Page 3 of Sparrow

Sometimes, at night, when I can hear the distant sound of explosions and gunfire, of honking horns, yelling, and chaos, I close my eyes and take myself back to Savannah. Back home. It keeps the nightmares at bay. And in my most desperate times, my mind wanders back to the girl with ice-blue eyes and fire-red hair that I left behind.

“This is it, men! We’re approaching,” Carson says from the driver’s seat, pulling my attention from the sides of the road to the building in front of us.

“Remember the mission. In. Clear. Out. Simple. Easy. Quick,” I repeat to my team.

I’m running through the mental checklist in my head. Over and over. In, clear, out. Breathe and focus, Aldrich.

In, clear, out.

In, clear, out.

In, clear...BOOM!

My world explodes.

Pain. Searing pain. Fire. Flipping. Chaos. Carnage.

I hear and feel it all, but I can’t see anything. The smoke is thick and black, filling my lungs with poison and soot. I cough over and over, which only causes the pain to intensify.

The distant screaming ceases to exist after a few moments, and all that fills my ears is the tiger-like roar of fire. I scream out. Confused and disoriented. I don’t even know what happened.

The darkness is calling to me, begging me to just give in and let it swallow me whole. I don’t even fight it. I accept it; arms wide open. I let the darkness—the blackness—engulf me.

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