LOVE PLAYLIST

Silver Stranger (katana_j)

She was still nursing her broken hand when a rifle was pushed at her. It was amazing how broken fingers could work a trigger when a whip at your back was involved. In the end, she was probably lucky to have been conscripted before she could prick another customer. The Strongarm lady, with her ability for boundless strength, was only mildly miffed at her and had slapped her hand away. She might have come home with more than just broken bones after that.

Seventy-three days in the Choke and she was still alive. She had gotten used to the faraway sound of bullets but she has yet to see the front. The Choke was nothing more than a bombed-out strip of land connecting Norta to its neighboring state, the Lakelands. Decades of battles had destroyed whatever life used to be in it, and now only fog and smoke from explosions covered the ground.

Conscripted soldiers like her spent most of their years digging trenches to duck into, blindly following a Silver official at times, pushing back the Lakelanders' own conscripted Reds only to be pushed back by them the next day. Why the Silvers never fought on their own with their godlike abilities was beyond her. They looked too busy parading between their high houses.

Counting the days was pointless though. Not a single Red in here knew when his conscription would end. The best to hope for was to go home for a respite, a few days to spend with family, before they drag you back. That usually happened right before they send you to the front though.

Sometimes, if one is lucky like her father, you get sent home on disability when, after constant battles had sucked out your soul, they also take some parts of you physically in a way that feeding you in the barracks is costlier than to just send you home.

Most of the time, a mere letter would find its way to your family, thanking them for your service. Which, truth be told, would most likely be Yue's fate. She could fire a rifle, all right. She just couldn't hit the mark. She wondered how many more lines she could make on the wall before a letter with her name would be made.

The alarm sounded and she dragged herself out of the rags that served as her bed. The dull brown uniform that looked like it was made from patches swallowed her small frame. Months of heavy military training with measly meal portions had taken their toll and her cheekbones peeked prominently under her cap. Her feet, in boots that were too big, marched towards the grounds for the daily drills. Before she could get there, a Silver officer crossed her path and pointed right at her.

"You! Follow me, now!"

Her back snapped instinctively at the order and she fell in step behind him down an unfamiliar hallway that led apparently into the dungeons. For a second, fear shook her when he pulled out a ring of keys and slipped one into a lock. Her mind ran over the events of the previous day and came up with no reason why she would be thrown in here.

She took a step back but he motioned at her impatiently to enter. She stared at the emblem on his arm. A Magnetron. Most of the Silver soldiers were, the ability to control metal was a convenient skill to possess during gunfights.

It was useless though, to identify what kind of Silver she would face up against if she dared to ignore orders. She had no chance against any of them. With that thought she stepped apprehensively into the cell.

She thought her bunk was bad. But this was no place for anybody who was half-alive. Death and decay wafted from every corner of the small space. Only a small sliver of light peeked from an opening near the ceiling, and it landed on nothing but a small streak of silver.

Silver blood.

Her eyes widened and they followed the streak until she could make out the lump of a man on his hands and knees. His shirt seemed to have been long gone, judging by the amount of grime on his torso, his pants were full of dried up silver, and his boots had broken soles.