Faceless

[Vecilea]

Spoiler: Theme

Hotchkiss was a few feet away from her bedroll before she collapsed against the wooden floor with a hefty thud. Her gear, coated in brain matter and other forms of viscera squelched disgustingly as it smeared into the ancient floor. She whimpered in pain as she lied there, trying to will her body to just crawl a few more feet into her bed clean or not. The entire right side of her face behind the mask a burned and disgusting mess, each heartbeat sending another wave of pain into her nerves. She tried her best to bite down on her emotions but failed. Loudly she wailed and sobbed behind the mask, a mix of pain from her wounds and years of suppressed emotion finally catching up.

She grinded her mask against the floor until she could see the other side of the room. Seeing nobody she was happy she was alone in this state of disarray. Her sobbing continued as she timidly lifted her hand off of the floor and reached for something not there as memories blurred with reality. She saw the lower body of a young man as he knelt beside her reaching for her hand but never making contact. She couldn't see his face but she knew it was her little brother which only poured more fuel onto the fire. Wailing grew into uncontrollable and incoherent screams in French. Her trembling hand tried to reach out to him in vain, her strength sapped in its entirely as it fell to the floor.

"Matheo..." she babbled. "I'm sorry... your big sister is so sorry." she whispered. "I tried, I really did, I did everything to keep you safe and in the end I wasn't there." The figure let out a quiet sigh before they rose and walked out of her limited field of vision. "Matheo! Mathe...o.." her words dribbled into soft crying as her brain demanded sleep and she faded into an old memory.

---

Eloise found herself standing in one of the thousand cookie cutter shaped apartments in City 111. She glanced around the room at all the overturned furniture, smoke, and dust that filled the air. This place was familiar to her, she tilted her head slightly as her brain turned cogs until a cold mechanical voice creeped into her ear.

"<:: 054; 031. Report. ::>"

Without a second thought she reached up to her chest and keyed her radio.

"<:: 031; We're code 4 in A-4463. ::>"

"<:: 054; 10-4, 483 wants examples made of them, are there any survivors? ::>"

Hotchkiss blinked under her mask, then looked around the room again, several other officers had filtered in. Seven in total, each of them looking down at the ground which drew her eyes. The floor was covered in shell casings and four dead anti-citizens clad in facemasks, their weapons slick with the blood of their owners beside them. She was about to key her radio once more before something took ahold of her left ankle. Slowly she turned her head down at the cause, the squeaking of leather deafeningly loud in the room of death. She spots a woman about her age, mid to late thirties, grabbing her ankle and dragging her self closer.

"<:: 031; checking. ::>"

Like a hawk Hotch watched the injured woman pull herself closer. Her head tilting the opposite way, a few of the other officers in the room looked over to the scene.

"Fhuuck...you." the woman spat out wrapping her arms fully around her ankle like a child begging their parent to stay.

"<:: Seriously...'fuck you?' That's the best you got. ::>" Hotchkiss taunted. "<:: Where is your fight? Where is this ferocity you had moments ago? Have you been drained of all that anger and determination?::>"

"I'm still here...fighting." she says defiantly between labored breath. "I have, a little brother to fight...for pig." She then bit weakly against the jackboot.

The words irked Hotchkiss, her ear nearly twitching as she scoffs. Kicking the woman in the face and sending her rolling onto her side with a pained grunt.

"<:: You should have fought harder to protect him then because after this... "

031 reached for the M1014 across her chest and tucked it into her armpit, leveling the weapon at the head of the civilian, finishing her sentence.

"... I'm coming for him. ::>"

The room filled with light and noise as the weapon was fired. Bone and brain matter exploded out in every direction. 031 took a few long labored breaths before looking back to her fellow officers. Some staring in shock, others looking to one another in understanding, regardless she keyed her radio.

"<:: 031; No survivors. ::>"

In her head she couldn't help but sympathize with the rebel. "So do I." she admitted only to herself.