Chapter 11

"Calm before the Storm"

We all sat around in the dugout, I had my feet up on the table scratching my nose. Ashton then stepped into the dugout, he laid a map out onto the table that my legs were up on, I brought my legs down as he did so. I corrected my posture as I looked at the map. The map was a trench that we were given orders to take over, It was not that big, probably slightly bigger than our trench. It looked very cramped and tight inside, and it was very messy with trash everywhere, blankets and dead trees scattered all over the place, I expected these types of conditions from such people. 

Ashton takes out two markers, a red and a blue one. He uses the red marker to encircle parts of the trench, he switches to the blue marker and draws arrows coming towards the trench. 

AS: "So here's the trench layout, These red marks are the Separatist positions. We're gonna be split up into two squads, I'll lead Squad 1, that'll include Miller, Prince and Charles. Squad 2 will be led by Albert, everyone else will be in Squad 2."

"We're going to be dropped off in an IFV. It'll suppress the pigs and we'll all enter this part of the trench, from what we know it's not occupied. Squad 1 will push into the trench first and secure a foothold, Squad 2 will jump in and assault deeper into the trench."

AB: "Alright, that sounds good. But I have a question though and that is, what if our IFV goes over a landmine on the way there, do we continue on or do we abort?"

AS: "We'll make a decision if it does happen, we'll focus on the main objective at hand."

"Everyone, get your equipment ready, our ride will arrive in 1 hour."

We all nod as we stood up from our chairs and walked to our pods, picking up our equipment. I put the plate carrier over my head, dropping it on. I do up the straps on the side, I slide the flak jacket on top of the plate carrier. We are interrupted as Ashton walks up.

"Everyone, put some of this around your equipment so we don't accidentally kill you."

He hands Prince a Navy Blue Duct Tape, He unravels it and starts wrapping the tape around him, a wrap of tape on his helmet, arm and leg. We pass on the tape, putting it on our helmet and clothes, so much for camouflage. But I guess it's better to die to enemy fire than to our own. We all made our way outside of the trench, the relief force arriving to take control of our trench. As we all made our way towards the IFV, A tracked vehicle with an autocannon, 2 doors that swung open from behind. The IFV commander looks at us, shouting.

"Let's kill some pigs!"

Magnus gives out a thumbs up, we all line up on a respective side, Squad 1 on the left, Squad 2 on the right. We were all given the all clear to enter, I stepped in after the man infront who was Magnus, Elliot was behind me. I sat down inside the very cramped IFV, grunting with the lack of room to even sit down. 

"They could've given us some more fucking room.."

The doors closed, darkness consuming us inside as the IFV made its way to the objective, we were all bounced around inside as we traversed the open fields. The ride was very unpleasant, it smelled inside, I can't describe the smell but it was just terrible, it was loud inside, very loud, we obviously got the short end of the stick when it came to equipment, I knew for a fact that if we got hit by an Anti-Tank Warhead, All of us are going to be destroyed, speaking of which, The crew compartment and the infantry compartment were not closed off, meaning if the ammunition inside detonated we'd all be killed alongside the crew. It was also super loud, the turret traversing was loud, the vehicle's tracks and engine could be heard from inside. The vehicle was also super short, like, short short. We all had to slouch forward so we didn't bump our helmets on the roof, We were basically sardines wearing combat gear. But, if i were to say how i felt in a single sentence, Imagine how a lobster feels mentally and physically while it's being boiled alive, and there is your quick and short answer. I zoned out while we were inside, thinking of how it'll be once those doors swing open and all hell breaks loose. Another part of me felt sick, I felt like I was about to puke my guts out, I don't know if it was from all the coffee I had beforehand or all the water I drank. Maybe it's a mix of both liquid substances finally starting to come out my mouth.

I was interrupted by Magnus as he tapped my shoulder, he shouted in my ear just so I could be able to hear his voice.

"YOU NERVOUS?"

"YEAH, A LITTLE BIT."

"DON'T WORRY, WE ALL ARE."

"THAT DOES NOT REASSURE ME"

"HEH, NO WAY TO REASSURE SOMEONE IN A TIME LIKE THIS."

We both looked at each other and laughed, Magnus was a very nice guy, Everyone in the squad loved him, whenever we were down he could help cheer us up, He was like our light in the dark. I looked over at Elliot who was sitting next to me, I nudged his arm with my elbow, he looked at me, shouting was our new form of communication inside of this damned steel coffin.

"WHAT?!"

"HOW DO YOU FEEL?"

"SICK AND NERVOUS, I FEEL LIKE I'M ABOUT TO PUKE."

"YOU ALSO FEEL THAT?"

"YEAH, I DO."

I looked on as Elliot covered his mouth, followed by him bending forward, retching a few times and then puking his guts out, I couldn't watch or else I would end puking, I recall some of his puke landing onto the soles of my boots making it a bigger mess than it was before. I thought to myself, Fuck, I have to walk through that puke when we get out.. My legs started shaking, I couldn't control them. It's like the shaking you feel whenever you ask out that girl you really like in High School, but only this time it was five, wait, no, ten times worse than that. My mind starts racing, I'm thinking of things that don't even matter, Like if my weapon is working fine, Did i use the bathroom? Did I bring enough water? Did someone say something? What's that new smell? My boots are uncomfortable, I need the next size up. Those random thoughts kept jumping in my head, even though they were completely irrelevant to the firefight that was going to follow. My brain just thought of that, maybe it's because when someone thinks they are about to die, Their mind tries to distract them from that fact with such random and useless things to calm them down in some way. It absolutely did not help though, I felt like I was going insane inside this steel coffin. I felt a nudge on my shoulder, I looked over to see Elliot handing out a piece of paper to me, He was wiping his mouth of puke, I see the white stains on his sleeve, I can't believe he wiped it there, I would've puked again if i had it on my sleeve or on my skin. I take the piece of paper hesitantly, he shouts into my ear.

"IF I DIE, HOLD ONTO THAT FOR ME."

"YOU WON'T DIE"

"I FEEL LIKE I WILL."

"TRUST ME, YOU'LL BE JUST FINE."

"I DON'T TRUST YOU."

"THAT'S NOT THE BEST MINDSET WHEN YOU'RE GOING INTO BATTLE."

"YOU'RE RIGHT."

"WE'LL MAKE IT OUT OF THIS, JUST COVER US, WE'LL COVER YOU."

"GOT YOU."

"ACTUALLY, ONE QUESTION."

"WHAT?"

"WHAT IF I DIE? DO I JUST GIVE THIS TO SOMEONE ELSE?"

"YOU WON'T DIE DUMBASS."

"FUCK, YOU'RE USING THAT CARD ON ME NOW."