Chapter 18: November Rain #2

Continuation of the previous chapter.

*Flashback*

"Ugh. that sucked." I groaned.

"Is everyone ok?" Chris asked.

"All good here Chris. Clarkson, Heather, you guys alright?"

"I think my arm's broken." Heather said.

"Clarkson, try to tend to her injury, I'm gonna check on the others." I said.

"Umm...John, I don't think that'll be necessary."

I was too busy trying to open the cockpit door to even bother asking Chris why that would be the case. Once I opened the door, I was hit by this blinding light, which made me lose my balance and fall out of the cockpit and onto the desert floor.

When I looked up, I was shocked by what I saw.

"Where the fuck's the plane?!"

"Um, Lieutenant, turn around." Clarkson said,

I did so and I then knew what Chris meant. From what I could tell, the nose section of the plane had snapped off like a pencil tip when we hit the ground. As for the rest of the plane, it was completely engulfed by flames. The fire was so hot that I could feel it from where we were sitting.

Chris then came out from the cockpit with the camo colored duffle bag and gave me both an assault rifle and a pistol, along with a couple mags.

"Clarkson, activate the beacon and try to contact Bagram. We need medical support for Steele's arm and we need that airstrike team now." Chris ordered.

"Yes sir."

"I have a feeling the trucks who shot us down will be coming soon, so get yourself armed up and ready to shoot back."

"Thinking right ahead of you Chris." I said loading up the M4.

We then took cover behind the nose section and got our guns readied up. However, as I was getting the pistol loaded up, I then noticed a figure coming out from behind a rock maybe 15 feet to our right.

"Contact 3 o'clock!" I yelled as I began firing at the enemy with my pistol.

Chris followed suit as the person then began firing his weapon at us. I dolphin dived in front of Chris to make sure I got out of the way from any projectiles. When I landed, we both managed to hit the guy a few times and he fell to the ground.

"HOOOH. That was something!" I said.

"Yeah. Thanks for the heads up." Chris replied

"Anytime dude."

"Captain, help is on the way. ETA 10 minutes." Clarkson shouted.

"Nice job Clarkson, stay put and warn us if you see enemy soldiers headed for us."

"Yes sir."

"Do you think that was the guy who shot at us?" I asked Chris

"Judging by the launcher he has on his back, I think so."

I then decided to reload my pistol, when I felt something trickle down my left arm. I looked and saw it was red.

'For fuck sakes!' I mentally screamed.

"I'm hit." I said as I ripped off my sleeve to reveal the wound on my left bicep.

I was lucky that the bullet had only grazed my arm. But still, I needed to get treated and fast. I then used my sleeve as a makeshift tourniquet.

"Guys, 3 trucks coming from the wreckage sight." Clarkson said.

"John, you cover right, I got the left."

"On it."

We then got into position. Using the plane as cover, we were able to get eyes on the approaching trucks. We looked at each other, nodded and then opened fire.

The trucks then for some reason decided to stop in the middle of the fight and the occupants began firing back at us. This was rather odd, but there wasn't any time to think. We both knew that if we, along with the 2 others in the cockpit, were to get out alive, we had to keep laying the assault.

For a couple minutes, we exchanged gunfire. Bullets whizzed over our heads, some hitting the cockpit and even the ground right next to me. This was a fight to survive.

Finally, we saw that they had stopped shooting, so we decided now would be the best time to reload our weapons and call in the airstrike.

"*BANG* UGHH!"

I turned over to see where that gunshot came from and I saw Chris fall to the ground clutching his chest.

"CHRIS!" I ran over to him.

I saw blood spilling onto his hand. I then looked up and saw the same guy who we engaged earlier, pointing a hand cannon at us. My eyes filled with rage as I then sprinted as fast as I could towards the person.

I kicked the gun out of his hand, which landed in my hand barrel first. I then pistol whipped him in the face to make sure he wouldn't be able to get up in time to attack me.

I then pointed the gun at him, ready to end his life.

"Lemme get a glimpse of your face before I make you Satan's bitch."

I took off his face covering and what I saw would scar me for the rest of my life. Underneath the covering was this kid, no older than 18 years old. I immediately dropped the gun out of fear and went over towards him.

"Why?" I asked him.

"Why what? Do you really think I wanted to be like them? It may seem like I like doing this but I HATE IT. I was taken from my family a couple weeks ago. They were slaughtered like dogs right in front of me. I was beaten, tortured and turned into this MONSTER of a person. I never wanted this."

All I could do was sit next to this kid and lay him on my lap. I knew that terrorist organizations captured boys from their homes and turned them into killers, but never thought I would end up encountering one of them in person. I felt so angered and sad when hearing this that I couldn't help but tear up.

"All I wanted was to leave this place and move to Europe. I wanted to live my dream of being a professional football player."

"Who's your favorite player?" I asked.

"Cristiano Ronaldo. He's my idol. I always looked up to him. He's the reason why I want to be a football player."

"Well… I'm sure that you would be an amazing player. Especially if you credit him as your influencer. I'm no soccer fan, but I heard of many feet's he accomplished in his career."

He smiled before he began slumping over to the side. I then tried to put him back the way he was.

"No...leave me like this. Please, let me die."

I couldn't argue with him, the wounds he sustained from both me and Chris were fatal. As he was succumbing to his wounds, he was able to breath out his final words.

"On behalf of my people, I am sorry...for the damage we have done to all to you."

He then died in my arms. I laid him on the ground with his weapons and then gave him back his revolver. I was then brought back to reality when Clarkson came running to me.

"Sir, we have an airstrike at the ready. All they need is your green light. Callsign is Doomsday 1."

He then gave me the radio.

"Doomsday 1, this is Lieutenant John Dunn, calling in the airstrike. Light em up."

"Roger that Lieutenant, commencing strafing run. Get your heads down."

We ran back to the nose section of the plane. Chris had been brought back in the cockpit while I was dealing with the kid.

The A-10s then fired at the trucks in a two aircraft formation. In a matter of seconds, all three trucks and however alive were left vaporized by the Gatling guns.

"Splash One, good effects on target."

"HOORAH! Nice shooting boys" Clarkson said.

As much as that was satisfying to witness, I was then brought back to reality when I saw 2 Humvees driving towards our position. That was when I started to remember what happened to the plane, to Heather, to me and Chris. All of that was too much for my brain to handle. The last thing I saw was one of the medics coming up to me before then everything went black.

*Present*

"The next thing I knew, I was in a hospital bed. My left arm all wrapped up and an IV tube in my hand. I then saw both Richard and Heather sitting next to my bed.

The commander of the base then entered the room. I asked him if Chris had survived his wound. With a simple shake of his head, I knew the answer was no. I then had to make the worst Skype call of my life.

When I gave my family the news of what happened, Humphrey, trigger happy from two days ago, thought I was joking. Once I showed him my wound, he broke into tears. All of us did.

We then flew back home with Chris' coffin and laid him to rest 1 week after the shootdown. It was bittersweet. On one hand, we were able to reminisce about the good times that we all had with him, but of course it was very sad to know that this was my older brother in-law who was taken from us way too soon.

As for me, I was medically discharged for 2 months following the shootdown due to my wound. Because it wasn't as serious as it normally would have been, I would have returned a month after Christmas.

But fate would have different plans for me. For a month since the day of the shootdown, I kept getting nightmares and flashbacks of that day. For the first week, I didn't do anything about it since I thought it was a normal thing to happen. But it kept happening at a much greater rate. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore so I decided I needed to see a therapist.

So I went and sure enough, when I told them what was going on, they gave me the diagnosis. Knowing that I was going to deal with this for the rest of my life, I asked what were ways to deal with the symptoms.

It was either medication, a service dog or group therapy sessions. I went straight for the dog. For one, I was not going to take meds, because there is the risk of becoming addicted to the meds. A lot of people who have been prescribed, became addicts to the meds because they become so dependent to them that they can't think straight without them. As for therapy, I wasn't planning on going to sessions every week due to my job. So the dog it was and three days later, I met Zildjian. She was just a puppy, but when I first saw her, I fell in love with her."

I then showed the guys a picture of her.

"Awww." Most of them said.

"She's so cute." Viper said.

"Yes she was. Once she came home with me, the nightmares and flashbacks stopped. That's what she is trained for. Because of my diagnosis, my discharge was extended for another few months out of precaution (I don't know if this actually happens. If not, sorry.) Eventually, I had to fill out paperwork to make her an unofficial member of the Air Force so that she could be able to fly with me. Which unfortunately is why she's not here. She needs to have paperwork done so that way she can be discharged as well as I have. Therefore, if she would have been here tonight when THAT happened, she could have prevented it.

And that is how I got diagnosed with PTSD."

Everyone was in tears. They then for the most part came to me and either pat me on the back or on the leg. It felt relieving to tell them this story because in a way, it still hurt to know that this was something that I had to go through.

"I am so sorry for what you had to go through John." Mantis said

"You have my deepest condolences Dragon Warrior." Shifu added.

Crane and Viper then came up to me and gave me a hug, which I hugged them back. I couldn't help but tear up myself because they were still choked up.

"John, I want you to know that if you ever need anybody to talk to about anything, please come see either me, or any one of us." Crane said.

"We will be more than happy to talk to you about whatever you need to talk about. We are all here for you." Viper added.

"I will, thank you guys."

After breaking off the hug, they all left my room and left me to myself. All except for one.

Pretty tough chapter to write, did feel a bit emotional since there are people who go through something traumatic in their life and get PTSD. This mental disability is no laughing matter. I myself do not suffer from it. But for those that do, I hope that you all seek the help you need. Don't be afraid to get help and talk to someone about it who will be more than willing to help get through it. And for those who have family members who do suffer from PTSD, please be there for them and continue giving the most support you can give.

Juno