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Joseph Riccardelli @Bballdude9997

Age 31, Male

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Nutley,NJ

Joined on 5/18/05

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New update for R.E.D., not really that big, but I've been busy and not in a writing mood.

Posted by Bballdude9997 - December 16th, 2008


. A few ear piercing screams could be heard as they amputated the leg from the man whose was practically falling off. After a few nauseating sounds later, Joe could hear the man quietly sobbing and praying. He handed the last of his medical supplies to the medics and quickly ran back to Alex.
"Sir, what do we do now?"
"We sit, and we wait until higher command tells us what to do, just try to help the wounded and..." he trailed off, taking his helmet off and wiping the sweat from his brow "Count the dead." He sighed.
Joe walked over to Mike and he told him what Alex had said. They cautiously walked over to the field. Joe ran behind a tree and used his iron sight to scope out the windows on a near-by building, seeing it was clear, he motioned for Mike to move up.
Mike jumped over a fence, and dove onto the ground; he looked down and across the street, then stood up. Mike then motioned for Joe that it was clear. Joe stood up and went to where Mike was standing.
"Looks like they got Carter" said Mike, kneeling by a fallen soldier.
Mike ripped off Carter's dog tags, closed his eyes, and Joe saw a tear, a very small tear, but one nonetheless flow down Mikes cheek. Joe was stunned as Mike never showed any sadness as he thought it was a sign of weakness.
"God Damnit! He was only 18! I used to be good friends with his girlfriend, now what am I supposed to tell her? That he was shot like a dog before firing a shot in the middle of a fucking field? That he was just another waste of rations and a uniform? That he was just one of fucking many? Damnit!"
Mike pounded the ground and yelled
"You bastards!" to anyone who would hear him.
Joe left Mike to himself, and walked around the field. He saw some familiar faces
Stampers. Dead.
Yu. Dead.
Amerson. Dead.
Four brave men, four young men, shot and killed as if they were nothing. They won't be remembered as war heroes, they won't be remembered for winning medals, they'll only be remembered as names on a monument along with hundreds of others and no one will pay any special attention to them.
When Joe walked back to Mike, he was still kneeling by Carter. Joe tapped him on the back and Mike stood up. They walked back to the rest of the troops and waited for their orders. Alex still didn't have any orders yet, so he told Joe and Mike to take a breather, they had been through a lot that day.
The two of them walked into a alleyway between two identical buildings and sat down on the ground. Joe didn't realize how much he needed to sit, but his sore legs did a good job of remind him of that. For a few minutes they both sat there in silence, when Mike spoke up
"I just can't believe Carter's gone"
"You knew him well?"
"Yea, he was a senior at my high school, an amazing athlete and he managed to keep his grades high, more than I can say"
"You knew his girlfriend too?"
"Yea, Lindsay, gorgeous girl, I knew I'd never have a chance with her, she's 18, but still I'm a bit too young for that, I just don't know what the hell I'm going to say to her when I see her."
"Tell her the truth, he died like a brave soldier trying to save his country, there's no sugar coating there, it's the truth, and tell her how much you looked up to him, and that his loss affects you lot as well."
"The same old generic crap they probably told my grandma when my uncle died in the Gulf War"
"Your uncle fought in the Gulf War?"
" Yup, Sgt. Larry Horning, he was in a Humvee when it hit a land mine, he survived but his wounds killed him a few hours later at a field hospital. He was given a purple heart just before he passed, I heard he cried when he got it."
"Damn, man, did you know him?"
"Nah, I was only a few years old, but I remember seeing the casket and my grandma and father looking like they had just lost their best friend, which they actually had. I've never seen my dad cry, that was the first and only time. I hope to God it's the last."
"Make sure the same thing doesn't happen to your mom this time, alright?...Keep your damn helmet on and don't be an idiot"
"You don't have to tell me twice"
And for the first time that day, Mike cracked a smile and laughed a little.
The two friends sat in that alleyway until night fell, when they both fell asleep. Then they were woken up by what seemed like an earthquake.
"What the hell was that?" yelled Mike
"I don't know"
They both ran towards the Humvee and saw that it was under attack. The Humvee was turned over on its side, one side of it charred black with the door missing. Alex and two other soldiers were using the over-turned vehicle as cover. Fires dotted the street, there were craters everywhere. The northern corner of the hospital was now just a giant hole, and Joe could see a ruined hospital bed with a corpse on it through the opening.
"Joe, Mike! Take cover inside the hospital, my radio was hit with shrapnel and Pvt. Jordan is the only person with another radio, last I know of he was sleeping in the hospital, go get him and call for air support!"
"Yes sir" said Joe and he headed off for the hospital.
As Joe headed for the hospital doorway, a searing light burned his eyes and a loud explosion followed it, the loud sound then changed into a high pitched ringing, and Joe fell to the ground holding his ears.
A few seconds later when the ringing had ended and Joe could see a bit clearer, Mike picked him up and patted him on the back.
"You'll be okay, it was just close mortar round, we have to get the hospital, lets go!" and they both headed towards the door. The passed the main lobby and attached flashlights to their M16s. It was pitch black.
The lobby was a scene to behold; only half the picture of Dr. Wimcholl remained, most of his head was missing and the rest had black charred spots on it. The sofa's cushions were lying all over the floor with pieces of metal sticking out and the cotton of the old sofa was overflowing from the seams and onto the floor.
The lobbyist's desk was intact, but all the pictures and papers on the desk were scattered across the floor, and the chair that belonged to the desk was by the back wall and on its side, broken in half. A stream of moonlight came from the ceiling and when Joe looked up he could see a hole that went through the second floor and through the roof, he could see the night sky and the moon that gave him an eerie peace amongst all the chaos.
"Come on, we have to get Jordan" said Mike, as he walked up the destroyed stairs.
"Shit, how am I supposed get up these things?" asked Joe as his foot fell through a broken stair.
"Ah, I can't get out, can you help?"
"Yea, hold on"
Mike grabbed Joe's hand and pulled him out of the hole. As Joe's foot was ripped out of the step, the whole bottom half of the staircase collapsed.
"Holy shit, lets get out of here before this whole place collapses" Mike yelled.
"No kidding."
They walked up the rest of the stairs, more cautiously now, and started to call for Jordan. After walking through the abandoned second floor's hallway, they heard a sharp whistling sound, steadily becoming louder.
"GET DOWN!" yelled Joe, diving under the nearest bed, as a blinding white light filled his eyes and what felt like the entire world was lit on fire as intense heat seared his face and hands.
Followed by the intense pain was a deafening crack as the sound reached Joe last. Finally everything passed, and Joe couldn't see where the shell had hit. After what seemed like an eternity but was only a few seconds, Joe slowly crawled out from under his cover.
"Mike, are you alright?"
He heard Mike coughing from across the hallway.
"Yea....yea I think I'm all good, ugh I got tons of shit in my mouth."
As Mike took a draw from his canteen, Joe continued to scout out for Jordan.
"Jordan! Where are you?"
He heard a scream from the last room.
"Help....Help!...HELP!"
"Shit, Jordan, where are you?"
"I'm in the bathroom! Oh GOD, hurry up!"
Joe ran to bathroom door and tried to push it open, something was keeping it from closing from behind. He called over Mike and they both put their shoulders against it and pushed, the door finally opened up and behind it was the mountain of rubble that was blocking the door, when they both climbed over the rubble they saw lying in a pool of blood, was Jordan.
"Oh shit, Jordan!"
"Help..me"
Joe ran over to Jordan and took off his helmet, knelt down, and put Jordan's head on his lap. Mike walked over, took off his helmet, put his gun down, folded his arms and looked down.
Jordan had lost both of his legs and some of his torso, the amount of blood that he was lying in contrasted with the pearly white of the tiled floor. He was deathly pale, his legs a mass of blood and mangled flesh a few feet from the rest of his body. He was trembling and there were tears in his eyes.
"I...don't...want...to...die" he said, very slowly.
"I won't let you, you'll be alright soldier" said Joe, even though he knew these were Jordan's last seconds of life.
"I'm...sorry...sir"
"Don't be soldier, you did your job, you'll be fine in a few months, back to normal, your not going to die here. Your not!" yelled Joe pounding the floor beside him.
Joe had known Jordan because he was the base's cook, and Joe and him always talked about the New York Jet's football team. They had become close in the short time Joe was stationed there, now Jordan was dying in his arms.
"Sir...Joe...I know I'm going to die here, please tell my daughter I loved her."
"I will, Jordan, don't worry"
Jordan told Joe earlier, that his daughter ran off with some man she met who was in college when she was 16, no one knew where they went, and Joe knew he could never find her. She was probably long gone seeing how this was over 2 years ago; but still Joe promised Jordan, and tried to make his last breath as comfortable as possible.


Comments

Thats awesome. Youve gotta get these published, you could end up as a famous author over here in england!

Golly gee! I'd hope so!