Chapter One

Destiny's Will...

"Dude, I'm telling you, Battlefield 3 was better than Modern Warfare 3. Better graphics, gameplay, and story. Modern Warfare didn't stand a chance," the long-haired, rounded, teen spoke in a calm voice but was still able to put such authority into it that he could almost convince anyone... almost.

"Nuh-uh Jason, Battlefield 3 may have had better gameplay but MW3 had a better storyline. In the graphics department, I'd consider them equal," the teen that had spoke was drastically skinnier than Jason. Wearing a full uniform of BDUs, hat included, he looked like he was trying to impersonate his father. Two patches decorated the front of the chest pockets that distinguished them from what were now relics among the armed forces. One was decorated with an outline of a scholarly lantern in blue thread at the bottom while a yellow delta decorated the top. Stitched in blue thread were the words "Air Force" in an arc above the delta and below the delta were the words "Junior ROTC". The other patch was the JROTC unit patch for his specific corps. It consisted of the New Mexico Zia symbol with a tiger stepping through the ring and a F-117 flying above the upper-right of the ring. Stitched around it were the words "Alamogordo High School New Mexico 20011 AFJROTC".

"What the hell are you two arguing about now?" questioned a stout girl walking to the left of the two teens. She also wore a set of JROTC BDUs, though the rank pinned onto her collar contained more stripes than the boy's did.

"Well," began Jason with a half-shrug, "Tyler here thinks that MW3 is better than Battlefield 3."

"What?" the girl, Katy, glanced to her left after the trio stepped off a bed of rocks that surrounded a large concrete pad. Shaking her head, she looked back at the two, "I got to go to practice, but we're continuing this conversation tomorrow."

"It's a date than," Tyler quipped with a smirk on his face. Katy gave him a glare in return, the corner of lips turning up in a small smile before she turned away and strode purposefully towards the door leading back into the school. Around the two teens, other kids walked towards some unknown destination. With it being that school had just ended, they were most likely heading home or heading to some mode of transportation that would take them home. Most of them wore normal jeans and shirt but there were a few wearing BDUs.

"See ya tomorrow Jason," Tyler said with a small wave as he walked past the other kid to head to the right of the school, away from the long line of buses.

"See ya," Jason responded as he continued to waddle across the front lawn of the school, heading home.

Crossing an outdoor eating area, Tyler stepped onto a sidewalk and began to follow it across a short bridge and towards a busy intersection. Cars of all makes and models drove past him, some pulling over to pick up their kids before rejoining the line of cars. Other kids walked along the sidewalk across the road from him, a few were in front of him and probably more were behind him. The two-lane road was awfully congested in the morning, before-school, at lunch, and after school with kids trying to come or go, parents dropping off/picking up kids, or just people trying to get home from work.

Reaching the intersection, and the handful of kids already waiting there, Tyler adjusted his backpack and hat as he waited for the light to change and the little white sign to tell him it was safe to cross. He wasn't all that distinguishable, being around 5'11" in height, 140 pounds in weight, and with brown hair and hazel eyes decorating his face, he could be easily lost in a crowd if he wore the right clothing and if someone didn't know what they were looking for. The only physical aspect that could seen would be his long eyelashes, which always drew him undue attention when his parents dragged him to a "party" or introduced him to their friends.

His posture and attitude, however, were immensely different from most around him. Tyler stood with his back straight and shoulder back in what most would convey as a confident stance yet he walked with his eyes scanning the ground in front of his feet when he was around people, especially strangers. To anyone looking at him, he would seem at peace with the world... until his head would snap up and a short stare would be sent towards the person looking at him, the hazel eyes filling with paranoia as they scanned the person inquisitively. His walk was of a normal gait for someone his size however each step emanated a sense of purpose in life, while also emanating a feeling that he was walking towards ever-lasting damnation.

When the light finally changed, Tyler strode across the street with a bit more speed than was normal so as to make it before the light changed once more. Once he was across, he turned and began to cross a patch of dried dirt that would bring him onto the asphalt of a large parking lot. His eyes remained fixated on the path directly in front of his feet, only glancing up every so often to scan what was in front of him and to make sure that he was still heading towards the white truck parked away from the rest of the vehicles in the lot.

Producing his keys from his pants pocket, Tyler reached the white '09 F-150. After opening the door and climbing in, tossing his black backpack onto the passenger seat, the teen put the key into the ignition and turned it. With a roar, the truck came to life and an enthusiastic voice came through the truck's speakers,

"...and your listening to 94 KYEE, the Tularosa Basin's station for continuous hits. Up next, it's "If I Die Young" by The Band Perry."

"If I die young, bury me in satin

Lay me down on a bed of roses

Sink me in the river at dawn

Send me away with the words of a love song..."

Tyler tuned out the song as he shifted the truck into "Drive" and pressed the gas. With a small buck the truck went forward. Steering carefully around the other cars and kids, Tyler ended up at the stop sign where he would have to join the bedlam that was large-scale vehicular transportation. A thought brought forth a chuckle from his lips, Hell, even Shepard, Garrus, and them had to deal with traffic and that was some odd years in the future.

Seeing an opening, Tyler gunned the accelerator and swung the truck to the right to enter the Eastbound traffic of the four-lane street. Bumper-to-bumper traffic at 15 miles per hour was really a piece of cake but it pissed Tyler off to no end. He wanted to get off this road and onto one of the main highways where he could legally go to about seventy.

Soon, he exited the school zone and traffic began to thin as people turned off to go home or to some other place. Changing into the left lane, Tyler sped up as the road cleared. The speed limit was thirty-five but he found himself pushing fifty in just a few seconds. The buzzing of his phone, drew his attention. He had been expecting a text from one of the girls he hung out with but not one this early. Taking a hand off of the wheel, he dug in his pocket, fishing out the blocky smart-phone.

Holding it in his lap, he began to access the text message. He was vaguely aware that "If I Die Young" was still playing in the background as he read the message aloud, though he was the only one in the truck,

"Have something to tell you tomorrow at school. Be careful. Smiley face."

With a smile, Tyler looked up over the dashboard...

to see that he was about to enter an intersection going sixty miles per hour where the road across from him was blocked off with cement blocks. Yanking the wheel to his left, the truck obeyed before it began to tip to it's side, unable to cope with such a sharp turn at those speeds.

Time seemed to slow as the truck continued to tip. Tyler was able to see the shocked expression of the driver of the car stopped at the Stop sign that would have been to his left had he stopped at his own sign. He could see the chain-link fence of the batting cages and the large dust devil raging havoc in the plains outside of the city.

His head whipped to the right where he saw the pavement coming up to meet the truck with a vengeance. The black bag began to fall towards the window and the impromptu grocery bag trash bag began to spill it's contents towards the passenger window. Before the mirror of the truck struck the ground, the sheer adrenaline and fear caused Tyler's body to shut down.

Before he fainted, as it would be called, one thought echoed in his head,

Not again...

A/N: That's the end of Chapter One. This is a self-insert, in a way, but I just can't write in first person. I like to have some sort of... detached feeling, I guess it would be, from my characters. Anyways, I hoped you enjoy this chapter and I should have the next one out some time soon. So, I'll see ya than.

Next Installment:

Chapter Two

...Is Resolute