The Last Man

Winterfall

The blizzard fell almost instantly, taking the warm feeling from John's chest and replacing it with a depressing coldness. To make matters worse he was assigned to transfer the APCs to their inside parking area. "Only here a day and I get this fucking detail," murmured John as he trudged through the harsh snow storm. As he finally arrived at the vehicle detail, he fumbled with his key set, trying to keep from dropping it due to his shaking. The large hauler's door unlocked with a click as John jumped in, sighing from relief as he rubbed his hands together inside the warm cockpit. He slowly cranked the engine, screeching the vehicle forward, dragging the APCs close behind. "Just a little more," John thought as he parked the large vehicle along with the APCs inside the warm station. "Now time for the walk back," John grumbled as he hopped out of the drivers seat, locking the door and walking out into the cold. The walk back was rather hard, due to the snow build up. John barely got the large metal door leading into the barracks. He stepped in, waving at his comrade Dimitri. He took off his visor along with his helmet. "How are you friend?" Dimitri asked as he sat up in his bed. "I would be pretty good if my ass wasn't frost bit," John said laughing. Dimitri would of replied, but he was cut off by the others motioning him over to them. John only shook his head, looking at the collection of men. Knowing the fact that the more men you meet, the harder it would be to bury the ones you knew. Before he could continue his morbid thought, a tall Russian officer walked in. "The enemy have broken past Dalinkev, and are heading towards us, get ready to defend men," with that said the officer walked out. John quickly got to his feet, grabbing his rifle and adjusting his helmet and visor. The others followed, and in within a short time they were all headed to their defensive positions. The wind smashed against his entire body, as John rushed to the right wall. Many other men greeted him with a half smile, all of them knowing what was coming. He slumped against a box of ammo, watching two engineers put together a 2 50.Cals. With few words said, the sirens blared all around, the deafening sound broadcasting a feeling of fear throughout the regiment. "Are they coming soon?" A private asked, sticking his head out of the gunner's viewpoint. His answer was met by a lone bullet tearing into his head. The poor boy was dead before he had any idea that he had been shot. "Heads down!" John yelled. Prompting most of the guards to crouch. This gave the two gunner's a chance to flip their thermal vision on. "50s armed!" both loaders called. "Then unleash hell boys!" an officer yelled, chuckling as the sound of machine guns broke the silence. John covered his ears from the intensity of bullets ripping into the various attackers. Screams of the enemy trying to reform themselves would stay in John's head for an eternity. "Alright boys, this is where we tell that federation of theirs to go to hell!" screamed John as he motioned a man with a M72 to fire at a collection of men. The shot was taken in a second, blowing up a large group of men. The shooter was thrown back into a wall by a large explosion. "What the hell was that?" questioned a soldier. His question was answered by the sound of rotors spinning. "Heli inbound, hit the deck!" John yelled throwing himself to the ground just as a section of the tower was blown clean off, sending the rubble into a tank. A brave soldier stood up and took a pot shot at the heli, damaging it's rotors. His glory was ended by a shot in the chest, sending him falling over the edge. John looked at the gunners to see them completely dead, but one 50 was still intact. He attempted to run to the 50, but was put back to the ground by a series of rockets pounding the wall. He was tossed and thrown by the large scale of rockets, until finally with a creaking sound a section of the gate fell. The soldiers then stood back up and returned fire, killing many of the attackers. "We have to get off this wall!" yelled John. He started to run and was knocked down a staircase by an explosion, the others branched off to get off the wall. John looked around, warily got up, and walked over to a collection of crates to sit down. The battle continued on, soldiers dying left and right. John rejoined the fight by assisting anti-vehicle personnel take out 5 tanks. The enemy wouldn't stop coming, for every 2 you put down 5 more came. "They're on all sides!" a soldier screamed, firing at a collection of men. John took cover in a large hole made by an explosion along with 10 other men. "We may have to retreat!" a voice said over the radio, this was the captain. The world was deafened around John as he looked at the chaos in progress, he was positive he wouldn't make it out. It seemed as if God backlashed at his statement, with the site of 15 helicopters coming into view. "Roger, the cavlary is here boys, better keep your asses down and mark big boys if ya' will." stated the squadron leader Kayla. With the ending of the statement, the enemy were mowed down by the choppers. They tried to return fire at the squadron, but were overtaken by the supreme firepower of the Apaches. The remaining enemies were shot down, including the enemy chopper, brought into flames by the helicopters. And Kayla replied "All clear boys, we're headed back." And just like that the choppers flew back, and the survivors cheered. "Search the area" the captain barked over the radio. John and the others combed the broken camp, the cold finally coming back into his sense. They rounded a corner near the gate and suddenly stopped, to the site of bodies piled on one another from the fighting. It seemed as if they were comforting each others passage into a greater world. This made John drop to his knees and begin crying from the overwhelming battle. But what really broke his heart was Dimitri laying close to the gate, his entire left arm missing. John ran over to him, he was still breathing. "My friend" Dimitri said in a faint voice, blood surrounding his mouth. John couldn't reply, but it seemed as if Dimitri read his thoughts, replying "Yes, I know my end is near comrade." John kneeled beside him and muttered "I'm sorry friend, I'm so sorry." Dimitri chuckled as if he was okay with the fact. He reached out his trembling hand and John grasped it. "Tell my daughter, I'm sorry I can't make it to her birthday. And that daddy loves her more than anything in the world" Dimitri said. "I will" John said as a tear fell from his eye. "Good comrade, good" Dimitri said chuckling with his final breath, and finally slumping over. John remembered the same phrase as he let go of his dead friends hand, "Don't make friends, it only makes it harder to bury them."