Disclaimer: I didn't make Red Alert 2, and I am not
affiliated in anyway with Westwood Games or EA.
- - -
I Promise I'll Come
Back
- - -
Thousands
of miles away, rain was pelting down upon an Allied base, and on soldiers'
heads from the sky as they waited near the entrance to their base. The sky was dark and gloomy, wrapped up
tight in dark gray clouds that seemed to cast the darkest of shadows. A small group of American snipers jumped
slightly as a dog ran past the entrance, stopping and glancing to them. The British had decided to try training
American troops as snipers, and the small group of five men had been their
"guinea pigs" chosen for it. Jake
glanced over to the others with a question written on his face about the dog
and quirked an eyebrow. Scott could
only grunt an answer as he leaned his gun against the pillbox nearby.
"…Commander
sent out some dogs earlier."
Jake only
nodded and looked back to what he had been working on as the lone German
Shepherd continued on its path back to the barracks set to the east of the
field of power plants. He wore his dark
blue coat pulled up over his head and his lap so the rain wouldn't destroy his
work, and he was leaning back against their base's wall. A black ballpoint pen held in his right hand
was poised over several sheets of paper, before he shuffled back to the
beginning of his letter to read over what he'd written already, and then
continue it.
Dear Leah,
I wish you were
here so much. I miss you more than
anything. Right now we're stuck outside
on guard duty near the base entrance.
It's raining right now, so some of this may not be comprehensible. It's cold here, and it only seems colder
because you're so far away. Somewhere out there, the Reds have a base. They haven't attacked in a while, so the
commander has sent out dogs every few hours to see what's up. Everything's fine here so far, besides that
you're not here.
Leah, I love you
so much. You don't understand how empty
it feels for me not to be able to hold you and kiss you and laugh with you. I can only hope that this war will end
soon. I can still remember the day that
I had to leave. Your eyes looked so sad
and you kept begging me to stay. You
knew that I had to go, but I almost listened – I love your eyes so much. Your had your hair worn loose, and when I
gave you a hug and a kiss, it was so soft.
I remember what you were wearing too.
You had on a short black skirt and a button-up black shirt with three
quarter sleeves. You looked so sad and
I wished I could have done something more.
You were trying not to cry – I can remember that. Your green eyes were filled with tears, but
you wouldn't let them fall. You're so
strong, Leah.
I can remember when we were
standing outside of the boarding ramp to the plane. That's when the tears started falling. I couldn't bear to see you like that. I promise that I'll come home, Leah. I told you then, and I think I've said it in
every letter I've sent so far, but you need to know that I mean it. When I gave you a hug you were shaking and I
didn't think I could let go of you. You
seemed so small then and I just wanted to stay home and keep you safe.
While I've been
out here, I was thinking up names. I
think that I like James a lot, if it's a boy, and I still like the girl name
you like (Liesel). I think. Maybe.
Ack! I don't know. Yeah, I like Liesel. Heh, while I was out here, the other guys
and I were talking about it. Since
you're Texan, they think they should be named Billy Joe Bob if it's a boy and
Minnie May Pearl if it's a girl.
No, I'm just
kidding. I gave them a couple whacks
each. I've been away from home for five
months, three weeks and six days.
You're almost three months along then, right? Heh, I remember when I got your letter telling me when you found
out about it. I was so surprised.
Anyways.. I can't
wait to be back home again with you. I
never realized how used to you I'd become.
It's hard to fall asleep without you next to me. It's hard to wake up and not have you there
when I open my eyes. It's hard when
it's the commander waking you up at 4:30 in the morning, and not you. Yes, you HAVE waken me up at 4:30 in the
morning before for little things. But I
enjoyed every single time. I miss you
so much. I miss seeing you, I miss
holding you, I miss kissing you.. I miss everything. I almost wish I could tell you that I couldn't care less about
the war and that I'd come home to you immediately if I could, but I won't let
your life – our life, be controlled by the Soviets.
Whenever I see the
stars out here, and the moon, I always wish that you were here with me. And when I see the sunset or the sunrise, I
wish I could share it with you. Leah, I
love y-
All the lights in the base
flickered and died. Around the base,
power plants died, prism towers shut down, and the ore refinery became
still. Jake lifted his head up from his letter
abruptly and glanced over to the barracks. The lone German Shepherd was
gone and the entrance to a power plant nearby it was open. A single shot ripped through the
air and flew straight into Scott's right shoulder, sending him to the ground,
clutching his shoulder. In that
instant, Jake had dropped his letter within the folds of his coat, grabbing up his
rifle when an enormous pack of Siberian Huskies swept into the base. He immediately began picking them off, one
after another, the remaining three snipers doing the same until the pack was down to
nothing. After that, any engineers, then flak troopers, then Tesla
troopers were destroyed.
No one noticed the snipers who had
already successfully shot down over thirty infantry units and hadn't received
one scratch. No one noticed another dog
that seemed to be one of the American's, running alongside the Soviets and straight
towards a power plant. Everyone noticed
when the power came back online for a split second, and the prism towers
managed to kill one Psi Corps trooper, but no one noticed the wounded sniper
who had picked up his rifle that he had leaned against a pill box moments
ago. No one noticed the strange,
vacant, staring look upon his face as he aimed the rifle at the head of the
nearest man.
Thousands of miles away, no one heard
the husband of a sleeping nineteen year old young woman scream as a bullet pierced the
back of his skull.
Near the ruins of a pill box, no
one noticed a few sheets of paper with writing in black ink blur and become a
soggy mess from rain pelting down upon the smoking remnants of an Allied base.