Chapter 111 - Chapter 111 - Flickers of Hope

Outside the command tent, the valley buzzed with quiet activity. The sun had risen over the blood-soaked hills, casting golden rays upon the soldiers who moved slowly, stiff with exhaustion but alive. A few survivors, despite their trauma, joined in small tasks—boiling water, gathering cloth for bandages, sorting through salvaged supplies. Laughter was rare, but not absent. A young boy who had been rescued ran between the tents with a stolen soldier's helmet too large for his head, eliciting tired chuckles. Another survivor, an old man missing most of his teeth, told terrible jokes as he tried to sharpen knives, bringing a moment of levity to a group of watching soldiers.