Army Strong

21)Hold your fire! Or not...

-You made it.-Steve clapped his hands in a sarcastic way as I got to the base. I was exhausted and probably on a high level of dehydration. The boys looked pissed! Clark handed me a bottle of water right away.

-Fuck you, man... Just fuck you...-I could barely speak.

-Say that again?-He got closer to me. I didn't say anything. I remembered he was our Sarg. way too late.-Get on the ground. I'm gonna smoke the shit out of you!

-Oh, c'mon!-Taylor lost it.-Isn't it enough?!

-You got a problem, faggot?! Well, get on the floor as well!-He screamed.-NOW!-I sighted and did. Taylor followed me.-Give me 50. -I closed my eyes as I laid on the floor. No way in hell I'd be able to do it. Besides being exhausted, dehydrated and starving, all my muscles were hurting for some fucked up reason!-Quick time!!-I looked at Taylor and then started. By the 20th, I was pretty much dying. My arms were shaking, I couldn't go all the way down and for that reason Steve wouldn't count them, which meant Taylor was suffering because of me. I tried to go down, for him but I physically couldn't come up. I just dropped on the ground, exhausted.-JONES! GET BACK UP NOW!

-I FUCKING CAN'T! JEEZ!-I screamed, frustrated.

-Ah fuck this...-Clark took off his belt and put it around my chest, holding both ends.-C'mon. I'll pull you up.-I looked at him and smiled. I then restarted. I didn't even have to push much. Clark was doing most of the job.

-That doesn't count, Jones.-Steve said, mocking us.

-Yes it does, sir.-Hunter stepped in and got on the ground too. Johnathan followed him.-We're a team. We're supposed to work together.-They started doing push ups too. Sarg. looked at us and then turned his back on us. He was pissed. I just dropped on the floor, drained both physically and mentally.

-C'mon, Ellie...-Clark helped me up. I was in a pretty rough shape. They took me to the infirmary. As soon as I got there, I just blacked out.

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-Jones!-Steve screamed. There were bullets flying over our head as we were hiding inside this tiny trench. I got up, run to him and threw myself on the floor besides him.-Grab the M82 and blow them!

-Yes, sir!-I looked around quickly. Good thing about Syria is that even though all that destruction was awful, that wreckage would allow us to hide pretty much everywhere.-Clark, follow me.-He looked at me and shook his head affirmatively. We both got up and just ran for our lives.

That feeling right there, that was something I can't explain. That adrenaline... All of sudden, everything was crystal clear. My mind was finally a calm place to be at. All the worries, all the stupid first world problems were gone! In that moment, I didn't think about anything. I didn't think about Taylor, I didn't think about Steve, I didn't think about that dress I loved but was too small for me, I didn't care my fucking boots were covered in dust, I didn't care my hair was a mess. I just didn't fucking care in that moment! It didn't even cross my mind! Everything I would worry about inside my safe house didn't matter there. All I could think off was getting to where I wanted to go without having a bullet stuck up my ass.

Clark grabbed the gun and we run to this destroyed building. The structure would moan at every step we took. We were recklessly running on it when the floor under Clark's feet gave up and collapsed. I only had time to throw myself on the floor and grab his hand. It was pointless anyway. As I held him, gravity pulled both of us down. He was heavier than me. I ended up falling right over him.

-Damn...-He moaned in pain as he pushed me off of him. I couldn't help but laugh. He got up slowly.-Yeah, it's funny when you're not the one hitting the floor!-He was slightly pissed which only made the whole situation even funnier.