Soldiers And Beasts

5. Ashes And Sins Of The Adamant

Narrative Pov.

John was spared death, even though he knew he didn't deserve it, and because deep down he valued death more. John hated the position he was given while under the P.O.W concatenation of The New World Leadership, but it wasn't as bad as he made it out to be. Though they denigrated and assaulted him, Faith, Sloan and Alice were always there for him. Ruth, despite at first showing absolute grievance towards John, has become quite sympathetic towards him after discovering that he never knew his mother, and thus began to understand from a different perspective how never knowing one's mother affects someone, which explains why Ruth became more affable towards John. Lt. General Hoffman was, at the very least, watching out for John to keep him alive until they decide what to do with John. As for Annika and Nina, they didn't seem to care what happened to John. They would be disappointed if they were to let him go, but it would make them happy to know that he will be killed. As of right now, John thought of himself as a P.O.W even though The New World Leadership never intended to make him see it like that. Though he was a human, an enemy of the anthros, they still treated him like he was one of their own, except for Annika and Nina. John was currently restocking the ammo while under the supervision of Ruth, which served as his very first task at his beginning as a P.O.W.

John's Pov.

"How many do I have left?" I tiredly ask Ruth, rubbing my eyes. "Just five more and then we move on to your next assignment. Don't worry, take your time, take your time! We have all day and tomorrow!" She said, holding her M27 IAR sideways. "Thanks." I thanked her, casually resuming back to my duties.

"I don't get you, honestly." I sighed, still keeping up with arranging bullets into each magazine. "What do you mean? You're still alive, aren't you? What more is there to be cheerful about?" She asked me and I scowled at her, "I don't have ANYTHING to be cheerful about." I replied and she seemed to lower her head a bit in shame, "Sorry for asking." She said and I just rolled my eyes.

"What I mean is, you lot were talking about killing me if I didn't say anything, so what's with the sudden change of attitude? I know Annika and Nina won't change, that much is true, but why you? Out of the three, why you? That's what I want to know. What made you all of a sudden have a change of heart?" I asked her. She suddenly shifted to a troubled face, presumably because of my question. Ruth darted her eyes around the room like she was trying to avoid my gaze but she eventually spoke up, "I guess I just find it odd that...you, a human, was thanking anthros for being kind. Plus, the fact that Lt. General Hoffman spared you the trail of death is honestly a huge eye-opener as to what we're dealing with here. And well, honestly, what you said yesterday is still picking at me." She answered and I paused to look at her, "What? What did I say exactly?" I asked her and she lifted her head to face me, "That kindness is no longer common."

"I got to thinking a bit and...well, kindness isn't exactly common now. Ever since the war started, we've been at each other's throats for years. But there's more to this than just the war..." She paused for a bit as I went back to restocking ammo. "Kindness is pretty much scarce. Even between humans and anthros. I knew some anthros who hated and killed other anthros for many reasons. We're pretty much killing each other and we're only helping each other kill others. Humans are killing anthros, that much is true, but they're also slaughtering other humans and the same goes for anthros, they're killing humans and then each other and for reasons I may or may not understand at all." She explained and I understood Ruth's dilemma.

She wasn't wrong. I've seen humans kill other humans and anthros kill other anthros, though the encounters were rare, I saw them first-hand. But that's come down to what this war did to many...