The Promised Land

On the lookout, Private Adrian, through his bloodshot eyes, looked for any signs of movement.
It has been 3 days since they had any contact​ with the headquarters. Rumors were that the enemy has deployed jammers to cover for their invasion army. Fear had started to spread amidst the ranks and morale was falling.

Adrian held his rifle in his hands, repeating the chant they had been taught since they were young.

"The Promised Land...The Promised Land... We fight to protect...The Promised Land.." his mind repeated this chant whenever he could.
As he scouted the plains of the scorched desert, he detected movement on the west side of the lookout.

He picked up his binoculars, looked through them and a gasp left his mouth.

Three Sickle Anti-infantry vehicles were trampling towards the base. The enemy always found trigger happy maniacs to pilot those machines.
Those dreaded war machines could easily rip a man to shreds with their machine guns.
Never in the history of this war, a sickle attack has left anyone alive.

Adrian ran for the alarm button and soon the base was lit up with red flashes of alarms and the marching of boots.

Soldiers rushed to get into positions. The sickle vehicles were infamous for jumping over walls and right onto infantry, so everyone was making sure their head was covered by a few foot of concrete.

Adrian jumped down the lookout and headed to the bunker facing the incoming Sickles. His experience on the battlefield taught him that Sickles are weak on their legs and they only need one clean shot to turn them stationary.

He loaded his grenade launcher and repeated his chant. "The Promised Land... For the Promised land..."
As soon as he got the sickle in his sight, he fired.

The vehicle erupted into flames. One of his leg blown straight off, it went crashing down into the sand. Heavy gunfire from the others silenced the crew of the damaged sickle.

The other sickles, now aware of the danger, bent down and their legs started shaking. Smoke began to come out of their exhaust pipes.

Adrian knew what it was. "They're gonna jump! Gun them down!"

Perhaps he was too late as the sickles lept into the air, performing their infamous "Flea Jump". They went over the walls and straight into the courtyard.

"INCOMING!!" shouted a bewildered soldier.

At once, the roaring of machine guns filled the entire outpost. The sickles started gunning everything down that moved. Adrian rushed to the entrance of the bunker and saw the sickle mow down a team of engineers who were making a run for shelter.

"We wait till they stop for a reload, then we hit them with everything we've got! Aim for the legs or gunners" Adrian shouted to the squad of soldiers around him.

The soldiers nodded in agreement and they waited for the rain of bullets to settle down.

The entire courtyard was filled with bullet holes and shells. Anyone unlucky enough to get caught in the gunfire was turned to minced meat. The sickles stopped their firing and started to pace around, looking for survivors.

As they neared the entrance of the bunker where Adrian and the others were hiding, the soldiers reloaded their weapons and held their guns ready.

"NOW!"

One of the sickle was hit from the right with a grenade and gunfire. The side gun exploded and the sickle lost its balance. It's ammunition had caught on fire and the crew knocked unconscious.

The other Sickle was quick to respond and started shooting. The bullets ripped through three of the soldiers, killing them at the spot. The others ducked for cover and barely survived the onslaught. The sickle kept firing until the gunner thought that he gotten everyone.

Adrian looked around, only Edd and James had survived. The three of them against a sickle. He repeated his chant to himself again, "The promised land..The promised land.."

As if the heavens had heard his prayers, the downed sickle caught fire and exploded, blinding the gunners of the other sickle with smoke.

"BLOW THEM WIDE OPEN!!" Adrian shouted. The soldiers fired in the dark smoke, hoping to hit the sickle. They got the gunners but not before they could return fire. The bullets mowed down James and Edd and hit Adrian in his shoulder.

Adrian fell, having​ lost his balance.
He could feel the warm blood seeping down his chest. The immense pain that followed wasn't anything better.
With his blurred vision, he looked around for any signs of the sickle.

As the wind blew away the smoke, he saw the glimpse of the sickle. It was standing in the centre of the courtyard, bent to a side with sparks coming out of its cockpit. He could see someone struggling to get the machine operational.

Adrian used all his might to get up, drew his 9mm and limped towards the sickle. The operator was too busy to notice his approach. Irritated by his continuous failures, he started mashing the buttons violently.

Adrian was now a few feet away from the man. He took aim for the man's head.

In his fit of anger, the man noticed Adrian, took his knife out and immediately lunged at him.

The sound of a gunshot filled the air.

Adrian was lying on the ground, the body of the dead operator on top of him. Blood seeped from Adrian's abdomen, courtesy of the operator's knife. He tried pushing him off, but couldn't muster the strength.

Helpless and wounded, Adrian repeated his beloved chant to him.
The same chant for which they were fighting. The same chant for which there was all this bloodshed.
For the promised land...

He felt his consciousness slipping, his vision getting darker. His body went limp and he could no longer move.
He could see a white light, a blinding flash. He could see a few trees, he could see his family and he could see his friends.

They were getting closer and closer.
A smile appeared on Adrian face.
He was there. He was there after everything.
He had finally reached...

The promised land...