Author: Devil's Daughter [Ballsy]
Rating: VVM18+
Beta: TheMightyRen
Word Count: 4375
WARNING ..; THIS O/S CONTAINS GRAPHIC SCENES OF A VIOLENT NATURE .. IT INCLUDES DEATH AND SUICIDE AND IT ICLUDES A LOVE THAT WILL ALMOST NEVER BE LOST. THE RATING FOR THIS O/S IS .. VVM18+ .. IF YOU ARE UNDER THE AGE OF 18 .. PLEASE, CLICK ON THE LITTLE RED [X] ON THE TOP RIGHT OF YOUR SCREEN.
IF YOU ARE AN ADULT READING THIS .. IT IS MY FIRST EVER O/S .. I HOPE IT'S NOT TOO BAD =/
Jacob's POV
A war against the Taliban was the last thing we needed after the September 11 attacks. Many people had died and there our government was, putting soldiers on the front-lines. We were knocking on the doors of death every second we spent in this wretched country. The war began on October 7th 2001. The Secretary of Defence launched Operation Enduring Freedom. I was only nineteen at the time, but I wanted to fight for my country.
Our goal was to dismantle Al-Qaeda and end the use of Afghanistan as their base for terrorism. In the first phase of the operation, Afghan Frontal Forces united with the U.S and British Special Forces. We had a mass of air support from the U.S Air Force which helped us oust the Taliban regime from Kabul and most of Afghanistan within a few weeks.
It was just like any other day at base. The guys and girls were all having a laugh, making fun of each other, and playing games to amuse themselves. Meanwhile, I sat back and relaxed enjoying the sun.
"Hey Jake," Paul pushed my shoulder, grinning. I knew what he was going to say so I tuned out and just nodded. He'd been bugging me the last few days about getting myself into the pants of a random girl on base. I only had the thoughts and eyes for one girl and she was on another army base, with other men.
Bella. My Bella. She had auburn coloured hair, big doe-like brown eyes and lips that I'd get carried away with. Her body was slim and filled out in all the right places.
As I was getting carried away in my thoughts, I heard gun-fire. Really loud gun-fire and it was coming closer. Everyone scrambled to their tents grabbing their gear.
Throwing my specially made bulletproof tactical webbing and helmet on, I charged for our weapon station. I always carried my M9 Beretta Pistol but the bigger guns were put away in case someone went on a rampage after seeing so much death. My Beretta was my pride and joy. It was a semi-automatic weapon, used in case you ran out of ammunition for the bug guns. The standard Beretta's round box magazine could hold only fifteen bullets. You were screwed if you had sixteen guys coming at you! Its range was 50m. That was pretty far for a small gun.
I ran up to my squadron's gun locker, punched in the combination and pulled out the M4A1 Carbine. She was a really sweet gun. She had two firing modes; automatic and semi-automatic. The magazine of this beauty would carry thirty rounds of ammo. She had special features and different attachments for different situations. From iron sights, ACOG Reflex Sight, an M68 Aim-point, an M203 40mm Grenade Launcher, a Harris Bipod, and a suppressor.
As I was squad leader, I got to carry this beauty around with me, proudly. Her maximum rate of fire on Semi-automatic was forty-five rounds per minute. Whereas in some cases, it would give out a three-round burst, adding to a total of ninety per minute. On Automatic, she would give off 700-1000 rounds per minute. She wasn't heavy, not like some of the other stuff they used to make us carry.
I could see and hear squadrons running and shouting their way into the battle. I turned to see the guys from my squadron staring at me waiting for orders. "Guys, keep a sharp eye. We don't know what's going on yet. No-one dies today and that's an order!" We bumped heads and shouted our famous, 'Oorah!'
Some of our pilots had fired up the helicopters and I could see my squadron patiently waiting to get into the air. Squadron four was in another chopper and were just about to take off when BOOM! I was thrown from my place on my chopper and landed on the other side. I felt a pang in my chest for my lost comrades. I heard ringing in my ears and stood a little dazed. Now, we had a battle on our hands and it wasn't the time for grieving.
I could hear people shouting and see them rushing towards the aircraft which was now scattered around the Landing Zone. I got back into my helicopter and the pilot took us up and into the air. I had hooked myself up to a safety wire and leaned over the side looking for enemy targets.
There were seven convoys out in the open, firing at our men. I let my Carbine fall to my side and grabbed the built-in helicopter gun. This was a bad boy! It's a multi-barrel heavy machine gun with a massive rate of fire, from 2,000 to 6,000 rounds per minute. The mini-gun fires 7.26mm rounds. The mini-gun is mounted to the inside of the helicopter hanging slightly over the edge to get a better aim at the target. I looked through the sights, aimed and started firing.
Pvt. Meraz was sitting to my left with a rocket launcher mounted on his shoulder. He aimed and fired, just catching one convoy. Because of direct fire coming from the front of the convoys, a driver lost control a ploughed straight into the blaze. A few of the guys jumped off and set out running. It was our turn now; capture and interrogate.
"Meraz, we're going for him!" I pointed to one of the runners. "You get him. Call and Ateara will cover you." He only nodded, determined to catch this clown. Meraz was our fastest runner. He could catch up to you in a matter of seconds if you were roughly half a mile from him.
A few minutes later, we touched down and off he went. Pvt. Call and Pvt. Ateara followed Meraz to give him some cover fire. The rest of the guys piled out and knelt in various places around the chopper. We took some fire but we gave as good as we got.
Roughly ten minutes later, Meraz, Call and Ateara came back with a very scared looking Taliban follower. They had him cuffed with some plastic ties. He struggled and protested against getting into the chopper. I hopped out, grabbed him and lifted him in. The rest of the guys backed up and into the chopper when the pilot took us up again.
We gave some more cover for our ground troops on the way back to base. It was then that I noticed that I had some shrapnel in my shoulder. I was using the radio link to tell base that we had captured a member of the Taliban.
"Black Hawk One to Firebase Bravo, we have a prisoner. We need to take a trip to RB, over!" I said into the radio.
"Firebase Bravo to Black Hawk One, the Commander is aware. Bring the prisoner to base first, over!" We heard Radio Operative Uley say.
"We need a translator, over!"
"We have one on-site, over!"
"We're out by five, over and out!"
When we got back, we landed and our Commander greeted us. He had two of our ground troops escort our prisoner to a secure location. The boys left the Commander to go get something to drink and a snack when Meraz and Call came over to me.
"Hey, Black! You should have seen that guy run. He was like Bella back when she was clumsy. He stumbled a few times and then face-planted it right in front of us. Meraz picked him up and put the ties on and he nearly shit himself." Call laughed and Ateara doubled over.
I knew these guys from when I was little. Meraz moved back to the Res in his teens, but he fit right in. Call, Ateara and I used to get into trouble constantly. When Bella came over for the summer, things were a whole lot worse. She'd be the one getting us into trouble.
Ateara waved his hand in front of my face, "Hey, Black? You still in there? Bella on your mind again?"
"Guys, I gotta go. I've got to go to RB to get this checked out," I pointed to my shoulder, "And, I gotta do something else." I ran to my tent, grabbed what I needed and ran back to the LZ. The pilot fired her up and I was on my way to Recovery Base.
When I got there, I went straight to the infirmary and watched as Bella worked on another soldier. Another medic, Emily, came up to me, "Hey Jake. Ouch, let me look at that."
"Ok, cool." She took me to a small room where we peeled my vest and shirt off. It didn't look too bad and it didn't hurt but the blood just kept coming. I watched as she injected it with some local anaesthetic and Bella walked by, "JAKE? WHAT IN THE MOTHER OF ALL IS HOLY HAPPENED?" She just about blew my ear drum.
"It's cool Bella. It's nothing, just a few cuts and bruises," I grinned.
"LIKE HELL, IT'S NOTHING! WHAT HAPPENED?" Everyone was crowded around this small room, trying to see what had happened. I asked the medic working on me to stop what she was doing and I walked towards Bella.
"Bella, you are the woman behind the man I am today with a little intervention from the army. But it is you that I live for. Every time I'm out on the battlefield, the thought of you drives me to my limits because I want to get back to you. I don't think I'd be here, if it weren't for you. I love you with every fibre of my being," I grabbed the little box from my pocket and got down on one knee. She had a hand over her mouth and tears in her eyes. I opened the little box, "Will you do me the honours and make me the happiest man alive by becoming my wife, Bella?"
She slapped me! She actually slapped me!
"Of course I'll marry you! God, Jake! It's beautiful."
"Only the best for my girl!" I was ecstatic, over the moon. Everyone erupted in cheers and applause. I snatched her up into a hug and kissed her with everything I had. That was until the anaesthetic wore off. I placed the ring on her finger and groaned as the pain of my shoulder hit me full force.
After everything was patched up, I was given a small box of pain meds and sent on my way. I had to have the stitches taken out but I could do that on my own. I got back to the chopper and the pilot took us up and back into the air.
I had been back for a couple of hours when a call came through. There was a squadron with casualties needing assistance to the North East of our position. They were trapped in a building block with Taliban constantly opening fire.
My squadron ran to the lockers, got our gear and sprinted for the chopper. Once in the air, we shoved all our gear on, checked our equipment and fist-bumped.
"Alright, ladies. You heard the man! We got The Beer Keg strapped down under constant fire. They have a few casualties. They're gonna bring in the Chinook to take the wounded to Recovery Base. The easy part is getting in. The hard part is getting out. I want four of you posted on the roof and the rest with me. Got it?"
I heard a chorus of 'Got it' from my comrades.
We looked at one another and screamed, "OORAH!"
We flew over the co-ordinates and rallied back. We attached our drop down gear to the chopper, six of us out of one side and six out the other. Once we had our feet on solid ground, four of my comrades rushed to the corners of the building. The rest followed me to the roof entrance.
We proceeded with caution in case any Taliban were in the building. We got to the bottom of the steps. With my back against the wall on my left, I looked down the corridor on the right and then changed sides. Peering down the corridor on my left, I saw a couple of Taliban looking the opposite direction.
I turned to my men, held up two fingers and pointed to my right letting the guys know that there were two guys in the hall to the left. I pulled out the suppressor and attached it to the barrel of my gun. I stood with my back to the wall on the right, aimed and fired two rounds. We heard both men hitting the floor and rushed to clear the hall.
I sent four men to the right while the rest of us continued down the left hall. Coming to a corner, I held up my fist and stuck my head out quickly and pulled it back in. There were seven doors in this corridor. We got to the closest and it was all clear, as were the next four.
There were thirteen men in room one and six in room two. We needed something to distract them, quick! I pulled out two M84 Stun Grenades, also known as Flash-bangs. These can be thrown or rolled and are made up of a Magnesium-based pyrotechnic charge concealed in a thin aluminium case. You can guess what they do because of the name but I'll tell you anyways. They generate a blinding flash of light and an intensely loud 'bang', sufficiently causing temporary blindness and deafness to anyone within a five foot radius.
I handed one to Meraz, we pulled the pins and rolled them into the rooms. After they went off, we rushed in a started grabbing people and putting them on the floor face-down. We tied their hands up with more plastic ties and taped their mouths so they couldn't shout for help.
Meraz and Ateara dragged the six from the other room into the room with Call and me. We spread them across the room, closed the door on our way out and continued down the hall.
We found our injured comrades on the level below us. Their casualties weren't as bad as I'd originally thought. Gunshot wounds to the stomach, chest area and legs. I was expecting lost limbs or something along those lines. We done the best we could with what we had and patched them up a bit.
"Bloody Bucket to Firebase Bravo; requesting air support for The Beer Keg, over!" I spoke into the radio receiver.
"Firebase Bravo to Bloody Bucket; air assistance is on the way. Two and a half klicks south of your position, over!"
"Bloody Bucket, over and out!" I turned to both squadrons.
"You heard 'em. Two and a half klicks south of our position. Let's get moving lads. We don't want to miss dinner!" I chuckled.
"Woohoo! Dinner!" Meraz shouted.
"Bloody Bucket 1-0 to Bloody Bucket 7-0. Moving out, over!" I said into the receiver.
"Got it Captain, out by three, over and out!"
We gathered the wounded and made our way to the south side of the building. Waiting for the rest of our squad wasn't eventful. There weren't any Taliban followers on this side and you could see the Chinook from the windows.
The rest of our guys joined us and we made our way out into the open, moving as fast as we could with some dead-like weight. We made it to the Chinook in record time when I started feeling breathless. Blood started pouring from my mouth and stained my shirt. Then I blacked out.
When I woke up, I was in the back of the Chinook strapped to a make-shift gurney. I looked Meraz in the eyes and took my last breathe, "Tell Bella I love her!"
Bella's POV
I hadn't been in the army long. I always wanted to be a nurse and gain a few extra qualifications along the way. The army was my best career choice. Life before the army was complicated. Jake was always away and I'd rarely get any time with him when he was back. I found myself worrying constantly.
I was sick of waiting around for the car to stop outside my house with two uniformed officers letting me know that Jake had died or was MIA. It was then that I decided to drop out of medical school and do something about it.
I was always clumsy and the army helped me gain the co-ordination skills needed to keep both my feet firmly on the ground. After my training, I had trained up as a nurse and was sent to Afghanistan to help with the injured soldiers.
I'll admit, it was new but most of the time it was awful. Some of the injuries would never let these soldiers walk again. Some were just minor scrapes or bruises. Some were just down-right disgusting to deal with. Others were painful to help with. I thought the army was supposed to train you mentally for this kind of stuff.
I had just finished my training when the Taliban attacked The World Trade Centre. The whole of America wanted revenge for the amount of lives lost in the attacks and I must tell you that I wanted revenge too. All of those lives lost, families losing loved ones, people losing the loves of their lives. It seemed so surreal in the beginning.
My father, Charlie, was pretty pissed that I was being deployed so soon but he understood the anger that I held for the Taliban. We had to take these bitches down before we could grieve properly.
Today was slightly different from the rest. It had just been broadcast that Jake's base had been attacked. My heart was pounding and I felt like passing out. News came that Firebase Bravo was victorious and had even taken a hostage.
I was trying to busy myself, taking my mind off the thought of Jake coming in on a stretcher. I had helped a lot of people today. Pain meds, dressing changes, clean clothes, bathing. You know? The usual stuff. I heard the sound of a helicopter coming in to land and thought nothing of it.
I had started re-dressing a burn. Pvt. Clearwater was helping out in an operation when the Taliban launched a grenade into the building. He'd suffered first degree burns while trying to save some of the women and children. We couldn't get him back to the U.S for another couple of days. Once I had finished that, I needed a break.
I walked past a small room to see none-other than Jake with Emily removing shrapnel and stitching him up.
"JAKE? WHAT IN THE MOTHER OF ALL IS HOLY HAPPENED?" I screeched.
"It's cool Bella. It's nothing, just a few cuts and bruises," he actually grinned at me.
"LIKE HELL, IT'S NOTHING! WHAT HAPPENED?" I could feel other people around me, watching us. Jake asked Emily to stop for a moment and walked towards me.
"Bella, you are the woman behind the man I am today with a little intervention from the army. But it is you that I live for. Every time I'm out on the battlefield, the thought of you drives me to my limits because I want to get back to you. I don't think I'd be here, if it weren't for you. I love you with every fibre of my being," he went into his pocket and got down on one knee. I put my hand over my mouth to stop the squeal that was begging to be released. I could feel the tears build up when he opened the box, "Will you do me the honours and make me the happiest man alive by becoming my wife, Bella?"
I slapped him because he scared the life out of me.
"Of course I'll marry you!" I looked at the ring, "God, Jake! It's beautiful."
"Only the best for my girl!" I think I was crowned the Queen of Happiness. I could hear applause and cheering all around us but I could only see Jake. He scooped me up and I wrapped my arms around his neck. We shared a kiss filled with so much emotion, I nearly broke down crying. He placed the ring on my finger and groaned.
We set him up with pain meds and I was painfully sad to see him go. He had to come back and get the stitches taken out though that was a plus.
I had finished my shift and went to grab a couple of hours sleep.
I dreamt of the wedding I would have but this dream turned into a nightmare. It'd always get to the part where I was walking down the aisle and I'd see something come and snatch my Jacob away. I'd end up on the ground, crying wearing a black dress at a funeral.
I woke up to the sound of the alarm. This wasn't your ordinary alarm. This one was way more loud! It was the sound that all medics dreaded hearing. It was the sound that let us know we had a whole load of injuries to tend to.
I got up, shoved my gear on and ran out to the infirmary. Just in time to see Jake carried by on a stretcher. I chased after them as the tears flooded my eyes. Paul grabbed me and we walked silently behind Jake. When we got to the surgery room, the medics took over. We stood on the outside of the room, watching through the small windows on the doors as they worked on him.
"Call it!" One medic said to the other. The other medic just looked at her as if she was crazy and then looked back at us. I watched her and saw the tears build up in her eyes, "Time of death, 0 2 0 5." She wiped her tears and turned to me mouthing 'I'm so sorry!'
About a half hour later, they closed his chest up and I was allowed in to see him. I walked over to the gurney and looked at him. I lost myself and started beating his chest, begging for him to come back to me but he never did.
I was a shell for weeks after that. I didn't even go to the funeral service back home. I stayed where I was and focused on other things to numb the pain. It was exactly three weeks to the day and I couldn't live in a world where my Jacob was no longer. I tried everything to make the pain go away. Nothing worked!
That was until I woke up one morning. I was going to end it. Simple! You know that everyone is issued with the standard M9 Beretta? Yeah? Well that was my way out. I got up, dressed in my uniform and went to tell Emily that I was going for a jog. She nodded quietly, giving me an apologetic expression. I walked away from her and started jogging.
I was about two klicks to the east of the base when I slowed to a walking pace. I whispered, "Jake, I'll love you forever!" Aiming the gun down my throat, I pulled the trigger.
Paul POV
After Jake's funeral, we had to go back to Afghanistan. While I was at the funeral, I vowed to Jake that I'd keep Bella as safe as I possibly could. Bella couldn't come to the funeral. It was too painful for her. It was roughly three weeks after the funeral when we eventually got back. I got to catch up and make love to my wife, Rachel. I got to see friends that I hadn't seen in a while.
Once we got back, I made sure to stop by and see how Bella was doing.
I walked into the infirmary and spotted Emily.
"Hey Em! Where's Bella? Shouldn't she be on duty?" I asked casually.
"She went for a jog about an hour and a half ago," she answered honestly.
"Damn! You're not supposed to leave her on her own like that. You know how much she loved Jake. She's gonna do something stupid, I can feel it." I started running, as fast as I could. Hunting for Bella.
I got a two klicks out to the North East and kept heading east. It was then that I saw the small lump that made up Bella's body. I sprinted over to her to see blood and brains' everywhere. I slumped to my knees and cried.
I had failed my best friend and what's more, I had failed myself. I sat and cried for a good hour before anyone came looking for us. I looked up and saw Ateara, Call and McCarty.
They were saying something about two missing comrades. McCarty was operating the radio, asking for assistance while Call and Ateara wept with their heads bowed.
Why did she do this? Who in their right mind would let her off on her own? Why wasn't I here to stop it? These are the questions that kept running through my mind.
We waited for the MP to come out. He determined a suicide and told the guys to bag her. I let a growl escape my throat and the rest of the guys done the same. We would carry her back to base and we would make sure that no-one touched her.
Call and me picked her up gently and placed her in the body bag. All four of us lifted her up onto our shoulders and carried her, the two klicks back to base. Once there, we could see everyone standing outside after hearing the news. When we approached them, everyone removed their caps and bowed their heads. Some had tears running down their faces.
I tried to maintain my composure but after we got her to the temporary morgue, I couldn't handle it any longer. This was a day for grieving. A day that love is reunited in the stars. A day that we will never forget and a story that will be told forever!
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