Entrenched part 2 (Tank Hunter)

 You had to admit that it was nice to be somewhere other than the frontline. Sure, the fact that you couldn’t hear the sound of gunfire was somewhat strange but other then that you were enjoying the change of scenery, not a single speck of dirt in sight. You had been sent here a few days ago with you having been taken from the front line and told that there was an ancient bunker underneath the battlefield and that the commanders wanted to see if there was anything inside of it that could be used in the effort. Soon Amelia, the tank hunter that you were assigned too, was also taken off the front line and told that her mission was the exact same, your commander giving you a map and sending you on your way with her. This led to both of you wandering around the rear for quite a long time, any landmarks that were on the map having long been destroyed at this point. However, you’d eventually find your way to the entrance of the bunker, having to break it open a bit before Amelia could actually fit through, moving into the dust filled darkness underneath you,the sounds of war becoming more and more muffled before they became nothing.

The bunker was clearly ancient, dust covering every single wall and floor that was inside it, the place seemingly having been abandoned before even you were born. Amelia would walk forward, saying that she would see if she could do anything which you thanked her for as she left, leaving you to wander around the facility at your own leisure. You’d move forward into a much larger room, seeing that the roof was roughly two floors higher then the room you had entered into the bunker with. You’d notice a insignia in the dust, wiping it away with your finger to feel both dust and whatever rotting material that made up the walls coming off with it, leading you to decide that it was probably for the best that you didn’t mess with the walls anymore, less you cause a cave in.

That would bring you to where you are now, wandering one of the many long, winding halls that the bunker was filled with, dust clinging to each and every one. As you wandered you’d wonder to yourself if there was anything within the bunker worth salvaging especially given how technology had advanced since the days before you were born. Still, you had heard rumours of super weapons being hidden within Said bunkers,  things that would shock even the most hardened of soldiers and, if found, could kill millions of demons in the time it would take you to kill a dozen. Still, even if all that was inside there was ammo, there was still a chance that the ammo could be reforged and blessed with the blood of the meta Christ to be used by the tank hunters and other units.

That was when your mind moved back to Alicia, the woman herself being a creation of the blood and the flesh of the meta Christ, his words painted onto her skin. Since that conversation you had with her on the battlefield,you had become more and more obsessed with knowing more about her, especially since she didn’t really have a full range of emotions after the transformations. Still, you couldn’t help but feel like those emotions were still under there, waiting to be triggered by something with you also wondering if you could see what was under the helmet if all of this ever did come to an end. Although that made you wonder if she had a face or not before you would recap to yourself about all the times you had tried, and unfortunately failed, to get her emotions to come out.

You had tried to make her laugh a few times, throwing a few jokes her way which would always fall flat, the woman asking you what the point of it was. You also attempted to extract some memories out of her but bringing up normal experiences regularly people have, assuming that she must have had some memories of her past lives moving around inside of her mind. This would also fall flat, the woman saying she didn’t recall any experiences like that hit she noted it must have “felt nice” which was a reaction less out of emotion and more out of just making you feel alright with your choice. Either way you were running out of ideas but you figured that maybe sharing your own experiences with her would let her feel something especially since she didn’t have her ow-

“Have you found anything?” A feminine voice would say with you turning around to see that Amelia was standing there, her elongated body looming over you, the woman’s rusted helmet hiding her face from you.

“Nothing yet. What about you?” You asked, the woman dragging her rifle along with her before she’d flip it up to rest it against her large neck.

“Nothing. All I’ve found is books and some medicine. I would imagine the medicine would have rotted at this point so I left it.” She explained in a matter of fact manner, the woman still looking down at you as you spoke.

“I guess so. It’s weird, not hearing the sounds of shells falling and gunfire. My ears probably haven’t heard anything this quiet in years.” You said as she nodded, the woman letting out a couple of hums to herself as she did so.

“It is strange, yes. I must admit that I am missing shooting those tanks, keeping them from reaching the front.” She Said as she would move her gun to her hands, feeling the weight of it inside of her grip.

“Do you ever miss home? Or being anywhere but the frontline for that matter?” You asked as she would shrug for a moment, still rubbing her fingers against her gun as she responded.

“Not really, I can’t remember any of what I was before. Do you miss it?” She asked as she twisted her head with you sighing and sitting down on a rock that had fallen from one of the walls, figuring you would be here for a while.

“Yeah, I do. I worked on a farm before all of this, don’t you know?” You said as she would nod at you, the metal covering on her neck clattering together. “I used to work the fields,we planted wheat mostly because that’s all the church gave us. They said they needed bread for some areas of the front.” You explained as she would go to speak, crouching against the ground so she could be semi-level with you.

“What was it like, working the fields? Is that where you learned how to run so fast?” She asked, the woman’s gun hitting the floor with a light clatter.

“Yeah I guess so. I used to have it take whole carriages of wheat and run them down the field to get them hooked up to the transport carriages. Arguably getting you your ammo was a lighter load although the wheat didn’t have the chance to explode like the bullets do.” You said as you chuckled, the woman nodding as you looked at her. “That’s why I fight,y’know? For the fact that I’ll be able to go back to being a farmer, one day. Maybe you’ll go back to what you were before?” You asked of which the woman didn’t respond for a few seconds.

“I don’t know what I was before this. I just know that I must kill the demons, as the meta Christ commands.” She explained in a matter of fact fashion.

“Oh yes, I do want to do what the meta christ commands. I have to say, things were a lot harder before you showed up.”

“Is that so?” She asked as she would twist her head to the side again.

“Certainly. When they kept sending the tanks over we were facing near destruction. We’d have five gunners on the front shooting at one tank to try and stop them from advancing.” You said, recalling the sounds of the bullets recoiling from the metal. “It got to the point where  they’d just aim for the wheels and hope that it would pop the tracks, then it was waiting until the tank was out of ammo.” You explained with you remembering watching a demon climb out a tank and promptly get ripped to pieces.

“Sounds rough.” She said with you noticing a slight waver in her voice as she said it.

“It was. One time I was running to get ammo and the tank managed to aim for the depot and blew it up. If I had got there a second too soon then I’d have died. Still, it hurt like shit, especially with all the shrapnel that got thrown all over the place.” You explained, recalling that explosion like it was yesterday. You remember running to the hut and watching as one of the walls collapsed before it promptly exploded, the fire lashing against your feet and the shrapnel flying through the air. The sound was the worst part of it, it must have been the loudest thing that you had ever heard with the only thing that made you realize that you hadn’t been made deaf was the sound of your ears ringing.

“Do you think you’ll ever go back?” She asked, the woman’s words wandering around the air as she stared at you through the metal grate in her helmet. “To the farm, I mean.” She clarified.

“Hopefully, one day. I want to see my family again, you know? Mother and father were too old to be enlisted, I just hope they’re doing OK at the farm.” You said, moving your body backwards to rest against the wall. “That’s the real reason I’m doing this, for them. I just want them to be safe really, I don’t care too much about the church of the meta christ or any of that.” You explained, not knowing how she would react to that, if she would react at all. She would stay silent for several moments, the woman eventually getting up and shuffling herself across the ground and next to you, folding her limbs  against each other. She’d then look over to you and placed her hand onto your shoulder, the woman’s touch being soft and somewhat comforting despite the woman’s rather huge size.

“I want to comfort you, Anon, I, I just don’t know how.” She would explain, slight quivers of sadness appearing in her voice as she spoke. “We will win this war, one day. It is what I have been taught.” She said, her head swaying from side to side as if she was arguing with the voices inside of her head.

“I know we will. What do you want to do, when it’s all over?” You asked, seeing that the conversation was clearly sparking something inside of her and you wanted to encourage that spark to burn brighter.

“I want to feel again.” She said, lingering on her next words for a moment as if to wonder what she actually meant by that. “I know I felt things, once, before the transformation. The warmth in my chest, the turning of my stomach, the wetness of my eyes. All of that is gone now. I want to feel it again. Just a moment of it.” She explained as she turned her head to you, the woman’s eyes being almost visible behind the helmet. “At this moment I do not feel sadness or anger, I only long. Like hunger.” She continued, as if to explain that her needs weren’t emotional but instead about a  purely biological need to survive.

“Then, when this war is over, I’ll help you with that.” You said as she twisted her head over to you, seemingly doing so in muted shock. “Does that sound good?” You asked, the woman nodding as soon as you stopped speaking.

“Yes, that sounds good to me.” She Said,the room being filled with silence for several moments before she spoke again. “Shall we go back to searching for anything of use here then? Together,this time.” She asked, the woman getting back onto her feet as you’d do the same, a smile pushed onto your face as you did so.

“Sure, let’s do it. Lead the way, Amelia.” You said, the woman nodding before she turned and started to walk, her long legs striding through the darkness as you followed. As you’d follow you’d wonder if you could really give her the full palette of emotions that she was wanting after all this time. You knew the spark was there, she wouldn’t be demanding her emotions back if there wasn’t a slight bit of resistance to her new body inside of her but you knew that harnessing it, letting it roam free was going to take a lot of work. It was work you could do, you had been serving in the trenches for god knows how long at this point so you were sure a couple of years getting her able to show her emotions wouldn’t be too strenuous. But for now you were stuck inside of this ancient bunker, walking around from place to place and finding whatever you could find for this war effort, so you could rid the demons from this world and help Amelia find herself afterwards.