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Chapter 12
A year has passed since I've seen my Babe. I was lucky enough to contact Tank and have him acquire a picture of her. I was able to keep it on my person. Knowing I had a piece of her with me kept me grounded during this horrible mission. I had returned to help Lester. I was questioned heavily, but they believed me. We've finally made some progress by taking out the second in command. Lester now holds this position—thank God. The General has been saying the war could be over soon. I could only hope. Being a terrorist every day wears the mind and soul down. We've been able to stop most of the violence by getting the lower ranks to follow our command. Abu Bakr seems to have no idea we're slowly turning his followers. It's been a difficult journey, and it's a miracle we're still alive. I wonder if Stephanie is. I wonder how she is. I know her tour will be over in six months. I wonder if she'll sign on again. I clear my head as I grab the sat phone to make a call.
"General Adams, can you hear me?" I ask into the phone as I hear the ringing stop.
"Captain Manoso," he says, "we need to act swiftly. You need to take out Abu Bakr tonight and get out of there. We're preparing the bombing for tomorrow." I was shocked to hear this. I knew the end might be coming soon, but I always imagined the higher ups would want to drag this thing out.
"How's it going down?" I question wondering how Americans won't be targeted for such an attack.
"We're working together with the other countries. It turns out those WMDs Bush said they had are actually there. So, we're going in and going to make it look like an accidental explosion. Downfall is that a lot of innocent people will get hurt, but it seems to be our best plan. You and Lester did report their plans to move the supplies." I had to say, this plan seemed like the best one the general has come up with so far. It would be sad to see civilians hurt, but it's the best way to divert attention from Americans while ending the war. They will be too busy rebuilding to worry about attacking plus with the subtle suggestions from Les and I, they may become more peaceful. France has been putting their forces in Jordan to push out ISIS, and other countries are also helping get them under control. This plan has a solid chance of working.
"That's a good plan General," I reply, "we'll get ready, get the job done, and get out." I end the call. I stash the sat phone and go to find Lester. He'll probably be in a better position to take out Bakr. Once I find him, I fill him in on everything. He's down with the plan. Hopefully if anyone finds out, they will be killed in the bomb blast. We work the details out and go to set our plans in motion. I cover for Les as he goes in and kill Bakr along with the rest of the terrorists in the room. Even though they're terrorists, it still takes a toll to take so many lives. We've both been through hell, and it's never easy. After clearing the room we make a call to the General who assures us he'll have an extraction team ready to get us out of there before the 'accident' happens.
"We need to get out NOW!" Bobby shouts at us as we look up from the patients we've been working on. His order is startling. My mind goes back to everyone I've helped thus far. With an order like this, something bad must be coming.
"We need to get in our choppers and clear out. Now, now, NOW!" Bobby is organized but seemingly frantic.
"Forget the tools except for your backpacks!" He's shoving us and some of the wounded American soldiers in the tent we're currently in. One of the bombings had hit a group of our soldiers working in one of the remote towns. From the panic in Bobby's voice, we must not have much time. I see everyone has basically cleared out. I see Seth still stitching one of the locals. I grab his arm and look him in the eyes.
"C'mon, we have to go," I say. He shakes his head. "I have to save her."
"Stephanie! Seth! Now!" Bobby commands from the helicopter. Seth is shaking his head. I give the woman an apologetic look and an 'I'm sorry,' before dragging Seth to the helicopter. We've just made it on when it takes off as fast it can. Seth is still looking back when his foot slips off the edge. My eyes widen, and I lunge to grab him. Thankfully, I grab his hand and feel arms on my torso to keep me from falling. Suddenly, everyone is hands on deck to haul Seth in. That's one of the best perks of being part of a team—we always work together and take care of our own. Mercedes hugs Seth and so does Paul. We almost lost him. We're five minutes away and as high as the helicopter can go when an explosion rocks the air. It's a huge mushroom cloud starting from a city in the distance, and yet it seems to be spreading. My heart leaps in my throat, and Carlos flashes in my mind. Did he get out in time? Was he wherever this explosion happened? I squeeze my eyes shut and try to stop myself from thinking about it. I wonder where we're going now and why we got the warning so late. We were almost goners.
"Sergeant Major Brown, where are we headed?" I ask, curious to if there's a plan now that it's not safe to be on the ground.
"We're heading to a remote airstrip where a plane will be waiting to take us to a base in Germany, one of our closest allies. I'm not sure of our orders once we get there," he replies, rubbing his face with his hands. I can tell how much this close call worried him. I nod and I see everyone else seems okay with the plan too.
It takes an hour to get to the airstrip and the building at the edge has a small American flag. The plane is ready for us. We board and then I proceed to fall asleep since the adrenaline has worn off.
"Steph, time to go," Mercedes says, shaking me awake. I nod and snap into being alert. I long ago got used to waking up quickly and being immediately alert. We step out of the plane, and the air is chilly compared to where we'd been for the past year. We're ushered into cars and transported to a building. We're each given rooms and changes of uniform. This will be the first real shower I've had since going on tour. Our makeshift medical tents don't exactly come with showers. We've been bathing with the locals and it hasn't been the most cleanly.
I groan as the hot water cascades down my shoulders, and I happily scrub my body with the standard soap. I never want to get out of the shower again. I keep Carlos out of my mind, and I go into the land of denial. I change into a clean army t-shirt and sweatpants. It's so nice to have clean clothes against my body for once. My uniform is being washed for like the fifth time since being deployed. I find Mercedes and I sit on her bed. She's brushing her hair.
"Hallelujah girl! Hot showers," she says with a smile although it doesn't quite reach her eyes. I think after all we've seen, it will be a little while before our smiles can reach our eyes.
"It's heaven, I swear! I will never take things for granted again," I reply with a smile of my own, "I never imagined it would be like this." She nods.
"I knew war was brutal, but I didn't know," she states, "all those innocent people." I nod and grab her free hand.
"It's not right or fair, but it's not our fault. ISIS should have had more care for their people before they got into a war," I say sadly, "and we can't change the fact that we were dragged into a war." She sighs.
"I know, I know. It's just sad and wrong," she reiterates. We sit in silence, mourning all the innocent lives being hurt and lost because of this war. I stand and we hug before I head to my room to get a good night of sleep. It's nice to be in a bed again. It's a welcome change. I'm about to drift off when a knock comes to my door. I go and open it to find a somber Bobby.
"Bobby, what is it?" I ask, wondering what could bring him to my door at nine thirty after the long day we've had.
"I got news on Ranger…" he says, "as far as the government knows he didn't make it out before the nuclear explosion." My eyes widen in disbelief. No. No. No. Tears fill my eyes and my chest restricts. I can barely breathe and my heart is beating wildly.
"This…a joke…" I choke out as a sob escapes my mouth. "No, no." I shake my head as tears stream down my face. It feels like a hole has been ripped in my chest. I feel air rushing in and out but it's a blur. It's a painful blur. I feel my legs give out and warm arms wrap around me. I feel Bobby bring me to the bed, and he strokes my hair. I cry loudly. How could this happen? He was supposed to come back for me. The thought makes me sob harder. I wanted to give it a try with him. I wanted everything and anything he would give. How could he be dead?
"Shh…Steph, it will be okay," Bobby says as I feel one of his tears fall into my hair. He just lost a good friend.
"Oh Bobby," I whisper, "I'm so sorry you lost such a good friend." He wraps his arms tighter around me and places his chin on the top of my head. I squeeze his waist. My tears are still flowing steadily, but I've become silent. I move and place a kiss on Bobby's cheek.
"You should go be with Mercedes," I say even though it's technically against the rules. He nods. Everything will change when we get our orders tomorrow anyways. He needs the woman he loves right now. I walk him to the door and then crawl back into bed. I grab the extra pillow and hug it to my chest as I weep silently for the man I will never get to fully know. Oh Carlos, why did you leave? I drift into a dreamless sleep with tears leaking silently down my cheeks.
I wake up abruptly, and the night before comes back all too suddenly. Carlos is gone. Fresh tears follow the tracks of the ones from that night. I can tell that my eyelids have swollen and my face is probably red and blotchy. I get up and see that it's nine a.m. It's the latest I've slept since I've left Trenton. I stretch and make my way to the bathroom. A hot shower makes me feel slightly better but the dull ache in my chest never lessens or leaves. I find a note on my door about our new orders being given at ten thirty in conference room A. I head straight there and see I'm not the first one. Bobby is standing in front of a long table. We wait in silence for the rest to come. Paul, Seth, and Mercedes come in one by one, and we all wait to hear what happens to us next.
"Uncle Sam sends his gratitude," Bobby starts, "he thanks us for our admirable service. Apparently the bloody part of the war is mostly over so our squad isn't needed for the time being. Along with the nuclear radiation, the government doesn't want us in the area. This year and a half is almost your full service so you can be discharged." I'm shocked to hear the news. We exchange looks between ourselves. I think we all might decide to be discharged. I know I wouldn't really want to work with another squad and we've basically done all we can for this war.
"If there is a need for our services in the future, we can be called back to finish out the last half of the time owed," Bobby continues. "I know it's a difficult decision to make, but I figured we could make it as a squad." We all nod in agreement. We've become family during our time in the war zone. We discuss it together quietly. It seems like we're all in agreement. We'll get out together and if need be, we'll go back in together.
