A/N: Alright people, this is a rewrite of the original prologue for this story! Let me know what you think! Someone pointed out to me how unrealistic the original was and I definitely agreed! Hopefully this is a bit better? I don't know, I like it better either way! R&R!
Damn Dog
The Humvee pulled to a sudden stop, the abrupt lack of movement bringing its inhabitants back to awareness after the long, lulling ride. As their commander pulled the door open, allowing dust to swirl inside the vehicle, all the men moved towards the opening like moths to light, waiting to hear what their commander had to say.
"Time to stretch your legs, boys!" He said, his voice raised so that he may be heard over the roar of wind and engines. "Don't stray off from the vehicle, no matter what you see, no matter what you hear! If there is gun fire hit the ground and get your asses back to the vehicle. I don't want to lose any men today, it looks real bad on my report! Now, I'm going to say this one more time! Stay close to the damn vehicle!"
The commander took a good look at all of their faces, eager, young, and more than anything, reckless. With an inward sigh he motioned for all of them to move out. There was only so much he could do to protect them. Silently he cursed the government for sending in boys to do a man's job.
Once all of them were out he slammed the door shut and turned to face them, taking in their gawky limbs and nervous shuffling. Special Ops his ass. More like Pre-K. Maybe in a couple years…
"Stay behind the vehicles as we move forward and for your mama's sake don't stray off! We'll be moving in a forward direction for the next ten miles so keep up, we're not slowing down for anybody, there's too much scum in these parts that we don't have time to play around like school girls in the park!"
"Sounds like someone didn't get his share of Wheaties this morning," a young man chuckled in the back, a string of choked laughter followed the remark. The commander knew that voice.
"Anderson!" The commander shouted so loud that everyone fell silent. "You got something you want to share with the class?"
"No, Sir!" The young man answered, his back straighter, the smile wiped off his face.
"Now that's just too bad," the commander smiled, "But you know what, since we're just standing here, how about all of you drop and give me twenty? Now that sounds like a great idea! I'm glad I thought of that!"
There were a number of groans as the men dropped to the ground to pump out twenty push ups. This wasn't the first time one of them shoved a foot down their throat, especially not Anderson. But the guys didn't care how often the guy screwed up, he kept them calm and laughing in this shit hole, it was nice having him around.
Once they had dished out their twenty, the commander shouted "Move out!" and they were off. Trailing behind a vehicle that kicked dirt in their faces.
It was amazing, what a lack of scenery there is in the dusty deserts of Iraq, the mile upon endless mile of undulating sand left something to be desired. After nearly four miles, the men started talking, it was a vicious debate, curses flying like daggers, death threats and 'yo mama insults'. Clearly though, a loaded pizza pie won over cheeseburgers hands down.
Suddenly the caravan stopped. It was abrupt and alarming and everyone's guard went up simultaneously. Slowly, the troops made there way around the desert vehicle where a large black heap lay on the ground. The commander motioned a few men forward as he himself took a few cautious steps toward the heap. Three men inched closer until they surrounded it.
August Anderson let out a breath and knelt next to it, his heartstrings loosening considerably. At first glance he had thought it was human, a woman or a child whose life was stopped short. But it was just a dead animal with a cloth thrown over it. He smiled a bit at the state of sheer panic the damn dog sent America's great Special Forces team into.
"It's just a dog," he chuckled, throwing the cloth away to reveal the beast.
He drew in a sharp intake of breath, his eyes wide with fear. Ingeniously placed where the dog's heart should have been sat a grenade. A grenade with no pin.
Time seemed to move in slow motion then.
His thoughts moved at a thousand times its normal speed. Unfortunately he was still human and his body couldn't react so quickly.
He made it half way to his feet. Vaguely he could hear his commander yelling, men shouting, the sound of his lungs moving air, his heart pounding behind his ears. Eyes wide with horror, he watched as searing white light overcame his vision. And he took flight without wings…
A/N: Alright so if you're like-
'If that grenade didn't have a pin in the first place it would have gone off a long time ago!'-
then I would like to tell you that you are right!
However, that is where the black cloth comes in!
I figure when he pulled the cloth away, the cloth was attached to the pin and there you go, caboom!
Let me know what you thought!