September 3, 2133
Lake Charles, Louisiana
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“Contacts! Right side!”
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I slammed my shoulder into a door, making it collapse. Tent stumbled in behind me. I saw one of the Abrams outside blow up. Tent grabbed my vest strap and helped me up. I felt his blood drain out on me. I looked at his gunshot wound and asked him, “are you okay?”
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He nodded, “yeah Rogers. We need to get the hell out of here. Fuck this shit!”
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I followed him out of the building's back door, where we came into an alleyway. Three Confederate soldiers were reloading their weapons behind a half wall. I raised my rifle and sprayed all three. Tent rammed into the wall, grunting while he did. I asked him, “are you mobile?”
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I felt a sharp pain strike up my back. I fell to the ground, rolling over and seeing another soldier at the half wall. Tent fired at him, but he also fired at Tent. Tent took a shot in the chest, but killed his enemy with a lethal hit.
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Tent fell to his knee, killing two more soldiers who were coming down the alleyway. I tried moving, but couldn’t. It felt like I was, but I couldn’t see my body moving. Tent grabbed my vest strap and dragged me out of the alleyway and into a nearby field. Tent kept his head below the grass, watching our enemy maneuvering around our troops.
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I asked Tent, “am I gonna die?”
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He shook his head, “you’ll be fine Kid. It’s nothing bad, I just… I gotta get you out of here.”
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He grabbed me by the straps and dragged me through the dense grass, only stopping to take a breather or grunt. Eventually, we came to a helicopter crash. Tent, too tired to move, leaned me against the cabin and laid beside me. He said, “you did good Kid.”
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He held onto my knee and said, “you did…”
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His hand slipped away. I couldn’t move to help him. I was worthless. I couldn’t even feel him. I just saw it. I sat there and stared and sobbed and didn’t do a damned thing.
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A Little Bird flew over us. It quickly turned around and hovered above the helicopter. One of the pilots used a loudspeaker, “do not worry. We will come back for you.”
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Not even ten minutes later, two Little Birds flew over me and landed not far away. Four medics came rushing through the grass with stretchers in hand. One medic tended to Tent while the other three moved me onto a stretcher. The medic checked Tent’s vitals and carelessly rolled him into a stretcher.
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That was it for me. Or, so I thought. I spent three months in a hospital bed just outside of Grand Cheiner. One day, Colonel Marshall came to my bedside and asked me, “how are you feeling Rogers?”
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I looked down at my immovable body, “not so great sir.”
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Marshall nodded, laying his hand on my shoulder. He gloomfully stated, “your entire Division has been wiped out. I am sorry. I know it doesn't count for a lot, but I am genuinely sorry.”
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I tried to hold back tears, but they came out anyway. Marshall wiped the tears from my face and told me, “I have a proposal to offer.”
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“What is it?”
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“Stem Cells will rebuild the needed nerves in your spine to get you moving again. If you want, I know they’re a sensitive…”
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“I want it.”
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I would give anything to be able to move again. I knew Stem Cells were frowned upon due to how they were made, but after the beach invasion and slaughter on Burg Hill, what was one more life? If I could just kill one more Confederate, I’d be satisfied enough to rest indefinitely. But right now, my blood boiled to kill my enemy. I agreed to the proposal and started physical therapy to get my body back in shape. I spent the morning running around the perimeter of the hospital and the evenings doing push ups and lifting heavy medical equipment.
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In only a week, my body was back to regular operating status. In fact, I was in better shape than before. I had a six pack from not eating much in bed and my muscles grew exponentially due to leftover Stem Cells. In no time at all, I was gearing up for a mission to Cameron. I had to see Kate.
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On my way there, I sat across another lost soldier. He looked at me and asked, “where are you going?”
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I told him, “Cameron. I got a girl there.”
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“You’ve been living under a rock?”
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“No? I just got out of medical.”
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“Shit. Well I’m sorry to tell you man. Cameron got busted by the Fed’s a few weeks back.”
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My heart sank to my feet. I felt like throwing up. Oh God. Was she even still there?
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I asked, “anyone make it out? Anyone at all?”
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“No. Entire team there got wiped. They stood their ground till the last man. We took it back though. Don’t think there’s much left.”
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The truck dropped me off at Cameron’s entrance, where a small group of soldiers and a tank protected the entire town. The commander on site walked up to me and asked, “you a new recruit?”
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I shook my head, “no sir. I’m here to find someone.”
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He chuckled, “you’re not gonna find anything son. But, I give you my best luck.”
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I walked through the empty streets that were once full of love and cheers. Now, they were dark and dreadful. Blood stains were on storefronts and destroyed tanks were in the road. Most of the buildings I once visited were gone. The barracks had been blown apart, the bar roof caved in, and Kate’s apartment housed a crashed F-16.
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I walked up the stairs to her room, almost going to knock. Instead, I opened the door and walked in. She had tried to block the soldiers out by leaning one of her couches against the door. The couch was upside down on the floor, full of bullets. I pushed the couch over, sitting in it for a brief second. I knew what was to come. I just didn’t want to accept it.
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I walked into the bedroom and saw her mattress was gone. Underneath her bed frame was a pool of dried blood. She had tried to hide underneath her bed. I sat on the wire frame and thought for a minute. I thought of all the good times we had together. The first time we had sex on the bed that was now gone, and was used as her concealment against beasts. The movies we watched on the couch she used to keep the beasts out. All while I was sitting in a bed, protected by a barbed wire fence.
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I walked out to the beach and walked towards Creole. While walking, about fourteen Black Hawks and six Ospreys flew over the beach. They landed in Creole, probably dropping off new recruits.
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I sat on the seawall, looking out at the still remaining E93s and salvaged Abrams. The sand was a bright white now. It burned my eyes when I looked at it for too long and blinded me at the right angle. Most of the craters were naturally filled back up, yet some remained. I watched the sun as it slowly descended below the horizon, disappearing into the great blue ocean.
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I later found out that Que was the only member of my Division left. He was wounded and got left behind in a basement. A second attack force picked him up and brought him to Cameron.
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I waited for reassignment for quite some time. Eventually I got reassigned to the new Devil Dog Division, which was the size of a squad. Que would lead and I would be his second in command. Our first order would be to link up at Creole with our new squadmates.
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