The Situation Outside The Battlefield:
All I remember was seeing the soldier getting his walky-talky and saying that exit B-2 had been compromised which terrified me, because, if they were closing of an entrance hatch every time the enemy found out about them, that would mean that eventually, all entrances would be locked and that whatever team on duty would have to wait for a while before reinforcements.
Despite the things the US had done at the very least, they were human enough to not treat us as completely disposable. Before I could ask anything, I was snapped out of my daze by the sound of a bomb going off, and the ringing of my eardrums, apparently despite how many bombs the base was able to intercept, this one manages to make it through.
At first, I couldn't bring myself to kill anybody, I was too scared, but after seeing 'my' people massacred in front of you while hearing their cries being drowned out by the sound of gunfire, eventually, I began to develop a genuine hatred against the enemy. Even more so knowing that they were part of the reason I was separated from my family.
Plus, the more of them that I killed, the easier it would be to survive out here, not only for myself but also for everybody else. So after much internal back and forth, I grabbed my gun and peeked over the barrier for a second before shooting and immediately going back to 'safety' I could only hope that I hit that shot, after all, I was never that good with guns, even after training.
Everything becomes a blur after that, all I can remember was the creams of all of those around me, the gunfire, the bombs, and my heart beating as fast as it could. All I know is that eventually, there was a transmission that came through the walky-talky, reinforcements had arrived and all those who received the transmission were allowed to go back.
I didn't question their decision much, as they had just offered me a way out of this hellhole. When I entered back into the building I didn't feel much safer, as I knew that if those who were defending the building all died and no reinforcements could be sent, then the base would be overrun by enemy forces.
That didn't change the fact that I was still able to be calmer than I was before, after all, the scenery in here and the fresh air would make you think that there was absolutely nothing going on outside. I ended up deciding to make my way over to the 'barracks', giving me a gloomy feeling as all those who made it back here knew that they hade just extended their life by a day.
On top of that, all of the guards and higher-ups looked down on us, like we were criminals that had merely extended our sentence by a day, I suppose they weren't completely wrong. After finally arriving at my dorm, I took my grandfather's pocket watch out of my pocket, admiring it and remembering those I wanted, no, had to go back to. Before I could get too lost in my own thoughts, Josue burst through the door and began to shout at me.
"Why the hell are you at the barracks, you know that lunchtime is about to end, right? If we go right now we can still make it"
"Right, right, sorry about that, I was too caught up in the moment, I'm sorry"
"Save it for later will you, we gotta get a move on if we want to make it"
"..."
The cafeteria wasn't too big, only enough to fit ten tables, then again, I assume that they were only expecting to feed a small group of people due to the large number of casualties outside. Josue and I sat down at a table with another 5 people I didn't know, before we could talk though, the TV began to play the news.
To my surprise though, the news they were talking about concerned Peruvians and their 'noble sacrifice for the good of humanity' Immediately the entire hall went silent, how could it have not, I'm sure people around me started cursing and shouting, but all I could hear was what the TV was playing.
Apparently, at least according to what the TV was saying, After the US secured the water from the Amazon river, they were fair to Peruvians and promised to only take any extra water from their section of the river, and that Peruvians were grateful and that most people that were able to sign up for the US army when they were offered a US citizenship if they made it back.
Needless to say, it was pretty obvious that what was coming out of the TV was complete bullshit, so connecting the dots, I came to the conclusion that the US government had managed to get rid of the First amendment because I didn't want to believe that news outlets in the US had willingly passed up the opportunity to report on the truth, especially when all the other outlets weren't.
When I stopped to think about it for a while longer though, it did start to make sense, after all, thanks to the US currently being at war, and that the military was basically one of the biggest parts of the US identity, I doubt that any US citizen would buy into what was really happening, not because it didn't make sense, but because they just wouldn't want to believe it. Plus, as a small South American country, not many cared for it at all apart from its neighbors.
The only thing that was still a blur to me was the fact as to why the hell the US would do any of this, I mean, it's not like they're getting anything out of this right? It's then that I noticed the newscast start talking about the valiant soldiers of the US military that had lost their hand on the battlefield, at first I took it as a way to get the people's resolve to win the war even stronger, but when I saw the numbers, everything began to make sense.