Operation Termite Hill

Memories

"Tajik." I shrugged.

"Barooo!!" Moose howled, he but at his leg, trying to get something off. Anderson kneeled down and reached into Moore's fur, he pulled out a red little device.

"Huh. Okay. A tracker. Aye, First Class!!" Anderson called, 'First Class' came running. He whispered something in his ear, and First Class ran off. "That ought a do it. He'll get that piece of junk in pieces at dusk, or he'll completely demolish it like everythin' else. That kid's been breakin' and fixin' stuff since he was a boy. Dad taught him, at least that's what he told me." Anderson stood up, petting Moose. I stood up too, stumbling back, Bruce ran through the dirt, catching me.

    "I hate this thing." I sighed, and Bruce helped me stand up. He kissed me on the cheek.

    "Sorry..." He sighed, and Anderson looked at us, frozen. Silverman came running, frowning at me.

    "General has ordered that you two are put to the test, take a twenty mile hike with the men." Silverman looked behind him, and gasped.

    "I'll tell 'em, you nitwit. Buff man, you'll take the hike. Prosthetic, you'll go to the gym and meet Sergeant. You'll take orders from him, listen and do as you're told. You'll regret it if you don't." The General signaled for Bruce to follow, "Follow Silverman."

    "Come with me." Silverman walked down a gravel path, and I followed. Bruce looked at me, concerned. I gave him a small smile, and he smiled back slightly. Moose followed me, growling at Silverman. Anderson looked from Bruce to me, and shrugged.

    "Ahh, Prosthetic! General said there's a new man with a metal leg, though he was kidding." A man said, wiping a line of sweat from his head and putting back on a shirt. "Thanks Silverman, I'll take it from here." Silverman ran off, "So, what's your name and when'd you get the robot leg?"

    "Private Wolf, and nearly a few days ago." There is one thing that I can confirm about war for the time I've been here, after a week or more in battle, days scramble together. Minutes get confused with days, days get confused with years, seconds are thought to be hours. When you put your life on the line you try to stay alive, while doing that, you forget time itself.
   
    "Wow! Heh, it's difficult, huh? Well, I'm Sergeant Alex Gray. Now, lift that." He pointed to a large weight on the floor.

    "...Ok..." I walked over to it, crouching down breathing slowly. I stood up, then my prosthetic buckled, making my fall flat on my back. I grunted, the weight landed on my chest, pinning me to the ground. I sighed.

    "Thought that'd happen." Gray stood there, "Come on, get up! I ain't going to help you!" I grabbed the weight again, lifting it up off me, and standing up. Dropping it, I looked over to Gray and scoffed.

    "Is that all?" I grunted, wanting him to challenge me, make me suffer, feel what war would really be like.

    "Ohh, I see, you want a challenge, huh?"

    "Finally someone understands."

    "Come, come, we'll really beat the living crap out of ya if you want." He walked over to an even bigger weight, and laughed. "Hm? Hold it up as long as you can, don't kill yourself, ok?"

    I nodded, standing behind the weight. I crouched down, cracking my neck and knuckles. Moose stood in front of me, licking my face. I began to stand up, holding the weight in my hands. Moose whined, standing behind me. My arms ached, my biceps screamed, and my shoulder blades felt like they were ripping away the skin on my back. I wanted to let it go, but I muttered to myself, 'stay in the game, stay in the game!'

    Gray started to count, and I looked up, closing my eyes, letting all the pain slowly dissolve as I looked back through memories. I dropped the weight, cursing under my breath.