"Your past is what built you into the man you are today." His father's words echoed in the back of Amire's mind at every choice. He wondered how the war made him. How the genetic experiments made him. How the people he loved and killed made him. He...
Amire protected his ears. The ground beneath his boots rattled, and he could hear explosions even with his ears plugged. A rugged hand grabbed his forearm, and he turned to see his green-eyed partner gazing at him with concern.
"Come on, we need to advance!" He shouted over the gunfire. Amire flexed his jaw and let his fingers drift up and adjusted his helmet. He tucked his M4 into his shoulder and lifted the heavyweight backpack up. They moved along the barrier line, keeping their heads down. Soldiers stood every few steps. Regularly one would peak over the barrier and let loose the bullets they'd loaded. The buzzing of gunfire echoed throughout the war-zoned city.
"We are taking off!" He heard a soldier yell amongst the commotion. A group of men marched their way to the center of the stronghold. Heading to the helicopter zone. He turned his attention to Degaan who was waving the other members of their squad over. Within a minute eight men stood at attention, waiting for Degaan's orders.
"Alright, listen up kiddos- our squad is being deployed to the inner city to clear it for our big daddy." Amire heard snickers at Degaan's strange nickname. "Intel states that Sequoia is bringing their own big mamma so it's time for the parents to battle it out." He clapped his gloved hands together. Degaan's bright clover eyes met Amire's for a second.
"Yo' can't you speak English." There was a soft chuckle from the group at Becker's gruff objection. Degaan raised a hand in a puppet mouth and made a face.
"Can I speak English- can you believe this guy?" He gestured to the brunette, a broad man loaded with 200 lbs of gear. Amire could tell the bickering was bringing the morale up. Degaan must have noticed too. He began to make overzealous movements with his hands, acting as if he hosted MMA fights.
"Big daddy vs. big mamma. Fight of the century! Who has a pot- ding it!" Jenna made a hollow ting sound and Degaan pretended to roll some drums.
"Who's going to make it out alive? Who's going to keep the kids? Let's find out after these short messages-"
"What is going on here?" Degaan froze and the chuckling of the group died down. Striking blue eyes shone out at the group even through the dark shadow cast by his helmet. Degaan cleared his throat and stood at attention. Amire and the others followed his lead.
"Lieutenant Lorem," Degaan greeted, "I wasn't expecting you so soon." Amire didn't recognize the striking man. "Kids- ahm, I mean team. This is Lieutenant Dodger Lorem, part of the Atrium Personnel hired to assist our platoon."
"Damn, you all got so stiff. Thank you for the introduction, Sergeant." Amire relaxed and Degaan gave an awkward grin.
"Right, well let's get packing. The inner city is counting on us to clear room for the tank." Degaan ordered. The group moved out and Amire followed, pulling up the rear of the squad. Degaan fell back, stepping in line with Amire.
"Hey, Amire. How are you holding out? You've been distant the last couple days." Degaan's mouth turned down in concern. Amire looked ahead and shrugged,
"I'm getting through."
"Here." Amire looked down to see Degaan push something into his gloved hand. "A pick-me-up, I need you in top shape." Amire's heart jumped, and he looked up into Degaan's eyes. The shorter man grinned and raised his eyebrows. Amire didn't hesitate further and popped the red orbiez into his mouth. He bit down and a bitter liquid filled his mouth. It tasted similar to cough syrup. The flavor coated his mouth and throat. He could feel a warm sensation in his stomach. Already his focus was becoming clearer, sharper.
"Good stuff- huh?" Amire nodded and Degaan smirked, waving as he upped his step to fall in line with Becker.
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