Mission: Burying the Past in Zompania

[lucetimods]

Who: Anyone who volunteered
What: A very special mission that will bring you honor. Or maybe just traumatic memories. Whatever.
When: July 20th - July 24th
Where: Zompania, or what's left of it
Summary: Mission detailed here. There are graves to dig and buildings to raze, and plenty more for the volunteers to stay busy with.
Rating: PG-13 for probable mentions of gore and other sad things

Direct further questions here!

Comments

[endgames]

[Shikamaru makes to lift the first corpse, taking it by the pits or what's left of them.]

If you're gonna do that, go by the camp first. You don't wanna go from this to hauling a cart without some water or rations down first.

[wipesfaith]

Yeah, I'll get some water.

[His stomach, empty of hunger even though he's hardly done more than pick at the available food, pulls into a tight knot at the thought of eating. He squats down to take hold of what he can of the corpse's calves, to help Shikamaru support the dead weight. He doesn't want to look at the sunken, expired flesh, but at the same time, it's hard to look away.]

[endgames]

[There's a count of three, then they lift. Shikamaru wishes they could be more ceremonious than tossing the body in, even if they're careful about it, but what can you do. He supposes it's nice enough they're getting individually-dug holes.

Rather than dwelling too long on that, Shikamaru sticks with observing the living as they go about their work here. In this instance, with no one else around, that means Jean. Thus far the other guy has given him the impression of someone going through the motions. It's not a far cry from what the others are doing, though maybe more successful.]

[wipesfaith]

[He has a job to do, and he won't let his fears, reflected in the dissolved expressions of the dead, distract him from it. It's what he'd had to do during the battle that led to these ruins: just keep propelling himself forward in spite of everything.

It's not until after they've lowered the body, with as much consideration as they're allowed - something his classmates never got - that he notices Shikamaru's discerning eye on him as he straightens up.]

What? [The strain of the task, with long days and restless nights, makes him sparse with his words, and he comes off as more blunt than usual. He reaches for the shovel, debating between filling in the hole himself or handing it off to Shikamaru, since he'd offered to relieve him.]

[endgames]

Nothin'. [He picks some loose remains from off his suit, flicking it to the ground.] Let's alternate filling. You going first, or should I?

[He'll leave the choice up to Jean. Honestly the guy looks like he's been working too long, but far be it for Shikamaru to tell someone what their own limits are. This isn't life or death.]

[wipesfaith]

[After a moment of hesitation, because he doesn't want to seem like he's just slacking off, he holds the shovel out for Shikamaru to take. He's not one to unnecessarily push himself past his limits - all that would do it exhaust him further.]

I'll get the next one.

[endgames]

[Good man. Shikamaru takes it readily, and scoots closer to the edge of the grave to get right to work.] Fair enough.

[wipesfaith]

[He sweeps his eyes across the punctured field around them, looking for a spare shovel. There doesn't appear to be any. More supplies are kept at the base camp, but from here the tents are nothing but little dots in the distance, so he'll settle for a small break.]

Wonder how many days it'll take.

[He squats to give his legs some rest, elbows perched on his knees as he watches the movement of shovel and dirt. He doesn't like the idea of sitting beside so many open graves.]

[endgames]

Probably under a week. Even with this suits, I can't see them wanting to keep us in this environment for so long. [He digs his shovel into the pile of dirt next to the grave. Loose from how Jean dug it up, he feels kind of guilty for getting the easier end here even if it isn't his job.] If we don't finish, they'll bring out someone else.

[wipesfaith]

[He nods.] I don't know why they waited so long to bring us back here. These bodies have already been lying out for weeks. Even if there's nobody left in town to be affected by it...

[It's a sickening thought, all these bones left to bleach, and all this flesh left to rot in the sun, everything restless.]

[endgames]

Their focus was on the living, maybe. Pagoda and Quell. And anyone else who survived.

[He doesn't offer a lot of excuses up for them though, piling dirt on deeper. He's pissed about it too.]

[wipesfaith]

Still, you'd think they have enough people at their disposal to take care of it all.

[He scoops up a handful of dirt and tosses it into the hole that Shikamaru is filling.]

[endgames]

Obviously not, if we're here.

[wipesfaith]

So it's our job to put their comrades to rest.

[While it's a pretty sentiment - and something he believes in, valuing life and feeling the empty spaces left by death as he does, and knowing too well that all who fall in battle are not granted the same honor - it seems coldly impersonal to draft others to do it on your behalf.]

[endgames]

[A snort.] If we can find them. The bodies we've collected so far have mostly been villagers.

[It's only as he says it he realizes the validity of the statement. It slows his progress, the tip of the shovel coming to rest at the edge of the grave and stirring loose dirt as he looks out, away from the city. They're just outside of it. There's a lot of ground to cover from here.]

Until the cavalry showed up, we were the only ones who could get into the city after all. Not all of their men were able to get this close to it before they bit the dust.

[wipesfaith]

...Right. Guess they'd all be out there somewhere. [He looks over his shoulder, past the crooked rows of graves buffeting the city, and wonders how far out bodies can be found. The slog toward the city had seemed to stretch endlessly.]

It'd be easiest to bury them where they are.

[endgames]

Probably would, yeah. Depending on how far they're out.

[It's several seconds before he remembers he's supposed to be working, looking away from the landscape and stirring like a deer that's just heard a twig snap. The head of the shovel is buried in dirt again, and he gets back to work.]

I wonder if they're keeping track of who's left to pick up.

[Davis.]

[wipesfaith]

You think they have the name of every soldier they sent out here?

[He hears Shikamaru's shovel go back to work, and his eyes sweep back to the graves, some gaping wide, some half dug, and some recently filled in, discernible from the surrounding field by the soft mound of disturbed dirt capping off the hole. He shifts, his legs growing tired in his squatted position.]

[endgames]

They made it sound like they had a casualty list. Wouldn't be hard to make. You just check off the guys who didn't show up for work a week later.

[wipesfaith]

...Guess so.

[Nothing but names on paper, severed from the lives those names are representations of. Must be nice.]

[endgames]

[Shikamaru finds himself wondering how many they lost. They were doing pretty badly after TERRACE, until that desert outpost mission turned things around.

Are they back to Square One?

It doesn't do well to voice those thoughts here, at least not unprompted. Shikamaru doesn't speak again until he's done with the task at hand, patting down the final layer of dirt over the grave.]

All right. Let's grab the next one.

[wipesfaith]

[Jean hasn't been in Luceti long enough to understand the full picture of the war - not that any of them in the enclosure had the full picture. They were given pieces and could do nothing but speculate about the wide gaps in between. The scope of his knowledge doesn't radiate much farther than the latest battle, although he's heard stories here and there about what has happened before.

He has a lot to think about, but not much to say, because it's hard to put into words.

By the time Shikamaru tops off the hole, Jean is standing again, having needed to stretch his legs. They don't feel much rested.]

My turn, this time. [He turns his eyes down to the bodies Shikamaru had lain out, but he tries not to look too carefully.]