Hey guys, I know a lot of people are really angry for me due to the end of the last chapter, so I'm sorry about killing off O'Riley, sorry bout dat. Anyways, God bless, love ya'll, and I'm in this, let's get it.
Chapter 3: Letters to the front
Jax
Jax fired another few rounds off while Liam dragged O'Riley's body to the side and propped him up on the trench, closing his eyes. Jax was pushing the things O'Riley had taught him into overdrive, stay in the moment, they could grieve him later, they had to stay alive right now.
"Airstrike!" Somebody yelled "Duck and cover!"
They all ducked down just as Jax heard planes fly overhead, and the entire area in front of their trench was suddenly engulfed in a large, fiery explosion. The massive wave of heat signed his hair and burned small patches in his uniform, and they soon died down. When he peaked back over, it was carnage. The bodies of men that had been killed had been blown to bits and incinerated, the Scarlet Hand in the trenches in front of them was entirely gone except for the squads bringing up the rear who were massing for another assault.
"Quick, while we have a few seconds!" Another guy yelled "Get a medic down here, now!"
Jax looked back and seen the kid who had been holding his guts in with his hands, his blood soaking his uniform. There wasn't a very high chance he would live, and he would have stomach problems for the rest of his life if he did. Jax had seen a lot of things in the time he'd been a Guardian, nasty things, things he would rather forget about, but they always seemed to stick with him, no matter how hard he tried.
"Alright, c'mon now," Liam said, his southern accent very clear "You're gonna be alright, just listen to my voice, don't focus on the pain. We'll get ya stitched up real good, then you'll be in fighting shape."
Jax still remembered the first time he met Liam, he had been the replacement for Jax's best friend. He never thought he would consider Liam a brother, as he once had consider Frank his brother, but fighting alongside somebody made it impossible not to form bonds with them. Liam always talked about his Louisiana home, where his parents had settled after coming from the old country, having him a short time after. He eventually joined the ranks of palace guard and guarded the castle during the story of Cinderella, which was how he became a Forgotten.
"I don't want to fight," The kid moaned "I don't want to fight anymore, I want to go home."
This struck Jax hard, because he knew exactly how he felt. He missed his family, his mother, his sister, his wife, his two children. He hadn't seen them in so long, nearly seventeen years, when he had been given a temporary leave. They aged slower than normal children, so Jax guessed they would be about a year old to a mortal, it still didn't change how much he wished he could see them. He, like most of the Guardians, no longer felt like they were fighting for a good cause. He felt like they were fighting and dying for nothing, seeing as the family they had fought to protect wasn't even aware of their existence until the war had come to Ferryport Landing. They had been founded by Grimms, then led by Grimms, then forgotten about by Grimms. Sure Sabrina and her family were nice people, and it wasn't their fault, but there was only so much a man could take.
"Heads up!" Harris yelled, pointing "Medevac!"
"Hurry!" Conners yelled "Get the wounded on it before the Scarlet Hand advance again!"
They rushed to do as they were told, piling as many wounded as possible into the helicopter, but there wouldn't be enough room. They put the most severely injured in, the rest would have to grit their teeth and hold out for a little bit. Liam was standing with the kid Jax had seen in the trench, he had found out his name was Simon, trying to keep him calm.
"Listen to me," Liam said, wrapping his and Simon's hands around the cross on his neck "I'm gonna pray with you, okay? I'm gonna pray with you."
Jax turned away, looking towards Conners, who was propped up next to O'Riley's body. If they wanted to grieve, now was the time, while they had a moment of peace. Jax made his way over and sat down, offering Conners a cigarette, which he took and lit without hesitation.
"I can't believe it," Conners muttered "It all happened so fast, I couldn't stop it."
"None of us could've," Jax said, lighting his own cigarette "I always thought this tough old bastard would be the last of us to go."
"He always talked about going back home," Conners said, a slight smile on his lips "You remember him telling us about his wife?"
"Yeah, what did he say?" Jax laughed "Something about a red, satin dress?"
"The blondest hair and the greenest eyes you ever saw," Black finished, coming up from behind "Old guy sure was fond of her."
"I hate the thought of her getting that KIA letter in the mail," Conners said "It just ain't right, to have all that to go home to, to have her waiting on him, and then this."
"At least they'll give her his body," Jax said "That's some consolation."
"Same can't be said for anybody who got killed out there," Black said, looking out over the trench "There ain't nothing left of those guys."
"That kid ain't gonna make it," Liam said from above them "It's bad, he's holding in his own guts, he's bleeding fast."
"Come on down here," Black told him "Pay your last respects to the Lieutenant."
"Copy that." He said
Liam hopped down on the other side of Black, turning to face O'Riley. Mathews, Miller, Rogue, Harris, and Dusty came from behind them, finally seeing O'Riley with their own eyes. The shock settled in over the squad, and Jax realized that the only one missing was Puck, but he would find out sooner or later.
"I ain't very good at speaking," Dusty said "Somebody want to say a few words."
"The old Lieutenant was a tough S-O-B," Liam began "With a kind heart at the same time, he could slit a man's throat and pet a dog in the same hour."
At this, Jax rolled his eyes. Liam may have been alright at talking and breaking the ice, but when it came to formal speeches, he was no good to anybody. Although, what he had said was very true, and he'd actually seen the Lieutenant do it.
"He didn't make it through, just like so many before him," Liam began again "But he always fought his hardest, so that the guys next to him could go home safely, and that's gotta count for something. I hope they got good beer in Heaven, LT."
"Beautiful," Miller said "Brilliantly crafted."
"I think the Lieutenant would've slapped him," Conners laughed "And told him to get back to his duty."
"In honor of the old guy, I think that's what we all need to do," Mathews said, reaching over and smacking the back of Liam's helmet "Fight to win the war for the cause he believed in, or die trying."
"Conners, I guess this makes you squad leader," Rogue said "Do we call you Master Sergeant now?"
"Call me whatever you want," Conners said, standing "I've always wanted to be a squad leader, just not like this."
"I don't think anybody ever wants it to go down like this," Rogue said, reaching over to close the Lieutenant's eyes "But I think out of all of us, O'Riley probably would've chose you."
"Well, I'll need a second in command," Conners laughed "Jax, Black?"
"Yeah?" They asked together
"How does Sergeant sound to you guys?" He asked
Red
"You got another letter from Jake." Daphne teased, handing Red an envelope
Red blushed and quickly snatched the envelope, hiding it away from Daphne. She and Jake had become good friends in the time he was in her care, and they wrote eachother from time to time while Jake was on the battlefield. She remembered the day he had been carried in, badly burned and probably thinking he would die. Red walked into the infirmary, which was still filled with wounded soldiers but most of them were sleeping. She opened the letter carefully, as if it might crumble to dust if she moved too quickly.
Red
It's been absolute hell out here, constant fighting, like always. The others tease me a lot for writing you, they probably think something's going on between us. Anyways, we're heading out to check what that whole thing about missing patrols was, maybe we can find some answers, hopefully anyways. I haven't seen much action since I've been back, that'll probably change soon, peace and quiet usually doesn't last long out here. The new tank crew is alright, Bible and I still feel a bit out of place but they're good guys. Nico, Elias, Cole, that's their names. They lost two guys, Captain Morgan and a guy named Bronze, to that Jabberwocky. Nico and Elias seemed to have warmed up to us alright, but Cole may take a little bit. I understand the pain of losing your brothers and having to adjust to their replacements, it's hard and sometimes you just want to hate them so bad. I don't think I ever did get the proper chance to thank you for what you did by the way, saving my life. Those salves worked amazingly, and I was back up in no time, all thanks to your doctoring I guess. Anyways, I hope you'll write me back, it gets lonely out here with nobody but these guys to talk to.
-Jake
Red let a slight smile come to her face, reading Jake's words and seeing his handwriting. Red found herself wondering if the other Grimm's thought something was going on between her and Jake. Although she was older than Jake in human years, he looked older than her, even if only by two or three years.
"Everything okay in here?" She heard Granny Relda's voice from the doorway
"Yes," Red said, stuffing the letter away "Most of the soldiers are sleeping, the ones that aren't aren't in much pain."
"Jake wrote again?" Relda asked, a smile creeping to her lips
"Yes," Red admitted "I was actually about to write him back, he's a good friend."
"I warn you, falling in love with a soldier is no easy task," Relda said grimly "Never knowing if they'll come home to you, the way they've changed once they finally do come back."
"I'm not in love with him!" Red exclaimed, her face reddening
She did understand what the old woman was saying though, because she had seen it in Puck. Puck had been so playful, always playing jokes on the rest of the family, always keeping everybody's morale up. Now, he wasn't the same person, he had seen things, horrible things. Puck had been through quite a bit, even before the war, now it was much worse.
"Of course you're not," Relda smiled "Of course you're not."
She turned away and left the room, leaving Red alone with her thoughts, never a good thing. She had never quite gotten rid of those animalistic instincts from her time as an insane asylum patient, the wolf made it worse, and now the war was putting more than it's fair share of stress on her. Red grabbed a pen and paper and began writing, thinking about everything she said before she put it down. She knew the process it would take, Guardians wrote their families all the time. She would have to take it to the pilot when he went for a supply drop, where he would be loading up ammunition, medical supplies, and letters, they would then fly it to the Guardian's base in town, passing it out the the soldiers that they belonged to, and if they were dead, the letter was sent back to where it came from, with the letters KIA stamped on it in red ink.
Jake
It's good to hear from you again, I can imagine how boring it gets out there. I'm sure it never stays that way for long, why would it? I heard the Scarlet Hand is massing outside of town again, I hope you'll be alright. I can't wait until the day this war finally ends, it's taken a toll on us all. I can't imagine how difficult the change will be for the Guardians, who have been fighting for so long that they almost know nothing else. I do wonder what will happen to the remaining Scarlet Hand units, will they perhaps simply be destroyed, or maybe reprogrammed to serve us? I hope you'll stay safe, I know it's impossible but at least try to not put yourself in any intentional danger, and tell Bible to remember to keep working out his arm muscles, I wish they hadn't cleared him, I didn't like how his shoulder blades felt when we did the final check, and I'd hate to have him be killed because of it.
-Red