The Day of Wakening

A New Team (Chapter 7)

A New Team (Chapter 7)

Suddenly a hailstorm of bullets rains from the skies. “It’s our boys!” Shouted Captain Taylor. I glanced upwards and I saw U.S. Blackhawk helicopters hovering around us.          

The attack helicopters hovered near us and dropped ropes. Army Rangers slid silently and gracefully down the ropes, and one instructs us, “Get in the chopper!” To our right, one of the Blackhawks lands in a nearby field- the Rangers within jumping out and securing the landing zone. I look at the captain and grab my rifle, and start running towards the chopper. With my peripheral vision I can see the Ranger laying down covering fire in the forest. These men were the most elite light infantry special forces in the world. We ran near the helicopter and were rushed aboard. We began lift off about five minutes later. The Rangers on the other hand, stayed on the field and continued to fight the enemy in a bloody battle. When we reached the minimum altitude to fly out, one of the wounded soldiers screamed out in terror, “Missile!” I then saw a Russian heat seeking missile being fired about three-hundred yards away. The missile came right for our chopper. The pilot jerked the plane and one of the soldiers flew out through the escape hatch. Rhino started to slide as well. He was abruptly flung from the helicopter. I acted with sheer luck and managed to grab his arm and as well as the railing of the helicopter. You’re not dying on me dammit!”I yelled. Captain Taylor and the rest of the S.A.S grabbed my arm and started to pull. With all the will in my body and theirs we were finally able to pull Rhino back into the plane. But the Russians had fired another missile, this time it wasn’t Russian though. Spirit took a glance at the rocket and announced, “It’s a Type- 390 Short Ballistic Missile, North Korean flags on the sides of them…”

 I looked at Spirit “You…You mean to tell me that little tyrannical freak sent his troops to our homeland!?” I closed my eyes for a second and opened them back up to see the missile had struck a Blackhawk helicopter. The chopper started spinning violently out of control, flinging soldiers from the helicopter. The pilot activated his emergency parachute and used the escape hatch. The helicopter went into disarray and finally crashed with a loud into the forest.

“This is the price of war”, uttered the pilot as he picked himself up off the ground.

I finally fell asleep after god knows how long; I had been on campaign for about a month now. I woke up to the sounds of jet planes soaring through the skies. I had just woken up, my eyes heavy. Slowly, I rolled over and glanced over at Captain Taylor who was covered in blood, before hearing the sound of a soldier say, “Welcome to paradise soldier”

Another soldier stood up and shouted, “Alright men, we are about two minutes away from base camp. I want head counts now. I need your name, unit and rank.” He pointed to a nearby soldier who was staring blankly into space – obviously reliving the horrors of what he had seen- and stated, “Give me your background soldier.”

The soldier quietly looked up and said, “Corporal Dan Garrison, seventy-fifth Ranger regiment: A Company.”

 The soldier, who had now identified himself as the acting commanding officer then looked and pointed at Zero and repeated, “Name, rank and unit, soldier.” Zero didn’t answer. Again he asked “Give me your name soldier!”

Zero’s view snapped violently at the officer, and he replied in contempt, “You want my fucking name? How about you call me Zero and keep it that way. I didn’t ask to help you Americans, so don’t bark commands at me like I’m some damn dog.”

The commanding officer looked at Zero in bewilderment and queried, “What branch do you serve?”

Spirit stood up his head covered in blood-soaked bandages, “We aren’t American if you haven’t figured that out. S.A.S. Britain’s Special Forces.” The CO just stood there speechless. The helicopter began to lower when suddenly a new order was received.