Chapter 25: Come and see
.
.
.
"Hey, I see someone…"
Chandler whispered like a skeptic before popping his head out the window. Chan, we're in a Humvee. I didn't wanna see a head flying today. At least the others only peeked at where he pointed.
I cocked my head to the window. No fear of getting sand gusted in the face, though. Weren't flying high enough.
The heat hadn't gotten me sweating buckets just yet. And my vision wasn't too hazy. That said, some bushes were blocking my view.
However, If I squinted just a bit more, I could still very much see two snails' pace persons.
Chandler took out a pair of binoculars.
"So, what do you see?"
Logan muttered a little inquiry with eyes still glued to the road. Chandler did an:
"I don't know…"
He did some weird pursing with his lips.
"…just…?"
"And?"
"No luggage-no, wait, shit, is that a rifle?"
"How far?"
Since Zack was sitting on the opposite side, he couldn't see. Still, his tone was bordering on sounding like a candy-intoxicated kid.
"Uh, pretty ahead…I'd say…eight hundred, give or take."
"Hey, hey, hey. Do you know what I'm thinking? Yeah?"
We knew what Zack was talking about.
"We're gonna do it, right?"
We knew.
"Tell me we're gonna do it."
His 'Hey, Hey's weren't stopping. It was just a bit more before he went full-on giddy-kiddy. The kind you see at your local toy stores. But it wasn't like he was the only one. Sean was just one 'hey' behind. Chandler, the damn smirk, sat back, not saying a word. And, for as much of a nice guy Marcus was, you had to accept that nice guys were like nice girls. You just couldn't read them at times.
Eventually, Logan directed some 'What do I do?' eyes at me. I gave a slight nod, and he did the exact opposite of flooring it. He slowly and calmly stepped on the brakes. And with that, the Humvee went turtle-fast.
[Hey, what's with the hold-up?]
I think it was John through the comms. You could recognize his horn honking from a mile away.
"We've spotted two on the move…"
[And, oh…yeah…? You guys gonna take care of it?]
"Gotta ask COC first."
The radio transmitted a small sigh. Sorry, John.
[Make it quick. Recons' gonna get their shit done before us, you fucks. And I ain't lettin' Brian wait.]
"Yeah, yeah. We'll savor the moment."
[Zack, you sonuvabi-]
After ending the call, Zack started for the other, and in a jiff, what came out from the radio was a calm:
[What is it?]
Ace, Radio operator Ace, called us u from the truck behind.
"Ace, you heard, right? Do us a favor and call them. Two targets, moving slow, one has a rifle-looking thing, ask 'em what do to."
[Yeah.]
Ace then got off the call. And everyone was pretty hushed within the minute. But just then, the beeps noised.
[Uh, so, what does Sergeant over there think?]
"Well, uh…"
Their eyes all went on me. Me, who sat still, leaning back with eyes placid. In the end, I did a simple nod. He knew what I was getting at.
"…'Decision's entirely on you, sir', tell them that."
And sure as hell, he took the words out of my mouth. It was a minute after that Ace got back.
[Alright, here's what they said…]
[…'Confirm if they're hostile, and if one of them is armed, then, sure, do your thing']
"Copy. Bye~"
Zack hung up and straightened himself. We all stared at him and the radio.
"A-ok?"
Marcus asked. I felt the floor throb. Sean's hotfoots. With all that said and done, Zack did two a-oks and grinned.
"A-ok."
He muttered in a nasal-like tone. And now, time's up. Sean's fingers were itching to hold a gun. And Zack singsonged:
"A-OK!"
I could already imagine Sean sprinting out any moment now. He was already taking up his gun and was about to get up, though, I nudged him back into sitting with an open palm as I opened my door.
"Nuh-uh."
"Wha-"
"Him."
I tilted my head, directing my look to Zack. He seemed to get the point. Just wasn't his expertise.
"At least let me spot for him."
His whines went in my ear.
"Nope."
And went out the other.
With that, Zack canon pumped his arms as Sean slouched. Zack thrust his middle finger in front of him.
"Ha-ha!"
The whack shack just had to be under maintenance or whatever. Sorry, boys, I know you just wanted to blow off steam, but this is work.
And with that, Mr. Gung-ho drew his rifle out. When we got out, I'd say: besides these stone weights called equipment making me want to slouch, and the sweat pouring out of me, I was feeling A-ok right now.
Within twenty meters worth of steps, there was a bush right to our left, and that's where we lay and hid behind.
Now then, there wasn't much getting in our view per se, just some small ground mounds here and there, except the fucking slope those two were starting to get to. We had to finish fast.
I took my scope out.
"Breathe."
"I know. Shut up."
For sure, his antsiness was probably because he wanted to do it by himself. Nonetheless, he needed to get this right, we needed to get this right.
By the looks of it, it seemed we had quite the mystery persons. As those two were wearing a lot, with their skin buried in ragged clothes. I couldn't even see their faces.
They were already moving further away. But, thank god those two were absolute dessert sloths.
And, it wasn't a windy day. Thanks, weather.
"Left point one. They're eight fifty away. Don't worry, it ain't gonna move that much."
He began readjusting his rifle. Honestly, he could do everything himself. Today was practically a sniper's best day. And he was starting to get into it. His fingers were firming up while caressing the trigger. Good.
"So, that a rifle…?"
"Looks like it."
I answered a murmur with a murmur. But I digressed. I wanted to get this finished. The sun was baking both of us, after all. Nevertheless, a job was a job.
"Alright. Locked on."
His grin was that of a little shit. I placed my hand on his shoulder as I uttered:
"Hold."
For some reason, one of them halted and crouched, probably from their legs giving up or something. And the other also stopped.
The perfect sitting ducks.
"Go."
Bang! On the ground, one dropped like a ragged doll. Nice throat shot. And then, the other one got on their knees. I wished to see the absolute hysteria running through their veins right now. They started shaking the other up or something. And just then, he looked in our direction. It didn't matter.
"Go."
Bang! They dropped from the stomach hit. But they were still moving, hugging their stomach while rolling around on the ground, their legs kicking and their head, bopping and jerking.
"Again."
Bang!
This time, he got him good in the chest, right around the heart. Well, that was it. We waited for a few extra seconds. And...they didn't stand up. Didn't even squirm around.
"Let's go."
We stood up, looked around, and pronto, jogged our way into the field. I glanced at everything from a 180. Nothing but a plain, dry field. You got pebbles here, pebbles there, bushes yonder and in front of you. With those two lying side by side like some opera tragedy.
The blood had already started leaking out. And we were about fifteen meters away from them. I hadn't noticed any twitches, nothing. But I still couldn't play Russian roulette. So, I pulled my Glock out and went for their legs.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
Nothing.
Well, that's it. I just started getting closer and so did he. I was already standing in front of them, yet I saw no rifle. Probably buried under one of them. And so, I went to big guy's side, stepped on him, and rolled him around. As soon as I did:
"Aww...fuck."
I agreed with his mutter. Shit. It was a fucking stick. It just looked like a rifle, carved like one. Just a fake.
Zack rolled the other one around. Both of their faces were covered, so we crouched and peeled them off. The bigger one was a guy, but the slimmer one, a gal. On her neck was the giant nasty hole. And the guy's torso was bleeding buckets.
I looked at Zack, and he did the same. We both shared deadpan stares. I clicked my tongue. Goddamnit. Waste of lead. Saliva was filling up my tongue, so I spat it out. And…accidentally, it dropped on the guy's face. Well, whatever.
This was entirely on me. I could've turned a blind eye. Play pretend. But no. Quick and easy, right? I wasn't feeling proud per se. Hell no. Rather, it was a done deal. Just another of my work.
We walked back with slow, casual steps. As if nothing happened.
"So, how'd it go?"
"Non-hostile…must be from that village in the west."
Everyone went still, but no one tensed. Though, that did end quickly as they glanced at one another. After that, all of them spat on the ground.
And that was the end of that. We hopped back in and went on our way. The silence, for me, barely prickled my skin, but that was just me.
"Ask me for the world! It doesn't seem muchhhhh~~"
All of a sudden, Zack started nightingale-ing. Not gonna lie, it was good.
"Ask meee~ for the moon! Dearrrr!"
And Chandler joined him. Though, his voice felt a little flat.
""And I'll~~ reach out and touchhhh~~~""
Heck, the two synced up and got it working. Chan's deepish tones worked well with Zack's bravado vocals.
"""Bum~Bum~Bum~"""
And wouldn't you know, the others started harmonizing and acting as the backup crew.
"""Ooooooohh~Oooooooh~~"""
They probably didn't know the lyrics. But, at the very least, they were competent in the acapella gig.
""Anything! For yoouuuu~~""
"""Dooby~Dooby~Dooooo~"""
"~ Fooor you~deeaar~onlyyy~~""
""Buuut! Puhleeeaasseee don' askk meee to be lonelyyyyy…""
.
.
.
.
.
"The hell took you guys so long?"
Judging by Brian's furrowed brows and hand's-on-waist act, I'd say, yeah, I get John.
"Road kill."
Sean muttered as he kept on doing his thing. Putting checks on the clip boarded papers, while Chandler did the box organizing.
"Alright. Whatever."
He raised his hands to Chandler, with open-palm clutches and all.
"Yeah, yeah."
And to that, I heard a sigh from Chan as he hoisted up a box, giving it to him with grimacing eyes.
"Bone apple tea motherfucker."
What the fuck was a bone apple tea? I didn't know, I was just sitting back and cleaning my gear from beside the truck as those two were doing their thing.
"Where're the other guys?"
Chandler cooked up that simple Q&A while looking around. Well, good question. I wanted answers.
I glanced at him, just to see that Brian, the fucker, already opened up his MRE and started gobbling it down, but he still answered.
"Err, scoutin'. There's a town right up north."
He pointed to where the RVs were supposed to be. And seeing how some of them were gone, I'd say case closed.
"Sweet!"
Sean chirped. He looked around with wary eyes.
"I'm just…gonna, uh…do this."
He slowly, and gently swiped some from the box. His pockets, bag, anything an MRE could fit in, he jammed into. Well, early birds, more specifically, he, would take your worms.
"Neat! Me too!"
And it seemed Chandler got infected with the 'Me too's.
"Hey, Lo!"
Was that Roger? Yeah, that was Roger. His pissed-off hollering continued right until:
"What! What is it?!"
Logan popped out with a yawn. Hell, he'd have driven since morning, so I couldn't blame him for having cruds in his beady eyes.
"Jeffrey. Dumbass. Landmine."
Just three words… three words and already, we got the memo. The other boys near us began sprinting to our spot just because they heard 'Jeffrey' and 'Landmine'. And right in the nick of time, two of our other guys were walking up to us while carrying something. And that's where Roger pointed to with his thumb.
Oh, yeah. I remembered. Over at the village's outskirts, we were told not to go there. He went there. He fucking went there. Goddamn, that place was said to be rigged to the teeth. Well, even as he lay on the stretcher, probably feeling like shit, we knew he wasn't really gonna die, he could probably still walk. After all, it was just bits and pieces of gouges here and there.
I couldn't even say he was an unlucky bastard, the guy needed to roughen up, considering:
"Huguuhhh! I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die! Tell my sister I love her! Tell my dog not to chew my couch!"
Look at him, bitching as if his funeral was tomorrow. Of course, the rest of the guys shared the same sentiment.
"Classic Jeffrey. Pfftt"
Chandler, the insinuator.
"Jeffrey fucked another thing up again, huh. Ehe."
Sean, the comedian.
"Suck my dick Jeffrey."
Zack, the vulgar quipster.
"C'mon Jeff, why…"
Marcus, the guy who felt bad.
"Fuck! I can't feel my leg!"
"Shut up, Jeffrey."
And of course, Roger, the guy who's had enough of his shit.
Logan left with a disappointed groan as if saying 'Don't do this to me.' Like a joke that got old quickly. He did laugh, but ultimately, since Jeff caused another 'Duty calls', it left him a bad taste.
Now, since Jeffrey was an FNG, I knew he was gonna get shit on. But, since he was also a fucking dumbass, he naturally became the camp clown. Even after he graduated from FNG to one of the guys, he was still Jeffrey. Whenever he fucked up, everybody's funny bone started aching. Case in point, just now. But since he was probably just trying to patrol the place or something, we couldn't actually get pissed at him. Unfortunately, Jeffrey just had another case of the 'Jeffrey's.
And for his honorable stupidity, they took him to the medical tent, and that was that.
.
.
.
I lay on our makeshift hammock inside our makeshift hut. It wasn't a full tent, but rather, just something to hang around at. Me and the boys were just laying around. Since it blocked out the sun, we weren't getting any uncalled-for tans, and since only two sides were walled, that meant the wind could get in and treat us to some breeze.
Sean and Zack were playing some cards, and Chandler was chowing on some MREs. Marcus was out to give Logan a visit. And here I was, with my hands under my head.
I generally kept my eyes closed, but when I opened them for just a split second, I noticed something. Some guy was right outside our fences.
I took the binoculars from the table. And I saw a man wearing a 'Perahan tunban'…or something, whatever, I didn't really know if I was right, let's just say it was the kind they all wore. Their standard. He was standing there, both hands waving.
It seemed I wasn't the only one to notice.
"Yo, Ace!"
"Right."
Duty (Roger) called, and so, Ace our RO and translator boy dashed to him and made talk.
From what I heard, I could somewhat tell his accent wasn't clean, or at least that's how he described it, but in these situations, it was more than enough. And even if he was a spineless everyman, he was a good boy.
"Hellooo Mistar Ameriican."
Sean right beside me, snickered as he tried to match the lip work of that villager, failing.
"I em here por trede offerr, we bill gibe youu ourr bery hansome wemen, and inn exchenge, you bill gibe uss sume ob youur mostt beayutipul men, so dat we may peg dem."
He had that annoying accent, on purpose, mimicking them. And failing, on purpose. It didn't really matter. It was only for shits and giggles.
"Oh, is that so? Well, good news for you sluts, we have a Jeffrey."
Zack starred himself as Ace and pointed to the tent 'retard' Jeffrey was in. He was gonna say it.
"He may be a total retard, but his ass is very fuckable. I can guarantee that, wink, wink."
I knew he was gonna say it. Zack pumped both his fists up whilst thrusting his hips forward. The vulgar quipster strikes again.
And just a few seconds after, our boy Ace came back running right as our officer, Captain Simons, appeared from the back.
"What'sa matter with him?"
"Sir, he says their well's currently unusable…and there's not gonna be enough water to go around and uh-"
Ace was cut off with an open palm, as the Captain had his hand on his chin. The classic 'in thought' thing. And right after that, he looked straight at the gate and said:
"Ok, let's go."
The Captain patted him on the shoulder while heading straight to the gate.
"You think CPT's gonna green light that shit?"
The gate opened.
"Dunno…maybe."
They then started getting into it. Two minutes after, that village guy started bowing and bowing. Real suck-up. And it only meant one thing:
"Ah, yes, Mistar Ameriiican, we arre bery gretful dat you ar villing to magnaniimously sharre yur vaterr vith ass, vidout uss werkingg por it yyhatsoebar."
His accent got thicker and the theatricality of it all intensified.
"Howeber, sinse wey arr greeedy pfucks, we bill steeal all your sheet bidout you fools knowwing it, and peg youu fuckers in da nightt."
Captain took out his walkie-talkie while looking at the guys near the trucks. Oh, looks like Zack and Sean didn't want to lip-read him, figured. Right after the walkie-talkie talk, two of them, Charlie and Joey the errand boys, came with boxes. Then, they started handing them out to them. Following that, three guys came up from behind that villager. One of them had a goat on a leash. And so, once they received those boxes, they picked the goat up and offered it.
And…Joey took the goat, raised it in the air like some WWE belt, and came running to us with goat in arms, shouting:
"Boys! We havin' some nice dinner!"
"Hell yeah! Fuck yeah!"
Everyone cheered when the fucking goat got here, Jesus Christ, you'd think they were cavemen. Some of them were salivating like one.
"But wait!"
Chandler announced aloud like some sort of warning. Whatever it was gonna be, everyone shut up.
"WHERE'S THE LAMB SAUCE!"
It was silent for a few seconds, but right after, everyone broke out into a chuckle. It may've been some joke I didn't know about. But to be fair, none of them probably didn't either. I swear, it felt like alien language. But they laughed because it sounded funny and his voice was funny, end of story.
And so, with goat in center, they pranced and stomped like cavemen around the fire. The damn animal just stood there as they ran around with no rhythm, no grace in their kicks, and just random arm flails. Nonetheless, it was because of that, that it looked like they were having a blast.
"Hey! Cmon dude, get over here!"
Logan called for me. Jesus, that's what happened when he did a lot of work. It was busting his balls so, of course, he needed to let all that steam out, just like now. But no.
With an open palm, I gently cocked my head from side to side.
"What? One shitty prom killed your groove?"
Zack…yeah, I knew he'd say something like that.
"Yup…"
I didn't really care much about the answer. Rather, I just said it to get them off me. But, I wondered if it was true.
Well, there wasn't much point in thinking about it.
And so, what started out as a classic bond fire with a goat, ended before night came. We couldn't keep a fire at night. We'd be dumbasses if we did. We'd be dead if we did.
.
.
.
Fuck, I was stuffed. Haven't had a good meal like that in months. Fuck, we were stuffed. That'd equate to practically being fat, sitting ducks. Shit, Jeffrey was gonna be the meat shield. Nah.
Oh, wait, there were other guys out there. Worst-case scenario, we could just holler for them. I didn't wanna think much about it anymore. Here I was, near the extinguished fire, some leftover heat was still warming me up in the still of this frigid fucking night.
But since it was relaxation time, I get to feel like the husband coming back from work, finishing dinner, sinking into the couch, and gluing my eyes to the TV. Not like I was. Just felt like it.
"Anyone ever heard of this saying…?"
Even in our downtime, really. The boys didn't look at him, but of course, they were all ears.
"Situation normal, all fucked up."
Then, all of us glanced at him. He was holding a marble-sized pebble and fiddled with it like a coin. For some reason, what he said was ringing in my head. And I was sure everyone was the same.
"Drilled into my head. Courtesy of a certain old fart…"
After rubbing it, he pitched it far and the hurling pebble disappeared. The only thing that followed was a small clatter.
"I…kinda like it."
He muttered right after. And we all looked at each other. What were we supposed to say?
"SNAFU…?"
We got the answer, in the form of a mellow blurt from Chandler. We all stared at him, and then at each other.
"SNAFU."
Sean followed. I didn't know why, but…SNAFU…sounded nice.
"""""SNAFU."""""
Even I joined in on the unison act. What could I say? It sounded nice. And most of all, the word really lingered on my tongue.
"SNAFU, yup…"
Zack bopped his head up and down, putting some gusto as he continued. And at the end of it, was a zesty opinion.
"…if that thing was a slogan to represent a country, which one would fit the bill?"
"You know what?"
Logan snapped his fingers and then pointed to him.
"Hmm, there's some on the top of my head."
He had that kind of face that was like 'Ah, I get you' with the half-pondering, half-concrete tone. It lead to me muttering:
"Your apartments aren't countries."
At first, his eyes went wide with a wince, but then they had a snark in their form, all while his once gaping mouth now shutting and curving up.
"Ahhhh~ there he is."
There was a cackle at the start. His eyes sharpened up in an amusing kind. Logan then made a full smile.
"We see him from time to time, don't we?"
"Right you are."
I nodded. I sharpened my look, I knew what they were on about.
"Sir...Machiavelli-elton, may we please inquire about your source of such pseudo critical capabilities?"
Fuck Zack, fuck his bull-shitty British accent. Machiavelli's Italian. But he was still looking at me, and the way his lips curved down made me want to cringe. Regardless of his ugly expression, everyone was giving me the stares.
"Habit, maybe."
I shrugged my shoulders after that whisper class mutter.
"I'm not good at it, just used to it."
I never was, after all. Habit.
"I'd say, when you know a thing or two about someone, of course..."
Whatever, it could've made some sense, all the while being another of my 'why's. And I still stood by it, frightened, yet still-
"Ohhhhhhh~"
Chandler's lips were hidden with a hand like some lady's. And his eyes were looking for some mischief.
"What."
I gave the monotone question.
"I smell story-timeee~"
"No."
I gave him the quick cut.
"Please? Pwetty pwease?"
What the…fuck.
"Cut that out, it's disgusting."
My eyes told the entire story. And he slouched a bit because of it. Finalizing himself with an:
"Ughh!"
"C'mon, give us something to talk about."
Marcus, while being an endearing guy, still knew how to hustle. And it showed in his voice.
"Yeah! I still wanna hear more about your sister."
Just another case of Sean's wishful dreaming, nothing to see here, just ignore him-
"Does she have a boyfriend? She done it yet?"
When I heard that, I popped my middle finger out and gave him a killer's dead-in-the-eye glare. Like any other brother. I even pulled out my Glock.
"Jesus fuck-ok, ok. I'm sorry."
He backed away with open palms. I continued, unmoving and steadfastly staring.
"That's fucking scary, y'know. When you do that. C'mon, I'm gonna shit my pants here. Put it down, huh? Ok?"
He was half-giggling, half-stuttering. The sweating leaking out his pores was a dead giveaway. He might've actually shat his pants. But I continued. It went on for some extra seconds, but at the end of the day, I just shrugged it off.
I hid the Glock back. I slouched and stared at the ground.
Was she? No, no, no, no, no. Don't think about it. Fuck. Fuck that mini fever dream. Fuck that shit.
"What a man you are."
I could imagine Marcus applauding me. Just an imagination, though. Now then, what I should be thinking about was what he said. After all, we were birds of the same feather.
"Wouldn't you do the same for yours?"
It was a simple question, actually. Something he'd no doubt answer 'Yes' to.
"Yeah, but…it's me we're talking about here."
I raised an eyebrow. I couldn't deny what he said.
"After all, I'm only here for him. In time, I'm gonna be done…"
The melancholy was there, for sure. Nonetheless, I couldn't help but form a small dimple when I heard the optimistic undertone hidden within it.
"I'm not gonna stay here for long. See, I'll have myself a farm in my fifties. A strawberry farm, yeah. Someday, someday…I'm gonna have it."
He pulled out some big words, with some big conviction there.
"…I told my brother 'Listen, Matt, you gonna be cookin' good stuff, just like you wanted. Your brother's gonna promise you that'."
The guy was feeling it. Everyone was feeling it.
"'Momma don' need to worry 'bout you, or me, or the house, your brother's gonna promise you that'."
Oh, Jesus, it was like he was whispering to a baby with that contorted grimace, hidden under the smile.
"And every night…I dream about tastin' his soon-to-be world famous strawberry pie…"
He held his head high with his arms open. As if holding something, something cylindrical. And his eyes were shimmering a blissful glow. Though, a few seconds after, he snapped out of it with an 'ah' and glanced at us before slowly tucking himself back. I bet his cheeks were red.
And to that, everyone shared the same face. Why wouldn't we? We all felt for the guy. We all felt some heart tingles. We felt some warmth.
"Well, that's neat…"
Chandler had the innocent Chandler tone with him.
"…the only reason I'm here is cause my dad and some friends told me to, and…"
He glanced at all of us with eyes wide and brows high while going rocking chair on his body as he sat.
"I did."
He finally used more baritone.
"Here I am now. Don't really have much to do…I probably wanna…settle down, I guess…"
He went still and silent while gazing at the wide night and the sky glittered with stars. Whatever he was gonna do next, we didn't know, it felt like that was it. But after the noiseless seconds of waiting, we all heard him take a deep breath.
"Forever my darlingggg~ our love will be trueeeeeee~
Always and foreverrrr~ I'll loveee just youuu~
Just promise me darling~ your love in returnnnn~
May this fire in my soul dear~ forever burnnn~
My heart's at your command dearrr~~
To keep love and to holdddd~
Making you happy's my desire dearrr~~
Keeping youuuu~ is myy goalll~
I'll forever love youuuuu~
The rest of my daysss~
I'll never part from youuu~
And your loving wayssssssss…"
That was…beautiful. I didn't know what the song was, regardless, it was evident that whatever it was, it fit him for some reason, or rather, fit well for his voice. He finally opened his lips again.
"…My dad always sang that…even after…mom…"
Left? I'd heard a bit before to already get an idea of where he was going with it, we all did. But it was good that he didn't say it. He then nodded to himself.
"It was our song."
All of us made really small nods.
"Maybe I can have my try at singing…most of all, he told me, when I find her…I do that…for her…"
He started nodding to himself until he stopped. And his smile faded and reappeared between intervals.
"I don't know…but…uh…um…uh…"
He clenched his fists and pursed his lips, followed by narrowing his eyes. He did a cool blow as if trying to sigh, and ultimately, he stared at the sky all deadpan.
"I'm still gonna keep that promise."
He did one single nod after that. Lastly, he held a small smile, it wasn't meant for us. The thing to keep in mind was that his words held no falters or lies. If I was a betting man, I'd say he was gonna do it.
"Well, that's nice."
Dammit, Sean cut my train of thought. And since I was ants-ing up from his snappiness, I just had to cut everything off and listen. Everyone was.
"Were your friends any good, Chan?"
Zack asked.
"Yeah."
"Did you do fun shit with them?"
"What kind?"
"Oh, I don't know, throwing shit filled pumpkins at their houses?"
"Nothing like that. I was kinda in the house most of the time."
"Well, buddies are still buddies, at least you weren't buddy-less before, unlike some loser here."
His lips stretched to the left.
"Don't you fucking look at me."
Looking over to Sean, he had a twitching eye.
"Name?"
"Fuck off."
Zack shrugged that with raised brows and a cartoony frown.
"We never knew dinosaurs were a thing till we dug their bones out."
Sean raised a brow.
"Ha-ha."
Then he rolled his eyes like he's had enough of this shit. And Zack, he did the shrug again.
"Welp, that's that, I guess. No point in running this spiel through the mud."
Sean had his index raised, but he wasn't pointing at anything, it was just like a warning kind of thing. I could see his hand jittering, he was gritting his teeth for sure.
In the end, he dropped his hand, slouched, and gave out a sigh.
"You know that guy I talk about? The one from Chicago?"
He was tilting his head from side to side with his eyes closed, and his mouth was a little open. Like it was trying to form words, but couldn't.
"His brother, his brother's my best friend…"
Eventually, something did come out.
But just then, his eyes were open and they were livid.
"Was...my bestfriend."
And they were locked onto Zack.
He then looked down at the ground, his eyes faltered for a bit, but he still looked like he was gonna lose it any second now.
"We had each other's backs. Fuck it, we're brothers."
His entire body was jittering at a fuming tempo. But underneath it, there was something melancholic.
"Were."
He glanced to the side.
"Ma told me it wasn't gonna work, that I'd drop dead in a week."
He spread his arms open and pointed at himself.
"Well, look at me now…"
We were looking.
"I told her once I'm done here…I'll be back, bigger and better…she wanted me to quit, she wanted me to stop, but I can't…"
"I'm doing this for him…"
"Well, ok."
Sean just gave a neutral glare to Zack. He was silent and still.
"Nice story and all, but-ah, really? Right here? Alright."
Zack shrugged his shoulders.
"I mean, dude, this ain't a contest. Marcus just wanted to say he wanted pie."
Sean tilted his head a bit. His stare got sharper.
"Look at lonely little Zack here."
"Small boy, trying to sound big."
Zack raised a brow and tilted his head upward.
"You kiss your mother with that mouth?"
"I do."
I felt like something was tightly wrapped around my throat.
They both stood up with those smiles.
And it went on, at first. But then they started giving out smiles, to us, and most of all, to themselves, but by the end, it was only just them. A smile for a smile.
Their grins turned into something much tamer. At the time, you'd think they were gonna hug or something.
Suddenly, Sean pushed Zack. And in return, Zack kicked his leg, and with Sean tumbling down, the two began grappling each other on the ground. They went all-out on throwing hands, shooting kicks, and busting balls. All of us had to stand up and back away, we couldn't even get near them. Hell, what did you expect us to do? They were rabid dogging and performing crocodile death rolls.
"I always wanted to break your teeth in, you piece of fucking shit!"
"And I knew you were just a whiny son of a bitch!"
Shit, they were gonna wake the others up. Fuck, the captain was gonna wake up! Marcus was kinda just wide-eyed here. But for Chandler, he was bystander-ing this wrestle mania and losing it while doing absolutely nothing. Fuck, somebody do something!
"You two! Cut the crap!"
Yes!
""FUCK OFF, LOGAN!""
Oh, no...
Logan backed off while shelling away like a turtle and he had the eyes of fresh, anxious prey. Meanwhile, the exasperated breathing of the two wrestlers died down.
At the end of it, they both stood up and sat back down. What commenced was pure and utter dry air silence.
"…."
"…."
"…."
"Pfffttt
"…Pffttt-pffpffpff…"
"Pfffttkuhuhehehe."
"Kuehehehehahaha!."
"Ahahaha-you-hehe-motherfucker-hehe."
"Pffft-hehe-shut up-kuku-shithead-hehe."
"HAHAHAHA!"
"HUAAHAHAHA!"
"HAHAHAHAHA!"
"HEHEHE!"
"What did this dumbass just say? Hahahahaha!"
"Hahah…*huff*…hooo…"
Look at them, their huffy puffy chests couldn't get some air. It went full-on guffaw fest for fucks sake.
Others would think they lost their minds, but in truth, there wasn't really any of that in the first place. They both stood up, looked at each other, then hugged. Shits and giggles, I tell you.
"Eh, eheh…good time…anyway, worry about it when we finally get back again."
I was sure Sean was just playing tsundere.
On the other hand, Zack's chuckles were starting to fade away. He huffed out some air from his nose as he looked around, just random stares at nothing. By then, we had our eyes on him, and our brows rose a little. He kept mellow bopping his head up and down while chewing on nothing, while his eyes were shutting close over and over for some reason. But the air around him was the important part. Our mouths were all zipped.
I thought he was also tsundere.
"Y'know what? You're right, I am a fucked up piece of shit."
He nodded with an accepting tone. I hadn't really heard much sighs from him, so that was new. He slouched down. I could see the tension steaming out of him as if it were my own. Still, his was his.
It was meek.
"Remember when I said Brad's grandpa was the last guy I wanted to throw hands with? He's a total Vet. Vettest of the Vet. He fought those fuckin' Nazis. And I guess…for some reason since I lived right beside 'em…he also took me under his wing…I think. All the shit, he taught us all the shit. I remember, I was eight, and Brad was, fourteen? So yeah, long story short, he handed us guns. He gave me a fucking gun."
"Who the hell does that shit?"
He waved his hands around with vigor.
"Him, of course. Yeah…almost blew my head off…yeah, maybe that did a number on me. On how I go about things."
He sighed, but this one had a nostalgic feel to it.
"Let's just say…I grew up doing weird shit…"
I felt voiceless. I felt like stone, I was stone. We were stone.
"Anyway, Logan, talk."
But ultimately, we all snapped out of it once Zack voiced something of an order. It was an order. I knew. He wanted it to be an order. He was just an embarrassed fuck.
Glancing at the clueless Logan, by the end of our peering, he made a small cough and went and said:
"Nothing much from me."
His voice was neutral and calm.
"My dad told me I could make it, that I was born for it…I don't know. Hmm, I don't really like politics. I guess charity's more my thing."
He had a little grin on his face. All I could say was…he was just like her, just a little. Dammit. Anyway, a round of applause to him, I was sure everyone else felt the same-
"Boringggg."
Well, I bet Zack was just acting like a king thinking he got to run the show after his delivers. And sadly, Logan was just one of his unsuccessful jesters.
"You've really mellowed out, huh."
Zack grunted like he was eww-ing at him.
"…Ugh…from party boy Logan to just…Logan boy…"
Everybody snickered. I did too, ok. Logan kinda did as well while appropriately giving Zack the finger.
"Next, uh-yeah,"
He glanced at me. Dammit.
"…your turn."
He pointed his index to me. I had to say it again.
"I got nothing to tell."
"Nope."
I think I heard that before. I did, it came from me. Motherfucker, Sean said it exactly as I did, tone and all, with just a sprinkle of extra snicker to it.
"You definitely do."
Logan, he was just picking on me. Though, I had to just say something to get them off me.
"It's boring."
"You ain't the judge."
Those judgmental child eyes were very much Chandler's annoying little shit trademark. But, I couldn't even bother, the thing was, it'd be harder to lay them off at this point. So I just sighed and slouched, almost mirroring Zack's former pose.
"I…"
Oh god. Everyone's eyes went on me.
"…I grew up normal-no, that's not right…rather, nothing happened."
There I went, I couldn't get my mouth to stay still anymore.
"Nothing crazy, nothing amazing, no 'fun with the boys'…no, that never happened…"
I was slowly starting to get used to pulling the words out. I even held a small grin as I formed the next sentence.
"In high school I…uh, almost became road kill…and met the car's owner a little later…heh…stuff did happen, I guess…"
I slightly nodded. We were getting there.
"It wasn't amazing, it wasn't crazy, it wasn't anything big…"
Maybe I was wrong, I couldn't tell. That was just me. Maybe it was big, maybe it was something amazing, or maybe, we just made it out to be bigger than it actually was. I didn't know.
All I could say was that I couldn't forget. Never.
"Yeah…then, I went to America, spent there for some months…just living. Hehe-and then…that's it. Other than that…nothing happened."
I clenched my teeth hard. Thinking and playing it all out in my head over and over and over again, it did nothing, that's why whenever it was gonna happen, I just clenched something, my teeth, my fists, anything. Just to wait it out, the storm in my head.
I really didn't need to.
"So, anything else?"
"Nothing."
"Experiences?"
"I was a library clerk for a bit."
Yeah, they all agreed it was boring.
"Any good stories?"
"No."
"With the boys in Japan?"
"No."
"With girls?"
"No…?"
Chandler raised a brow. He noticed. Fuck. Hold it in me or not, my grimacing grunts escaped my lips. I sighed.
"…Yeah…"
I guess at the time, trying to hide it was turning into something trivial. Who cared if I said this and that? I wasn't there, no one was here, fuck it. I felt like visiting a chiropractor when I slouched. I scratched my head and breathed in a long slow puff.
"I got myself into a headache, and had to do some things and help someone…and then I got into someone's mess, luckily, someone had my back…But while that was all happening, someone always kept an eye on me, I just thought of something weird."
I was craving ramen right now.
"And there's this one time I met someone really…great."
Goddammit, I wanted to go to California. Despite my lips arching down, they weren't indicative of anything. Memories were popping left and right and I slouched even more than before. I really could've just shut my mouth then and there.
"But before all that, I met her."
How should I deal with this one? It felt like a real dilemma. But, in the end, I decided to just wing it.
"She was…someone who'd play fair, someone that'd straighten you out just because…if she wanted to, she could very much murder you with words."
From then on, the words slid out of my lips like butter. I couldn't help but let out a small giggle.
"A girl who wanted to make a difference…who wanted to change the world…it was stupid…"
My mouth was left hanging, from not having anything else to say and to me zoning out, but most of all, from that bullshitty last line needing divine punishment. I knew. It was simple. I didn't even have the right to say those things. Just the fact that I said it was derogatory.
That's why I sighed. Because I knew what I had to do. I raised my fist and threw it straight to my face.
"Whoa! Whoa!"
"Da fuck?"
"W-What's that all about?"
"Why'd you do that!?"
For five seconds, my cheek stung and all I saw were blurry blocks. Yeah, I had no actual reason to do that, but still. Call me insane, but in truth, I was just an idiot. I sighed one more time.
"I just had to…"
It could've ended with that, I could've been content. But, I felt like ending it there wouldn't do it justice.
"Have I ever talked about it? In full?"
Their mouths were gaping and their brows were high as they all exchanged glances. Yeah, I understood why.
"About what…?"
Marcus's eyes were darting from left to right. That also made sense. And why was I grinning like some geezer? I couldn't say.
"Everything."
It was probably because I was remembering it. They all started slouching forward like listening to a preacher's whispers and with that, I shrugged my shoulder. It was fine.
"So, it all started when this one little prick was on his way to school. Normal, right? Nothing wrong, but all of a sudden, Bam! He got hit by a limo."
Everyone was nodding around, their lips were doing silent mumblings and their eyes were glued to my lips. For sure, they knew what I was on about,
"Then, it turns out, that idiot didn't get run over out of nowhere, he got in the limo's way."
Their eyes were popping and their nodding went faster.
"Why do that? Simple, a damn dog was on the road."
My voice sounded grinding as I stared at nothing, just a deadpan stare at something.
"So, he became a hospital shut-in for a while. It didn't matter. He thought he'd get to talk to new faces. So he just waited. But when he went to school, nothing happened."
I didn't know where I was glaring at, just somewhere.
"Ignoring the boring stuff, the boy was made to write an essay, and, that essay…got him in trouble…"
Why did I grin? I couldn't say.
"When he got in trouble, he got punished, and when he…kinda got forced into something."
That curve went upside down.
"-he met h-"
"Gentsss! Gather upppp!"
"!"
That spooked the shit out of me, all of us for that matter. Captain barked up a storm there. So, we got on our feet, and like it was the Olympics, ran like hell. To where they were, but before we did, Sean grabbed my shoulder.
"You better finish that goddamn story."
I shrugged with a snicker.
"If I feel like it."
I wouldn't.
And so we headed over to one of the huts, where he and some of our other officers were gathered around a lit table.
"We just got word from Recon."
There was a map on the table.
"Taliban occupied the village over here,"
He pointed south of our current locations.
"…and they're heading our way."
'Fucking shit' everyone thought. Some of us just woke up, and Jeffrey was still in that hut and was still dead weight.
"I've put the word out, they're getting the hell out of there, and we're getting the hell out of here. We're goin' here."
He tapped on somewhere in the north. Twenty-one clicks. Oh, wait, wasn't that the place the other squad was heading to? Good, looks like we'd have guys welcoming us.
"And those guys?"
Logan pointed in our neighbor's direction. To that, our Captain sighed.
"We got the order. They're probably just gonna kill them all…so we're bringin' 'em with us."
Fuck, even more baggage.
"You and your squad's scountin' ahead."
"Wait, wait, wait, ain't that the place the other guy's went to?"
We all nodded to that. Yeah, what's the point of scouting somewhere already scouted?
"They're stranded, in the middle of the road, no less."
"What the hell happened?"
Zack had a somewhat mortified tone.
"Well, they aren't just on our tails."
Everyone got the memo. I felt a headache brewing from someone.
"You are going there to pick those boys up and head straight to the town. Got it?"
"Yes, sir."
"Oh, and,"
Right as we were about to go, he held his finger up and leaned forward, we did the same, and then he whispered:
"If you find any mines, call for EOD."
"…Yes, sir."
I took my glance off him and then left. We took all the stuff we needed and drove off.
.
.
.
.
.
Our ride was roughly dead quiet. Zack wasn't babble-oguing. Instead, from time to time he kept asking the same question.
"Are we there yet?"
And whenever we said 'No', his morose aura would exude out. We were already going at a steady pace, but he just kept on going.
"Is Brad in that squad?"
I turned around to see Zack with deadpan eyes, and it was accompanied by a small grin, he was staring straight at the road. Not gonna lie, it was a little freaky, if not paranoid.
"No, I don't think so, he's somewhere else."
I went back to eyeing the road. And it all went back to silence.
Minutes passed and slowly, some pieces of junk came into view, most of them shredded metal scraps. Some were bitsy pieces while others reached TV size. Most of them looked blocky.
"What the…fuck…?"
Logan slowed the Humvee down and we caught sight of something on the roadside. They looked like grayish bags, a bunch of them were brown. When we got closer, we realized what they were, those Perahan tunbans.
I opened the door, then gently took one foot out, followed by the other. I brought my flashlight out. I shined on everywhere I made a neck turning to, the bushes all around.
I closed in on them with some deliberate gaiting. When I got there, I kinda pictured everything now, from scene to scene. The scraps behind us, the drenched-in-something bozos lying flat on the ground, the rifles everywhere, I was sure everyone got it as well.
"Well, well, well."
Zack also got out, everyone else did.
"Look at these dumbasses."
He grinned while practically marveling at this sight.
Grunts started coming out of nowhere, from some of them. I flashed one. Turned out he was stretching a bloody arm out for a rifle.
If I were him, I would've just played possum.
Then, it turned out this wasn't the only guy groaning, they scattered all around. There were even some a hundred meters from us. It was high time I said it. But, it was like ripping my tongue out. I had to grit my teeth a bit. If there was another way, maybe, but it was needed.
"Secure the perimeter."
It was night. I couldn't afford to let some fucker land a lucky on us. It really would've been better if they just stayed in the Humvee.
Now back to him. Well, I had to do something. But I did nothing, just for a few seconds. I just stared as he grunted in absolute agony while trying to reach for what he thought was his one-way ticket to living.
Right as he was an inch's reach from it, I stepped forward and stomped on his arm. I twisted my foot a bit. I was practically grinding it into mush and once some cracking and snapping noises came, his whimpers got even louder. He was muttering despaired somethings, and teardrops started trickling down his dirty face. Unluckily for him, I wasn't Ace.
As I went on, I added even more weight to my foot. I could've just kicked the rifle away, or picked it up. I could've also just nudged his arm away. It was easy to have done something else, but I didn't.
I looked to the right. There were some patches of blood on the ground, so I flashed that way and from about ten meters, there was another guy. That one was making some erratic spasms.
"Let me check them out. Gotta say, props for still living."
Logan walked forward with his bag.
"Leave this one."
I muttered.
"Wait, I'm, I can-"
"Nah, this one's a waste of time."
I gave the guy under me a glance. Then, I gave one to everyone and everywhere else, pointing to one of them on the right.
"Look at that one over there."
Over yonder, that one's chest was bloating and sinking a little. That one was at least a bit livelier.
"Get to him."
His mouth was a little agape. He stared at the guy under me. But ultimately, he stood up and trudged to where I pointed.
Once he was there, once the others were away enough from me, I crouched down with a knee on the ground. And with as much sound as a quick rustle, my knife was out.
I guess he saw it. His eyes went bloodshot, and he grumbled while huffing and shuddering. For that, I pushed a hand into his mouth. I began to run the blade through his throat, from side to side like a lumberjack.
His body was mellow, just a weak slab of meat. Despite that, his head was twitching like crazy, and his gurgles were blaring loud enough to leak through my hand. Even if I didn't look, I knew.
He saw. All of them did.
"Continue."
They all turned around after my mutter. By the time they did, this guy's pulse was flat. His head even slanted to the side like in the movies. I sighed. I looked around, more than half were still. And only a real few were still making breaths or twitches.
Those boys were sloppy. But, I couldn't blame them. The least they could do was stay alive, thankfully. And since we were here, I was here, might as well do the cleanup.
I went for the guy on my left, crouched, pulled it out, stabbed his throat, and gently twisted it over and over. Eventually, it left his throat a big hole.
Onto the next one. It was all do and repeat. With some variations here and there. For the third guy, I kinda gouged his eyes out, just because.
When it came to the fourth, I was in a bit of a pinch, he was a lively fucker. He was raising his arms and flailing them. But his body was still meek. Gotta say, props. That's why I was gonna do it a little slower.
I stabbed his heart. He gave out a few lifeless grunts that were just about to sound aggressive. So I pulled it out, and before he could make another squeal, I punched it up his jaw, and it pierced through the bones. Then, I twisted the blade deeper and deeper inside.
I didn't even notice his eyes going lights out. But whatever.
"The world doesn't need you."
It was a silent whisper, one that ultimately, only I heard. After all, those were my first Japanese mutters in years.
"Hey! Found the guys!"
Chandler hollered. He was waving his arms like a hitchhiker.
"They're some six hundred meters up ahead. They saw our lights and called."
"Well, this was easier than I thought."
Sean was the first to get back in the Humvee. Followed by Marcus, Chan, then Logan. Zack just stood there, staring at the guys lying. Then, he took his Glock out and started shooting. Bang! Bang! Bang! Rapid fire. Random fire.
By the time he was over, he already spent a dozen bullets. He went for anywhere with a body, just indiscriminate shots.
"What the hell!?"
Logan was pulling his hair out, well, that's the tone he gave out. Zack shrugged with nonchalant open palms.
"Just had to."
He then went back in, with me following, but before I went back, I flashed the place one more time. There were about two still breathing. Though, they were lost causes anyway. With that, I went back in.
We left and drove forward.
A year, mates. I've been writing cringe-ass shit for a year now. And to celebrate, what better way than to release a chapter that says some things about me? I guess I'm racist. Thank you, Mr. Marine who reminded me I'm the author. Also, hey, the pegging thing's not me. I'm not into that shit, I swear. Well, I'm gonna go get hammered now.
I'm gonna fuck off and disappear again.
Kiryu