Chapter 3 Christmas

I was discharged from the hospital a few days before Christmas with a brace on my arm and without my jaw wired shut thank gosh that is over with

So, when I got home I was greeted by an over exited trio of heelers Bluey Bingo and Muffin all three hugged me just then Chilli walked by and told us to head inside as it was getting dark tomorrow was Christmas eve and I knew that meant it was about to get crazy

That night me and Bluey play a Pawstaiton co-op platformer of some sort muffin started getting tired at around seven and started going a bit crazy we were sent to bed around seven thirty Chilli followed in behind me bluey and bingo I hate to admit it, but I fell asleep like five minutes after laying down after what felt like a second I was waking up to the sun shining through a blind in the room I rubbed my eyes and sat up

I thought to myself "I wounder how my family has been holding up" remembering the life I left behind I sniffle a bit get up and walk downstairs

I walk down and see rusty sitting in the living room I walk into the living room and sit down next to rusty "rusty what are you doing here?" he sniffled and said, "my mum and dad won't be home for Christmas" "why?" I ask "they were deployed" he said back

I knew that meant something because they do not normally deploy an entire family at once

Then Bluey Bingo and Muffin all walk in and I see Bingo holding the tablet she sets it down but it is still on I get up walk over and grab it and walk to the balcony and try to access a news network my jaw almost drops when I read that a full blown war was happening on the Asian peninsula SOEAT members were deploying troops from what I can gather China was the aggressor but they were being backed by Russia and north Korea has been dark for weeks

"Mykkol?" Chilli called out and I shut the tabs and turned on a game that was on there to cover my tracks

"There you are" she said as she walked out she motioned for me to follow so I got up and followed her to the living room and see two dogs in standard dress the entry way talking to rusty and know this isn't good I see the trio of heelers sitting on the couch concerned I sit down next to them and bandit walks in with a laptop and then I hear rusty break down in the other room I see the two soldiers walk followed by rusty who is in tears then one of the soldiers ask Chili something she nods the soldier kneels down in front of the couch and begins to speak "I am Sergeant Lanrich your buddy Rusty's family are in the Australian army as you all know. Rusty has asked me to tell you that his mother will not be returning from the field and his father is currently hurt" he gets up and walks over to Rusty who is bawling his eyes out at this point they give him a helmet with a singe mark on it salute him and walk out the door Rusty runs up stairs and slams a door bandit follows him up "Is Rusty okay?" Bluey asks, "I don't know" Chilli responds "Who were those people?" Bingo asks in a concerned tone "they were soldiers" slips out of my mouth Chilli looks at me dumbfounded "but don't soldiers wear helmets and camo?" Bluey and bingo ask in unison "a lot do but some wear other things they were in dress uniform which means… they were here to say something important" Chilli says she asked for bluey to follow her I know what she is going to tell bluey I grab the remote and turn on the tv to see CNN was on and a news team was standing somewhere I recognized but it was different I then noticed the top of a bridge sticking out of a river "We are reporting live as the first team allowed near Pittsburgh Pennsylvania United States where hundreds are reported missing and…" my ears begin to ring and I pass out I wake up in an MRAP of some sort with a loaded rifle I'm back in my old body a forest environment of some sort I get my bearings and begin to recognize the place I'm in I'm nearing a Chinese town fortified and lots of soldiers I then pass out and wake back up in a helicopter this time in the dark with night vision an m-16 modded heavily down to the internals I bet with a few people I recognize through their balaclavas by their voices one I knew personally Phantom a small patch read underneath a small Pac-man ghost and a Canadian flag above that then a person with a Charmander moral patch with a US flag above that he was talking through a head-set and a few others all from different nationalities

"WE ARE NEARING THE LZ" the pilot says over the radio I see a town through the night vision no lights on in the town the helicopter starts to descend just then the helicopter starts taking fire a door opens and me and 6 others hop off we rush to cover a small concrete road barrier; shots start to pepper the buildings around us a grenade lands at our feet I grab it and throw it back I explodes in the air showering all of us with dust and some shrapnel I stand up from behind the cover and line up a shot on a soldier and take a shot hitting them in the neck I drop back into cover and the shots cease and we quickly move to alternate cover in hope to conceal our selves better a few shots ring out as we move I run into an enemy soldier and shoot them at least 6 times in the chest then about 40 soldiers land in an osprey "IR's ON!" I press a button on the side of my helmet and then bullets start to fly through the building I am in and I pass out again

I wake up in bed with bingo in their bed and rusty in my bed while bluey is in a sleeping bag on the floor, I am clutching a plushy red panda my head hurts I go downstairs and see mum dad Uncle Stripe and Aunt Trixie all sitting down enjoying some red wine the fancy kind I walk over

"mum?" I ask "yes Mykkol?" she responds slightly panicked "my head hurts" I say, "how much she asks scale of one to ten?" "umm?" I try to say an eight, but it won't come out I do something I didn't think I would do I stretch my arms out a slight bit and say "this much" I have to thank bingo for that one and I guess that a second life has its down sides "okay" she says and walks upstairs "hey bud what's up" stripe asks me in a slightly drunken tone trying not to sound drunk "you know your drunk right?" I say under my breath and they do not notice mum walks down the stairs with a pill in her paw and a glass of water "this should help" she says "okay" I say back I take it and head back to bed

I wake up in a military bunkroom a bright sphere appears "you have two friends who are going to be around soon you all knew each other very well and they know you're here and that dream you had earlier was a memory"

I wake up in the morning and see Bluey and Bingo Scheming something probably how they are going to wake everyone up I close my eyes wanting nothing to do with this I then heard them leave the room giggling

I get up and check the brace on my arm I tighten it and notice rusty is missing I sneak out of the room and start looking for him I find him on the back porch holding the helmet that was given to him with the tablet next to him

The thermometer on the porch said it was 4 degrees Celsius

"Cold aussie morning I guess" I go and grab a coat from the coat rack and take it out to rusty

"mornin mate I brought you a coat" I say sitting down next to rusty "let me know if you need anything at all ok." I say getting up and walking over to the living room as I get there, I hear a knock on the door and see Chilli walking down the steps "morning mum some ones at the door" I say to her she walks over, and opens it I see Rusty's father standing at the door with a slight lean and a smaller dog similar in coloration to the Kelpie "Mind if I sit down?" Rusty's father asks "no not at all feel free I will go get Rusty" Chilli responds and leaves to look for Rusty he walks over with a limp and then I noticed the unnatural walking pattern and knew he hurt his leg at least he sits down on the sofa with me and so does the smaller dog he pulls up his pant leg and I see it a prosthetic just below the knee "when do I get to meet Rusty? The pup asks in a familiar voice "Phantom?" say out loud "Mykkol?" he responds then rustys father asks, "you two know each other?" "sort of" I respond and see phantom running into the dining room I get up and follow him I see him sitting in a corner lightly sobbing "I thought you were dead I thought I was dead what is this place!?" he asks breaking down mentally "I don't know I guess the afterlife maybe a second chance" I sit next to him and start to cry as well I then shut my eyes and reflect and realize I was 20 when I died not 15

I then realized how many people I killed in my life while I was fighting a war that was not even worth it

"I know why we are here to try and live a life better than before and help those who need it phantom and right now I know two people who need it and at this point we don't know how much of this place is like ours lets try to have a childhood okay" "kids time to open up presents!" I hear bandit yell "come on let's go" I got a few books a couple of toys nothing notable when we were done Chilli came into the living room

"uncle rad just called and apparently he is going on vacation in the United States and he invited us to come and I talked to Rusty's father he said he needs some time so Rusty and his cousin can come with us it will "we are leaving in two days"