World War III: Broken Warrior

Chapter 23

"Hey Bullet." That night, Private Smart came up to Bullet wearing a camouflage T-shirt and a pair of black shorts. "I was talking to everyone else, and they said that we should probably head back to Dimitri. He might not be Sharp's father, but he might still be able to help us find Dare and Kid."

Bullet nodded slightly. "We'll get going in that direction as soon as Sharp can walk again." Yes, he took an idea from a twelve year-old. Because that twelve year-old was one of the smartest people he'd ever met, if not the smartest.

The door opened slightly, and Leo walked in with Sharp, whose leg was heavily wrapped in bandages and was wearing casual clothes; jeans and a purple T-shirt. "No need to wait," he announced. "I can drive you all wherever you're heading, since I can't convince Aurora to stay." He looked around at all of the Squad Members. "You've got a very strong Sergeant, Privates. I hope you all know how truly lucky you are."

Sharp limped forwards and hugged her father before turning to address everybody else. "C'mon, Becky's gonna get us some clothes and food, then my dad's gonna drive us to wherever."

"We're going to Dimitri's," Bullet told her. "He lied to us but he might be our only hope at finding the others, after Chestnut smashed our compass." As soon as he mentioned Chestnut, he regretted it. He saw the pain on her face and instantly wanted to kick himself for being a jackass.

"Who's Chestnut?" Leonardo noticed the hurt on his daughter's face, instantly questioning who gave her that pain.

"She's one of our Privates," Bullet answered for her. "She decided to go off on her own, though. There was an accident, she wasn't all too happy about it."

Sharp hugged her father, trying to keep herself from crying. Bullet couldn't help but notice how average she looked at that moment. She wasn't dressed in prisoner clothes, or Sergeant clothes, she wasn't even wearing camouflage like she always made sure to do. She just looked normal. If he didn't know her at all, he'd guess she didn't ever even touch the War.

"You all should rest," Leo told them all. "You've got a long day ahead of you, and I'm not letting Aurora leave unless she's well-rested. Along with the rest of you. There's two couches, there's a bed in the guest room that two people can share head-to-toe, and we've got some sleeping bags and extra pillows for the rest of you."

Everyone nodded and started arguing about who got to sleep where, except for Bullet and Sharp.

Sharp slowly walked over to Bullet, and when she reached him she hugged him. "Thank you."

"For what?" he asked, slightly confused.

"Everything."

He hugged her back. "No thanks needed, you're my Sergeant. No man left behind, remember?"

"I think we kinda abandoned that rule a while ago, since our Squad is kinda in pieces."

He shook his head. "We're not in pieces, we're just in different locations. We're still all one, we're still a Squad. We're just in different locations at the moment."

She sighed. "What if we can't find the others?"

"We'll find them." For the first time since she spoke to him, he looked at her. In the eyes. "We have to."

She hugged him again. "But what if we can't? What if...?" She trailed her sentence off, not wanting to say it. She was afraid that if she said it, it'd become real and they could have to face it.