Military Life
Prologue!
Hey! So I'm revamping the story. Cause I started writing it when I was very very rusty. So right around chapter 4. I got into the usual rhythm of putting all that descriptive writing in. And just making a good story. So as I looked back on the previous chapters. I was like "ewwwwwww... their not even fun to read." And now I'm fixing that! And throwing in Links background in there. I have a sequel lined up as well. But it wont have much to do with this.
Bombs and gunshots rang out everywhere, the air tasting of sweat and gunpowder. The ambient noise giving the town a sense of urgency that can only come with fear. The shots and bombs deafened anyone unfortunate to be to close to them. Screams met with crying, as the innocent and the guilty were torn to shreds. This was Afghanistan. This was hell. I'm no stranger to screams. I've heard a lot of them over my life time. My sqaud and I have been behind this destroyed APC for at least ten minuets now since the ambush started. I guess I should introduce myself though eh? My names Link. I am a United States Marine. I'm only nineteen years old, but my fire and determination to serve has shoved me up to the rank of corporal. I enlisted barely over a year ago. I have a little sister named Aryll, that although she annoys me to the point of ripping out my now nonexistent hair. I love to absolute death. And I'm currently being shot at...
No matter though, I was born and grew up in LA. Up until my mother, Natasha, was gunned down in a drive by. No one knew the motive, and the assailants were never caught. I was only eight at the time. I had always been the innocent, blue eyed, blond haired kid. The one that never missed a day. Thats probably why I became who I was. My Dad had a rough time trying to take care of Aryll and I. You should know the deal, Hollywood has hashed this plot out so many times before. The kids began to tease me, molding me into a silent and reclusive student. My old teacher. Rauru, had always calmed me down. But the neighborhood bully, Mido, picked on me specifically because of the death of my mom. I'm not a mean person in. But I never shy away from violence. We were only kids, but I remembered it as clear as day...
"Hey loser!" I knew that voice. I didnt like that voice. I turned around. Mido and his usual lackeys surrounded my trembling eight year old body. I could make out Ralph and Zant.
"What do you want Mido...?" my voice shaking out of the usual mix of fear and anger. My legs had already started to tremble. He was on it in less than a second. His ugly smile spreading into a toothless grin.
"Whats wrong loser? You scared of us?" I shook my head rapidly from side to side. But it just to obvious.
"Awww look at you. I bet you want your mommy dont you?" He waited for me to react. But I refused to. My dad would be ashamed of me. I didn't want that. I finally spoke up with a weak and shaky voice.
"Mido, please just let me go home today. I dont want any trouble..." But as per usual, my words fell on deaf ears. In fact it only made him smile more.
"Fat chance loser, look at you! Your mom is soooooo ashamed, in fact I bet she wanted to die. Just to get away from you! Yeah that's it. She hated you, you'll never be good enough for her." His words cut through me like a hot knife through butter. I tried as hard as I could, but my tears sprung forth. This only made Mido happier.
"Awww are you gonna cry? Is the unloved kid gonna cry for us? The kid-without-a-mommy, You see that Ralph? hes crying! This is priceless!" Ralph flashed me a look of pure dominance. And thats when I couldn't take it anymore. My blue eyes narrowed to thin slits. I looked up at him through my blurred vision.
"Stop it please..." My voice barely above a whisper. They heard it all right. They enjoyed hearing it.
"Awww what are you gonna do about it huh? You gonna try and hit us? Huh? Are you gonna be the baby you are? I'd like to-" His eyes went wide as my hand picked up a rather large rock. In a flash I pummeled his kneecap in with one solid hit, His eyes went wide as I switched to the other knee. Before the others could react, I threw the rock at Ralph's head. Breaking his nose to an unrecognizable state. Mido crumpled without the support of both his knees. Ralph went down without so much as a grunt. Zant was left standing, speechless and wide eyed. He put his hands in the air as a sign of peace, right before he turned tail and ran.
It took me quite some time after that to realize what I had done wrong. Because of me, Mido had been crippled for life. His parents were abusive and apparently didn't care. As I said, I'm no stranger to screams. And even despite the pain he put me through, I've felt this overbearing guilt since I figured out what happened. They couldn't prove anything for a law suit. Nor could they probably afford a lawyer. But my father didn't feel like taking risks. Besides LA reminded him of Natasha every day. A memory that he just could not endure. So we moved to New York. He became an Executive Accountant at the World Trade Center... This was in two-thousand. The turn of the millennium. My father, James, Told me it'd be a new start. For all of us. Aryll was only 4. She doesn't remember that much about her mother. I don't know which is worse. Not knowing, or having her ripped so violently away.
I didnt even know any of the men beside me yet. I just got here this morning. I was Jet lagged and tired from the rediculous long flight. We were on the outskirts of town. Where the road meets the country. I looked to my right and saw two other guys dug in beside me. One of them, if I could remember correctly, was named Sheik. He and I hit it off pretty well. He had vibrant, shining blonde hair and these really weird red eyes. He says he's part albino. But I swear hes using contacts. The only reason I probably knew all of that would have to be cause he was just as new at this as I was. We met on the plane. Were replacing two men that died here earlier this week. We had buildings on both sides of us but they quickly turned into fields of bushes and hills. I remembered seeing the firs-
"WHAT THE FLYING FUCK ARE YOU DOING MARINE!" I swear if looks could kill. This man would be the best assassin the world would ever see. "GET OFF YOUR LAZY MOTHERFUCKING ASS AND SHOOT SOME SHIT OR SO HELP ME I WILL COURT MARSHALL YOUR ASS!!" The man above me screamed. His blood shot eyes jumped from to the hills. Scanning the battlefield before snapping his rifle up an firing a few rounds into an unfortunate insurgent. The blood squirted out him in a disgusting fashion as he collapsed backwards. For a split second, it almost felt as if it was fake. I didn't think it should look like that.
I did not want to get on the Sergeant's bad side. I got his point. Snapping up from out of my cover and blindly fired my M249. My job was to lay down covering fire so my sqaud mates could flank. But a couple of the insurgents were too late. I heard their screams as a couple of my shots ripped through them. I looked at my trembling hands. I had never killed a man before. And without think I just... Pulled the trigger. Their dying screams pierced my mind like a burning dagger. But I shut it off. I didnt have time to think right now, only to act. Besides every one of them deserved it. Whether that was true or not. I, or rather we, had to believe that in order to get out of here alive.
Gannondorf Dragmire was my Squad Leader, but he directly controlled my Fire Team. He left Fire Team Alpha to their Leader. They had been working together long enough for enough trust to form. Or so I've been told.
I fired on. The screams stopped shortly after. I popped back down to check my ammo. I estimated I shot a good 60. But I had bought enough time for one of my sqaud mates to get in throwing distance of the main insurgent group. The dipshits were all huddled together in one ditch covered with bushes. And that was gonna be it, we could go home after that. My sqaud mate, Kafei. Stepped out of cover for just one second. But it was long enough for him to throw a frag perfectly into the huddled mass. We heared terrified screams. They all stood up to scramble away. Which was the plan the whole time. They didn't stand a chance.
"SWEET PICKINGS BOYS! GET SOME!" My sergeant roared over everything. Already flipping the switch on his M4 to full Auto. Every man we had, fired with reckless abandon hitting their targets squarely in the back or head. We cheered as the last insurgent fell. But it was cut short as one of our own got hit in the throat, his cheer stopped midway as he gurgled his last breaths away. Two men instinctively dragged his body behind the SUV before they even really knew what they were doing. Our eyes shone with fear as we realized what was happening. The hills lit up with hundreds of muzzle flares. Bullets rained all around us. We could feel the car actually pushing us from the non stop impacts. I stared in horror at the man that just died. He was the first person I saw just die up close and personal. Somehow shooting at these insurgents just feels like an intense version of the games I played all the time. But this Guy. Hes up close and personal.
I stuck my gun up on top of the hood of the car. And blindly fired. I was breaking every engagement rule we had. But you wanna know my opinion? if a civillian is stupid enough to run in front of a firefight. Guess what? Hes gonna get lit the fuck up. And I'm sorry if it sounds cold. But were not gonna stop to assume everyones a friendly. If you have a rifle. Were taking you down. Especially after what just happened. I brought my rifle back down as I heard numerous shots hit the other side of the car. Damn things invincible.
"GET DOWN!" The Sergeant yelled at all of us. "Command this is Fire Team Bravo!. We are outnumbered 10 to 1 here!-" A few bullets landed inches above where the Sergeants head was.
He scooted down a little bit
"WE'VE TAKEN CASUALTYS! WE NEED BACK UP! DO YOU COPY!
"This is Command, Pull out we have an airstrike en route"
"WHAT!? WE WERENT EVEN TOLD! WE ARE TO CLOSE! WE'LL GET HIT IN THE CROSSFIRE!"
"Then I reccommend you guys start running. Command out"
The Sergeant swore under his breath before standing up and giving the order.
"FALL BACK! WERE HAULING ASS!" He surveyed the Scene. Kafei was still stuck behind the building, scared shitless I sould add. I wouldnt blame him though shots were bombarding the wall next to him. And this shit was adobe.
"SQAUD GIVE KAFEI SOME COVERING FIRE ON 3! KAFEI GET READY TO HAUL SOME ASS!" Bullets rained down all around us. And the very faint sound of Airplanes could be heard.
"2! 1!" We all popped up in sync and gave them everything we had. My M249 pounded round after round out. I actually hit 3 of them as they fell in pain. It didnt last long though as round after round ripped through them.
Kafei had wasted absolutely no time. He sprinted 30 yards in 5 seconds. But he didnt stop when he got back to cover as our sergeant slapped him on the shoulder. Telling him to keep his ass moving. The
"WE ARE LEAVING SOLDIERS!" All 6 of us turned in uniform and hauled ass. Sweat poured down into my right eye as I looked at the man carrying the man that was hit. He was a big mother fucker! His name tag read Darunia. His face was strained as he carried the man on his shoulder and the M249 on his sling. He was a part of Alpha. We ran as fast we possibly could. Blocks passed by one after another. We started running into a few civillians. This was a Warzone! What the hell are they doing here?!
We ran on. We heard the Insurgents cheering as they thought we were retreating. And then the Airplanes began to get louder. We looked up to the sky as the deafing roar came over us. They were flying very very low. Two F-35B's flew just 100-200 Feet above. This Strike had to be Exactly precise. We had civillians just 4 blocks down. Crazy motherfuckers I must say. We were a good 250 feet away. But we heard their terrified screams. They finally realized what was happening. A series of deafening bangs were heard. loud enough to make my ears ring. Well, louder than they were before. We stopped running and ducked into an alley way. I heard the triumphant screams of my Sqaud mates. We peaked out to watch the bomb go off.
"I will see you guys in Hell!" One of the more enthusiastic ones roared down the streets.
"DAMN RIGHT MOTHERFUCKER!"
"OO-FUCKING-RAH!"
This was a relatively safe zone. So the Sergeant probably didnt care if they cheered a little. I tried remembering who was who. But when were all geared up. We look exactly the same. But this was my fist day here. You probably figure out how to tell people apart over time.
The Sergeant sat down and leaned up against the alley way wall. He pressed his finger to his ear to hear better and leaned his rifle on his upright knees. "Command this is Bravo . We are requesting pick up, We have half of Fire Team Alpha with us, and are two blocks east of the Mosque."
"Roger that," Command Radioed back "Make your way to the roof for helicopter extraction. We have Blackhawks in route already, Command out."
"I fucking hate that guy". The sergeant sighed under his breath. His name tag read Dragmire. This was one hell of a morning. Sheik and I literally got off the plane and we were off on a mission. I think command messed something up. But juding from the way they talked to the Sergeant. I'm guessing they couldnt care less.
He tiredly took off his helmet to reveal flaming red hair and deeply tanned skin. His face was slightly aged. But not in a bad way. His eyes were a red brown that gave him the perfect bad ass look. He perfected the million mile stare as he probably actually had gone a million miles by now. He looked to be early 30 something. His eyes bounced up to me. "Your new here arent you?"
I silently nodded.
"Fresh out of Basic?"
I finally found my voice, but it was raspy from the smoke of war. Shaking as well from the fear. Being caught slightly in my throat, it just didnt want to come out.
"Ye- Yeah this is my first deployment"
Dragmire smirked
"Welcome to the Suck"
--
All right so I really need a couple of reveiws on this one! I'm heeeeeeeeeeella rusty. I'm also writing on wordpad. So if my grammar or spellings off. Forgive me! I'm not actually that familiar with the Marines. My family has been Army all the way since the Korean War (Flexes Ego). I'm enlisting this fall as Fire Support Specialist. I'm gonna try and have some kind of encounter later on with the Rangers in the fic. Cause I actually know what I'm talking about with them. XD I'm tentavely rating this Fic T cause I think its kind of mid way between R and T. And I really really want them Hits and reviews!! :D So Please! Reveiw me! This is my first fic in years. Or since whenever I posted my last unfinished gem.
