A Soldiers End

Chapter 2: Lost in a desert

As the trio joined the lobby, they soon got their fourth member, Kasey. "Hey guys." Kasey said, sounding off. "Kasey, you okay?" I asked. "Yeah, just a little tired." Kasey said. The timer clicked down. However, something weird was happening. A bright light started blinding me. I had to close my eyes due to how bright the light was. I could hear Russel, Gregory, and Kasey panicking from the other end. "What's happening?!" I screamed. I was greeted with an extreme weight on my shoulders and blazing heat. I opened my eyes to find myself in a desert, next to a neighborhood. "What's happening?!" Kasey asked, looking around. His grey uniform made him easy to spot. "Why are we here? This looks a lot like..." I started, though trailed off. "We're in Al Marazah." Russel finished. "Well, we should get inside to strategize." Gregory said. The squad made their way inside. "Alright. This is NOT good." I said. "Well no duh, Sherlock." Russel said. "Maybe if we exfil, we'll be fine." Kasey said hopefully. We all agreed. "The M4 is light, to my surprise." I said, lifting the rifle up and down. "And It's versatile. With a full and semi-auto automatic," Russel started. "Shut up," Kasey said. "We need a leader. Someone to lead the squad." Gregory said. "Russel, you're too dumb. Randy, you're just... Yeah, and Kasey, you're too soft." Gregory said, taking the lead immediately. "Alright. So I suppose now that you're the leader, what do you want to" I started but got cut off. "Düşmən Burda!" Rang a voice. Ratatatata! The windows shattered. Kasey jerked back as blood flew from his shoulder. "Enemy!" Russel said, ducking behind cover. Before anybody could react, an Afghan soldier rushed through the door and... BANG! shot Kasey in the stomach. "Kasey!" I shouted. With the swift pull of a trigger, the soldier fell. "Good shot." Gregory said. I rushed over to Kasey. I pulled out a stim and jabbed it into Kasey's body. "Come on... Come on..." I muttered. After a moment, Kasey took a sharp breath in. "Thanks." Kasey said, catching his breath. "Not a problem, come on." I said, helping him up. "I got the door." Russel said. Gregory pulled out a device that had a map on it. A random ping came to the tablet. "Alright, it's a long walk. It says here on this map that it's about 500 meters away. Also, we may have to fight our way out of here because it says that the threat level is medium," Gregory said. "Randy, this is a bad choice, but I want you to lead the rush." Gregory finished. I nodded hesitantly as I faced the door. "Alright.." I sighed, "Let's move." I said as I walked out the door, gun raised. I could feel the tension in the air as I took a step into the heat again, the soft, golden sand crunching under my boot. BANG BANG BANG! A bullet whizzed by my head as several different voices rang out. My eyes darted left to a group of 4 soldiers. I raised my rifle, ignoring the sudden pain on my side. RATATATA I missed. I rushed behind a car and peeked the side. "I'm hit!" I heard Russel shout. BANG BANG BANG BANG! Sparks flew from the side of the car as I was fired upon. I peeked the corner of the car and fired. RATATA Two fell. I took cover and changed my switch to semi. I turned and fired. RAT TAT TAT TAT. The final two fell. I felt a bullet hit the back of my helmet, sending a splitting headache through my head. I turned to see a line of soldiers that the three were fighting. "FRAG OUT!" Russel shouted as he threw what looked like a green apple. The line scattered as the grenade blew up. Tracers flew in my direction as I felt a bullet hit my chest plate. I fired into the smoke, adrenaline coursing through my veins with every shot. RATATATATA! 3 soldiers fell. "Reloading!" I shouted as I took out my magazine. I reached for a new one as Kasey covered me. "I got the last few!" Gregory shouted as the final 4 soldiers fell. I put in a new magazine and clicked back the hammer. That's when I noticed Kasey was hit in the leg. "Are you okay?!" I asked him, pumping my only stim into my body, healing up my injuries. "Just a scratch. It grazed me." Kasey said. I nodded as Kasey and I regrouped with Russel and Gregory, who were distributing guns and ammo. "Alright, I have an Ammo box. Do you want me to use it?" I asked. Russel nodded grimly as he was out of frags and smoke grenades already. I set my backpack in front of me. It was nice, relieving almost, to take the weight off my burning shoulders. I unzipped the top of it and rummaged through. I felt a box, and I pulled it out. It was a green box with an ammunition symbol on top. I opened it to check, and surely enough, there was ammo inside. "Alright, ammo box here." I said, tossing it down. "Man, that's not a lot. The box isn't that big to hold that much ammo." Russel said. "Well, size doesn't matter in war." Kasey said. The squad started to laugh. "Y'know, the best kind of dirt to eat is American soil." I said. "What?" Russel said, still chuckling a little. Kasey always tries to keep the mood up, no matter the situation. "You would know." Gregory said, reloading his M4. "Everybody plate up." Randy said, unzipping his plate carrier and putting in the one plate. The rapid zipping of the plate carriers lasted for only a few seconds, but it was still annoying. "ATV is only a few meters away, but it can only fit three. We could walk the distance." Gregory said. I heard Kasey's stomach rumble. "Or, we could raid the houses for food and eat." Kasey said. "You're fat." I commented, with no hesitation. I heard Gregory chuckle. "I know." Kasey sighed. "Fighting on an empty stomach is bad, but we also have to ration what we have," Russel said, searching his backpack. He pulled out an MRE and tossed it to Kasey. Kasey fumbled it and dropped it in the sand. Kasey muttered a swear but dusted it off. "We got water?" Kasey asked. "Eat it like a pack of Ramen. Just eat it raw." I said. The group looked at me with disgust l, "You said what now?" Russel asked quickly. "Y'all haven't done that? Just pour the powder on and eat it?" I asked. Russel and Gregory shook their heads. Kasey nodded, "Yeah. It's not that bad." Kasey said. "Alright. Get out of here." Russel said though it was clear that he was joking. Somebody blindsided Gregory with a knife and shot Russel. With no preparation, Kasey raised his pistol. Click. "It's jammed!" Kasey shouted and started fidgeting with the slide. I looked at the man, and the man looked at me. He wasn't much older than me, he looked like a friend I'd have at school. He wasn't a soldier. He was just doing his job. Kasey finally unjammed his pistol and raised it again. "No!" I shouted. BANG! The man jerked back and fell to the ground. A pool of blood formed around the man, and his gun lay prone on his chest. I jabbed a stim into Russel and got him back up. Kasey got Gregory back up, and we were more on edge, "War... Half of these people don't want to be here," I said at one point. "Ending another man's life short, killing the only of that man that will ever be, and then living with ending that man's life, the nightmares, my grandpa was right, I never actually wanted to join the Army." I said, forgetting about my crowd. Everybody was looking at me, either in awe or dumbfounded, Russel was looking at me with disgust. "What? You are saying, what?" Russel said, "if you don't want to be here," Russel said, tossing his .500 magnum at my feet, "then go ahead and use it." Russel finished, gesturing to the gun. I hesitated but then tossed it back at him. "If you won't do it yourself..." Russel said, grabbing the gun and standing up, "Then I will!" He raised the gun to my head. "Russel, stop!" Kasey shouted. "Move and I'll shoot you!" Russel said, aiming the gun at Kasey for a moment, before aiming it at me again. "So, which is it? You wanna stay, or do you want to leave?" Russel asked. I hesitated, before seeing Kasey blindside Russel with his shoulder. BANG! I felt a painful blast of pain sear across the side of my head. Gregory and Kasey were busy trying to wrestle Russel, so I fell on my side. I pulled out the last stim I had and tried to get it through my shirt. I muttered something and I tried jabbing it into my chest. I pushed the pump down and I felt my head stop bleeding, and a jolt of energy woke my body up. BANG! I pushed myself up and saw Kasey being held down on the ground, wrestling with Russel to keep the gun away from his head. I got up and sprinted to Kasey's aid, I jumped on Russel's back and drove my elbow into the soft spot on Russel's head. I saw Gregory out of the corner of my eye. He was clutching his left arm, blood leaking through his fingers. I wrestled Russel to the ground, and Kasey hit him with the butt of his gun. I took the .500 Magnum out of Russel's hand and got up. "I'm sorry.." Russel said, sounding too genuine. It was clear he wasn't in the right mindset. "I wasn't thinking, that's all me. Just give me my gun back." Russel said. I felt my stomach go inside out as I looked at Gregory, his face white with pain. "Oh my god! Gregory!" Russel shouted, his voice cracking. BANG BANG BANG! Three enemies heard Russel shout and were now coming out way. "Russel! Drag Gregory to cover and help with his injuries! Kasey! With me!" I shouted. Without a word, Russel dragged Gregory behind an abandoned truck and started bandaging his wounds. Kasey and I both ducked behind a short, stone-gray wall and set up our assault rifles. I looked down at my sights and saw an armored tuck full of AQ approaching us. "Uh, Russel?" Kasey shouted. "Y- yeah?" Russel asked. "Look!" Kasey said. Russel came over and saw the truck. Russel rushed back to Gregory and grabbed a Stemtex, a sticky grenade, and rushed back over. He pulled the pin and threw it at the truck. It landed right on the door, bullseye! He counted down with his fingers, 3... 2... 1... KABOOM! The truck was swallowed into a ball of flames, and the men inside the truck screamed at the searing heat. The truck's engine made a loud screeching and whining sound before the engine stopped making noises. I rushed back to Gregory, climbing into the truck bed jumping over the wall, and kneeling next to Gregory. "Gregory, can you hear me?" I asked, glaring at Russel. Russel rubbed his bicep. Gregory nodded grimly, though not opening his eyes. "Can you walk?" I asked. Gregory shook his head slowly, trying to push himself up, though failing. "Does anybody have a stim?" I asked, looking at Russel, and then at Kasey. Kasey tossed one to me. I stuck the stim in Gregory. As the green liquid slid through his body, Gregory's face turned more of his color, and he seemed more alive. "Thanks." He huffed, grabbing his M16 and standing up. "This is the worst place to hold grudges, alright?" Kasey said. Russel and Gregory nodded. "Alright, let's move. The sun is about to fall, and none of us have night vision. We still have to move 500 meters, come on." Gregory said, taking the lead. We walked for about 250 meters before stopping because of nearby gunfire. We took cover in a house with 2 stories. I flipped a table on its side and mounted my gun on it, keeping my eyes on the stairs. "Alright. We're going to keep watch in 1-hour shifts, alright?" I said. I heard Russel murmur something. They lay down on the cold wooden floor and immediately fell asleep. 30 minutes later, I looked out the window and saw the flashes of gunfire in the distance. I looked at my map and saw that the gunfire was <150 meters away. Other operators! I thought. I rushed over to the other three, who were sleeping, but stopped cold in my tracks. Thump Thump Thump. Footsteps were downstairs. I felt my blood go cold as slowly made my way back to my gun. I unscrewed my suppressor as I aimed down my sights. The footsteps got louder until 4 heads popped up. RATATATATA TATATATATATATATATA! I emptied my magazine into the staircase. I heard a panicked shout from the other squad as they fired back. Kasey and Russel rushed to my side and mounted on in. RATATATA TATATATATA! "Frag out!" I heard one of them shout. The grenade landed next to us. Out of pure panic, I picked it up and threw it back down the stairs. "OH SH@#!" I heard them shout as they ran down the stairs. Gregory grabbed his shotgun and gave chase. "Go go go!" Russel said, leaping over the table. I followed close behind, soon making it to his side. "They're in the building!" Gregory shouted, making his way into a small building. BANG! BANG! Two shotgun shots. I heard Gregory hit the floor with a Thump! And I rushed to the door. I reached for a grenade. I pulled the pin and flipped the spoon. "1... 2... 3!" I muttered and threw it in. Almost as soon as the grenade hit the ground it exploded. "Move in, move in!" I shouted, pushing into the room. BRRRRRRRRRRRRRT! Machine gun fire shredded the room. I dove behind a wall, spotting Russel and Kasey holding the door. Kasey gave the gesture for me to move up. I rushed up the stairs, Kasey and Russel close behind. Something metal hit the floor, though it was hard to see in the dark. "Grenade!" Russel shouted, diving off the staircase. With only a few seconds left, I had to make a choice. Jump upstairs, or off the staircase. I lowered my body before pushing off and diving upstairs. I landed right in front of the enemy's cover, but... they didn't notice! I crawled under the cover, flinching now and then as bullets whizzed over my helmet. It only took a few seconds, however, those few seconds felt like a lifetime. I raised my gun... Click. Empty. I drew my pistol swiftly and fired until I was out of ammo. I could see a silhouette leap over the table and fire at the bodies of the enemies, making sure they were dead. "Randy? Where are you?" Russel asked, flicking on the flashlight on his gun. The light shined right in my eyes, "Jesus Christ Russel, get that light out of my eyes." I said, picking myself up. "I almost put one right in between your eyes, be more careful." Russel said, lowering his gun. "I found a 2 plate carrier for you, Randy." Gregory said, picking it up. The black-gray vest sagged over Gregory's tricep as he offered it to me. "What? Why does HE get it?" Russel protested, trying to get the vest. "Well, for starters, he DID throw the grenade back at the enemy, and he, well technically, we just took out the squad, but Randy did crawl next to enemy cover, with us shooting at him." Gregory said. Russel didn't say anything, probably because he didn't care too much about it. As I took out my one-plate carrier and replaced it with the two-plate, I thought of something. "What if we get to exfil, and we get out of here, but not the game itself?" I thought out loud. I could feel the heavy gaze of all three pairs of eyes on me, even though I wasn't looking. "Well, there has to be one way out, and believe me, I will do whatever it takes to find it." Kasey said, grabbing a black, burst-fire M16 from the enemy's large bag. "I found night-vision," Russel said, sliding it on to his helmet. "These guys had some good stuff," Kasey said, picking up a 2-plate carrier. As they squad hunkered down, Russel took watch. I opened my bag and took my sleeping bag out. As I rolled it out, Kasey said something. that froze everybody. "I think I see a glint..." Kasey said, looking out the window. "Get down!" Gregory said, dragging Kasey to the ground. "Hey, hey, it was just a joke!" Kasey said, chucking a little. Gregory popped him on the back of the head, "I'll break your nose for cracking those jokes," He said. I chuckled a little before I took off my uniform, my white tee gleaming below it. "Dang, we were wearing 2 shirts this whole time? No wonder I was so hot." I said, folding my uniform and setting on the sandy floor. "I'm glad that the plate carrier is build into the shirt," I said, laying down in my sleeping bag. I closed my eyes and immediately fall asleep. My mind drifted back to home, thinking about my siblings and parents, wondering where I went. I woke up in my parents house, the aroma of old house filling the air. I walked into the living room, and saw my parents. I could feel the panic in the air as they called 911. "Guys! I'm right here!" I shouted. That's when it hit me that I could see them, however it was like looking through a screen. I can see them, but they can't see me. I felt somebody shaking me, and that's when I woke up. "Hm... what?" I asked groggily, rubbing my eyes. "Get up, we have to go." Russel said. It was pitch black outside when I stepped out, the roar of fighter jets above. Tracers flew from the sky, with the occasional flash of explosions from the missiles blowing up. As we trekked the streets of Al Mararah, we found a parking garage underground. We thought it would be a good idea to go in, so we did. It. Was. Not.