chasing demons. ***completed***

Dan knew he was getting tired of war. he was in yet another mission in the dessert. here he knew to always watch his back. never let his guard down. he signaled for the men to spread out and surround the building. nothing but silence surrounded them. he moved forward with two men following him. he knew all these men's lives rested on him. he was responsible for them to get home. it was his job to keep them safe. he signaled to move in. they were tasked with extracting a dignitary of the united States. he had been captured and held captive. it was their job to get him home to his family. Their job was to make sure they made it home, alive. they surrounded the small house. it was a Reed and clay house in Iraq. Pretty typical for the area. Nothing about it stood out. That's what made this a perfect place to hide. Intelligence had said he was being held here. the villagers were innocent. most of them afraid for their families if they did not cooperate. Dan knew first hand how they were tortured and killed to comply. He could see the man they were there to retrieve. he was in bad shape. Dan could see he had recently been tortured. Dan signaled to his men. he could see six men. he gave the signal to move in. like a finely tuned machine the men moved in silently. Dan threw in a flash bomb. they moved in quickly subduing everyone in the room. two of his men grabbed the man they needed to extract getting him out. Dan gave the signal to retreat. the men started exiting the house watching everywhere they went. Dan knew to stay alert. out of the corner of his eye he saw movement. he turned to react and in an instant he felt heat and burning. Dan fell to the ground letting off two shots. he saw the man fall to the ground his eyes staring blankly into nothing. he was losing blood fast. he felt himself being pulled toward the door. everything was a blur. he was moving in and out of consciousness. he could feel himself being lifted. words. someone was talking to him. " hang in there sterling! don't let go! we got you!" then darkness. his eyes were heavy. he couldn't open them. he could hear the moans and cries around him. a voice was talking to him. he couldn't understand the words. his eyes slowly opened as he saw a man standing next to him. "sterling, you are safe. I need you to stay calm." " Rogers? was anyone else hurt?" Dan closed his eyes hoping he was the only one. " no man. thanks to you we made it out safely. you always have our backs. everyone made it out safely." " where was I shot?" he was still in shock. he felt no pain. he knew it would happen but for now he was numb. "it was your leg. the doc says you will heal up nicely. you lost a lot of blood but you can get back to it in no time. good thing cause we need you man." Dan nodded his head acknowledging him. he was losing his drive to fight the enemy. he had slowly become his own enemy. did he even want to continue anymore? this wasn't the first time he had been injured. he joined the army thinking he could make a difference. he wasn't sure he had it in him anymore. he gave Rogers a weak smile. " you know me. can't keep me down." his voice was flat. he knew he would be out there again only this time he could feel the hollowness inside of him grow. he used to think he would have a family and live in a small town with two kids and a dog but now that dream escaped him only replaced by the nightmares of war. the nightmares kept him up at night as he heard the screams in his head. he wouldn't even know how to live without war anymore. war had become his family. no, he knew his destiny was to die in war. it had become inevitable. fi he had to be honest he was no longer living anyways. He just survived in a world that forgotten them. Forgotten him. six weeks had past. he was healing fast. soon he would be allowed to go out in the field again. Dan knew each time he went out he lost a little more of his soul. he wasn't sure if he even had anything left to bargain with anymore. he would just keep going. a man walked over to him. saluting him. " sir, I have orders for you." Dan saluted back. " at ease." the man handed him a manilla envelope sealed with the united States seal. special ops. he was being sent out again. " thank you sir." with a nod he was alone again. staring down at an envelope he knew he couldn't ignore. opening the envelope he read over his new orders. he would be going into the heart of the war. a school for girls had been attacked. it was his job to get as many out alive as possible. twelve girls and one American teacher remained being held captive. There was a heavy enemy presence there. he knew what would happen if they weren't successful. he knew he and his men were their only hope. maybe he could save part of his empty soul by saving these girls. maybe he could save himself if he saved them. it gave him a small glimmer of hope. Hope was all he had to cling to. Hope was all he and his men had out in the desert. they moved in under the cover of darkness. they quickly identified the school where all twelve girls and the American teacher was being held captive. it wouldn't be easy extracting them all. he knew he would give his life to make sure he got all of them to safety. he signaled the go ahead to move in quickly. a flash bomb rang out as the men moved in quickly subduing the captors. he and a few of his men quickly began untying the girls and teacher. he moved to the teacher. " I need you to translate for me to the girls so we can get you all out alive." she shook her head. " tell them to stay close and follow us. heads down no noise not even a scream." he waited for her to finish the translation. " let's go! move fast." they moved swiftly through the streets staying in the shadows. the girls kept quiet not even a tear falling from their eyes. they were almost to the three waiting Humvee's. his men were diligent and silent. he gave the signal to start loading the girls and teacher. after they were loaded his men began to load in. there was an explosion near by and shots started ringing out. he could hear a man fall to the ground. " everyone load up now!" he ran to his man's side as he picked him up throwing him in the back. more explosions. his ears were ringing. he motioned for two Humvees to go. as he jumped into the third he looked around. all his men accounted for. shots rang out as he felt the bullets hit him. he could hear the whizzing of the bullets. " go go go!" he yelled. he felt the lurch of the vehicle and then he fell to the floor. he saw the teacher as she pressed on his wounds. all twelve and the teacher were extracted. his men accounted for. two including himself injured. he could feel every bump and every movement of the Humvee. he knew they were safe now. He closed his eyes. " we need a doctor or he won't make it!" he could hear the teachers voice in his head. the pain was intense like nothing he had ever felt before. they were safe but he was dying. He knew it was grim. He could feel himself slipping away. Dan grabbed the teachers hand. he was scared and in pain but he needed to say something. "if I don't make it...." pain shot through him. " tell my parents I love them. tell my sis..." he was coughing. it was hard to breath. " tell my sister I love her and to marry John. she loves him. just go for it. stop wasting time." "you tell them. you don't give up. you saved these girls from certain death. fight death. fight it!" it was the last words he heard. his lungs were on fire. his body was weak. pain was surging through him. maybe this was it. maybe he had redeemed himself by saving these girls. maybe he was being called home. when it is your time it is your time. at least he knew he would die doing the right thing in a world filled with war and anguish. he prayed he had given some light to the darkness of war. maybe just a glimmer of hope would rise out of the ashes that war created. all he knew in this instant was that he had given back life to thirteen people that wouldn't otherwise have it. he had sacrificed himself for them to have it. Hope. He could die happy knowing they were safe.