Inkling_2026_Digital - Flipbook - Page 6
Together We
Content Warning: war, death
We crouched low in the brush, our knees
sinking into the cool, saturated earth. Mud
clung to our boots like it wanted to keep
us there, like the forest itself refused to let
us move forward. Around us, everything
felt wrong. Trees stood jagged and skeletal,
their bark torn open, their branches bare
and their once–vibrant leaves, turned a
deathly grey, coming to rot at the roots.
The absence of birdsong, left to hang an
eerie silence, one only shattered by the
distant thundering of artillery, launched in
relentless volleys that peppered the earth.
The air hung dry, the forest choked out by
polluted air. And here was where I waited,
at only nineteen years of age, clutching
a ri昀氀e in my hand that felt heavy and
6 | INKLING 2026
unbalanced in my grip. Around me, soldiers
ranging from experienced 昀椀ghters to
untested recruits crouched low in the mud.
We peered through the loose net of dead
branches at the enemy camp. Forest-green
modular buildings stood in rigid rows,
patrols and cameras covering every square
inch. Far o昀昀 to the left stood a three-story
tall concrete building, already scarred by
shelling.
We had been told that the enemy were
ruthless, that the Vanguard Republic
laughed as they burned villages, drank
while tanks crushed churches and schools.
And we believed it.
As I watched, I spotted a soldier, not on
patrol. He hauled plastic crates back and
