Somnus seemed eager to settle my debt with him and I slept hard for 4 solid hours, when I awoke to an odd sensation. A warm presence had found its way into my bed and I was about to turn and look when I felt another on my right. Being so sandwiched I worried that this may be an attack of some kind, but my arms were both free and untouched.
I thought I could hear whispers and I was instantly fully alert.
“Miss we shouldn’t be here, what if the hero awakes!?” The voice of Nova said in an alarmed whisper from my right.
“If he awakes… then we say it was my idea.” The princess’s voice came from my left with a bit less confidence toward the end of her statement.
“Miss we must leave before he awakes!!” An ever more irate whisper comes from my right.
“We will leave… Just a bit longer though…” At the princess's last statement I felt a brush on my left arm, as if she was reaching out.
After about 10 minutes the presences left my sides followed by the soft closing of my room’s door.
I waited a dozen more minutes for anything to happen then sleep started to claim me again.
I embraced it, falling into a now dream filled slumber.
***
I was walking to the motor pool with a ‘fixed’ part for the humvee. I don’t think hitting something until it fits counts as fixing, but I'm not a mechanic.
As I was walking I heard the incoming alert start blaring and I hurried myself into an APC to wait out the mortar attack.
While sitting in the old armored personnel carrier I start to wonder how long it will take them to fire the counter battery this time. They said that they had a new system that can calculate the enemy position in seconds. That being said, waiting for the enemy to be destroyed can get a little boring.
The holdout territories should surrender within a few weeks at this rate. At least I hope they surrender. I don't want to have to deal with more insurgents…
Fighting with them for the past 4 months was a pain, and apparently there is still some resistance up north. Even after their government surrendered they still resisted. I have to admit though, that under the same circumstances I would do the same.
After another minute the all clear sounded.
~~~
After the southern government surrendered and we were more or less done with the cleanup operations I was able to take my leave home. So me and a few squad mates, along with others I don’t know personally, were on a transport plane back home. We were all happy to finally get a chance to go home, something long overdo, because of the near constant movement of the frontline.
After we landed in the semi-permanent ‘temporary’ air base we split into smaller air vehicles to go to our separate states. Landing in north Florida made me extremely happy, even though I still had a half hour drive to go. I would at least make the trip with my friend Alexa. She was in the navy while I worked, and I only joined the service after the attack…
We were friends in highschool when I dated a friend of hers, but that didn’t last long. She was always alright so we stayed friends even after the breakup and she had a car that could drive me around town. When I gave her a call she seemed extra eager to help out which I much appreciated, she even declined my offer to pay for fuel.
The plane arrived early so I was waiting for her to arrive. While standing by the pickup area I bought a newspaper to get an update of current events. To my surprise there was only a small article about the war in the south, and most of that article was about the foreign opinion of the war, rather than the actual war. I laughed at the comments from foreign dignitaries about the ‘Unprovoked conquest of a free nation.’
Midway through my laugh I heard a cough behind me. I turned to see my former drill in civilian dress with a suitcase. I was frozen for a half step, my instincts demanding I stand and wait to be chewed out for slacking.
I resisted the urge and fully turned to the man who forged me.
“Sgt. Stevens” I said, giving him a courtesy salute.
“Specialist Waller” He said, noting my rank and giving me a nod.
Just as I was about to start a conversation his wife approached holding his son’s hand.
“Who is this Mike?” She said looking at my uniform.
“Specialist Waller was one of the men I trained.” He said looking from me to his wife.
“Well that’s very nice, but we don’t want to miss our flight.” She gave him a pointed look that said don’t make us late.
“I won’t keep you Sergeant. Have a good day.” I say, seeing Alexa’s car pull in to stop in front of the exit.
“You to Sir!” The Sergeant’s son said.
Leaving the airport I received some odd looks that seemed directed at my uniform. I found that interesting when I exited the airport's automatic glass doors Alexa pulled her car to be in front of me.
After a brief hug she opened the trunk so I could put my bags away. During this interaction I noticed a blush form on her face that I attributed to the hot weather.
While driving away from the airport I noticed some construction happening in what 16 months had been forest. I was a little dismayed when Alexa commented that this was only the start. I realized what she meant when we entered what was a much bigger city than I remember. It amazed me that all of this had been built in less than 2 years.
I guess when they finished expanding the highway through a small old industrial city, more people flocked here. And with people comes businesses to meet their needs, then more people.
When we arrived at my old shop It was almost the exact same except that it had a new sign. I guess my dad took care of it well while I was gone.
When I entered I was greeted by a new worker, after asking if Tom was in I went to his same old office. I knocked and hearing a positive answer, entered. At the sight of me he quickly ended his phone call and greeted me.
This act repeated when I saw my mother and brother. They held a party on that Friday to celebrate my return.
***
I was about to start the next day of the pleasant dream when I awoke to a knock on my door.
That was a nice dream I thought as I put back on my clothes from yesterday…
End of Chapter
Nice
TFTC
Useless skipped chapter.