy has presumably taken cover. We share a look. We both know that firing from our current position is extremely disadvantageous. She nods slowly.

  “Rick and April! Cover us!” I shout over my shoulder. “Sean! Assess the guy on my right!”

  “You’re going out there?” The lanky boy grabs my arm. “Are you here to help us or kill yourselves? There are at least twelve Savages in there!”

  “Shut the bloody hell up,” Raine growls in his ear. “We’re more likely to die in this bloody trench if we leave things as they are.”

  He stares at her, probably more surprised by her foul mouth than anything else. I don’t have much time to compromise with this guy. Over to my right, Sean shouts something which I can’t hear over the gunshots from my own rifle. I shake my head. He catches my eye, raises his finger to his throat and quickly swipes downwards twice. Not good.

  “How long?” I mouth.

>   He raises three fingers. The injured boy has approximately three hours to live if we leave him like that. That also means that if we can get him out of the trench and to the field hospital within three hours, he might stand a chance. And since there’s no way we can drag an injured person through enemy fire, we’ll have to take that building. In two hours.

  “When the gunfire ceases, I want you to follow me into the building!” I shout to Rick. “April stays here no matter what! Tell Sean to do whatever he can for the casualty!”

  Rick flashes me a thumbs-up, shields both April and himself with his Extension and begins pulping the building with his machine gun.

  “Raine! Now!”

  Together, we spring off Rick’s Extension, rocketing towards the second floor of the building. I feel a familiar thud as a couple of bullets strike my Extension. I don’t want to admit it, but I’m nearing my limits with my Extension. Just bringing out the damn thing is exhausting enough, let alone using it for prolonged periods of time. Raine is drained too. One look at her face tells me everything I need to know. We hit the side of the building and dig in with our Extensions, entering the building from the windows on the second floor. We take out the Savages, sweep the room and move on. Raine heads downstairs while I head up.

  “Good luck,” she slaps me on the shoulder. “Come back alive.”

  “Yeah. You too.”

  We split up. The Savages waste no time in hunting down the two irritants who invaded their hideout. I’m barely past the first flight of stairs when four of them appear at the landing, turning the air red hot with lead. One leaps at me while the other three cover for it. Letting go of my rifle, I flip open my butterfly knife and slash at its abdomen. The Savage twists out of the way, landing on the banister behind me. I drop my knife, pick up my rifle and shoot it in the back of its deformed head.

  Upon witnessing the death of their comrade, two of the Savages howl and charge. Their Stracheas slam into my Extension, causing it to crack. I’m starting to worry. I take them out with my stinger. The remaining Savage opens its mouth, probably to warn the rest of its barbaric brethren, only to find a butterfly knife sticking out of its throat. It coughs wildly, its Strachea demolishing part of the stairs as it spasms in its death throes. That’s it for me. My Extension is starting to flail around uncontrollably. Sighing, I retract it and proceed. Fortunately, other than the four Savages I just fought, the third floor seems clear. There are two Savages in the rooms which I enter, but they’ve both been shot through the head. I go up to the fourth floor.

  A sudden movement sends alarm signals running through my brain. I dive, watching as a section of wall behind the spot where I once stood is obliterated. The sling on my rifle snaps and the rifle slides across the floor, way out of reach. The Savage grins savagely. Its right leg has morphed into that of an ostrich, ending in vicious, razor-sharp claws which look like those of a feline. I guess, somewhere along their family line, their breeding habits messed up their genes a little. I have two options. Try for the rifle and get kicked to death, or use my knife and get kicked to death. Screw the rifle, I say. A knife is plenty.

  I charge the Savage, narrowly dodging the claws on its paw. It draws a knife of its own, parrying my blade and punching me in the gut. The knife hums across my shoulder even as I fling myself out of the way. Pain flares. The ridiculous Strachea strikes again, smashing another hole in the wall.

  At the rate we’re going, the building will be gone in no time. I sidestep the Strachea, slashing at its neck with the butterfly knife. The beautiful blade glints in the light as it arcs downward, only to be halted in its path by the Savage’s own blade. I let go. The Savage blinks in surprise as its arm swings outwards, all pressure gone from the knife. I get inside its guard, driving my thumbs into its eyes. A kick to the groin followed by an elbow to the chin finishes the fight. The Strachea on its leg vanishes as it falls into unconsciousness. I retrieve my knife and pause. Compassion. Humanity. Sean’s words are heavy ones. I slide my knife into the base of the Savage’s skull, bringing out a warm shower of blood.

  There are still Savages on the fourth floor. Again, my options aren’t bright. While I consider my choices, I’m saved by the timely appearance of a third option. Rick. He storms into the area with his machine gun, shielding himself with his Extension as he rains death upon the remaining Savages. With their focus on the people in the trench and their exposed backs to him, it’s over in minutes. Only one manages to attack with its Strachea, which Rick simply blocks with his own. The Savage slams repeatedly on it, once, twice, three times; but Rick’s Extension remains solid. Like a jack-in-the-box, I pop out from behind Rick and empty six bullets into its body. And like a deranged marionette, it jerks back violently before toppling onto the floor. I turn to go.

  “Hey.”

  Rick is leaning against a doorframe, his machine gun placed vertically on the ground.

  “Yeah?”

  This isn’t exactly the time for a casual conversation. There’s an injured person to get back to.

  “I saw it. That Savage who was dragging its fellow Savage along. The one you killed.”

  “Not you too,” I groan. “Gonna get on my case as well?”

  “Nope,” he stares me in the eye. “I think you did right. If you had let it go, it would have become a danger to the rest of us at a later stage. Don’t let Sean get to you. He’s probably still not used to the entire concept of war.”

  “He isn’t entirely wrong,” I say slowly. “That which differentiates us from them. I need to know what that is.”

  “They don’t speak or feel like a human being does. They don’t care for others, nor do they grieve their dead. They don’t have the capacity to exhibit the traits we do. They’re feral,” he replies as if it were obvious from the beginning. “That one you killed must’ve been an exception. Maybe it got the idea from watching us humans.”

  But I don’t feel for the dead either, I want to scream. It’s useless. I can’t make him understand.

  “Let’s go,” I mutter. “Raine’s waiting downstairs.”

  “Raine, huh?” he winks at me.

  This time, I can’t hold back a smile. It’s so ridiculous how this guy can say such frivolous things in the middle of a battlefield. Shaking my head, I proceed downstairs where, as expected, Raine is standing guard.

  “Guess you made it, huh,” she sounds disappointed, with obvious relief washing across her face.

  We get back to the trench, where the boy from Squad 57 is waiting. Ivy and Sean are already gone, together with the casualty. It’s been an hour and a half since we arrived. The expression on the boy’s face is a mix of shock and awe, his tiny eyes and prominent jawline stretched out to abnormal proportions. Sean and Ivy return, panting heavily, before he can say anything. The boy shoots his teammate a quizzical look, to which she nods. By the look of relief on his face, his injured friend probably reached the hospital in time. We decide to spend the night in the building.

  “How?”

  That’s the first thing out of his mouth when we’ve settled down.

  “How about we start with the introductions?” Rick says.

  “Ah, I’m sorry. I’m Sang Hyung-gil. Call me Hyung. Moray eel Extension. Nice to meet you.”

  He nods to the girl.

  “Ivy. Albatross Extension. Nice to meet you.”

  “Rick Greenson, tortoise Extension. Likewise.”

  “Sean Ooi, grey wolf Extension. Nice to meet you too.”

  “Ren. Scorpion.”

  “Raine, mantis shrimp Extension.”

  “I’m April. I’m a Neutral.”

  “Are you serious?” Hyung asks in disbelief. “How in the world can you guys… I mean, aren’t you afraid at all? If you can’t summon an Extension…isn’t this basically…”

  “I am,” April says softly. “But I trust my comrades.”

  Rick hides a smile. It’s a genuine one, too. Not one of those flashy, irritating grins he gives to everyone, but a genuine smile. Hyu
ng glances at each one of us, sizing us up, then addresses April.

  “Will it be all right if we were to join your squad from here on?”

  “I don’t know. Ask Ren. He’s the one in charge.”

  Hyung blinks and stares at the radio in her hands. Whoops.

  “If everyone’s fine with it…” I leave my sentence hanging.

  No one objects. It’s the most sensible thing to do under such circumstances. We exchange stories over dinner, which consists of a compact, mashed-up packet of what could have once been rice. Tastes horrible, but hey, it’s food and we’re all enervated after using our Extensions non-stop for the entire day. Apparently, Squad 57 have been in this city since their deployment. They were ambushed by Savages a couple of days back and took refuge in the trench, losing two of their men in the process. Hyung seems reluctant to talk about his soldiers, so we don’t press him for any more information.

  After dinner, we split up into pairs for the night watch. Rick and April. Sean and Raine. Ivy, Hyung and me. Ivy and Hyung will rotate between shifts since they haven’t gotten any decent sleep in the past few days. All too soon, it’s my first shift for the night. Ivy’s already awake, positioned at the window.

  “You’re Ren, right?” she asks softly as I settle down beside her.

  “Yeah.”

  “What’s your count?”

  “My count?”

  “Your kill count. How many Savages you killed,” she explains.

  “I don’t know,” I reply honestly. “I never had the luxury of counting.”

  “Mmhmm. I’ve killed eight so far,” she lets out a sigh. “I hope I’ll hit a hundred before I die.”

  “You hate them that much?”

  “Yeah. Don’t we all?”