Short and Sweet

Modern Warfare

[Trigger Warning; Abuse and Thoughts of Suicide]

"Soap, Price, and Ghost." He says though hesitates over the last name. "Ghost..." He says once more, his heart hurting worse than before. Him and Ghost had been friends since they had first meet. They had gone through and raised hell together. Yet he's gone. He's as gone as the other two that he mentioned. They're just memories, much like everyone else that he's come into contact with. He's been missing his friends, and family, more than usual.

"August Fifteenth," he starts, "The hardest day of my life..." That was when he lost his friend, the one person that he trusted more than anyone. Remembering had always been the worst, due to their history.

Ghost was there when Roach had gotten his first dog. A black lab, which was one of the best investments that he had made. That dog was with them for years, he had trained with them, he was there when Soap was gone. While it was difficult for the three of them to lose someone so close, Roach knew that Soap wouldn't be the first. He had hoped that Soap would of made it longer than he did but this day was for Ghost.

The last to go, the longest to live, yet Roach couldn't bare thinking of what happened. What he hasn't blocked out was the feeling that he had before, before he meet those three men, though for whatever reason it was stronger whenever it was around August 15th. He feared that the connection with these three would ruin him and he was right. They were his friends when he was going through a hard time in his life.

Roach had been sitting at that cliff thinking of his fallen friend. He remembers how they would all come here often and just watch the water at the bottom. The fond memories that he had floats through his head. "We would throw rocks off of here, watching as they landed in the ocean below..." He remembers how they would laugh, seeing who could throw rocks the furthest. A small, yet sad, laugh escapes his lips. The salty ocean air blows through his hair. Those memories of the past fade to the present.

When he stands, he can feel his blanket shift within the wind. It feels uncomfortable, though he doesn't take the blanket off. It was one that him and his friends had gotten together. One that he treasured more than anything. It was a gift, something to remember them by. After Price had passed, Roach and Ghost had gotten more blankets to try and hide the pain. Though the fear of losing his last friend couldn't be shaked.

"August Fifteenth..." His voice is quiet, as if whispering to someone that wasn't there anymore. Pain, the one from earlier, had started to centralize. He wants to step forward, to join his friends, yet he know that won't do anything. He's been able to survive worse than just a cliff fall. A sigh leaves him, he wouldn't be able to see them again. He knows that and days like this only make his thoughts worse.

As he walks away from the cliff, he can feel the long blanket get tangled around his legs making it hard for him to walk. Years had passed since the first August 15th and it didn't make it any easier to face. Roach came to terms with his curse ages ago, yet days like this make him hate what happened to him. He could never shake the feeling of being alone and of loss. They were two feelings that would forever plague him. He returns to his truck, one that he rented just to see this cliff again. He never enjoyed driving, yet there was something about this spot that made him want to come. Three times a year he would make the journey across oceans and cities to this one spot. It was far from what he knew to be home but it was always worth it.

The sun sets as he heads back into the nearest town. The forest around him seemed to be leaning more towards the colder weather. While August was the end of summer, he always felt like it was the beginning of winter. Logically he knew that snow was bound in a few months but he couldn't help but feel the draw of winter during mid-August to early September.