Four days later

Date: September 20th

In the days following what had happened outside the base in the surrounding fields, news of the recruits managing to save themselves and their leader from a fiery death had quickly spread amongst the other new arrivals. By the end of the day it had happened, everyone was asking them how they had done it and how they had survived without being killed. This had led to them making new friends, and what was better; the humiliation from the early days of the recruits being at the base seemed to have been completely forgotten and the taunting they received from their fellow comrades had ended abruptly.

Matthew was proud of them. He had received a bit of publicity from the other recruits but most of it was directed at his group of recruits. He did not mind though. He was proud of both them and the fact that they were no longer regarded as laughing stalks and outcasts amongst the others at the base. Then, as if to top off all of the good things that had come that day, the officer that had introduced Matthew to the recruits had told him that because of their actions in saving each other and him in working together, he was finally told that he would be taken off his punishment within a few days. That was something Matthew was really looking forward to and was praying could come quicker.

For now, though, he and the recruits were at the warthog driving centre, going for another full run in taking on the obstacles of the track. At the moment, they were waiting their turn to go on the track as another warthog was out there. Matthew was leaning against the front of their passenger warthog watching the other warthog out on the track. Lee was also watching, though he was in the passenger seat, leaning on the front. Samuel was sitting in the back with Edward, checking the ammo for their machine gun. Tommy was sitting in the driver seat, his head on his hand which was held up by his elbow. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel for a few moments, obviously bored at waiting, before he decided to follow Lee and Matthew in watching the other warthog out on the track.

"How long have they been out there?" Lee asked Matthew.

"About tem minutes," he replied. "Shouldn't be too long now, they're near the end,"

CLANG! The three jumped and looked over their shoulders to see Edward lean down, almost falling out of the warthog but had grabbed the side just in time to prevent himself from doing so, and pick up the box of machine gun ammo from the ground.

"Sorry," he said when he had picked the box up. "Dropped it,"

Matthew rolled his eyes and, along with Tommy and Lee, resumed looking out at the warthog on the track, which was just nearing the bridge at the end. Things at the base had been a bit hectic today. The medical personal had been taken to Sura city for a training course so the number of medical personal at the base was very limited, which meant everyone had to be extra careful in their training exercises so as not to inflict any harm on themselves or anyone else.

"Hey Tommy," Edward called. "Can you pass me the other box from under your seat?"

"Sure," Tommy replied.

Tommy leant forward and reached under his seat and pulled out another small box with the word Ammunition written on the top. He turned and leant forward to pass Edward the box. However, as he passed him the box and sat back down in his seat, he failed to notice his foot land on the accelerator.

Suddenly…

VROOM! The warthog shot forward, knocking Matthew off his feet with a yell and causing him to land painfully on his side on the ground. Lee was thrown back into his seat, as was Tommy, and Edward and Samuel were thrown off the back of the warthog onto the ground. The machine gun, which Edward had accidentally turned onto auto fire when he fell off the warthog, landed on the ground behind them.

The sound of a gunshot filled the air like thunder as the machine gun fired a bullet at Edward. It sliced through his leg and pulverized It's way through his chest, exiting just below his armpit. Edward yelled out and Matthew, who had gotten up and heard the gunshot, rushed over to see if he was okay.

"Edward!" he exclaimed. He looked at the entry and exit wounds, which were beginning to drip blood. "Oh no!"

"Is it bad?" Samuel asked worryingly as he pulled himself over to his friend.

"What...d'you think!" Edward hissed, gritting his teeth hard as the pain erupted all around his body.

"Is he alright?" Tommy asked as he and Lee rushed over to them from the warthog, which had crashed into the wall at the side of the track but they did not care about the vehicle. They were more concerned about their friend.

"No, we need to get him to the base's hospital," Matthew told him. "Samuel, go and get the officers in the warehouse to call for a pelican,"

Samuel nodded and rushed over to the nearby building. Matthew, now joined by Lee and Tommy who had knelt down beside him, examined the wound once again. He felt around Edward's side and he could feel several of his ribs were broken. Edward gasped as he touched them and grabbed his hand to stop him from touching the broken bones.

"S-stop-p!" Edward moaned in pain.

The sound of running feet made the three look over at the warehouse to see Samuel and an elderly officer running towards them.

"Don't worry, we've called for a pelican," the officer told them when they reached them. He knelt down beside Edward. "How bad is he?" he asked.

"I felt some broken bones, I think the bullet's shattered two or three of his ribs," Matthew replied. "How long is the pelican gonna be?" he asked the officer.

"Here it comes now," Lee piped up, pointing out towards in the direction of the base where a pelican was just beginning to descend towards them.

A few moments later, the pelican stopped about twenty feet from the group, hovering about ten feet from the ground, and a marine jumped out of the craft and rushed over towards them.

"Got a call to take a wounded soldier," he said.

"Thanks," Matthew replied and he helped the marine lift Edward over to the craft, the others following in case they needed any help. When they reached the back of the craft, the marine climbed into the resting area and, with Matthew's help, lifted Edward up into it, laying him down on one of the seats. The marine then went to tell the pilot they were ready to go but he saw Matthew was staying put.

"I'm coming with you guys," Matthew told the marine before he could ask. "He's a member of my squad,"

The marine nodded, deciding it was best not to argue, and rushed over to the cog pit. Matthew sat down on the end seat next to Edward and looked around the rest of the resting area. It had several large crates with the words Shipment to Sura written on the tops of them. He laughed a little, knowing that they were in a pelican that was doing a cargo delivery. Wow! He never thought one of these would be saving someone's life before.

The pelican rose steadily into the air. When it was about twenty feet above the ground, the craft flew off away from the centre. Matthew looked back out to see the rest of the group waiting there, watching him go. He sighed, knowing that he would have to tell them what would happen to Edward if he lived or not when he got back, and looked back at his wounded recruit.

He rested a hand on his shoulder. "You'll be alright, Ed," he said.

Edward laughed a little, only to stop as he gritted his teeth hard again to try and conceal the pain flowing within him.

"Thanks, sir," he replied.