THE SCARLET WOMEN

Story 1 - Battle With Ourselves

Now I'm called Mr. Commander. It never was hard for me to join them by my father's name. I started working as a medic and helping their wounded ones. Only this was the way someday I could reach devil in the mask. Nothing could lessen my grief and it’s the only way to deal with the aftermath of the war, whether it's wrong or right, I don’t care anymore. The way may not be the same as before, but this is the way to pay homage to dead ones, meeting them without repentance.  The only purpose left in this life is to seek deliverance through death.

Day in day out the hatred grew to turn me heartless. And then I remember, I always was since they left, instead, it's gone rotten inside like a curse left inside of me. And then I remember the brutality of the war which took away all the reasons for peace. Only chaos and pandemonium is left, only hatred and disgrace is left, and if the end justifies the means, I'll die infinitely after killing countable. 

-Mr. Commander, did you see this great news? –A combatant came with a newspaper in his hand.

-What…What news? –I asked. Let me see what news you have got there. I took the newspaper from his hand and my eyes got stuck in the headline, "Fifty dead in the ambush". I could not even imagine how dreadful this war has turned. When I read this line my eyes got wet, a woman with a child was also found dead among them.

-Isn't it great news Mr. Commander? –the combatant told.

-Yeah…Yeah…I was about to leave when he said something which I was waiting for long to hear.

-Tonight Mr. X is coming to visit our camp to congratulate us on this great victory. –he said and left.

I never knew until now that killing people could be a victory too. But I've to prepare for tonight.

I was not quite sure about the exact time of his arrival but I saw that everyone was eagerly waiting for him. The night was growing darker like a black hole.  Men carrying guns were placed everywhere to protect him. Some were already singing the songs of praise for him. They have prepared like a feast for his arrival. I was standing at the corner hiding a knife behind me. Since I turned soulless, I’d been waiting for this night to arrive; it feels like I've waited all my life for this moment.

-You cannot let this moment go,' –I said to myself. I just tried to remember those nights when this demon took away everything; to make myself stronger and do not let this hand tremble to kill a man which always helped others.

-Mr. Commander, are you all right? You're shaking entirely. –a combatant said.

-Oh, no…no…it's just because of more excitement. –I said and tried to calm myself.

-Oh yeah, Mr. Commander, we all are pretty excited to see him for once. –he said.

Suddenly a sound of jeep approached. Everyone got alert and stood in line to shake hands with him. I too stood among all.

He was surrounded by almost half a dozen men and it became difficult to watch him as a whole.  Is he an illusion? –I asked to myself. But only a glimpse of his part could not deny him of being real. He then started shaking hands with men in line and congratulating them one by one. Finally, my turn arrived and I could not believe what I saw. It was him, Mac standing in front of me, not as Mr. X but as General of this army. We kept staring at each other for a while and suddenly he said, 'Congratulations Mr. Commander'. I was speechless and could not say anything. He just moved forward like he doesn't know me at all.

He stood on the stage. 'Sorry that Mr. X could not make this time. But he definitely is very happy with the works of all of you. –he said and started making a speech like a General of this army. I didn’t hear anything at all but was trying to believe my friend; Mac was standing in front of me. What on earth is happening in front of me? How could I deny recognizing that face and voice which always stood by me? Is he here because of me? But why he tried to ignore me? I know only Mac could answer all these questions inside my head.

-Mr. Commander, you've been called by Mr. General. –chief of the combatants said to me the next morning. Also, he's ordered to pack your bag before leaving. I knew Mac wants me there with him.

-Okay, chief; just let me meet some of the combatants before I leave. –I said. Few of them were waving me for the last time.

As I reached to that secret camp, a combatant came and helped me with my bag. 'I'll show you your place, Mr. Commander. –he said. I followed him without saying much.

For the rest of the day, I visited the camp. Some of the wounded were needed in some serious help. I started with them with the medicines left with me from the previous camp. I found that Mac was not around. He was out of the camp for some private meetings with other chiefs of the camps. But I realized that it has more combatants than the previous one. Many of them were very younger and immature. Even there was a quite no. of women with their children too. This camp was more like training camps for these young combatants. It was more like a village eradicated for establishing such camp.

Mac ordered others to leave after that short meeting at night. As soon as we were left alone, he hugged me tightly even without saying any words. I hugged him too. For a while, it felt like the war was over. I already had stopped keeping the track of time but I knew it was after a long time to hug someone like this. I saw his eyes full of tears.

-I never could believe it was you, Mac. –I said. But…why are you here? How you ended up here? Where's Sumi?

-Much thing has happened after you left my friend. –he said wiping his tears. I lost Sumi too.

-What…what do you mean that you lost Sumi too? –I asked.

-Now she is not with us. –he said in a sobbing tone. They took her away from me. Might be they all are together there and waiting for us.

-Oh, Mac…Oh gosh…why this war left us? Why it didn’t take us away too? I knew how it feels to lose them. So I didn’t ask much about it. I just sat beside him and waited for him to speak.

Why few things in life are always rejected to be offered peacefully? What makes us so far away from our own true identity? Now there's no rejoicing in this survival. The truth of the sufferings of this war is the relativism of and against the lord who always got stronger putting us through it. We fall, we broke, we suffered, we screamed and rent, and thereupon, decided to break the cage made of fear to let every pain flow through our veins like cold blood.

-Few days after you left, they started recruiting a man from every family. –Mac said. The things worsen such that they even started recruiting helpless women too for growing their size. Nobody was allowed to leave the village. And those who denied joining or tried to escape were executed in front of all to put fear upon us.

-That night was my turn. Sumi tried to never let me go. I was so helpless that I didn’t even try to stop them.

-Take me instead of him. –Sumi came in front of me to cover me. But please leave him…please God mercy us. She was crying her hearts out but they weren’t human anymore.

-No, Sumi, No…Just let me go. I pushed her back. But I know she never would let me go like that. And she scuffled with them with all her courage left inside her to protect me. And then I joined her too forgetting about all the consequences that could come to us. For that moment we were fighting not for ourselves but for ourselves.

-'Bang'…I was on my knees when I saw the love of my life dying in front of my eyes. Now there's no reason left to fear of dying. I knew I already was as I saw the death of mine both inside and outside.

-I'm really sorry Mac. –I said and felt the same pain as he was feeling now. Now we must end his reign and pay tribute to all of them. We must find him before it’s too late. Do you know where he really is?

-No…I never got a chance to meet him in real. –Mac said. But soon I’ll be meeting him; I guess he’ll soon be arriving here to see the set-up of our training camp. 

-Okay, Mac. We must unveil him and let the devil see his death in our eyes. –I said.

-We'll join them very soon. –Mac said and we both got drifted in our thoughts of our past.

Mac's ruthlessness after Sumi's death had turned him merciless too. I found that he was promoted to the post of General because of it. Nowadays he spent the whole of his days planning the death of more and more people whom we never knew before. I was working the same to help the wounded ones. I was never allowed to join the killing of some innocent people. Mac was protecting me which I only knew.

-If I die before killing him, you must kill him for all of us. –Mac always kept saying to me.

-I swear. But I believe we'll never die before we kill him together. –I said. Since the beginning of this war before and after the prophecy, we both knew where it's going to put us through playing Russian roulette together. For us, it was war; and also for us it's battle with ourselves.