James stared up at the ceiling for a while before going to sleep. He listened to the noises the house made, and the sounds of Fluttershy's animals breathing as they slept. The wind had picked up outside which caused the house to make a slight creaking sound. He liked it when the weather started acting up, it made him feel cozy and warm even if it was cold and dismal outside. He thought back on how well the day had gone, even though he had scared some of his new friends, and Pinkie had scared him. He kept staring for a while longer as the warm feeling built up inside, making him sink lower into the couch. He was thankful that these new beings had accepted him and didn't try to harm him because he was an unknown creature. As the warm feeling crept over him more and more, he let his mind wander into the dream world. He then drifted off to sleep.
James was out on patrol with the first squad he was assigned to when he was first sent to Afghanistan in 2002. It was about one o'clock and clouds had started rolling over head, making for excellent weather. James' squad was in formation, all members were keeping a watchful eye out for any enemy activity.
"Hey Rodney!" James shouted to the teams' machine gunner, whom he had been with since basic training.
"Yeah James!?" Rodney shouted back.
"Beautiful fuckin' day, isn't it!?"
"Rah' brotha', wouldn't trade any other day in the world for it!" Rodney agreed with a hearty cheer. The team was spread out in a traditional patrol formation, three men in front and three in back for security; whilst alongside another fire team. They were on the outskirts of a village called Nawabad that was suspected to have a high number of Taliban insurgents. They hadn't experienced any hostile activity yet; James was keeping a very close eye on one building that looked as if it could house a possible sniper. The patrol kept moving onward and James hand't seen any sniper; so he laid it to rest, but still remained skeptical of the building. They crossed over a small bridge that spanned a ditch that had once held water, then began to move closer to the main road that went through Nawabad. The road through it was also filled heavily with mines and IEDs; so it was no surprise for them to see an explosive ordinance disposal team working just a quarter mile up the road. Pit pit pitpitpitpit pit pit pit.
"Get down!" The team leader named Eric Shealey shouted to everyone. The familiar sound of bullets hitting dirt was confirmed by everyone. A muzzle flash was seen from the side of a hut with a noticeable hole in it, then another popped up, then another after that.
"Two o'clock! Building with the hole!" James shouted as everyone directed fire onto it; Rodney especially with his M240 machine gun, the 7.62 projectiles cutting down anything in their path. James turned his head to see if anything was in the building he kept looking at. Punk. Someone fired a grenade from a grenade launcher at the building with a now growing hole in it. Boom. The sound of it hitting was satisfying, and a few Marines cheered as it took out half of its target. The villagers of Nawabad were running for cover and getting inside their huts as more Taliban fighters came flooding out.
"Contacts at ten and eleven!" A team member shouted, their fire switching targets and exterminating them. James swung his rifle into position and let several rounds fly down range. He looked through the scope to find other targets, then saw four more insurgents running out from behind cover.
"Back at two!" He shouted to everyone, the only person that heard him was Rodney who started laying down another base of fire when he ran out of ammo in the magazine.
"Reloading!" He shouted frantically, grabbing for fresh one. James took over and shot at the still running men, burning up all of the rounds left in his magazine, then reloading himself. Still more insurgents were coming out, but not into the open. They stayed hidden inside the village, popping out when they felt no one was watching them.
"AHHHH!" One team mate shouted as he rolled around in the dirt, he had been shot in the shoulder. The medic ran over to him and started working on his patient. James and Rodney both looked over at him then back to the field, laying down more suppressing fire.
"We need to find better cover!" Shealey shouted to them all, immediately everyone looked around but could not find any.
"James, Rodney!" Shealey shouted to the pair as he ran over to them.
"Yes sir!?" They shouted in unison.
"We need to get to cover before we get blasted to pieces! You two and and another pair are going to stay back and provide support as we run up to the buildings, we're gonna flank em'! Then once we're in position you'll move up to us!" He yelled the plan to them.
"Roger!" They both shouted again as they ran over to where the other two were waiting.
"Ready Marines!? Let's get there fast, double time!" Shealey yelled as eight Marines charged toward the enemy, himself included; the man who got shot stayed behind with them, he was still able to move but his left shoulder was in very bad shape. They were all shooting at anything that popped up, the cartridge casings spilling out all around them.
"Yeah baby, get some!" Rodney shouted at his foes while letting a ten round burst go. The eight that had run up to the village, stopped and dug themselves in.
"Move up guys, we got you covered." Eric said into his radio, and then signaling them with his hand to move up.
"Alright boys, let's keep it tight!" James shouted to the four remaining Marines. The first three got up and ran, shortly followed by James and Rodney. The five of them were staggered a few feet but were still close to one another. They came running in as fast as their gear and legs would allow them. Their legs pounded the ground step after step; shots were heard being exchanged up ahead, so they got ready for an immediate firefight as soon as they hit the village. Rodney was running right behind James.
"You ready Rodney, 'cause they're coming up!" James shouted back to his friend.
"Damn straight! Let's beat their asses up one side of the street and down the oth-" Zzz... puh... thud. James heard the sound of something go past his head at high speed, then looked back to Rodney to see if he heard it too. He didn't see Rodney standing up, but on the ground, his machine gun dumped a few feet behind him.
"Fuck! Rodney! I need a Corpsman now!" James shouted at the top of his lungs to the teams' medic. The medic was unable to move as he was pinned down, so James decided to bring his fallen comrade to the medic himself. He slung him up over his shoulder, doubling his own weight. He left Rodney's weapon as they could always come back and get it before moving into the village, or even after it was secured. There were fifty yards left to run, but with the added mass it felt like fifty miles. James didn't stop though, and kept putting one foot in front of the other in a desperate attempt to make it to cover; all the while Rodney was bleeding profusely from his wound on James' back, but he didn't care because he wanted to save his friend. He kept chugging along sucking in air as his muscles burned with unimaginable pain. He was within twenty five yards now getting closer by the second Boom. Everyone turned around as they heard the explosion, expecting it to be just a hand grenade or RPG.
"IED!" One of the Marines shouted. James and Rodney were almost nowhere to be found.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"RODNEY!" James shouted into the dark as he awoke still on Fluttershy's couch. He looked around frantically trying to find his friend, but to no prevail he was alone without him. He threw the covers off of him and looked around more in the dark, still trying find Rodney. His search continued to come up empty. He continued his search for a few more minutes, not caring if he woke anyone up. He did though, Rainbow Dash was sitting at the top of the stairs to the guest room, she had awaken when James shouted out, Fluttershy was awake too, but no one knew it.
"Rodney!? Rodney, where are you!?" He shouted again, still thinking he was in the village of Nawabad. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy didn't know what to do so she they just stayed where they were. After looking all through the house and coming up with nothing, he stopped at the couch again and sat down. He laid against the back rest with his hands on his head; trying to get the image of what just happened out of his mind, tears were streaming down his face. After sitting down for several minutes, he got up and walked to the front door, opened it, then stepped outside onto the porch. It was still dark outside and fairly cool; James slumped against the side of the house, the tears were still coming down as he stared blankly into space. He thought back again on his last operation, going over every face and small detail about his comrades. Then he thought of his brother and the funeral, James smacked his head against the house a few times. He then thought of his mother and father and how they were doing; what they were doing, if they missed him, or were even aware that he was not on earth.
Rainbow was looking out the window of her room trying to see what James was doing, she saw him sit down. She decided to go and comfort him. James heard the door open, but didn't look over as he didn't care who it was that came out.
"J- James? Are you okay?" Rainbow asked unsure of what to say. He didn't acknowledge her, and just kept staring at nothing. She came and sat down next to him, she looked closer at him and could see his tears coming down, It was quite obvious that whatever had happened was serious, so she pressed a little further.
"What happened to Rodney?" She asked, trying to get him to open up. He just kept staring, still not acknowledging that she was there. Rainbow went silent and waited for him to say something, several minutes passed before he did.
"He's gone." Was all he said, then looked over at her.
"What happened to him?" She asked trying to go deeper. There was another long pause.
"He was shot in the chest right above his armor. I picked him up and tried to run us both to cover, after that I don't know, there was an explosion I remember though." He said in a monotone. Dash just kept looking at him, unsure of what to say or do.
"I- I don't know what to say." She confessed how she felt to him.
"Don't say anything... just give them a moment of silence." He said as more tears fell. She didn't know whom he was talking about, other than this Rodney person she just heard of; so she just sat silently, waiting for him to do something. It was while before either did.
"Sorry about waking you up miss Dash." James apologized.
"It's okay, I wasn't sleeping all that well anyway." She lied to him, trying to cheer him up.
"What happened with you and Rodney? D- did he die or something?"
"We both did, it was only a dream though... but he actually did that day." He answered her question.
"I'm sorry that it happened."
"You don't need to be, we all eventually meet our fate in one way or another, he did that day in Nawabad." James said turning to her again. They looked each other in the eye, Dash offered him a hug.
"Do you want to tell me about what else happened?" She tried to take the emotional burden off of him more.
"No miss Dash, I've said too much about the matter already, I don't want to speak anymore about it." He said turning away. She didn't want him to feel like this, so she tried a different tactic.
"Alright, well if you don't want to talk about it anymore, I'm goin' back to bed." She said with a fake yawn, then got up to leave.
"No... wait... it's nice to have some one here, please stay." He beckoned for her to come back. She came and sat back down by him, they didn't say anything though. James had stopped crying, but still stared out into open space. Dash draped her wing around him for comfort, he accepted the gesture and let it happen. The two sat that way for a while longer before going back inside.