DISCLAIMER: I don't own FMA Copyright infringement is not my intention, Everything belongs to their respective owners.
FMA (c) Hiromu Arakawa
Characters and writing (c) Me
War is hell
Fullmetal Alchemist Fanfiction
By Frog-the-alchemist
"Brace yourselves! Incoming!"
Sem could feel his whole body vibrate as the explosive collided into the side of the trench. The loud Boom! resonated through the heavy air and echoed through Sem's entire being.
"Return Fire!" He could barley here his superior's order over the sound of more oncoming explosives ramming into the side of the crumbling remains of the wall just outside the trench, he could feel the ground under him shake. Men scrambled around him, their voices and shouts all blending together with the sounds of gunshots and footsteps running off to different stations. A wave of panic flooded over him.
'Everything's crumbling!' he thought franticly as he leaned against the trench wall, squeezing his eyes closed and gripping his gun even more tightly. It seemed as if the walls were collapsing on him and the ground was going to open up and swallow him.
'Everything around me is crumbling and exploding! Even the ground is shaking!'
'I am going to die!'
"Get a hold of yourself, you bastard!" a slap on the back of the head shook him out of his panic attack.
"Do you want to get killed?" He looked up at the angry face of another soldier.
"Well do you?" Sem shook his head.
"Well then get over there and start shooting, dammit!" he yelled before picking up a fallen gun, and running down the trench. Sem watched him run for a few seconds before shaking himself out of his daze.
'Goddammit, Sem, get a hold of yourself! You are a soldier, not a frickin kid!' he thought, mentally kicking himself. He lifted himself into a crouching position and started running through the trench, ignoring the vibrations of another grenade exploding on the outside of the trench. He pushed down the quickly rising panic inside of him down and ran faster, heading towards the station where everyone else dashed to.
He ran blindly through the now isolated corridor of the trench, looking for any other soldier. He struggled to keep his quickly rising panic under control, as he turned random corners, unaware of where he was going, just trying to follow the sound of yelling and gunshots. He could barely see were he was going, dust floated around in the stagnant air that seemed to catch in his throat and the sky above the open top of the trench was coated in a hazy layer of brown-grey clouds, blocking out the sun and sunlight completely. He felt like he was surrounded by nothing but a maze of brown.
"Hey!" he heard a shout come from around the corner. "Williams! I need more ammo! Now!"
"Here! Catch!" another voice responded. He rounded the corner and let out a small sigh of relief when he saw seven or eight men. Some were running around, some were loading and fixing guns, and some were lined up against the wall with their backs to Sem and their guns and heads just over the edge of the wall shooting into the distance. One man was trying to bandage a particularly nasty looking wound on his arm.
"Look who made it!" Sem saw the man that had hit him earlier waving him over from the other end of row of firing men.
Sem ran over to him.
"Ya got ammo?" Sem nodded his head. The man pointed to a gap between the man next to him and the man on the other side of that soldier.
"Then start shooting."
He stepped in between the two and placed his gun on the edge and squinted his eyes, looking for a target. Shots rang back and forth from both sides in an irregular pattern. He saw the faint outline of a soldier on the opposing side through the haze. He slowly lined up his sights and-
Thud! Something landed several feet in front of him, causing him to jump a little, messing up his shot.
'What the hell?' he glared at it for a few seconds before the realization of what it was hit him.
"GET DOWN!" he shouted at the top of his lungs as he tackled the man firing next to him. Just as he hit the ground, the grenade detonated in a fiery explosion. The sound was deafening.
Sem sat on the edge of the small wooden crate, vacantly staring into the small fire that burned on top of a few small logs. It flickered quietly, the red and yellow flames gently illuminating the surrounding area with its warm glow. In his dirt coated hands he clutched a small tin cup. His entire being seemed to be coated in a layer of dust, it had crept it's way into his black hair and on to his uniform, fading it's normal blue color into a dusty blue-grey. It had sneaked it's way into his black boots and lingered on his face, gotten into his dark eyes. Sem felt like the dust had coated his entire body, sunk into his skin, coated his bones. The entire ground at the camp was coated in dust, the tents had a thin layer on which ever side the wind was blowing on. Even the clouds that blanketed the sky seemed to be the color of dust.
The rocks seemed to explode outward, bits flying every where like bullets, piercing skin and drawing blood. Pained screams pierced through the air, temporarily overpowering the sound of the explosion before stopping abruptly like someone ripping a record off the player in mid-song.
Sem clutched his cup tighter in his hands as the memory replayed in his mind.
Visibility quickly came down to zero as dust quickly filled the open air. The smell of blood and dirt hung in the stagnant air.
He clenched his teeth and closed his eyes in a feeble attempt to stop the memory from coming back.
Pain exploded from his forehead, he could feel liquid dripping on his face. He forced his eyes open, the darkness that had coated his eyes wanted to fill his entire body.
"Damn it." he whispered
Bloodied bodies. Mounds of flesh.
Sweat dripped down the side his face.
Something not quite human, but absolutely was. Horror on frozen faces.
'Panic that engulfed him, coursing through his veins. A black veil spreading itself over the world. Rage and horror filling his body, threatening to explode-
Something slammed against his back, sending him flying forward of the crate, landing on the ground face first.
"Heyyyy, Look who survived his first mission~!"
" Goddammit, Beckett!" Sem pulled his face off the floor and sat up, rubbing his back. "I almost got killed and the first thing you do is hit me?" He angrily looked up at the his friend standing there with a hint of a mischievous grin playing at her lips. They glared at each other for a few seconds.
"..."
"..."
Wide grins suddenly took up both their faces as they started laughing. She leaned over and offered her hand, helping him up. He wiped his hands on his uniform and they both walked over to the rations tent to get dinner, leaving all unpleasantness back by the fire. However, they wouldn't stay there for long...
...
My name is Sem Scott.
I am a Corporal in the Amestrian State Military.
I am currently fighting in what is known as the 2nd Aerugo border War.
We are stationed in near the city of Taliscall, 3 miles away from the border.
Today was my second day out here.
Yesterday, a team was one man short and they randomly picked me just as I arrived.
I was there when a grenade blew up several feet away from where we were.
One other man and myself were the only survivors.
I am 18 years old.
I am not dead yet.