Chapter 3

A Predator Being Hunted

Accidently spilling this out he insulted the teacher.

‘‘I won’t take this attitude from you rookie! Why do you new ones always have to be like this? You’ll learn discipline when you get to the front.’’

‘‘I apologize. This was accidental.’’

‘‘Yes, you see. I told you he didn’t mean it.’’

Ekerd wasn’t looking for trouble so he just added icing on top of the cake.

‘‘So. You will now go on a ride along with a few more chosen soldiers. Your mission will be to surround and kill the counterattacking force at Bzura.

If we win this battle it will be a decisive victory for the war as the river is quite close to both of their major cities.’’

‘‘Understood!’’

‘‘You’ll need to start now, we don’t have time to waste.’’

They went out of the neatly packed office.

The cold September wind was lightly sweeping past their just as cold bodies.

In front of them were a few motorized vehicles, assuming they were going to travel by these there was space for quite a few people.

They were escorted to one of them which had two spaces left.

Going in the packed vehicle they fit in just fine.

Soon the engine fired up and they are off.

This instance reminded Arnold of his military training in his previous life.

That was where he had met his best friend.

‘‘Ah, good old times.’’

‘‘You know I can also see the memories you think of, right?’’

‘‘No I don’t.’’

Everyone in the truck was talking, eating or drinking something.

Arnold wasn’t quite fond of this chaos but he dealt with it.

To his right there was a young, blonde haired lady. It’s quite strange seeing her right here and now.

‘‘What could have led her to join the army? Most importantly, since she is here she must be skilled as the teacher did mention that the division we are joining are the most skilled rookies.’’

‘‘Uuu, maybe she likes you. Ask her out haha.’’

Contrary to where they are headed to, they were in good mood.

Potential death awaits them in the end, but they keep up their smiles.

They haven’t chosen this path and yet, they go along with it.

That is something that takes courage.

So brave, yet so foolish.

Lost in thought Arnold lost track of time.

Minutes passed like seconds.

Taking note of this, the lady took him out of his trance.

‘‘Hey are you okay?’’

‘‘Avoid interaction, avoid interaction.’’

‘‘Yes I’m good, thanks for asking.’’

‘‘I’m Ema nice to meet you!’’

Making a friendly face she did exactly the opposite of what Arnold was hoping for.

Now he’ll just have to go along with it.

‘‘I’m Arnold, nice to meet you too!’’

‘‘Ah shit. Now that I know her name I’ll have to protect her as well, wont I.’’

‘‘Already hitting on girls I see.’’

And so Arnold made another friend unwillingly.

‘‘So, where are you from?’’

‘‘Does Berlin exist in this world?’’

‘‘I am fromm… uhh… Berlin.’’

‘‘Uuu Berlin. I’ve been there once, it’s a really nice city.’’

Suddenly the truck hit its breaks.

Everyone tilted to the side along with it.

‘‘Oh, looks like we’ve arrived!’’

With that they exited the truck one by one.

In front of them there was a river.

The moon’s dim light was reflected by its clear water.

Everyone started heading along the river so Arnold followed along.

Looks like Ekerd and Ema are now friends.

Aside from the gunshots you would hear every now and then the atmosphere was pretty nice.

Those shots were getting closer and closer.

Artillery was bombarding the ground, shaking it up.

Silence has arisen upon the vast fields.

As they were approaching the battlefield shots became more frequent and artillery bombardment became louder.

Mortars and machine guns were present all throughout.

Planes were flying high, adding noise and casting fear in the opposing side.

Tanks were scattered all around, approaching the battlefield.

And with a quick and sudden ‘‘GO!’’ everyone charged in.

Our group did the same.

Without putting any thought into it, Arnold stood upfront, in front of Ema and Ekerd.

His eyes lit up as he reloaded his gun.

He launched in the air and with a few precision strikes, took down the polish artillery.

Everyone’s focus was drifted to him.

Without wasting any time launched back down to get the artillery’s shells dropping them on the ground at random locations and then firing at them.

He caused such havoc that some of the poles started retreating, although they were met by our division, some of them managed to escape.

‘‘Ok. Make it quick and simple.’’

‘‘Hmm, it seems that you have it easy. Yes, yes.’’

Completely ignoring her remarks, his focus was on eliminating the enemy as fast as possible.

In order to stop their retreat, he shifted sides and went behind the river, firing explosive spells at anyone who dared to try and escape.

All whilst overlooking Ekerd and Ema.

He destroyed all bridges to make escape even harder.

Afterwards he threw fire at them, burning some alive.

Facing this otherworldly creature some of them dropped down from shock.

Morale was crushed in an instant with the non-stop fire from Arnold.

‘‘Just what is he?’’

Ema couldn’t help but ask the same question everyone is asking right now.

Some tried to shoot him, their bullets collapsed upon reaching him.

A lot of people were screaming things like:

‘‘He is the Devil.’’

‘‘What are we being punished for?’’

For most it was like God has come down to Earth to bring judgment to people.

Looking around, Arnold stumbled upon Ema.

In a second, his heart dropped.

He saw that someone was firing at her.

He immediately launched down to kill him.

Ema saw that and looked at him with a face of appreciation.

He was going upward with pride.

When he felt a cold projectile hitting him.

It tore through his shield and hit his back.

Another one followed, this time it exploded launching him down.

Turning around he saw someone flying.

His eyes were shining with anger.

Arnold couldn’t move. His only thought was: ‘‘Has someone else been summoned here?’’

Ema’s expression suddenly shifted. Her eyes widened seeing this turn of events.

Ekerd’s reaction was nothing short of hers.

Everyone was surprised.

Fire stopped for a second. It was like they had established a ceasefire.

Arnold’s lifeless body dropped down into the river.

‘‘Not so easy now, is it? Haahaha!’’

Like a predator being hunted, like the world turned upside down. He was surprised, he was fooled…