I'm alive, but who am I

Arthur, loss of a friend

(A/N this is an event from the past that Arthur remembers)

Arthur's POV:

The battle has been raging for three weeks now, but it's hanging on a knives edge, we've been given orders to hold the city for as long as possible, while men and material is brought in to fortify more positions in Turkey,

We've done what was asked of us and more, but the theater commander sees us as expendable, our flanks are breaking and the city is in endanger of being encircled,

Alan: say, Arthur, you're not a very religious man are you

Arther: no I'm not

Alan: why's that?

Arthur: I never really saw the point to be honest

Alan: I understand, I'm an atheist myself, but I have to admit that I find it funny we're defending a holy city, it's kinda like we crusaders from the third crusader

Arthur: if so, then I'm king Arthur the crusader

We both laugh at my crapy joke as another explosion shakes the ground, then we are joined by Jackson and Roy,

Jackson: what are you two laughing about?

Arthur: just a bad joke I made

Roy: so all your jokes then

Arthur: ha ha, says the guy who fails with girls

Roy: says the guy whose girlfriend dumped him, ow

Jackson: low blow man, you know what happened between them

Roy: yeah sorry for what I said

Arthur: it's alright

Then the base alarm goes off and we spring into action, me and Alan get into a jeep and head to our position while Jackson and Roy head to theirs,

Me and Alan are set up along an old wall to defend it while wounded and supplies are faired through the area, though it's an important position to hold, it doesn't see much combat, though I'm not complaining as it means a high survival rate,

Alan: hay, mind if I ask you something?

Arthur: yeah sure, what's on your mind?

Alan: just something that's been on my mind, me, Roy, Zack, and Mike are from the US, while Jackson is from Canada but speaks with an American accent, but what about you, you're originally from Europe right?

Arthur: yes, I was born in the Netherlands, but my parents are from the US, we moved there when I was four and lived there until I was twenty when I moved back to the Netherlands

Alan: And what about Sherry?

Arthur: she and I... It's... I don't like to talk about it

Alan: I understand, I was put in a similar situation as you, she was angry at me for fighting her kind too, but shortly after our breakup she found out she was pregnant, she called me about it, and I told her that is why I fight, I fight for her and our little one

Arthur: I didn't know, I'm happy for you, I'm sure you'll make a great dad when this is all over

Alan: if we survive this and if humanity still has a place in the world

Arthur: you're right, there's always an if

Alan: not always, but a lot of the time

Then an explosion rocks the wall, causing it to collapse, and we fall into an alleyway,

Arthur: Alan, you alright?

Alan: yeah, apart from my ass, I'm fine

Arthur: what's wrong with it?

Alan: got a pebble stuck in in

Arthur: well, it could be worse

Then I hear a growl from down the alley, looking, I see a squad of enemies, once a particularly vicious wolf baring his fangs,

Alan: just had to say something

Arthur: me and my big mouth

I say as we raise our guns and start shooting, we get three of them before they close the gap between us and start fighting up in close quarters combat, they have the advantage of strength and ability, but me and Alan have each other's back,

We fight well and hard, and we get four of them, before me and Alan get separated, I kill a fifth one, leaving three left, two in front of me, while Alan fights the wolf, one of the ones in front of me lunges forward to attack me but I dodge and draw my pistol and shoot him in the back, leaving just two left, turning back, I fire and hit the other fur in the shoulder twice before running out of ammo, Alan then tries attacking the wolf but he dodges back then pounces forward on to Alan, I quickly kill the one I shot and rush to help Alan, but it's too late, I stab my knife into the wolf's side and grab Alan, but see him clutching his throat, the wolf mauled his throat,

Alan: Arthur *cough* tell... Tell Summer... Tell her I love her...

Then his hands fall to the ground,

Arthur: No!

Alan died in my arms, my friend, dead, dead in a war with no meaning, looking up I see that the wolf is gone, my knife on the ground, and a trial of blood leading back the way they came,

I pick up Alan's body and carry him back to the base, and lay him down where all the dead are, and there is a lot of dead,

*time skip one month*

It's been one month since Alan's death, I delivered the message to Alan's girlfriend Summer, she didn't take the news well, nor did I, but the war goes on, and our team needs a new member, my team has been redeployed to a base near Königsberg,

Roy: do we need a new member, who could replace Alan

Arthur: we need to be at full strength, we're only a fire team, so it's time to meet the new guy

And in steps the new replacement for the team,

Arthur: everyone, I'd like you to meet Yuri

Yuri: I've heard what happened to your friend, I know what it's like to lose friends, I don't want to replace him, I could never replace a friend

Jackson: thanks, that means a lot to use

Roy: I look forward to working together

Yuri: same hear

He's going to be a great asset to the team, but Alan will be missed, goodbye old friend,