Teen Ink

Three

Djimbi Airbase- 0800 hours
When Brunner woke to the sound of gunfire, his first instinct was to grab his pistol on the nightstand. Suddenly he remembered that he was not stuck in the middle of a war, but instead found himself in his room. His dorm was not a room of amazing gadgets. It was painted a gloomy white with two windows on the Eastern side. The paint was faded and ripped in places, but he could honestly care less. Covering the windows are some worn curtains, barely hanging on their hooks, they drooped downwards, sagging like the skin of the old men that worked in the dark mines of Asia, a sight Brunner has yet to forget in his adventures there. Brunner kicked off his blanket, he had the odd habit of doing so ever since he was young, it never occurred to him until now just how long it has been since those years. Back when he was about four or five, a spider had managed to crawl under his sheets. It was a dark wolf spider with a jet black body. Of course, the fear of spiders at a young age was something Brunner was a tad ashamed of. True, he was told that many species carried venomous fangs that could kill a person, yet it was him allowing himself to be scared that he kicked away the sheet. When the sheet fell on the ground, the wolf spider sprinted across the carpet and under one of his nightstands. Brunner could not forget how long he tried convincing his mother to help him kill the spider. But of course, his mother was also in the military and was untouched by a creature the size of a small cookie. Ryan Brunner remembered how she told him to just “suck it up, don’t kill such an amazing creature, catch it in a jar, and let it go outside in the yard.” Yes, he freaked out. After a few minutes of mucking around trying to find a jar, he finally finds one that was of suitable size. He remembered how when the flashlight was shining into the abyss of the space under the nightstand that the eyes of the wolf spider struck out to him. It was a pale, glossy, grey blue that reflected the light of the flashlight. Cautiously, the spider turned around and faced him. With a loud “whack” across the side of the nightstand, the frightened spider sprinted out. Brunner pulled back just as the creature scurried out underneath and ran straight back into his bed sheet, which was still on the floor. Annoyed, the young Ryan Brunner gathered his courage and flung the sheet against the floor until the spider dislodged itself and carried its body on three pencil thin legs across the room and into a corner. It desperately tried to climb the wall, but every time it climbed a little bit higher up, it simply fell back down again. Brunner quickly took the opportunity and sprinted forward himself, placing the jar directly on to spider. The arachnid continued to frantically scuttle inside the jar has Brunner slid a piece of paper underneath the jar, then the jar was reverted back and the spider slid down to the bottom of the glass container. After he capped the jar with the lid, he could still remember the wolf spider desperately running inside the glass dungeon, helpless. Although it was not the prettiest of sights, Brunner did admire how unique the spider was, the jet black coloration contrasted the yellow banding on the legs as well as the bluish eyes that reflected light. He stared at the creature, who had calmed down and was beginning to groom itself. It was a very odd thing indeed and Brunner was starting to become mesmerized by how beautifully everything was set on the creature, the hairs, the legs, the eyes, just perfect. Later that afternoon, Brunner released the wolf spider into his back yard, it sat on the grass for a few seconds, almost dazed by the bright sunlight, then it ran off into the brushes, the small legs carrying it along. Ever since that incident, he would always kick off his sheets in the morning. It was just considered a habit by him.
As Brunner walked downstairs to the lobby, he found it to be empty. "Guess everybody stayed up pretty late." he said to himself. After having a quick breakfast of toast and scrambled eggs, he decided to pay a trip to Greene's laboratory and see what he cooked up lately.
Greene's lab was on the other side of the base, right next to a Hot dog stand owned by a man named Jesse. The little shop-looking structure seems almost calm and unobvious from the outside, but the inside contains a huge depot of the newest and most technologically advanced weapons. The old door made a screech as Brunner pushed it open. Inside, Greene was leaning over a microscope studying something.
"What's new in here?"
"A lot of stuff." Greene said as he turned away from his microscope
"I have updated and created a few new weapons for our P.S.A. arsenal."
"Anything particular you want to show me?"
Green took off his goggles, "This way."
Brunner followed Greene to the back of the lab, he watched as green pressed a button on the wall, causing a pane to get pulled back to reveal a fingerprint scanner. He puts his finger on the scanner and the whole wall moved to reveal a large room with many gadgets inside.
"Some fun projects" Greene told Brunner.
"You already saw the PPS grenades, here are some others. We have a new gun for you to test out, I call it the Imploder, it is a modified M16 style weapon with a red dot sight. The main difference is that it fires explosive bullets that well, explode on impact." he said as he showed Brunner the bullets and the gun itself.
"I re-engineered the RPG to the size of a small rifle bullet and created a gun specifically for launching them, the gun itself is a bit heavier than the original M16 because I need to balance the recoil."
"Nice, I am going to need a few of these today, what else do you have?"
Green walked around to another section of the room, on the table is a large, odd looking piece of machine with three mini-gun barrels.
"I like to call this baby Triple-Barrel-Denial-Fire. Long name, long range, and packs a deadly punch to any enemy. This is pretty much like your classic sentry gun except that it is anti-infantry, anti-light armored vehicle, and even anti-aircraft. The barrels glow blue to the high heat, which is the reason why I used a specifically designed re-added metal to prevent the barrels from drooping and melting due to the intense temperature. Also, this bastard can spit out over fifteen thousand rounds per minute, move and rotate on its axis as smooth as cream, and has an elevating angle of ninety degrees. I only have two made at the moment, but we can test these out to see how useful they are, also included are .30 caliber belts that are one hundred feet long each."
"Wow...looks like those damn terrorists are in for a surprise."
"Add in this and it will truly be a surprise" Greene said as he walked to the center of the room.
"Meet the Compacted Hydrogen Accelerator Bomb." he said as he pointed to a football sized projectile with multiple groves, detectors, and a fierce looking explosive charge.
"My God, looks like I am going to need to get a few of these as well. How do you even bother launching them?"
"RPG."
"Serious?"
"Yep, just put it on like any other RPG projectile and it will work."
"Well, this is exactly what I needed."
Brunner then checked his watch, "Looks like I have a few minutes before I need to head out. See you hopefully in a bit."
"Good luck" Greene said as the two walked out of the secret room
Brunner went back to HQ, the PSA were already dressed and ready to move out. Brunner found Meenen who happened to be cleaning his M4 assault rifle.
"Where's Kaitlyn?" he asked Meenen
"You mean where is your girlfriend?"
"Shut up about it Lieutenant, I am in no mood for games."
"Chill, she’s just gone to the restroom."
Holly walked into the room; she came straight over to Brunner and hugged him.
"Hey, did you sleep well last night?" She asked.
"To say the least, it was not too bad." Brunner replied.
"I got something to show you" he said as he shoved the Imploder gun at her, "This is called the Imploder, Josh Greene created it and wanted to give you one of these."
"Well, how nice of him, I will thank him later. Anyways, did you see the which group you are going to be in?"
"Not yet, where is the list?"
"Here it is!" she said as she brought her laptop with the list up for Brunner to see, "Let's see, I am assigned to CO-Echo, with Michael Meenen, James Saming, Liana Kabins and a few other people as well as..." Brunner paused for a second, "As well as you!" He said with a surprised tone.
"I know, I asked to be switched from Delta-3 squadron, those guys are respectful and fair at their job and all, but every time I am with them they always try always acting exceptionally weird around me, almost as if they are desperately trying to impress me. Is there REALLY something about me that attracts them?" Holly asked.
"Well..." Brunner said as he looked up and down Holly, "I would guess so, but don't sweat it, boys will be boys." He said.
"Wow...really?" she questioned with a sarcastic tone.
"Oh...yeah...yes…" Brunner tried to sound satisfied.
"Well, if this mess gets worked out then it is all yours." She lightly kissed him on his cheek. Holly smiled and gave Brunner a pat on the shoulder then walked over to the front, opened the door, and exited.
"Well I must say, you scored big time Ryan!" Meenen said.
Brunner sighed. "You overheard all of that didn't you?"
"Yes I did, and I am pretty sure everybody else also did!"
"Yeah, you are a lucky bastard!" One P.S.A. member said in the back, Brunner just noticed that some other guys had shown up to watch.
"You better get some pictures for me haha!" Another shouted.
"Tell me how she is." A third asked.
There was an awkward length of silence that followed the explicit comments.
"Damn it." Brunner spat out before he walked out of the building after a few seconds.
Outside, he saw some Army soldiers trying their luck at impressing Holly in the corner of the building. She waved them off and walked back to Brunner.
"Guy issues?"
"I would say so, looks like every guy one this base wants me." She replied.
"I see no reason why they shouldn't." Brunner hugged her close for a split second. It was unusual for him; he had never exactly felt "loved" by a girl. He never liked admitting love or attraction, but Brunner does have to admit that he never felt this attraction to Holly to anyone else before.
The soldiers looked at the two, frowned, and trudged away.
"All right, you two lovebirds, let's get a move on, the President doesn't like to stall for time." a voice shouted. Turning around, Brunner and Holly saw that it was a Major Patty O' Dooley, a trained P.S.A. member with more experience than any member of the President's Secret Army. He was an Irish with a passion for heavy liquor, the two originally felt that O' Dooley's alcohol addiction was just stereotypical of his country, but they have managed to overlook it. O' Dooley himself was of medium height, stature, and strength. He was not too bright in the tactical compartment of his mind but he sure was deadly when given a gun and ammunition. O' Dooley's grey hair along with his tanned skin gave him an almost laughable look. But Brunner and Holly knew better, he was the man who busted up twenty black-market traders with a broken wine bottle. Of course O' Dooley himself did not remember the incident all too well for he was drunk when the entire event occurred.
"Sorry about that Major," Holly apologized, "for the P.D.A. and what-not."
"No, no, it’s fine by me. In fact, I think the event yesterday would not have happened if you two were closer together like this before."
"Uh, thanks?" Brunner managed to get out.
"Don't worry, this is love at first sight, stick close, those Sabeem Habalas will not give up easily on you." O' Dooley said as he walked into the HQ lobby.
Just then the alarm signaling the beginning of the operation for overseeing has begun. The PSA, army, and all the others soon began to rush out from the buildings and into the different helicopters, Humvees, and trucks they are assigned to.
"Looks like it is time for our meeting with our truck and our team." Holly told Brunner
"Yeah, let's go."

After a few more minutes of struggling and biting of time. Everybody is finally in place for the operation to begin. As Meenen, Brunner, and Holly boarded the convoy of trucks heading for Mebeme, the three looked up to see a helicopter following above them to give them air power. Overall the convoy consisted of seven trucks, five with famine supplies for the civilians, and two with soldiers, one in the front, one in the back. Spearheading the convoy are two Humvees each with .05 caliber machineguns. And tailing the entire convoy was an armored car. Add that to the helicopter above and the entire convoy seems unbreakable, but that will be tested to its limits if any terrorists are planning to attack.
"I almost forgot, I need to pick up another Glock 17." Holly said, "We were in such a hurry to get out of the Gulag yesterday that I left mine inside."
"Well, I will get you one later." Brunner said
"I hope you will."
She nudged a bit closer to him.
"Ryan?"
"Yeah?"
"Who else signed up to bring me back from the Gulag?"
"Everyone else was afraid of the task."
"Hm, that's unfortunate."
"Yeah...looks like we need some time alone after this." Brunner said
"Of course." Holly told him.
They rode on with silence as the trucks approached the village itself. All around them, the once grassy fields were now parched and dry, all due to the lasting drought.
It would have been a peaceful insertion. But as the two of them began thinking some deeper thoughts, an RPG shell hit the first supply truck and sent it, the people, and its contents flying into the air. Then out of nowhere another RPG shell flew straight for truck number four, the truck that Brunner, Holly, and Meenen are on...