Day 1 - 10:35
Pvt. Daniel Nicholas
1st Bn., 75th Ranger Regiment
Zabul, Afghanistan
Jet fighters flew by a town which was being assaulted by US Army Rangers. They fired several missiles, destroying buildings that were confirmed to be the nest of the terrorists. From the ground, six humvees and two M1A2 Abrams were crossing the gate into the town of Al-Asad. There was a hill very close to the town, which gave the US Rangers a nice view before they broke into the town. Their main objective was to capture the base that had been confirmed one was located in Al-Asad. To their surprise, the town seemed to be very quiet.
"Hunter 2 breakin' away." The voice came from Hunter 2-3.
"Copy Hunter 2." The voice that they recognized as Overlord, responded.
"All Hunter 2," Sergeant Finn said through the walkie, "Keep an eye out for civvies, we're not cleared to engage unless they fire first. Scan the rooftops for hostiles. Stay frosty." The humvees moved in first, followed closely by two Abrams.
"You see anything?" Private Daniel asked, still holding his minigun tightly.
"I got nothin' dude," Corporal Jerry replied, watching his surroundings, "This place is dead... probably."
"It ain't dead for me," Sergeant Finn interrupted the conversation, "We just got here."
"Yeah good point," Private Daniel said while aiming through one of the buildings on his left, "But this place is quiet."
"Quiet as graveyard, Private," Finn replied, "And graveyard is the place for dead people. We're simply dead here if you look it that way."
"We may die today, Sergeant. But at least I have to kill as many of those motherfuckers I can." The private replied sarcastically.
Sergeant Finn, Corporal Jerry, Private Daniel and Private Chase were in one jeep and they came fifth in the convoy. Private Daniel was the youngest soldier amongst them. But his fighting skills he had since he was 10 years old made him easier to join the forces. Finn sat on the passenger's seat while Chase carefully drove the humvee. Daniel stood on the back to man the minigun while Jerry and another soldier sat on both sides next to Daniel. Before they realized it, they met a crossroad.
"I have a bad feeling about this." Daniel said as he held his minigun tighter than ever. He thought he could crush his friend's hand with this grip in arm wrestling.
"Just stay frosty." Sergeant Finn.
The convoy kept on moving. As the second humvee passed the crossroad, Daniel saw something on one of the buildings. "Hey, you see that?" He asked while looking at a balcony.
"Where?" Sergeant Finn looked around.
"The building eleven o'clock, second floor." Daniel replied, all of the convoy looked the direction he was talking about.
"Two-foot-mobiles, balcony eleven o'clock." Hunter 2-1 said through the comms.
"Are they armed?" Sergeant Finn asked. His eyes were looking at them cautiously.
"Negative, they're just watching us." The voice from Hunter 2-2 replied.
"I bet they're scouting us," Private Chase finally spoke up, "Who knows what hell lies ahead of us."
"Ehh, but that don't mean we can't shoot 'em," Daniel said while looking at the three militias with narrowed eyes. He really wanted to kick some ass lately.
"You're really quiet here, Private," Jerry teased Chase with a sly grin on his face, "Is it because of the problem?"
Chase rolled his eyes. "Oh shut the hell up, you abominable shit goblin."
"Hey man, I'm just kidding."
"It's fine. It's just, my mom was so freaked out when I told her we'll be heading to this town." Some rubbles on the street made the jeep rocked.
Jerry shrugged. "Listen to my words, man. Don't call home. Like Sergeant Finn. His mind got fucked up just to call home, right Finn?"
Finn looked forward as the jeep kept rocking here and there. "I'll call home when I got out of this hell. Until then don't think about your home."
Daniel kept his eyes peeled on every buildings. But his mind went elsewhere. Finn, Jerry and Chase were his best friends ever since he enlisted in the Rangers. They have been fighting alongside each other for almost two years. His thoughts went back to the old days when he dreamed of being a Ranger. Daniel was very interested in the Army ever since he was 12. He practiced his skills everyday just to reach his very dream. He sometimes had the doubt in the back of his mind. Something he feared of if he joined the Army. Death. Being a soldier means you will have to serve and protect your country from any threat. But when he knew he would be sacrificing his life for a greater good, he put the thoughts away and continued to reach his dream. He was very happy when the Army accepted him. As soon as he joined, he was quick to adapt with the life of a Ranger and made friends in the Army faster than he thought. Guess it wasn't that hard to socialize when you met the right person.
While Daniel was still in his thoughts, they passed the crossroad and continued on to their main objective.
"The hospital must've not far enough from here," Chase broke the silence as he looked around, "Fucking terrorists. They always use their religion's name if they wanna go for an action. I mean, come on! Its just ruined your... you know!"
"I don't even wanna know," Daniel replied, "Though, I'm a Moslem too but I ain't joining them for good."
"You have your right to choose kid," Finn said, looking up to his brother in arms, "You're better than them. You realise what they're doing is wrong. Yet, here you are. Fight alongside us to defeat those who wants to turn this world into what they want."
"Heck yeah, I bet every bible in the world didn't teach us about killing." Daniel readjusted his backpack with a groan.
"That's a good thing for you to know kiddo," Jerry chimed in, "We maybe not the same in religions, you, me, Sergeant here and Chase. But we're still humans, we eat the same damn thing. We tolerate one another. At least it supposed to be like that. I'd kiss their toes if they eat sticks and rocks."
"Y'know, Jesus was a pacifist, Sergeant," Chase suddenly said, "I joined, volunteered for war. You understand?" Finn looked at him curiously. "I think that... I think that tells you, where God and I stands."
Finn laughed slightly as he turned his attention back to the road. "You read the Bible, Chase? Violent as hell. Full of stories about Christians using force for good."
"Yea, I read it," Chase replied, "Muslims think they're good, using force for good too." He jerked his head back, saying, "No offense, Dann."
"None taken," came the reply from the young private, "Now that you mentioned it, I'm using force for good too now. Unless I'm fighting my own damned people who got brainwashed or some shit."
"Well, we can't both be right." Jerry said.
"We can both be wrong." Chase replied.
"Keep your damn eyes on the road, Private." Finn interrupted.
Chase simply smirked. "Sorry, Dad." Earning a light slap to his head by the Sergeant.
Daniel chuckled. He was very lucky that his friends accepted him not because of his appearance, religion, but because of who he is. He honestly really wanted to see the world full of happiness, where every religion, every human tolerate and appreciate one another. But he knew it's not going to happen. Everyone knew it wasn't going to happen. It's just a child's dream.
The convoy continued their way to the objective. As they spotted another crossroad up ahead, the first humvee stopped in an instant and made everyone behind it to put on their breaks as well.
"What the hell is your problem, Hunter 2-1?" Finn asked a little annoyed.
"Uhh... Sir, you might wanna look at this." Hunter 2-1 replied.
Daniel looked with wide eyes at the sight before him, but he could only mutter, "Oh shit..."
"Private, what's wrong?" Jerry asked, a little concern.
Before Daniel could answer, a loud 'BANG' rang filled the air as everyone flinched from the noise. The next thing they heard, was Daniel groaning in pain and agony. Unfortunately the sniper got him. But he was lucky enough that he squirmed a bit to answer his friend and the shot pierced through his right shoulder.
"SNIPER!!" Finn got out from the vehicle but before he could search the sniper, he saw a man crouched down on a balcony, holding an RPG that was clearly aimed for the convoy. "RPG!! DEAD AHEAD!!"
The man fired the RPG, destroying Hunter 2-2 before they could react. Before they realized it, the Rangers were being ambushed.
"AMBUSH!!" One of the ranger shouted as he ran into a building to the right of the convoy. The crossroad have been blockaded by a lot of cars that, making them unable to move forward.
"GET US OUTTA HERE! DRIVE!!" Jerry yelled at the top of his lungs while firing mercilessly to the enemies.
Chase didn't listen though, he quickly got out from the driver seat and opened the door of the back seat. Daniel was pressuring the wound on his right shoulder, gritting his teeth while his breath went uncontrollable.
"Come on kid!" Chase said as he pulled Daniel out of the vehicle. They limply walked to the building that the rest of the Rangers ran into. Jerry and Finn followed closely, giving them covering fire before entering the building.
Another RPG fired and their humvee exploded, leaving only four humvees and two tanks left. The tank wasted no time on firing their shells and machine guns to the building that have multiple enemies inside it.
"GET INSIDE!! HURRY!!" The commander shrieked to the other Rangers as he closed his hatch.
"Is everyone alright?" Finn rushed to the window and started shooting.
"Hooah." Jerry replied.
"Hooah? They got us fucked up!" Chase said while putting Daniel to a nearby table. "We lost five men already!"
"Shut the fuck up, Private! This is no time for mourn!" Finn screamed while reloading his gun.
Ignoring Finn, Chase slowly put the wounded ranger on the table. Daniel groaned from the pain he felt on his wound. Chase took off Daniel's vest before laying him down on the table. He then rolled up his shirt to reveal the wound and sure enough, it was bad. Jerry grabbed his bandage and proceeded to put a pressure on the wound. "Keep the pressure on it! Hold still kid, hold still. WE GOT A WOUNDED OVER HERE!!"
A medic immediately ran to Daniel. He pulled out all of his aid kit and began patching the wound to stop the bleeding.
"You're gonna be alright kid!" Chase held Daniel in his hands while the young ranger still screaming in pain. He kept telling him good words such as, "You're gonna be fine,", "Its alright."
"Damn those terrorists!!" Jerry screamed and rushed to the window before firing his weapon.
"War Daddy we need your assist over!" Sergeant Finn called out through his comms to the tank crew men.
"This is War Daddy awaiting orders."
"I want you to pop up your smoke bombs in front of those humvees so we could get the hell out of here!!"
"But we still have to continue our way to our main objective, Sarge!"
"Can't you see we're all being fucked here?!" He looked at the wounded ranger whose struggling to breathe while Chase was still calming him down. That bullet sure caused a lot of damage to his body. Finn looked back to the road and to his rangers, "We got a goddamn wounded ranger here and he'll probably die if we didn't take him back!!"
"With all due respect, Sarge. Dead bodies attract more dead bodies."
"THATS WHY WE NEED TO SAVE HIM ASSHOLE!! IF WE DIDN'T GET OUR ASSES FROM HERE, WE'RE DEAD!!" Finn yelled at the top of his lungs. "AND IF HE'S YOUR MEN WILL YOU LET HIM DIE?!!"
There was a brief silence before the commander responded, "No, Sarge."
"Good," the sergeant took a deep breath before he continued, "Now light it up!"
The two tanks starts to fire their smoke bombs between the humvees and the buildings also the blockade. Ones the smoke is thick enough to cover them into their vehicles, the sergeant run to Daniel whose still trying to calm him self down while his right chest is still covered in blood. Guess the bandages aren't enough to stop the blood from running out his body. He puts his left hand on his right cheek, "You're gonna be alright kid." He looks to Chase and gives him a nod. "Lets get this ranger out of this mess."
Before they could lift the ranger, they notice that the their rangers had stopped firing, neither do the terrorists. The sergeant look back and finds all of the ranger looking up from the window to their right, the smoke has gone really fast but he thinks that wasn't the thing that made all of his rangers looked like an idiot just by staring out of the window and do nothing. "Corporal, what's going on?" He asks to Jerry but there was no respond, all of the ranger just look up at the sky. Curious mixed with anger, he went outside to check on the situation. He looked up and saw a massive mushroom emerge on the sky. His eyes widen at the sight and quickly run inside. "EVERYBODY GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!!!" That seems to break all of their daydreaming. They all immediately ran outside the building, leaving Jerry, Chase, Finn, and wounded Daniel inside.
"Come on!! We gotta get him out of here!!" Chase screamed to the others but the others just look at him with a 'no' expression. "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU GUYS, DIDN'T YOU..." He stopped as he feels a hand grab his right shoulder.
It was Daniel, with blood running from his mouth and chest and he desperately breathing for air but he manage to say to his friends, "Leave... me..." He stops to take a few breaths. "I'll... be fine. Go Chase. Just... leave... me..."
Chase couldn't believe what he just heard. Instead of leaving him, he hold Daniels arms in his, "I'm not gonna leave you here!!" He looked at his friends as he say, "GO JUST LEAVE US!! GO!!"
Jerry nod to Finn slowly and run to the door, the others already left and there's only one humvee left for them. But Finn suddenly run towards Chase and pick Daniel up by his shoulder. "Come on, we get out of this together." They all carry Daniel into the jeep and start it as quickly as possible. As the jeep starting to roar, Chase pulls it back to reverse and do the J turn. I dunno how the hell that works but its worth it, he thought. He hit the gas with his power and the jeep starts running on the street in the town trying to get away from the shockwave radius as far as possible.
"Were gonna make it right?" Jerry keeps his hands on Daniels' chest making sure that his friend didn't lose much blood. He turned his head around to see the mushroom again but he only saw a sandstorm, nope, its the shockwave, well shit. "Welp, were gonna die." He said with a flat tone.
"We're not gonna die!" Finn says as he look to his mirror and somehow all of his 'bravery' runs away from his body when he sees the shockwave coming in hot. "GOGOGOGOGOGOGOGOGOGO!" He said that while punching multiple times to Chase's right arm. He groans and hit the gas with more power. The shockwave now is only 500-600 meters away from them and its getting close fast.
Then, Jerry saw a cave to his left, a big cave not far enough from their position right now. He quickly pointing his finger directly towards the cave, "There's a cave!!"
Chase immediately turn the humvee to his left and hit the gas again straight towards the cave with full power. The humvee let out a roar as if the humvee itself desperately wanted to get out of there alive too. Chase looked to his left, shit. The shockwave's getting closer fast and the cave is getting closer fast too. "COME ON BABY YOU CAN DO IT! COME ON!!" He continues to scream at the humvee and punching the steer several times for the sake of their lives. When they're almost arrived at the entrance of the cave, suddenly a very bright light coming from the cave and Chase knew he couldn't stop now. He hit the gas with full power this time.
"WHOAWHOAWHOA WHAT ARE YOU DOING PRIVATE!!" The sergeant yell and he is now grapping the sides of his seat prepare for what might happen to them as he see the light getting closer and closer. "PRIVATE STOP!!!"
Chase didn't listen to him, right now his focus is on Daniel. He wanted that kid to stay alive after what he had gone through from his childhood until now. He wanted this special kid to survive.
"CHASE!!!!!" Jerry shouted along.
"HOLD DANIEL TIGHT!!" Chase is no longer Chase they knew. He just wanted one thing, and that thing is to keep that kid alive. No matter the risk is. "HERE WE GOOOOOOOOO!!!!"
And just like that, they all disappeared through the light and after that, the light's gone. Leaving only an empty cave.