When the cops arrived, Eric offered no resistance as he was arrested and booked. He sat down on the bench as he waited to be picked up.
While waiting, he pondered the night and his own stupidity. Eric was interrupted in his thoughts by an officer approaching him. The officer looked at Eric and called out "Are you Eric Dryer?" To which Eric responded: "yes sir." The officer nods to him. "You're free to go. We got a call from the bar and they said that they are not pressing charges against you."
The next morning, Eric was woken up by an annoying ringing. He groaned out loud as he suddenly jolted up, looking at the phone screen. "FUCK!" He had missed PT. He then realized that it was Saturday. "EH…?" Momentary confusion aside, he answered the phone groggily. "Hello?"
First sergeant Hammond didn't bother to say hi.
"YOU STUPID FUCK! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO REST, NOT GET INTO A BAR FIGHT!!!"
Eric held the phone away from his ear as the ceaseless line of profanities continued to wreck his ears. Once the First Sergeant was done unloading, he sighed like a disappointed father. "You are lucky the charges were dropped. If they weren't, you'd be living on Staff Duty." He didn't wait for Eric to respond before the line went dead. Eric stared blankly at the phone for a few seconds before deciding to get up and stretch. He couldn't go back to sleep after the verbal reaming he had received, so he showered and left for the gym.
When Eric arrived at the gym, he could tell something was terribly wrong. Everyone in the gym was looking at a TV. Screens showed a horrifying scene coming from Iraq. "According to our preliminary reports, this attack was premeditated." The news reporter said as the camera revealed piles of steel and what used to be buildings in an unrecognizable pile. Fires burned on the scene as smoke rises into the sky, a grim reminder of the tragedies that unfold with armed conflict. Each news station had a different take on the situation, but they all broadcasted the same scene. No one in the gym moved as they watched the president take the podium "As of 1800 cst, it has been confirmed that the base near Shamia alzar in Iraq has been completely destroyed. More than 3500 American soldiers have been killed, with another 1000 civilian casualties…" As the man droned on about responding to the attack, Eric felt a deep sigh engrave itself onto his soul. He was going back.
Motorpool Monday. The two most hated terms in any line unit anywhere in the united states Army. Eric had received orders to pack up their laptops by the end of the week, so today he was sorting through each of the systems. "Hey, Lt." Eric said as the platoon leader walked up. Eric saluted his LT as they inspected one of the laptops. "Sir, we only have ten working laptops. That won't work for when we have to write field reports after intelligence collection." The LT sighed as he rubbed his neck. "If it's not one thing, it's another." He responded as the two shared a laugh. "This is what I get for choosing Intel." Another laugh was shared. "Alright, i'll go talk to the commander. Maybe we can get new laptops before we pack everything into the connex." Eric nodded in response as he had the soldiers pack up the laptops they already knew worked.
Eric and the other platoon sergeants had their joes gearing up and packing connexes for the better part of the two weeks following the attack. Tensions were rising between the soldiers as they knew that in a full scale armed conflict, some of them were not going to come home. On one particularly fateful Monday, Eric and his platoon had finished lining up the vehicles in preparation for departure to the DRFF (Deployment Ready Forward Force), and they were ready to pack up for Close Of Business (COB). COB usually hit at 1700, but today they were running late because a few members of the platoon were having trouble learning their left from their right. After the second near accident, Eric had looked up at the sky and asked "Why me?"
At 1758 Eric received a phone call he knew would not carry good news. "What's up Top?" He said while lighting a cigarette. He listened to the other end of the line before hanging up in silence. Sighing in frustration, he turned to his soldiers. "Well, guess we're staying longer. We have to move everything from connex one to connex two."
A hostile silence hung over the room as the Battalion leaders met in the command briefing room. They had been called in at 2300 with no warning. Confused stares met steely gazes as men and women in various stages of dress began to appear. At the commander's spot, Lieutenant Colonel Milano sat. He hadn't said a word while the leaders arrived in waves. By 0000, the room was full. Eric looked around with confusion. "Why is the company commander for Charlie company in HHT here?" He thought while noticing other new faces. "Even artillery is here." Eric murmured in confusion. He then noticed the pilots from the aviation company. "Fuck." He groaned. They weren't reinforcing other units, they would be the forward unit.
Milano stood up and walked to the middle of the room, counting heads before finally speaking. "I know it is late, so I will not take too much of your time." He said while assuming his seat again. "This deployment will be different than those of the past." He paused while looking at each company commander. "We leave in forty-eight hours." Murmurs erupted, but Milano shook his head, holding his hand up to stop the noise. "Plan accordingly."