On a day of April. part 3

As I walked down the road in my light olive uniform. I had left my belt at the airbase where I got off the plane. I'll just have to hope it's still there. As I treaded along the dirt road into the main city, I passed by the abandoned houses. It was only this morning that they were full of people and children running about. By now the doors were left open wide, the people had gotten out in such a hurry, they left tire marks in their driveways. The town was only a few miles away, I could check for survivors, and if I'm lucky I could catch a ride to Portsmouth and get to the airbase before sunset. As I marched, I took a shortcut through some farm fields, the sky had grown darken after about an hour. As I walked along the grassy hills, I could see the smoke rising in the distance, I must be close to the town now. Sounds of bombs going off in the distance, nothing big however, it seemed like just light artillery fire, probably whatever was left of the American forces. In the distant tree line, I could see a man running towards me. I aimed at him, unsure if he was friend or foe. He raised his gun, he must've seen the color of my uniform since I stood out in the clear open. I holstered my weapon and waved back at him. "HEY!!!" he shouted at me, while still running,"HEY!! YOU!!!!" He came out of the clearing I walked calmly towards him. He eventually got close enough that he didn't have to shout, but he was panting badly. "Private Arnold Barnes sir!" he saluted, "It's nice to finally meet you Lieutenant Lloyd." I saluted back, and asked"How do you know who I am?" He was still gasping for breath, hands on his knees. He took a moment to recuperate. He looked up at me and answered,"Who wouldn't know you sir? You're all over the News back in town." I smiled at him a bit,"and so I've heard," I had to get to the point, so I asked him,"say, what's all going on down there? Are there any survivors?" He shook his head, "Not over there, not anymore sir. We evacuated the city, the very second we saw those bombers. They took out the factories and most of the radio stations. Portland's also been hit, as well as Boston. Our CO says a third wave is coming to take out New York." He collapsed and laid on his back. "Why were you running in this direction,"I wanted more information," shouldn't you be headed for the rally in Portsmouth?" I helped him up to a sitting position. "We all fled the city sir," he started,"Our CO ordered the retreat, our company broke up, they've occupied the city. He sent me to find you sir, he said to tell you not to head in that direction, we've got to go around." He pointed to an area south west,"There sir,"he continued,"there's a small train station just on the other side of those woods. If we can get the train to go fast enough, then maybe we can get through the city blockade and ride our way through to Portsmouth." This guy knew what he was doing, although a bit of a dare devil, but I gotta give him credit for having the guts to ride into enemy territory. "Alright," I agreed,"But where's the rest of your squad?" Strange how his Commanding Officer would just send him off alone like that. "They're dead, sir," he looked down with a saddened look on his face,"We got ambushed by paratroopers in the forest just 2 clicks from here." I placed my hand on his shoulder. "We'll be alright Barnes," I said to him," Let's get moving, we should get to that base before sundown." He jumped up on his feet, and lead the way. We walked into the woods. It was quiet and calm, there was not a sound. The animals must've been scared off from here. It took us an hour to get through.
"Barnes!," I whispered to him loudly, "Get down, I think the train stations occupied!" I could see them, the Nazis were circling the perimeter. We saw a train, mounted with a machine gun through one of the windows where the glass was knocked out. Barnes and I kneeled down under a large tree, I peaked out the right side while he crept on the left. We counted 10 of them. This was some risky business. I had only about 40 in my bag. We each had 5 shots plus one in the barrel. The country side was being overrun and fast, we wouldn't make it out here for long if we didn't make a run for the main army. The locomotive was parked just a little offset of the station. The station itself was in a clearing surrounded by woodlands and a dirt road to the east. "Barnes," I whispered," you give me covering fire when I go out, I'm gonna circle around to the far end of the woods next to the tracks. I'll open fire once I'm in a good position. Then you make a run for it." Barnes nodded and said, "Copy that, sir." I took out my rounds, and stuffed them in my pocket. A belt would've been nice. So I aimed for the guy on the platform. He was probably easy kill. I placed my finger around the trigger. I chambered a round with the bolt and added an extra bullet. Aimed with my scope. Fired. I missed his head, and the bullet went into his shoulder. A thumping sound followed as the man fell to the ground. There was screaming and confusion about the station and I could feel the dirt flying as the bullets hit the ground just next to my feet. A distinct shot came from the far side, another thumping sound of a body hit the floor. Barnes drew most of the fire, while I picked out a couple more still on the plat form. I shot one in the leg, and the other in the back. 3 rounds left. They were easy pickings. By now they had suppressed me. Barnes must've taken off by now. I kept firing off the three remaining rounds blindly while my tree was pulverized by a barrage of bullets from the machine gun mounted on the train. I was more worried about Barnes, what if they had gotten him already. I sat there and prayed while the bullets showered the tree, it felt like an eternity. The mass of constant bullets suddenly stopped and the enemy began to concentrate fire in the opposite direction. The machine gun sound started up again, but this time it was Barnes on the machine gun. The bastard did it! He honked the horn in glory. and sent the Nazis running for cover. He started the engine, and drove the train towards where I had taken cover. Southward bound. I reloaded my rifle, and started running down the track. As the train caught up, I stepped to the side, and started running parallel to it. The train started gaining speed and I ran after it. The bullets impacted the steal of the train as it moved away from the station. I sudden jolt of pain form my waist. A bullet had grazed me, ad for a moment I was about to loose balance and fall. Then a hand grabbed my wrist. It was Barnes, and just in time to boost me up on to the train. I climbed up and entered the main compartment. I sat down heavily, like my butt was a brick. Barnes sat down next to me. A patted his shoulder, and said,"Good job Barnes......Good job," and I smiled. Barnes began to laugh, and I laughed along.

After a few minutes we reached a clearing to York, Maine. Most of the city was reduced to rubble. We saw German tanks, and soldiers marching alongside, with planes flying overhead. We kept our heads down. Nobody really cared about us riding through. To them we were probably just another scheduled convoy. The ground was littered with burn grass and trees. They had even occupied the main town hall. We rolled on by the now hostile town. The hills in the distance were too scattered with pillars of smoke. The light green and black created a depressing view. We passed by many smaller towns after that. Most of them were devoid of people some had signs of Nazi occupation. They were colonizing on top of us, we were being invaded, and all our troops were in Europe. We were vulnerable. I had so many questions to ask the general. How did the Germans evade our navy? How did they get so close undetected.I suppose those burning questions will have to wait just a little longer. Barnes had fallen asleep, he must be tired. I know I was. I could use a nap by now, but no telling what could happen at Portsmouth.

I looked and saw a city covered with dark smoke, except for a small area in the west."Barnes, hey Barnes!" I nudged him on the shoulder,"I think we're here." Barnes woke up slightly disoriented,"Huh, what?" he said in drowsy voice."Portsmouth Air Base," I said. I could see the planes still in the sky. They were American transport planes dropping off supplies to the city. This was it, we'd made it to a safe haven. I looked to the south east, and I could see three German tanks in the distance. One opened fire in our direction, a moment later, I realized they were aiming for us. I ducked down and an explosion of smoke shot up next to the train. "Holy shit!" cried Barnes. He was wide awake now, panicking. "Barnes, get down!" We both ducked under the train controls as the tank fired another round. Direct hit. The train lost its balance and began to tip sideways. By now I had completely lost a sense of surrounding. The train skid along the side as Barnes and I tumbled around in the compartment. After a loud deafening sound of metal cracking and bending, and dirt flying everywhere, the train came to a sudden halt. Barnes and I still had our rifles on our shoulders. We regained conscious control, and crawled out of the train wreck. We made a run for it. The loud shriek of flying tank shells followed behind us as the train exploded. We fell to the ground as a mass of debris came fly towards us. I quickly got up, and dragged Barnes to his feet. We stumbled across a demolished building and into an empty street. The whole city was empty.

"Hey you two! Over here!" cried a voice from behind the pillar of smoke across the street. A man in army uniform walked through the smoke. He wore his hat loosely bending to the left. "Gentlemen, I believe you are the reinforcements from the train!" He said with a grin on his face," You better get behind the line, the Nazis are about to make another push at us. I don't think they take too kindly to resistance. They dropped some kind of super bomb on Boston. They'll do the same here very soon." Barnes and I looked at each other. Super bomb? What could this guy be talking about? Was it possible that the Germans had a new secret weapon? I must get to the general for certain now. A loud explosion just above our heads. It began raining bricks and cinder. "Common! Let's move it!" said the soldier,"It's coming down on us!" I didn't even bothered to look up, the three of us made a mad dash to get out of the collapsing building's way. I guess those tanks REALLY wanted to make sure we were dead. The building kicked up a cloud of dust that covered the entire street in merely seconds. "Common guys, just over this next pile of rubble!" yelled the soldier. We couldn't see anything so we just followed his voice. Our lungs began to fill with smoke and dust, and we coughed heavily, almost suffocating. After a few more paces we reached the edge of the dust cloud. There we saw what looked like a slice of heaven placed in the middle of hell. An airfield untouched by bomb shells or debris. On it were civilians seeking refuge, and thousands of soldiers. Dozens of planes lined up on the field taking off one by one. It was a marvelous sight for sore eyes. The planes that took off flew right above our heads, and dropped bombs on the attacking tanks. I turned around as my eyes followed the bomber's every move. I felt a surge of satisfaction as the tanks popped like little balloons out on the battlefield. "Wooohooo!" cried the soldier as he stood on a pile of rubble and jumped in the air with his fist held high and his rifle in the other hand, "You boys better be happy! That was a welcoming present from good old General Jack Adams!! Haha!" Barnes and I smiled. We continued to follow the soldier as ran into the opening gates of the airfield. The guards and all the soldiers there greeted us with bright big smiles. The happy unnamed soldier we were following led us to a tent just outside the control tower. As we crossed the airfield, hundreds of people were in line to get on the transport planes that would fly them to safety. High above us, friendly planes patrolled the skies.

"Right in here, sir," said one of the tent guards. As we walked in to the tent, there were officers dressed in their dark green jackets with golden buttons and medals on the left side of their chest. I felt a little under dressed stepping in, but clearly I was celebrity here. The general stood at the opposite end of the table with a large map spread out and the other officers stood all around. The general wore a suit with the most decorations of them all. He was a very stern man, who stood with a firm footing, and his looks alone were sharp enough to make him a grand leader. They had must've been planning their next move when we walked in. But everyone stopped for a moment and looked at us. We both saluted him but before we could say anything, he spoke up."First Lieutenant George Wilford Lloyd and Private Arnold Barnes," said the general,"Colonel Williams said you were coming. He's your CO is that right Mr. Barnes?" Barnes lowered his hand, and said," Yes sir, he clearly instructed me to find the Lt. and make sure he was brought here safe. Did the Colonel make it out sir?" There was a pause of silent in the room,"I'm afraid not,"said the general,"I'm deeply sorry. We received word that only a few from your company were able to make it out alive. They are escorting the civilians west as we speak." I took a step forward,"Sir, how did the Germans make it to our soil,"I asked," and what is this super bomb we've been hearing about?" I had so many questions, but I decided to ask the two that troubled me most. "Ah, so I believe you've met Sergeant Stewart. He's one for excitement in wars I suppose," the general seemed to have continued in his previous briefing position," and thank you for those questions Lt. Lloyd, I was just about to brief my men on that." He looked down at the map and pointed just off the coast of Boston, and began speaking, "Their primary navy must be just right there. This afternoon at 1 pm, the Germans launched a full frontal assault on the northeast coast of the United States, wiping out most of our military and navy power in the region. They attacked two major cities with a devastating weapon known as an Atomic Bomb. It has come to my attention that the US had been developing a similar weapon for sometime. It looks like the Germans had won. Now, as for intelligence on how they got so close undetected is still mostly a mystery on our part. Our meteorologists believe that they sailed along the cover of a storm. This storm is believed to have a highly unusual pattern and intensity. We have reason to also believe it was artificial." There was a heightened tension in the room, as the officers spouted out questions on how this was possible," How could they posses such a technology?" said one of the officers. "You spies are mad! They propose such an unbelievable thing!" said another. "Calm down gentlemen," the general said as raised both of his hands up,"Listen all of you, we also believe that there are more of these Atomic Bombs, and we believe that another one will come down on this city. We are evacuating the civilian as we speak, then we will begin retreating. They're cutting us off from the rest of the united states, we have to hold the ground while our evacuees get to safety." The officers agreed in compliance. "Alright gentlemen, you are dismissed." Barnes and I walked out of the tent. We sat around and watched the dozens of transport planes take off. The Germans had grown much quieter now. General Adams was right, the Germans were planing to vaporize this town with their super bomb.

I didn't like this uneasy calmness knowing the town could go off in flames. As the last of the civilians fled, the army began to exit the air base. The bombers came through and started dropping their initial load. "Hey you two!" it was Sergeant Stewart calling us,"Yeah you two idiots! Get on this plane with us, we're a couple men short, and need somebody on the guns. It was a flying fortress. The plane was enormous, and even the looks of it was frightening. It had a large turret on top, a glass dome on the nose, a turret under it, and a turrets on each of the sides. Barnes and I were extremely eager. We hopped on, and as we took off half the army had already left. The swarm of fighters appeared in the horizon to the east. This was it, I thought to myself. The big finale of my day. The giant fireball, I've been hearing about all day. Our plane took quite a few hits, before we oriented ourselves to the on coming fighters. The plane was sturdy, and it flew on like it didn't have a scratch. I could hear Stewart shouting as he fired his turret aimlessly into the sky. I squeezed the trigger myself, and took out one or two fighters that came close. The pilot was circling the city, and I was amazed at the sight of burning buildings and soldiers running through the fields and tanks rolling down the highway scrambling to get away from the city. The fighters flew back around the city, as the heavy bombers came into view. The pilot knew this was his queue to bail, and flew westward. A squad of fighters came on our tail and opened fire. The pilot was hit, and I could see blood splatter across the broken windshield in front of him. Stewart grabbed a a couple of parachutes and tossed me and Barnes one. "Go, you bastards!" I cried out," I'll try and land this thing!" I could barely hear him over the sound of the engine, wind, and gun fire. I hesitated to jump, I realized we were still close to the city. "We should jump at the last moment," I cried back at him,"We don't even know how big that blast is!" Stewart nodded,"Alright you pansies!! Stay and die if you'd like!" Barnes, the rest of the crew and I all ran to look out the sides of the turrets. We were still followed by German fighters, but now they didn't care so much for shooting us, they too wanted to escape. We could see a fleet of five bombers flying over the city. the central bomber dropped the super bomb, encased in a large shell almost a third the size of the plane. It gently floated down on a parachute towards the airbase. Not all the soldiers had made it out yet. The bomb flew to the ground, we all turned away and covered our eyes with our hands. The flash of heat and light could be seen even clear through our hands as our skin glowed bright red. The interior of the plane began to feel like an oven cooking us alive. A few moments later the brightening light went down and an Earth cracking explosion ripped through our plane. It must've been the shock wave from the blast. It kicked up a huge dust storm on our way down. One of the fighters fell right on top of us. It knocked the cargo door open and I fell out the bottom of the plane. As I fell from the plane, I looked back at the city, and I could see the mushroom cloud slowly rising from the ground growing bigger and bigger. I could see streaks across the sky as planes lost there balance and gradually fell. It was bitter defeat, and I was falling to my doom. The parachute! I had forgotten I strapped it on just before I fell off the plane. I pulled it instantly, and I was tugged back up into the sky, into a gentle fall. The plane my friends were in soared across the sky leaving a streak of black smoke. I rode the descent down looking at how far they could fly. They slowly descended with me, but towards a slowly setting sun. I landed with a sudden thump. I rolled along the ground for a bit and came to a stop. As I got up, I realized I had sprained my right leg. I looked up around and saw the German fighter that struck us lying in a burning wreck. Next to it was a German pilot, unconscious on the ground still strapped to his parachute. My rifle was still strapped to my back. I unbuckled my parachute and limped towards the pilot. As I got closer, I yelled out," Hey, are you still alive!" There was no answer. I aimed my gun at the pilot the entire time as I approached. "HEY! Get up!" I yelled again. I wasn't gonna take my chances and turn my back on this fellow. He might be waiting for just that to take that chance and shoot me. I poked my gun at the unconscious pilot."Hey," I said softly. I rolled him over. It wasn't a him, it was a girl.

On a day of April. part 2

The next morning I woke up to find myself drooling on Sophy's covers. She was still fast asleep in her bed, all snuggled and warmly wrapped in a thick layer of blankets. I collected myself for a moment, I could still feel my entire body aching. Even now I was extremely exhausted, must've been the adrenaline that got me through last night. My back ached most of all, after sitting in the hard wooden chair, with my back arched towards the bed as I lay asleep the whole night. I got up slowly to check on my sister, and placed the back of my right hand on her forehead. She was warm, the fever must've gone down since last night. I could smell mom's cooking reaching out through the crack of the doors and dangling off the tip of my nostrils. She was making those cinnamon waffles with sausages and eggs. Cinnamon waffles were Sophy's favorite. She could eat them a whole year for everyday and never get bored of them. I kissed her lightly on the cheek and limped outside still with my back, legs, and arms hurting all over. "Morning mom," I said in a soft voice," those smell really good." I wasn't sure how to tell her what had happened, I kind of felt responsible for it as well. "Morning George," said mom, "I was trying to get you to bed last night, but you were really deep asleep and wouldn't move." I didn't want to change the subject just yet. "It's alright, sleeping next to Sophy was probably better," I said, " I probably wouldn't have fallen asleep anyways if I wasn't next to her." Mom dropped the egg on top of the pancakes, and placed the sausages on the sides, I never told her, but somehow she knew I liked it when she puts the eggs on top. "The doctor will be here soon," she said, " I called him earlier this morning, he said he'll be a little later than 10." I guess this was my queue to explain everything to her. I swallowed and started "Mom, we were just coming home when the storm hit, and," I paused to make sure she was listening. She pulled out a chair and sat down as I sliced the waffles and sausages. "Well, the storm caught up with us half way home," I continued, "So we passed by this really old tree and the wind must've been too strong. The tree collapsed and Sophy was right under it." Mom smiled for a moment, she wanted to comfort me. "It's alright dear,"she said, "I'm glad both of you are safe and sound." I felt a bit more relieved.

After breakfast I entered my room. I stood there staring at my uniform. The decorations on it, the medals. I didn't really do anything there, I barely had the guts to fire my gun, and hardly any of us knew if we had hit anything. We just fired blindly in fear. I was one of the few survivors of my squad. Sophy being injured deeply reminded me how much the traumas of war had followed me home. Like death, having lost his grip of me on the battlefield has followed me, to try and take the life of my sister. I walked out of my room, and into Sophy's. She had woken up and Mom gave her a bowl of hot soup and a large pile of cinnamon waffles with a lot of maple syrup. "Hey Sophy," I said. "Hey Georgy," she replied. I sat down on the chair where I was sleeping an hour earlier,"How are you feeling?" I asked. She took a bite of waffle, and sipped a spoonful of soup. "Never better," she said as she smiled. Then I heard a knock on the door. "That must be the doctor," said mom. I stayed with Sophy and took care of he dishes on her bed. I could hear mom, as she opened the door to speak with the doctor. "Good morning Mrs. Lloyd," he said. "Doctor Shepard, please come in, my daughter is in the room to the left," said mom as she made a gesture with her hand pointing down the hallway left of the living room. "Good morning sir," I said," Ah you must be the lad everyone in town is talking about," he said with a big smile on his face. "I guess so," I replied. "Uhh.. George Wilford Lloyd is it?" he recalled, just before my mom could give him my name."Yes I am," I replied once more. "Oh boy, you're a hero you know? You should head down there before you leave. I heard all about your next mission down in Africa, you must be excited." I nodded, smiled, and said"Thank you sir, and I am, very." I took a step aside so Dr. Shepard could take a look at Sophy. "And you must be Sophia Marie Lloyd," he said and chuckled a bit, "From what I've heard, you've got all those young men in town falling had over heals." He leaked out a little laugh. Sophy was flattered, her cheeks grew a little red. "Well I'll take that as a a compliment Dr. Shepard," said Sophy. The doctor asked he to open her mouth checked her throat, took her temperature, and took a look at her legs. "Well I suppose we'll have to take her to her to the hospital, get some X-rays, it doesn't look too bad,"said the doctor,"My guess is just a small fracture on the left leg it appears, probably a couple weeks in a cast and a crutch should make you as good as new." My mother and I sighed in relief,"Oh thank you so much Dr. Shepard," said my mother. "Oh you might not have heard, but the storm last night caused a lot of damage all across the New England coa, I'm late for my next appointment, I'll call for an ambulance on my way out, I'll be home this afternoon if you need me again," said the doctor. His house was just down the street by a mile, he was like our village's witch doctor, giving visits to everyone's house who needed him in the neighborhood. Our house was farther out of town than anyone's, even though we only lived about 3 miles out. We had no neighbors for almost half a mile. We lived secluded from most of the town's people, and since father died we only made trips into town once or twice a week. Since she became a widow, she always wanted to be alone, just the two of them, her and my daughter. My Father was an editor for the town's news paper, my mother was a tailor. Despite our private nature, we are still among the most talked about in town. Captain Marshall Alvin Lloyd, the valiant officer that died gloriously in battle, survived by his son the town hero, the most beautiful daughter in the county, and the sweetest wife a husband could ask for. I wanted to laugh at such a title when I saw it for the first time in the papers, I was only just a man trying to get by, and if I weren't still grieving over the loss of my father, I'd probably laugh out loud.
By lunch time I took Sophy to the hospital, and got her cast done. It was about noon when we left the hospital. People greeted me everywhere. It's true what Dr. Shepard has said, everyone did see me as the town hero. As we left the hospital, Sophy just laughed and roughed up my hair with her bony hands. "Hey soldier boy," she said as we got in the car to leave the hospital, I drove,"When are you gonna get yourself a hot wife? You could have any woman in this town if you wanted." I pondered a bit, then sad,"I don't know Sophy, I haven't found the right one yet I guess." Sophy sat down and slammed the door real hard, she always did that just to annoy me. Things seemed back to normal between us. I started the car and drove off. On our way back, I noticed that she kept staring at her cast. Probably wondering if the boys would still be hitting on her even though she was in crutches now. Silly self conscious Sophy I thought to my self. "George please don't stay for me," she said,"I'll be alright. You should go on your mission, that's what father would've wanted. For you to continue his legacy." I looked at Sophy and rubbed her shoulder, "Thanks sis," I said,"but don't get married till I come back." We laughed together for a bit. Then I heard a familiar faint sound, the propellers of a German bomber. A swarm of them in the sky, escorted by smaller fighters. It wasn't long before the entire was filled with the black silhouettes of enemy crafts. "My god," said Sophy,"Georgy..... are we under attack?" I was speechless for a moment, leaning over the steering wheel looking up into the sky. "We have to get home, and get mom and you to somewhere safe!" I said to her,"Listen to me carefully Sophy, you and mom take the car, and head west. Don't stop for anything, we've got enough gasoline barrels that dad collected to last you a thousand miles." Sophy was glued to her side of the window."George,"she said in a beckoning tone," please come with us, we can't make it with out you." I wanted to go, but I couldn't leave my duties behind, I couldn't leave for what my father stood for. I had to make my stand. I had to fight the Germans off my homeland. My time had come. It was now. "Look, they're headed South, they must be after the Boston Harbor," I speculated. It was the least I could think off, I was shaking, the memories from war, my unit wiped out. We took a bad hit out in Denmark, we couldn't hold the line. We had only taken it back from the Germans for a couple weeks, they fought back hard. General Adams ordered the retreat, it was devastating. The shells exploded all around behind our backs, 3rd degree burns, dust and dirt in our eyes, ears, lungs, and it even plugged our nostrils. I thought I would suffocate. Charlie Hanson pulled me out, and incredible test of spirit. I myself even doubted I do the same for anyone, I could hardly see anything. Out of 3000 men, a couple dozen made it out alive. We were awarded the silver star. There were no awards for the dead, the brave souls that stayed behind to ensure the rest of us left. Orwell, Mobius, Johnston, and many others died the last moments before we crossed the border out of there.
We finally reached home, the bombers must've reached there destinations by now, but still they launched a bombardment of any possible tactical resistance. The town of York behind us went up in storm of explosions. It shook the ground beneath me, the leaves on the trees scattered down, I could see the sky growing grey from the smoke and dust that rose from the town nearby. "George!!" mom cried from the house, she had prepared food and blankets, carrying all she could. I ran over to help her. "George, oh my, what have they done?" said mom. She kneeled down and tears rolled down her cheeks. "Mom," I said as I picked her up to get her into the car,"mom, you have to get Sophy out of here. Head east I'll go get dad's old fuel barrel, that should be enough to get you far away from here. There's gonna be more of them." My mom started to walk on her own towards the car. She got in and I ran back inside to pick up the heavy barrel and walked back out to plop it into the trunk. "There," I said, "did you get all the food out of the house?" Mom wiped the tears off,"Yes Dear, and I know you can't come with us, you have to stand for your father don't you." I hugged mom, "Mom, I love you and Sophy so much," I said, "I'll see the both of you again some day I promise." I ran over to the other side of the car. The bombings had stopped, there were so many planes in the sky, they took everything out quickly. "Sophy, my sweet beautiful sister," these might be my last words, I didn't quite know how to continue so I just said,"I love you, and I'll miss you." I hugged her tightly," I love you too Georgy, and I'll miss you," she was crying again now," Go get'em soldier boy!" She slugged me in the shoulder. I laughed and closed the door. Mom drove off. As they left, I looked up in the sky, and the transport planes were flying through near the town, and they began dropping the paratroopers. I ran inside, undressed and got on my uniform. I took out my service rifle, it felt a little weird using one at home. Dad never took me hunting. I loaded it. Here it is my scoped M1903 Springfield. Cocked it, and I was ready for war. The homefront war. I switched on the radio, "This is Mayor Jonathan Savran, we are under attack, I repeat under attack, evacuate your homes and head west await further instructions, this message will repeat." I switched the channel to another frequency,"This is Dr. Shepard, for those who seek medical attention-" I switched the channel once more,"Attention all military personnel, this is General Dangerfield, Boston has suffered heavy casualties. We've lost the city. The Germans have landed on our soil, they are attacking us. I repeat the United States of America is under attack. We are retreating and will regroup at Portsmouth air base. All able personnel who wish to fight may join us there. This message will repeat." So the war is on our doorstep now. Whatever happens next won't be pretty. I stood in the doorway and stared into the grey afternoon sky. They entered without being detected. They caught us by surprise. They rewrote history. It was up to me to set it right. The sky filled with planes, paratroopers, and anti-air fire like streaks of shooting stars going upwards. The day had changed to hell. I held my rifle tightly and walked out the door.

Story #4: On a day of April. part 1

I stood out on the rocky cliff. I could hear the waves clashing against the rocks, the water foamed and cleared away in an endless cycle of a transparent white covering the blue crest of waves and fading away. The sun was about to set, it now glowed bright red surrounded by an orange ambient flow and a bright yellow halo. The wind softly brushed through my hair, and I began to feel the chill of the night air looming about. The storm still a distance away, the grey cluster of clouds with the flickering flashes of lighting as it hovered across the sea. I sat down against the cold hard rocks dangling my feet off the edge.
I had just returned home from the war. To finally visit my family after so many years of being in a hostile country. The people there all gave me these dirty looks, as if I was the devil. I guess they didn't like American occupation. My family could care less about the Nazis or Hitler, I was there because my father had died a few years earlier. When we got the news my mother was so depressed, I had to give her some hope that his death wasn't in vein. So I signed up and left. I was surprised that beautiful sister of mine hadn't married some handsome rich guy yet. I suppose she's the play hard to get type. I hope she finds a man to make her truly happy.
"George! What are you doing?" said Sophia, my sister. She wore a yellow dress, and wore a brown purse with a long strap over her right shoulder. She had that angered, annoyed and worried look on her face. She trudged towards me like a stampede of bulls. I quickly stood up and smiled at her innocently as she approached. The rock beneath my feet began to crumble, and I lost my balance for a moment. Sophia grabbed me and pulled me back to solid ground. "Thanks Sophy, I thought I was gonna have to sleep under the cliff for the night," I said. "Wipe that stupid smirk off your face Georgy," she said with an agitated tone, " Mom says, to come get you for supper!" I was hungry, I had been for the past couple of hours, but the view was so amazing out here, I had forgotten. "Alright Sophy," I said," I'm not even that hungry anyways." I didn't want her to know that I had given in so easily to her demands, she'd probably boss me around even more if I did. "Oh gosh," Sophy said with a surprised look on her face," We better hurry if we want to get home before that storm hits." Sophy and I took off into the tree line separating the woods from the coasts and the cliffs. The sun had dipped below the horizon and the orange glow began to fade as the skies grew into a darker deep blue tone. As we marched home, I looked up and could see the stars coming out one by one, popping into the sky as it grew darker. The sound of lighting scared Sophy a little, but I thought the drips of rain before getting home would give me an excuse not to bathe for the night and go to sleep.
The storm closed in on us faster than I had thought. Half the sky was covered by dark clouds. "Hey Sophy," I said," we should start running, I don't think Mom would be happy if you caught a cold, you just got over the last one." She nodded in agreement,"Yea, you'r right, the last one I had was terrible." We ran together up the treeless hill. We reached the top and paused for a moment to look around. The hill was high enough, so we could see the clear to the roof of our house, and the coastal area that we just came from."Look Sophy," I said as I pointed to a small house with smoke rising out of the chimney, just barely off the edge of the horizon," Mom must be cooking us a fine stew, I can't wait to get home!" Sophy smiled, I could tell she too was hungry. A loud thunder exploded behind us, light drops of rain came down from the sky. Then it gradually got heavier as we ran down the hill. The winds grew stronger and stronger. It blew in the very direction we headed home. The sky was a deep dark grey, the light from the sky was fading, and if we didn't get home soon, the storm would overtake us, and we'd be caught in a wet, windy, darkness. I grabbed on to Sophy's hand as we ran towards the direction, that I would suppose was home. She tripped and fell my hand came loose, and a ran a few feet ahead. I realized my sister had slipped. I turned around only to see a massive tree collapsing, the branches and leaves hit the ground with a loud cracking noise, underneath it was Sophy. "Sophy!!," I cried," Sophy!!!! Please, please be alright." As I ran towards her I began to cry in fear that my sister was dead or injured. "Hey, you idiot, get me out of here!" she screamed from under one of the thick branches. I felt a huge sigh of relief and began tearing my way into the heart of the tree to find her. I finally got to her, but she was trapped under a a big branch. "Hey, my beautiful sister, are you alright?" I said to her. She laughed and said,"My leg feels like hell, now get me out of here!" I tried lifting the branch, but it was too heavy. "Come on soldier boy!" she taunted, " You got more than that." I took a deep breath, and lifted the branch with both of my hands. The tree began budge. The rain was even heavier now, and I could barely see anything. The sky was pitch dark, but a small glimmer of light in the distance still gave me hope. It was home, mom's warm little cottage. I had remembered what my father taught me one day while we were out cutting trees down for firewood . He said that lifting wood wasn't about just using the strength in our arms. It was about our entire body. I kneeled down and placed my right shoulder under a part of the branch, and hugged it. I pushed against the floor with my feet and as if I was given extra strength, I could hear the branch begin to crack. I held on to the branch with my right arm and pulled Sophy out from under with my left. " George, I...." she said and pausing because her wet face began to drip warm tears, and despite the rain drops, I could tell she was crying," I don't think I can walk." I picked her up and headed towards the light in the distance. We approached the house, mom must've heard Sophy's cries, because she was screaming in agony. "Oh my dears", mom said "What on Earth happened? I've been worried sick!" I entered the room with Sophy in my arms."Mom," I said," I'll explain in a second, please get me some warm blankets, I need to get Sophy to bed, she's hurt."
I placed her down in the bed gently. She was quiet now, she was probably tired from all the crying on our way back, but I could tell she was still hurting. Sophy fell asleep instantly after mom gave her the pills to stop the pain. I was still shocked at what happened, so I didn't say anything at the moment. "It's alright Georgy dear," said mom," We'll talk about it in the morning. Have some soup and get some rest, Sophy had some already before she left so don't wake her." I couldn't eat that night, I wasn't hungry anymore. I just sat there and fell asleep next to my sister. I kept thinking in my mind, thank God she was alright.

Story #3: Stained Carpet

A woman entered the old creaking wooden mansion. She was dressed in an old fashioned 1950s dress. Of course, the year is 1954. The blue hue skylight shown through the crack of the half opened door. She looked back and made a gesture calling out for her son from behind the door. "Come now Harry, you must see your new home," said the woman. "But moooooom," said Harry the little young lad," that house is big and dark and dusty, I wanna go hooooommmme." The little boy, only 7 years old, has not had the greatest experience growing up with two ever stubborn parents. The mother turned to an keeled down in front of the boy, who seemed to be about to weep. "Now look darling, my love," said the mother," your father and I, well we can't be together anymore, we just see things too differently." She began to stroke his blonde hair gently, comforting the child hoping that he doesn't break a tear, for she too may begin to cry as well. "It's going to be alright from now on dearest, " she continued,"I promise everything will be alright. You see we'll call in some people to clean up the hotel, and Mittens will be happy here as well. Look at all the rugs and carpets he can roll around in." The mother stood up to lead the boy into the house. Harry followed, cautiously looking around his surroundings. The house was a splendid sight, there was a large glass dome that shined creamy whit light onto the gorgeous red carpet that covered the entire house. There were two stairs on either side of the entrance hall leading upwards in an inverted semi-arc shape. Like the entrance of grand hotel. This mansion was an old inheritance left by the mother's ancestors, she didn't even know she owned it until the lawyers went over the family history during the divorce. "Mommy," Harry tugged at his mother's fluffy cotton pink sleeve,"What if Mittens doesn't like it here?" he asked. "Don't worry dear, he will," she replied, " at the moment we have no where else to go, and your father wasn't exactly a rich man either," she smiled a bit trying to make sure Harry wouldn't begin to cry again and continued," well, let's stay here for a bit, and if you don't like it, we'll sell the house and live somewhere else, alright?" the mother took held his hand up and looked straight at him smiling. Harry looked down and nodded. "That's very good dear," said the mother, "Now, let's go get your things and settle in." The boy, although not too pleased with the agreement, he seemed to like the idea of having such a big home to run around in. He thought of all his friends just running around playing hide and seek, and all the long hours of fun they'd have in such a beautiful place. So the boy went off to settle in his new room, just up the right wing stairs and to the first door on the left. Mittens, his cat followed and ran around his room. Later that night after dinner. The boy laid down gently on his bed, and smiled a little. It was such a nice bed, perhaps one fit for a prince. The cat curled up next to him and began to purr. The boy was content and slowly he began to fall asleep. The mother came in just a few seconds later, she gently kissed him on the for head, and said, "Good night my love."
Later that night the boy awoke to the sound of his cat, Mittens hissing loudly in the hallway through the crack in the door that his mother didn't quite close up entirely. Harry attempted to return to sleep, but the cat's load screeching kept him tossing and turning until he finally got up to take a look at the cat. As he opened up his door, he could see the cat's tail brush pass the corner of the hallway where it reached the left wing of the stairs. There was a blue shimmering moon light from the main entrance dome that shown down and lit the room and the halls around it. Harry tip toed cautiously towards the edge of the railing to see where his cat had gone. He could feel the air getting cooler as he approached the edge, where the moonlight struck, the barrier between light and darkness, Harry could feel a sudden sheer coldness, a drop in the temperature. He began to shiver, but the curiosity simply drove him further. As he leaned over the ledge, he could see the cat siting in front of the door way, staring into the center the of the entrance hall. Harry saw the carpet in front of his cat began to bulge up. The cat let out a loud screech, an ear shattering cry. Harry covered his ears as he witnessed the bulge rising up, he wanted to wake his mother, but he froze in fear as the carpet demon rose up. It was just like someone was under the carpet, but the carpet did not have any creasings, nor did the edges retract. Harry woke up the next morning. He was eager to get out of bed to tell his mother about the news. "Mommy, mommy," he cried to his mother who was preparing breakfast in the kitchen, "I saw a ghost! I saw one! It was in the carpet, but I think Mittens scared it away!" The mother continued to do the place the dishes on the table, and cook the pancakes. "Don't be silly Harry," said mother," there's no such thing as ghosts in this house." But Harry was persistent, he grabbed her gown and pulled at it hard and said, "Moooommmy, we have to move out now, I don't like it here!" The mother finally couldn't take Harry's doubtfulness of the new home. She got on her knees and began to cry. "Oh Harry dear," she said with eyes full of tears," I'm so, so sorry it turned out like this," she sniffed the liquid dripping out of her nose, and whiped her eyes. She gave Harry a big hug, and squeezed him tightly. "Now listen my dear, we have no other choice but to live here for now," she said," I know things have been hard, but we have to be here for each other ok? Just try to let go of your nightmare Harry, everything will be alright." Harry was hesitant to believe it was a nightmare, but seeing his mother cry, he returned her hug and simply said, "ok mom."

Story #2: El Infierno Zona

July 9th, 1849. The Mexican government mysteriously lost contact with 4 towns in the Chihuahuan Desert. A lone government special agent is sent to investigate. Garth Silverstone, an expert in tracking, hunting, and demonic spirits. He has traveled from the capitol, Washington DC, upon order of the president of the United States. Silverstone was a criminal you see, he was locked up for having an affair with an unnamed witch. She was tried and hung. Silverstone was imprisoned until further questioning. He was known as the local demon slayer of a town out in West Virginia. The president has promised a full pardon if he did this one last mission. Just a reconnaissance, investigate what has happened, after all it was the least they could do since the end of the war. The Mexican government reports that they lost contact months ago, they sent couriers and soldiers to investigate, no one has returned. The area has gone under quarantined.
Garth stepped off a train just outside of Ciudad Juarez, border town. He looked around, silence, and darkness everywhere. The dead of night the sky cloudless and starry. The city in the distant background, only a dim glow could be seen in the far horizon. It was on the border of what was known as.... el infierno zona "the hell zone". In front of him was an abandoned train station. As he walked inside, the train took off south. A dirt road took off in one direction of the station - east. The west had been cleared out, rocks and cacti laid in it's path, as if the road was wiped off. Garth started walking down the dirt road, as he began to pace himself, as he was eager to get to the next town before sunrise to catch some strange sightings he looked up into the sky. He stopped suddenly, not even at half a mile away from the station, there was a clear change. The skies were pitch black, there were no stars, and there were no signs of clouds either. Garth could only feel intrigue at what could be awaiting him in the next few miles ahead. He continued walking, a black horse stood nearby. On the side of the horse hung a sheet with an emblem belonging to the Mexican army. Who ever it was that came here before him, is gone now. He climbed on, and rode eastward into the darkness. As he went further the skies and terrain grew darker, he could barely see the trail now. There was no wind. No sound. No sign of life. Even the galloping of the horse grew more quiet as he got deeper into the zone.

After many hours he came to a stop in front of a tree. It was dead, even the branches begun falling off. The tree appeared to be covered in char, as if a huge fireball consumed it, and a wind blew it out. Garth grabbed one of the larger branches lying on the ground. Tore the sheet of cloth off the horse and wrapped it around the stick. He lit it on fire and waved it around to see the surroundings more clearer. There were no foot prints, the ones him and his horse made were gone. All he could see were the imprints he had made from standing there for some time. He took a step to see if the imprints would stay. They did, but there was no trail to tell him the way out. He grabbed on to the rope of the horse so it wouldn't go anywhere. A glimmer in the distance, like a mirror reflecting off the light that was burning. Garth hopped back on to continue his journey. As he reached the shinny object, he could see that there was more in the distance. It a piece of shingle from a roof top. Gazing forward he could see a field littered with shingles, as if something exploded inside a building and scattered the shingles all across the dessert. Garth continued riding to find the source. The horse galloped over the shingles making a cracking noise, Garth noticed how frequent they got, he must be close.

He finally reached the first town Ilusionado. What the hell am I doing here, he thought. It just hit him, that he should be running for his life. The town was like a ghost town. Abandoned, the roofs on every bidding torn off to shreds like strong gust of wind just brushed over them. No wind can do such a thing, he'd never heard of one that did at least. Suddenly a noise like foot steps in the sand came from one of the buildings. Garth startled, drew out his gun, and the other hand held the torch up firmly. He slowly creped towards the building. "Who's there?" he shouted. Advancing forward, carefully, he could hear nothing more than the sound of his own breathing, the flames, and his footsteps. As he approached the building, he could see the torn down sign. It was a saloon. He stepped inside to investigate. The torch was burning out. Garth tossed it aside. It was pitch dark once more. However, one of the back doors seemed to have a sliver of light shining through the bottom. Garth carefully approached it. He opened to find a stairway leading down into a cellar with a door where a bright light shined through. Garth walked toward the door, still with his gun pointed ahead. The door was unlocked, he opened it to find a tunnel lit with one lantern, and a gate at the other side. I know whatever's on the other side of that gate I probably don't want to find out, he thought. He grabbed the lantern and walked toward the gate. It was locked. He tried knocking. No answer. A moment passed as he stood and stared at it for a while. As he turned around to walk away, a creaking noise came from the door. It started opening. A man stood with another lantern. "Hello Garth," he said. The man was skinny perhaps almost malnourished and dressed in blue garments and jeans. He looked Mexican, but had this eery fluent English accent. "Who the hell are you?" Garth asked. "What a funny thing to ask," said the man, "because on the other side of this door...," the man paused for a second, "let's just say, welcome to hell."

Story #1: The Rift

"You've been assigned to the USS Labyrinth Gerald. You're a captain now," said the Admiral.
He wore his red uniform, an old scruffy man, decorated head to toe in brass medals. He stood there sipping the whiskey in his cup through his thick grey mustache looking out the window into the hazy blue sky and the desert that laid beneath.
"Do you think it was worth it, my entire crew died," said Gerald Zionette, the sole survivor of the great rift incident.

"You couldn't have known Gerald, you tried to save them by flying out first in that shuttle. God knows you did a noble thing," the Admiral replied," I knew your father for a long time, he probably died proud of you that day."

Gerald's eyes began to tear as he remembered the final transmissions from his father ordering him to get farther away from the ship. The rift was too strong, the Emanation was to heavy, the rift came out of no where, and swallowed the ship whole. Gerald must've sat in that shuttle for ours, staring into deep empty space waiting for his father's starship to return. It didn't all he could see was the empty darkness.

"You gathered valuable data, completed the mission, and saved an entire colony. No one died in vein,"the Admiral paused, placed down his cup, turned towards Gerald and continued,"Look it's alright if you don't want to go just yet, Alpha Command would understand."

Gerald retracted the drop just before it poured out of the corner of his eye. He hid has pain, inhaled deeply, and said," No sir. I am fit for duty."

The Admiral approached and laid his right hand on Gerald's shoulder. "Alright, you have a week to assemble the finest senior officers in the sector," said the Admiral," Now go be with your wife, you need her right now."
Gerald looked up at the Admiral, with a strong glare of honor in reply he spoke," Thank you sir," and he walked out. It was just as a normal day in the base. As he walked down the corridor, he passed many officers going through, many old friends he hadn't seen in months. Being back on the ground felt good. But the day had only begun.
The sound of siren began to go off, it was the red alert. The base was under attack. Like a sudden quake, the building shook, and the ceiling cracked. The alert status had everyone dashing through the halls. Secretaries tried to keep their papers on the desks. Pilots scrambled with dashing speed. Gerald looked around for an exit sign, panicking he simply ran forward. The building was collapsing, the floors and ceiling began collapsing. Gerald had come to a dead end, the window ahead seemed to lead down to a pond. There wasn't enough time, Gerald could see the sky darkening from the massive impending raiders that hazed the horrizon beyond. He grabbed a chair nearby and smashed the window open. As he looked back he could see the lights flickering off, and a wall of rubble plumeting towards him from down the hall. It was now or never. Gerald jumped out the broken window and fell 5 stories in to the murky pond. The trail of dust and debris tail behind him as the building crumbled along side. the dust cloud brushed over the pond, and Gerald emerged to a hazy dust covered landscape. He walked away from the rubble behind him as some of it slowly continued crumbling and pouring into the pond displacing the water. As he limped through the dust cloud with the rays of the hot sun piercing through, he could here the loud screams, as people scrambled to escape the base, and the thunderous firefights in the sky. The dust finally cleared as Gerald reached a sandy hilltop. His leg must've been slightly twisted from the jump, his clothes muddy from the mixture of dust, sand, and water. The raiders left a blazing city behind him. He continued forward, to home, to his wife.....

Hello

Well I need a place to share my random story ideas with people. I've found that a lot of people find my fictional creativity to be interesting. So here ya go, I'm just gonna tell a bunch of made up stories and see where all these short or long short stories go.