Madison Grimes

1

"Stay alert, they could be anywhere." I say to my nearby platoon members in a low voice. A few nod as Ford comes next to me, his gun raised.

"Watch each other's backs, this is no test." Ford finishes my thought, as we've been through this same routine with many other platoons. We put everyone through a very rigorous training, keep the ones with grit and those who can endure more than most; and send the ones who don't have any of that to let them train with Demington. Once both Ford and I think they're good to fight, we take them into battle.

"Grimes, we lost Smith." Someone, I couldn't tell who, said. I nod, raising my gun as we move out, flooding the hidden areas to stay hidden, far from each other to cover more ground. I hear shots and go to the area they were shot, seeing Smith bleeding out from his stomach. I race out of the bushes, throwing my gun over my shoulder.

"Madison!" I hear Ford yelling at me, making me run even faster. I drop to my knees, applying pressure to Smiths wound. I hear gunshots go off around us, but stay over his body to make sure he doesn't die. I feel a sharp pain in my side, but ignore it and don't look up until the gunfire stops. We've either went down a miserable way or everyone on the opposing side is dead. Let's hope it's the second one though.

"Grimes, you're bleeding." Espinosa says, touching my side lightly. I move away from her touch, as it hurts a bit. I don't move away from Smith, though. "You need pressure applied to your wound as well." I hear her move away from me before speaking again. "Ford, someone needs to take them to the medical tent." She says before moving.

"Grimes, we need to-" I turn to look at him.

"We're not leaving him, what's our motto?"

"Grimes." He says in a warning voice.

"What's our motto?" I half way yell at him, the pain in my side coming back.

"Never leave a man behind." He mutters.

"I can't hear you!"

"Never leave a man behind!"

"Is Smith not a man?"

"Yes, but-"

"Is he not in our platoon?" He stays silent, not able to fight with me. "Who paged medical?" I ask, turning to the group.

"I did, ma'am." Davis says, holding the walkie talkie in his hand.

"How far are they?"

"Few minutes." I nod, taking my jacket off and placing it on the wound, giving him a better chance of survival.

"And you requested a gurney?" He doesn't have time to speak before a gurney with several men in a small car pull up and get out, taking Smith from under me. Once they take Smith, I look at the wound on my side and realize it went in and out, no bullet pieces should be in me.

"Grimes, do you want to ride with us to get medical help immediately?" One of the team asks me, I go to speak but Ford beats me to it.

"Yes she would." He turns to me with a set look on his face. "Go get fixed up, I've got this. We've trained many private's before this." I nod, knowing I need to go before I loose too much blood. I hop in the back, clutching my side as the adrenaline of helping Smith has passed through my body. One of the men guide me to an empty spot in the car and look at my wound.

"It was a clean shot, no fragments. You're very lucky, Grimes." I just nod as we pull up outside the medical room. Once we're all out and in the medical building, they rush Smith into a room to prep for surgery, if needed. I follow the man to another room to get stitches. I sit on the bed and watch as he gets the needle and thread ready. "This is going to hurt." I nod and wait for the needle to make its way to my skin.