Disposable Hero Ch. 01 Pt. 01

I heard the roar of the A-10's as they came over head with cloud of smoke being left behind as the first one fired a maverick and pulled up and banked a hard left as I got to the crater that was the shrine. I saw a 100m wide crater and at least 20m deep. They wanted Mt. Iimori badly if they had a rail gun ship in the bay. After I got to the other side of the crater I saw the T-72 still hiding.

I keyed in and said, "I have a Tango seven two lit."

I heard, "Casper, this is Over Lord, we have eyes on the tango now, no need to light it up."

I started scanning looking for any more targets as the A-10's continued to slaughter anything in the village. I heard helos inbound.

Over Lord said, "Over Lord to Casper, pop smoke when you find a safe LZ. We got cav inbound, 5 minutes."

With the destruction that the A-10's were dealing out I popped smoke in the crater behind me and kept an eye on the tunnel as I saw fast movers streak overhead followed by the explosions from the bombing run. The ground shook as I saw a firestorm erupt from what must have been the other side of the tunnel. As the helos came in and one landed and two more dropped ropes I scanned the tree line for targets as I felt a tap on my shoulder.

I heard, "What are the three B's?"

I turned and saw an Army Lieutenant looking at me and I said, "The things that make life great beers, brats and boobs."

The Lieutenant smiled and said, "Casper, sitrep?"

A silver cherry, this must be my lucky day, all he had to do was look around and see that the situation was well in hand with the A-10's having blown this village to hell. But a silver cherry was going to do what the point had taught him. So I told him, exactly what he could see, as I looked over his shoulder and saw a sergeant pull a face palm. As the other helos landed and dropped off more grunts, I kept scanning for targets. 5 minutes after the grunts moved out I heard the sound of a firefight and by the time I got eyes in the area it was over. 15 seconds can be an eternity in a fire fight. I heard the words no soldiers ever want to hear, "medic." I jumped up and ran to the area. They might be Army but they were still brothers-in-arms and if I could save one of them then I had to.

When I got to the spot I saw the medic trying to help somebody as I looked over the medic's shoulder and saw that it was the silver cherry. He had taken two to the stomach and one in the liver. He was a dead man and the medic knew it, so did the men who listened to horrific wail of a gut shot. I made a huge mistake; I looked at the silver cherry and saw the terror in his eyes.

He pulled me close whispering, "Help me, when the round hit me I shit myself. I can't let the men know what happened."

I didn't know what to say to him, but I heard the medic tell him that the shot had hit his spinal cord. I guess he thought it would calm him down and he could accept death thinking he would be ok. A voice in my head started to go over the prayer my mother taught me, she said it would calm the soul and let the person or animal pass peacefully. I remembered the ritual my mother taught me that leads the soul to a peaceful rest and will not linger here.

I kneeled down and took the hand of the 1st Lieutenant and said, "You've been hit bad and are going to die here. I can take the pain away and guide you to a happy rest if you want me too."

The sergeant and the other men screamed at me for telling him he was dying, I could see the anger of the truth in their eyes. I heard him pleading to the medic to stop the pain, when the medic refused, it was at that moment that he understood. He was dying because medics won't waste medicine on the dying.

He fished into his pocket and took out a letter, he then looked at me and his face racked with pain said, "What do we have to do? Should I pray or something?"

I said fighting back the pain that I could feel from his soul, "No, I will say a prayer for you, to death himself. Now close your eyes and when I start talking to you do what I say." I took out my ka-bar and cut my thumb and began making the design on his forehead as my mother had taught me. I started saying the words in a language I didn't even know, my mother only spoke it at certain times.

I had finished the strange prayer, I saw him get very calm and I said to him, "Lieutenant do you have a wife or girlfriend?"

He said, "Steven, my name's Steven and yes, I have a wife, give her the letter."

I told him, "I will, now picture her in your mind, every feature: hair, eyes, and smile. Can you see her?"

He said, "Yes, and I see my family as well."

Good it was working. I continued, "Walk up to her and hold her close. Can you feel her? Hug and kiss your family and tell them goodbye and how much you love them."

He said, "Yes, I can. She is asking me to go with her."

I said, "Follow her, she is your guide to the other world. When you are there she will hug you, when she does tell her good bye and kiss her."

His men watched in shock as he was quiet for several minutes his breathing was shallow and after 5 or so minutes he said good-bye and his lips kissed the air. Lip stick on his lips and face, as his face curled to a smile and he was gone. I looked up and saw smiles on the faces of his men; he would wear a smile as his death mask and not the twisted face of a painful death. If my mother's spell as she called it worked then he had said goodbye to his wife and family in this world. As I stood, I saw them all look at me as if to say thank you. I grabbed my rifle and walked back to the crater that was a shrine and waited to see my unit come around the corner.