Prologue

I don’t recall the last time I felt joy. I think maybe it was Christmas, three years ago. I was with my Mama, my pa, my sister and my special somepony. We all sat around the tree eating peanut brittle; Mama’s very own. Also, unwrapping our presents. My sister always had trouble with preparations. I would always got stuck being the one to bring in the tree. I would get to the door, and then struggle for thirty minutes with getting it through doorway. We all laughed at that. I would try to get mad, then just laugh along with them. We all loved this time of year, or at least I used to. That was before I was drafted.

Chapter 1

I wake to find myself covered in dust. No surprise, last time I woke without dust on me was two years ago. This place is nothing but dust. Damn Saddle Arabia! Shots rang followed by explosions and shouts. I look at my chest, my body armor has been ripped to hell, and my helmet is gone. My sidearm is hanging loosely from the holster, which, is opened and ripped to shit. The strap for the vest, which connects in the front and under my stomach, is attached to itself by a hand-full of threads. To make matters worse I’m on my back!

‘Ouch, DAMN IT this hurts!’

I hear only war clatter, and then a strange thing happened. I heard nothing. Not a single thing I find this odd. “Lieutenant”! I hear on my left. I turn my head only to find if hurts too much to move again.

“What”! I yell back irritatingly 'what, cant anyone tell I'm busy'?

“We have to move, we’ll be overrun”. I realize whose voice it is. It’s Sergeant Cherry Bomb. He’s four feet away.

He is standing on top of a Tank that was blown up by an IED during my squads original movement through this Valley. The 'Sarge' is firing his M60 at a small group of the terrorists about 30 yards out firing down. A RPG head goes whizzing by, missing Cherry by a foot or so.

As the RPG explodes when hitting the Humvee behind me, I feel dizzy.

'Well at least Cherry is alive. where is Private GreenHorn and Captain 'Crunch" Punch?'