Mutants. They say the word as if it is the cruelest and most terrifying word that could ever be uttered. I do not see the difference, between them and us, we are all humans are we not? Simply a different chromosome and boom you are no longer human and no longer treated as one. In the army there is a phrase, don't ask don't tell. Most people believe that this phrase originated with people's sexuality, but I know the true story. The Don't Ask Don't Tell of Mutants. My name is Crystal and this is my story. It started simple, the Vietnam War was on the rise and an abundance of men were getting drafted left and right. My brother was one of them, although he would lead many people to believe he willing signed up the minute he got the chance, standing in line for hours just jumping at the chance to serve the great United States, but the secret is, Maj. Bill Stryker, was drafted.
He also did everything in his power to get out of the draft, he almost did too. He enrolled in University, like most white men of high status his these times, but he didn't make it. So here he is now a Major in the United States of America army, our parents are proud. They worry about him though, a lot. That's why they were so relieved that I got sent here too. I am an Army Nurse, though most of the boys call us Angels. We take the boys in when they are hurt and we clean them up, usually just to send them back out to the frontline, if they make it.
But that is what makes this job hard, not everyone makes it, and as you stand there holding them, you see the soul of these people leave their body right in front of you. You are holding them in your arms; you are holding a brother, a son, and a husband. Then you take their dog tags and you read the name out loud to show respect, you say a quick prayer to the heavens above, then you're off again to another person whose soul is just barely hanging onto its body. This is my life. This was not my choice.
I could be in law school, I could be a mother, I could be a teacher, I could have been anything. But I'm here, my parents wanted to make sure my brother would be safe, so here I am, and here is where I shall stay.
X
I met Summers on a Tuesday, his unit was passing through a village when one man stepped on the wrong ground, sent the whole unit up in ash, they all ended up here. We had to section off our entire tent just for these guys, everyone was hit, not a single man spared, we lost three great men in a single breath.
I still remember that day, everyone was running, yelling, and screaming. We were trying our best to get bunks for these men, for these boys, then the first name, "Bud Johnson." Everyone looked up, said a word for his soul, and then jumped back to work, if you weren't watching you never would have seen it. "Steve Lukemen." Another look towards the sky, then finally, "Andrew Smith." You could hear wailing in the back, we knew him, everyone knew him. He was the funny guy, the one who kept everyone laughing when times were dark and empty. Now his body was, empty of a soul, empty of a life, empty of the hope of ever coming back to his family, to his wife, to his little boy. That is what we all felt, empty.
It was later that night when I first talked to him, when I first talked to Alex. I had the night shift and I was making my rounds, seeing if everyone was asleep, seeing if anyone was in pain. The usual, until I saw him, nothing about him was usual. He was still, not thrashing and wailing like most of the men around him, just still, like the current. He looked up from where he was lying and caught my eye. I, of course, did the most logical thing I could do, "D-Do you want some water?" I asked him if he wanted water, water. A boy finally looks at me the way I want him to and I ask him if he wanted water. Though it was dark, I swear he smirked, even just a little, the smallest upturn of his lip was all I needed.
That was the day that my life flipped.