Page 6 of Anders and the Girl Worth Fighting For
I think what I’m trying to say is that I didn’t dream of a unicorn and a rainbow, but I do know what you mean when you say you wanted to be somewhere else. What happened that day that you wrote the first letter?
Now that I know the whole story, I love that little unicorn more than I already did. Ok, yeah, I loved it a bit because it convinced me to even read your letter in the first place. I’ll probably always keep that letter and think of delicious cookies and a little girl riding off on a unicorn to see her grandma.
Looking forward to more cookies.
Sad and Still Hungry,
Anders
Chapter Two
Ares, you have to stop this, man,” Duke said as he moved along next to me down the dark alley. “It’s gonna get us all killed one day.” We crossed an intersection, moving quickly from one dark corner to the next. “Well, it’s gonna get you killed. I’m planning on running screaming from danger. No pride here.”
I rolled my eyes at Duke. He wasn’t called Duke for nothing. He had more pride than most, a healthy dose of self-importance, and a complete lack of shame. He was also loyal to a fault, which is why he was here with me, and why I knew I could count on him to have my back.
“Shut the hell up,” I growled, keeping my voice low, so it didn’t carry. “We’re incognito, here. I know you know what that means. I’ve seen your browser history.” My voice was barely a whisper. We weren’t supposed to be here, in this dusty town on the edge of nowhere. I was stupid, but not stupid enough to walk through here with “shoot me” written on my forehead in glow-in-the-dark paint.
“Clean as a whistle,” he said. “Because I’m a good boy.” He was still too fucking loud.
“Do you ask to be called that in bed?” Tink chimed in over the headset.
“Don’t need to ask. I earn it,” Duke said. I just shook myhead and kept going. We were close to our destination. The bombed-out buildings shoved together, competing for space in the wasteland.
“Shut the fuck up. Both of you,” Grey said in a commanding growl over the headset. It was the first time he had spoken since coming out here. I made the plan, but like idiots, they couldn’t let me do it alone.
“We’re almost there,” I said. We slowed as we neared the corner where I saw the kids earlier. I couldn’t just fucking leave it alone. I knew we were going to get shit for this. Probably big shit. That just meant we couldn’t get caught. I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t do this, though. What kind of person would I be if I walked away? Not anyone I wanted to be, that’s for sure.
We emerged from the alley just as Tink and Grey rounded the other side of the building. Since this was my bright idea, I led the entry into the vast building. If I guessed right, we were about to find more than just two starving kids.
I could see the damage, even in the dark. The piles of stone from blown-out walls tell a story better than any words ever could. My idealistic eighteen-year-old self that joined the Marines would want to believe this was not our fault, but I’ve been here too long and have seen too much. I knew what happened here, and the blame lay squarely on the shoulders of the dicks up top.
By virtue of shit running downhill, the responsibility of fixing this landed on me. At least, that was what I told myself as I lay in bed trying to find rest. There was no rest to be found with the dirty, gaunt faces of the kids staring at me, begging for my help. I lasted twenty minutes before Icebox got onto me for keeping everyone up with my tossing and turning. So, we hatched a plan. The five of us, Grey, Tink, Duke, Icebox, and myself. There was no need to involve more than necessary, but we had all come up together, been together since we were thoseidealistic idiots in Basic, and there was no way they were letting me go without their help.
“I’ll stay here and cover your asses,” Icebox said, while we were preparing for how to get out of here. “Go get those kids and don’t get yourself blown up, Ares.” Icebox emphasized that last bit as we finished loading up. I didn’t bother to contradict him. I did have a habit of near misses.
I went ahead to the first door on the left to clear the room. Duke was on my heels. He moved to the next door while I was still working on the first. I could hear Grey and Tink on the other side of the hall going through their own set of doors.
“We’re all clear,” Grey said over the coms as we made it through our last room.
“Clear here,” Duke confirmed as we made our way to the stairs at the back of the building. It wasn’t a unique building for the area, which only made our job easier. We’ve cleared a dozen similar buildings since being stationed here. The familiarity of the task soothed any anxiety I had about this off-the-books mission. I kept leading the way up the stairs, floor after floor, as we methodically cleared the building, looking for any signs that our targets were here.
We found our goal on the fourth floor in the back. The setup with pretty clever for a bunch of kids. They used the rubble as cover and set it up to look like just another blown-out wall. The inside was hollow, with several sleeping mats filling every available inch.
A little head poked out of an adjacent pile of rubble just as a rock hit my hand, knocking my gun to the side. Their lack of food didn’t seem to dampen their grit. I quickly let my gun go and tucked it behind my back as I grabbed the chocolate bar I had stashed for just such an occasion. Kids all over the world loved chocolate.
It worked like a charm, which gutted me. These kids weredamn lucky I had good intentions here.
“We’re friends,” I said. Tink translated for me. I never could get a handle on the local language. “We have food and a safe place.” Tink kept up his translation. He passed the bars of chocolate around to each kid.
More heads peeked out of the rubble. There were five in total and Tink was already exchanging names while Grey and Duke gathered what little belongings looked important. Dolls and photographs, anything the kids held onto with a vengeance. Fucking hell, I didn’t expect the kids to come with us so willingly. I expected more of a fight. They shouldn’t trust us so easily.
I led the way out, with Grey bringing up the rear. The kids were sticking close to Tink, with Duke helping to keep them together and quiet. We moved slowly back through the building. We didn’t have the manpower to clear the rooms a second time and had to trust that no one came through while we were occupied.
We made it out of the building and through several alleys. We were almost done. Almost in the clear. If it weren’t for the fact that we had to park the Humvee at the edge of town, we would have made it.
I was scouting ahead, thank God for that bit of luck, when I passed by a burned-out car. I should have seen it. I should have picked up that something wasn’t right. I didn’t see the trip wire until it was too late. An explosion rocked through me, throwing me on my back and pinning my legs with a car door before my brain caught up to my situation.
“Ares!”
