I knew I'd have to return someday, but I still never prepared myself. Today, I went back into the field. My third year of Advanced Deployment. It was as awful as I could have ever dreamed.

My convoy was late by half an hour, leaving me alone with my "comrades", though they seemed to be as hostile as the enemy. When the bus finally did arrive, I filed myself away and kept my eyes out the window. Eye contact was suicidal.

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