Something wasn’t right, something was out of place, however Mororo couldn’t quite place his finger on it, and it seemed to be too elusive for his observant self. He sat in a rather dark room, the shadows of night roaming freely around him; however he paid no mind to such petty occurrences, they were normal and comforted him. He was alone, and found it safe to remove his visor and allow his bright golden eyes to scan the room while he was deep in thought, glaring at the walls inch by inch, trying to discover the oddity that was seemingly present at the current moment.
He still saw nothing.
The burning feeling of failure constricted his heart, and he frowned. Lying back onto his makeshift bed, his arm screamed in pain. He grunted and clenched his jaw, his brows furrowing until he closed his eyes.
“Dang” he hissed quietly, rushing to grab his shoulder with his free hand.
As he got comfortable he realized that the comprehension of previous events seemed almost impossible, but happened, he didn’t know what exactly but it happened.
Maybe that was the oddity, the silence, his platoon had either been infected by some virus or dead, this mission went downhill, and there was no doubt about it.
He rubbed his head as he attempted to completely gather his thoughts and put them together, again, however this time he got somewhere.
Mororo and his Platoon had landed on this strange planet, and within twelve hours, their leader began to act weird.
Not the weird you would expect when someone was keeping a secret, but the weird kind of weird, as if his mind was rotting, he was losing any kind of sense that remained within that thick skull. Another four hours passed, and he got a high fever, they had to find ice in order to cool him down. After two hours of that, tensions really began to cook.
The leader suddenly regained lost energy, and stood beginning to rage about the simplest of things, by this time, other platoon members where experiencing the same side effects the leader had only a few hours before, so there really was no energy of resistance amongst the platoon. Mororo seemed to be the only healthy one amongst the group, he didn’t know how, though.
After having escaped the infected platoon, Mororo had taken cover in a high room out of sight of his platoon, however he didn’t know how long his hiding place would remain safe, he could hear the groans of the remaining troop members from below.
His leader was insane, the others were bleeding out or insane as well, this had become a huge game of survival of the fittest between them, the strong lived and the weak perished.
He was pulled from his get together by a hiss of a strange tone, he couldn’t quite identify it.
“Mororo” hissed a Deep and insane voice, it seemed to be far off however.
The dark violet frog listened in, hearing light footsteps on the metal floor below.
“I know you’re in here Mororo, I can smell your fear” hissed the now snake like voice, it was obviously his leader, Tomomo. Mororo remained silent, the worm of fear burrowing through his stomach, he looked to his side, seeing his M16A4 lazer Assault rifle, the new edition. He felt the need to reach it, but making any noise would mean revealing himself to his leader, which would mean combat, which is one thing he didn’t need at the moment.
He began to hear a violent hustle; some sort of metal object was clacking against another, though he wasn’t sure what. He blinked, thinking.
There was an old ladder that led up to his room, but he had completely covered the floor door with heavy objects, and doubted that his leader could get in. But even so, if his leader really did know he was in here, he would not be able to leave.
Mororo hissed and sat up, his shoulder acting against him with waves of pain, he groaned again, clenching his eyes shut as if to shield him from the pain.
Once he was completely sitting up, Mororo reached for his visor, and placed it on his face, the inner screen switching immediately to night vision, he could now see every detail of the room in different shades of green. He sat there until the clacking sound became quiet and the soon stopped, even then he waited a few moments before standing and tip toeing over to where he stashed his weapons, grabbing is assault rifle and lazer glock, stashing them away in some unknown place, he also grabbed some smoke bombs and flash bangs, just in case he needed a way to disorientate his once comrades to get away. He needed to get out of this broken down base, and get the radio’s and get the bloody heck out of there before he was mobbed by those infected Keronians.
He then stood, and walked over to the huge dresser he put over the doorway in the floor, and kneeled down, listening.
There was only silence.
Mororo sighed and then stood again, placing his good shoulder on the dresser and using all of his muscle to push it inch by inch off of the door, it took a good two minutes, and it made quite a bit of noise, but he managed to get it off of his way of exit. Without even considering opening the door, he kneeled down again, placing the side of his head against the floor the dresser once covered.
Still, not a single sound to be heard; how peculiar.
Mororo carefully reached for the handle and stood, his hand grasping the handle firmly, he pulled, the metal door lifting off the ground quietly. Mororo then let go of it as it got closer of the ground, the metal only making a light tapping sound against the cold floor.
Cautiously, Mororo looked through the door way in the floor, down the ladder and to the ground.
The appearance of the area below wasn’t much different from the room he hid in, the darkness still ruled, everything had a light tone of green.
He glared around; checking for any infected platoon members, and then began to crawl out when he saw none. He stepped slowly down the ladder, in attempt to remain as silent as possible. When he got to the bottom, pulled out his rifle and aimed it at the ground, keeping his head up and finger off the trigger. He scanned around, and then began walking through the dark and empty storage room he was in, the leader must be in here somewhere, he had to be. Mororo tended to be very cautious in these forms of situations, while his other scumbag platoon mates would be blabbering away about how fun blowing some brains on the wall would be. He found that rather pathetic to be honest, when they were on the job.
Another thing he found stupid was the fact that all but two of his platoon members ate some native fruits as SOON as they got into the jungle, the fruit is, what Mororo suspects to be, the cause of this sickness.
The private could hear droplets of water dropping onto the ground and making a clicking sound, that was all he heard, something was wrong; very wrong.
It was one of those times where when it was too quiet, something is going to happen, or at least that’s how it felt to him.
As Mororo continued to walk, he began to hear the static of a radio transmitter, success! He had reached the communications room!
He rushed in, and shut the vault like door behind him, looking around, where there any windows?
Not from what he observed. Mororo rushed to the radio and picked up the head set, putting it around his head, he then began to mess with some controls, to find a clear station.
“Come onnn…. Come onnnn” hissed the private, then suddenly he heard a beeping noise, and scowled, one of the wires was fried, he would have to fix it in order to communicate with a passerby Keronian ship. Mororo got right to work, looking in the side and fiddling with wires, tightening the rods, creating sparks, and then he heard the buzz again. Smiling, he stood straight again, and began to mess with a nob, twisting it while listening and saying hello every now and then, soon he had made contact with someone.
Mororo’s heart leaped “Mayday Mayday” he called hearing distant voices in the background of the static and behind the vault door, his heart began to rush
“Identify yourself!” snapped the receiver, Mororo looked over his shoulder.
“Tomomo platoon has gone under, SOS” he barked, not doing as the receiver asked.
“IDENTIFY YOURSELF” hissed the static; Mororo frowned as he heard banging on the door behind him.
“Private Mororo Blood type AB” he barked, looking over his shoulder again “I NEED BACKUP. My platoon has succumbed to a foreign Illness and now they are-“
The door was pushed open, and in came the leader of the platoon.
Mororo gasped at the sight of his crimson covered yellow body, and his blood shot eyes, the pupils constricted.
“CRAP” he yelled, dropping the radio, and pulling out his gun, aiming at the sick leader, he was cornered again.
As Tomomo approached at a jogging pace, Mororo was frozen, he couldn’t move, he was frozen with fear, chains of ice gripping his ankles in place.
Tomomo the lifted up his hand and punched Mororo dead in the face, laughing madly as the private flew backwards from the impact created.
There was a crash, and Mororo yelped, having collided with a shelf containing many folders and papers.
The paper fell like snow would, drift about the cold air for a moment, then fall on top of him.
His shoulder screamed a lobster in a pot of boiling water. He couldn’t help but let a yelp of pain escape his tight throat, he began to rush. Rushing to stand and fight back. It no longer required him to hit his shoulder on something for it to hurt, it just straight up hurt, that whole portion of his body did. He groaned and allowed his arm to hang, using his good one to keep a tight hold on his lazer rifle and aiming, dropping his finger upon the trigger. It fired. Rays of bright light hit his platoon leader who had charged again, the tall and buff frog fell to the floor with another laugh. He had completely lost it.
Mororo then rushed to the radio, and picked up the speaker, he could hear voices across the static.
“Track that signal down!” demanded a female voice, he couldn’t help but find it familiar.
“I am on the planet Blior, 6th planet in the Uglena planetary system, My current whereabouts are in the old rundown military base, But I won’t be able to stay here, Im going out into the jungle” he informed, paying attention to the still fallen leader behind him, his chuckling growing louder and louder.
“No solider! Stand your ground!” demanded a male voice, Mororo shook his head.
“Yes sir!”
“What are the casualties?”
“Six….” Said Mororo, frowning as he continued “Six of Seven….”
There was silence, even the buzz of the static went quiet.
“What? Then who is laughing?”
“I’ll explain later, right now just get over here!” snapped Mororo, feeling his bad arm being jerked at, he was pulled back and onto the ground, he grabbed his glock, and aimed at the leader ontop of him and shot, he yelled at the wave of pain over taking his body, and stood, pulling out a smoke grenade and pulling the pin, dropping it and running out of the room.
“Mororo! Im going to KILL YOU!” snapped the insane frog as the smoke filled the room, he kept running, his rifle slung around his neck.
He ran into a room with a swing door, the door swung back and forth after he rushed through, he allowed his arm to hang, the gun dragging across the tile floor.
Mororo began to cough, little drops of crimson liquid shooting from his mouth and onto the white slate of tile. He quickly reached for balance, and found a slick, cold surface- the side of a sink. He pushed against it, propping himself up as he continued to cough. As he gained control of the coughing spasm, he looked up, not helping but to notice a foul smell.
It was like rot, as if a garbage dump had caught on fire and left to burn to ashes. Mororo looked around, determined to find the source. He stood, and began limping around, following the twisted smell.
It was getting darker as he walked further into the bathroom, he looked around. He could feel another fit of coughs and hacking come upon him, and he quickly grabbed onto a stall door, and bent over, and surely enough the coughs came along. More blood lightly spit out of his mouth, as he was bent over, he could see a flicker of a light whose wiring was torn apart. It flickered once, and then again, he found the will to look up into the darkness, the light remained inactive for a moment, he sighed, feeling as though he wouldn’t find what that smell was coming from.
The light flickered again, and what Mororo saw before him was worse than the sickness. What sat before him was the carcass of the solider he was most fond of, Recoco. This man was an assassin, a very skilled assassin the Mororo knew well and talked to a lot. He actually considered him a friend.
Now….. He was just a corpse.
As Mororo stared, he noticed the detail of his death, he seemed to be ripped apart, he had long scars down his face, a few puncture wounds, and the only other injuries seemed to be caused by ripping off flesh. There where distinct piles of muscle just hanging off his body, it was like a pack a zombies had just run through and killed him then after only using him as a petty snack. Mororo fell backwards, feeling the need to hurl, the smell and sight of that one thing got to him. After throwing up whatever was left in his stomach (which was mainly acid, he hadn’t eaten a single thing since arriving on this planet) he could feel a scratching and burning sensation in his throat. He caught his breath, and turned back to his passed comrade, observing the area around him.
“Recoco” he huffed “Im sorry” frowned the private, he could have helped him at the very least!
But was there really anything he could do about it? His attempts to help would have been in vain, he probably would have died to.
Something flickered in the corner, and Mororo stared at it, focusing on it. Once he got detail, he immediately knew what it was.
It was Rococo’s combat knife, a SOG D25, a very fine combat knife indeed.
Mororo’s brows furrowed, and he walked over, grabbing it.
“I will use this to avenge you, brother” said the private as he looked away from his comrade “I will use it to complete every mission put forth, I will use it to do everything you wanted me to do…” he said, looking at his feet.
“My Memory…”
The swing door to the bathroom suddenly was pushed open and in came another infected platoon member, his eyes where blood shot, his body too was bloody.
This one was big, and buff, he used to be the brawns and no brains kind of sort, though Mororo could not remember his name, he had not tried to in the very least.
All that came from this one where groans, and a few muttered words.
“Help…… me……”
Mororo’s heart sunk, and he pulled the knife from its carrier, holding it in his hand firmly.
There was still color to this guys eyes, was he still in the second stage of the sickness?
“Mororo…” muttered the frog, as he slowly approached.
Mororo felt his eyes widen in fear, he didn’t know what to do now, help, or end this one’s pain.
A bloody tear fell out of this guy’s eyes, and he opened his mouth in a vicious snarl, his canine like teeth glimmering in the available light, his eyes began to glow viciously, it was too late for him.
Mororo growled, now not feeling any sort of guilt for what he was about to do, for all he knew he would be helping at this point. He held the knife firmly and charged, knocking the now infected giant over, and using his knife, he planned on ending this one’s life by a simple cut to the throat, it was a flawless plan, but before he could reach the brutes neck he was kicked back, and fell onto the ground. The knife, luckily, flew out of his hands before he could have possibly landed on it, but now it was coated in darkness. He hissed under his breath, looking at the masculine behind him as he attempted to get up.
Mororo had a sudden plan, it may work and it may not, but it was worth a shot if anything.
Without a second to spare, Mororo ran into one of the darkest bathroom stalls, and climbed up, he looked around, seeing the big guy had gotten up and was now searching for him.
Mororo huffed and with a thought, the night vision setting of his visor took action, everything was a shade of green once more. He looked into each individual stall, looking to locate his knife.
One of the stall doors flung open, Mororo stopped, standing as still as possible, the bloody frog looked around, but then turned away, and went to investigate the others.
With a mental sigh of relief, Mororo continued, and then spotted his knife, grinning he jumped down to get it, he grabbed it, and then climbed back up, looking around for a vent or something he could use for escape.
He was walking over the top part of the stalls. Each step of his was supported by a very thin, plastic plank, his balance was in the very most poor, and he stumbled across each step easily. He continued to keep an eye out on his surroundings, once he spotted an open vent, he began to sneak his way over to it until, something mighty slammed itself on the stall wall. With a gasp, he fell from his standing position, and into the stall, landing hardly on the floor below him. He kept the knife in his hand firmly; looking up to the brute who hand managed to knock him down. Mororo stood, and attempted to push the big guy out of his way, so he wasn’t so cornered in this tiny stall.
A bit of luck shined upon Mororo, he had managed to push the sick frog out of his way, and run out of the stall, able to get a more sturdy position further in the lighted part of the restroom.
The bloody comrade he once fought beside now charged at him, Mororo knew he had to end this now, or he would regret it. Mororo took a few steps forward, feeling the slight worm of regret squirm in his gut, but with a forced move, he sliced the guy’s neck, blood spilling from the fresh wound.
A thick spray of blood rained on Mororo, his eyes protected by his visor, the crimson liquid disrupting the remaining white on his stomach. He closed his mouth and watched as the brawny frog tumble to the floor, his much needed blood pouring out onto the dirty foundation they were standing on. Mororo watched as the remaining life in him leak out with his blood. It dawned upon him that, he had never been prepared for such a predicament, Mororo allowed himself to break down inside, his mental state grew worse. He grabbed the sides of his head and looked around in attempt to keep it together.
Talk about a first experience.
After a few minutes of mental recovery, Mororo gathered his things and left the restroom, ducking back into the shadows, using them as a cloak to hide him from his enemy. He didn’t know how long it would take for the rescue team to get here, and well, rescue him. But until then, he would have to hold out the best he could if he wanted to survive.
Mororo took the corner, and sighed seeing as there was nothing he needed to be particularly worried about. He sighed and sat down, looking at the scratches he had acquired from his encounters with his platoon. Seeing as they weren’t fatal wounds, he then looked at his shoulder, and touched it, the pain quickly ripping through every fiber it could reach. He grunted and removed his hand. Resting his head on the wall behind him, he must have dislocated his shoulder or something. Even though the injury lacked the fatal capabilities, it still hurt like heck.
He could feel his eyelids drop slowly as his bodies needs took over him.
His brain was forcing him into a deep sleep; he couldn’t stay awake any longer. But where he was at the moment was not the best place to take a cat nap. He stood with his remaining energy, and stumbled around, looking for somewhere high up and out of the sights of those sickos. He looked up, seeing a platform that had two walkways leading to it. Yes, taking the night there was absolutely sketchy, however he needed sleep and that was the safest place that was close to him. He looked around for steps that went up to it, and eventually found some. He walked up and found that the platform wasn’t too high off the ground below, which was both a pro and con in itself. You could probably figure out how, yourself however.
Mororo kneeled down, and then laid flat against the floor on his stomach. As soon as he got his breathing steady, sleep took over his eyes, and he was finally out like a light.
Who knows how long it was since Mororo had his last bit of shut eye, Possibly right before his platoon leader went into stage three of this foreign sickness, when he thought everything was going to be okay and when his platoon thought their leader had just caught the case of the common cold. But the sleep he had then was peaceful, calm. What he was going through now was hell. The tension of the situation he was in caused him to be cautious- too cautious for him to actually sleep, and dream, something he so desperately wanted to do. He wanted to dream of peace again, even if it sounds cheesy to you, dreams are taken for granted, Mororo knew this, so he cherished them with every ounce of his inner being. But, even with how much he wished it, he could not dream, but, he could experience nightmares.
All he heard or saw where faint seconds of screaming children. Blood, blood everywhere, flames of sickness and famine ruining every community it managed to rule over. He was frozen, forced to watch such pain without the ability or option to do anything. These were what his nightmares were usually about people forced through pain or decisions they had no say in without the ability to help them. He feared those times, when he had no option but to watch. That’s what he did, he watched, emotions pulsing through his body, he couldn’t speak, or move, he just had to stand, and watch.
Suddenly one of the screaming frogs turned around to reveal the only friend he had made, Recoco, tears where streaming down his cheeks, an expression of horror glued to his face, one of his legs was bent and twisted all wrong. Recoco then turned his whole body to face Mororo, taking slow but steady steps towards him. Suddenly he stopped; everything around him stopped and went silent too. Nothing could be heard but the heavy, slow breathing that came from Reco’s lungs. Mororo looked closer he could see bloody, cream bone ripping through the skin of his comrade. Suddenly, it was as if four claws dug their way through Recocos stomach, and pulled down, ripping skin and muscle tearing out intestines and spraying blood everywhere. Recoco fell, and Mororo opened his mouth to let out a loud yell, but nothing came from him. He stood there with bloody splattered all over his face and front side. Recoco fell to to his knees, and then flat on his face, a pool of blood forming beneath his now dead body.
Seeing an already dead comrade was stressful on its own, but seeing them die right before your eyes and not being able to do anything was beyond worse.
Mororo awoke, but for some odd reason, he wasn’t on the floor, he was being held in the air by his neck. When he looked down to see by whom, it was by Tomomo, he was laughing.
“Oh we’re gonna have fun” said the yellow frog, blood caked onto his face. Mororo kicked and attempted to get away himself, but before he could, Tomomo had chucked him across the room and onto the floor below with ease, as if Mororo had no weight at all. Unfortunately Mororo landed on his dislocated shoulder, the pain rushed through him so fast, Mororo hadn’t known what hit him, all he could do was respond to it with agonizing yelps and yells. Tomomo walked down the stairs snickering, and staring down upon the earthbound Mororo with clear intention.
“oh Mororo… You know this could be much easier for you” he snickered, seeing Mororo’s wails as a response to his accusation.
“All you have to do, is eat, you know you’re hungry” said the leader, taking his sweet time to approach Mororo, for an added effect of intimidation.
Mororo looked at Tomomo, his teeth bore “I want nothing to do with this sickness” he responded, attempting to stand up.
Before Mororo could make it to a stand, Tomomo kicked him hard in the stomach sending him across the room once more.
“Sickness? Who said anything about sickness! You should see it as a ‘Modification’” Countered Tomomo, approaching Mororo who was now coughing instead of wailing.
“oh, and about Recoco, he refused to join us, so see him as yourself in the near future if you don’t eat” added the yellow frog, kicking Mororo once more in the gut, making him cough out more blood.
Mororo was stubborn with such persuasion, as delightful as the ticket away from death might sound; he would rather be dead than dead and still walking.
“over my dead body” replied Mororo stubbornly.
“That can be arranged” said Tomomo, grabbing him by his bad shoulder and tossing him away from the wall he had landed against. Mororo yelped again his shoulder screaming again.
Tomomo looked around, and spotted the knife Mororo had taken earlier, he grabbed it and returned to his victim. Mororo shuddered as Tomomo crouched down beside him, and flipped him over on his back.
“We’ll do this, one cut at a time. Consider yourself lucky im giving you time to change your mind” he laughed and placed the sharp end of the blade on his stomach while holding his good arm down.
He pressed down, and pulled back, leaving a fresh cut where the knife once was. Mororo bit his lip, he could feel it wasn’t a small cut, it was deep, and would release a good amount of blood.
His leader then used the knife to trace circles around particular spots on his chest.
“You know, Mororo. It takes many years of study to know where to stab a man, so that he wont die…” Said Tomomo, not making eye contact with Mororo as he pushed the knife in a particularly tender spot, the blade not striking any organs as it sliced through his stomach, inch by inch, until the blade was completely in his body.
“I happen to have those years of study”
He pulled the blade out, and Mororo wailed in pain, his fist balling up, as if he was preparing to do something.
Tomomo snickered at the agony h was expressing, and then traced another circle in his upper chest area, he then, with a little force, pierced his skin and pushed the knife down, deep, until once again the blade was completely within his body. Mororo yelped again, and with force, used his free arm to punch Tomomo hard in the face, the leader was sent flying backwards, giving Mororo enough time to stand.
Once Mororo was on his feet, he looked to his chest, he could see the handle of his knife just sticking there, he grabbed it and took a deep breath, pulling it out.
He grunted as it was being removed from his body, once the blade was out, he panted, looking at Tomomo as he attempted to regain his feet once again as well.
Mororo took a few steps towards his insane leader, the knife firm in his grasp.
“You don’t think that you will survive this do you?!” snapped Tomomo, looking at Mororo with colorless eyes. Mororo could hear his heart pump, he zoned out the leaders rant. It was pointless, There was no way Mororo would survive this, but its never bad to try.
“GET LOW! GET LOW!” Yelled a sudden, and unexpected voice. Mororo tumbled backwards, he didn’t have the strength to keep his balance.
Mororo’s vision had failed him, everything went black. All he could hear were yells, and snapping gun fire. He could see blurred things from time and time again. Once all went silent, he could hear shuffling feet, and feel something press up against his torso.
Being he was still conscious, he let a grunt slip through his teeth.
“Hey! Anyone home?” demanded a voice, the female voice that had insisted that his radio signal was tracked.
“Mororo! Stay awake!” she snapped, tapping the side of his face lightly.
Mororo opened his eyes to get a good look at the woman who had saved him from his leader.
Albino, pink hat, lighting bolt insignia- Lumimi.
He knew this girl all too well, if he could recall correctly, he went to school with her way back when.
“Well theres a face” he coughed harshly “I can trust” he muttered softly, his hands at his sides.
“oh good, your alive” she huffed and pulled out a telecommunication device .
“Alright, Mororo is still alive.” She called out to some person who may have been waiting on the other line.
“What is his condition?” Asked the male on the other line.
“Critical, He’s bleeding badly and has a dislocated arm, I may need assistance in getting him out of here” she replied looking around.
Mororo muttered something, but she apparently didn’t hear it. She returned her glance to him “What happened here kid?” She asked, staring at him.
Mororo gave a frown at the term kid, and looked around, opening his mouth to say something but when he took air in, he grunted, his chest hurt.
“Okay, Okay, never mind, don’t talk. Just rest” she said, and returned to her communication device “Okay you need to make it ASAP, I have a feeling there are still more of these….. Things in here!” she demanded. Looking around again, keeping her eyes locked in the dark areas.
Mororo blacked out again, this time, he wasn’t able to wake back up.
When he was able to wake up, he was in a small, air conditioned room, the walls where metallic silver color. He was in a bed, bandages covering where he had been cut, his arm securely casted on his chest.
He looked around, it was difficult to breath. There were still fuzzy spots in his vision, but he could see fine at this point.
He heard a beep and looked to his left, a young lady walked in; she was a light orange color.
She looked at him and gave a smile “oh, your awake early” she said, looking at her clipboard and writing something down. Mororo just stared at her, silent, he refused to speak.
“What, no words?” she asked, with slight disappointment in her tone.
Mororo frowned and looked away, staring at a small vase with two flowers in it. He raised a brow questioningly.
“how long have I been out?” he asked, looking at the girl.
“About five days, we were just about to take you off the ship and transfer you to the hospital, your still in bad condition”
“Was anyone else saved?” he asked in a slight demanding tone.
There was no response from the nurse, she just stood there silently, a distraught look curtained on her face.
He frowned, and rested his head on the pillow again, frustration building up within him. He could hear sharp beeping and he closed his eyes again.
“Hey hey…. Calm down, don’t overwork your heart” she demanded, but he ignored her, allowing himself to fall asleep again, he needed it.
He woke up again, during the night, he was in a room now that had a window, in was right infront of his bed, the first thing he laid eyes upon, the lights were off.
He groaned and rubbed his eyes with his good hand, being the other was wrapped up. He heard more shuffling and looked to his side, there he saw a dark grey frog rubbing his eyes, trying to stay awake.
“Neyo?” Mororo asked, unsure of what he was seeing. Neyoyo stood immediately, looking at his younger brother with surprise. “Mororo!” he declared, jumping over to Mororo stumbling once, he was tired.
“How are you feeling bro?” asked Neyoyo immediately, looking over Mororo’s body.
“Better, though im sure the doctors have it under control. No need to look me over” he snickered, laying his head back on the pillow.
“Dude you have been out forever! Like, seriously, let a brother look over his younger sibling” he laughed, concern still clear on his face.
Mororo snickered, and then, there were a few moments of silence.
“Mororo….. What happened out there?” he asked, looking at Mororo’s face.
“meh, Do I really have to talk about it?” Mororo asked back looking at his brother with a questioning stare.
“Well, the press is all over this situation, it’s not every day an operation goes so badly and there is a survivor!” declared Neyoyo, holding his hands up as if he were surprised Mororo survived such a predicament.
Mororo sighed, and rubbed his head, that was the last thing he wanted, being asked what happened while being on screen. He is just really not that social.
“Look, I know you have stage fright, that’s why IM asking you now, so you can deny the press, and I will explain” he said with a smile, taking a knee beside his bed.
That was Neyoyo alright, he enjoyed attention, Mororo, however, was not such a big fan.
“Fine…. I’ll tell you all of what I remember, but it will be simplified, I wont go into unnecessary detail” said Mororo in a ‘bottom line’ sort of way.
Neyoyo nodded “Just how I like it” he snickered and sat down for story time with his legs crossed.
“Well we landed, and got off. We camped there for a day and some of the guys who went out patrolling the area thought it would be a nice idea to try some of the native fruits.”
“heh, I know you, Your not a fan of foreign Fruits” laughed Neyoyo.
Mororo gave him a soft glare when he interrupted the story he asked for. Neyoyo nodded when he saw Mororo didn’t find his humor and shut up.
“Being that I am not a fan of foreign fruits and that im not stupid, I refused to eat any. There was another guy who refused to eat the fruit, his name was Recoco…. Within about twelve hours of the fruit being consumed, our leader, Tomomo, started acting very strangely and he fell ill. Within the next four hours, his fever got worse and we had to find ice in order to keep him cool. Then another two hours passed he just…. Lost all sense, he raged about the simplest things he would lash out at us for no reason. The other platoon members except for Recoco and myself began to experience the same side effects and they eventually just became violent. We watched two brutes attack someone who wasn’t on the same stage of the sickness as they were and they killed him. Despite our attempts to make them stop they just continued, focused on their current target. When they were done with him, they turned to us and another guy who’s illness was going slowly, and we took off. We got separated in the building and we couldn’t find each other. I was attacked later on while I was running, and dislocated my shoulder. I took shelter in an attic like space for the next day, and then decided to leave and call for help. I made it to the radio room, and made contact with… whoever saved me, and was attacked by my leader; Tomomo. I got away and made it to the bathroom. The next time I saw Recoco was in that bathroom where he was ripped to shreds, like, literally. He was the only friend I had in that platoon, so I took his knife so I could keep a memory of him and in there I was attacked by the other guy who we had run off with-“ Mororo choked up, he had to stop for a minute, catch his breath. “The guy was fine when he first walked in, but like, sick. I could have helped him, I was going to. But then he went into the final stage of the sickness and attacked me” Mororo stopped again, and looked away, catching his breath and holding back emotions “I-I had to kill him, for all I knew it would be helping him at that point, he looked like he was in so much pain”
“When I escaped from there, I began to collapse randomly in hallways, I was too tired to continue running. So I found a platform and fell asleep on it” Mororo stopped there thinking, “I only wonder how long I slept, it felt like forever.”
Neyoyo stopped him there “um, Lumimi had said it took them two and a half days for them to get to you… The nurse also told me you were blacking out from dehydration and fatigue… you slipped in and out of a coma. The trauma you were going through was messing with your health…” he added, rubbing the back of his head.
Mororo allowed his eyes to widen and then rubbed his head “Gosh”
Neyoyo nodded “yeah…. So you may be here for some time before they release you” Neyoyo added, a little upset after the fact.
“anyways I woke up and my leader was holding me by my neck. He threw me across the room a few times until I was so tired out I simply couldn’t move, that’s when he started stabbing me and…. Er yeah. Then, Lumimi came and ended him, I blacked out after that and couldn’t remember a thing” he shrugged looking around again, not making eye contact.
Neyoyo sighed and stood, leaning on his bed a bit “Man, and you kept sane” he sighed rubbing his head.
“I probably would have killed myself after the first hour after seeing that first guy being slaughtered” he sighed blinking as if he were about to throw up.
Mororo looked at him “No you wouldn’t have….” He grumbled, still looking away.
Neyoyo opened his mouth to object, but then the door opened, a nurse came in “Alright, visiting hours are over….” She frowned.
Neyoyo looked at her, a nice flirtatious smile on his face “come on, can’t I just stay here with my younger brother? He just woke up” Neyoyo said with a soft voice, leaning on the bed more.
Mororo snickered, he would use charm to get what he wanted, that was Neyoyo for sure.
“ha-ha, I know that trick, come on now, and I might let you in early tomorrow” she chuckled and held the door open for him.
Neyoyo laughed and looked at Mororo, holding his fist out for a bump. Mororo snickered and used his free fist to hit his lightly.
“Bah, it was worth a shot huh?” Neyoyo snickered, and bounced off the side of Mororos bed.
Mororo nodded and looked at him “I guess…”
Neyoyo turned, and looked over his shoulder “hey, I’ll be here early tomorrow with dad… He has been waiting to see you for a while… Here every day up until yesterday.” He laughed, giving his younger brother a wink, and walked out, the nurse placing a hand on his back and shoving him a bit. Before the door closed Mororo could hear Neyoyo say “ohhh a rough one are we now, I lik- OW!” he yelped as the nurse hit him on the head with her clipboard.
Mororo snickered, and then sat back on his pillow, looking out the window and drifting off to sleep.
Mororo woke the next day, the sun was shining, it was bright, thankfully he had his visor on, it protected his eyes from the sudden sunlight.
Mororo hear talking and looked to his side, seeing a silver frog being walked in by a nurse, a brown frog by her side. He was slightly confused, from behind they looked like complete strangers.
When the doors shut, they turned around and he recognized them. Lumimi, and her friend Pokoko. He blinked his lips forming a line, he just watched them.
Lumimi smiled, seeing that he was awake seemed to make her brighter in a sense.
“Good morning Mororo, I trust your feeling well?” she asked, placing a few flowers on the bedside table.
Mororo looked at the flowers, and felt his face heat up some how, though he rubbed it away with his hand.
“Lumimi, Pokoko” he said nodding to them “and yeah, im feeling much better”
There was a slight silence then, Pokoko spoke up “If you don’t mind me asking, what happened in there?”
Mororo blinked, and looked at his hands thinking about it, he knew how to explain it, but…. seemed like he couldn’t.
“uh… I-“ he blinked and looked at them once more “I think, I would prefer not to at the moment…” he said with a small smile.
Pokoko laughed and nodded “You would prefer not to, or you cant?” he asked, snickering.
Mororo rubbed his head “I guess, a little bit in between” he snickered, blinking twice before rubbing his eyes, “Maybe later if you guys have time to visit I can explain it” he said “I owe that much to Lumimi” he snickered.
Lumimi blinked, as if she were somewhere else. “Oh, yes, I was hoping for a little explanation myself” she smiled before rubbing my head “Though, if you would prefer not talk about it, that’s okay, I mean, I want to know but- onoidnsoixnszoidnjoc” she said, spazzing out slightly at the end.
Mororo snickered and rubbed his head again.
Lumimi lit up again, holding her hand out as if to grab his attention “OH yeah! We also came here to inform you that you have been added to my platoon, Luckily we had a spot left, otherwise you may have not been able to get a spot with another platoon” she snickered.
Mororo gave a smile and nodded “oh” he said with a nod “you have my thanks for that” he said with a grin. He heard the door open once more, and looked passed them, seeing an earthly green frog with a white cap walk in, his eyes blood red, worried.
“Dad- he says he’s fine, don’t freak out on him-“ he heard Neyoyo say, but apparently Tosasa had completely ignored his eldest son and rushed to Mororo, pushing past Pokoko and to Mororo’s bedside.
Neyoyo gave a concerning glance to Lumimi and Pokoko, he rushed over to them “Er, Sorry about my dad, he was worried sick”
Neyoyo continued on with the conversation there while Mororo sat up and kept his focus on his dad. With his good arm, Mororo saluted to his father, Tosasa shook his head, and forced Mororo to release his salute and hug him.
“Darn you Mororo, you had me worried sick” he huffed, releasing Mororo from his bear hug “I thought I was going to lose you” he then added.
Mororo rubbed the back of his head, and smiled “You don’t have to worry about me dad.”
“Nonono, Yes I do. As a Father, it is my duty to worry about my son” he chuckled, patting Mororo on the head. Mororo chucked and pushed his hand away, smiling at his dad brightly. “im alive thanks to Lumimi, I am forever in her debt” he smiled, hinting for his dads attention to redirect to Lumimi.
Lumimi flustered as Mororo’s dad looked over “Nah I was just doin my job sir” she said, waving off his attention.
Tosasa smiled at Lumimi, and then looked to Mororo, then back to Lumimi “I still thank you greatly for a job well done” he thanked. Neyoyo gave a grin and looked around “If you don’t mind, I think Mo and Dad need to catch up a bit.” He laughed “I’ll walk with you guys to get some good ol’ quality ice cream” he smiled, cracking his knuckles. Lumimi blinked and then nodded alongside Pokoko “Yeah let’s do that” she smiled, stretching out a bit.
Mororo smiled at them as they turned to walk out “Oh, Lumimi, Thanks for the flowers” he said, yawning slightly. Lumimi nodded “no problem, but Mororo, you and me are going to catch up ya hear?” she said with a grin before walking out. Mororo nodded “Yeah sure.”
When the door was shut, Tosasa turned back to Mororo, sighing “That’s quite a nice lady friend you have there”
“What?” asked Mororo, confused.
Tosasa snickered “oh Come on Mororo, You know what I mean”
Mororo blinked and furrowed his brow “Oh come on Dad, I am not frogging Neyoyo.” He said, rubbing his head.
“Im just saying, if you happen to ever consider a relationship, she may be a good option” He laughed.
“Dad- Come on, really?” he snickered “Look we talked about this; I’ll know when I like someone”
Tosasa nodded and looked up to his son again “I know I know, and I respect that. Just, don’t allow yourself to be so blinded by your responsibilities to miss out on things like these.” He reminded, smiling at Mororo brightly. “I was the same way with your mother…”
Mororo blinked and tilted his head; his father hadn’t really mentioned anything of their mother since she passed away.
“Oh really now? Care to explain?” asked Mororo.
Tosasa snickered and looked at him “You know, I would have dies if it weren’t for your mother, her brother was in my platoon, and we came back to Keron right after being viciously attacked by some foreign canine species. I was losing too much blood way too fast, and when we got off, she was there. She was a medic, apparently there wasn’t any time for me to be transferred to a hospital, so she did her job, and she did it damn well in fact” he laughed, rubbing his head “I had forgotten about her for a while, but I met her again when our platoon returned to Keron after another stressful encounter with the same canines. She was there again for me and my platoon.” Tosasa smiled and pointed at him “Now let me tell you, I didn’t forget her since. I was getting myself into trouble, I was young and stupid and she saved me every time I fell” he laughed. Mororo grinned, happy to hear such a story of his mother.
“Do you want to know what I told her? I told her ‘I am very fortunate to have an angel by my side every time I fall’ and then, we started dating. She still helped me out when I made dumb mistakes. After about two and a half years of our courtship, I finally asked her to marry me.”
Mororo blinked and nodded, anxious to hear the story.
“She said no.”
Mororo frowned and bit his lip.
“But I didn’t stop asking her, she was too good of a catch to loose, she was just worth the denial. After about another three years of me asking she said. ‘Tosa, you keep asking, yet my answer is always the same’ I replied with ‘You are worth every ounce of my effort, the Denial the wait, everything is worth it’ and then, she finally said yes.”
Mororo smiled, seeing that his dad’s expression fell from happy, to depressed.
The son frowned, and tilted his head “Dad….” He frowned, placing his hand on his fathers.
Tosasa’s breathing became uneven, and Mororo could see his eyes become watery.
“When she got sick, I sat by her side, I couldn’t leave and when she finally passed-” His voice was shaking along with his arm, he was trying so hard to keep from just crying his eyes out.
“Dad….. it’s okay” said Mororo, hugging his father’s head with his good arm.
Tosasa stood straight again, sighing “Yeah, sorry, just….” He huffed, his voice still shaking.
There was a moment of silence as the emotions in the room began to tone down.
“You just, get well boy, Ya’ hear?” he said, attempting a smile, but desperately failing.
Mororo nodded to his dad “And you don’t worry too much about me, okay dad?” he said, giving a smile.
Tosasa nodded “I’ll try” he grinned, and turned to walk out, but stopped at the open door.
“Remember what I said-“
“Daaaddddd” complained Mororo, rolling his eyes slightly.
“Alright alright” laughed Tosasa as he walked out “Don’t be afraid to call me for anything” he said before finally leaving the room.
Mororo blinked, and when he was sure that his father was gone, he reached into his hat, and pulled out an old picture. He unfolded it; the picture was separated into four squares. There was a picture of his whole family. Himself Neyoyo his mother and Dad, all happy together at a baseball game they attended back when he was about four, he almost remembered the day, but the details died away with the years as they passed. Mororo gave another smile, looking at his mother, her gold eyes were beautiful, and they were one of the things he remembered most about her. From them, he could always remember what she was like, how great of a mother she was her understanding and ability to make everyone around her happy. They do still say that the eyes are the doorway to one’s soul, and Mororo went by that strictly.
“wow ma” he snickered, still staring at the picture tracing the tip of his finger over the smiles that everyone had on their faces “so much has changed” he snickered, feeling his smile arch into a deep frown.
“Too much….” He huffed, thinking still. Sadly, he didn’t know much at all of his mother, Neyoyo knew all there was to her, Mororo could only hear stories and attempt to imagine what she was like from this picture and what he knew of her personality.
“Wish I could have known you better” he whispered, frowning deeper and leaning back on the pillow, looking away from the picture.
A few weeks passed since that day, Mororo was allowed to get up and moving. Luckily the hospital had a gym, as odd as it was, the exercise was supposed to boost his immune system to prevent sickness during recovery, so visiting the gym was encouraged for those enlisted in the army. Mororo started going after his arm was feeling better, though it was still recovering, he still pushed himself.
He was in the gym, and running on the treadmill, virtually he should have run about 3 miles by now, it’s been about 19 minutes since he started. The mat on the treadmill slowed down, he was still pacing himself, on a cool down. Once his body had gotten comfortable with his slower jog, he stepped to the sides, allowing the mat to slow down itself now. He grabbed his water bottle, and drank about half of what was remaining in there. He stepped away from to treadmill, and looked over his shoulder to find a much taller man looking over him.
He blinked and turned around, facing the brute.
“oh Hello there” Mororo greeted, drinking from the water bottle again watching the man from behind his visor. The orange from gave a grin and rubbed the back of his neck “hey, sorry if I startled you” snickered the guy, looking around “I just could have sworn I noticed you from somewhere” he laughed, stretching his arm.
Mororo shrugged, pulling the water bottle away from his mouth, giving a snicker “Hey, we all have our moments” he snickered.
“Wait- Wait. No I do remember you. ” Hissed the tall orange frog “your that guy that was on the television! My brother was in your platoon”
Mororo blinked, his heart sinking far into his gut.
“u-uh I-“ stuttered Mororo, taking a few steps back. The taller frog stood there, staring down on him with the same purple eyes the guy in the bathroom had.
“You know, I can’t help but think that, my brother could have been helped.” Growled the tall orange from, approaching him with a rock hard glare.
Mororo gulped, and took a few more steps back. Feeling the sharp intention to run away from this situation he was in. The frog then reached out and grabbed his injured shoulder, constricting it under the strength of his hand. Mororo grunted, and bared his teeth, attempting to get free by pushing him away with his free arm.
“Oh does that hurt? Im sorry-“
The door opened.
“Hands off my corporal!” ordered Lumimi, storming passed the equipment, and to the brute, shoving him away.
“You touch anyone else and I will see to it you are suspended from the army for good!” she barked at him, in a drill sergeant sort of way. The brute backed off, and then stormed away out the door on the opposite side of the room. Once he was gone, Lumimi turned to Mororo, the sharp glare on her face still.
“What is with you” she mustered, holding out a hand for him. Mororo took her hand and stood, holding his shoulder which went numb slightly.
She walked him out of the gym, and then faced him outside the door. “Come on now Mororo, you could have taken that guy down easily!” she noted, pointing to the door in doing so.
Mororo nodded, though, didn’t make eye contact with her, he just held his arm and stared at the floor.
There was a moment of silence between them and she sighed rubbing her head “Look, I won’t be there to help you all the time so you need to straighten up and get passed whatever experience you just went through alright?”
Mororo gave a simple nod and looked up “yes ma’am”
Lumimi smiled and nodded “Oh yes, I have some good news for you too! You are being released this evening, so get ready to start work again in about 48 hour’s tops.” She smiled tapping the side of his cheek.
Mororo blinked, and then snickered “thanks for keeping me updated ma’am” he snickered rubbing his face again.
Lumimi snickered, and shook her hand as if she were trying to swat away a fly “Pshhh, Call me Lumimi” she snickered.
Mororo blinked and gave a nod “Yes Ma- I mean Lumimi” he snickered, rubbing the back of his head.
Lumimi smiled, and nodded “Alright then, expect our call and be ready for work…” she said before leaving him. Mororo blinked, watching as she left, waiting until she turned the corner to return to his room and get everything picked up.
When he was just about done, the door opened and a nurse walked in. Mororo gave her a glance over his shoulder and then returned to his things.
The nurse sighed and leaned on the door way “Im going to miss you Mororo, you have been such a joy to take care of…” she said in a solemn tone, fiddling with her pencil.
Mororo snickered and looked at her again, unable to think of any good reason to speak to her at this very moment. Mororo zipped up his book bag, and slung it over his shoulder and turned around to walk out “Thanks for your help miss” he smiled, as he walked past her, though, she had grabbed his shoulder strap and pulled his body back against her. He blushed furiously and mustered, and attempted to step away from her grasp. She didn’t allow him to get away that easy. She then dropped her head back and gasped releasing him.
“You…. Sick monster” She hissed, brushing herself off as if he had made her dirty. Mororo gave a disgusted look and growled looking at his chest. There was a creamy post-it note with some numbers on it. He growled and pulled it off, crumpling it up and dropping it on the ground.
“Yeah Im the sick one, how hilarious” he snapped at her, walking away speedily.
The nurse gave another gasp, but this time it was more startled rather than acted out.
“OH! Why can’t you be like your brother” she hissed, staring at him in a deadly way. He was upset by the fact that random woman would do such a thing to him; it didn’t make sense nor was it in the slightest way official behavior.
Mororo ignored her irritated demands and rants and kept walking, pulling his music player from the side pocket of his book bag, and putting the headphones in his ears, turning the music on shuffle. He walked quickly and quietly, when he got outside he just kept his eyes on the sidewalk, speed walking up hills and across streets. He noticed a few strange glances from random civilians on the streets, but after a simple glance in return from him, they turned away and continued with what they were doing. It frustrated him to be honest, the way they all just looked at him without giving a word of explanation.
Well, whatever. He would just have to live with it from here on out, there was going to be a lot more of it.
