DISCLAIMER: Warhammer 40000 belongs to Games Workshop

You're not in hell son, though by the end of this you might wish you were.

CHAPTER 2

THE GIRL

Tevez stumbled through the camp. All around him people were shouting, running around with stretchers. But he couldn't hear what they were saying. He was still absorbing the shock of it all.

How in thirty seconds what had been his family for the last year had been completely wiped out.

As a boy growing up he'd dreamed of this day. How he'd heroically rise to the occasion and he and Karl would be given medals for saving the day. But war was a lot different from the front lines.

It had been so quick.

Now he made his way back to the tent. It seemed like the only thing to do. The squad had been staying there for a few days before they were called out. The squad. It hurt to think about them. He just kept thinking about all those things they'd said to him.

It was Nash's sister's birthday next week. She was going to be sixteen. Apparently she wanted to join the army like her brother.

Or Harris' brother, who would have been three just yesterday.

Yorke's anniversary. He'd requested leave to go home and see his wife.

At last he came to the tent. He stepped inside. The sleeping bags and various personal effects were strewn everywhere. They'd been called out on such short notice.

So Tevez finally let out his emotions. He sat in the tent and cried, alone.

He must have been crying for hours when someone entered the tent. At first he thought it was a Commissar come to execute him for fleeing the battlefield. The thought stopped Tevez from looking up to see who it was. But he felt someone sit down beside him, and a surprisingly soft pair of hands drew around him. It was a woman. And she was crying too.

For a long time they just sat there, unable to speak because of their various grievances. At last she said something.

"I'm Sandy," she said. "What's your name?"

"Tevez," he croaked. He looked up at her. She was a little bit older than him, and her blonde hair had been grown down to her neck, a sure sign she must have completed boot camp at least a year before him. Her eyes were blue.

"No, your real name," Sandy insisted. Tevez took a moment to think.

"Everyone's always called me Tevez," he told her. "But my mother... used to call me Jules."

It seemed weird to think of his mother. He hadn't seen a woman since he'd left for boot camp. And now he was torn. Part of him wanted Sandy to hug him, like a mother. The other part wanted her to hug him like a lover.

It was strange how just looking at this girl made him momentarily forget his grief. So he tried to speak to her.

"Why are you sad?" he asked.

"Because my friend died today," she replied. "Why are you?"

"I lost many friends today."

They looked at each other.

"From now on, we'll be friends," Sandy said. Tevez nodded, but couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed.

A few hours later they went down to the mess tent to get their rations. Tevez was still in his armour, though Sandy appeared to be wearing non-combat gear in a tank top and camo trousers. The number on Tevez's shoulder attracted a bit of attention.

"You're from 206?" the man giving out rations asked. "Captain said your squad was completely wiped out. You should've reported to be sorted into one of the remnants." Tevez sighed. It seemed so obvious now. All the soldiers from depleted groups would be sorted back into tens. As Tevez had left it so long it was likely he'd be sorted into a squad with the most injured. Sadly that was likely to be the first wave.

Waste not, want not. His grandfather had told him that once. He'd been Tevez's hero. He'd even won the Medallion Crimson once. He wondered if the Lieutenant might have known of the exploits of his grandfather. Though Tevez had never known what he'd won the medal for.

"I'll see you around," Tevez said to Sandy.

"I'll come with you," Sandy said, but Tevez shook his head. He walked off towards where the senior staff were set up. He quickly found the Captain, a balding man with a bionic lower arm with a Power Fist crudely attached.

"Captain, Private Tevez of squad number 206 reporting, sir!" he said, standing to attention and giving the proper salute.

"By the Emperor's Holy Backside, a survivor," the Captain exclaimed. "We thought we'd lost everyone in the trenches."

"It was the Chaos Space Marines, sir, they overwhelmed us, and the Chimera's fled," Tevez said. "Sir," he added.

"Well, you seem to be alright." The Captain looked him up and down. "Do you feel alright? No injuries?"

"I did black out, sir."

"You'll be fine," the Captain told him with a pat on the back. "And you're in luck. 207's still a man down. It'll be the tent beside yours I reckon. Clear out your tent and return it to the supplies room, then report for duty. Dismissed." He gave the Captain the proper salute and set about his business.

Clearing out the tent on his own was hard work, and he was hungry. Luckily the squad members had left their spare ration bars behind, along with one waterskin. Then he set about finding the things he could still use and getting them into his bag. Someone had left a knife behind and some spare batteries, and someone else had hidden a small dataslate behind complete with a rather large selection of porno. Tevez took a long time with that one, and used a spare uniform to clean up the mess he made.

When he emerged from the tent his new sergeant was waiting.

"Private Tevez?" he asked.

"Yes, sir!" He saluted.

"Welcome to 207. I'm your new sergeant, Sergeant Hawkins. Your new squad members will assist you taking down the tent. Men!" Eight men appeared from the tent next to his. They were all about the same age as Tevez, and all of them looked very scared if unharmed. Probably the first to run at the sight of battle.

Somehow Tevez didn't think they'd be his problem for long. Together the nine took down the tent, with one managing to nearly stab himself with his bayonet in the process. Then they carried the spare packs and tent back to the supply depot. Squad 206 was officially no more.

It was just one of those things. That night, as Tevez lay with his eyes closed yet not sleeping, he couldn't help but think of all the dreams that would never be. But the Imperial Guard was a large force, and one squad less might not make much of a difference...

Then again it might cost them the war. Whatever it was they were fighting over.