Duty, Honour, Love

Daisy felt uneasy sitting here with the other families from her apartment block. She should have been out there with the others but Laura Rollins had ruled her unfit. She had wanted to join the Militia but she was still under Laura Rollins counsel. Daisy knew full well she had a limited set of skills, comms and accounting amongst them. She had liked to volunteer to operate the comms but that had been denied to her. She had never felt so useless in her life. Friends, people she knew were out fighting and she was stuck in the shelter sitting at a table.

“It will be ok Daisy,” Abe said to her.

He and Jenny his wife where seated opposite. Jenny reached across and held her hand in a motherly way. They’d both been like the family she had yearned for. Not like her real family both her parents distant and an elder sister that had ignored her as if her birth had been a mistake.

“I know how much it hurts,” Jenny said to her withdrawing her hand.

“I feel so useless, so afraid,” Daisy admitted. She was glad she was with Abe and Jenny. They’d helped her through her nightmares, which was why she was having sessions with Laura Rollins. She was reliving her trauma at the hands of her would be rapists night after night.

“You’re a grown woman,” Abe said to her. “I understand better than you think, if you want to stay then stay. But if you go Jenny with be heartbroken if anything happened to you.”

“I have to do something, to help.”

Abe nodded thoughtfully and fumbled in pocket withdrawing a small pistol. He placed it in Daisy’s shocked hands. “Just make it back safe!”

Daisy hugged the two with tears in her eyes. They made her feel as if she had something to live for, something to protect it eased her troubled soul.

She exited the building into the deserted streets. The sound of distant gunfire echoed around the buildings. Half a block later she stumbled onto a scene of devastation. Smoked billowed front shattered shop windows and there were streaks of blood on the floor. A burning shuttle blocked the road along with the bodies of dead raiders and a few civilians scattered around it. Daisy felt bile well up in her throat she wanted to puke but it was a sound of someone crying that broke her out of it. A woman in a dirty brown business suit with a smudged white blouse was sitting propped against the side of a building. Her once expertly coiffured hair hang around her face, her makeup smeared. A large tote bag clutched to her chest.

Close by was the remains of a drone.

“Do you need help?” Daisy asked the woman. She was sure she’d seen her somewhere before?

“It’s my ankle, “the woman groaned. “I think it’s broken.”

This was something she was more familiar with she’d helped Olivia learning to render first aid. “I’ll see what I can do!” She reluctantly stripped the shirt off a dead man wanting to vomit.

Daisy returned to the woman. “This may hurt.” She gently manipulated the injured foot.

The woman uttered a feral growl but never screamed. Daisy considered her options

“I think it’s a sprain it doesn’t seen broken.”

“Good,” the woman gasped sweat rolling down her face. “Help me up.”

“Let me strap that up first.” Daisy strapped the ankle the best she could.

The woman regarded her carefully. “You’re one of the Terrans aren’t you?”

Daisy nodded. “Daisy,” she said.

“Eloise Jenner,” the woman replied.

Daisy helped Eloise up feeling her wince in pain. “Sorry,” she apologised.

“Don’t be, my stupid fault I got into this mess in the first place.” Eloise paused letting the pain fade. “This is not good.”

“We have to get you to hospital,” Daisy told Eloise.

As much as Eloise wanted to stay and report on the fighting she was practical enough to know she wouldn’t get far. “We’ll have to walk I’m afraid we won’t be able to get any transport Security has locked down all vehicles.”

“Can you walk that far?” Daisy wasn’t sure how far they had to go.

“If you help me.”

“I’ll do the best I can.”

Daisy helped Eloise to her feet she leaned heavily on her good ankle. She took Eloise’s tote bag it was heavier than it looked.

“Which way,” Daisy asked Eloise.

“This way.”

Together they headed in the direction Elise had indicated. They stumbled along Eloise leaning on the younger woman just glad to be up and moving. They hadn’t gone far when they found the scene of a massacre. Bodies of civilians lay strewn across the roadway men, women and children all dead. This time Daisy actually vomited heaving her guts up and rasping for breath. Eloise tried hard to gather up her professionalism but failed miserably. Daisy shook with a mix of anger and revulsion. All the dead that she could see where missing their right ears. They’d even defiled the children. Elise took several deep calming breaths. Sitting hard on the ground when Daisy let go of her.

“Sorry,” Daisy apologised.

“Daisy hand me my bag. Erikino must see this see what we are fighting for, see the monsters for what they are.” She wasn’t going to yell at Daisy from dropping her she could see the look of horror in her eyes. But Eloise had a job to do no matter how distasteful it was.

Daisy reluctantly handed Eloise her bag. She could see Eloise was trembling in pain breathing hard through it. Eloise pulled a small box like device with a lens and two pairs of headsets with earpieces and microphones. She handed one of the headsets to Daisy.

“Wear this we can communicate easier with these!”

Daisy put it on, next she was handed the box like device with an eyepiece and a lens. There was a large red button on its side.

“Just point, look and press the red button,” Eloise instructed her. “It has auto focus. Focus on my face, press the red button and the camera will do the rest.” Eloise put on the second headset adjusting it to fit snugly on her head. She took a wipe from her tote bag and wiped the smudges of dirt off her face. Eloise took a deep breath with a nod to Daisy she spoke,

“Eloise Jenner of Erikino News Network reporting from the scene of the latest raider atrocity, Innocent Erikino slaughtered by raiders!”

As she did that the pile of bodies stirred. Daisy bit back a scream. A bloody boy near her age emerged from the pile. He had short hair, blood dripped from the hole that had been his ear while more blood trickled down from the wound in his neck. He was traumatised that was clear enough in his eyes.

“Keep filming,” Eloise ordered through the headset as she limped over to him.

“I thought they’d come back?” the boy whimpered tears streaking the blood on his face.

“You’re safe now!” Eloise said to him.

“Eloise we need to get him and you to hospital,” Daisy reminded her.

“Carry on recording Daisy,” Eloise said in as much pain as the boy was.

“You’re both in no condition to go anywhere,” Daisy countered.

“We’ll make it I need this story, Erikino needs this story we will make it!” Eloise declared but her face was saying otherwise.

“My neck hurts,” the boy complained.

Daisy was no expert but a bullet had creased his neck a centimetre or more and he would have been dead. “We need to go?” She was getting a chill down her back

“Of course,” Eloise replied. “I got enough material here.” She looked at the boy. “You have a name?”

“Andre,” the boy said hesitantly a tear trickling down his face.

“You can help me.” Eloise waved Daisy back when she tried to help. “And Daisy here with document our journey so Erikino can see how brave you are.”

“How about Andre do this and I help you?” Daisy said.

“It’s better this way take it from me.”

Daisy wasn’t about to argue she wanted to be away from here. “Lets go?”

The trio stumbled on Daisy increasingly frustrated she was supposed to be helping but here she was holding a camera the fittest of the three. Signs of fighting increased the nearer the got to the hospital. Daisy was glad they hadn’t encountered any raiders. She could see the hospital rising above them a welcome sight. Several green uniformed Militia vaulted the barriers and rushed towards them. They had been rescued.