Guardians of the Elements of Harmony

by mcb893

20. Day of Days

Eight Years Ago...

Moore nervously hid behind the cover, eyes wide open, panting.. He placed his head against the wall, breathing quickly and heavily. He covered his wound and looked out from beside the wall. The Sergeant lay there, along with the other members of his squad... Dead. He slumped back down, gunfire in his ears. "Oh this is bad..." He said. Next to him, another child was shot, and he covered his eyes. "No..." He whispered. Please... no more innocents, no more blood... "Private!" He heard. Looking up, he sees that one member of his squad is still alive. Cpl. Johnson. "Sir!" Johnson throws a flashbang and gets Moore to his feet. "Come on let's go! We're running out of time!" Moore stumbles a bit as his feet are unresponsive, but manages to follow his new CO into a building.

"Sir, what's the situation?" Moore asks as he checks his ammo. A full clip. Moore is blown back as a grenade goes off, though it was not near him. A civilian runs screaming, but is gunned down. Moore can only gasp. "On your feet soldier!" Johnson shouts as he grabs him and brings him up. "Get a grip Private! Our weapons still work, and we haven't been wounded, so we can still kick some..." He's interrupted by the door busting open. Instinctively, Johnson takes the hostile and flips him over his shoulder, taking his knife and stabbing him. "How can you be so calm?" Moore says with a quake in his voice. Johnson puts away his knife and rises his head to the Private. "Practice." He says.

Bringing his rifle forward, he motions for Moore to follow. Moore runs outside and slides over to an overturned scooter. Going prone as Taliban soldiers fire on him. Reaching to his side, he takes out a flashbang, and pulls it's pin. "Flash out!" He shouts as he tosses the grenade. He hears a short boom and looks up. Success. "MOVE!" He hears Johnson shout. Moore complies and runs over to him. He ducks and brings his head against a wall as the Corporal fires away. "Ok, now what?" Moore asks. Johnson comes back around and drops an empty clip from his weapon. "We push through! Rangers Lead the Way remember?" He shouts. "Sir that's a suicide mission with just the two of us!" "Then we die like men!" Moore slumps down as he watches a small child hold his neck, choking as blood squirts from it.

"Private I need suppressing fire!" Moore turns to his CO, a bit dazed by what was occurring. Johnson stares at him, and raises an eyebrow. "Uh... Now!" He shouts. Moore jumps slightly, but keeps his bearings. Diving, he lands behind a wrecked car, as bullets collide with the vehicle. Popping up, he looks around and sees several hostile soldiers. Some are firing at them, others are shooting at civilians. Ducking back down, he breathes heavily as the hot desert sun beats down on him. He inhales deeply, and puts his finger on the trigger. He fires for as long as he can, bringing down three hostiles with the single clip.

"RPG-" Is all Moore has time to shout before he is blown back by the explosion. His head bangs against the solid ground, giving a loud 'thwack'. Groaning, all he can hear is a loud buzzing, and his vision is blurred. Beside him, another civilian is shot, although not fatally. Johnson throws a grenade and rushes over to him. "Look at me, you're gonna be alright!" He shouts. Moore begins to shake as he is overwhelmed with pain and shock. "Just leave me..." He whispers. "A good soldier never leaves a man behind!" Johnson shouts as he picks him up and throws him over his shoulders. Moore groans as the gunfire rang in his ear, and pictures blurred together in a mess of sloppy colors.

Moore hears a door burst open, and sees several civilians back away in fear. Looking up, he sees his arms dangling by the side of his ally, before being thrown onto a table. "Moore..." He says to himself. "Medic!" He shouts. The civilians cower away. "Please, he's hurt!" The Corporal shouts as Moore looks over to the people. There is fear in their eyes, but also sympathy. He tries to raise a hand to tell them to stay calm, but it proves to be too much work. "Easy Private, just rest!" Johnson says as he pats his chest. He can see the Corporal looking around, before pausing. "Of course!" He shouts as he reaches to his side. Moore is barely conscious as he watches his CO pull out a red stick. "Flares... thank you God!" Johnson places his hand on Moore shoulder and shakes him. "You hang on just a bit longer!" Moore attempts to nod, but simply lets his head slump against the back of the table.

Johnson charges outside and lights the flare. At least, that's what it looks like through the window. Moore turns his head, once again looking at the civilians. They back away, still showing fears in their eyes. Summoning his strength, Moore slowly raises his hand out as far and high as he can manage. "Please..." He whispers. "Help me..." His voice is raspy, and clearly out of breath. A man looks over to a woman, and she looks back. Two children are also there, although they are cowering. The woman nods, and the man looks back at the injured soldier. Moore is still holding out his hand, but it is falling. "Please..." He whispers again, although quieter. The man walks over and brings out a bottle of water, dumping it on the soldier's face.

"We can't stay here! Come on!" He hears Johnson shout. In no time at all, he's picked back up and on the man's shoulders. "You too! We're getting the heck out of here!" The Corporal shouts. Moore's vision fades white, reliving different moments of that day. At one point, Johnson is carrying him to another village, despite panting hardly. In another, doctors work feverishly to get him back around as a few others and Johnson keep the Taliban occupied. "When will your reinforcements arrive American?" A doctor shouts as he once again shocks the young Private. "They'll be here!" Moore hears Johnson shout. Moore's vision fades to black.

"Private wake up! They made it!" He hears. Moore's eyes flutter open and he sees a helicopter. "What..." He whispers. "Come on!" Johnson shouts as two pilots come over to them. "We got wounded and civilians get them in!" He shouts. "Roger that we got him. Package is secure." A pilot says. Moore groggily rolls over, falling onto the sand. "For crying out loud..." An Iraqi says as he lifts up the soldier back onto the bed. Moore looks back to Johnson, who is still firing at the hostiles, along with two others. "Get him on board." He hears. Moore lets his head fall back down onto the pillow as his mind flashes back to the Sergeant dying. "My fault..." He mumbles.

"Mister Johnson let's go!" A child shouts. Instead of listening, Johnson shouts to the pilots. "There's no more room get that bird in the air!" The pilot flips a couple of dials and twits something. "My fault..." Moore says again. "Mister! Get on!" The child shouts again. "If I get on one of you have to get off! I'm staying here!" Johnson shouts back. As the blades begin to spin, Johnson is shot in the abdomen and falls to the ground. "Sir..." Moore whispers as he reaches out his arm. A man rushes over to him and places an oxygen mask on him. "Stay calm, we'll get you out of here." He says. "No..." He whispers. "GO!" He hears the Corporal say. Looking over to him, he sees he is sitting in an upright position, firing his pistol as blood pours from his gut. "Lifting off." The pilot says as someone closes the hatch. The last thing Moore sees is blood flying from Johnson's head.

Comments

[Snyperwulff0]

This is a bit late, clearly, but you don't call an NCO ranked soldier "Sir" They actually hate that to all hell. A Corporal is a rank in the Army that a soldier achieves by having the knowledge to be a Sergeant but not the "points" so to speak. They've taken all the test they're just waiting for time to allow them to qualify for the rank. I remember being in Basic Training and accidentally calling a Drill Sergeant Sir... while he didn't necessarily scream at me his exact words were. "I appreciate that your parents raised you right, raised you to respect those with more experience than you! But I am NOT an officer! I WORK FOR A LIVING!"

[Edguy0009]

4763306
I can not help but laugh at that.