Call of Duty Ghosts: The Aftermath

Chapter 28

Present Day

Merrick

I sigh and meet Logan and Cameron's wide eyes.

Logan leans forward, resting his arms on his knees. Cam sits up, obviously also intrigued.

"So what did you do?" Logan asks with excitement and curiosity.

"He saved my life."

I glance up to see Keegan leaning against the doorframe, staring at me, and I smirk.

"You're damn right, I saved your life. Five more minutes and you'd have been dead." I say, and Keegan nods with an eye roll.

"Yeah, yeah. I know." He stands up and walks over.

He glances at me as he falls onto the couch next to Logan. Taking a deep breath, he glances over at Logan.

"Merrick got me out of there, fast. Called in the med flight. All of us got out of there. Even as the medic was helping me, with both the bullet and stab wounds, Merrick wouldn't leave me." He says, meeting my eyes.

Then he shrugs.

"At least, that's what he told me. I don't remember anything after Merrick carrying me." He says, and Cameron raises his eyebrow.

"Nothing?" He asks, and Keegan sighs then closes his eyes.

"I remember the last thing he said to me before it was lights out." He says, and Logan stares at him.

"What?"

Keegan opens his eyes to meet mine with a caring look.

"Hold on, Marine." He says, eyes locked with mine, and a smile creeps its way onto my face.

"A Marine never leaves another Marine behind," I say, and Keegan nods, then smirks.

"And yet, you were still bullshit at me for not listening to you." He says as he leans against Logan's shoulder.

I frown with a raised eyebrow.

"Of course I was! I TOLD you not to try to get to the battle, and to stay where you were-"

"Or you'd beat the shit out of me. Yeah. I remember." Keegan says coldly, then the ice melts away from his warm smile.

He glances from Cameron to Logan.

"I woke up in the infirmary back at our base five days later. No recollection of how I'd gotten there or why I was even there. Then I felt the pain from my wounds, and everything hit me like a train. I had almost died. Merrick saved my life. When he walked into my room, I thought he was coming to say he was glad to see I was okay."

Cameron raises his eyebrow.

"He wasn't?" He asks, and Keegan scoffs.

"NO! He started chewing me out on how I should have just done as I was told and followed orders and I wouldn't be in a damn infirmary after almost dying." He catches my eye, and I bite my lip, rubbing the back of my head.

Logan raises his eyebrow and slowly turns his head to me.

"Really? Keegan was seventeen, in the infirmary after almost being killed, and you started giving him shit like that?!" He exclaims, and I sigh.

"Well, if Keegan was like any other teenager, he wouldn't have been yelled at by me," I remark, and Keegan rolls his eyes, sitting forward.

"Yeah, 'if I was like any other teenager'. Well, I was a kid with determination and skill. A kid who graduated from the best military academy at sixteen years old, joined the Marines as a seventeen-year-old and became the best sniper the war had ever seen. A seventeen-year-old kid who almost died doing what he believed was the right thing to help his friends and his country." Keegan retorts.