Under Fire

by bosoxboy521

Chapter: II

The planes whirred across the night sky as the soldiers inside waited anxiously to jump into battle. James sat up front near his Captain, the wind blowing against his face. He lurched in his seat as the plane began to hit some minor turbulence. But, no matter how many times he tried to calm himself down, he just couldn't do it. His thoughts began to race in his head, every lurch felt like a shell smacking against the plane. He thought to himself to look outside the window of his seat, to see the soothing clouds of the French sky. He turned around to see what looked like a billion planes in the sky, doing the exact same thing, flying. He turned around in slight disappointment, and sighed deeply. He always liked looking at clouds, especially with his girlfriend. The two would look up at the different shapes as the laid down on the ground and held each other in a deep embrace. He would stare at her beautiful face, and she would stare back. James began to think of her, her bright blue eyes, flowing brown hair, and the her smile that made him think nothing mattered in the world but the two of them. He always seemed to lose himself in her eyes, sometime even a little too much.

"Matthews, get the fuck up, we're about to jump!" said a voice, pulling him out of his seat. James began to gather his thoughts once again, now realizing it's almost time for him to do his job.

"Hook up!" shouted the jump master on the plane. He pulled out the little clip that would deploy his parachute and clipped it onto the railing above.

"Check equipment!" James waited patiently for his number. The soldier behind him patted his body and all of his gear. He began to hear the countdown of soldiers okaying the equipment.

"Ten okay, nine okay, eight okay, seven okay..." shouted the soldiers down the line.

"This is it James...get ready to call your number," he thought to himself.

"Five okay, four okay..."

"Here we go," he felt the shoulder pat his back. "Three okay!" he shouted and patted the soldier's shoulder in front of him. He did it. He felt good that he didn't completely screw up the call. But, his thoughts came to a sudden end when the plane knocked up and down. James felt the inside of his body shake up and down. This wasn't turbulence though, it was too rough. All of a sudden, a window from the plane completely shattered and glass flew all across the plane. He looked outside, and all he could see were yellow lines shooting up into the sky. The sound of booming guns below now filled the air, instead of the whirring of the plane rotors.

"We need to get the fuck off this thing!" shouted a soldier.

"We're about two clicks north of the LZ, we can't jump yet!" shouted the co pilot. But before he could turn around, an AA round punctured the skull of the co pilot, and splattered blood all across the plane cockpit.

"Fucking christ!" shouted the pilot, turning on the green light for the okay to jump. The light illuminated the plane and everyone began to jump out.

"Get moving!" shouted the jump master. James didn't even hesitate to jump. Caught up in the moment, he moved as fast as he could to get off the now battered plane. He felt the sudden lurch of his parachute as he then began to glide down to the ground. He kept his eyes on his feet and began to recite his training. He landed on the ground, his body rolling as he made contact with it. It didn't take him too long to get back on his feet. He brushed the grass off and detached his parachute. He felt around for his equipment, but, to his surprise, almost everything was gone. Canteen, map, flash light, knife, even his pistol, gone in a flash. He looked around frantically for his equipment, and luckily found his Springfield on the ground near his parachute. He picked up his rifle, no damage to it. He felt around his waste belt for his ammo, only had one pouch of bullets, holding ten rounds inside.

"Damn it," he said to himself, and began to walk north, hoping to get to the LZ. James began to walk around slowly, looking for another Airborne soldier, but, there was nothing around him. No allies, no enemies, no life whatsoever. He was getting more worried by the minute, this was his biggest fear, doing his job alone. He walked slowly across the woods, not knowing where he was going, or if he was even going in the right direction. The tall trees of the woods loomed over him, with the only light being the moon up in the sky. He never felt so lost in his life, nor as terrified.

As he began walking across the country side, he saw a small clearing in the woods, illuminated by the moonlight. James walked closer to the small patch of land when he saw a bright surge of light began to blind his vision. He put his hand to his eyes, the bright light seeming to light up the entire forest.

"What the fu..." James began to say, but was cut of short when a force of energy launched him back and smacked him against a tree. His body slumped down the trunk of the tree and laid there lifelessly. He began to focus in and out of conscious, his head spinning around in circles. He could see something walking towards him, he turned his head to the sounds of the footsteps, but, his eyes finally shut and his body collapsed to the ground.

Comments

[ThatBatJess]

The fact that all his gear is gone is...interesting.to say the least...

[FinalFan]

his waste belt
waist

[Fallen Grace]

Striking similarities in development of the story between this and the HBO Miniseries, Band of Brothers.