Desolation

Separation

August 2024
New York
...

Mino went back to his tent after paying his last respects to Titus O'Neil.  He took measured steps towards his tent, biting his lip in pain as he went. Maria came up beside him out of nowhere and supported his weight.

"Maria, you don't have t—"

"Captain, let me help you just this once."
Mino stared at her and noticed her head was slightly lowered and she wasn't looking at him.

Mino closed his eyes and sighed.
"I'm being a burden," Mino couldn't help but say. He felt so useless at that moment.

Maria's head immediately snapped up. "You've been nothing of the sort. If anything you've been—" She bit her lip and managed to cut herself off before she said something inappropriate.

Mino looked down at her and observed her.
What was she about to say?

Maria cleared her throat and looked away shaken at the fact that she made direct eye contact with the Captain at such close proximity.

Two minutes later they were in Mino's tent where Jonas and Mark were already waiting. Mark assisted Maria in helping him on his bed.

There was silence for several minutes before Mino broke it.
"I'm sure you already know..."

"...we're being left behind."

"The Omega Team, Sigma Team and the Beta Team are proceeding with the mission because I'm currently indisposed."

Mino clenched his fist. "If you choose to follow them I won't hold it against you."

"Captain!" It was Mark that spoke. "How could you even suggest that?"

"You're injured, do you honestly think we would leave you here?" Jonas added somewhat offended.

Mino looked at his team and he could see the admiration on their faces and his chest tightened uncomfortably. He wasn't used to being relied upon before the nuclear war but he had gladly taken up that role.

He needed to guide them, protect them and lead them. They had to find their safe haven and he had to find his mother and his friends; Tegah, Claudia and Alyssa.

He needed to believe, hope, that they were still alive after all those years he and the others have been hiding underground from the radiation.

Mino made up his mind. Maria, Jonas and Mark were also his family too now, he needed to protect them too. He faced them with a determined look.

"Alright, team. We're going to find that safe haven and we're going to stay alive while doing it. We're just four now, the less the better, and the faster we can move."

Mino looked down at his wound and saw the blood that had spread through the gauze. "I'll heal in a few days."

Maria came closer to him and checked his temperature.
"You were scratched by a Recluse, its claws are extremely sharp and contains venom that might prevent your wound from healing quickly."

"I'm going to perform a second detoxification to rid your blood of any toxins that may be left in it." Jonas stated. He was also part of the Medical Division so he knew a thing or two about the Recluse and how their body worked.

Mino nodded as he quietly laid on his makeshift bed.

By night fall, only the Alpha Team remained at the camp they'd set up the night before in the thick forest. The air filters used from the night before had long since been replaced to make the air non-lethal for them.

The bioluminescent trees and algae around them glowed brightly making the environment look almost ethereal. The colours ranged from green, light pink to blue.