A full battalion of sleeping soldiers lay in there bunks as the dawn slowly peeks in through the shutters. A long whistling wind was the first warming no one was ready for.

The concussive blast that blew out the windows and the rumbling barracks was the wake up call the troops needed as the mortar shells rained like hellfire.

Y/n jumped out of bed, scrambling with the others but his expression of boredom contradicted the faces around him.

The battalion hurried out the door to find cover, Y/n walked to a tank parked nearby and crawled underneath where he was greeted by the outpost sergeant.

Lieutenant.

Good Morning Sergeant.

Sgt. Burke pulls a flask out of his pocket, meanwhile the march of artillery echoed across the outpost.

What's so good about it?

Pretty sure your the one who said its no moring without the smell of napalm in the air.

Sgt. Burke tosses back a shot before handing it Y/n.

Was I drunk?

Better question, when were you last sober?

Ha! Damn right.

Y/n tosses back a shot from the flask, he grimaces handing it back.

Tastes like a stale vegan MRE?

That kiddo is genuine sand bourbon.

Sand bourbon?

Bourbon i found in desert, took some time to pry the fingers off it.

Owner didn't wanna sell it?

What owner?

Sgt. Burke smirked back as Y/n looked away with a hint if disappointment but it was the normal.

The tank above them shakes as it takes a direct strike from the mortar shell.

Shit.

What?

I forgot my hat...

You gonna go get it?

Nope hahaha..... I remember your first mortar shower, first year in the ranks and you nearly pissed yourself...

Your getting old Sarge, reminiscing like it was your golden years.

Your running laps for that one.

The teasing ends when the panicked whimpers of a rookie in the fetal position as gravel and rock peppers him.

Not everyone is breed for the field- where are you going Callahan?

Y/n crawls out from under the tank, waiting for the whistling of to pass then the explosion.

Reminds me of me first time around or whatever.

Y/n rushes out from cover and over to the huddled up rookie, without a word Y/n drags the rookie towards the tank until a hot concussive blast gave him the gift of flight.

A short lived experience as he got a face full of tank them dirt as he rolled off the barrel.

The sound of mortar fire was drowned by this thick ringing. He saw the rookie's hand resting on his lap, taking his hand he drags him behind the tank for cover.

Y/n sits there looking out over the beaten up outpost, humvees ablaze, soldiers slowly leaving cover as the mortar fire had finally ceased.

Sgt. Burke kneeled down giving the deafened protagonist a sad smile of approval. He took the rookies hand out of Y/n grasp, lifting it aside showed the arm was alone left with a bloody stump at the shoulder.

Good hustle kid...

The words came through kinda blurred but Y/n could make them out, he just nodded but the reality quickly struck as he spit up that sand bourbon.

The world jumps to the middle of a raging battle field, the tank y/n was leaning on was now the debris if a house nearly leveled by the conflict.

KEEP UP THE HUSTLE, ANOTHER FIFTEEN AND OUR EXTRACTION IS NEXT UP!

Sgt. Burke reloaded an M16 and peered over debris unloading a full magazine through the windshield of a terrorist jeep. The glass was painted red in a split second, a few bullets were fired by the enemy forcing Sgt. Burke back down.

Callahan! I need another clip

I just loaded up my last one! Horatio, Silverstein ammo check?

The two other soldiers looked over at Y/n with displeasure, their expressions enough to tell him how bad this was.

: ........ Horatio give me your betty, Sarge take these.

Y/n tosses his last M16 clip onto Sgt. Burke's lap while Horatio slides a small brown bag to y/n.

You got a plan Callahan?

Yeah, it involves you not missing your next ten shots.

Sgt. Burke laughs and winks at y/n.

Go get 'em!

Sgt. Burke takes out his gun and fires off the first four rounds, no deaths but it kept heads down as y/n crawled over to a car where he strapped the explosive charges he got from Horatio to the bumper bars.

A single bullet missed his head and took out the vehicles headlight by him instead. Sgt. Burke fired off another three shots this time he took a life with that burst fire.

Y/n opened the car door and ripped the panel off from under the wheel.

{Thoughts} Red crosses blue... Then tie the ground to the blue to complete the-

The engine gives a weak hum before coming to life, the last three shots from Sgt. Burke shot out while Y/n threw the vehicle into drive.

Y/n gets behind the car, Horatio and Silverstein tucked behind cover unable to move while y/n pushed gas pedal with his hand letting himself drag for a bit before rolling off.

The vehicle charged the opposing line and Y/n gave Sgt. Burke the signal. Pulling up the detonator he releases the switch and the vehicle quickly becomes a glorious fireball of napalm and semtex creating a firewall between the two fronts.

Admit it sarge...

What?

I make explosives sexy.

No, my second wife made explosions sexy... Minus the explosions more so the fact she always wore a cheerleader outfit... Well, there's always an explosion at the end-

Extraction? Anyone?

A screamer too, luckily we lived in a trailer park so cops didn't give a shit about noise complaints...

Horatio you got any grenades left?

Hey when you get older you'll hit a point when you realize "Fuck it. I wanna write my life my way" mine just happens to have three ex wives and one testicle-

How do I know I've hit that fuck it phase?

You'll never know, it's like a car accident. You'll never see it coming but when it does it'll hit you hard like your entire body just underwent complete over haul and everything you once made sense of will seem insignificant... Kinda like doing acid for the first time, now that's how you lose a nut.

You only have one nut?

I do now...

Sgt. Burke stood up revealing a bloody groin.

Fuuuckkk how are you standing?!

Pain will pass, but i got a story that'll last forever... Besides things haven't worked down there in awhile...

Y/n looked up to the sky, the memory was supposed to have a helicopter emerge from the smoke to pick them up; however, he now found himself standing alone in the eastern city streets where all the carnage, fire, and corpses had been erased suddenly just as sudden as the thunderclouds arrived overhead.

{Thoughts} This isn't right...

When has anything gone right for you?

Y/n spun around, now he found himself inside Castle Dimitrescu, a single silhouette stands at the end of the hall.

Your handed an opportunity to take what's yours but your scared to take it... Ignorance is bliss as they say...

The lights at the end of the hall go black with a loud thud.

Scared? Maybe not the best word... Unsure... You've felt it but passed it off...

The next section of lights copy the prior, the distance between Y/n and the darkness growing smaller but Y/n holds his ground.

Stress? Anxiety? Fear? Self-loathing?... Guilt?... Your letting mortal woes dampen the soul of the man you once were... The monster you once were, a remarkable relic of a war bygone...

The next set of light follows the pattern, lights out and the gap even smaller.

Will you fade away? A speck of dust in the wind of life.... Or will you burn, lighting a path through history as someone no will forget because everything he wanted was his because he did something about it... No matter what opposed his power~

The last set of lights fell black, but this time Y/N was looking the speaker in the eyes mere inches from his face... Himself but his eyes were blood red with black veins running down his cheeks.

Your not me... And im not him... Not anymore...

It was like looking at him but a corrupted more "demonic" depiction of the soldier he once was.

You know what you need to do Killer...

Dark Callahan guides Y/n hand up, Beretta in hand he puts the end of the barrel in his own mouth looking Y/n the eye saying no more.

-

End of Ch.5

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Quick Note: Didn't wanna do a note this time but very important...

I wanted to thank you all for making this TOP 200 in the Horror-Thriller category! Thanks a bunch you crazy kids lol~