Chapter Text
The bullets were flying around them, and to prevent others from being hit, Nicky threw himself in the middle to act as a barrier, resulting in him getting hit by a mortar that ribbed open the left side of his torso.
"Oh my God," Marcus said as he bent over Nicky. "Let me help you."
Marcus was one of the medics Nicky had trained, and Nicky knew that Marcus was the best, but Nicky also knew that Marcus could never know his secret.
"No, don't use the rest of your drugs on me," Nicky said as he coughed up blood. "Instead do this for me. Get the children to safety..."
Nicky coughed up more blood.
"And give my commanding officer this message," Nicky said. "Meet me at the Tropic of Cancer."
Nicky then died, and Marcus wished he could give Nicky a proper funeral than the leaves and branches he found around him. Then Marcus did what Nicky wished for; he got the children to safety and started to search for Nicky's commanding officer. It took longer than Marcus hoped for, but in the end, he was told that he could find the person at the bomb out school. When Marcus entered the room, he found a woman with short dark hair business looking at maps, and a grumpy man in the corner business cleaning his weapon.
"Yes, Soldier?" The Woman asked as she looked up. "What can I do for you?"
"I bring you a message from Nicky," Marcus replied. "He died while we were saving a group of children."
The grumpy man stopped cleaning and looked at the Woman. They exchanged a look Marcus couldn't read anything into.
"Nicky said: "Meet me at the Tropic of Cancer."," Marcus said. "With your permission, I would like to give it a try and find Nicky's body. So that his family can have closure and not bury an empty coffin."
"I can't give you that permission because we can't afford to lose more medics," The Woman replied. "And it isn't up for discussion."
Marcus wanted to say something, but the woman held up her hand.
"But I promise you, we'll find Nicky's body and bring him home," The Woman said. "Can you point out the area for me on the map?"
Marcus did it, and the woman marked it on the map.
"Book," The Woman said as she handed the man to the man. "You know what to do?"
"Yes, Boss," Booker replied as he took the map. "Don't worry, Kiddo. We got this."
Booker left with the map, and the woman looked at Marcus.
"Nicky trained me," Marcus said. "I want to honour him and take his place in this group. It's the least I can do."
The woman walked around the desk before she placed a hand on Marcus's shoulder.
"I know you mean it well," The Woman said. "But if you want to do something for Nicky, all you have to do is to survive this war, go home and find a girl to start a family with. And tell your children that war never brings any good with it."
"Funny," Marcus replied. "Nicky said that on our first day."
"Yeah, that does sound like him," The Woman replied. "How long have you left of your service?"
"Four months," Marcus replied. "And three days."
The Woman found a piece of paper and wrote something on it.
"Take this to the hospital. You can serve the rest of your time there," The Woman said. "And whenever you save a life, you ask the person to do what Nicky told you. Tell the next generation that war never brings any good with it."
"I can do that," Marcus replied. "I just wish I could do more than that."
"We all do that," The Woman replied. "Now go, covey the message."
Marcus nodded and left. What Marcus didn't know was that Booker hadn't left the school.
"It's going to be a hassle to find Nicky," Booker complained. "Do you know how much space the Tropic of Cancer cover, Andy?"
"I got a feeling that Joe knows where to look. We will give him the message when he returns tomorrow," Andy replied. "Now, back to making the General talk peace instead of shooting his own people. This is what we will do."