High School Soldier
Inner war: hunting

As he left the headquarters of Company 406-32, Nio's phone rang. The number that contacted him from an unknown number.

“Halo, is it with brother Nio Candranala?” said Nio's interlocutor after he received the call.

From the firm tone of speech, Nio could tell which side the voice belonged to.

“True. What's up?”

“I patrol officer Karanganyar Police. There's a foreign woman looking for you. After I send you the location point, can you come?”

**

As Nio drove 3 kilometers from the company headquarters, he stopped to the scene. A small crowd was created in front of an SMK, causing students who participated in school activities ‘lambar’ to be disturbed. The crowd formed a circle, with the center of two people fighting.

Three SMK students pass by Nio.

“Hey, what's up?”

A bit surprised when he saw Nio who came out of nowhere with a dark appearance, one of the students answered Nio's question, “Say there was a bull, but someone suddenly wanted to attack him.”

Feeling agitated, Nio felt hot and lowered the head covering on his hoodie as he rushed to break up the crowd. Before, he had not heard what they had quarreled with, but he could hear the loud voices of the two people. But, what happened was really about the personal matter of one of the parties.

When someone who had a voice like a teenage man shouted, the crowd around cheered in support. However, when the girl who replied to her words, all she got was silence and a cold gaze, leaving her feeling cornered.

The moment Nio realized that one of the people fighting was Zefanya, he felt like yelling to disperse the crowd, but he bit his lower lip to hold her back. He had no idea what the people's problems were with Zefanya. But, when he heard some people muttering to each other, Nio found the answer.

“Ah, why is TNI still cooperating with ko*munis' followers? Not that Russia is sending a large army, but why haven't they ended the war?”

“See the face of the man. Lucky we didn't become soldiers.”

“Better for Russia to withdraw all its troops from other world and Indonesia. They could have made the other world and Indonesia a second Ukraine. Why Suroso made his reign like Sukarno who opened the door for the Eastern Bloc.”

What is ko*munis? Do you think that without their help we could survive to this day? Nio was filled with the desire to shout out those words. Nio pulled behind the collar of the clothes of everyone who was blocking him, regardless of the words that came out of their mouths after he did that. Looking at the expressions without any sense of regret of the people, Nio had prepared his fist. Most of the people who swarm have the potential as a spreader of information and gossip that ‘dangerous’, but there are some faces that show a fearful expression when looking at Zefanya's face. If they read the news on a site that does not take a certain side, they will know that it is not easy for Indonesia to hold the principle of ‘free and active’. Being able to survive to the age of nearly 400 years of civilization is the result of good luck, the generosity of God, and the efforts of various regimes in various ways of running the government and protecting unity.

Nio looked at the teenager who had a fight with Zefanya. Her face and hairstyle showed she was a learned person, but now her face was flushed red and pressed Zefanya in a high voice, “Your useless help is making my brother die in another world! My parents have been beating me up ever since! That's because you guys don't have any use there!”

Zefanya shook her head, trying to defend herself with a daunted expression, “No! I don't know that problem. I helped as hard as I could there with TNI!”

“Omong empty! How can you pretend to be useful there!”

“A-i help..”.

“Don't say anything more, colonizer!”

“Russia is not an invader, it's just the past that has nothing to do with this war!”

“Shut!”

Nio wanted to act according to his instincts, yet he could only endure his hatred. What he saw was not a fight or a fight, the man shouted his personal problems at the ignorant.

The incident recalled Nio's recollection of Darsono's words, “No matter how hard you work, people will only take advantage and betray you.”

And what that person said became a real scene that Nio witnessed, with the party that could only obey orders and carry out duties as a tool of the state.

“Soaring!”

Although not too loud, Nio's voice was heard by the people nearby. There was a huge pressure as Nio walked, thus making the crowd less in number. Some people chose to give Nio a path, making him closer to Zefanya. Exists

As Zefanya heard someone's voice, she turned to the source of the voice and her two eyes opened wide. The girl took a step back, and seemed to be hugging the long black suitcase that Nio could guess what was inside.

Realizing that there were people who knew a stranger who started a fight, the people were silent and decided to separate themselves from the crowd. After that, there was silence as Nio got closer to Zefanya.

Nio walked with heavy strides and eyes that made people feel depressed. The man who attacked Zefanya verbally was shocked, and said in a daunted tone, “Ma-want what are you? This is none of your business.” The man looked trying to look tough.

After seeing the face of the man who looked well-educated, Nio placed his left hand onto his right shoulder with ‘sikit’ squeezing it. “Maaf” said it came out of Nio's mouth, but did not make the man satisfied. Instead, he felt Nio's grip on his shoulder like danger that made him show a fearful expression.

After the man decided to leave the scene, Nio walked two steps and hugged Zefanya. Nio closed his eyes, and spoke slowly in a heavy tone, “Zefanya, sorry not to remind you if there is a group of people who still do not like foreign soldiers and their involvement in this war.”

In Nio's arms, Zefanya clasped the back of her lover's clothes. Zefanya's cold body trembled as her warm tears drenched the shoulders of Nio's hoodie, “That's not your fault..

“They are just people who were not taught to say thank you..” replied Nio coldly.

Zefanya sobbed, then said, “Is it that hard to gain the trust of others when you are a foreign soldier who risked your life for the sake of other foreigners?”

“It takes a long time before their brains are ready to accept the fact that your services are bigger than imagined.”

“That means, we have to keep fighting?”

“Ya,” said Nio while removing the tears that drenched both cheeks of Zefanya with the left arm of her hoodie.

The two of them took off hugs, looking at each other as Zefanya cried for a while.

Nio said, “Now, you should go back to walking with your head straight as usual.”

“But... I brought this,” Zefanya showed her long suitcase when she said it.

“What is the content important?”

“No! You're right Nio!” His Zefanya wiped her eyes with her sleeves and began to act normally.

Nio returned Zefanya's smile despite being blocked by a black buff mask.

After which, Nio's phone vibrated. He thought of ignoring her, but after seeing the caller's name, he pressed a button to receive the call.

“Nio, we know where Bacem Village Protector group is in action,” who called Nio is Sonia. “They are near dead city.”

“They're pretty far from where I am right now. How do I get there before they riot?”

“Listen to Nio, I got help from the commander of the 406-32 Company, and he happily requested the help of the helicopter squadron. He said he wanted to help uncover the truth.”

Nio thinks he misheard her when Herlina helps him by asking for help on the helicopter squadron, but Sonia's subsequent explanation leads him to believe what she heard.

“Listen Nio, I get information if the Bacem Village Protector uses some kind of armed unmanned aircraft.”

“What do they plan to do with guns in the city of the dead? Brother Sonia, do you have any other information?”

“Nio, you have to go quickly to where the target is. The police moved immediately when the movements of the Bacem Village Protector were detected, but I'll make sure you get there first. The help Herlina got was really amazing, so go after them. If you get information that shows the secrets of Bacem Village and other major cases, I will give you 2 times the royalties from the initial agreement. Oh, the royalty value will be much greater if you find any sign of Beautiful's whereabouts. Do you understand? So, do your best, “ Sonia said with an excited tone that approached the act of coercion.

“Hah? Wait, Brother Sonia?” hearing that the call had ended, Nio sighed and kept his phone back in his pants pocket.

Moments later, he heard a commotion and a number of armored cars of Company 406-32 closed the road with a specific purpose. Before long, Nio could see something getting bigger with a roaring sound. The roar of the helicopter rotor turning the propeller sounded very clear, and gusts of wind blew away dust and roadside trash.

Nio squinted his left eye and looked up. There was a helicopter belonging to Squadron 11/Serbu of the Semarang Garrison. As expected the defenders of the truth who would do everything regardless of anything, Nio grimaced at the actions of the commander of the 406-32 Company.

“It is not too stingy to send a multipurpose helicopter to hunt down the snapper class criminals?”