RM Vol 3: For a World without Boundary – Chapter 48-1: Gaia Shrugged (Part 1)

RM Vol 3: For a World without Boundary – Chapter 48-1: Gaia Shrugged (Part 1)

One day after the world has gone insane. Inside a crumbling and burning, low-cost apartment complex.

Corporal Ning Arianna Wen, a female combat lifesaver in service of the Long Dynasty Army, toils to bridal carry a young girl, clearly unconscious, out of the danger zone. Ning works to navigate through the ash-filled haze in the shabby room she found the girl in, being mindful to stay clear of the furniture that has been set ablaze. It takes some hot seconds for Ning to lay her eyes on the doorway despite having memorized the escape road. Before Ning can move through the doorway, a part of the roof collapses, sending fiery wooden struts down to block her path forward. Ning frowns, but she is undeterred. Fixing the wet blanket wrapped around the little girl in her hands, Ning braces herself... And then she runs.

With a starting dash powering her leap, Ning leaps over the burning pile with the girl safely tucked in her hands. Landing just over the pile, Ning takes a few steps to halt her momentum before she rams into the wall of the opposite apartment room. With an inquisitive glance, the Coporal surveys the escape route ahead of her, a clearly unsafe stairwell due to the failing structural integrity of the building they're in. But that's the only escape passage in this cheap housing area for dozens of families. The windows in this building are just for ventilation, not for a human to fit through. At the very least, the stair isn't set on fire, being made of inexpensive metal. Ning can see the silver lining in this situation, and she won't let go of it.

Just before Ning can brave the path forward and downward to safety, the combat lifesaver hears the banging and shouting in the room to her left.

Ning then stands up, only to turn around to see the burning apartment crumbling down into an unrecognizable ruin behind her. As a searing cloud of smoke and ashes washes over her, Ning can only watch with a helpless expression and feel regret seeping into her bones. As the weight of crushing claustrophobia starts settling in, the Corporal unstraps her helmet and removes it, letting it hang limply on her hand. The removal of her helmet reveals her shoulder-length hair in all of its glory. Though her hair has a thin layer of ashes over it, one can still see that her hair is silky black with strands of white interwoven. When coupled with her sapphire blue eyes, these features are what Ning inherited from her mixed heritage of both Eastern and Western. Her father has been a long-serving military member of the Dynasty before passing away during the Manchurian crisis. Her mother was a wandering doctor of Belkan origin before settling down with her father. The woman deals with her grief by teaching Ning her medical arts before signing herself to be a military doctor for the Long Dynasty.

Ning is thankful for her mother's teaching, it has been what made her the woman she is today. However, she would have been glad if her mother had chosen to move back to Belka altogether. It would have been safer there than here. But she could guess why she sticks around with the army, much like herself. With the military reforms conducted by their wise Emperor Cao Long, women like them have been allowed to sign up in the armed forces. This military life has been their choice, partly to help the wider populace out there, partly so that they can join the growing resistance spirit against the Japanese. One couldn't just murder the man of their family and expect to get away with it. Even if they're doctors by heart, doctors can still retaliate in their own ways.

A hand is laid on Ning's slumped shoulder, waking her from her mulling. It's the Lieutenant in charge who approaches her. "You did what you could, Corporal, and you did great." Giving her a few pats on the shoulder, the man adds. "Come on, we need to clear this sector before a stray demon or zombie could spring a surprise on us. The day is yet to be over."

Ning nods before fastening her helmet back on, following the Lieutenant's group of soldiers to try and find more survivors. The earthquakes have hit pretty much everywhere hard, and Ning will soon find herself coming across enough deaths to last a lifetime.

Ning will come to say this in the future, once things have settled down. "It's an occupational hazard."