Chapter 2

Isaac, Kent, and West all sit on the side of the road waiting for the next bus to arrive. They definitely couldn't miss this bus since it was the last one. Anyways to pass the time, the three guys talk about their lives and how they ended up enlisting in the military and wait patiently for the bus to arrive. Isaac was the first one to go first,

"The only real reason why I enlisted into the military was really because of my father. He was famous for being a great medic. in my family. But sadly, when I was only around 7 years old, he had gotten killed by enemy line up defenses in Vietnam. His death devastated my whole family. So, I swore on his grave that I would be the best medic in the world."

Kent and West are shocked by this information.

"Damn, I'm not going to lie but that was pretty sad." Kent said softly.

West also speaks up,

"Yeah, that was a pretty sad story. I couldn't imagine losing one of the most loving people that was always there for me. Rest in peace your father. Here to get that out of your mind Isaac, I will tell you my true story on why I enlisted."

Isaac looks confused and turns towards West,

"Wait, I thought you just wanted to be a part of the military when you were a kid."

West's face fades, "Well, there's a reason behind it. I wanted to enlist into the military when I was a kid because of the sick people that lived near me. They had kind souls but not really good homes. Most of them were always sick or hurt and couldn't afford any treatment. Those people didn't deserve that type of life. So I promised myself to change that and help out in the military when it comes to medical standards."

Isaac smiles and speaks

"Well, I can assure you that you will become a great medic."

Isaac pats West on the shoulder.

"Well, Kent, do you want to share why you enlisted?" Isaac asks. "Yeah I mean, I was really just looking for a spare job to be honest. No other companies really wanted to hire me so, I chose to be in the military."

After what felt like hours, the bus finally arrived to pick them up. They were glad to be out of the freezing snow outside. As they walk onto the bus, there is really only 1 person. The person was just a man. He seemed to be reading a book near the corner of the bus. Anyhow, as they stepped on the bus, they needed to find somewhere to sit for the 3-hour drive.

"What do you guys think, do you guys want to sit together?" Isaac asks.

Kent nods his head and sits next to Isaac and the same with West. But as soon as the bus was ready to drive off, someone quickly came onto the bus at the last moment before the doors closed. It seemed to be a girl. So as the girl walks onto the bus, she drops her bags In front of Isaac, Kent, West.

"Shoot, sorry I just dropped my bags." The girl says.

Isaac and Kent don't help her, but West launches out of his seat and helps her with bags, starting to be more kind than usual.

"Don't worry, here, let me help you out." West calls out.

When she notices West helping her out with her bags, she blushes when she looks at him, hypnotized by his face. West looks back at her and also starts blushing, hypnotized by her face. Both of their faces are redder than a single tomato. West gives her bags back. But before she gets up, she asks West,

"D-Do you want to m-maybe come sit with me? You sound pretty nice." West is lightened from this and says,

"Sure, if you don't mind." She smiles and says,

"Alright follow me." West accepts this offer, goes and sits next to the girl.

As they walk and settle down they both don't talk for a bit, until West asks a question.

"So, what brings you to the military?" West asks.

"Well, I came to the military because I really wanted to be a medic." The girl says. "That sounds amazing," West replies.

"Yeah, it is! I really hope I can get to be a doctor someday." West laughs, "Well in that case, why do you want to be a doctor?"

"I don't know actually…hmm…because I want to help people in need." She speaks.

"I'm also training to become a medic!" West exclaims. They both started laughing, happy to have met another person that they could talk to.

"What's your name?" West asks.

"My name is Alice." She replies.

"Pleased to meet you! You can call me West, West Smith." West says nicely.

"Nice to meet you too! But I have one question West, why does it look like you got beat up?" Alice asks.

West looks down at his arm and sighs,

"Well, I was mugged by a group of training soldiers just like us. They tried to rob me and I tried to fight them off, but then they beat me up. Luckily one of my friends got lucky and actually managed to take one of them out before I blacked out."

"Wow well, I hope you get better soon West, sorry that happened." Alice says with concern.

"Thanks, that means a lot to me." West replies with a smile.

"Anyways, I bet you must be pretty excited huh?" West says.

"Y-yeah, I am! But I am a little scared." Alice says nervously.

"Hey! Don't worry! You'll be fine!" West exclaims.

"Thank you, West. I'm sure you'll be fine too." Alice smiles at West.

As the bus continues to drive, West and Alice start talking and joking around with each other.

"So, I believe your last name is Smith correct?" Alice asks.

"Yeah, my last name is Smith, do you mind if I ask you your last name?" West asks.

"I don't mind, my last name is Maruyama. It is an interesting name though I know. It means round mountain in Japanese." Alice replies.

"Ok Japanese, that's pretty interesting." West smiles.

"Yeah, my mom always told me that it was a lucky name, so I really liked it."

"Yeah, I think it suits you well. I really like your first name too. It fits your beautiful face."

"T-Thank you!" Alice blushed at West's words.

"Hey Alice, I have another question for you. If you don't mind." West asks.

"No, go ahead, what is it?" Alice asks.

"If you were able to go anywhere in the world and live there, where would you go?" West asks.

Alice's face starts to turn red as she thinks.

"Well, I would like to go to South Korea. There are just a lot of cool places there. There's this really cool place called Han River."

"Oh, really? Hebe, I'm actually from South Korea. So, I know a bit about that place."

"You do? Wow, that's pretty cool! Personally, I'm from Japan." Alice said happily.

"Japan? That's also a cool place! It's really full of beautiful sites!" West replies.

"Yeah, Japan is full of many different cool places. Like Tokyo Disneyland and Mount Fuji." Alice exclaims.

"Man, Asian countries are always so interesting! They all have such cool stuff to look at." West says.

They both start chuckling at each other's comments until West then asked Alice another question,

"Hey Alice, random question but, if you were dating a guy, what would he have to be like?"

Alice started blushing again and looked down at her lap,

"Well, if I were dating a guy, then I would want him to be smart, kind, loyal, loving, strong, handsome, and…" Alice looks at West, " he would have to have his own unique personality." Alice smiles at West, "How about you? What type of girl would you want to date?"

"Hmm…I'd want a girl who would be smart, loyal, caring, sweet, gentle, and most importantly… have a kind heart." West smiles at Alice.

Alice smiled back and spoke,

"You know what? You seem like a really nice guy West." Alice says softly.

"Thanks! You seem like a really sweet girl yourself Alice." Alice blushed at West's compliments.

Alice then looks back at West with a serious face and asks,

"Hey West, do you mind if I ask you something?" West was a little worried by this question but replies,

"Sure, what is it?"

Alice starts to blush as she asks her question, "Do you…do you like me?"

West was surprised by Alice's question. He was pretty much sure that he had a crush on her but didn't know if she actually liked him back. So he decided to answer her question truthfully.

"Hmm… I mean yeah, I kind of do actually." Alice was surprised by this response and didn't know how to respond. So she started to blush and looked back down at her lap. She then replies with a smile,

"I like you too West."

West was happy that he finally got his feelings through to Alice.

The two of them then watch the sunset while West watches over her. Alice slowly leans her head on West. West blushes and looks away which makes him blush more.

"West…" Alice whispers softly.

"Yes?" West says while looking at Alice.

"No one really, except for my family, really ever liked me before." She says sadly.

"Well, then that's their loss!" West exclaims happily. "You are such an amazing and beautiful girl with such an amazing personality and heart."

Alice felt really happy about these compliments. She then grabs West's hand and hugs him tightly. She was so happy that she had finally found someone that understood her and accepted her for who she was.

"Honestly Alice, you're the first person that ever seemed to enjoy being around me before. Even my family were and still are assholes towards me my whole life life."

Alice was shocked at this news and said,

"Why?"

"They told me that I was never going to be able to do anything useful in life since I couldn't even take care of myself." West's eyes started to well up with tears as he tried to hold them in. "But now after meeting you…I feel like…I can finally be myself without having to hide it."

Alice felt so bad for West and hugged him tightly again. She knew what it was like to feel lonely and abandoned. She felt so sad for him that she wanted to help him out. She then gave him a kiss on the cheek to comfort him. West smiled and replied,

"Thanks, Alice, that means a lot to me." West says.

Alice smiles and says, "No problem, West. If you ever feel lonely or want to talk to someone then I will always be there for you."

West looks away at Alice for a second and sighs.

"You know I remember meeting someone like you when I was little living on the streets. There was always a guy that would come to bring homeless children toys, food, water, etc. But the thing was, he didn't just do his job for money, he did it because he wanted to see smiles on children that didn't get anything in life. Not resources, nor a home, nor a family, not even a single lovable hug. He would do this week after week and month after month until one day while he was driving, there was a loud gunshot. I got up where I was sitting and carefully looked at the truck he was driving. A bullet had hit his front window and shot him in the head. He was soon rushed to the hospital, and soon after… he flat lined. And still till this day, no one knows who shot him. It was like someone glitched through realities and shot him." West exclaims.

Alice eyes widen in shock before asking West.

"Oh my god, that really happened!? West you poor thing! I'm sorry that happened to you." Alice hugs West tighter than before.

West looks at Alice with a little bit of a smile.

"Its fine, trauma doesn't really get to me anymore since its happen so much to me as a child. I'm used to it now." West exclaims

Still, West felt so happy by her words that he hugged Alice back. The two of them watched the sunset while they were together. They felt like they could trust each other since they both felt so lonely in their lives. So they felt happy to finally have someone they could trust with their lives.

After some time, the bus arrives at the base.

"Here we are." The driver says.