So there I was, another day in paradise. My paradise, if you called paradise being shot at, bombarded, burned and gased. War is a cruel parent, but an effective teacher. Its final lessons carved deep in my psyche.
Henry Douglass Gulliman. 20 years old. Joined the army right after highschool to avoid having to go to college but soon regretted when he was sent over to fight in a godforsaken war that had no right to escalate into one.
"One day till the weekend man, think those fucks out there will let us have the weekend off?" Gulliman scoffed as he inspected his rifle for the 6th time in the past 10 minutes
"Yea so you can go sit your ass on your phone and play that game I always see you on. C'mon gully you ain't getting shit for freetime out here"
Garrett Ford Heineman senior NCO to Gulliman but a friend he made while overseas. Friendship is the last line of sanity most soldiers have during the war, in this war crime filled conflict.
"You're damn right I wanna play that shit Ketchup! Its fun as fuck and passes time. When I get back home I'm getting myself a monster rig of a PC and downloading all the mods I can for rust. Hell if needed I'll buy your poor ass one too!"
Gulliman laughed as he leaned his back on a small thicket fence, currently they were pulling security at some shitty run down farmhouse that acted as a FOB for communications
"Psh as if you'd be able to afford anything, military doesn't pay you a dime. You should know this by now you've been in for 3 years and barely pushing sergeant. Hell they don't pay me any better than you and I've been in for 7! You can kiss my hairy ass."
Heineman complained about the discrepancies of their "job" while Gulliman essentially did nothing. The two were as close to brothers as you could get without blood relation. Both had an ever growing hate for the army, no pay, no good food, stupid regulations. They could drown on and on about how bad it was. Gulliman was put under Heinemans command when they both reached their unit, Heineman being the veteran of the two, knew the ins and outs of their station but out on their post he was just as lost as Gulliman. Gulliman on the otherhand was simply a sergeant, nothing more, nothing less, the way he saw it, he was just a civilian with a gun and had to play by a rulebook.
"I could go for a drink man, its hotter than Satan's Gooch and they give us full kit to sit out here and watch a fence" gulliman wiped the sweat off his brow with an already damp uniform sleeve
"Tell me about it buttercup. Remember we could always be in a desert in more gear. Land raiders are a thing" Heineman stated with a half cocked grin
Without a moments notice a sudden explosion went off nearby artillery both thought but that would've been nearly impossible, this shack is too obscure nothing can be seen from above let alone it's deep in a lush thicket of trees and shrubs.
Boom...boom.....boom...
The explosions get fainter and fainter, as if some giant was walking away, the two had dove for cover behind a massive thatch of green and moldy hay.
"Hot damn...I thought we were smoked for sure..." Gulliman shakily said as he lifted his head off the ground, surveying the area he could see from his prone position
"That was too damn close gully.. We need to really move but that's not my call, its past my pay grade to suggest"
Heineman started to chuckle before his infection laughter caught wind of Gulliman and the two of them started laughing loudly. The two of them seemingly lost their minds for a brief moment until brakakakak. Bakakakakak. Foomp....boom
Gunfire came soaring in their direction as tracers lit up the air around them, riddling the shack with holes, screams that quickly silenced but even louder gunfire.
"HOLY FUCK MAN" was all Gulliman could say as he tucked his head back down to the dirt floor, the ground quaking with every explosion and heavy round that sounded off in the dim evening of this Friday.
Heineman knelt up and returned fire in the direction the traces came from, getting pot shots in which actually slowed the hailstorm of bullets for a brief moment before it resumed with full fury and even more vigor, this time concentrated above gulliman and straight at Heineman. Gulliman pulled him down before a stream of blue and green tracers wizzed by their position, more explosions sounding off in the treeline. For another brief moment the gunfire stopped
"Fuckboys didn't think we had mines now did they eh? Dumbasses!"
Gulliman shouted at the would be assailants as he got up and returned fire into the trees, shouts emanated from the unknown, signaling his rounds found their mark, Gulliman had always been a crack shot and Heineman knew it cause he'd rub it in the seniors face.
"Hah! Take that you pissants!"
"Gulliman get down!"
"Huh?"
A bright flash surrounded the firefight, blinding gulliman and Heineman. Loud rushing sounds as if water was swirling them into a tidepool sounded in their ears, drowning everything in incomprehensible noise and muffled screams.
-end chapter one-
:I do hope it is interesting enough to you that read it! I've recently started getting back into writing to pass free time whenever I have it. Please do give this book a like and share it to your friends!:
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