"Good ridance," I thought out loud. What did he know? Nothing, that's what he knew . How could he? He had spent his whole career in this crap hole. I had been out in the heat of battle. I had gone behind the conquerer and witnessed the final destruction of battles. And from time to time I had to finish off the survivors.
An old memory filled my mind. The smell of ash filling my nose, the brittle debris crumbling under my boots, the shades of gray and black consuming what was left of the village that had been here.The sound of a child's cries screamed and echoed over the crackling of flames.
"Head two more degrees South." My artificially intelligent companion, AL-E, instructed. I signaled my team and we made the adjustment.
Melissa, Marc, Polo, and I followed the cries to the charred remains of a building.
"According to its dimensions and remaining mass, I estimate that it used to be a house." AL-E said.
We walked around to the back. There we found a small boy sobbing over the still figure of a woman. Melissa knelt by the boy and adjusted around him to check the woman's pulse.
"Dead" Mel sighed.
"Good" I replied in a monotone. Mel frowned at me. " We're not here to save anyone, remember." I explained.
"Right," Mel gave another heavy sigh. She spoke to the boy in a foreign tongue.
"He says this is his mother." Mel indicated the still figure.
"That's not important, Mel." I replied.
"Foreign figure ten meters to the west!" AL-E warned.
"AAARRR!" A man roared as he charged at us from behind. He held a crude knife high above his head as he ran.
AL-E automatically engaged the targeting macro. In two fluid motions I unholstered my firearm, shot the man between the eyes, and returned it to is holster.
"Target eliminated." AL-E reported.
Marc whistled his approval.
"And The Boss gets the gold with a B-E-A-U-tifully placed shot to the head." Polo announced.
"Thanks" Mel mumbled softly. I nodded. If the man had not been attacking she wouldn't have approved. She didn't like killing people. She highly preferred to save them.
When the dead man fell to the ground, the boy started to cry even more. He gripped Mel and began to cry on her. She held him and soothed him in the foreign language.
"Mel ask him where the others are." I said. She gaped horrorstruck at me
"Bree! Don't make me ask him that." She pleaded.
"Mel! Ask him where the others are!" I ordered. She softly spoke to the boy. He pointed towards the East where half of a building stood.
"Marc, Polo, go check it out." I ordered.
"And if we find anyone, Boss?" Marc asked.
"Shoot first, don't bother to ask questions." I said in a monotone. The twin brothers smiled at each other.
"You got it, Boss." Marc replied as he and Polo headed to the half-building.

Mel kept kneeling with the crying boy in her lap.
"Bree?"
"Hmm?"
"What do you think it would cost to get Marc and Polo to leave this little guy out of their reports?" She asked.
"Mel! We're going to get rid of him!"
"Bree he's not a piece of trash to be gotten rid of!" she argued.
"We've got a job to do!"
"He can't be older than six!"
"It doesn't matter! We can't let him live. I'm sorry. We can't save them all."
"I know that! Everyday we kill thousands! Why can't we save this one?"
"Because we have direct orders from Supreme Ruler Malaki Bold to terminate all survivors."
"Bree please. . ."
"No! If you won't do it, then stand aside."
"No, I'll do it." she insisted.
"What are you doing?" I asked when she reached for her medical bag instead of her gun.
"I should have enough morphine to put him out." She answered solemly.
"Mel! That morphine is for emergencies!"
"A little boy's life is at stake. This is an emergency."
I decided to leave her alone. I hated arguing with Mel.

She pulled out the vial that held the morphine and offered it to him. From the way he gulped it I guess he thought it was water. He seemed dissatisfied when he finished. Mel let him lay his head back on her lap. She held him till he exhaled his last breath. She whispered soft words into his ear and softly laid him on the ground.
"I'm sorry Mel. I shouldn't have let you come." I apologized.
She stared at the boy. "I used to think anything was better than sitting in the medical bay being bored. I thought it would be fun and exciting to go on a mission . . . Now I know. Nothing could be worse than this."