Rest

Liam-31 woke up to the sound of chattering. 

Opening up his eyes, he noticed that his armor had been taken off his body, his black body suit was the only thing covering himself.

Rising up from the bed he laid on -- which he found difficult to do -- he found himself staring eye to eye with two other people in the small tent that he had found himself in.

"Where am I?" Liam-31 asked the man on the right. He was wearing a dark green shirt with cargo pants, along with black boots. His hair was tied up into a bun and was wearing a mask, concealing his mouth and nose.

"You're in the medical tent. You suffered a severe injury when you were fighting the savage and you ended up breaking your spine." The man responded.

Liam-31 thought about that night, remembering how painful it was being thrown onto the tree, unable to move or act as he lay helpless against his enemy. 

His hands formed into fists, his eyes widening as his breath began to quicken. 

Noticing this, the man walked towards Liam-31, placing a hand on his shoulder, calming him as his body recovered.

"Good news is, you won't have to sit on this bed any longer. Your enhanced body has made it easier for us to heal you, and you'll be able to walk around, although we recommend that you use crutches while doing so."

"Bad news?" Liam-31 asked.

"You won't make a full recovery for another two weeks or so. Until then, we can't allow you to wear any of your armor or walk out of the camp. If you ever attempted to do so, the weight from your armor would severely injure your spine, and we won't be able to heal you if that happens."

Taking in a deep breath, Liam-31 noticed his armor laying on a table beside him, it had been visibly worn down and cracked, with its visor shattered.

"Will you be able to fix my armor as well?" Liam-31 said.

"Of course. While it will be a lengthy process, we have the materials to restore your armor. Luckily, the armor core was not damaged, so we won't have to restore that, which would've been difficult to do so." 

Moving his legs from the bed, Liam-31 looked at the ground for a moment, before looking at the man once more.

"Where are the crutches?" Liam-31 asked.

Moving across the medical tent, the man held two crutches in his hands, passing them to Liam-31, who got up from the bed, the crutches supporting his body.

"Is Judas here?" Liam-31 asked the man again.

"Yes, he's outside. I believe he just got back from gathering wood for the fire." The man responded.

"Thank you." Liam-31 said, limping towards the tent door to leave. Unzipping the tent, he found himself face to face with a number of people working around the campsite.

Limping towards the campfire, he watched as people helped to cut the vegetables and meat for the stew they appeared to be making, children running around the tents playing a game of tag, people gathering resources, and men standing guard around the camp with weapons in hand.

Close to the campfire, Liam-31 found a seat, looking to rest his body. Placing his crutches next to his side, he stared at the fire, warming his face as he began to wander in his thoughts.

Suddenly, he felt a firm hand rest on his shoulder. Turning his head, he noticed Judas-12 standing next to him, his helmet off whilst still wearing his armor.

"Glad to see you're okay!" Judas-12 said, finding a seat next to Liam-31 to sit down on.

Liam-31 looked at Judas-12, noticing his brown hair that was long enough to reach his nose. He had a warm smile on his face, and his sweat was visible from gathering wood.

"How did you kill off that savage?" Liam-31 asked, still perplexed as to why the savage had suddenly been killed before it had been able to kill him.

"I'm a sniper, remember? I carry around a magazine filled with high penetration bullets, and the wound you dealt on its neck was enough for me to shoot straight through. Killed it instantly." 

"I see." Liam-31 said, looking back at the fire, feeling the heat and listening to the crackling it made. "Thank you."

"Don't sweat it man. I know you would save me if it ever came to. Hell, you saved me from the savage when I ended up making myself deaf for a while." Judas-12 said with a light chuckle, poking at his ear. "I don't think I'll ever regain my full hearing though."

Liam-31 didn't move away from the fire. It felt reassuring, slightly nostalgic as the warmth enveloped around his body while he listened to Judas-12 talk.

"Say, I think they're about to start serving up meals for the people. Why don't we go join them? I don't remember the last time I had food in my mouth."

Nodding, Liam-31 lifted himself up from his seat, placing his crutches under his armpits, limping alongside Judas-12 towards the smell of food and the laughter from the people.