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Sodas body begged for mercy as he climbed the steep mountain, marching side by side with brothers in hands that had signed up for hell. His boots splashed through the deep mud in Vietnam's wild jungles, filled to the brim with men and beasts.
Steve was right behind him every step of the way. The two had signed up together and swore they’d make it back home and would enjoy one fresh cold beer from the DX when it was over.
They’d been sent on a mission along with four other men to go collect some medical supplies a previous team had left behind. Soda wiped sweat from his brows; the heat was getting to him, and it sucked badly. His blonde hair, which he hadn’t been able to trim in a long time, clung to his forehead, and the helmet resting on top of his drenched hair wasn’t helping either.
He remembered days back in Tulsa where he and Pony would sit outside on hot summer days and eat popsicles he’d gotten from his boss. He’d kill for a popsicle at this moment... well, he has killed, but he hadn’t received his popsicle, so maybe he should find another saying for that. Speaking of Pony, today was the 22nd of July... maybe... so he should send a letter out just in case.
While lost in thought, his boot had gotten caught in a root that dug deep into the soil below, making him crash into the mud that didn’t smell that different from TwoBit when he wore leather jackets in the summer. Heat rose to his face as he quickly laughed it off and brushed the mud off his uniform. When he glanced up, he saw every soldier around him staring like they’d been attacked. Technically they had been. He just didn’t realize he was the first victim.
The loud beeping finally registered in his mind as he looked down slowly to see a bomb had been launched directly at him. Its red numbers mock him as if they were saying, “You’re not being fast enough.” “Run! Run! What are you doing just standing there, idiot?” He couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. All he could do was look up at his best friend one last time as men started running to safe distances.
“Steve?”
A loud sound rang in his ears as the world around him went dark.
—
“YOU IDIOT!”
Steve cried as he was held back by soldiers. He just watched his best friend die in front of him because of a lack of self-awareness when it came to all of them. If everyone was focused, including him, they could’ve had enough time to get Soda out of the way. If they had enough time. God, why didn’t they have enough time?!
His body shook violently as he started walking again. He couldn’t give up on this mission. The others needed this badly.
His vision was blurry with tears as he marched through the mud. His hand shook violently while he tried not to look back at the corpse. Soda has been his best friend since childhood. There were three goddamn people in this world he cared about: Evie, Ace, and Soda. and one of them just blew up in his goddamn face. Steve doesn’t understand why this feeling made him feel so vulnerable. He had felt the same way watching Dallys's lifeless corpse on the ground. He hadn’t been very close to Dally, but still that felt bad. Everyone knew he was close to Soda. Imagine that feeling with Dally but 1000x worse.
He wiped the tears falling down his face. He won’t let Soda’s memory be forgotten. He’ll win this battle. Get home. Marry Evie like he always wanted, mourn properly with the Curtis brothers, and hug his sister so tightly it’d shock both of them.
He’ll keep on living because if nobody does, it’ll all go to waste.
Keep on going, or you’ll end up 6 ft below with the bugs.
And that’s something Steve isn’t going to do.