CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Day 21 : The dog Tag

A day has passed since she heard from the commander that Sergeant Herrera was already gone, he is nowhere to found and no remains have shown, she hopes is still that one of this day they will find the Sergeant and he is being back again. Her hopes keep in her heart. It’s a long day to her without a food to taste to fill her empty stomach and less time of sleeping, she comes to run over the military trucks coming hoping that they have already found Sergeant Herrera. She falls to weaken every time there is no news about him there are times she froze a moment in a middle of the crowd and sees nothing all that she heard are the mournful of the wounded soldiers and the children crying because of no food to feed them.

She back in the tent and decided to take a rest all that she holds right now is the promised of Sergeant Herrera that he will be back to take her away in a place where they can start a life to a place without a war. She wants to sleep; maybe, Sergeant Herrera will visit in her dreams. That, maybe, he will say that he is fine and soon he will be back again, back into her arms.

After an hour Amanda and the commander went inside the tent. Amanda wakes her up, she immediately gets up and holding her head because of pain, she feels dizzy and her surroundings are spinning. 

“What is it?” she asked Amanda and she got surprised when she sees the commander standing next to Amanda.

“We have something to show to you”.

“What?” She looks puzzled and don’t have any idea what are those things they wanted to see  her. If this is all about the man that she loves, maybe it will be a big relief to her.

She follows Amanda and the Commander outside they went in the Commander’s tent. She gets more nervous because the commander gets serious in his face, her heart get beats faster when the commander gets something in a box and gives it to her.

“ I think you should keep it.” The commander said.

“Why? What is this?” She can’t figure out what is the thing she is holding now it is like a silver necklace, it has a printed name that cannot be read because it was totally burned.

“It’s a dog tag…. And it belongs to Sergeant Herrera”.

She just stared at her hand and grinned she holds the dog tag tightly and her tears begun to swell.

"It was found near the camp the place was totally burned out, that thing was found in a blast. We found the bodies of other soldiers, but his  body was not there... only his dog tag was left. We suspected that he might be escaping the blast or he was being captured by the Sans Serif terrorist."

Her hopes keep strengthen that Sergeant is still alive, she keeps holding in her faith that one day he will be coming back alive she can’t wait that moment to come. She went out at the commander’s tent and she still holding the dog tag of Sergeant Herrera, her tears rolled in her eyes she, can’t even to stop crying, she stared at the dog tag and place to her chest next to her heart.

She cried and smiles while walking back at the tent she keeps the dog tag in the small box and put it in her belongings. Her hopes grew that Sergeant Herrera was still, alive, she would wait no matter how long he returned and she knew that his beloved was now worried about her. She doesn’t need to be mourned and to be lonely she knows that Sergeant Herrera is fighting right now; she knows that he will do anything to be back again.

She goes outside of the tent and went to the people of North Simpkins she smiles at them and started to help them again to prepared foods for everyone. The children are happy to see her and they come close to her. The children invited her to come with them; she accepted the invitation of the children. Just like before when she had to have visited the children to teach them to write and read and a sort of song she taught. She can see the smiles of the children she joined with them singing songs and played with them, it’s a relief for her that for a moment she forget thinking about the Sergeant and she has a time to a little laugh and forget what her heart been cried.

She enjoys much with the children and she was not able to notice that time was passing, a long day today and she felt that  it was her happiest day ever since they were stranded here in the woods place.

She back in the tent when it gets darkened children are resting too after had a meal, the old are making a barn fire together with the Arland soldier to reduce the cold. She sat on her bed and gets the box and opens it, she sees again the dog tag of Sergeant Herrera. She took it in a small box and cleaned it to remove those ashes to the dog tag.

She places it in her necklace and make a pendant for her to remember the man she love. She lay in her bed holding the dog tag. A moment later she falls asleep, she did not know how many hours she had fallen asleep, she suddenly woke up when she heard a loud explosion and a series of gunshot. She hurried out of her tent to see what is happening.

She was getting shocked when she sees the total blast, the Sans Serif terrorist found their place, children are crying, she can see the terror and fear in their eyes. Everyone is running and hides from the gunshot fire given by the terrorist. Someone grabs her hands and takes her away from that place and she sees, it was Amanda who takes her away from the chaos between the Arland Soldiers and the Sans Serif terrorist.

She stops for a moment and turned around, she thinks about the children and the people of the North Simpkins who were being closed to her heart.

“Wait, what about the children and the other?”

“Forget about them Chyrill, save yourself… They will be okay, the terrorist won’t hurt them.

“How can you be sure?”

“Believe me”. Amanda said to her.

They had not gone far when they heard gunshots, she turned around and she sees a child was shot by one of the terrorists, she wanted to go back to save the child from the hands of the Sans Serifs terrorists, but Amanda pulls her and takes her away from the bloody place.

“Noooooooooooo…. She never stops from cry and she can’t be able to walk, but Amanda pulls her away to that place.

They moved away from the woody place together with the other who escape from the chaos happening a moment ago, with them are the Arland soldiers who are trying to escape and find a safer place to stay with. Suddenly they stopped walking in the middle of the woods and decided to spend the night not that too far from the nearest town of the place. The commander decided to take a rest and moves tomorrow early in the morning. The Sans Serif terrorists were surprisingly attacked them.

She sat near the barn fire that made by the soldier to make her body warm; she can’t be longer to take the cold weather here in the woody place. She stunned when she remembers the child shots by the terrorist. She witnessed the brutality of the Sans Serif terrorist and right now, she could not even think of how much the suffering of her friends endured from the hands of the Sans Serif.

She held the dog tag she made as her necklace pendant and hoping that Sergeant Herrera would be in good hand and soon they would meet again.