Brothers

Chapter 19

A couple hours passed when Mark and Chris entered the cell. Their breaths we're labored as if they'd entered a marathon.

I bolted to my feet and walked over to them.

"What happened?"

"They're here." Chris gasped.

I go into a frenzy and started to give them orders.

"Kyle, I want you to carry Dante. Nick I want you to help Jason to his feet and Chris, I want you to help Mariah." they nodded and walked over to them. "The rest of you grab the backpacks."

They scramble to get their stuff, all eager to get out of here. A couple minutes later, everything was picked up and the cell's floor was bare.

"You guys ready?" I asked looking at Jason and Mariah.

They nodded and I let them take the lead along with Kyle. The rest of us filed out after them, making our way to the door.

It took us a couple minutes to get to the door and when we did, the door was already opened.

"Hold up, guys." I told them. During our trek to the door, I somehow ended up in the front of the group.

They stopped and moved to the sides of the hallway. I lifted my rifle and slowly walked up the stairs. I pushed my body against the wall, with the barrel of my rifle pointed to the ground. I strained my ears, hoping I could hear something from the eerie silence but came up with no results.

Without looking back at my crew, I quickly lifted my gun and stepped out from the threshold of the prison door.

"Don't shoot!" a familiar voice called out.

Without lowering my gun, I looked through the scope to see Lieutenant Jorden. His arms were raised above his head in surrender.

"Don't shoot." he said in a calm voice. I lowered my rifle and he lowered his hands. I straightened my posture and gave him a guilty look.

"Sorry, Lieutenant. I've been on edge lately."

He shrugged.

"It's alright." he looked back at me with a confused expression. "Where's your squad? Sergeant told us that you had a big group with you." 

"I do." I nodded and looked down the stairway to see Jason and Kyle staring up at me. "All clear guys." I hollered down at them.

They nodded and motioned for the others to come up. Soon they were all out of the cell and the door closed behind them.

"Come on." Lieutenant Jorden urged. "We have to hurry."

It took us an hour to get to the helicopter because of Jason and Mariah's limping. When we got there, there was a CH-47 Chinook helicopter. The blades were going, making the dust stir from the ground.

I put my jacket over my mouth and nose to keep the dust out. I looked at my squad to see them doing the same. We bent our knee's, crouched low and ran to the open door of the chopper.

Before I went in, I stepped to the side to let my team in first, making sure that we had everyone before I stepped into the aircraft followed by Lieutenant Jorden.

I go to sit by Jason and Lieutenant Jorden went up to the pilots to, I assume, tell them we were ready to go.

Soon he came back and slid the door close, instantly blocking the dust from getting in. The helicopter jerked and swayed as it comes off the ground before getting a couple feet in the air.

Lieutenant Jorden sat down across from me, next to Nick.

***

A couple hours later we landed at the base. Lieutenant Jorden got up and opened the door, the dust immediately coming inside.

I brought my jacket over my nose, making a tent, before looking at Kyle, Nick and Chris. Without looking at me, they started to help Jason, Mariah and Dante.

I stood up and went to the door. Everything was chaotic. Soldiers were running around trying to follow through with orders and getting everything set up for the personal war that we were about to have.

As soon as my crew were out of the helicopter a soldier came up and told us that Sergeant Wood wanted to see us. I nodded to him and he led us to a different part of the base.

I dropped my jacket from my nose once we were far enough away from the flying dust. I looked back at Jason and Mariah. They were limping but their faces shows no emotion. I could see the blood seeping through their clothes. If we don't give them medical attention and fast, they'll bleed to  death.

Turning back to the soldier, I looked on his arm and my eyes immediately land on his patch.

"Corporal."

He turned to look at me but kept walking.

"Yes, Lieutenant?"

"I have two Lieutenants and a k-9 that need medical attention."

He stopped and looked over Jason, Mariah and Dante. A couple seconds after observing them, he nodded.

"You may go. Do you know where the infirmary is?"

"Yes, Sir." Jason nodded.

"Alright." the Corporal said, bringing our attention to him. "Let's go. The Sergeant wants to see you."

"Do they need to know the information that the Sergeant is going to give us?" I asked.

"You can fill them in later. Those wounds needed to be looked at."

I nodded and motioned for him to keep walking. We weaved through the tents that held supplies and different ranks of the soldiers.

"We're almost there." the Corporal informed us over his shoulder.

A couple minutes later, the Corporal stopped in front of a tent.

"He's in here." he lifted the flap and motioned for us to enter.

I nodded at him in thanks and entered the well lit tent, with my crew behind me. There was a long table in front of us with metal chairs surrounding it. it looked like a make-shift office.

Standing in front of us was Sergeant Wood, Sergeant Hickens and Sergeant Giles. They were standing in the back of the tent talking in low voices amongst themselves, oblivious of our arrival. Behind them was a projector screen, that was rolled down, and dark green crates behind and below the screen.

I cleared my throat, seeming that they didn't notice our appearance. All conversations stopped and all heads turn towards the sudden noise.

"Sergeant Wood, I was told you wanted to see us." I stated.

"Yes. I did." he looked over my group and his eyes land back on mine. "Where's Lieutenant Buchmann and the rest of your team?"

"They're in the infirmary. I was told by the Corporal that I could fill them in later. Sir."

He nodded and looked back at the other two Sergeant behind him.

"Let's get started."