The bulky patrol vehicle swerved to the side to avoid the imminent collision as the luxury car sped by it on the narrow country road just missing it by a whisker.
It was probably doing around 200 km and compared to the slow moving armoured car it practically flew by with the driver and passengers a faceless blur during the encounter.
It disappeared into the distance over a hill followed by a trail of dust behind it.
The patrol team did a quick sitrep and confirmed nothing was bent or broken and continued down the road at a more leisurely pace.
This was a routine peacekeeping mission, hostilities between the different factions had dissipated a couple of years back and our presence here at this point was almost purely symbolic.
I wasn't with my regular unit this time, having been temporarily reassigned to cover a training accident victim until a replacement arrived.
We crested the top of the hill a few minutes later and came upon a sharp bend in the road, the luxury car had come to a halt upside down some hundred meters or so in the corn field beyond the curve.
There were no signs of brakes or anything indicating the driver had attempted to stop before going off the road but the trail of destruction leading up to it suggested it had made a few vaults before it finally stopped.
The commander jumped out of the car and motioned for me to follow him as he headed towards the wreckage. I closed in on him as he was scanning the vehicle for survivors, he looked back at me and shook his head in resignation.
- "What a mess" He paused and considered briefly, "Corporal, stay with them and make sure no civilians come close. I'm going to call in a tow truck and the coroner"
He left and I found myself staring at the underside of the overturned car. Completely clean, this car was probably fresh from the production lines and hadn't been driven more than a couple of hundred kilometres.
I was vaguely aware of the bodies inside of the wreckage, misshapen and bloodied beyond recognition. The brain however did its best to preoccupy itself with anything else, like the unusually clean undercarriage.
I was struck by the fact that just this morning the lifeless bodies had been living beings full of vitality and plans, plans that didn't include the present state.
How frail this state of life seemed as I stood there alone by the side of the wreckage.
We were eventually relieved from our vigil by the coroner and police that took care of the clean-up operations. The rest of our patrol continued without any further incidents and ended with me being returned to my base while the rest of the unit headed for theirs.
As the months passed, the harder I tried not to think about the tragedy the harder it became to suppress it. The frailty of life came more and more into focus and things that I had enjoyed before no longer gave me any sense of satisfaction anymore.
Depression is a cancer of the soul, I had a tumor the size of my heart inside my being and it was growing. I knew it would eventually consume all of me if I didn't do something about it, my body was feeling the effects of the phantom malignancy already.
I eventually got PTSD counselling via the army and this started my journey towards healing. I have a long way to go but I believe I will get there, I feel the love of the people closest to me pulling me in that direction.
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