His friend swore. “What do you think about it, man? You know me. I’m a good shot, I don’t freeze up in a fight, and I’d walk through fire to help a squad mate. If Matt’s too squeamish to let me stay in his squad that’s on him, but I can do more good out there fighting blockheads.”
“The war’s not going to be over tomorrow,” Trev replied. “You’re not going to miss all the fighting if you take a break for a few weeks. Come on. Stay in camp, sort out whatever issues Matt’s so worried about, and once you’ve got your head on straight talk to me again. I promise you’ll have a place in my squad if Matt doesn’t want you back.”
Pete turned away sullenly. “So after everything I’ve done for the town, for all of you, one word from Matt and nobody trusts me anymore. I suppose if I tried to go back and join Lewis he’d probably refuse, too.” The young man kicked at a nearby scrub oak and swore again. “I don’t deserve this, Trev.”
Trev felt a surge of sympathy for his friend that he had to push down. “You know, if you stopped looking at this like a punishment it would go a long way towards sorting out your issues.”
“Screw you.” Pete turned and stomped away.
Trev sighed and made his way back to slip into his sleeping bag. He wished Matt would’ve told him more about what was up with Pete, so he’d have some idea of what this was all about. He trusted his friend’s word, but it would’ve been nice to make his own judgment on the issue. Unless it was something to seriously worry about it felt like making mountains out of molehills.
As the squad settled down, he couldn’t help but notice that Alice moved a short distance away from everyone and made her own little camp with Pete. Trev supposed that made a sort of sense, since the young man had been kicked out of Matt’s squad and wasn’t welcome in his, so with the camp moving he didn’t really have a place to stay.
He tried not to ponder too deeply about why the couple elected to set up a privacy tarp, or notice how a stone’s throw away Rick had stopped setting up his sleeping bag and was glowering at the rising screen.
Pete joining Trev’s squad wasn’t any of Alice’s business, and whatever the two decided to do on their own time wasn’t Trev’s business or anyone else’s. He put it out of his head and focused on what he remembered of the terrain north of Cedar Creek, doing his best to prepare for their new assignment.
It was a lot more broken and rough than the wooded slope Matt’s squad was in charge of. Less cover, and fewer approaches, which would make it harder for the enemy to get anywhere. That was nice. But at the same time it meant picking over the terrain to patrol it would be more taxing for them.
Maybe he should risk patrolling the foothills below instead. They’d be covering the same area, and should still be able to easily ambush any approaching blockheads. With some preparation they could also plan escape routes to safety if they had to bolt, and ways to punish the enemy if they were pursued.
It was something to think of. Tomorrow. Trev was crashing hard, the adrenaline-fueled night leaving him drained and a bit shaky. He was more than glad to let sleep claim him.
Chapter Six
Uneasy Routine
Trev ended up getting up far earlier than usual, in spite of the interrupted sleep from last night’s chaos.
Or maybe because of it. His sleep was uneasy, full of nightmares of explosions and people screaming. He kept finding himself starting awake, heart pounding and ears straining for the sounds he’d heard in his sleep. They felt so real he was certain at any moment his dreams would become reality. That the radio he’d made sure to keep on the standby channel, his earbuds in place despite the discomfort, would blare with Davis calling for him to get his squad together.
That never happened, and he was always able to calm himself by remembering that two hundred soldiers were out there guarding them while they slept. Even so, he still woke up when it was barely bright enough to see his hand in front of his face. He was exhausted, but that didn’t stop him from dragging himself out of his sleeping bag and packing up his things.
It didn’t help that the hastily cleared ground had been full of bumps, several large enough to be uncomfortable even through his sleeping pad. Tonight he was going to make it a priority to get his squad situated in a comfortable campsite. He wanted them to get some real sleep, assuming it didn’t interfere with their duties.
Trev wasn’t too surprised to find that he wasn’t the only one up and about. Nobody else had gotten much sleep either, which wasn’t terrific; today was going to be difficult for all of them, and he didn’t doubt they’d regret the sleepless night well before it was time to sleep again.
Although it was a temptation to put them to work, as much to get their minds off things as to be useful, Trev made it a point to have his squad have as relaxing a morning as they could, even if they couldn’t sleep. It gave his people a chance to properly wash up, shave, care for their equipment, and even do some laundry before breakfast, followed immediately afterwards by the funeral service.
The death total had gone up to nineteen in the night, and several more were still in critical condition. As everyone in camp gathered together for the service Trev overheard a few nearby Marines grimly pointing out that twenty of them for two hundred blockheads, although it was doubtful they’d killed close to that many, was at best an even trade considering how outnumbered they were. And the Army scouts sent out to scavenge the night’s battlefield hadn’t found much, since the enemy had time to retrieve most of their dead.
Trev could’ve done without that sort of talk when they were about to put friends and fellow fighters in the ground. Or maybe he just didn’t like the reality of their situation laid out so starkly in front of him.
He went over to the lines of bodies, who’d been zipped inside sleeping bags with only their faces showing. So the living could identify friends to pay final respects. He sought out Tony Russo and found him halfway down a row, fully covered by his bag. Because he’d been hit in the head, Trev guessed. He was able to recognize the body because John stood vigil over his brother.
Although he didn’t know the brothers well, Trev interrupted long enough to pay his respects. He received a stoic nod from John in response, gave Tony a moment of silence, then excused himself to rejoin his squad.
Davis showed up not too long after that, flanked by Williams and Graham and with several officers and noncoms from the Army reinforcements following behind. They came to stand behind the lines of bodies, so they could face both them and the crowd on the other side.
By the looks of it most of the Army guys were a higher rank than sergeant, but they deferred to Davis as he stepped forward and cleared his throat, looking down at the eighteen men and one woman laid out in front of him. His eyes lingered on a few friends, genuine grief twisting his usually impassive features. Then he looked up at the gathered crowd and cleared his throat again.
“Some of these people were fighters,” he said in a solemn tone loud enough to carry to every ear. “Some were civilians. Some died to the helicopter’s weapons, others while pushing back the blockheads. But however they died, each and every one of them was doing their part to help in the fight. Against an enemy who wouldn’t hesitate to kill them no matter the situation.”
The sergeant took a deep breath. “We honor their sacrifice and we mourn their loss. And we fight on, to make sure as few innocents as possible join them in death. Let’s observe a moment of silence.”
The crowd had already been quiet, but once Davis stopped speaking there was barely even a shuffle or cough. Even nature seemed to hold still for almost a minute as all stood with their heads bowed.