Page 4 of Give Me Redemption

He inhales like he’s been at the bottom of a pool for too long and just barely makes it to the top.

“Thank fuck,” I say just as shots start in on us.

“Goddammit,” I curse, grabbing my radio. “COC. This is post four. We’ve got a man down and shots coming right at us!”

I get on the ground and grab my SAW.

“Roger that. We’ve got men coming in.”

“Copy,” I say as I start firing my gun. Rocket lies beside me in a shitload of pain. I see the men coming at me and I fire in their direction, Pop, pop, pop. I duck my head as the shots come back at me. Pop, pop, pop.

Sweat rivers down the side of my face. The dirt feels hotter than the fire coming from our post. The enemy nears, driving an old beat-up Nissan truck.

“Stay down,” I tell Rocket. With my gun, I jump up and walk around the burning tent, trying to stand away from it so I don’t get burned, but I also need its protection from flying bullets, even though it isn’t much fucking protection.

I adjust my gun and focus on those motherfuckers coming our way. I single in on the driver. With one eye closed, I press the trigger. Whoosh. It soars and cuts through the front windshield, hitting the guy, causing the truck to lose control. The men in the back fly out as my brothers show up.

Pop, pop, pop. I watch, my heart beating against my ribcage like a wild animal. More shots are fired until the last enemy is dead in the dirt. I stare at them for what feels like too long before I get myself together and walk back over to Rocket. He looks like he is going to have some serious scars, but he is alive.

We both are.

“We got ’em, man. We fucking got ’em.

Chapter Four

Jace

(2017)

I take another sip of my drink, sucking my teeth as I think back on that day. Rocket had some severe burns, but as soon as he healed up, he got his ass back out there. I exhale as a woman walks in from the lobby, catching my attention. It’s summer and she’s proving it with a short skirt. I sniff and down my drink as she sits beside me.

She looks over at me, and I smirk. She looks away, signaling for the bartender.

“Coming or going?” I ask her.

“Stopping in, actually,” she says as the bartender walks up. “Cosmo,” she orders. “And I’ll go ahead and close out.” A stupid thought passes through my mind, like maybe I should offer to pay for her drink, but I’m not that guy.

She turns to me after handing him her card, crossing one long leg over the other.

“What about you?” She lifts a brow. “Where are you headed?”

I think about that for a moment. When I left for the Army, I was a lost kid, mad at the world. I’m still mad—that hasn’t changed—but I found myself.

For a moment I really did.

And now, here I sit, lost… once again, wondering where the hell I’m going to fit in.

But maybe now I’m a little worse off.

Maybe now there’s no way to fix me.

Where am I going?

Who knows?

I decide this stranger doesn’t need to know my story.

“Moving to New York and starting a new business,” I lie. I pat my front pocket to see if my smokes are there. Pulling the pack out, I place one into my mouth before replacing the pack.

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