Fading Memories

I just want to say a few things before you read the story. I created this for my English class last year, and surprisingly, I received a decent grade on it. So, after thinking about it a bit, I decided to post it here just to see what you guys think about the story. It might not be up to professional standards, but if you like reading, at least it'll be something to occupy your time (if you don't have anything else to do). It's the first chapter of what will hopefully be a novel. Also, feel free to rate and/or review it. And give me constructive criticism if need be. I receive tons of "criticism" from my brother, so I'm used to it. Just make it "constructive", that's all I ask. Well, here's the story. Enjoy!


Part 1 - "Fading Memories"

I can't see. I can't hear. I can't feel. I'm struggling with blackness; trying to push it away. It keeps falling back in on me. I can't breathe. This blackness is suffocating me. I'm finally breaking through. I'm fighting harder, harder still. There's light! I see it! I must get to it. Finally! The blackness falls away around me, and I'm engulfed in light. I squint from the bright rays of the sun. I'm looking directly up into it. I take in a deep breath. AH! My chest is on fire! But I can't move. I try to lift my head, but I cannot. The blackness starts creeping up around me again, but I fight it off. I must stay in the light. I can't remember what happened. Why am I trapped? I'm trapped in my own body! My nerves come to life. I can move my hands, but I can't feel my legs. I can't lift my head to look at them. I'm not sure if I want to. I manage to move my head to the side. My right hand looks all right. Oh wait! The tip of my pinkie! Where is it? I can't feel that pain. Thank God for small mercies. I can't see the other hand, but it moves just fine. My arms, however, are immobile. What happened? I start to remember an explosion. I can't think of what it could be though. Where am I? Why an explosion? My chest is still in flames, or so it feels. Why do I hurt so much? The memories slowly come back to me as I drift off into a dream . . .

"Ten miles from drop zone! We'll be there in approximately four and a half minutes!" The pilot had to yell over the sound of the engines to the company commander in charge of the 35th Airborne Special Ops.

"I'll prepare my men!" Lt. Barringer responded. As I waited patiently for my platoon leader to give me the signal, I listened in, concentrating hard to catch the full exchange of words, although I was sitting directly behind the cockpit.

Corporal Livingston, on the right, my team leader, had been airsick since our departure from England three hours ago. His helmet had overflowed before the end of the first hour. The stink and filth was horrendous. The aircraft had only gotten more turbulent since entering occupied France, and the result had drenched both my trousers and gear. I couldn't wait to jump.

Time eased to a crawl as I tried my best to think of anything else but the invasion. I slowly raised my head from my sleeping position and glanced around surveying the surrounding area of the cabin observing what the other troopers were doing. Most of them were trying to get some shuteye, except for one soldier in particular. Private Mason caught my attention as he starred out the window across the aisle from me. Mason was a fairly close friend of mine who I'd known from basic training months ago. Back then, he had more courage than anyone in the outfit, and didn't hesitate to show it. But as I looked at him, he didn't seem like the same person that I'd known for so long. As he dazed out the window watching the dark, gloomy sky, I could sense a great amount of fear in his eyes that I failed to notice before.

I had never faced war before and, therefore, hadn’t the faintest idea what I would be encountering. Although I’d heard many stories of all the tragedies and gruesome events that happened in war, it wasn’t enough to affect my attitude toward this invasion. Mason, however, had witnessed and experienced first-hand every aspect of the horrors of war. But the longer I looked in his direction the more that fear crept upon me. My stomach started to feel queasy which resulted in my arms and fingers to tremble uncontrollably. All of a sudden, without even realizing it, discouragement and defeat dominated my conscience destroying any confidence that I had left. At that moment, thoughts raced through my head as the tragic stories and rumors that I heard during basic training began forming horrible images of war in my mind. I couldn’t stand it anymore and tried my best to shake it off.

I quickly forced my head in a different direction and continued spanning the rest of the cabin. As my eyes shifted its way back toward the cockpit, Lt. Barringer suddenly arose from his seat and started making his way down the aisle toward the tail of the aircraft. I realized right then that we were nearing our departure.

"Grab your gear and buddy check!" The order came expectedly. Responding anxiously to the command, I heaved the thirty-pound pack over my shoulders and slipped my arms through the straps. I then commenced to tie and buckle everything down, fastening all of it securely to my body.

"Lock on the wire!" I quickly assembled my gear, grasping my parachute strap and clipping it onto the overhanging wire as the other guys in my outfit followed suit. We were all standing in a line facing the tail, awaiting the jump.

"Sound Off!" This was the final order before departing the aircraft. I looked over my gear, as well as my buddy's gear confirming everything was good to go, tapping him on the shoulder, and yelling at the top of my lungs, "Fourteen good!" He checked the guy in front of him and yelled, "Thirteen good!" It went on like this until the commander gave the final check confirmation yelling, "One good!"

The lieutenant looked up at the amber light, anxiously awaiting its change to bright green. The change came quickly, and he pointed to the exit with determination, as if saying, "Charge!" The men followed the unspoken order, leaping out into the night one by one. The moon reflected through and all around the metal interior of the C-47, which somewhat calmed my nerves with its awe-inspiring beauty. I shifted my hands with my movement along the overhanging wire while gripping it as tight as possible.

The moonlight engulfed my vision as the open door became more visible while nearing Lt. Barringer's location as he singled me for the jump. I released my grip from the wire while taking a few more steps toward the exit. The cold night air interrupted my senses as the wind pressed firmly against my body while descending rapidly toward earth. The parachute flung open bringing me to a sudden halt, or so it seemed, startling my conscience.

I could hear the pressure of the wind whizzing by me full force drowning out everything else in the vicinity. Some Nazi tracers, however, made its way to my ears as it streaked through the darkness while artillery fire pounded abruptly in certain areas. The sounds became more distinguishable as the wind gradually ceased.

The ground came closer in view as the moon's hazy light reflected perfectly across the water near the valley's river front as I continued to float to earth's surface. The more visible the ground became the more I braced for impact.

THUMP!

Thoughts flashed through my mind with the slightest warning bringing me to a very insecure level. Pain raced through my head and stomach as I laid face down trying to regain focus. I could hardly move while the pain continued to spread through my legs, arms, and backbone eventually numbing my entire body. This went on for several minutes until the pain finally evaporated allowing me to awaken from my "nightmare". I began gathering my thoughts on what just happened.

Quickly rolling myself over halfway, I realized that a tree's limb snagged my parachute. After noticing exactly what happened, I pulled myself up with all my force, unleashing the parachute trying to maintain balance. For a split second, the flashback engulfed my mind recreating the treacherous nightmare. As I finally made my way up with both feet placed firmly on the ground, I forcibly shook off that horrible memory. I began glancing around to see in what direction I should head. However, all I could see was pure blackness except for a few bright flashes in the distance toward the east as explosions ignited the land. I came to the conclusion that only the north seemed like the most peaceful area.

A few moments later, I made my final decision, lifting my M1 Carbine, tossing the pack over my shoulders, and stumbled my way north in the cold, foggy night. Cautiously making my way toward the unknown, I looked up noticing thousands of chutes scattered all across the lit sky. I tracked their every move as they glided swiftly down below the horizon until losing visual. The troopers descended aimlessly into pure blackness in the distance. I then continued on the long journey to find my squad.

A whisper arose faintly from my left arousing my suspicions. I glanced toward that direction, my rifle posed for any unwelcome movement. A shiny reflection caught my eye as two Nazi soldiers simultaneously jumped up directly in front of my gun sight with sharp knives gripped in their hands. I hurriedly clenched onto the rifle as my finger forced back the trigger. A large capacity of bullets blazed in their direction ripping several holes in one Nazi. Once several rounds entered the body, the soldier dropped lifelessly to the ground. The other Nazi, shocked by my quick reaction, charged toward me in a suicidal manner thinking it to be his last stand. I simply shifted my weapon in his direction, thinking I would have enough time to drop him. He closed in on me too swiftly throwing a wide swing at my body. I barely knocked the knife out of his grasp with my rifle, turning quickly to deal him another blow. I slipped-up, however, allowing him to get the upper-hand, throwing me backward. I quickly regained my balance and heaved my rifle around striking his head. I then aimlessly released a hail of lead in his direction, blowing him back ten feet into a pile of brush. I slammed my rifle to waist level and began pumping off rounds at the downed soldier tearing into him numerous times.

BANG!

A deafening array of explosions pierced through the valley near my location throwing me off balance into some weeds. The tremendous force of the hit knocked the air out of me. After remaining still for a minute, my breath gradually eased back into my system enabling me to lean upward slightly. I then glanced above the weeds looking for any Nazi movement. The constant series of explosions continued to rumble through the landscape as the force tossed me from one side to the other. Realizing it's safe, I crept slowly out of my position grabbing my rifle from the ground and began sprinting toward the north.

Explosions and tracer fire continued echoing through my ears as I made my way down a sloping hill heading toward a dense grassy field, leading to a scattered forest. After several minutes of sprinting non-stop, exhaustion crept through my body. Sweat built up and started dripping down my face resulting in a huge ache in my head, paralyzing my vision.

I eventually approached the forest with the remaining energy I had left as I slightly tilted my head upward making out the tops of trees. They were towering over me through the moon’s dim but noticeable light. While I cautiously walked through the forest, silence filled the air. The only sound that could be heard was of my own feet crushing softly against the gravel. The silence continued to linger throughout my journey in the forest. Not even the sound of wild life was observable, oddly enough. Paranoid by the long silence, I paused after every other step taking time to glance around. I had it fixed in my mind that something drastic was going to happen and I had no control over the outcome.

As my vision continued to grow dull due to fatigue, glancing around became a chore. But with fear aching through my body and my hands trembling with every slight motion, I was reluctant to give up a glance. However, as time progressed and each step blurred my vision, I decided to focus on advancing to my destination, wherever that would be.

Soon after, a peace tingled through my body relieving me from the exhaustion and fear that I felt just seconds before. The pain eased from my system unexpectedly as my headache subsided which cleared up my vision. I was starting to feel energized which brought many questioning thoughts to my mind. But in a matter of minutes, the exhaustion forced its way back through my senses drowning out the sound of shuffling footsteps on the gravel. A second later, my vision closed into a funnel shape until my mind blanked out . . .
_______________________________
Part 2 - "Road to Danger"

I quickly woke up to the shaking of my body. I slowly opened my eyes to find a face hovering a mere two feet above me. The face appeared to be glowing in the dark due to the moon's reflection although still couldn't be distinguishable.

"Are you all right, Hoover?"

Recognizing Mason's voice, I instantly responded, "Yeah, I'm still in one piece."

"You were out for quite awhile. What happened? Not many soldiers drop to the ground unconscious like that without a cause." Mason spoke up, in an insulting type of way, while helping me up from the ground.

I let out a deep sigh while groaning at that statement. "Well, I never had that hard of a landing before!"

Mason looked at me and grinned. "We better start heading toward the road. Corporal Livingston and the others are waiting for us there."

I agreed with a nod and walked off into the darkness alongside Mason. Corporal Williams and Private Jones, two other soldiers in our assault team who were listening in from a distance, joined the formation. The four of us made our way to the road where the rest of the squad awaited us.

"Corporal Livingston, we're ready to head out anytime you are." Mason hesitantly spoke up tilting his head in my direction, "Are you up for this?"

I glanced his way for a split second and then toward Jones, also a rookie.

"I . . . I wonder how my family is doing without me." Jones paused for a second trying to pick his words very carefully as to not sound like a cowherd.

"Let's move out!" The corporal interrupted knowing very well that a conversation was going on.

Without any delay, we formed up with the rest of the squad who were already starting off on the trail.

We hardly ever mentioned our family back home no matter what the circumstance. Private Jones, on the other hand, talked about his family anywhere at any given time. Although even slightly mentioning about family showed that the person was a cowherd, I admired him for doing so.

Jones had a wife and two sons at the age of 6 and 10. He was a Nevada native raised in Arizona and decided to join up because he thought it was his last hope to make some extra money. He had no idea what he was actually getting himself into. Neither did I.

"Take cover! Livingston, get your men to the riverbank. Halsey, we need some suppressing fire!" Sergeant Haverson yelled out the orders to the team leaders as bullets whizzed through the field inflicting upon our advance.

"You heard the sergeant, put some fire on that target!" Halsey, responding quickly to the command, relayed the order to his team to confirm the actions.

Livingston along with the rest of our team made progress to the riverbank for a nice flank on the enemy. We embraced our equipment as we strolled along the rough trail making our way toward our first destination.

"Williams, take lead and go for the forest. Hoover and I will swing to the left and advance along the riverbank." Livingston gave the command while glancing to the right observing his squadmates as they performed the order.

I followed close behind Livingston without taking my eyes off the trail.

(The story will continue in the near future)