It has come to that time again that I need to say my goodbyes. The week has come and gone faster than I wanted. It feels that I have not spent near enough time with Isabella. The most unbearing thing shall be being away from the baby. I have grown fond of the idea and even more attached to something that has not yet even given shape. To say that I am not going to miss the both of them with be a lie.
The anticipation of deploying on the other side is equally just exciting. This time we will be away for a definite six months. This time the stakes are higher, and the danger is far greater. Camp Baharia in Fallujah, the base name, has a tight connection with its operating force; in fact, the Marine Corps are referred to as mushaat al baharia in the Arabian language; hence the free translation, the name describes the navy walkers. Among the military troop and plenty of other officials, including the 2-nd Battalion 1-st Marines, it is referred to as Dreamland.
And this is wh
…Isabella POV…They say that reality comes to bite you when you least expect it. Well, a ghost from my past has just surfaced its head. In a way, I knew that he would one day come. I knew that he should find me, and then it will just start all over again.But there is a question that begs, how did he know that Clayton will not be here. Does this mean that he has been watching me this whole time, just waiting for his gap to step from out the darkness?What I also know is that he will not leave until he came here to say what he has to say. Knowing him though he has not come to talk, he has so to say, come to claim his prize. Or what he always comes for.Am I glad that Clayton is not here to see this playoff? I can honestly say yes. But what I also know is that Clayton is going to be furious if he ever has to find out. I have hidden it very well up until now; I just hope he leaves before Denise and Richard comes.So for once again, I ask
I have just received somewhat disturbing news. Isabella's husband is very much still alive. Now, this brings two things to mind. Does she know that he is? Or is she in danger? I have no way of confirming this for myself. I am off in the middle of hostile country; there is not much I can do from here. What I can do is phone her for a brief moment.So as I go to my tent, I feel a somewhat nervous feeling creep into my heart. Or is it fear, fear for Isabella and our child? I will simply die if anything has to happen to her by a man that she once trusted. Well, that all depends if she knows about him or not.And it is with this thought in mind that I, with rather trembling fingers, called Isabella's number. I patiently, in absolute frustration, wait for her to answer the call.Yet, there is no answer.…Isabella POV…I have a rather annoying, suppose to be dead husband standing in front of me demanding that I conveniently take him back. Ye
I have just established that Isabella has had yet another secret from me. As far as the secrets go between us, I can honestly say that this is a big one. Yes, me hiding that I was disabled can count as unforgivable. But having a seemingly innocent man sort of propose to you and then on top of that you are expecting a child, well that is kind of a bigger deal.I am all the way here in Fallujah; there is no way I can protect her, that being said, if she wishes to be protected at all. The biggest question here is, why has she not thrown this man out or, even worse, accepted my offer to get him removed. Does she still have feelings for Mark? He is her real husband, after all.Now, where does that leave me? A man that clearly looks like the cheating kind. Never once have I been unfaithful, and right now, I look like a man that is messing with a married woman. And let us not forget the fact that we are having a child together.With that, a whole new bunch of que
Today my old squad led under Galland now, are making our way into the city. Routine run, nothing too serious to worry about. We do not foresee any resistance, only a lot of stranded civilians. Now there is the majority of the boys that are finding this unnerving due to the amount of Marines that have been killed recently. My advice, keep your head in the game; when they get confronted, then we deal with it then. No need to foreseeing the worse if it is not going to happen. So after we have geared up, we get into the Humvee and make our way away from the camp towards the city. It is ominous; the black smoke lay thick from the tires that have been burnt. The road seems eerily quiet with not a lot of civilians around. This is going to be a quick run-through, and then we are out again …Isabella POV… Clayton's old squad is going out today, and, as with Clayton, he has gone out with them. Now I wish that he did not do it. At least he was honest in telling m
We have just come to realize that we have been ambushed. Clearing the first and the second floor has found us peace that they are not hidden behind any of the walls or, as some of the daring ones will do, in a nearby closet. These buildings, even this one, which is a bit more modern, they all have their own creek and cracking sounds. If some asshole on the very far side of the third floor opens a door, we are for sure certain to know about it.So we are making the way upstairs slow and steady. Make one wrong move, and it just might be the end of you. It is you or the man on the other side of the gun; no time for hesitation. If you want to make it alive out of this building today, you should be alert, and you should not falter.I can see the steady tremble in the hands of some of the guys; of course, it is fine to be scared. But you should not let that make you lose sight of the task at hand. So we crawl if I even dare say so, up the stairs. Much to my horror, as we get
Today we are getting ready to go out again. This time it is going to be somewhat more dangerous than we had yesterday. When the words like 'Marines being killed' is said in the same sentence of today's mission, it does seem to bring out some sense of dread out of you. But we do now show fear. We do not falter. We are Marines, we do not lose. There is not one word spoken as we set off in the Humvee to a part of Fallujah.Galland is especially gone nervous, he has not even blinked an eye. I think the poor man is terrified beyond tomorrow. How do you reassure a man that everything shall be okay when you have no idea of knowing it yourself? But I know that he is strong and that there is nothing that will break him down. Yes, there is only one thing that he cannot see past at a time like this, is us being taken hostage before. The word kills Marines has the same effect as what it has on the rest of the squad.So all I can do is but put my hand on his shoulder and give him t
What defines fear? The feeling that grips your stomach, suffocates your lungs, and tears your heart will slow agony from your chest.What is fear for a Marine? The joke that you tell at night around the fire. It brings you only but a sense of what you truly are. You fight, and you fight to the end.But what is fear when you see it on the faces of the men that you vow to protect? It is a pain that rips your flesh from your body to an agonizingly slow pace.This is something that you do not foresee. You do not expect a child to lead you into the belly of a beast. You are trained to always be on alert. But when you are a man with a child or even one on the way, which most of us are, you do not expect to be deceived by one.We have been forced to sit down on our knees in front of what seems to be some of the most intimidating men that most of us have seen. What do I see them as? They are fools; they have no idea the error they have just brought onto themselve
I am sitting here slightly terrified if it is my life, Matthew or both that shall be taken today, that I really do not know. They say that you will see your life flash before your eyes when you are near about going to die. Well, I say it is bullshit. All I can see is an asshole shoving his gun before my eyes. I know that it is only but a matter of time before he is going to pull that trigger.And then it happens; it is as if you watch the entire world come to a dead stop, his finger makes the agonizing flick near enough to a crawling pace. The click as the bullet enters the chamber gives you enough time to take your one last breath, and when you take that breath, you only have but one option and the is to close your eyes. You feel the incredible urge to try with the last fight in you to try to outsmart the skill he has behind that gun.Yet you can only but hope, then…"Get down!" As I open my eyes, I see Lopez come behind the man with the gun. With all th