The Lost: The Worst War of My Life

Chapter Eight

"Are we there yet?" Parker ask.

"Does it look like we're there?" I answer.

"Bro, I wish there was like a McDonald's open."

That's Sargent Browning. Me and him have been through everything from boot camp to watching Detroit go up in flames.

"You know damn well there's no such thing as a McDonald's anymore" Jeffery answers.

"Hold on shut up."

I spot something moving in the distance. We are right outside of Pittsburgh at this point so the sight of life isn't out of the ordinary.

"Gun!"

Immediately we are hit with a barrage of bullets. Thank god we are In a tank of a truck or else we'd all be dead. The shots stop and we jump out in formation and crouch behind the truck. It's a Knight XV. The best of the best so getting shot through it, not a bother. The shots start up again and I survey the area to find the location of the shooter. A bullet hits my helmet and everything goes, dark. I'm laying on the muddy Earth thinking I'm dying. I can't hear, I can't see. I just pray. Another bullet hits to the right of my head and I flash back into reality.

The one shooter has now become two.

"What are we gonna do?" Browning yells.

"Stay down and hold your fire. Conserve as much ammo as possible." I answer.

We go through what seemed like an hour of being shot at before it stops again.

"Fire!" I order.

We start firing at a building where the shooting was coming from.

I empty a magazine and take cover again as does my squad. This time no return from the shooters.

"Move in!" I order again

We rush the front door and once inside there's no one there. Just broken glass and suitcases.

"What the fuck?" Parker breaks the silence.

"Sweep the house if anything moves you kill it." Blackman orders.

I make my way upstairs and what I saw will probably scare me for the rest of my life.

There's a boy no older than 15 laying in a pool of blood. I take my helmet off and kneel over the dying kids body and start to feel my first sign of humanity since this all started.

"Confirmed shooter." I barely make the words flow off my tounge.

My team surrounds me. All feeling the guilt that I'm feeling.

"It had to be done" Blackman says while resting his hand on my shoulder.

"Spread out there was atleast another shooter." I order.

After I'm left alone with this body I begin to cry. I reach into the boys pocket and pull out a picture. It's him and what seems to be his father.

"Drop it." A powerful voice says from behind me.

I didn't turn around I just put the picture back in the kid's pocket.

"Don't be stupid." I tell the stranger.

I then feel the cold chill of a barrel on the back of my head.

"It had to be done?"

I hear the lever of a magnum cock back. I knew I had to do something or I was going to die.

Right there. Next to this kid.

"Don't" I plead.

"It had to be done?"

I spring up and grab the gun and toss it to the floor, it slides across the room. I punch the man in the face and he stumbles back. I know this won't be enough to stop this attacker so I tackle him down the stairs. He jumps up and swings and misses me. I grab his arm and toss him into the wall. I draw my gun, a Springfield 40. I stop from pulling the trigger and just look at the man. My first sight of him. Besides the blood from his nose he looks, normal. He's a white male, black hair, scruffy beard, and grey eyes.

"Do it, you've taken everything from me already."

I lower my gun and look at him.

"Get up."

He ignores me. I raise my gun and order again.
"I said get up!"

"Who is this?" Blackman says while walking into the room.

"Where'd he come from?" Jeffery ask.

"Upstairs he was there the whole time." I answer.

We continue to discuss what to do with the stranger. He took that as an opportunity.

"Don't move!" He screams out.

He has Parker in a choke hold and Parker's gun in his hand.

"Let him go!"

All guns are drawn on the stranger. Red dots all over Parker's body.

"Don't shoot!" Parker yells.

"You took my son now I'll take something from you." The stranger yells out.

I'd love to tell you the rest of the conversation but to be honest I blacked out up until the unspeakable happened. While we were aiming at the father of this dead kid the dead kid came back to life and made his way downstairs. What happened next is what really got me.