Johnson spotted the chow line and nodded towards it.
"There's chow Gunny, do you want anything?"
"Yah, I'll get some later, I want to visit the med tent."
"Ok, we'll wait for you over there."
The three Marines and three Delta operators moved off to the chow line to get food, then they sat down near a group of eating rangers and had their dinner.
Joel walked through the huddle groups of people and tents looking for the medical tent. After about ten minutes of wandering, he saw the large Red Cross on a white background and headed for the open flaps of the tent. Once inside, he was confronted by a young nurse who seemed to appear from nowhere.
"Can I help you sir? Are you injured?"
"No Mam, I'm looking for an injured civilian, she should have been brought here, by the name of Julie Masterson. Is she here?"
"I can check sir, but you really shouldn't be in here."
"I understand Mam, I'll be out of your hair in a minute, I've just got to make sure she's ok."
The nurse's expression softened as she looked into Joel's dark eyes and saw the compassion and worry burning there.
"Very well, just a minute though. Follow me please."
The nurse lead Joel to the back of the tent where Julie lay, an IV hooked into her arm, and respirator tubes in her nose.
"We had to put her on the respirator because she was having trouble breathing because of her ribs. I'll leave you alone now, but you must promise me Sergeant, that you will only stay a minute and let her rest. Otherwise I will call the MP's and have you arrested."
Joel smiled at the adamant nurse and nodded his head.
"Yes Mam."
The nurse nodded back and walked away, leaving Joel with Julie. He walked up to the side of the bed and looked into her face. There was a bruise on her forehead and a few small cuts here and there, but otherwise, her face was still bright and had the angelic look he had remembered from before. Julie had always been a good friend to Joel, and throughout high school, he had always had a mild crush on her. But she seemed to be the one who always got away, and they had never dated. But she had written to him regularly when he joined and she went off to school, and so their friendship had remained strong.
He reflected on their past relationship as he stood and watched her face, looking for any signs of her waking up. The latest letter he had received from her was about a month ago, and it had been filled with joy and excitement because she had received her doctorate in physical therapy. One of her goals was to work with famous athletes in the future, and it seemed like she was well on her way. Regularly his responses to her bright, uplifting letters would be clipped descriptions of the operation he was participating if he could, and usually boring explanations of the training they were performing.
He felt as if their relationship was sort of a one way street. She provided him with a window back to the world he left behind, and kept him going knowing what he was protecting by fighting enemies abroad. He did not know what he provided for her, or what she could possibly get out of the boring letter about storming a funhouse, shooting wooden targets. But unbeknownst to him, Julie could hardly ever wait to get a new letter from Joel.
While she gave him a small taste of life back home, he gave her a taste of freedom. She idolized his action of breaking out of the common routine of going to college after high school. She saw him as being a daring, outgoing figure, something she dearly wished she could be. She wished she had had the courage to do something wild, and unendorsed like that. Her parents would have killed her if she had done something like joining the Marines.
But it was not much different for Joel. His parents had strongly disapproved of his decision to join the Marines right after school, and had virtually stopped talking to him since. They hadn't even come to his graduation, even though he had earned highest honors in his class.
Joel blinked a tear away from his eye as he saw Julie stirring from her sleep. Her eyes opened slowly and looked around before focussing on Joel above her. She recognized him and smiled.
"Hey kid, how you doin?"
"Ugh... I feel like a building fell on me."
"Well, a helicopter landed on you. Not to mention the jackass Bunse stuck a knife in your side."
"Really? I don't remember anything after the helicopter started going down."
"Yah, it was ugly. We found you inside and a big chunk of Blackhawk was pinning you down."
"Ah yes, I remember that now. You came inside and told me I would be fine. That I was going to make it. And I didn't believe you."
"Yah see, you just gotta trust me."
Julie snickered as she remembered from before.
"You used to lie all the time. Nobody believed a word you said."
"Well that's not my fault. I just did what I did because I was good at it."
"Liar."
Joel smiled and looked her over again.
"Well we're in the stadium now. As safe as can be. There are hundreds of soldiers here to protect you."
She blinked. Then looked around and seemed to notice for the first time she was in the medical tent.
"Where are all your men? Off with the ladies getting lucky?"
Joel cringed inwardly, but showed no change outside.
"Yah, I'm sure they're around here somewhere, getting into all sorts of trouble."
"Yah. You Marines are all so hot and all the women love you. I'm surprised you still don't have a girl. What's keeping you? Waiting for a special someone?"
Joel snickered and shook his head.
"Naw, you know me, girls don't really like me. I always get into trouble."
"Liar, you had like five girlfriends during high school."
"So I used up all my luck. I'm pretty much done."
Julie laughed, but pain flared up from her broken ribs and she started coughing and holding her side.
"See, look what I've done now. Always causing trouble. I'm gonna leave you alone now kid. Just get some rest ok?"
Julie nodded and smiled.
"Goodbye."
Joel shook his head and looked reprovingly at Julie.
"Who says goodbye? I'll see you later."
Joel then walked out of the tent, winking at the nurse who had helped him earlier, eliciting a small smile from the young woman. He reached his new combined unit who were still eating and conversing lightly. As he sat down, Johnson handed him a plate with what looked like rice and beans, and some sort of meat stew on it.
"How are you men doing. I guess introductions are in order since we are working together now. I am Gunnery Sergeant Joel Roscord. And I'll let my men introduce themselves."
"I'm Lance Corporal Tim Johnson. Communications specialist."
"Private, First Class, John Crisp. Rifleman, CQB expert."
"And finally last but not least, I'm Private Charlie Dell, Grenadier."
The Delta operators all smiled and shook hands with the Marines. Then they moved to introduce themselves. The tallest one stood up, a massive man, well over six foot seven.
"Lance Corporal Peter Townsend. But y'all can just call me Petey if you like. We didn't much care for rank nip and tuck in our squad, but I don't know how you run it Gunny."
"That's just fine Petey, I don't much care either, so long as you call me Gunny, or well, Gunny. Sarge will fit too, and most anything else so long as you know I'm top kick."
The group chuckled and continued.
"That's affirmative Gunny. I'm Private Chris Simple. And I'm a CQB specialist as well."
"Yah, and we all call him Teddy Bear. Because he's about as dangerous as one Gunny. This kid wouldn't hurt a fly if it shot him in the leg."
The Marines and other Delta laughed and the operators threw pieces of food at Teddy.
"Shut up Jonesy. You're no fun telling them that, I thought I had a chance to start over new, with a new unit."
"Well you do Teddy, and we now have the chance to call you Teddy. I've never had a Teddy in my unit before, so this is a new experience for me."
The group laughed again and Teddy smiled as well. The last Delta operator stood up and bowed.
"I am Private Jim Jones. And most call me Jonesy. I'll be your courtesy comedian and resident Corpsman. If you've got a wound or an owwie, you come see me and I'll patch your sissy Marine selves up just fine."
More laughing ensued and all the Marines threw food at Jones, forcing him to sit down. Joel laughed and reveled at the spirit of these men, these soldiers and Marines. Together they shared a bond of fighting men that were serving their country, protecting the people they loved even if they were a thousand miles away. Just an hour ago, they had all nearly died, and lost most of their teammates and friends. Most men would have broken and given up, but not these men.
These few men were the best of the best, and they exemplified it in their indomitable spirit. Nothing would slow them down, nothing could stop them from carrying out their mission because to them, it meant failing their teammates and their honor. These few would never quit.
And Joel felt extreme pride at being able to fight with them, even if it meant dying with them. He looked at each of their laughing faces and remembered one of his men that had died that day, and remembered the sacrifice they had made. He realized then what he had thought all along, that he would die defending his country and its people, but now he might also die in his hometown, defending the people that he knew and loved.
This was a more direct gratification that Joel knew most fighting men did not get. Most died on foreign soil, and their family back home never knew or understood the sacrifice they made. But Joel's would. And his elation at this simple fact grew ten fold when he saw his own family emerge from a tent down the row.
"Alright boys, now we all know each other, so bed down and try to get some rest. I don't know when we'll get our next mission orders, and I don't know what they might be, but when they come, we'll be ready."
The group responded in chorus, "Yes sir."
Joel stripped off his combat vest and laid his M-4 down on it.
"Watch my gear Johnson."
"But Sarge, how can I watch it if I'm s'posed to be resting?"
Johnson snickered and closed his eyes, and the rest of the group laughed and followed suit.
"Lazy bastards..."
Joel picked up his vest and his rifle and put them back on before walking towards the tent his family was in. He pushed the flap aside and peered into the interior. Inside his sister was sitting on a cot, feeding her baby daughter.
"Hey Tess, how's my little niece?"
The three year old girl's eyes lit up as she saw her uncle and she immediately reached out for him to pick her up.
"JOEL! Oh my god, how did you get here?"
Joel picked up his niece and held her up to his face as he responded, "I was deployed here last week to secure survivors. We only got to the safe zone today. It took a while for them to evacuate all the civilians we had found."
The little girl giggled and pinched her uncle's nose. She tried to poke him in the eye and drooled on his vest.
Tess stood up and hugged her brother as he continued to play with his niece.
"How's my little Trish doing? How are you?"
Trish smiled and said, "I'm happy uncle... you want to play ball?"
"Yeah sure kiddo, in just a minute."
He set her down and she ran off into the corner of the tent to fetch her ball. Joel then looked around and asked Tess, "Where did Ma and Pa go?"
Tess shrugged as she replied, "I think they went to get some food. Or look for someone, I think they were going to ask if you were around, because they had heard that the Marines were here."
Joel stared at her for a moment and was about to say something when the PA system in the stadium blared to life.
"All combat personnel, report to the staging area! All combat personnel, report to the staging area! We have an emergency situation."
Joel looked at Tess and said, "Ok, keep in this tent. I'll be back later, make sure
that when Ma and Pa get back, they stay in this tent. Do not leave unless something absolutely drastic is happening."
Tess nodded as Joel clicked on his radio and headed out of the tent.
"Johnson, get the guys up. We need to get to the staging area pronto."
"We're already heading there Gunny, we'll meet you there."
"Good. See you in a minute."
Joel reached into his vest pocket and pulled out a fresh magazine for his rifle and slammed it home. He pulled the charging handle and clicked the safety off, assuming the worst. And unfortunately for himself and everyone else in the stadium, he was right.
Automatic weapons fire rattled the air from the southern portion of the stadium. Streaming out of the opponent locker room, came dozens of then undead. Rangers fired desperately into the swarm, trying to stem the tide of zombies rushing into the once safe haven.
Only a dozen of the airborne soldiers were around the breach when it occurred, and already, Joel could see a couple of them being pulled down by the ravenous creatures.
"My guys! Lets go! Those rangers need a hand."
The remainder of his squad joined him, and Joel rushed headlong to the aid of the beleaguered soldiers. But even as he approached a firing position, Joel could see that it was too little, too late.
"God help us..."
"There's chow Gunny, do you want anything?"
"Yah, I'll get some later, I want to visit the med tent."
"Ok, we'll wait for you over there."
The three Marines and three Delta operators moved off to the chow line to get food, then they sat down near a group of eating rangers and had their dinner.
Joel walked through the huddle groups of people and tents looking for the medical tent. After about ten minutes of wandering, he saw the large Red Cross on a white background and headed for the open flaps of the tent. Once inside, he was confronted by a young nurse who seemed to appear from nowhere.
"Can I help you sir? Are you injured?"
"No Mam, I'm looking for an injured civilian, she should have been brought here, by the name of Julie Masterson. Is she here?"
"I can check sir, but you really shouldn't be in here."
"I understand Mam, I'll be out of your hair in a minute, I've just got to make sure she's ok."
The nurse's expression softened as she looked into Joel's dark eyes and saw the compassion and worry burning there.
"Very well, just a minute though. Follow me please."
The nurse lead Joel to the back of the tent where Julie lay, an IV hooked into her arm, and respirator tubes in her nose.
"We had to put her on the respirator because she was having trouble breathing because of her ribs. I'll leave you alone now, but you must promise me Sergeant, that you will only stay a minute and let her rest. Otherwise I will call the MP's and have you arrested."
Joel smiled at the adamant nurse and nodded his head.
"Yes Mam."
The nurse nodded back and walked away, leaving Joel with Julie. He walked up to the side of the bed and looked into her face. There was a bruise on her forehead and a few small cuts here and there, but otherwise, her face was still bright and had the angelic look he had remembered from before. Julie had always been a good friend to Joel, and throughout high school, he had always had a mild crush on her. But she seemed to be the one who always got away, and they had never dated. But she had written to him regularly when he joined and she went off to school, and so their friendship had remained strong.
He reflected on their past relationship as he stood and watched her face, looking for any signs of her waking up. The latest letter he had received from her was about a month ago, and it had been filled with joy and excitement because she had received her doctorate in physical therapy. One of her goals was to work with famous athletes in the future, and it seemed like she was well on her way. Regularly his responses to her bright, uplifting letters would be clipped descriptions of the operation he was participating if he could, and usually boring explanations of the training they were performing.
He felt as if their relationship was sort of a one way street. She provided him with a window back to the world he left behind, and kept him going knowing what he was protecting by fighting enemies abroad. He did not know what he provided for her, or what she could possibly get out of the boring letter about storming a funhouse, shooting wooden targets. But unbeknownst to him, Julie could hardly ever wait to get a new letter from Joel.
While she gave him a small taste of life back home, he gave her a taste of freedom. She idolized his action of breaking out of the common routine of going to college after high school. She saw him as being a daring, outgoing figure, something she dearly wished she could be. She wished she had had the courage to do something wild, and unendorsed like that. Her parents would have killed her if she had done something like joining the Marines.
But it was not much different for Joel. His parents had strongly disapproved of his decision to join the Marines right after school, and had virtually stopped talking to him since. They hadn't even come to his graduation, even though he had earned highest honors in his class.
Joel blinked a tear away from his eye as he saw Julie stirring from her sleep. Her eyes opened slowly and looked around before focussing on Joel above her. She recognized him and smiled.
"Hey kid, how you doin?"
"Ugh... I feel like a building fell on me."
"Well, a helicopter landed on you. Not to mention the jackass Bunse stuck a knife in your side."
"Really? I don't remember anything after the helicopter started going down."
"Yah, it was ugly. We found you inside and a big chunk of Blackhawk was pinning you down."
"Ah yes, I remember that now. You came inside and told me I would be fine. That I was going to make it. And I didn't believe you."
"Yah see, you just gotta trust me."
Julie snickered as she remembered from before.
"You used to lie all the time. Nobody believed a word you said."
"Well that's not my fault. I just did what I did because I was good at it."
"Liar."
Joel smiled and looked her over again.
"Well we're in the stadium now. As safe as can be. There are hundreds of soldiers here to protect you."
She blinked. Then looked around and seemed to notice for the first time she was in the medical tent.
"Where are all your men? Off with the ladies getting lucky?"
Joel cringed inwardly, but showed no change outside.
"Yah, I'm sure they're around here somewhere, getting into all sorts of trouble."
"Yah. You Marines are all so hot and all the women love you. I'm surprised you still don't have a girl. What's keeping you? Waiting for a special someone?"
Joel snickered and shook his head.
"Naw, you know me, girls don't really like me. I always get into trouble."
"Liar, you had like five girlfriends during high school."
"So I used up all my luck. I'm pretty much done."
Julie laughed, but pain flared up from her broken ribs and she started coughing and holding her side.
"See, look what I've done now. Always causing trouble. I'm gonna leave you alone now kid. Just get some rest ok?"
Julie nodded and smiled.
"Goodbye."
Joel shook his head and looked reprovingly at Julie.
"Who says goodbye? I'll see you later."
Joel then walked out of the tent, winking at the nurse who had helped him earlier, eliciting a small smile from the young woman. He reached his new combined unit who were still eating and conversing lightly. As he sat down, Johnson handed him a plate with what looked like rice and beans, and some sort of meat stew on it.
"How are you men doing. I guess introductions are in order since we are working together now. I am Gunnery Sergeant Joel Roscord. And I'll let my men introduce themselves."
"I'm Lance Corporal Tim Johnson. Communications specialist."
"Private, First Class, John Crisp. Rifleman, CQB expert."
"And finally last but not least, I'm Private Charlie Dell, Grenadier."
The Delta operators all smiled and shook hands with the Marines. Then they moved to introduce themselves. The tallest one stood up, a massive man, well over six foot seven.
"Lance Corporal Peter Townsend. But y'all can just call me Petey if you like. We didn't much care for rank nip and tuck in our squad, but I don't know how you run it Gunny."
"That's just fine Petey, I don't much care either, so long as you call me Gunny, or well, Gunny. Sarge will fit too, and most anything else so long as you know I'm top kick."
The group chuckled and continued.
"That's affirmative Gunny. I'm Private Chris Simple. And I'm a CQB specialist as well."
"Yah, and we all call him Teddy Bear. Because he's about as dangerous as one Gunny. This kid wouldn't hurt a fly if it shot him in the leg."
The Marines and other Delta laughed and the operators threw pieces of food at Teddy.
"Shut up Jonesy. You're no fun telling them that, I thought I had a chance to start over new, with a new unit."
"Well you do Teddy, and we now have the chance to call you Teddy. I've never had a Teddy in my unit before, so this is a new experience for me."
The group laughed again and Teddy smiled as well. The last Delta operator stood up and bowed.
"I am Private Jim Jones. And most call me Jonesy. I'll be your courtesy comedian and resident Corpsman. If you've got a wound or an owwie, you come see me and I'll patch your sissy Marine selves up just fine."
More laughing ensued and all the Marines threw food at Jones, forcing him to sit down. Joel laughed and reveled at the spirit of these men, these soldiers and Marines. Together they shared a bond of fighting men that were serving their country, protecting the people they loved even if they were a thousand miles away. Just an hour ago, they had all nearly died, and lost most of their teammates and friends. Most men would have broken and given up, but not these men.
These few men were the best of the best, and they exemplified it in their indomitable spirit. Nothing would slow them down, nothing could stop them from carrying out their mission because to them, it meant failing their teammates and their honor. These few would never quit.
And Joel felt extreme pride at being able to fight with them, even if it meant dying with them. He looked at each of their laughing faces and remembered one of his men that had died that day, and remembered the sacrifice they had made. He realized then what he had thought all along, that he would die defending his country and its people, but now he might also die in his hometown, defending the people that he knew and loved.
This was a more direct gratification that Joel knew most fighting men did not get. Most died on foreign soil, and their family back home never knew or understood the sacrifice they made. But Joel's would. And his elation at this simple fact grew ten fold when he saw his own family emerge from a tent down the row.
"Alright boys, now we all know each other, so bed down and try to get some rest. I don't know when we'll get our next mission orders, and I don't know what they might be, but when they come, we'll be ready."
The group responded in chorus, "Yes sir."
Joel stripped off his combat vest and laid his M-4 down on it.
"Watch my gear Johnson."
"But Sarge, how can I watch it if I'm s'posed to be resting?"
Johnson snickered and closed his eyes, and the rest of the group laughed and followed suit.
"Lazy bastards..."
Joel picked up his vest and his rifle and put them back on before walking towards the tent his family was in. He pushed the flap aside and peered into the interior. Inside his sister was sitting on a cot, feeding her baby daughter.
"Hey Tess, how's my little niece?"
The three year old girl's eyes lit up as she saw her uncle and she immediately reached out for him to pick her up.
"JOEL! Oh my god, how did you get here?"
Joel picked up his niece and held her up to his face as he responded, "I was deployed here last week to secure survivors. We only got to the safe zone today. It took a while for them to evacuate all the civilians we had found."
The little girl giggled and pinched her uncle's nose. She tried to poke him in the eye and drooled on his vest.
Tess stood up and hugged her brother as he continued to play with his niece.
"How's my little Trish doing? How are you?"
Trish smiled and said, "I'm happy uncle... you want to play ball?"
"Yeah sure kiddo, in just a minute."
He set her down and she ran off into the corner of the tent to fetch her ball. Joel then looked around and asked Tess, "Where did Ma and Pa go?"
Tess shrugged as she replied, "I think they went to get some food. Or look for someone, I think they were going to ask if you were around, because they had heard that the Marines were here."
Joel stared at her for a moment and was about to say something when the PA system in the stadium blared to life.
"All combat personnel, report to the staging area! All combat personnel, report to the staging area! We have an emergency situation."
Joel looked at Tess and said, "Ok, keep in this tent. I'll be back later, make sure
that when Ma and Pa get back, they stay in this tent. Do not leave unless something absolutely drastic is happening."
Tess nodded as Joel clicked on his radio and headed out of the tent.
"Johnson, get the guys up. We need to get to the staging area pronto."
"We're already heading there Gunny, we'll meet you there."
"Good. See you in a minute."
Joel reached into his vest pocket and pulled out a fresh magazine for his rifle and slammed it home. He pulled the charging handle and clicked the safety off, assuming the worst. And unfortunately for himself and everyone else in the stadium, he was right.
Automatic weapons fire rattled the air from the southern portion of the stadium. Streaming out of the opponent locker room, came dozens of then undead. Rangers fired desperately into the swarm, trying to stem the tide of zombies rushing into the once safe haven.
Only a dozen of the airborne soldiers were around the breach when it occurred, and already, Joel could see a couple of them being pulled down by the ravenous creatures.
"My guys! Lets go! Those rangers need a hand."
The remainder of his squad joined him, and Joel rushed headlong to the aid of the beleaguered soldiers. But even as he approached a firing position, Joel could see that it was too little, too late.
"God help us..."