A Very Mad Man

by Efrain Hernandez

A U.S. Soldier is caught in the middle of a feud between science and business. Even with his own problems, no one is offering him relief. He is either a dog tag or collateral damage. Anger, grief and solace; this U.S. Soldier soon becomes a very mad man.

1. Chapter 1

The last thing he saw before the bomb detonated was millions of spiraling shrapnel from a previous explosion and his beautiful wife Sydney. He remembered it distinctly. Behind the curtain of sparks, the hot Iraqi sun and the cascading debris was a brunette with dazzling blue eyes. She was there, amid all of the chaos, was his wife walking towards him. She looked very out of place.

Henry moved his automatic weapon away and reached out for her. He crossed a line. Not only did he just disobey his orders but he physically crossed enemy lines. But Henry was transfixed. He dodged the firefight as best he could and moved further into the cloudy intersection of the street. He was close to her. Henry was only a lunge away from touching her porcelain skin until the grenade that obliterated his body, dropped between his legs.

Sydney…

Then Henry felt the pain of his limbs shooting out like fireworks. But he stopped and it was as if everything reversed back to his last moment with Sydney; the woman in white. Time was in play and once again he returned to his convoy. Once again he saw Sydney and once again he rushed to get her. The explosion followed and it all happened again. The pain. The reverse. Sydney. The explosion.

Henry was stuck in a loop. He was in a forever mode, never to cease his endless suffering. He relived that moment throughout his eternity. The genius of his travels left him a madman. A very mad man.