Chapter 28

Opening his eyes slowly, Arthur begins to regain consciousness and in his vision he can see his captain stirring a fire with a stick.

-What is happening? (Arthur)

-I see you finally woke up, by the time you were sleeping I imagine your body was exhausted. (captain)

-Where we are?! (Arthur)

-This is a cave I found to shelter us from... (Captain)

-Where's Mike?! (Arthur)

-There's nothing else we can do... Is Mike already dead? (captain)

Arthur looks outside and sees that it is still night.

-Don't even think about looking for him, we're already far from his body. (captain)

-It's a lie, it can't have been an hour since... (Arthur)

-It's been a whole day since you lost consciousness. Like I said, we're already a long way from your body now. (captain)

The captain stops stirring the fire and lifts his head looking deep into Arthur's eyes with a serious expression on his face. Arthur is scared, but doesn't give up on the idea of ​​recovering his friend's body.

-Even so I won't give up, I'll go now to... (Arthur)

-YOU REALLY DON'T THINK ABOUT ANYTHING! THE ENEMIES ARE STILL ROARING THE REGION BEHIND YOU! (captain)

The captain gets up enraged.

-Even so, I'll still go. (Arthur)

Arthur feels a heavy hand on his shoulders and when he turns to see what it was, he receives a brutal punch in his face, making him fall to the ground. Putting a hand to his face he looks scared at the man who knocked him down.

-YOU DON'T REALLY CARE ABOUT YOUR FRIENDS' LIFE IS NOT TRUE!? (captain)

-Of course I care! (Arthur)

-It's a LIE! (captain)

Hearing those words caused a strange feeling in Arthur, while they tried to convince him of something, they also had an enormous weight, as if it were causing a pain in the one who proclaimed it.

-If you really cared about his life, you wouldn't risk it that way. He sacrificed himself to save your life, if you die for something as dumb as the one you're trying to do then Mike's life won't be anything more than a ****. (captain)

Now a little calmer captain turns and goes back to sit facing the fire. Looking at him not knowing what to do or how to react Arthur is stuck in the place where he was knocked down.

-Come warm up at the fire Arthur, it's very cold. (captain)

Arthur looks out of the cave and realizes that everything was buried under snow.

-A lot of snow did fall while I was sleeping. (Arthur)

-Yes. (captain)

Arthur enjoys a while longer the snowflakes falling on the snow already imposed on the ground and gets up, walking calmly to the front trunk of the fire that his captain brought him to serve as a bench. When he sees Arthur sitting down, he offers a soup he has made.

-We need to eat well, if not, we won't be able to walk until we find help. (captain)

The two begin to drink that soup made by heating water around the grain they carried to nourish themselves during missions.

-You really haven't been sleeping very well these days, have you? (captain)

-How do you know? (Arthur)

-As I said before, you took a long time to wake up, you must have been quite exhausted. (captain)

-I see, that's why you think you were sleeping badly. (Arthur)

Arthur continues eating his soup calmly, making the atmosphere a little awkward between the two.

-Something is happening? (captain)

-Why do you ask?! (Arthur)

- I'm just worried. (captain)

-And you are my father by any chance?! (Arthur)

Captain looks scared at Arthur, after realizing that maybe he was asking them very personal things.

-I'm sorry I said that. But I just can't understand, you were always a person who didn't like to get close to others, didn't want to create bonds and even refused to say your name. Why are you worrying about something like that now? Is it for the sake of the mission? (Arthur)

-I'm sorry, it was a stupid question, just forget what I said. (captain)

With a sad look the captain looks down towards the fire and leaving his bowl of soup on the ground he lies down behind his trunk.

-It's getting late, we have to rest well for we leave early tomorrow. (captain)

-I'll be on guard until you wake up. One more thing, isn't it dangerous to leave a fire burning like that while we're being chased by enemies? (Arthur)

-No need to worry about it, none of them will find us. (captain)

Outside the cave, beneath the rain of falling flakes, were dozens of enemy bodies bathed in blood. Little by little they were being hidden by the falling snow, making no one realize the cruel act of those who killed them.