Chapter 24
Lukas
The humvee races along the dirt road. Dust flies up, and flecks of sand pepper the side windows as the wheels roll on through enemy territory.
Brutus lets out a wet burp, and I grimace.
Leave it to Collins to win a game of rock-paper-scissors, leaving me to ride with Brutus, Staff Sergeant Winters, and our overpacked gear while he gets the spacious back seat of the other humvee.
We’re third in line, Collins one ahead of us.
All speeding toward our destination, eyes peeled at the horizon.
My pulse jumps at every stone, every scraggly bush, at every fleck of gravel that hits us from underneath.
Trash litters the road out here. Everywhere we go, we’re driving over boxes, plastic bottles, each discarded piece of garbage swirling under our tires as we fly by.
Brutus twists toward the back seat to catch my eye, cracking a near toothless smile when he does.
I chuckle a little, always surprised that no matter how exhausted we are, no matter how tense the situation is or what battle we’re about to head into, that fucker always has a smile on his face.
“You know, Brutus, I give you shit, but you aren’t half ba—”
My words are cut off by a sudden, overwhelming explosion.
My face flies forward, just in time to see the first humvee in our convoy burst into a fiery blaze. The vehicle is flipped sideways and thrown to the side of the road, nothing but a heap of flames and carnage by the time it crashes.
“Fuck!” Staff Sergeant Winters screams as his hands fly to the front dash.
Brutus whips the steering wheel to the side, driving us off the road and through the ditch, trying to avoid the treacherous path ahead of us.
It all happens so fast, yet so slow. In one moment, I’m watching the side of his face as he screams, and in the next, my eyes flip back to the humvee in front of us, the one carrying Collins.
“Stop,” I whisper, but it’s no use. The second humvee explodes along with the first, and it’s flipped up in the air, twisting up around like a kite in the wind as it heads right toward us. The shockwave sounds; ripples of glass and metal and debris rain down over us.
I close my eyes, and my mind flashes to Mags.
To the way she looked lying on the beaches in France when I went to visit her after boot camp. To her smile and the playful twist of her lips when she’s teasing me. To the way she looks when she’s underneath me, when I can hear and feel every soft moan that comes from her mouth.
I love you, baby. I’m sorry.
I grit my teeth and bear down, expecting the worst to come.
Their humvee crashes right in front of us, metal scraping against metal as we smash into it.
My body is thrown forward, out of the seat and my head bashes against the window.
Smoke fills the cab. Hot flames are crackling outside.
Another explosion sounds to the side, or maybe it’s behind us.
There’s a flash of light so bright I grimace. Another high-pitched ringing sounds, one so powerful my teeth ache.
And then … silence.
Of all the ways I imagined my life ending, this isn’t one that ever came to mind.
The next time I open my eyes, there might be a bright light waiting for me.
I’d follow that light, and when I arrived at the gates of heaven, I’d see my parents’ house in Copper Ridge.
It’d be summertime, and I’m lying in my childhood bedroom with Magnolia curled up next to me as she sleeps.
I can hear my family downstairs, laughing.
A soft summer breeze filters through the window screen.
If I breathe in deep enough, I swear I can smell the fresh cut hay.
Funny how a place that I once felt trapped in is now my version of heaven.
The haze starts to clear. Specks of light fill the vehicle as the sunlight seeps in through the slits in the metal where the shrapnel ripped through us like butter.
I raise an arm to swipe the dust and sweat from my face, and I can see Brutus.
He’s yelling something, I think, his arms stretched across the vehicle, gripping Staff Sergeant Winters’ shoulder as blood seeps through his fingers.
Magnolia’s laugh fills my mind, and I think back to the last summer we spent together back home, the way she licked her finger and held it in the air. The Great Bambi.
Lukas, get up, baby…
She’s hovering over me, her blonde hair falling over her shoulders.
It’s time to fight.
A brighter flash of light. The door is ripped open and the smoke billows out. Someone punches me in the shoulder, and I look to my opposite side where Brutus is now outside. He’s reaching for me, tugging me by my flak vest to pull me out of the burning vehicle.
I fall to the ground, dizzy, drunk, momentarily paralyzed as he drags me through the dirt, propping me behind a huge boulder next to Staff Sergeant Winters.
I gasp for my next breath, sucking in the fresh air. My ears crack, the pain piercing. Bullets fly all around us, none even coming close.
Brutus shoves my rifle into my chest, and my hands fly to the trigger. Training starts to kick in. Muscles adapting.
This is what they worked us for. This is what we’ve been training for—it’s time.
The three of us position ourselves. Staff Sergeant Winters is firing orders, but I still can’t make out what he’s saying. I tap my ear and shake my head, and he nods, using his hands to signal our attack. My eyes flick to what’s behind him, to the two burning vehicles.
The first humvee took the worst hit; the fire’s already dying out, leaving nothing behind except a black metal frame.
I look around, hoping, begging, that I see someone out here besides the three of us.
A few of our guys are on the opposite side of the road, taking shelter behind their vehicle, which thankfully looks unscathed.
Then my eyes fly to the second vehicle, the one that flipped on top of ours. The flames are hot, licking up the side of my face even though we’re thirty feet away.
We need to fire back. We need to take them down so we can get to them.
To Collins.
I twist, setting the barrel of my rifle in between two of the bigger rocks. Brutus lines up next to me. He elbows me once, nodding when he catches my eye, as if to ask, you ready?
I nod back, pushing out a slow breath.
My finger moves over the trigger, curling around the worn metal.
And I fire.