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The city sits far beyond the horizon; it was once a town that sat upon the open plain, the mountains shadow, a looming protector. I sit here and watch the clouds roll past, beyond the plain the plain of existence. I sometimes wonder how my life could have been different, if I had stayed, instead of walking away from my responsibilities, how I could have done more for them. I could always go back, they would welcome me with open arms, but I would be alone, my friends already years past me, watch them as they grow old, I would be all that is left of a memory, a forgotten time, a history best left alone. I could live there, make a family for myself, with this secret kept inside, but what kind of life would that be? I think to myself “I am alone, but without them, what have I become?” I look around my cabin, medals from wars past, pictures from a bygone age, “Our age, has it really been twenty years?” I know the calendar doesn’t lie, I know that the eight of us are all that’s left of that time. I want to see them, but it’s too painful for me, seeing them grow old without me, they would leave and I would be here, with memories of a better day, the day we all met.

A Sunrise twenty two years ago

The war continues as fierce as ever, I sit in the entrenched hillside watching the road below, firing on all who dare approach, my cohorts and comrades do the same, fighting for every inch of ground and paying dearly for it, Lieutenant Gardner lost his left arm during the charge yesterday, Private Treimen took three to the chest and lived to boast about it, Private Morgan caught a grenade to the face, we buried him in the field nearby, Private Hilard lost an eye to that same grenade, Corporal Arlin was crushed under the treads of an advancing tank, we did the best we could for his body. Above us, allied fighter craft duel with enemy aces, the sounds of missile fire and screaming engines mix with the sounds of artillery and gun fire. Our promised reinforcements lie just a few hours away, and the enemy knows it. We see them amassing their forces just below the ridge line, preparing to take the hill at all costs. Gardner stretches his new arm as he looks through the binoculars, taking note of every individual soldier, I just check my gun, again and again. We heard it then, a horn signaling the attack, we all watch with hardened faces as the enemy moves toward as like a tide of water, flowing, restless, ever changing. We stand here as the dam to keep it in, our walls are fractured and our lines are bent, but we stand here as such is the will of man, the tide of screaming voices comes ever closer, “HEATHENS!! MONSTERS, DEAMONS, BEGONE FROM THIS WORLD!!!” We hear them in the distance as a distant rumble that blends into the sounds around us; we ready ourselves for the oncoming onslaught.

Night

The battle rages on into the dusk, the raging fires illuminate the battlefield with eerie light, the sounds of wounded men and creaking metal reach my ears, I hold Treimen in my arms, her breaths shallow and weakening, Gardner is dead in the command bunker, died to get us out, now we’re all that’s left of our company, and soon I will be all alone, AA fire lights up the sky as the last of our air support falls from heaven, I sit in a storage shed, holding her still trembling body. Fire rages across the country side, barns burn, cattle moo towards the heavens, wolves roam the fields, searching for their next meal, Sensiri Commandos scour the villages, looking for more of us to kill. In the distance I hear a rumbling, outside the window, numerous tanks roll past, our tanks, “Took you long enough.” I look down at the still breathing body in my arms; I need to get her to safety, than I can go back into battle.