Trigger warning: Potential rape

Kang Chan reflexively lowered his rifle.

“James!” he called as he ran toward the cave.

James urgently followed.

The twigs on the ground snapped underfoot as they ran through the bushes. Kang Chan couldn’t care less about stealth now, though.

Clank!

As soon as they reached the entrance of the cave, they held their rifles up and took aim. They then found Smithen also pointing his rifle.

“What’s wrong?” Kang Chan asked.

The women inside the cave were still tightly hugging the children, looking pale with fright.

“They resisted when we tried to search them, sir!” one of the soldiers answered.

As Kang Chan examined the cave one more time, one of the terrified women wiped her tears away with her right hand. She then glanced at Kang Chan with bright eyes.

“James. Ask them what’s wrong,” Kang Chan ordered.

Smithen looked flustered when James glanced back at Kang Chan.

Will these motherfuckers listen to me?

Kang Chan’s eyes glinted, making James quickly follow orders.

A woman clutching a child tightly against her tried to answer through her tears. She kept glancing at Smithen as she spoke.

“Move back,” Kang Chan told Smithen.

“Captain, it’s not what it looks like…”

Kang Chan cracked his neck, silently threatening him. Smithen quickly took a step back.

“Relay exactly what I’m about to say to the natives,” Kang Chan said.

“Oui,” James quickly answered, having noticed the atmosphere.

“We’re just passing by this cave,” Kang Chan said.

Once James relayed that in English, the women and children inside the cave shifted their gazes between Kang Chan and James.

Kang Chan continued, “We have no intention of hurting anyone. We’ll also share as much food and water as we can, so nothing will happen if everyone just stays put. Does anyone have any weapons?”

After James relayed Kang Chan’s question, all of the natives shook their heads, including the woman who had been wiping her tears.

“Can any of you tell me why you screamed a moment ago?” Kang Chan asked.

After a brief silence, somebody answered from further inside the cave. They sounded worried and hesitant.

James turned his head toward Kang Chan. He looked as if he found their answer slightly absurd.

“They’re asking if you’re the god of death that the rebels mentioned,

capitaine

.”

What the hell does that even mean?

The natives started to explain, perhaps because they saw Kang Chan’s expression. This time, multiple people talked at once.

“They’re grateful you took revenge for their dead families and killed the rebels in their stead. The tribes and rebels in Ndulele call you the God of Blackfield, which means the god of death of the black land. It appears in their legends.”

“Tell them to stop spouting nonsense and just tell me why they screamed.”

As soon as James repeated Kang Chan’s question to the natives, more women and children talked.

“They claim that the God of Blackfield is Asian and that he fought against Abdul Janelle’s rebels alone,” James relayed.

Why are we talking about different things in one conversation?

“I got it already. Just figure out why they screamed,” Kang Chan repeated.

James said something to the natives.

Right after, the natives shouted with joy inside the cave for the first time. The women and children then simultaneously stood up and gathered around Kang Chan.

With their palms spread out in front of their faces, they kneeled before Kang Chan and mumbled something.

“They’re blessing your future,” James explained.

Kang Chan was about to go crazy.

“Okay! Last chance. Tell them to explain why they screamed.”

James relayed Kang Chan’s question again. In response, the women spoke loudly, blatantly looking in Smithen’s direction. Kang Chan wasn’t sure if they were acting that way because they trusted him.

“What is it?” Kang Chan urged when he saw James stiffening.

At that moment, the woman who had been crying placed a young girl who looked about ten years old in front of Kang Chan.

The young girl was wearing a large and stretched-out cotton t-shirt and shorts. She had curly hair and bright eyes.

Could it be? Did Smithen sexually assault this young girl?

Noticing spite quickly filling Kang Chan’s eyes, James quickly explained, “The woman claims that Smithen placed his hand in between the girl’s legs. When the girl said that it hurts, Smithen pointed his gun at her, so she screamed…”

Kang Chan turned his head to the girl again, whose gaze had dropped to the ground. The woman who looked like her mother kept wiping her tears away with the back of her hand.

Kang Chan hung his rifle around his shoulder and swung it behind his back. He then approached Smithen.

“Captain…”

Kang Chan knew the son of a bitch had a gun. However, they were too close for Smithen to shoot him with it. On the other hand, Kang Chan had forcibly swung his rifle behind his back because he felt as if he’d shoot Smithen if it was in his hands.

Pow!

Kang Chan suddenly punched Smithen’s Adam’s apple, sending Smithen falling backward.

Pow! Pow! Pow! Pow!

Gasping for breath, Smithen placed his arms in front of his chest to block Kang Chan’s kicks.

This fucker dares block me?

Swish! Pow! Swish! Pow!

Kang Chan mercilessly struck the back of Smithen’s neck with the heel of his military boots.

“Captain!” Smithen urgently shouted, seemingly able to breathe again.

So you can breathe, then?

With his left hand, Kang Chan grabbed a fistful of Smithen’s hair and held his head up. He then slapped Smithen with his right.

Pow! Pow! Pow! Pow! Pow! Pow!

Blood spattered all around them. Smithen’s writhing grew weaker by the second.

“Captain!” James urgently called. He then restrained him from behind.

“Move!”

Out of anger, Kang Chan turned his head to look at James. If he had to, he would have beat James up as well. However, when he saw the desperation in James’ eyes, his anger slightly subsided.

“I won’t kill him, so let me go,” Kang Chan said.

James carefully stepped back.

Kang Chan grabbed Smithen’s head with both hands. He looked as if he was holding Smithen’s ears.

“The hell are you crying for?” Kang Chan asked.

Smithen was actually crying.

This motherfucker is crying because he got beat up when he forced himself onto that young girl?

“Smithen,” Kang Chan called.

“Oui…”

“What do you think is worse, strapping explosives to the natives or doing something that’ll haunt that girl for the rest of her life?” Kang Chan asked.

You don’t know the answer, do you? I’m not so sure myself.

Kang Chan felt as if he’d break Smithen’s neck if he kept talking to him. Hence, he headbutted the man with all his might.

Swish! Bam! Thud!

James grimaced as he watched. When Kang Chan stood up, he quickly looked away.

“Go and tell the other soldiers to come here, then give ten C-rations to the natives. We don’t have a lot left, so make sure to distribute it properly,” Kang Chan ordered.

“Oui,” James answered, then walked away.

Smithen remained sprawled out on the ground, his head lulled to one side. Looking down at him, Kang Chan took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth.

Chk chk. Chkk!

Kang Chan took a slow, deep drag, filling his lungs with smoke.

“

Hoooo

!”

He then exhaled it all out of his system.

Is it bad that I get the urge to kill when I get angry?

After looking at Smithen again, Kang Chan looked up at the sky behind him.

The battles he had fought lately were different from his fist fights against the thugs in South Korea. Here, they weren’t fighting to kill someone’s spirit or to see who was stronger. Rather, they fought to survive. That was possibly why Kang Chan got the urge to kill whenever he became enraged.

Can I really get used to this with time? Will I even get to live long enough to see that happen?

Kang Chan took another drag.

He was probably having trouble because he had never been in this kind of environment before. Once he got used to this life, he should be able to differentiate when he actually needed to kill, when he just had to get angry, and when he just had to beat someone up.

“

Hooo

.”

Kang Chan blew out cigarette smoke. It was a first, but he missed Enzo.

What would Enzo have told me if he was here?

Clank. Clank.

The other soldiers came down. After seeing Smithen, they carefully approached the cave and gauged Kang Chan’s mood. While a soldier who was carrying an injured soldier on his back was heading to the shade in between the trees, James took out some C-rations and opened them.

Even though James had clearly warned the natives not to cause a commotion, they couldn’t seem to help themselves. Kang Chan watched as the children ate with their dirty hands and the women fed their children the crumbs that had smeared around their lips.

As he lit another cigarette, Smithen frowned deeply and moved his head.

“

Ugh..

.”

Clank. Clank.

Kang Chan approached Smithen. He seized him by the collar and pulled him over.

The headbutt had left a concussion on Smithen’s forehead, the blood that gushed out of it covering his nose, mouth, and chin.

Seeing Kang Chan, Smithen grew frightened. It was a pathetic sight.

Kang Chan smirked.

Swish! Pow!

Since Kang Chan was holding Smithen by the left side of his collar, his head snapped and dropped to the right.

After hitting him again, he shoved Smithen to the back as violently as he could.

Thud!

Dust rose from the dry land and quickly settled on the blood seeping from Smithen’s forehead.

“Can we smoke, sir?” a soldier asked Kang Chan after he turned away from Smithen.

“Do what you guys want. Get some rest,” he answered, then sat on the ground and leaned against the cave wall.

***

Pierre Raon blankly stared at the tall and dark-skinned informant standing in front of him. The man had been assigned to maintain communications with the rebels.

“They call him the god of death,” the informant said deeply in Broken English. He then pointed at the back wall with his index finger.

Pierre Raon figured that direction had to be where the noisy new recruit was.

“Hey! This doesn’t make sense. Aren’t the rebels exaggerating?” Pierre Raon asked.

“Abdul Janelle’s death has shaken them up, but we still have to take their numbers into consideration.”

The informant made hand gestures as he spoke. Pierre Raon clenched his teeth to suppress the urge to break the informant’s finger that kept moving in front of his eyes.

“How did the remaining rebels react?” Pierre Raon asked again.

“I think they’re planning to launch a large-scale attack on the recruits before they can meet up with the 13th Regiment. They’ll look for an opportunity once the recruits leave the village that Abdul Janelle took all of the men from.”

“Alright. You can go now.”

“Will we mobilize the Foreign Legion’s special forces, sir?”

Pierre Raon stared at the informant. The latter would most likely use his answer to negotiate with the rebels again.

“No, we won’t,” Pierre Raon answered.

The informant nodded as if he had expected as much.

“If you’ve got something to say, then out with it.”

“France wants to kill all of the rebels here, right?”

“So?”

“Have they checked if there’s another Eye of Ndulele? If something like that exists here, then…”

The informant’s index finger went up as if it was going over a hill, then descended right after. “The rebels would’ve run away, not put their lives on the line.”

“You’re spouting nonsense! Go!”

The informant picked up the envelope that Pierre Raon had thrown at him. After shrugging, he left the office.

Pierre Raon turned around and leaned against his desk. He then took out a cigarette from his cigarette case and held it in between his lips.

Pierre Raon doubted he’d survive in the DGSE if they issued such a reckless command just to see how the rebels would respond.

Chk chk. Chkk.

“Hoooo.”

He wondered what kind of order the DGSE would give if the new recruit survived long enough to reach their target location.

If he had to guess, then they would probably send the recruit to Congo or Gabon[1], the worst area of operations for the Foreign Legion. The rebels here were like kindergarteners compared to the vicious ones there.

How long would the recruit survive in a place even the 13th Regiment had trouble surviving in for two months?

Regardless, Pierre Raon hoped the recruit would die here. That would be better for both of them, considering he had to report to the higher-ups.

***

About thirty minutes had passed since they shared the C-rations with the natives.

Nothing special happened since except for the commotion Smithen caused when he begged for forgiveness as soon as he barely came to his senses.

“We’re leaving. James—tell the natives that we’re leaving. Give them the same amount of food you gave them a moment ago,” Kang Chan ordered.

In response, the soldiers stood up from their spots. James did as instructed as well.

The women inside the cave immediately responded. One even rushed toward Kang Chan with her hands in front of her face. She knelt in front of him as if asking for his blessing.

Kang Chan looked at James.

“They want to follow us. Since they met male outsiders, the rebels would come and kill all of them. The Sunnies would torture and burn even the children."

“Tell them that’s going to be difficult since we have to join the others in the military camp.”

James relayed Kang Chan’s response, and the women gave a reply three times longer than his.

“They’re asking us to at least take the children. They claim that the adults will be fine for as long as we can use the military camp to send their children somewhere the rebels in this area won’t be able to get to.”

Even James looked as if he was in a predicament now.

Kang Chan turned to their wounded, then looked at where they had to go.

“God of Blackfield!” The woman who had been kneeling before Kang Chan stood up. “Save us, please.”

Kang Chan understood the woman’s desperate wish better through her eyes than her words.

She reached out with her long and thin arm to pull a small girl in front of her. The girl burrowed into her arms, but she just kept pushing her away to Kang Chan.

1. A country in Central Africa ☜