Chapter 209: Traitor

Aria saw Ethan standing in a haze and she wondered if he wanted something from here. He had been standing that way since he had entered and had not spoken to anyone, even to his comrades. Aria approached him and snapped her fingers on his face to get him out of his stupor. The man blinked twice trying to see what had happened and saw a lady doctor standing in front of him, her eyes filled with curiosity.

"Are you alright, Major?"

"Ah, yes." He cleared his throat and replied awkwardly.

"Do you want something here?"

"I came to check on my comrades."

"Oh okay." Aria smiled at him and went back to her work.

Ethan took a look at all his comrades. Some of them were ready to get back to fight as their injuries had healed and Ethan went to talk to one of the doctors about it. He had to make sure they were perfectly fine before they were even allowed to leave here. Though those soldiers looked perfectly fit, he did not want any of his soldiers to fight the battle in their injured state.

After a thorough check-up was made, many of the soldiers were ready to get back to work, much to their happiness. There were at least twenty of them. Without waiting another second, they evacuated the pavilion. Ethan then enquired one of the doctors about the three soldiers who had been brought in today. The doctor called Ian to give his a reply as he was the one who had tended to them.

"Yes, Major. Did you call for me?"

"Yes, Doctor. How are soldiers who were brought here today?"

"They are doing fine Major. Two comrades had only wounds on their arms. They can resume work in two days. While the man who had been shot in his chest had to be operated on. He might have woken up now. Let's go take a look." Ian led Ethan to the man on whom he had performed the operation.

He had woken up and he looked as energetic as ever. It did not feel as though he had been shot twice and he had undergone a small surgery. Except that his face looked a little pale, everything else looked fine. The soldier wanted to get up to salute his senior when Ethan walked to them. But, Ethan stopped him.

"Please lie down. No need for formalities for now. How do you feel?"

"I feel fine sir." He answered robotically.

"That's good to hear," Ethan said and then turned to look at Ian. "How long does he have to rest?"

"It will take around four days for him to recover completely. His body has a quick healing capacity. So, he might get well even before that."

"Good." As soon as he said that, there was a commotion and five more soldiers entered and were being supported by at least eight soldiers. They had not been shot this time. But their bodies had been mutilated when a bomb had exploded near them. 

"Damn. Aria." Ian shouted and went to help the men who were carrying the wounded soldiers. They looked ghastly and blood was oozing out from everywhere. One of them had received the worst blow. One of his legs had been scraped and it was just hanging on there by just his skin. The man had lost a leg and had become disabled.

Ian, Aria and the others started to take a look at them at once. Their injuries looked more severe. Ethan clenched his fists in anger. He was losing his team members one by one and he was unable to anything. The enemy was coming out quite strongly on them. Though he and his team were giving them a tough fight too, but it came at the cost of his soldiers' life. He had already lost a lot of people on his side and it seemed that the war was not going to stop any time soon.

The number of casualties was soaring at a greater pace. He couldn't even imagine how bad it would end up and he had no idea what to do. His seniors were putting pressure on him to end the war as soon as possible. Though the President had told him personally to fight the war and to not worry about his seniors, he couldn't help but think about their words some times. 

Ethan had no idea why he was unable to gain control over the situation. Once in a while, he would become hopeful that his army was on the winning side. But something worse would happen and things would escalate beyond their capacity. He had no idea why he was feeling weak and uncertain. He pinched his brows in anger, desperation, grief and most of all helplessness. He then heard two more bombs detonation somewhere.

He had to do something, anything. He had to speak to the President about it. Things were going out of hand. They had to come up with some other plan. He could not lose any more men. He took a step forward, but he was stopped by his comrade who had been shot in his chest.

"Sir, I have something very important to tell you."

"Yes?"

"Sir, could you please come closer? We have ears all around us."

Ethan looked at him confused. He looked around him and all he found were his own men and the doctors. So, he had no idea why his subordinate was being secretive. Nevertheless, he leaned in.

"What do you want to tell me?"

"Sir, there is something unusual going on here."

"What do you mean?" Ethan narrowed his eyebrows and thought about his words. But nothing made sense. 

"Sir, you are in charge of commanding us and you are out there looking out at everything. So, you might not have noticed the abnormality. But I noticed it today." The injured man whispered, his eyes darting around to see if anybody was listening to them or eavesdropping on them.

"What did you notice?"

"Sir, the two men who had been shot in their arms today were being attacked by our own troop."

"What?" Ethan asked flabbergasted.

"Yes Sir. I saw with my own eyes. One of the soldiers in our team raised a pistol and shot them in the arms. But they did not know about it and thought it to be an attack from the enemy's side."

"Are you sure about it?"

"Hundred percent. We have a traitor among us and I believe there is more than one."