There is a child. Trapped in this town. It took us three solid seconds to realize what Lord Ar’Taz just said.

The moment we let that sink in, a spark ran across our brains. The air of jokes and light–heartedness disappeared in an instant. It was a common fear for anyone who had been deployed to an actual battlefield: Civilians getting stuck in a firefight. During our overseas deployment, on several occasions, we had to engage the enemy while trying our best to not accidentally kill innocent people stuck in between the line of fire. The real nightmare was when those bastards actively used them as meat shields.

I had followed Lord Ar’Taz since He came to our world. If there was one thing I could say for certain about Him so far, He was serious with every word He said. Every single word.

But the way Lord Ar’Taz phrased it was somehow, more unsettling than the context itself. He didn’t say “stuck”, like most common cases during natural disasters. But instead, He used the word “trapped”. It was like the kid who He referred to was intentionally kept here.

“What are you talking about, Sir Ar’Taz?” Oliver asked in disbelief. “We already checked every house. There is no one else here, besides us.”

Before Mark and Albert could say anything else, Lord Ar’Taz resumed. “Because of how weak her current life force is, we have only located her ten seconds earlier.”

“Where is she?” Mark raised his voice. His tone was almost shouting.

“She is at a house 1.8 km from this position.” Lord Ar’Taz said. “We must go, before it is too late.”

Lord Ar’Taz shifted His posture, and used His right leg to thrust Himself into the air. There was a crack on the ground where His boot made contact with. In less than three seconds, He had already reached the intersection 400 meters from our position.

“God damn it!” Mark blurted. “We need to find that kid.” He jumped into the driver’s seat.

“Get in the car.” Albert called out from his front seat, while Mark started the Hawkei. I and Oliver jumped in the back seat.

The tires screeched as Mark turned the wheel and headed straight for the Lord Ar’Taz’s position. When we reached Him, Lord Ar’Taz stood waiting for us and then, He jumped again. This time, He headed right.

Mark gripped the wheel tightly and turned it so strong, as if it was coming off the hinges. “Call an ambula…, I mean, call the medic, Albert.” Mark barked, while his eyes focused on the road.

“And go where?” Albert raised his voice in frustration. “We don’t even know where the kid is, or what state she is.”

“FUCK!” Mark yelled exasperatedly as he pressed on the gas pedal. “How could we have missed someone like that? A little girl at that.”

Mark was visibly more furious than we could imagine. It was understandable since he always had a soft spot for kids, despite his intimidating appearance. Maybe he was blaming himself for leaving a kid stranded in a literal warzone. The fact he had a three–year old son made it even worse for him.

We made two more turns following Lord Ar’Taz. Each time, I, Albert and Oliver tried to balance ourselves inside the Hawkei. During the ride, I noticed the dark streets were gradually illuminated by the sunlight. I checked the time. It was 6:32 AM. The rising sun was slowly lifting the blanket of darkness which was still covering most of David Town. The scenery was straight up out of a movie. As I looked at the houses, stores, small parks and café, I could imagine town residents peacefully going about with their life just half a day earlier.

Parents driving their children to school, a man jogging or walking his dog, an elder couple walking or sitting on a bench inside a certain park, children cycling on the sidewalk, mailman delivering packages to some household, teenagers chatting within a café, businessmen busy with either his phone or laptop, truck drivers delivering their shipment, etc. All of that ordinary activities were suddenly interrupted when the SEWS (Standard Emergency Warning Signal) system started going off, causing everyone to shudder. Before the innocent townsfolks knew what was going on, dozens of armored vehicles, tanks, artilleries and heavy trucks started rolling into the town, military helicopters flying all over the sky and began ordering everyone to evacuate immediately with their PA system. The rest, well, like they always said, was history.

While Mark focused on dodging obstacles on the streets, I noticed Oliver was mumbling something.

“Please, not that one.” I finally heard what he was saying. Albert was holding the radio in his right hand. He kept looking out of the window to see the street names. I could see he was fighting the urge to say anything into the radio, since we still haven’t found that kid yet. Their faces were a clear mixture of fear and concern.

When we were going straight on a certain road, I began to realize why they were so worried. We were going into the area where the Task Force engaged that giant monster. As Mark drove on and Lord Ar’Taz made another jump, we noticed at least seven demolished houses on the left side. Some of them were crushed by the Degloka, while others were destroyed by bombs and artillery shells. The scenery of destruction revealed by the sunlight was something we were all too familiar with. But that was over half way across the planet, something we never thought would see right here at home.

Mark made another left turn, which was the last. As the vehicle approached Lord Ar’Taz’s position, our guts sunk into our boots. Lord Ar’Taz stood facing a two–storey bungalow style house which was crushed by an overturned diesel locomotive. At first glance, I noticed it looked like a locomotive from one of those freight trains used by Sydney–Melbourne Railway.

As we looked around the messy destruction, we deduced that the locomotive was knocked from the railroad line near this neighborhood, it flew and crashed into some M36A2 Trucks, kept going until eventually, stopped at this house. Due to inertia, the locomotive completely demolished this house and the one next to it. Evidently, half of this entire neighborhood was destroyed in the process.

“Of ALL the houses in this damn town,” Oliver audibly groaned when Mark hit the brake several meters behind Lord Ar’Taz. “Why does it have to be this one?”

We exited the PMV and approached Lord Ar’Taz. The expression on Mark’s and Albert’s faces looked like they were about to be court–martialed.

“Are you sure… she is here, Sir Ar’Taz?” Mark stammered when he stood at Lord Ar’Taz’s right side, eyes looking at that pile of rubble, bricks, wood, scattered furniture and broken glass, all flattened by the massive locomotive.

“She is underground.” Lord Ar’Taz said. “Inside a chamber, beneath the rubble. Her breathing is faint, but she is still alive.”

“But how do we get to her?” Oliver blurted. “Look at that engine. It will take us hours to get that thing off? She would have been dead by then.”

Mark glanced back at Albert, who was already talking on the radio. “This is Second Lieutenant Albert Forge. Come in, Goldberg Airfield.”

Because that little girl was, quoted Lord Ar’Taz, underground, beneath the pile, our mind automatically assumed that it was impossible for us four to do anything until heavy equipment was brought in to remove it. Just as we were about to give up, we noticed something waved around in our peripheral vision. It was Lord Ar’Taz’s tail and He was walking towards that locomotive. For some reason, His tail’s movement reminded me of how the T–Rex waved its tail around while chasing the hapless civilians from the 90s Jurassic Park blockbuster.

“There is a civilian in the town. We need medical assistance immediately.” Albert said hurriedly into his radio, while Lord Ar’Taz stuck His left hand into the rubble beneath the massive engine. Then, He started slowly lifting it. The metal creaked loudly, while bricks, wood, small pieces of furniture, utensils and appliances were dropping from it as Lord Ar’Taz lifted the massive locomotive which weighed over forty tons higher and higher. The metal layer where His hand touched was visibly bent due to gravity and His insane superhuman strength.

I wasn’t really surprised, considering how much I had seen so far. The other three, on the other hand, had their jaws on the ground. Albert was in middle of calling for the medevac. Apparently, this was the first time they actually witnessed what Lord Ar’Taz was capable of.

After around four seconds, Lord Ar’Taz lifted the locomotive’s front end at nearly the same height as Him. Lord Ar’Taz proceeded to throw it to the side, as easily as throwing a soft ball. The train engine crashed down on that other side, crushed the intact house and vehicles on the other side of the street, causing the ground beneath our feet to rumble. The thunderous thump, followed by a small cloud dust and debris jolted them from their collective shock.

“Did that… just happen?” Mark blankly and inadvertently blurted, which surprised me as he was the first one to say anything after seeing something like that. Oliver’s expression was like a mixture of fear, confusion and excitement.

“We are… at the… near the Mariah and 12th.” Albert stuttered into his radio. “Just get the medic here ASAP (As Soon As Possible). We will mark our location with flare.”

Lord Ar’Taz walked into the flattened rubble. The wooden floor cracked with each step He took. I, Mark and Oliver followed Him, while Albert waited outside for the medevac. The house’s floor was covered with glass, utensils, brick, shattered roofing and broken furniture. When we approached the wreckage, I could see some pieces made of porcelain and ceramic, possibly from a sink or toilet strewn over some spots. There were some dirty adult clothes and towel covered by wooden pieces, various types of paper, etc. Basically, everything you expected to find inside a typical suburban house.

With every step we took, the floor creaked, along with the sound of glass and debris crunching beneath our boots. As we entered the hallway and walked past a broken staircase, Oliver sniffed the air and asked: “You smell that?”

We could smell it as well, a scent lingering somewhere inside the house. A particularly fruity scent in the air. When a misshapen refrigerator came into view, we knew what it was. It was the beer which was spilled all over the floor inside a presumably kitchen. There were at least two dozen dented cans and broken bottles of beer. Most of them were Carlton Draught, Coopers Pale Ale and Victoria Bitter. The smell overwhelmed the foods inside the fridge and the liquid even covered shattered bowls, plates, dishwasher, coffee maker and microwave on the floor.

I knew that people usually kept several beer cans at most inside their fridge, for the occasional drinking. Frankly, I preferred juice so I never kept any. Whoever lived in this house had to be a severe alcoholic and the fact there was a little girl here with someone like that disturbed us even more. Mark seemed to have the same thought as me, since he grimaced at the sight. Oliver probably noticed as he slightly tapped on Mark’s shoulder. We resumed following Lord Ar’Taz.

Lord Ar’Taz stopped at the back room, eyes focused on broken wooden beams and rubble on the floor. We stood behind Him, tried our best to figure out what this room used to be, since everything was crushed beyond repair. Numerous broken or shattered items were covered in dirt and debris, such as coffee table, couch, a potted plant, two armchairs, air conditioner, blender, hair dryer, several books and DVDs, etc. From the looks of it, this was either the living room or these items were pushed over by the collapsed walls from next room.

Lord Ar’Taz knelt down by the wooden pile, then raised His left arm up, thrust His arm down, crushed the wooden pile and tore through floor. He plunged in so deep, the floor went up to His elbow. Those who hadn’t actually seen how fast He could move wouldn’t notice, but it seemed as if Lord Ar’Taz was holding back to some degree. Most likely, He wanted to clear the rubble and get to that little girl, but at the same time, tried to prevent the entire weakened floor from collapsing.

“What are you doing?” Mark screamed. “If she is down there, you are going to kill her.”

Lord Ar’Taz ignored Mark and proceeded to move His arm in a pendulum movement. He swung His arm up, taking the floor, debris and rubble along with it. We had to step back a bit to avoid the splinter and dust flying all over the room. A large hole was created as a result from that swing. It was a basement filled with wooden beam as well. As the sunlight began to gradually shine down onto us, I noticed something beneath the hole. Sunlight slowly illuminated a pair of thin legs, while the upper body was still obscured by the basement’s shadow. Without a doubt, it was the little girl.

Mark stepped forward, wanting to jump down. As soon as he put two steps towards the hole, the wooden floor cracked and sloped a bit more. I grabbed his shoulder to stop him from getting himself hurt. Mark looked at me for a second, then nodded. I took off my gloves, gave him my rifle and jumped down the hole.

Thanks to the sunlight, I could grasp what I was looking at. It was a small basement whose ceiling had partially collapsed due to the broken support wooden beams. Luckily, I stopped Mark as this place was too tight for his size. I was only at 176 cm, a few centimeters shorter than Mark, but I still had to crouch down for better observation. The reason the ceiling didn’t collapse entirely was thanks to an old Toyota Corolla which stopped most of the rubble. Due to the collapsing floor, wood, rubble and brick covered most of the basement, but I could make out two clothes baskets, old tables, chairs, washing machine, old newspapers, magazines and tons of other stuffs. The house was filled with a weird stench mixed with beer, but down here, it smelled different. The basement was quite damp, dirty. It smelled like vomit, urine and blood mixed with wet dirt. It was like this whole place was sick and slowly rotting away.

Finally, there was the little girl. She was lying on the ground, with a broken wooden beam collapsed onto her back. The beam was small and didn’t look too heavy, but I feared for the worst, considering how small she was. The fact that this poor kid was, presumably, abandoned here, in such a filthy place, made my stomach churn with rage. I couldn’t imagine how Mark would feel when he saw this.

I took two steps over and checked her conditions. I gently lifted the pillar off to avoid hurting her. As I flipped her over, I could see her more clearly. She had long brown hair, draped over her shoulders. She was wearing a pink T–shirt and white dress, both had flower pattern on it, and a pair of croc slippers. Judging from her body length, she was probably less than 150 cm in height. Her face indicated that she was no older than 13, but parts of her body were covered in dirt and mud. I used my left hand to wipe off the dirt on her face and checked her pulse with my right. Thankfully, she was still breathing, but it was faint. Like Lord Ar’Taz said, it was as if her existence itself was fading away. I touched her forehead, she was burning. I didn’t know what conditions she was in, but this was really bad.

“How is she, Jack?” Oliver asked over Mark’s shoulders when I held her body up. They were leaning over to check us while Lord Ar’Taz was still on His knees, perhaps checking the surroundings.

“She is alive.” I answered. “It doesn’t look like she is injured, but her pulse is too weak. She has a fever too. We need to get her to the hospital.”

“Hang on! I will find something to pull you up.” Oliver said, then ran off, possibly to the Hawkei to get a rope.

I wrapped my arms around her body to lift her, then I noticed a smell of sweat and body odor. Judging how dirty her clothes were, I could only assume how long she hadn’t taken a proper shower. Though she was breathing, she didn’t seem to notice being carried at all. As I tried to walk towards the hole with her in my arms, I noticed something in her right hand. She was holding torn plastic wrappers. It was sandwich and bread wrappers. I glanced at the position where she was previously laying. There was a box filled with snacks, instant food and water bottles. Most of which were already torn and empty. The poor kid must have been locked down here, with these as supplies. Since it was impossible to get out, she ate and drank whatever she had down here, tried to survive for as long as she could. When that locomotive crashed into the house, all hell broke loose. The rubble covered everything, including the exit. Luckily, it was stopped by the old car. But the support pillars started to crack under the crushing weight, two of smaller ones collapsed onto her. Considering how much she had consumed, it made me shudder to contemplate how long she had been locked down here.

The metal sound of something got bent pulled me back. It was the car and the increasing weight was slowly crushing it. I emptied my mind and focused on getting her out of here.

“Did Oliver come back, Mark?” I asked him as I stood beneath the hole, with sunlight shining on my face. The light obscured Lord Ar’Taz’s chest and head in my peripheral vision, so I couldn’t tell what He was looking at.

“He is pulling the cable from the PMV, Albert is helping him.” Mark said.

I wanted to ask if the medic had arrived yet, but Lord Ar’Taz reached down with His right hand. Because of how large His hand was, He grabbed my body armor from the back with zero effort. He said: “Hold that child tight, Lieutenant!”

He proceeded to hoist me up. It felt weird being pulled up in such a way, especially when I was holding a little girl like that. The pressure pushed onto my chest and stomach almost made my hand slip and drop the girl. It was vexing when your sense of touch only worked with a single hand. When my feet touched the ground, I saw Oliver pulling the cable into the doorway.

“I guess you don’t need this, huh?” He chuckled and put the cable back. Then, a gunshot rang out from afar. A red flare was fired into the air, leaving a trail of smoke behind. It was Albert, the medic was coming.

“We should get her outside.” Mark frowned and said. “This place makes me sick.”

I nodded at him and walked towards the hallway, with Mark and Lord Ar’Taz followed. As we approached the hallway, I heard something breaking, crumbling behind us. We glanced back out of curiosity. The floor from earlier was gone, replaced by the large hole which was now filled with broken wood, furniture and dirt.

We simply looked at each other for two seconds. It was sad that this beautiful town was devastated to such degree, but strangely, we didn’t feel the same way about this house. If anything, deep down, we were glad this place was destroyed.

“Medic will be here in two minutes.” Albert said, as soon as he saw me holding the girl. I nodded at him in response and laid her in the Hawkei’s back. Her fever was high and she was faintly breathing. Now she even placed her hand on her stomach, which indicated she could be having a stomachache. When we were still inside the house, I didn’t think to call her because getting her out of there was my utmost priority. Like Mark said, that house made me feel sick.

Seeing her conditions up close, Oliver immediately said: “I will be back.” Then ran to the next house which was relatively intact. He tried to open the door but obviously, it was locked. Oliver grunted and raised his rifle at the door. He fired three shots. The bullets tore through the hinges like paper. He kicked the door open and ran inside.

We didn’t ask him what he was doing, but we could guess. Besides, this was no time to worry about trespassing. Albert loaded another shot into the flare gun and said: “You guys stay with her. I will fire another shot.” And headed for the street.

“Hey, what is your name, kid?” Mark gently asked as he leaned in closer.

She opened her eyes but just barely. She shifted her gaze towards us, then opened her mouth. She tried to say something, but no word came out. The poor kid was too weak that she couldn’t even utter a single word, let alone a coherent sentence.

I wanted to know if she sustained any injuries, so I lifted her shirt. I would never forget what I had seen that day. Her chest and belly had at least ten dark bruises, which indicated she had been physically abused. For these bruises to be so prominent, she must have been beaten many times, possibly, even on a regular basis.

Albert fired another flare behind us, but my attention was all on Mark now. Mark looked as if he was about to murder someone with his bare hands. His right hand tightened into a fist with veins bulging. Instead of the normal big brother Mark with cheerful and father–like personality, I was looking at a rage–filled Mark from that night three years ago. The night when he pummeled those brain–dead drunkards who kept harassing his girlfriend, now his wife – Rosetta in the bar we frequented. Although there were three of them and they were all bigger than him at the time, Mark still managed to beat them so bad, we thought he killed them. However, right now, I felt the same. If I ever saw the bastard who did this, I doubted I could control myself either.

Heinous crimes like child abuse was nothing new. We all knew that. But there was a big difference between knowing and seeing either the event itself or its aftermath. As soldiers, we had seen what the best and the worst that humanity was capable of. Be that as it may, it still got us every time we witnessed such things. Right now, a child was physically suffering, and possibly, mentally as well, and yet, there was nothing we could do except wait for the doctor, or the medic.

“She is suffering from an infection, caused by food poisoning.” Lord Ar’Taz said.

Both I and Mark turned around simultaneously and looked at Lord Ar’Taz who was standing behind us in shock.

“Sir Ar’Taz, are you a doctor?” Mark asked incredulously.

“No, but Serina can make simple diagnosis.” Lord Ar’Taz asserted. “She has sufficient data on human anatomy within the archive.”

“Serina?” Mark was more confused.

“She is His partner, or combat support artificial intelligence.” I told Mark.

Mark seemed skeptical, but didn’t question any further. “Can you do anything to help her, Lord Ar’Taz?” I asked Him.

“We can.” Lord Ar’Taz asserted. “If you or your medical examiner allows it.”

“This is not the time for that.” Mark frustratingly said. “She is dying. We need to do something, right now.”

Lord Ar’Taz glanced over the street where Albert was standing. Right on cue, the sound of heavy engine roaring across the streets, another Hawkei was quickly approaching us. Then, it screeched to a halt right in front of Albert. There were three occupants inside the vehicle. Two women who were wearing army uniform in the backseat, the driver was a young soldier still wearing his tactical vest and weapons.

The women stepped out the vehicle, while the driver waited inside.

“Sergeant Mackenzie!” Albert greeted the lady who was nearly as tall as him. “I am glad you came. She is over there.” He gestured at us.

“Thanks, Lieutenant!” She said. “We will take over from here.”

The pair ran over to our position followed by Albert. The tall lady who just talked to Albert had a name tag read Sergeant Harriet D. Mackenzie. The Sergeant had dark brown shoulder length hair which was tied into a pony tail. Her eyes were hazel and she also had a mole under her left eye.

Her companion was shorter, probably around 167 cm. She looked slightly over twenty, had short black hair and blue eyes. Since she didn’t have a name tag on her uniform, my guess was her being the Sergeant’s assistant and she was still under basic training. As they moved, they occasionally glanced up at Lord Ar’Taz, though He didn’t really pay them attention and focused on the little girl instead. Perhaps this was their first time seeing Him up close. The young lady seemed more scared the closer she got to us, or rather, to Lord Ar’Taz.

The moment they reached us, Sergeant Mackenzie immediately checked the little girl, while her assistant was carrying a small army version of the EMS (Emergency Medical Services) bag waited. The girl’s condition got worse by the minute. She used the equipment from the bag and as she examined, her expression grew grim. She glanced at us and asked: “How long has she been like this?”

“We don’t know.” Mark said with clear concern in his voice. “She has been like that since we found her.”

She turned back to her assistant and said: “Leslie, tell Chad to get the stretcher over here.”

The assistant whose name apparently was Leslie was somewhat distracted by Lord Ar’Taz’s intimidating appearance. When the Sergeant called her, she got startled. “Uh… Yes, Ma’am.”

She ran back to the second Hawkei, over the driver’s seat.

“What is her condition, Sergeant?” I asked her.

“High fever, abdominal cramps, severe dehydration, difficulty seeing and speaking.” Sergeant Mackenzie concluded the girl’s symptoms. “This is most likely severe food poisoning. But I’ve never seen someone this bad.”

“Can you do anything at all?” Mark asked. “I am not a doctor, but I doubt she can hold out any longer.”

The Sergeant shook her head. “This is most likely caused by an infection. All I can do is give her some painkillers. We can only treat her properly at the hospital.”

There were heavy footsteps behind us. It was Oliver and he was holding a bag of towels, water bottles and ice.

“I couldn’t find any medicine.” Oliver said while gasping for air. “But I hope this helps.” Then handed us the bag.

“Thanks, Sergeant Major.” Mackenzie said. She opened one of the water bottles, proceeded to lift the little girl’s head and gently put the bottle on her lips.

“I know you are in pain, dear.” She whispered. “But you need to drink. We will get you out of here soon.”

While the girl drank the water, Sergeant Mackenzie put some ice on her forehead to ease the burning fever. She looked like a mother taking care of her sick child.

Mark looked back at Lord Ar’Taz. “Sir Ar’Taz, can you help her?”

“We can.” Lord Ar’Taz promptly answered.

This time, the Sergeant was startled. “Wait, you are a doctor?” She asked incredulously.

“We don’t have time to argue.” I chimed in. I gestured at Him and said. “He can do wonders. We should let Him help her, or else the kid wouldn’t make it.”

“But we don’t even know whether His treatment is compatible with her.” She rebutted.

She was right, none of us knew that for sure. But at the moment, I had a feeling if we waited until she was taken to the hospital, it would have been too late.

“Salmonella Infection.” Lord Ar’Taz said. “We have something which can treat her right away. However, she still needs to get checked at your hospital.”

The Sergeant was surprised but her skepticism didn’t fade. She looked at me and Mark, as if asking “Are you seriously putting this innocent girl’s life into this Alien’s hands?”

“If we delay any longer, she would be dead.” Mark blankly said, a sliver of despair in his voice.

Ultimately, she relented. “Fine, I will let you treat her. But if I see anything wrong, I will stop you, okay?”

Lord Ar’Taz nodded, then pulled something from His armor’s top section. It was a small white rectangular box, compared to His hand. When He gave it to me, it was slightly bigger than my hand. It had no special features and weighed around 1 kg. Its surface was oddly smooth to the touch.

The box didn’t have any line which indicated a lid. I wanted to ask Him how to open, when a rectangular hole mysteriously appeared on the box’s surface. What startled me was the box’s surface seeming to have partially melted away and created the hole. There were several blue objects inside. At first glance, they looked like pills but slightly bigger.

“Take one, Lieutenant!” Lord Ar’Taz told me.

I took one pill out of the box and placed the box next to the Sergeant.

“Break it in half and let the child eat it.” Lord Ar’Taz said.

I followed Lord Ar’Taz’s instructions and broke the medicine in half. It was surprisingly crispy and had a sweet fragrance. I gently put the small piece near the girl’s mouth while Sergeant Mackenzie was holding her body up.

“Here, eat this. It should make you feel better.” I told the girl.

She closed her eyes and bit into the medicine piece. She slowly chewed it, then swallowed. Leslie – the Sergeant’s assistant was already back with the driver, Chad. They were holding a folded stretcher. Sergeant Mackenzie told them to wait for a bit. Thirty, then forty seconds passed, which seemed like hours. We all held our breath waiting for the medicine to take effect, while the little girl was showing no signs of change.

Finally, after nearly a minute, she began to breathe normally. When she fully opened her eyes, we all breathed a sigh of relief. The Sergeant touched her forehead to check her body temperature. Her expression indicated that the girl’s fever had dissipated. Earlier, the girl couldn’t or barely sweat at all. Now she began sweating profusely which was a good sign.

The Sergeant smiled, pulled the girl in and gave her a warm hug. The girl was disoriented, but at least, her condition had improved considerably.

Sergeant Mackenzie glanced up at Lord Ar’Taz with the girl still in her chest. Her uniform got stained from the girl’s sweat. Mackenzie seemed to contemplate on what to say to Him. She eventually settled with, “Thank you!”

As usual, Lord Ar’Taz simply nodded in return. Mark smiled out of relief and loosened his fist, while Oliver patted his shoulder. I glanced over and noticed Albert was at the Hawkei’s driver seat. Maybe he thought he could drive better, in case things went bad enough. He smiled and gave me a thumb up.

Mackenzie let go of the girl and wiped her body with the towels Oliver had taken from the next house. She was practically drenched in sweat. As she was wiping the sweat on the girl’s back, she asked: “What is your name, dear?”

The girl looked at her, then at us, she answered with a shaky voice: “Rhea!”

“Rhea? Such a beautiful name!” The Sergeant commented. “How old are you, Rhea?”

“Twelve… twelve years old.” Rhea distractingly answered while her gaze kept shifting.

“Listen, I know you are scared and hurt, but we are getting you out of here. We need to take you to the hospital and see if there’s anything wrong, okay?”

Rhea’s gaze settled at Mackenzie’s warm and gentle smile. Her expression was relaxed when she was told that she was being taken out of here. “Okay!” She said.

Mackenzie lifted her little body up and gently placed her on the stretcher. “Can we go with you to the hospital?” Mark asked.

The Sergeant promptly answered. “Sure, but only after the examination.”

Mark nodded, he looked at Rhea for a second, checking if she was fine. Then, he walked over the front seat with Oliver in tow. Albert kept teasing Oliver that he was at least useful for once. Oliver was clearly pissed but he laughed it off. I stood up and headed for my seat, when something pulled me back. It was Rhea, she was holding my left arm’s sleeve. Her small hand was trembling.

“Please…” She whispered. “Please… don’t go. Don’t… leave me alone.” Her voice cracked, while her green eyes began to water.

“What could possibly have happened to make this innocent little girl become so scared and broken?” That question popped up in my mind when I saw her like that. Then, I remembered the bruises and it clicked. I looked at Mackenzie, asked for permission. At first, she seemed hesitant, but ultimately agreed. I told the guys that I would be going with the Sergeant to the hospital first. They looked at each other for a second, then nodded at me and told me to give Rhea their regards, at least until they could see her.

Lord Ar’Taz said that He would go with the guys back to the base and meet up the Colonel. It was settled that I would follow the Sergeant to take Rhea to the hospital. She never let go of my sleeve even when Leslie and Chad were carrying her away with the stretcher. As I held her hand, I could feel how scared she was. When we were sitting inside the medic Hawkei, she was positioned to be lying down, I sat next to Mackenzie. Leslie and Mackenzie kept wiping her sweat, dirt and mug with both the towels from Oliver and their own. Mackenzie occasionally let Rhea drink water to keep her from dehydration. Seeing an innocent child receiving all the help she could get warmed my heart. Rhea barely spoke, but rather, she just reacted to the surroundings.

According to Mackenzie, they couldn’t use the town’s hospital – St. David Martin Hospital, since it was located near the town’s center, where the battle took place. When the ADF evacuated the townsfolks, they had the hospital staff relocate many of the important equipment to their temporary Forward Operation Base – Goldberg Airfield.

“Uhm… Mister…” Rhea called me while I was lost in my thought. Now she looked cleaner, more like a normal child, much different from her earlier appearance. She wanted to address us, but didn’t know our names.

“I am Jack.” I introduced myself to her. “The lady here is Harriet Mackenzie, and she is … uh…” I didn’t know what her last name was, so I felt awkward to call her first name.

“Charlize, Sir!” Leslie, the recruit said. “Leslie A. Charlize. It is an honor to meet you, Lieutenant Geralt.” She turned to Rhea and said with a cheerful voice. “Nice to meet you, Rhea. The guy who is driving is another rookie like me. His name is Chad Forrestal.”

Rhea acknowledged her introduction, she returned her gaze at me and asked: “Is the monster gone?”

“Monster?” I was surprised by her question. “Rhea, did you see the monster, with your own eyes?”

She shook her head. “I could hear it, from the basement. Its roar, its footsteps were really, really… loud and… horrifying!” Rhea’s voice crack, her eyes lowered as she recalled the horrifying memories. I couldn’t imagine how a child like her felt being that close to that monster.

I placed my hand on her head to calm her down. “Yeah, it is gone. You don’t have to be scared anymore, Rhea.”

“Really?” She looked up, a tear slowly forming in her right eye.

“That is right!” I reassured her. “You remember that big man from earlier? He helped us kill it. He also helped you recover.”

Rhea’s eyes widened while color returned to her face. She nodded at me and asked: “Can I… hold your hand… until we are at the hospital, Mr. Jack?”

“Of course, you don’t have to be scared anymore.” I asserted with her.

The Sergeant and Leslie, or should I say Charlize, both looked away to hide their tears from witnessing such emotional event. In Charlize’s case, I understood why she was easily swayed by emotion on the field, but for Mackenzie? Judging from how she interacted with Albert, she should be an officer like us, so I didn’t really understand. As we drove on, the atmosphere inside the Hawkei got awkwardly quiet when Rhea went to sleep, while holding onto my hand.

We reached Goldberg Airfield in roughly ten–minute drive. We were directed to the medical area where they had set up a field hospital, where they were treating the wounded. Rhea was taken into one of the rooms where the doctor could examine her thoroughly. Mackenzie went inside with the doctor, while I waited outside the hallway.

I finally had some time to relax when I bought some water and food to refill myself. After another 20 minutes, Albert, Mark and Oliver arrived at the hospital. Since Lord Ar’Taz couldn’t fit inside the hallway, we went outside to let the medical staff do their work. We tried to make small talks, but it quickly became awkward since we couldn’t think of anything to say. Obviously, we were all worried for Rhea. Her conditions, circumstances and why she got caught in such a situation, all wrapped around our heads. I looked up at Lord Ar’Taz who was silent the whole time we were outside. For a being who came to our world through a inter–dimension portal, He was strangely good at reading the atmosphere, or rather, earthlings’ atmosphere. Then, I remembered the business with Colonel Hannibal.

“Lord Ar’Taz, did you meet up with Colonel Hannibal?” I asked.

“We have, but we requested your presence.” He said. “Lieutenant Albert Forge has explained the situation with him. He agreed to wait for you.”

Again with this… whatever it was, I wasn’t some big shot businessman who would catch the attention of the people at the top within the society, let alone an Alien General. Frankly, I had no idea what He was. He went from a king, a warrior to a general. It was seriously confusing.

After nearly half an hour of waiting in awkwardness, the Sergeant finally came out and addressed us. “I didn’t expect all of you to be here.” She admitted.

Mark jumped up from his chair and asked. “How is she, Sergeant?”

“She is fine now. Doctor Huxley finished examining her. He took her blood for some testing to make sure, but she just needs some rest for a couple of days.”

Albert and Oliver were overjoyed when they heard the news. But Mackenzie’s expression said otherwise. Both Mark and I had a feeling we knew what she was about to say. Deep down, we hoped that the truth was different, that it would hopefully be less vile and revolting than we thought it to be.

“There is something else.” She said. “We couldn’t ask for details yet, but injuries on her body indicated she was physically abused. Possibly, on a regular basis.”