AARRGGHHHHH!!!
'Why am I falling from the sky?'
That was the only question on Gareth's mind as he plummeted through the clouds at an astonishing speed. His mind was in turmoil as he failed to grasp what was happening right now. Of course, the wind howling in his ear right now wasn't helping him much.
He flailed his arms around, trying to stabilize himself as much as possible. However, it was to no avail. No matter what he did, he couldn't do self-right himself at all and was left to the mercy of the elements.
Not for long, though, as he was plummeting headfirst, he noticed the ground getting closer at an insane speed. From afar, he was beginning to see patches of green that were becoming bigger by the second.
Within them, he noticed stone structures that jutted out from them, disrupting the plains of greenery that he assumed to be a forest. As he got closer and closer to them, he noticed that the stone structures were houses. And they were not small in number.
Before he could think about the implications of that, he realised that he was heading straight for one of them. His face paled, and he quickly put his arms in front of his head to shield himself from the incoming impact.
'This is going to hurt.' That was his last thought before he crashed into the roof of one of the stone houses. Except, he didn't crash into it. What he didn't see because he had his eyes covered was his body phasing through the roof and landing into the body of a young man lying motionlessly on the ground.
Then, out of nowhere, the young man, whose body had been motionless previously as if he were lifeless, suddenly showed signs of life. His thumb twitched visibly before everything went back to normal.
******
The desert heat pressed down like a furnace, shimmering waves rising from the cracked asphalt. The convoy crawled along the ruined street: three Humvees, a battered APC, and a dozen men gripping their rifles a little too tight.
Inside the lead Humvee, sweat ran down Sergeant Gareth's neck, soaking the collar of his fatigues. He adjusted his helmet, eyes scanning the broken buildings that lined the road. Every window looked like a rifle barrel waiting to spit fire.
"Feels too damn quiet," Corporal Mason muttered beside him, chewing on nerves more than gum.
"Shut it," Ramirez snapped from the gunner's seat, manning the .50 cal. "You say shit like that, you jinx us."
Gareth gave a dry chuckle, though his gut twisted the same way. "Relax. We make it to the FOB, cold beers, and hot chow. That's the plan."
However, that wasn't all that was on his mind. His thoughts drifted to the women in the small town where their base was located. The thought of resting his head between their tanned, supple thighs brought a wistful smile to his face, which he skillfully hid behind a scarf.
The touch of those women was one of the few reasons why he and frankly, most of the soldiers stationed here were able to tolorate the harsh conditions of the desert.
Gareth was one such man. Initially, he was less than pleased when he was first deployed here. The harsh environment of the desert and the volatile condition of the area was something that added to his displeasure.
However, all of that vanished when he first got to this desert town. While the town itself was nothing special, there was no lack beautiful women here. And though Gareth was a soldier, he was a man first.
A very verile young man. As a man in his thirties, he wasn't a naive greenhorn. Far from it. He was a veteran soldier that had been to war multiple times. He had travelled the world and had been to various places and had taken the lives of multiple enemy soldiers. Whether for good or bad, that was left to the higher ups to decide.
However, one thing that Gareth had found to cope with the harrowing reality of war was the embrace of woman. No matter where he was deployed, he always managed to find himself in the company of women, which made it all just a bit better.
And this time was no different. In this small desert town, there was no way he wa going to avoid sampling such exotic women. Their tanned skin and
The men chuckled, tension breaking for just a heartbeat.
Then the street exploded.
The IED ripped the first Humvee apart in a deafening roar. Fire and shrapnel filled the air, slamming into armor and flesh alike. The blast threw Gareth against the door, ears ringing, vision swimming.
"CONTACT! CONTACT!" Ramirez screamed, opening fire with the turret. The .50 cal thundered, brass shells clattering, tearing through plaster and brick as muzzle flashes lit up the rooftops.
Bullets rained down in answer. Glass shattered. Sparks flew as rounds tore through metal. One of the Humvees stalled, riddled with holes, soldiers inside screaming.
"Move! Get to cover!" Gareth barked, dragging Mason out the door. They sprinted toward the side of the street, diving behind the wreck of a burned-out car as RPG fire streaked overhead and detonated against the APC.
"Ramirez is down!" someone shouted. The gun turret fell silent.
Cursing, Gareth leaned out and fired a burst, dropping a fighter from the second-floor window. Mason covered his flank, but panic was already breaking their line.
"Where's air support?!" Mason yelled over the chaos.
"Radio's fried!" another soldier screamed back. "We're on our own!"
A mortar round hit nearby, the shockwave tossing men like rag dolls. When Gareth scrambled back to his knees, half his squad was gone; burning wreckage where they'd been seconds ago.
"Stay with me, Mason!" Gareth shouted, firing until his rifle clicked empty. He slammed in his last magazine, adrenaline masking the ache in his chest.
But then Mason staggered, eyes wide, a crimson hole blossoming through his vest.
"No, no, no—" Gareth caught him, dragging him down, pressing his hands against the wound. Blood poured through his fingers. Mason choked, coughed, and whispered, "Fuck… guess you jinxed us, Sarge…" before his eyes glazed over.
Rage consumed him. He rose from cover, firing at anything that moved, screaming wordless fury as rounds tore past him. He cut down two, three, maybe four, then the world lurched as a round slammed into his chest.
He stumbled back, rifle slipping from his hands, lungs seizing as blood filled them. The firefight blurred, sound fading into a hollow echo. He collapsed against the broken wall, vision narrowing to a haze of sunlight and dust.
The last thing he saw was the bodies of his brothers-in-arms scattered across the street, smoke curling from the wreckage of their convoy.
Darkness swallowed him.
But it wasn't the end.