Soldier of Time

X: One Simple Soldier (1)

Karen watched her subordinates as they got ready for the exercise, they all seemed motivated, but there was something in her eyes that did not stop worrying her.

“Guys, this is our chance to prove that we don’t need these guys for this mission.”

They all looked up doubtfully. What they had seen minutes ago had destroyed the confidence that Karen had worked on.

One of her subordinates, who was already set, stood up and, with a hint of doubt in her voice, asked, “Lieutenant, can we beat a person like this?”

Karen looked at her as she bounced the question in her mind. Not only had the confidence of her men been compromised, seeing that boy do something that few people in the world could accomplish led her to think about her own weakness.

However, it was still something she could not accept immediately. So she said, embodying all the sincerity that she was capable of, “What that boy did, is not something impossible to do. It’s not the first time I’ve seen something like this either. You know where I come from, the royal guard, my superiors. They are capable of much greater feats than that.”

Suddenly, Billy, the first soldier that Slevin had defeated, stood up. He then asked, “But can you do something like that?”

“Billy,” Karen said laughing, “How many times have I defeated you?”

Billy lowered his head and looked at the ground as he answered, “Many. Since I came here, you have defeated me every time we face each other, but you have never beat me the way he beat me. I have never seen you strike five of us without receiving a scratch, and no matter where you worked before Karen, he is stronger than you...”

Karen wanted to answer, but the alarm that started the exercise had already sounded. Everyone seemed to be distressed by that little conversation.

“Stick to the plan guys, no matter how strong you are with your fists, beating us all in this exercise is not possible. You are the best, remember it,” the lieutenant could only say this.

However, Karen did not notice that her voice failed to express the confidence she desired. It was completely different from the time she encouraged her team before Slevin and Simon arrived.

All of her men ran out into the courtyard to adopt their positions. Five minutes later, the Deer and Simon would come out, and the exercise would begin.

The courtyard was quite large. There was a small two-floor building with three rooms on each floor. Outside of them, there were two stairs that led to the roof of the building, while to access the second floor, they had to use a staircase that was located at the sides of the continuous rooms.

Inside the rooms, there was nothing with the exception of a chair in the central room on the second floor.

Karen had put soldiers on the roof and on two watchtowers that gave a perfect perimeter view of the building and other parts of the courtyard, but not even the lookouts on those towers had a clear view of the small wooded area in front of the building’s camp.

All of Karen’s men were ready in their positions, and with their fingers on the triggers, they knew that anyone who wasn’t theirs would be hostiles, in this case, two hostiles who had strong reputations.

“Tower one answer!” Karen said to the radio for news.

“All quiet, lieutenant.”

“Tower two.”

“No news, Lieutenant.”

Both towers had a visual of the central room on the second floor. In it was Karen with two men at each door on the sides and a young woman sitting in a chair that served as a target for the mercenaries. The young woman observed her hands sitting on the central chair.

“It’s just an exercise Nicol, you don’t have to be scared,” Karen said while looking at her.

The young woman looked up and looked at her smiling lieutenant when she answered, “I’m not scared. I’m somewhat frustrated. I know why you chose me to be sitting here. I am the perfect victim.”

Karen looked at the girl with surprise due to the bluntness. She was silent a moment before she responded seriously, “You have your own set of skills, and when the time comes, we will use them. Do not worry Nicol, now focus on the challenge.”

The girl nodded as Karen looked directly at the grove, waiting to see movement, but everything seemed very calm. On another radio frequency, only two voices were heard.

“You will take care of those females.”

Out of nowhere, one of the lookouts in the watchtower was shot in the chest, and his surprise made him drop the rifle.

“There is one.”

The lookout of the other tower observed what happened, but when he wanted to look for the shooter, her chest was also adorned with a bullet.

“Ready, those two females will not be in your way.”

Slevin ran to the next position keeping his eyes on one of the watchtowers. This seemed empty. The soldiers would stimulate their deaths when they were eliminated.

“Deer, three females at your six, I can only copulate with one from here.”

“Negative. Move to the next area. I´ll take care of these females.”

Slevin stopped. He sharpened his hearing and felt the walking of three enemies towards him. Their boots rattled the stone floor, they did not know where the Deer was, and they walked cautiously.

“Are you sure you saw it here?” The soldier asked who was advancing at the tip of the triangle towards the grove. Around them were several walls that functioned as cover, but they pointed their weapons in the direction of the grove.

“I saw something moving in front.”

Out of nowhere, the young people heard rapid footsteps that made the earth creak. The three of them instantly turned back to back, trying to cover as much of the visual field. Their breaths were shaky, they did not seem calm, and the Deer took advantage of that.

A rifle fell into space between them. The three of them turned in surprise to see a weapon in that place, but before they realized what was happening. A knife grazed one’s neck leaving a mark of red paint on it.

The other two tried to raise their weapons but were eliminated by the Deer’s handgun. The frustrated young men dropped their weapons, and two of them sat down, but the young woman could see the paint mark on her chest.

“How the hell did you do this?” She couldn’t help asking, her eyes wide from disbelief.

Slevin smirked as he took her rifle and looked at the others.

He answered, while looking at their feet, “Your boots make as much noise on the ground as mine. When you turned to see what had fallen, you did not notice my steps. Don’t all do the same task. The numerical advantage is vital.”

And with those words, he ran. The girl looked at him as he ran away, the things he said she had already heard, her training was efficient, but there was something different between him and all the members of this squad.

The Deer took cover behind one of the walls, watching and listening calmly to see if someone was approaching him while he waited for Simon to take the second position.

“In the second area Deer, to graze four females directed to your position, I can eliminate them all if you wish.”

“Go ahead.”

With that order, Simon took a breath, and slowly releasing it, he pulled the trigger. All of his targets were eliminated, all with one shot, all in the center of the chest.

Slevin heard how the boys slammed their weapons against the ground. He smiled, but out of nowhere, he felt someone take him by surprise.

He did not hear him, and he did not feel his breath. Only his thirst for blood gave him away. This subject had already been in battle before and was good at hiding his presence. Slevin stopped time to try to locate that man, but he had positioned himself perfectly in his blind spot and had his finger on the trigger, ready to fire. He did not see it, but he felt it.

Slevin wondered how anyone had gotten so close without Simon noticing.