86—EIGHTY-SIX, Vol. 3 by Asato Asato and Shirabii

Author:Asato Asato and Shirabii [Asato Asato and Shirabii]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Yen On
Published: 2019-11-20T00:00:00+00:00

It was getting late, and they were unable to move with the patrol unit still skulking about in the vicinity, so they decided to use this time to have an early lunch. They began setting up a small camp, with the exception of Frederica, who didn’t have the first clue about what to do when it came to camping. They couldn’t afford to start a campfire, so they made do with combat rations, which came as part of the Federacy’s standard gear. The rations were filled with packaged, sterilized food and, out of consideration for situations where fire wasn’t an option, came in laminated, water-based self-heating packets.

As they took the laminated packs, which were emblazoned with the Federacy’s symbol of the two-headed eagle and an explanation of how to use them, out of Fido’s container and spread them out on the gray, urban camouflaged ground, Shin scoffed.

“I guess they didn’t write what’s in each pack because they wanted to make the meals even slightly more interesting, but at times like this, it’s a little annoying.”

“True.”

Raiden, standing nearby, nodded in agreement, but Frederica didn’t understand what they meant. Combat rations came in twenty-two varieties, and there was no way of knowing what you got until you opened it up. It made opening them up feel kind of like unwrapping a present, which was probably the intent here. But when she was handed a ration heated up with the flameless ration heater, she finally realized what they meant.

“It’s pretty hot, so be careful you don’t get burned.”

“Hmm.”

It seemed the Eintagsfliege and the Rabe weren’t deployed above them. There was no telling how long their trip would take this time, so Fido found a spot with some good sunshine and spread out its solar panels as the group opened their packs.

The laminated packs were to be carried in crates and airdropped, so they were particularly sturdy, but everything besides the external packaging could be opened by hand. After opening her package, Frederica held her breath. The scent of burnt meat leaked out of a hole in the package.

She’d spent half the day in Fido’s container. It wasn’t pressurized, since it sat in the Nachzehrer, which specialized in low-altitude flight, and didn’t have nuclear or biochemical precautions in place, since a container was never meant to ferry people. As such, for the time she was in there, the scents of the battlefield infiltrated it freely—including the smell of smoke and melted steel, of the heat of bombshells and…the scent of burnt human flesh, which the smell emanating from the pack made her recall in vivid detail.

Shin, who’d assumed this might happen, noticed Frederica cover her mouth with her hands and posed a question to the other four.

“Does anyone have a pack that doesn’t contain meat?”

“Oh, I got trout. Let’s trade, Frederica.”

Kurena snatched the pack from the girl’s hands, depositing her own ration in Frederica’s arms instead. The characteristic smell of animal meat faded away, and Frederica exhaled in relief. Theo then said, dipping the

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