Short Stories

Soldiers

CATEGORY: WAR/FRIENDSHIP
THE SONG IN THIS STORY IS "SOLDIERS" BY OTHERWISE. 

"Get your heads down!" Lieutenant screamed as a mortar shell exploded the earth just yards away from our squad. We all slid in behind a bunch of huge rocks and went prone.
"What are we going to do?" Sergeant yelled over a burst of machine gun fire. 
"We are going to complete the mission, Sergeant!" the Lieutenant yelled. One of the rocks exploded behind me and a piece of debris slid over my arm, slicing it shallowly. I inhaled sharply and quickly focused my mind back on the mission at hand after assessing that it was not a mortal wound. I zoned back into the Lieutenant's monologue while blood was oozing from the slice on my forearm. 
"...so, in short, we are going to split into three groups of three. Two of those groups are going to flank the compound on the left and right and the last is going to be the cavalry - charging right up the center. Donovan, Chandler, Maclean- left flank. Andrews, Duke, Hale- right flank." He turned to look directly at me with an apologetic look in his eyes, "Sorry, boys, but you're coming  down the middle with me."
"Nothing to apologize for, sir," my best friend, Staff Sergeant Lincoln Royce, yelled out whilst leaning onto the boulder behind us. Lieutenant nodded and saluted the flanking companies to signal their leave. The left flank moved out and the right flank waited a few minutes before leaving. Eventually, it was Lieutenant Murphy, Royce, and me. Me- Corporal Zachary Pare. 

Royce and I were best friends for 15 years,  going on 16, and he was like the big brother I never had. We would always play together throughout the years, no matter what we were playing. Toys, action figures, PC games, XBox games, whatever. You name it, we played it. I was there for him the year his mom died. I only ever saw him cry twice in his whole life, and that was the first. It was just four years ago, and you'd think that someone could get over that, but I've seen that you don't just get over something like that. You power through the initial pain, and you take any pain that comes afterward. He used to tell me that he bottled up the pain until it boiled into anger and determination inside of him and that's how he went up in rank so quickly. He was just good at what he did. I knew that and everyone else in the command knew that. It was a wonder how he wasn't a Captain already. 

"Do you confirm, Corporal?" Lieutenant Murphy yelled. I nodded and readied my weapon. He had explained what we were going to do and who was going to do what and I wasn't exactly paying attention, but I caught the gist.
"We got this," Royce nudged my arm, "no sweat. It's not like this is our first time seeing active duty."
"Right," I sighed, "but you're far more apt for this than I am."
He laughed, "You never could beat me in multiplayer."
"I beat you!" I smiled, "One time, but I beat you!"
"I'll let you revel in your glory," he snickered and punched my shoulder. I rolled my eyes in response and tightened the grip on my rifle as a heart-wrenching scream pierced the air. We all froze and glanced at each other. 
"Hale," Lieutenant punched the rock. I fixed my gaze on the ground and held my breath for a second. It was a sort of weird custom we had in our squad. We all agreed to just hold our breaths for a second if we heard someone die, and it was completely out of respect for each other. The nine of us had become a sort of well-oiled machine in each other's presence. These men definitely turned my life around for the better. They had all become like family and Royce just got closer than he already was, turning from my best friend to my brother. 
I was thrown out of my trance by another rock exploding near Lieutenant's head. The debris hit his helmet, but none of it bothered him. 
"We need to move," he snapped. Royce and I immediately turned our attention to Murphy as he tried to get a good look around the rock. "There are several more rows of rocks just like this one up the middle. We just need to wait for a break in the machine gun fire so we can move up."
I nodded and sat with my back against the rock. Sweat trickled down my face and neck as the sun poked out from behind the clouds that littered the sky. As if on cue, the gunfire ceased and Murphy gestured with two fingers to move up. Royce and I looked at each other and nodded before running out from behind either side of the rocks and safely putting ourselves up behind the next ones. Murphy was a few seconds behind us and as soon as his back touched the wall, the gunfire picked back up and began to drum down upon the rocks. Murphy held his hand up in a "wait" signal as the machine gun tore endlessly at the barrier between us. The gunfire ceased once more and we moved up to another row of rocks. My heartbeat was deafening and the hot, humid air was suffocating, but I pushed through. I pushed through.
"Pare, are you with us?" Royce yelled in my ear. My eyes shot open and I heaved a sigh, "Yeah. Yeah, I'm good."
"Good," he smiled and hit my shoulder. I nodded at him and tuned in to the gunfire.
It stopped short this time. Something was off. Murphy made the signal and I shook my head, but neither of them saw it. Royce stood straight up and took a single step before I reached out and gripped his leg. I pulled him back down as the gunfire was picking back up. And then there was blood. Royce was gasping for air and he seemed to be in shock.
"Royce!" yelled Murphy, turning to us, "How many?"
"One," I whispered, "maybe two."
"Lucky bastard," Murphy shook his head, "he's done for, anyway." Murphy turned away and anger began to swell up inside of me, "How can you say that?"
"He's not the only one who's died today, Corporal."
"He isn't dead!"
"Yet."
I yelled in frustration and turned my attention to my dying best friend. My brother.
"Zach," he coughed up blood, "Zach, we both know I'm a goner. Save your breath."
"No," I said, my voice wavering slightly, "no, we both know I'm too stubborn to listen to you."
He chuckled weakly, "That I do know." I held his hand as he was gasping for air. The sound was haunting. "Hey," he said suddenly, "you remember that song about the soldiers? What was it called?"
"It was called Soldiers," I laughed.
"Right," he smiled, "sing it for me."
"Royce-"
"Just... I'm a dead man, okay? I just wanna hear my little brother sing one more time."
"Okay," I nodded as tears began to well up in my eyes, "one more time.

It's time to strap our boots on-
This is the perfect day to die...
Wipe the blood out of our eyes.
In this life, there's no surrender.
There's nothing left for us to do.
Find the strength to see this through.
We are the one who will never be broken.
With our final breath, we'll fight to the death,
We are soldiers, we are soldiers."

He smiled and began to sing the "whoa" part and I pressed my lips into a tight smile as the tears found their way down my cheeks. He coughed several times and his voice was hoarse from coughing, but I sang the last part with him, nonetheless.

"We are soldiers."

He laughed weakly and squeezed my hand before I watched his mouth fall into a permanent frown and his eyes glaze over. I began crying, but I held my breath. 
I looked over at Murphy who was watching me with sympathetic eyes. 
"I'm sorry," he said.
I nodded and waited for a break in the gunfire. 
Then I yelled, "Royce!"
Murphy held his breath and I held my breath and the sun was taken over by a throng of clouds. Then, the sky began weeping. And I cried with it.