Never Say Die

by D J Sternowski-Korzec

  Chapter 12

  We Will Rebuild

  Sarah and Raider are just getting out of surgery. They are not expected to be leaving the hospital until tomorrow morning. The General and Leah got out of their surgeries long before Sarah and Raider. Leah and her father leave their hospital rooms to go visit Sarah and Raider. It appears their surgeries went well and they will make a full recovery, as expected. Raider and Sarah are luckily in the same room as each other, so Leah and her father do not need to walk all over the hospital in search of either one of them.

  Leah and the General walk into Raider and Sarah’s hospital room. Raider and Sarah are both knocked out from the medicine they were given. Raider it is not nearly taking as much medicine as Sarah, because he has the full capability of healing himself. The only reason he is on medication is because he doesn’t have the ability to heal himself at this given moment. His healing abilities are temporarily disabled. Leah sits down next to Raider’s bedside first. The General sits down next to Sarah’s bedside first. Leah whispers to Raider, “You have completely changed people’s perspective and stereotypes against your species. I would have never thought I would become friends with a demon. It is kind of funny how all of this works. You have sacrificed a lot to just protect our people and the world. For this, I thank you.” Leah kisses Raider on the forehead. Leah may be new to this kind of work, but she knows all of the good things Raider has done to help out humanity in the fight against his father. She truly does appreciate everything he has done and can’t wait to fight alongside him, again.

  After Leah and her father are done visiting Sarah and Raider at the hospital, they both leave the hospital and go separate ways. Leah wants to practice her combat even more, so she is going to see Lucas for more combat training. The General has a ton of work to do around the military base. He has to make sure all of the walls are being properly repaired and find out what caused the explosion.

  As the General arrives at the location of where the explosion went off, he is greeted by a fellow soldier. The soldier says to the General, “We have a very good idea about what happened here. This trash barrel reeks of gasoline and explosives. We believe somebody used this to set off an explosion and created a bomb.” The General grabs the trash barrel. He smells it and takes a look inside of it. He smells a lot of gasoline and can see a lot of mysterious powder that would be perfect for creating an explosion much like this. The General says to the soldier, “Excellent work. I will be reporting this to the other highly ranked members. Continue working.” The General walks away from the explosion site and pays a visit to the highest ranked soldiers in the whole entire army. Of course, he brings the trash barrel along with him as evidence. The General knows there is somebody working for Synx. They need to find this impersonator and take them out. However, they do need to keep it on the down low. They can’t allow a large group of people to know about this, because they will never find this impersonator if everyone knows what is going on.

  Leah arrives at the combat training area. If she could, she would train with Raider and Sarah. Because they are both in the hospital do to major injuries, she will be training with Lucas. Lucas is very proud of Leah, because she managed to survive a massacre of a battle. Her survival proves to everyone that she has what it takes to survive and fight in this war. Lucas says to Leah, “Welcome back to the training area, my star pupil. I am both impressed and glad to see you in one piece and alive. I heard what happened to Sarah and Raider, but I am also glad they will be joining us tomorrow morning. You can’t expect them though to be ready for another mission or battle. My best guess is they will be ready in about a week.” Leah replies, “Sarah and Raider appear to be doing just fine. Like you said, I am not expecting them to be combat ready for quite some time. However, I do believe Raider will be combat ready a lot sooner than Sarah. He is a demon after all.” Lucas smiles and asks Leah, “So, what do you want to work on today?” Leah replies, “Kendo, please. Using a sword, or any kind of melee weapon, is a lot harder than I expected.” Leah grabs a kendo stick. Lucas grabs a kendo stick as well. Now, they begin to fight each other. They do not hold anything back.

  Meanwhile, Synx doctors are still trying to figure out a way to remove the holy crossbow’s arrows out of Synx and Gronder’s bodies without getting injured themselves. It seems like an impossible task, but they must get it done. They have tried removing the arrows from their bodies barehanded and by wearing gloves, but it doesn’t seem to work very well. The doctors still get hurt with the gloves on. They learned the hard way that the arrows have been blessed with holy water. The first time they tried pulling out the arrows was barehanded, they quickly regretted it, because they got badly burned. Next, they tried doing it with the gloves, but that didn’t seem to work neither. However, they were able to touch the arrows with some construction tools, but they can’t seem to get the arrows out of their bodies without causing lethal damage to them. The doctors discuss their next plan of action about getting the arrows out of their bodies by using some construction tools. Construction tools seem to be the only way they will be able to get these arrows out, because they are in there pretty good. Gronder is going to have the hardest time recovering, because he has two arrows inside of him oppose to having one. The doctors will be testing out their next plan of action on Synx.

  Synx’s doctors stick a bendable pipe through the tail of the arrow stuck inside of Synx. They bend the pipe around the staff of the arrow and make sure it is completely stable. Once the pipe is stable, they begin to pull it with a heavy-duty lever. This seems to be working very well, but they do not have nearly enough strength to pull it out of him. So, they call in more people to perform this task. It takes a total of 15 men to pull the arrow out of Synx’s body, but they are able to pull the arrow clean out of his body. Next, they are going to perform the same thing on Gronder. Luckily, they are able to pull both arrows out of his body. Once all of the arrows are removed, they start to perform the rest of the procedures. Of course, the doctors ask everyone else to leave the operating room. They do not need a lot of bodies in this room, because they will just get in the way.

  Meanwhile, the General arrives at the offices of the highest ranked soldiers the World Army has to offer. The General orders everyone, “We are going to have an emergency meeting, right now, in the meeting room.” The General makes his way into the meeting room with the barrel that caused a massive explosion inside of the military base and destroyed a huge chunk of its walls. Once everyone is inside of the meeting room, the General begins to explain what this meeting is about. The General explains, “First off, I would like to thank everyone for coming. Now, this is what the whole meeting is about.” The General pulls the trash barrel in front of him and continues to explain, “This barrel was used as a placeholder for a bomb and caused the massive explosion inside of our military base. Now, this event brings up a lot of questions. Who is this trader that is inside of our home? Why are they helping out our enemy? Are they even human? These questions need answers and as fast as possible. What I am asking from you is that we find this trader and take him or her out before another attack occurs. Are we all in understanding?” Everyone in the room shakes their head in agreement. The General is happy to know everyone is in agreement. He allows all of them to return back to their offices and continue on what they were doing. Now, the General will be looking for more evidence at the location of the bomb site.

  Leah is done training with Lucas at the combat training area. After she is done training at the combat training area, she heads back home for lunch. Leah never really liked the taste of meat. She has spent her whole entire life as a vegetarian. She will be making herself a plate of eggplant parmesan with chili pepper sauce. She enjoys eating spicy food. She eats that just about every day. Leah will be taking a quick nap after she is done eating.

  The General is cleaning out the bomb site with the other soldiers. He is making sure everything is going well, but he is also looking for more evidence towards finding the perpetrat
or. So far, he hasn’t found any hard evidence of who this trader is. It is going to be very difficult to find this person without a lot of evidence. However, they will not stop until they are found. The General stays at the construction site until they are ready to rebuild. This is going to take all day long, but they will be able to get it all done by nightfall. They will start rebuilding next morning.

  Meanwhile, Raider wakes up and looks around him to see where he is. A doctor notices Raider waking up. The doctor says to Raider, “I am glad to see you are do well, you are safely inside of a hospital.” Raider doesn’t say a word, but looks at Sarah. He is happy to know she is still alive and is doing okay. He slowly and carefully sits up, but does not leave his hospital bed. Raider asks the doctor, “What exactly happened?” The doctor is confused and asks, “What do you mean?” Raider asks, “What happened to my father and his new creation?” The doctor explains, “Your father and his creation manage to escape, but you and Sarah were able to stop them both. Do you remember killing two more of his wives?” Raider replies, “I remember killing one wife, but not the other. But I am glad to hear another wife was killed in the process.” Raider takes another look at Sarah. He asks the doctor, “What happened to her?” The doctor explains, “We are not completely sure what happened, but we do know she was puking out blood and passed out because of it. Judging from her body and battle scars, she was under a lot of physical stress. She is not expected to wake up until tomorrow morning. You really should get some more rest. Your body was under a lot of stress as well.” Raider slides back down on his bed and goes to sleep. He is hoping the next time he wakes up Sarah will be awake.

  The next morning. Raider wakes up and immediately looks at Sarah. She has finally woken up. He is happy to see her awake and alive. Raider asks Sarah, “How are you feeling today? I woke up yesterday, so I am doing okay.” Sarah replies, “I seem to be doing all right. The doctors already ran an analysis on me. The surgery was successful.” Sarah slowly crawls out of bed. She says to Raider, “Come on, let’s head back home. I am sure all of our roommates are wondering how we are doing. After we are done paying a visit, we are going to see Lucas and work on our combat training. Maybe Leah will be there?” Raider crawls out of bed and replies, “Sure, but let’s not overdo it.” Raider and Sarah check out of the hospital and head back home.

  Raider and Sarah walk up to the front door of their household. Before they can even open up the door, Haley opens up the door. She did not know they were both here. They all expected them to show up later on. Haley hugs Raider and Sarah at the same time. She missed them both very much. Haley was just about to go grocery shopping, but that is just going to have to wait. Raider and Sarah say hello to everyone else in the household. Everyone is very excited and grateful to know they are both alive. Sarah explains to everyone in the household, “Raider and I cannot stay, because we have to get our bodies back into shape. If you couldn’t tell, we are still a little weak. We need to get combat ready as fast as possible. We will see you guys later.” Raider and Sarah say their goodbyes to everyone in the household before leaving for combat training. Raider and Scarlet haven’t had the chance to go on a date just yet. Today is not a good day for a date, because he needs to get ready for another mission or battle. They are both hoping to go on a date in the near future.

  Raider and Sarah arrive at the combat training area. They will not be overly training themselves today at the combat training area. However, they will be fighting each other with kendo sticks. They will not be grappling, because their bodies are still way too weak to be doing so. They will not be striking each other with high velocity and strength. They want to move as slowly as possible, so they do not end up injuring each other or themselves. However, they will pick up speed and strength as they go along. They want to be ready for combat as fast as possible. Because it is so early in the morning, nobody is in the combat training area. Lucas is on his way, because he is in charge of this department and area of the military base. He will be very happy to see Raider and Sarah. Sarah will be receiving a Purple Heart medal from Lucas and the General later on today. Hopefully, the General catches Synx’s spy before the victory party.

  Lucas arrives at the combat training area. He is very happy to see Raider and Sarah working on their combat training. He is also very happy to know they are doing just fine. Lucas knows they are both very weak, so he is going to leave them both alone. He is going to let them train on their own and not fight anyone else. Of course, Raider is doing a lot better than Sarah. Raider has a lot more hours in the healing process than Sarah. He is a demon after all, he has the ability to heal himself. Raider has the ability to heal his wounds, but he doesn’t have enough strength to completely heal himself. He should be completely fine by the end of the today.

  Raider and Sarah are doing an excellent job during combat training. They are slowly getting their strength back. Of course, they do take a lot of breaks and eat a lot of food to maximize their energy. Lucas is no longer keeping an eye on them, because he will be training with the new recruits. He will be training a lot of young ladies and gentlemen that will be joining Raider and other squadrons on the battlefield. Only one will be joining Sarah’s squadron. He will be joining her on missions and help her out when the military base is under attack. They do not need to worry too much about being under attack, because Synx and Gronder are both out of action. However, they do not know how long their recovery will take. They expect them to be combat ready by tomorrow. Luckily, Synx and Gronder will not be combat ready for another four days.

  Raider and Sarah are finally done for today at combat training. They have been going at it all day long. The General went to the hospital to check up on them. He was glad to hear they check themselves out this morning and are doing perfectly okay. The victory party will be beginning in just a couple of hours. The General checks the progress of the wall that is being rebuilt. Unfortunately, they did not find any evidence of who may have caused the destruction of the military base walls. However, the General will be looking out for Synx’s spy and will hopefully eliminate it. Raider and Sarah head back home after they are done combat training. They will both be taking a nap once they get back home.

  Raider and Sarah arrive at their home. Everyone in the household is here. They all can tell Raider and Sarah are both exhausted by just looking at them. They do not bother talking to them or bother them. They allow them to take a nap and will keep the noise down to a minimum. Raider and Sarah are both grateful to know everyone in the household understands what is going on. They carefully walk into their bedrooms and lay down on their beds. They fall asleep almost instantly. What Raider and Sarah do not know is that everyone inside of their household will be at the victory party. They all plan on dressing very nice for the party. Scarlet is happy to be going to this party, because she gets to spend some time with Raider. This is kind of going to be their first date, but they want to go on a proper date at some point.

  Everyone in the household is getting ready for the party. They are not getting completely ready. They are just picking out what they want to wear and getting it ready for later on. Scarlet will be wearing her favorite dress and heels for this party. She is already wearing her favorite earrings. They are silver studs she got from her mother. Scarlet’s mother was killed in a village not too far from Sarah’s home village. She took refuge inside this military base after she was found underneath the rubble of her home. Scarlet and Chelsea are the only survivors of their village. They each are wearing a piece of jewelry that belonged to their dead mother or grandmother. Chelsea is wearing a silver ring that was given to her by her grandmother. They both almost never take off their jewelry, because it means so much to them.

  Raider and Sarah have woken up from their naps. Raider woke up first, but Sarah wakes up shortly after he does. They both get ready for the party and leave the household. They both never realized nobody was in the house when they left. Everyone in the household is already at the party. They are waiting for Raider an
d Sarah to arrive at the party. The party has already started, but the reward ceremony has yet to start. The reward ceremony will begin shortly after Sarah and Raider arrive at the party.

  Raider and Sarah arrive at the party. The crowd goes wild once they both arrive at the party. They are greeted by a lot of guests when they walk into the building. They are all happy to know they are both doing okay and were able to make it to the party. The General makes his way through the crowd of people and escorts Raider and Sarah to the stage. The reward ceremony will now begin. Sarah will be the only one to receive a Purple Heart medal, but Leah will be receiving a medal as well. Leah receives a medal for her bravery on the battlefield, such as taking down Synx and Gronder. After the reward ceremony is over, the party continues on. Sarah and Raider are both excited and surprised to see everyone from their household at the party. Of course, Raider sits down next to Scarlet and Chelsea. Raider whispers to Scarlet, “You look very beautiful.” Scarlet whispers back, “Thank you, I am glad you are doing okay and were able to make it to the party.” Raider and Scarlet spend most of their time at the party with each other. They do not spend the whole entire party with each other, because they do not want anyone to have any ideas about them being in a relationship with each other.