I'll Be Back

The Liberation Of Lalisa

Lisa continues to celebrate with her crew. Cooper did ask for that alcohol and they sent a couple bottles down which definitely surprised Lisa. It was all gone within a few hours. Unfortunately, twelve people have died from the overeating. Forgetting that they all were not used to such an abundance of food. It reminded Lisa to pace herself. She can't even imagine if she went through all the shit she did and ended up dying from eating too much too soon. It's been close to a month since Mengenala and his guards announced their freedom. She's gained a little weight back. Her face is a little fuller, but still sunken in. Her stomach has a little more meat on it but not much. She knows when they are taken out of here they'll probably get a feeding tube in her to get her weight back up. She's still coughing though and sometimes becomes weak when she overdoes it with the celebrating. It's a month in that American troops finally show up.

Lisa hears planes landing in the fields outside the gates and can hear the tanks. She climbs up onto a roof and looks out towards the lands. There, medical tents are being set up and troops are marching their way towards the gates. They are flying an American flag.

"They're here! They're here!" Lisa calls out to her fellow POW's.

Everyone begins cheering and celebrating once more. Lisa stands up there and just watches as they get closer and closer. Soon a flood of troops are entering the gates. Everyone cheers for them and hugs them. Lisa doesn't get overly affectionate with them but yells in celebration for them. For the next two days they start setting up a system. They airlift the more critical cases to a military hospital in Germany first. They give treatment to the less critical cases until they get enough planes to start shipping people to London. Other soldiers have started gathering a census to give to the Army so they can contact each soldiers families. As Lisa is sitting on some stairs resting, a man approaches her with a clipboard.

"Just gathering the census, what's your name and rank?" He asks, never looking up from the clipboard.

"Private Lalisa Manoban." Lisa tells him. She watches his pen falter and stop for a moment.

"I'm sorry, can you repeat that?" He asks, eyebrows furrowed as he continues looking at the clipboard.

"Private Lalisa Manoban?" She tries again. She didn't think she whispered or stuttered. He then looks from his clipboard wide eyed. He looks over Lisa's appearance and his mouth goes agape.

"People are looking for you." He states. Lisa frowns. The soldier is then yelling at a Sargent to come over to them. He looks annoyed at first but then the soldier hands him the clipboard and he reads it and his eyes widen. He looks up at Lisa in awe.

"Holy shit." He says. Both just staring at her like she's an animal exhibit.

"Someone want to tell me what's going on?" Lisa asks. They both shake themselves out of their reverie.

"What's going on is your getting out of here, right now, with the next plane. You're going to be treated at the hospital in Germany. You're going home, Private." The Sargent tells Lisa. Lisa's dumbfounded, she didn't see herself as a critical case.

"I'm not critical though." Lisa states. The Sargent laughs.

"I have a feeling the Generals will be very pissed if we let you stay here until the other planes arrive." He states. He then gestures for Lisa to stand and to follow him to the medical tent outside the gates.

"Wait hold on! I need to say goodbye." Lisa tells them. He nods and tells her to come back to the tent when she's finished. Lisa looks around and starts panicking. She pushes past people looking for him. For the guy who helped keep her alive all theses years. "Anyone seen Coop?!" Lisa yells out to the other soldiers. Finally one of them points towards the beach. Lisa looks and sees him sitting, looking out at the ocean. She takes off towards him. She makes it and blocks his view.

"Hey Lis. What's up?" Cooper smiles up at her. Lisa gives him a sad smile back.

"I'm leaving Coop. They're taking me with the next plane." Lisa tells him. His eyes widen and he jumps up.

"Congratulations!" He pulls her into a searing hug. Lisa grips on tight to him. Now that she's faced with it, she's terrified. She's leaving the person she's been next to for the last five years. He's the one person who understands what she's going through. The one person who has been here the whole time. He pulls back and the two look at one another.

"I'm scared." Lisa whispers to him. Cooper softens and nods.

"You'll be alright. I promise. I'll always be here for you." He gives her a soft smile. Lisa smiles and nods. "Go home to your family Lis. Hug them, kiss them, be with them. Look me up for the family dinner once the dust settles, alright?"

Lisa nods. She then reaches up and places a quick peck on his cheek before walking away. She then turns around again.

"Hey Coop!" He turns to her with wide eyes. "I'm still gonna kick your ass when we play football." She tells him with a smirk.

He laughs, shakes his head and flips her off. Lisa chuckles and turns back towards the camp. All her fellow POW's start patting her on the back and telling her good luck as she makes her way out of the gates and to the medical tent.

The same Sargent that told her she'd be leaving tells her to get on a stretcher. She does as told and medics begin checking her vitals and inserting an IV into her arm. They then give her pain medicine. It's not long before they are carrying her stretcher with many others into a plane. It reminds her of the plane she had been in when she first parachuted into enemy territory. It's nothing but metal. No seats or anything. They softly lay her down and hang the IV bag up on a clip. Once everyone is settled it grows quiet. She waits with bated breath as the engine starts and soon it's taking off.

The minute she knows they are off the ground, she lets tears fall from her eyes. She's out of hell. She made it. She's finally safe. She's finally going home.

The overwhelming emotions and exhaustion mixed with the pain medicine send her into a sweet slumber she hasn't felt since she last slept in Jennie's arms.

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