Soldier In Me

Four: Who Are You Searching For?

Throughout my time at the house, it had grown on me. I finally stopped sleeping on the couch and started to kind of, sort of, maybe call it home.
I'd been in low energy mode since my injury and was not excited about being dragged outside.
My leg had started acting up, it was a common thing, annoying nonetheless. The joint would pop out and I had to snap it back in.
To keep from falling and bruising myself any more than I already have Hadley got me a cane. It was a straight stick with a little curved handle. The handle was covered in a padding thing, made for grip, and the whole stick was made of a polished metal that was lighter than my prosthetics.
Hadley made sure I grabbed my cane as she pushed me outside, promising to get me out of the house for a day
"It's time to reintegrate into society." She said, half-joking.
We went into her car, unlike most, it wasn't a self-driver.
Self-driving cars were not very new. They'd been in the making for decades till people kind of stopped caring and when they were finally out the advertisements were impossible to avoid.
They went through the phase that most innovations do, they were only for the ultra-wealthy, then they got cheaper and more widespread.
We were at the point where self-drivers were mainstream and manuals were becoming antiques, Hadley's definitely fell in that category.
I think it was a hand-me-down, an heirloom nearly. It sure looked like one.
As we got into the car I asked: "Why do you have a manual?"
I again kicked myself for coming off so rude.
She put on her seatbelt. "Its a hand-me-down-" Knew it. "-Plus I like driving, it's relaxing."
"Relaxing?" The idea of being behind something that could cause so much damage made me shiver. Even when I fought it was for a reason, for my country. I didn't want to kill someone by accident.
Hadley nodded with her signature smile. "Yeah."
The car rumbled, full of the energy it collected from the solar panels on the roof. To find a gasoline car was not only rare but they were undrivable.

I had only seen gasoline cars once. I was on an expedition to the disgraced country of Fena. It had been hit by a deadly nuclear bomb that took out the whole country. It had once been the most heavily populated country and when the bomb hit it shrunk the whole world's population by over a billion people.
The whole land reeked with radiation so I and all the other soldiers had on masks, strapped so tight they left marks on our faces when we took them off.
I remember feeling the chunky air, even under the mask and thick layers of uniform. We were walking through the former capital city to retrieve a valuable asset from their vault.
It was a diamond, rumored to be magical but I knew that was all junk. The diamond was chunky and uncut, worth trillions of dollars.
Once we grabbed the diamond and cased it in a box we took it to the decontamination facility where they did just that.
After that was out of my jurisdiction but I know they gave it to Fena's sister country, home to the few living Fena peoples. They placed it in their museum and that's where it remained.
I remember getting the assignment and someone asked: "Why don't they get the diamond themselves?"
The asker had been a new recruit, one who hadn't studied much I had thought.
Fena's sister country, Athua didn't have much of an army. Plus we were the country that the world went to for military support. Every since the war, our army was the biggest in the world and the most well funded.
Galif was the ally everyone wanted. The biggest army, the best weapons.
I smirked, still lost in my memories as the car drove across the countryside.
It was an honor to have served for the best army in the world. To have-
My smile faded as I thought about John. My breath left me.
"What have you done?!" flashed by me but I pushed it out.
I forced myself back to reality ignoring the words that passed by me like rushing traffic. "What have you done?! What have you done?!"

"Are you okay?" Hadley asked, briefly turning to me then back to the road.
I cleared my throat. "Yeah, I'm fine. Where are we going anyway?"
"I told you, it's a surprise."
I scoffed.
After a long pause, Hadley said. "You know when you say you're fine I know you're lying."
I chuckled out of nervousness and let out a breathy "Yeah." I crossed my arms. "With your almighty wisdom, you can see right through me."
"It's not hard, Olivia. You're not a very good actor."
Before I knew it we were in the city, surrounded by tall buildings. As the sky darkened the streetlights mixed with the various lights from the buildings to illuminate the whole city.
I looked out the window a little more intently.
Ads were slapped up on buildings, giant spotlights making sure they were seen. An unsurprising majority were advertising the army about donating to or joining it.
Hadley stopped the car on the side of the road, fed the meter and walked around to my side to help me out. She pulled me up.
"It's just three blocks ahead."
I groaned, only half serious "Walking? Ugh."
She held my metal hand, the other taken by my cane. I always used the cane with my real hand, but sudden desperation led me to switch.
I felt the warmth of her hands to the fullest extent as we walked, and it made the pain lessen quite a bit.
We walked into a street sectioned off of the rest of the city. Cement poles prevented cars from coming through.
The street was bustling, shops all over lit up. It felt somehow warmer on this street, like the aroma of kindness somehow heated the place.
The shops all had open faces, no walls to divide them. When they were closed a metal sheet would protect the storefronts, but right now they shined like lanterns on a dark night.
All sorts of things were being sold, the smell of pastries and foreign cuisine wafted into the air along with all the other sorts of food.
Some shops sold knick-knacks, toys, jewelry. The community here encapsulated almost every corner of the world.
With her free hand, Hadley gestured to all we saw. "This is the Kayline Market, for all ages, for all people."
It really was. The people ranged from as little as a few months being held by their parents to people who seemed like they'd seen the ara before cars. They ranged from the palest to the darkest skin, simplest to most extravagant of clothing. All sorts of people from all walks of life in one place, enjoying each other's company.
I saw Hadley, her caramel hair illuminated like a halo on her head. Her eyes reflected the string of lights stapled to a nearby storefront.
I had the urge to pull her close, but I didn't, for obvious reasons.
I let go of her hand, suddenly feeling disgusted with myself for even entertaining the thought that I did.