Chapter 63: Are You Afraid?

A soldier stumbled out of the combat zone, clutching a deep, jagged tear across his forearm. He almost collapsed against the medical table before Raviah grabbed his vest, hauling him upright.

"Sit down," she ordered, reaching for a suture kit.

The soldier tried to push himself back up, his teeth gritted in pain. "I can still shoot, Doctor. They’re pushing the left barricade."

"You’re bleeding out," she said, pressing a thick wad of gauze into the wound to stop the hemorrage.

"I can fight--"

"Sit!" Raviah snapped, her voice carrying a weight that left no room for argument.

The soldier fell back onto the crate, wincing as she rapidly wrapped a pressure bandage around his arm. She tied off the knot with a sharp tug and shoved him gently toward the rear line. "Go to recovery."

A sudden volley of heavy automatic fire rang out near the eastern flank, accompanied by the distinct crack of a high-caliber sidearm. Raviah’s head snapped toward the sound, her instincts immediately recognizing the cadence of Rhyder’s weapon.

She left her station without hesitation, moving briskly toward the edge of the perimeter fence where the firing was densest. As she rounded an abandoned utility van, Rhyder caught sight of a shadow lunging from a high ledge directly behind her.

"Raviah!" he shouted, throwing his arm up.

Raviah dropped low instantly, her body reacting before her mind could process the warning. A heavy round whistled through the air right over her shoulder, striking the jumping creature directly between the eyes.

The infected body crashed harmlessly into the dirt behind her, its skull shattered. Raviah pushed herself up, her hand dropping to the energy blade at her waist without even glancing back at the corpse.

"Thank you," she called out, stepping up to his side.

"Left side!" Rhyder barked, swinging his rifle butt into the chest of another attacker.

Raviah instantly pivoted, igniting her blade and driving the glowing plasma edge straight through an infected creature lunging for his waist. Rhyder fired twice past her cheek, clearing a path through the secondary cluster attempting to flank her position.

They moved in tandem through the narrow gap between the vehicles, covering every blind spot without a second of wasted movement. When Rhyder shifted his stance to take a broad shot, Raviah immediately stepped into his guard to defend his left flank.

When Raviah raised her hand to unleash a localized wave of energy from her Root, Rhyder intuitively adjusted his fire to drive the infected right into her path.

An infected beast surged forward from the shadow of a burning truck, aiming directly for Rhyder’s blind side. Before the general even turned his neck, Raviah’s plasma blade severed its forelimb, dropping it to the pavement.

A split second later, a heavily mutated zombie leapt from the roof of an ambulance, claws reaching for Raviah’s face. Rhyder’s sidearm fired twice in rapid succession, catching the creature in mid-air and throwing it backward into the brush.

Neither of them spoke a single word amidst the chaos, their movements executing with seamless, practiced harmony.

The intense skirmish raged on for nearly an hour as the military lines held firm against the massive surge. Slowly, the waves of attackers began to thin out until the persistent gunfire tapered into single, deliberate shots.

A heavy silence settled back over the southern corridor, broken only by the crackle of distant fires and the hum of idling truck engines. Bodies covered the asphalt for hundreds of meters, and thick grey smoke drifted lazily through the freezing night air.

Raviah lowered her energy blade, letting the glowing edge extinguish back into the hilt with a soft click. She wiped a layer of sweat and soot from her forehead, turning her eyes to scan the perimeter for remaining threats.

Her gaze caught Rhyder standing near the main barricade, and her breath hitched in her throat. His gray military uniform was practically soaked in deep crimson, the wet fabric clinging to his chest and arms.

"Rhyder!" she cried out, her composure completely shattering as she sprinted across the blood-soaked pavement.

She reached him in seconds, her hands flying to his chest as her panic overtook every professional medical instinct she possessed. "Where are you hurt? Tell me where!"

Rhyder blinked down at her, looking slightly dazed by the sudden force of her approach. "What?"

"Your uniform!" she yelled, her fingers frantic as she tore at his tactical vest, checking his throat, his shoulders, and his torso for open wounds. "Where were you hit? Where is the tear?"

"Raviah--" he tried to speak, stepping back slightly under her intense inspection.

"Don’t move!" she demanded, her hands hovering over his ribs, ready to apply pressure to whatever catastrophic wound he was hiding.

Rhyder reached down, his large, warm hands gently closing around her wrists to halt her frantic searching.

"I’m fine," he said softly.

Raviah froze, staring up into his calm, uninjured face. She looked down at his hands holding her wrists, then back at the crimson stains saturating his sleeves and uniform jacket.

The blood was dark, cold, and already beginning to congeal. It wasn’t his. It belonged entirely to the horde of infected creatures he had cut down along the perimeter line.

Rhyder looked down at her hands, feeling the distinct, persistent tremor running through her fingers. "I’m still here."

Raviah stood completely still, her chest heaving as her ragged breathing slowly began to steady. She looked down at her own fingers, surprised to see them shaking uncontrollably against his grip.

She had faced endless waves of infected, managed chaotic medical bays, and sliced through monsters without a single flinch. Yet the mere thought of seeing his blood had completely undone her restraint.

Rhyder’s expression softened, the cold, distant aura of the general melting away completely in the quiet dark. He didn’t let go of her wrists, holding her steady as the rest of the world faded into background noise.

He watched her quiet realization, his thumb lightly brushing across the inside of her wrist where her pulse was still wildly hammering. When he spoke again, his voice dropped to a low, quiet tone that reached only her ears.

"Are you afraid of losing me?"