"Captain," Will greeted me. I smiled and nodded at him to enter the clay hut I called home. "Orders?" He asked as he stood beside me and studied the map I had pulled up on my tablet.
"Yeah." I pointed to a satellite picture of a very large building. I pinched and zoomed in on the building to show it was surrounded by a fenced in area and several other buildings ranging from small to large. "We've been ordered to check out this area and find out what it houses. They think it might be a huge weapons cache."
"I'll go get the men ready." Will nodded and made his way out of my temporary residence. I studied the map once more, embedding the location and route in my mind.
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My body bounced and jerked from side to side as the Humvee I sat in rocketed down the dirt road. We were two clicks from the supposed weapons cash and we had yet to meet any resistance. I was on edge, we should have been fighting off insurgents right and left, but the way was clear and easy.
Something was horribly, horribly wrong.
"Will." I called out over the radio.
"I know Captain." His voice was heavy. "Where the hell are they?"
"I don't know, but I want everyone to be on their guard. There's something going on here." I relayed. I received various confirmations from Will and the men in the other vehicles as we finally pulled up to our intended location. "Stay in the trucks until I give confirmation." I ordered. I tapped the gunner on the leg. "Eyes on the prize." I told him before I opened my door and stepped out into the arid desert air, a strange smell tickling my nose. I held my gun at the ready as I quickly scouted the area out. I saw no one. It was completely deserted. I noticed the buildings had multiple padlocks on each door and the windows had been covered with steel plates that were bolted in place.
"Clear. Let's move out, keep your guards up, boys." I relayed through the radio as I stood at the main gate. It was moments later when I was joined by Will and my other NCOs. "Get this fucking gate open." I ordered. The titanium plated locks proved to be somewhat of a hassle, but five minutes and one ounce of c-4 later we were maneuvering our way through the deserted compound. We still met no resistance, no one, not even a kid with a hand full of rocks… nothing.
"No one's home, Cap." Will reported. I nodded my head.
"Are all the building sealed?" I asked.
"Every one." He confirmed.
"Well," I turned to look him in the eye. "Let's see what all the fucking fuss is about. Blow one open."
"Yes ma'am." He grinned and relayed my order. I pointed to one of the smaller buildings and watched the men as they lay the c-4 on the lock. "We're ready." Will informed me.
"Get it done, Sergeant." I ordered and he nodded. I stepped beside the door as Will and I looked at each other. "I'll go in first, the rest of you follow, hoah?"
"Hoah." I turned my face from the door as Private Reeds blew the lock, then turned and signaled Will to open the door. He nodded.
"US ARMY!" He yelled as he kicked the door in. I swung my gun around the corner and enter the building.
"US AR-" The words died on my lips as I took in the sight that greeted me, "Holy fuck."
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I forced the bile from my throat as my men carried out my orders and blew open the rest of the locked buildings.
People, the buildings were all filled to the brim with civilians who had been starved, beaten and tortured. The buildings themselves were closed up in an almost airtight seal that had acted like ovens, cooking the people inside… alive. The smell of human waste, sweat and de-comp filled the air, making it unbearable to breath. The people that were still alive, and there were some that were still alive, were moved out as quickly as possible. All were unresponsive and barely breathing. I knew the majority of them would not last the night.
"Cap." Will called as he came up to me, remnants of this morning's breakfast still clung to the corners of his mouth and on the sleeve of his uniform where he had wiped after regurgitating his meal. "We're ready to blow open the big building."
"Alright." I gazed at the men as they pulled the few living Civs from the buildings. I shook myself out of my stupor and turned to my friend. "Alright, let's do it."
We made our way to the building and I stood beside the door, signaling for the Specialist to blow the lock. He did so and I kicked open the door and entered the building in a slight crouch. The rest of the men followed suite and the stench of death and decay hit my nose for the umpteenth time that day. The building itself was separated into several different rooms with a long hallway that ended with an airtight door. I motioned for the men to start clearing the rooms.
Each room housed a different source of incomprehensible torture. Blood, body fluids, bones and flesh littered the walls and floors of each room. Rotting corpses laid sprawled out in chairs and on metal beds, festering and putrid, their mouths open, their dying screams frozen in time for all eternity.
We cleared each room until all that was left was the airtight room. Bones and ash and flesh were all that remained in that room and a glass wall separated a control room from the chamber. I walked out of the room and into the control room, running my fingers over the labels that indicated what the knobs and buttons controlled.
Gas. Fire. Decompression. Acid. Then an entire set of biological weapons that would ensure the people that had been locked in the chamber would suffer a horrific and slow death. I closed my eyes and steadied myself against the console.
"Captain." One of my NCOs called as he entered the room. "Captain, we need you outside. We've removed the living and they need care." I breathed deep and opened my eyes.
"Yeah." I nodded and made hasty retreat out of the building and into the dry, hot air. There was no reprieve from the smell as it poured from the open buildings. I walked over to where they had grouped the survivors.
I knelt down by the first person, a young boy, his flesh had been chemically singed from his body in places. His rib bones flashed yellowish brown where his body was lacking skin and muscle. His pink lungs could be seen moving slowly and irregularly through spots in his ribs. A small raindrop fell onto his abdomen and I turned my head up to the sky, but there were no clouds, only sunshine. Confusion marred my face as Will knelt down in front of me.
"Are you okay, Jo?" He whispered.
"Fine." I muttered back. "Why?" He reached over and rubbed a finger across my cheek before holding it in front of my face. I screwed my eyebrows together as I brought my hand up to my cheek. It came back wet and I realized, it had not been a raindrop that had landed on the boy's stomach, it had been my tears. I swallowed hard and pulled out a small handheld device from my pocket, a biometric scanner that displayed a person's biometric data when placed on their chest. I listen to the boy's heart beat as it echoed from the device. His heart was slow and barely beating, his breath was shallow and uneven. He had to have been in unimaginable pain. I knew he wouldn't make it and I knew I couldn't do anything to help. I pulled out a syringe and a strong sedative from the med kit Will had brought me. I stuck the needle deep and drew back the plunger, then tapped the air bubbles out. I injected the medication into his small and fragile veins, twice the recommended dose for a healthy man. I watched the data on the device change, listened as his heart slowed even more, then stopped altogether. A steady and prolonged mechanical beep came from the biometric scanner as the boy flatlined. I swallowed hard, pushing the bile back down as I removed the scanner from his chest and moved on to the next patient.
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Night had fallen before our relief had arrived with a medical team. Many of the men, women and children we had pulled from the buildings had died sometime during the day, only a few more by my hand, the rest had just given up. I pulled myself from the side of a small girl who had been the only one to wake up during the day. She stared off into the sky, no words passed her lips, she just stared. I ran my fingers through her hair, but had to stop when I came away with a clump of the dark mass. I resigned myself to just rubbing my thumb over her small hand.
I gave my report to the Colonel who was in charge of the medical unit before making one final walk of the perimeter. Once I was far enough away from the lights and the hum of voices had become but a whisper on the air, I dropped to my knees and unleashed the tears that I had kept bottled up all day. I screamed into my hand over and over, the faces of each person, living and dead, that we had come across flitted through my mind, their mouths opened in silent screams that died in their throats before the world had the chance to hear them.
So I screamed for them.
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I woke up, a cold sweat making my sheet cling to my skin. I brought a shaking hand to my face and pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to control my labored breathing.
"You a'right?" I jumped and pressed myself into the corner of my bed, eyes wild and searching the dark. I heard the rustle of sheets and the padding of bare feet on the wooden floor but my eyes refused to adjust to the dark. My bed creaked and dipped down as the weight of another body pressed into the aged mattress. Gene's pale face finally came into view, illuminated by the moonlight streaming through the open window.
"Hey, 's okay, Jo. It's just me." He spoke soothingly, softly placing his calloused hand on my shoulder. His touch, his healing hands, broke me from the grips of my nightmare, bringing me to the present. I jumped from the bed and dashed out of the room.
"Jo." Gene called after me, but my single minded mission urged me onward until I reached the bathroom. I burst through the door and threw myself towards the porcelain bowl before emptying the contents of my stomach. I vaguely heard the door close quietly before I felt a warm hand pressed to the back of my neck in comfort. Once the pitiful amount of food I had consumed the previous day had been expelled I continued to purge every drop of bile from my stomach until I was completely empty. But I couldn't stop. I dry heaved until I was afraid I would crack a rib, the force of my body trying to purge everything was so great.
"Shhh, it's okay. Everything's okay." Gene whispered as he rubbed comforting circles around my back, calming my body's violent reaction until I was able to stop heaving and catch my breath. I stood shakily with his help and flushed the toilet before hobbling to the sink. I turned on the taps and splashed cold water onto my face, then grabbed some toothpaste from the cabinet and used my finger to brush the taste of bile from my mouth. I rinsed and spat the minty paste from my mouth before splashing my face with water once more.
I lifted my head from the sink and caught sight of my reflection. Staring back at me was a person I no longer recognized. Their face was gaunt with malnutrition, hair was short, limp and clung in clumps to ashen skin. Their eyes were sunken and surrounded by dark circles, all life they once held was long gone and only her dark orbits stared back at me, so haunted by the past that it seemed as if a hazy film had settled over them. I licked my dry, cracked lips and they did the same, the only indication that we were indeed the same person.
"Here," I turned away from the pitiful face in the mirror to see the kind face of Gene as he handed me a towel. I dabbed the water from my face and dropped the towel into the sink, refusing to meet eyes with my own reflection again.
"Come on." He gently ordered me as he led me through the hall and back into our shared bedroom. He gently pushed me until I dropped onto the bed, then took a seat next to me and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. I found myself leaning into his warm and comforting embrace, trying to hold my tears at bay as his other arm wrapped around me and pulled me into his chest. I buried my head into his shoulder and forced myself to breathe deeply as I fought against the demons of my past. Gene gently laid his cheek against my head as his hands softly rubbed up and down my arm.
"It's ok, cher." He whispered into my dark hair as he brought a hand up and ran his fingers through my short locks in a comforting gesture. "Tout va bien se passer."
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Tout va bien se passer - It's all going to be fine/ Everything will be alright
As always, special thanks to all my lovely, wonderful reviewers! New and veterans alike!
LittlestSweetheart – I'm glad you liked the medical facts. It is my life at the moment. Yes, he did call her by her first name, you'll just have to see what happens with them next. I'm glad you liked the last chapter. Sorry it took so long to get this one out.
Aleciaa – I'm glad I have you hooked. I'm glad you liked Jo's take charge attitude. It was great to write, even if it was a terrible subject matter. Thanks for the review, I'm sorry it took so long to get this chapter out.
Thatch – Thank you so much for your review, I'm glad you like it so much. I'm not sure how many more chapters, but I can say there are quite a few left.
NayNay – Thank you so much for the review. I'm glad you like my story so far. I try to make Jo as realistic as I possibly can, so I'm happy to hear that you like her. I agree about the relationship thing, I always found it troubling that the main character and her leading man fell in love within the first few paragraphs, especially in a time of war when there are better things to be concerned about, so I am so glad that you like the slow progression of this story. Life has humor and angst, so there has to be both in a good story, war is not all about death and destruction, it is also about the bonds that form between those who have suffered through it. I'm always happy to hear about new medical enthusiasts! I'm glad I could help spike your interest in it! Sorry it took so long to update, but I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thank you for leaving me such a great review!
Ashlynn – Sorry it took so long to write this chapter. I'm glad you liked her taking charge, I think it was about time. Medicine is my life, so I'm always happy to hear that my readers enjoy it. Yes, Cooper and Gene are very different in their approach to things, thought it would be fun to throw that in there. Thanks so much for the review!
"no name" – Thank you for the review. I'm glad you liked it!
K – Thank you so much for the review! I'm so glad you liked it!
Annushka – I'm glad you liked this story. It's always nice to hear from a new reviewer! Thank you so much for the review!
As for everyone else who has read the story and not reviewed, thank you for reading and please let me know what you think of this story! Good, bad, not so bad, just let me know what you like or don't and any suggestions for improvement you may have!
Please take the time to leave me a review, it is always greatly appreciated!
Amanda
Edited 8/7/17