Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 93284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 466(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 466(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Arriving at the funeral home, the hearse parked under an awning in the back of the building, got out, opened the back door to the funeral home, then came back and opened the back hatch of the suburban. The guys yet again moved the body, placing him on a platform in the biggest room they had, according to the director.
I walked back outside to give the guys time by themselves and to make sure I was there with Janie when she woke.
SAM
The funeral director lifted the casket lids after James made the request.
There Dougie sat, in his dress uniform. The uniform itself was immaculate. Most people don’t know that a brand new uniform is made for each deceased soldier. Some people might wonder why bother when it will never see the light of day. However the uniform is a symbol. Each soldier is proud to be in their uniforms. There is a certain type of man that can wear the uniform, and to die for your country makes you a hero, and heroes deserve the best. The Gold Bar on his left breast gleamed. He was so proud when he made Second Lieutenant. He always said a man like him was lucky to be where he was today. The beret on his head was perfectly settled, and his shoes shined brightly.
He looked like he was sleeping. My heart hurt, and it felt hard to breathe. I had lost five good men, and it never got any easier. This one hurt the most, because it made me wonder. If I had been there, would this have happened?
“Can you tell us what happened?” I asked James.
He took a deep breath, and then began.
“We were black for only 17 hours when it all TARFU. It was Justin. I saw him with my own eyes. He looked me in the eyes, smiled at me, and waved. Knew we were there.” He took another shaky breath, let it out slowly, and then started again, “We were dropped off by a helo, scouted for hours before we found the right spot. Dougie was looking through the night vision binoculars and I was looking through my scope when I saw our target. Dougie gave me the specs, and I took the shot. The intel we received said that there were no hostiles in residence. Unfortunately they were wrong, and a shit ton of people stormed out. They shot everywhere in all directions. We were retreating when he was shot in the upper right chest right under his collar bone. It was a through and through, didn’t look too bad. He said it hurt like a mother, but he was ok to move. We both took off to the rendezvous and had just arrived when more shots rang out. Dougie was collapsed, so I picked him up and carried him to the waiting helo, I took one to the left leg and one to the right arm before I got him there. As we cleared the trees I laid out some shots towards the area that the shots came from earlier when I saw him. He was sitting in an armored jeep with the inside lights on so I could see him, fucking waving at me. I started some return fire towards him when the helo banked hard right and I lost sight of him.”
I grabbed the back of his neck, and made him look in my eyes when I told him, “There was nothing you could do, James. Everything you did was right.”
“He gave me a note. For when Kayla gets old enough to understand. Right before he went, he told me it was in his right front pocket.” James said shakily.
The guys had remained quiet up until now, letting James and me talk, but at that there were some muttered curses. I think all soldiers prepared for the worst. They didn’t want to be caught unprepared, just in case.
I looked at them all, and then said, “Alright guys, we need to get to the hotel and get settled. We haven’t had much sleep. So let’s get a little shut eye. The funeral is at 9:45 tomorrow morning. Who wants first shift?”
“I want to do it.” Gabe said. He took up sentry by the door as the rest of us left through the way we came.
When we got outside, the first thing I saw was Cheyenne playing tag in the parking lot with Janie. Janie would run up to Cheyenne, and then take off running in the opposite direction, while Cheyenne pretended to not be able to catch her. Ember looked on, while sitting on a stone bench under the awning, Blaine beside her.
I glanced over to James to see that he had a sad smile on his face.
Suddenly a piercing shriek came from Janie when she fell and scraped her knee. She was wailing “Daddy” over and over again. James took off like he wasn’t hurt, and got to her even before Cheyenne did. He scooped her up and whispered into her hair while Janie buried her head into his neck. It wasn’t long before Janie realized she actually had her daddy and started crying for a different reason, giving him slobbery snot kisses in the process.
CHEYENNE
Once again tears were pouring down my face when Janie realized that James had her. She was so very excited, squirming and bouncing up and down. James held on like his life depended on it, and he was never letting go.
Sam’s arm circled my waist, and we all watched James and Janie for a long while. When Janie finally stopped squealing, James turned to us and asked if we were ready to go, so we nodded and headed to the vehicles. James strapped Janie into her car seat while I hopped into the back to let James have the front. Motorcycles roared behind us as we made our way out of the parking lot.
We got to the hotel, and the men went inside to arrange rooms for a few days while I stayed in the car with Janie. Ember and Blaine stayed on their prospective bikes.