Corpse March

Chapter 28

It’s a quiet night for the Deathless stationed at the wall surrounding Takakumo. Just like any other night. One of them scratches under her face plate. She has been for the past three hours. Getting stuck with the night watch sucks, and this is the second week in the row her squad’s had to put up with it. Still, if it ever comes down to it, they’re the only thing standing between Takakumo and the outside world so they stick it out. 

One of the Deathless walk over to the table where they’re keeping their radio equipment and tunes in to the frequency of Lady Gleam’s camp. 

“Squad 8 reporting. Front gate is clear, Lady Gleam.”

Then, out of nowhere, the darkness of night is broken by the blinding brightness of a pair of headlights. They can barely make out the silhouette of a train, a Monarchian train. Everyone stands still, fearful that even the smallest movement will sic the metal beast on them. Then, the silence breaks. 

“NOT CLEAR, NOT CLEAR! I REPEAT, NOT CLEAR! MONARCHIAN TRANSPORT SPOTTED”

The Deathless scream into the radio, praying that the message reaches Lady Gleam in time. 

———————————————————————————————————————

“A Monarchian attack?!”

The deathless manning the comms at Gleam’s camp slams her fist on the table. 

“Dammit, DAMMIT! Not now!”

She scans through all the channels, searching for the universal frequency. 

“PATROL UNITS, A MONARCHIAN TRANSPORT IS ABOUT TO ENTER TAKAKUMO CITY. CONVERGE ON THE OUTER SLUMS OF TAKAKUMO AND INITIATE EVACUATION PROCEDURES. LEAVE NO ONE BEHIND!”

She takes a moment to breathe. A moment to collect herself. 

“Strike teams, this is upper command, report.”

“Commander, this is Alpha leader, standing by.”

“This is Beta leader, standing by.”

“Gamma leader, standing by.”

“Delta leader, on standby.”

“Epsilon leader, standing by.”

“Zeta, standing by.”

“All strike teams intercept the Monarchian Transport. Leave no survivors and maintain comms network. Keep us updated.”

“Copy that. Lady Gleam’s will is so.”

There’s the sound of revving engines as teams beta to zeta take off at full speed. It’s so loud that she doesn’t hear the footsteps behind her.

“What is the meaning of this, Aharen?”

“L-lady Gleam!”

She stumbles on her own feet trying to back away from Lady Gleam.

“I- I didn’t mean to… offend, my lady, I was merely exercising my authority during an emergency–”

“I understand, Aharen. You may retire to your tent.”

“But Lady Gleam, I–”

“I will take it from here. You’ve done well.”

“...Yes, my lady. It is an honor to be praised by you.”

Aharen hurries out of the tent, and Gleam picks up the radio transceiver. 

“Alpha team, this is Lady Gleam. Rendezvous with camp. There’s a special payload that needs to be delivered.”

“Your will is so, Lady Gleam.”

———————————————————————————————————————

From inside the Monarchian transport’s cockpit, Asuka and Kikimi stare back at the Deathless. All around them, the scrolls containing Tsuki’s sorcery thrum with life. Its whole interior is just like this, covered ceiling to floor with papers and diagrams. Each one an artificial heart that circulates life magic into the train’s metal. 

“Your orders, Asuka?”

“All ahead full.”

“ALL AHEAD FULL!”

Kikimi yells into the car behind them where one of Tsumugi’s soldiers yells into the next car where another of Tsumugi’s soldiers yells into the car behind them and so on. The whole train is filled to the brim with all fifty of Tsumugi’s troops. They all fidget with their guns. If not their guns, then they fidget with their makeup. 

With surprising agility, the train lurches forwards at its top speed. Asuka grabs onto Kikimi, and Kikimi grabs onto the wall. Everyone else is knocked from their seats onto the floor. A few guns go off. They’ll just have to pray no one was hit, because right now, the train’s speeding past the checkpoint at the velocity of a speeding bullet. The Deathless barely manage to leap out of the way as the Train smashes right through the cobbled together checkpoint.

At this speed, it should take them one hour to the heart of Takakumo. One hour to the Curia, where they’ll be safe from Gleam’s scrutiny as soldiers are forbidden from setting foot in that place. Kikimi takes a deep breath. There’s no turning back now. Outside, in the pitch black, Kikimi sees meadows pass in the blink of an eye. 

“Deathless approaching.” 

“Tsk– Already?” 

“Deathless approaching at…” 

Asuka squints through the darkness. 

“One o’ clock. ETA 10 seconds.”

“DEATHLESS APPROACHING AT ONE O’ CLOCK! ETA 10 SECONDS!” 

Again, the chain of yells as the orders travel to the back of the train. People scramble to take cover against the right wall. 

“5 seconds.”

“5 SECONDS!”

The chain of yells then all is quiet. All are silent. Kikimi closes her eyes. Images of the day prior come to mind. She remembers the cold steel of Haru pressing her gun against the back of her head. She remembers the trembling in her fingers when she pulled the trigger and shot Haru in the head. No matter what, she can’t let that happen again. 

“3 seconds.”

“3 SECONDS!”

She can’t let herself get killed, nor can she let herself kill anyone else. The latter more than the former. If she dies, then fine, she dies. If anyone else kills anyone else, that’s fine, the blood is on their hands. But the moment she takes another’s life, she becomes just as bad as Haru. She cocks her rifle as she settles underneath the window for cover. Asuka does the same next to her.

“Brace.”

“BRACE–”

The only warning they get is the distant revving of a motorcycle’s engine before the glass window above Kikimi’s head suddenly sports a gaping bullet hole. Then another. And another. A fusillade of bullets spray through the train’s broadside. A few dents nearly puncture rusty metal she’s hiding behind but it holds, just barely. She tries to make herself as small as humanly possible while the barrage rings out. She listens for that key moment. That key instant that their counterattack begins. It comes with the silence of ceasing gunfire. 

“RETURN FIRE! AIM FOR THEIR BIKES!”

This time, no more yelling is necessary. The moment someone hears Kikimi firing, they start firing too, causing a chain reaction. The sound of thirty eight assault rifles, eight submachine guns, and three handguns all firing in a tiny space nearly renders Kikimi deaf. She can feel the recoil pushing her assault rifle’s stock into her shoulder bone but she ignores it and just keeps shooting. Even if it’ll bruise later, she keeps shooting without halting. She sees blood spurt from one of the muzzle flashes. Someone falls off a motorbike. Dead. 

“I SAID THE BIKES! SHOOT TO MAIM, NOT TO KILL. I REPEAT, SHOOT TO MAIM!”

But it’s no use. No one hears her through the din of the firefight. There’s a squelching sound. Someone screams. Not good. Kikimi ducks behind cover and reloads. Her hands work like clockwork, retrieving a full magazine from her pants, releasing the empty magazine with her thumb, then slotting in the full magazine with her index finger as a guide. She tries to get up to keep firing but her shoe slips on something. It takes only a cursory glance at the floor to see what. Blood. Immediately, her consciousness retreats into her skull. She stops being Kikimi and becomes someone watching Kikimi from afar. The girl named Kikimi scrambles out of the cockpit and into the first car. At her feet is a girl lying on the ground, there’s blood blooming on her blouse. 

“MEDIC!”

Try as she might, the sound of her voice does not even manage to rise above the din of gunfire. Rather, it’s like she isn’t saying anything at all. But she can see her. The girl with the red leg warmer, denoting her status as a medic. Kikimi gets up to wave at her, but too little too late, she realizes her mistake. Time slows to a crawl. She sees it. The eye of a bullet traveling through a window and straight towards her. She stares at it. It stares at her. It flies like it’s moving through molasses. Is this it? She supposes it is. But then, she sees it, another bullet, flying perpendicular to the first. It crashes into the first one’s side and knocks it off-course, buying her just enough time to get back into cover. She turns her head back to the cockpit to see Asuka, handgun raised, eyes glowing a deep red. Did… Did she just shoot that bullet out of the air? 

“Get down!”

Asuka’s voice cuts through her thoughts. She drags Kikimi along the ground back into the cockpit. The girl’s sticky blood coats Kikimi’s back. It feels disgusting, but she buries the thought. There’s no time. 

“Thanks for the assist!”

“Don’t mention it.”

Asuka only nods as she blindfires into the darkness. Or, at least, Kikimi thinks she’s blindfiring. There’s purpose, intent with her every shot. Somehow, with every shot, another motorbike goes silent and a muzzle flash falls behind into the distance. Even though she could just as easily go for the people, she seems to be targeting the wheels on purpose, just like Kikimi. One by one, they disappear into the darkness. Finally, the deafening gunfire ceases. For a moment, it seems like they’re finally in the clear. 

“Is… is it over?”

“No.”

Asuka turns around to face the train’s rear.

“One hostile remaining.”