Orphans of War: Alone

Patrol. Jix hated it. But Rex had sent him and Sergeant Coric because there was no one else to spare.

"Check for stragglers. We need to be sure all civilians have left the area. Things are going to get nasty soon." Rex had told them.

The first three houses were clearly empty; they didn't even bother getting off their speeder bikes. The road they were traveling on was just a mere path with two ruts separated by a grassy hump in the center. Trees overhung it on both sides, some lower branches managing to slap out at the clone trooper pair as they road along.

"Uhg.. no one is out here.. let's just get back sarge." Jix grumbled, slapping away a branch as they flew by.

"I think the last house is just around this curve," Coric's voice crackled over the comm. "The road ends at this little--"

"Look out!" Jix shouted.

They came out of the blind curve and two kids, a boy and a girl, were standing in the knee deep grass in the road. They made no effort to get out of the way of the oncoming speeders. Their faces were shocked and blank. Jix pulled back into a full on break. Coric's speeder groaned as it was pulled into a stopped position. They both stopped two feet short of the kids.

"Oh Force, that was close," Coric said. "I think my heart is trying to get up and run away."

Jix jumped from his speeder, the kids were still standing there. The girl was taller and older. Maybe nine. The boy looked about five. Their faces were pale and dirty. She was holding his hand. She looked up at Jix, but the boy stared at his speeder's lights.

Jix saw the terror in her face and dropped to a knee in front of her. "Kid, are you okay?"

It was the boy who answered. He spoke while still examining the lights. "I want my mother. And I want my breakfus."

Coric joined him, crouching down on the balls of his feet. Gently he touched the girl's arm, as if checking her over for injuries. She flinched, looking at him. "Mumma didn't come back." She spoke in a low voice.

"What's your name, hon?" Jix asked. "And who's your mommy?"

"I'm Ally lehc Notel," she said. "This is Jason Dex Notel. Our mother is Vera Notel. Our father is Spincer Notel, but him and Mommy got a divorce last year and now he lives on Falleen."

Coric nodded slowly. "Ally," he said, "listen to me. Where is your mother now?"

"Don't know," Tears--big clear globs-- began to roll down her dirty cheeks. "We came to see the leaves. Also, we were going to explore. We like to explore, don't we, Jason?"

"I'm hungry," Jason said mournfully, and then he too began to cry.

Seeing them like that made Jix feel like crying himself. He reminded himself that he was a soldier. Soldiers didn't cry, and least not in the view of others. He asked again where the girl's mother was, but it was the boy who answered this time.

"She went to get Puff."

"He means puff pie," Ally said. "But she went to get other stuff too. She said I could watch Jason because I'm a big girl now. She just said don't let Jason near the pond."

Jix was starting to get the picture. The woman had probably gone to the market to get groceries. Jix looked at Coric grimly. The market she had probably gone to had been bombed. He knew, because he had helped dispose of bodies.

"Did she go three days ago?" he asked.

"I want her!" Jason cried. "I want my breakfus My belly hurts!"

"Yes," the girl said. "Saturday morning. We were watching cartoons, only now we can't watch anything, because the electricity's broke.

Jix and Coric looked at each other. Two nights alone in the dark. The girl maybe nine, the boy about five. Jix didn't like to think about that.

"Did you have anything to eat?" Coric asked Ally. "Anything at all?"

"There was a onion in the vegetable draw," she whispered. "We each had half. With sugar."

"Oh kark." Coric said. Then: "I didn't say that. You didn't hear me say that. Just a second.." Coric jogged back to his speeder and rummaged through his medkit.

"Where were you going, Ally?" Jix asked.

"To town. To look for Mommy and to find something to eat. We were going to walk past the next village then cut through the woods." She pointed vaguely north. "I thought that would be quicker."

Jix set his helmet from his head and smiled, but he was cold inside. She wasn't pointing to the nearest town; she was pointing to uncharted forests. At nothing but miles of tangled second-growth and boggy sumps. Out there, Ally and Jason would have almost certainly died of starvation.

And we came so close to turning around. Force.

Coric returned. He had ration cubes. They were dry and tasteless, but nutritious. The way the children fixed their eyes on it made Jix's heart ache.

"All I could find," Coric said,  gathering the cubes in his hand. "We'll get you something better back at camp."

He gave each child the same amount of cubes. The food was gone in five seconds. When he had finished his, the boy stuck his fingers knuckle deep into his mouth. His cheeks hollowed rhythmically in and out as he sucked them.

Like a nek licking grease from a stick Jix thought.

Jason lached his tiny hand around Coric's fingers. Coric's helmet tilted up to look at Jix. Nodding, Jix replaced his helmet. Carefully, Coric lifted the boy. Jix picked up the girl. He could smell her sweat, her fear. His glove stroked her hair as if he could stroke that oily reek away.

"You're all right kid." he said. "You and your brother both. You're alright. You're safe."

"Do you promise?"

"Yes."

Her arms tightened around his neck. It was one of the best things Jix had felt in his life. This was why he fought for the Republic.