Juggernauts

CHAPTER 26: Deterioration

Tom holstered his pistol as Benson came over and aggressively shoved Tom.

"What the fuck is your problem Hanson?" Benson questioned.

"What are you talking about, I just saved your sorry ass!" Tom angrily replied.

"I had him, and you stole the glory from me!"

"Like hell you did, he was gonna splatter your brains on the wall." Tom laughed.

"You fucking bastard! That was my kill!" Benson shoved Tom again.

"Stand down Lieutenant, or I will have to detain you."

Benson placed his hand on his holster, as if to try to intimidate Tom.

"You sure you want to do that?" Tom questioned as he also reached for his pistol.

"Both of you stop!" Ella interjected. "We need to get out of here in case they have any reinforcements coming."

Tom stared down Benson for a moment before speaking again. "Alex, get the body. We'll need it for identification."

Alex did as he was told and hoisted the dead body of Takoda over his shoulder and followed his leader out of the room.

Tom picked up his rifle and exited the room, leaving Benson to follow behind the team.

"Shawn, call it in." Tom instructed.

Shawn radioed for a pick up and about twenty minutes later, a helicopter landed in the yard of the camp.

The ride was silent with no words spoken the entire time. But the tension could be felt by everyone inside as Tom and Benson stared at one another the whole time.

As soon as the helicopter landed back at the base in Germany, the team and the body was immediately escorted to a secure location for confirmation on the identity of the kill.

The team turned in all their weapons, except for side arms and knives for security reasons, and were placed on lock down. This was not a new experience for any of them except for Shawn, they were always placed on lock down after killing an HVT or High Value Target.

It was estimated to take a few days to get a confirmation on the body, since it had to be sent away to a main lab and cross referenced with other files and records.

After the team was places on lock down, Tom went to his designated area for sleeping and removed his gear before going to the showers.

He for the first time took a real look at what had become of him. The fused metal and skin made him cringe internally at the sight. He looked to his hands and closed them before opening them again. The metal flexed just like it was real skin, and he could still feel everything as if he was never injured.

The hot water of the shower felt good on his face and body. It being his first shower in a while due to the constant missions and the injury. 

After his shower, he toweled off and put on some old clothes consisting of a ragged USMC shirt and some cargo pants that somehow managed to fit over his mechanical prosthetics. He made his way to the common area and poured himself a drink of Coke and Whiskey.

Shawn Entered and sat down next to him. "How you doing cap?" He asked.

Tom took a sip of his drink. "Been better kid. Just can't believe everything that's happened this year."

"I know sir, been a hell of a year for you and your team."

Tom gave a slight chuckle and took another sip.

"What are you gonna do after the war kid?"

"Haven't thought much of it. Wasn't prepared for it to be over so early." He laughed

Tom laughed as well and set his glass down. "I'm not entirely sure what I'll do. Military life is all I've known. Maybe re-up and hunt down anyone trying to make the bastard a martyr."

"Before I enlisted, I was working on building some new types of drones. Ones to support foot soldiers and all that. Maybe I'll keep working on them."

Tom poured himself another drink and made one for Shawn. "Drink up kid, you earned it."

Shawn took the glass and raised it to Tom. "To those who won't make it back, sir."

Tom raised his glass as well. "To the families of those who will never see their loved ones again."

They clinked their glasses and downed their drinks.

"Get some rest kid." Tom said as he cleaned up the glasses. "Been a long week."