The Humvee bounced about as we sped over the uneven terrain. We were traveling parallel to the railroad now, our tires kicking up dirt. I sat behind Kilborn while Gonz drove and Jones sat behind him. In the gun cupola stood Smiley, his eyes scanning the land around us.
“Look it. Right here,” Kilborn started as he angled the map, lit by his flashlight, so that Gonz could see it, “that train bridge is the only way across the Gorge.”
“'Less we follow it down and cross the river later on,” Gonz countered, glancing at the map. Curious, I looked around Kilborn's seat to see the map. Seeing Ghastly Gorge, I noticed that, yes, the only way across was a single train bridge.
“We don't know how deep the water is going to be. The Brits and Marines from the coast are planning to cross this bridge too,” Kilborn explained.
“So you want us to scout it out?” I asked, looking over at Jones with mild worry in my eyes. He just shrugged at me.
“Exactly. Might as well see if the Brits can cross the thing.”
“Wait,” Jones spoke up, “didn't the guys in Corbulo already head out? They were planning to use this bridge too, weren't they?”
“Yes, but they had called back in the night to report that they hadn't crossed the bridge,” Kilborn answered.
“Why?” Gonz asked.
“They wanted us to scout it out.”
“We're Infantry, not Recon,” I said as I sat back in my seat, looking out my window at the still dark world. Though it was dark, the first fingers of daybreak were reaching over the horizon.
“Doesn't matter, we got to cross that bridge so we are going to scout it,” stated Kilborn as he folded up the map.
“By 'we', you mean Tyler and me?” Jones asked sarcastically.
Kilborn turned to look at him, “Thanks for volunteering yourselves, Jones.”
I glared at Jones, who just looked at me and shrugged as if to say, 'Oops... sorry bro'
I flipped him the bird before turning to look back out the window. My mind began to drift to the CEFE (Coalition Expeditionary Force, Equestria), as the Commander started to call it. The force consisted of so many troops and materials. The thing that scared me the most was the 'how'. Apparently, a short while after we had disappeared, some Army SpecForce unit was discovered in Iran by Iranian forces. Needless to say, things disintegrated rather quickly.
Fighting broke out between the Middle Eastern based Coalition forces and Iran. The governments of the Coalition nations refused to call it a war. Instead they referred to it as a 'hotspot' in the Global War Against Terror. Stupid right? Well, the Iranians sure saw it as a war and threw everything they had at the Coalition forces. This caused the transfer of the units in Equestria, however I was now worried that it didn't just transfer Iraqi and Afghani insurgents. Something told me that Iranian troops had also been transported. Whether the two OpFors would work together was yet to be known but what was known was that the battle ahead was going to be tough.
The squealing of brakes brought me from my thoughts. Looking around, I saw Corbulo sitting silent with it's crew sitting atop it. Before the Humvee fully stopped, Kilborn had swung open his door and stepped out. When we had stopped, Jones and me followed suit.
“Thoreau!” Kilborn called out. Said Sergeant Major jumped from his tank with a smile on his face. The two men vigorously shook hands.
“Took ya long enough,” Thoreau joked. While they talked, I looked forward at the bridge that spanned the Gorge. It seemed to be a stone bridge with the track atop it. They're worried about a stone bridge? I thought to myself. I looked at Jones and rolled my eyes. He laughed in response.
“Jones, Odom. Get moving. Get across the bridge and set up somewhere to signal for any incoming trains to stop. Radio when in position,” Kilborn ordered.
“Roger that, Sergeant,” I replied before motioning Jones to follow me. We both began to jog toward the bridge. When we reached it, we jogged onto it and continued jogging. We both wanted to get this done so we could get back on the path to Dodge City.
“So,” I breathed while jogging, “how are you and Dash doing?”
“Good,” he replied, “I was going to ask her to go out with me for dinner but,” a shrug, “that plan's bust now.”
“Just have to wait 'til we get back,” I stated as I glanced over at him.
“Yeah. I guess,” he responded, his tone downtrodden.
“Hey,” he looked at me, “you will make it back. Even if I have to drag you all the way, you will see her again. Got it?”
He nodded, “Got it.”
“Good.”
We continued jogging in silence. That was until I heard a distant rumbling. What the...? Looking at the tracks, I felt worry begin to build. Stopping (Jones stopping a couple feet later), I reach out with a foot and placed it on one of the tracks.
It was shaking!
“Tyler?” Jones asked worriedly as I glanced to our target side of the Gorge. I glanced back to the Humvees and saw that we were a good way past the midway point.
“Shit! Move your ass Jones!” I shouted as I broke into a sprint, continuing in the same direction as our jog. Jones was quick to realize what was happening as he cursed and broke into a sprint as well. We were racing time and playing with death and we both knew.
Then came the whistle of the train, as if taunting us of our demise. I heard Kilborn over the radio,
“Train! Move, move, move!”
Yeah, no shit Sergeant I thought bitterly to myself as my feet pounded away at the stonework. The pounding of my heart became loud in my ears as the burning of lungs began. I noticed that Jones was slowing,
“Faster, Jones!” I shouted, burning my throat. The train was just now coming into view as we charged for safety. My vision begun to shrink as the pounding became louder. My breathing became more labored. It slowly became obvious that we couldn't make it to the other side.
My mind reeled for options as the train sped closer. I could see the engineer now. His face one of panic as he held down the horn. He couldn't stop for fear of the train bowing and going over the edge of the bridge. Finally, an idea came to my head,
“Jump for the cliff face!” I shouted. It was rocky enough and with enough roots sticking out that we should be able to find something to hold on to.
“What?” I heard shouted back.
“Do it or die!” I replied as we closed with our jump point. The engineer now had his eyes clenched shut, his face contorted.
“Jump now!” I shouted before jumping.
“Mother fu-!”
The wind from the train cut off Jones' scream as it zoomed on by. Before I descended beyond the cliff's edge, my brain registered that the sun was now cresting over the horizon. My attention focused on the cliff face. I noticed certain grab points and readied myself. If this didn't work (and there was great chance of that) then I would plummet to my death. Not a way of dying that I had ever envisioned and I briefly wondered what it would feel like.
The rocks were close now. Before my body hit, my eyes reflexively clenched shut in preparation for the pain.
/--\
I opened my eyes to the familiar wooden ceiling. Home, I thought as I smiled softly. That was until my ears picked up the sound of somepony crying. Rolling onto my side, I saw somepony sitting at the desk that was in the room, their shoulders shaking. I rubbed my eyes,
“Twilight?” I asked groggily, still trying to wake up. I sat up and looked around the room to see that it was only the two of us. She turned to me and I was shocked by her tear-stained face.
“Oh,” she started softly, wiping her nose, “you're awake.”
“Yeah,” I replied. I looked around again, noticing certain things missing. I scrunched up my face in confusion and asked, “Where's Tyler?”
Fresh tears fell from Twilight's eyes. “Scootaloo, h-he...”
I looked down at my covered hindlegs, “He's gone isn't he?”
Anger and confusion began to sweep through my brain. I knew it was all too good to be true! I thought angrily as I slammed a forehoof onto the bed. “I knew he'd leave me! Like all the others! I just knew it!” I shouted, pounding onto the bed more.
The beating of my bed was paused when a slip of paper inside a purple cloud appeared in front of me. Curiosity swept my anger aside as I examined the paper. It was splotched with drops of water, some old and some new. I assumed that the new splotches had come from Twilight. I grabbed the paper with my hooves.
“What's this?” I asked, looking over at Twilight, who was crying softly. She tried to speak but ended up choking on her words. Instead, she just waved a forehoof at the paper. Looking at the paper, I read it. As I did, I felt my emotions change from anger and confusion to despair. By the end, tears were now slowly falling from my eyes and creating new splotches on the paper.
A purple hoof wiped away some of the tears. This just caused more to come out as I dropped the note and wrapped my forelegs around Twilight's neck. Burying my head into her shoulder, I let the tears come. A part of me worried what others would think of me if they saw me. That part was quickly beaten by the rest of me.
“W-why?” I sobbed out. I felt a hoof rubbing the back of my neck.
“He's a soldier...” replied the unicorn in an unnaturally quiet voice.
“But they don't need him!” I cried, “H-he could have stay-yed!”
“We both know that even if he was told that he could stay, he would have left with his squad,” Twilight stated, her emotions somehow under control now. She still shed tears, as I could feel them landing on my back, but she no longer choked over words.
Her words. They swam through my head. Their was truth in them. The loyalty seen in him and his squad could put Dash to shame. When one of them got even a rumor that another was in danger, they would come to the other's aid.
We sat in this silent embrace for what felt like an eternity. I sobbed openly as I held onto Twilight as if I would disappear if I let go. As time went on, though, I felt control of my emotions returning.
“It's not fair,” I finally whispered, leaning back from Twilight and looking at her face. She smiled sadly at me and used her hoof to wipe away more of my tears.
“It never is...”
/--\
I opened my eyes to the sight of cut rock before me, above me, and under me. Looking to my right, I saw a large opening that let sunlight spill in. Pushing myself into a kneeling position, I looked left to see a tunnel going deeper into the rock. It was lit by flickering torches. Areas were still covered in black though.
Shakily, I got to my feet. Pain coursed through my body, causing me to clench my teeth.
“...dom...vis...st...train...ver.”
The transmission was garbled. It was either from damage to the radio or from the rock around me. Either was not good. The one word that got through reminded me of what had happened. I was almost hit by a fucking train! That thought was overloaded by the wanting of finding a way out.
I shuffled a foot forward. It was met with growling and the clanking of plates from farther in the tunnel. A being covered in what appeared to be iron armor stepped from one of the shadows with a spear in hand. In the flickering light of the torches, I could see more gathering behind the first one. I quickly raised my rifle, flicked off the safety, and pulled the trigger.
CLICK!
The sound echoed in the tunnels. I looked at my rifle and deduced only one thing,
“That's not fair!”