Story of my deployment

During my fourth year in the Army, I got promoted to 2nd lieutenant. My first assignment was a deployment to Afghanistan. 

I thought it was ridiculous that I got that assignment because supposedly we were already gone from there. Kristina was upset about it, too.

Most of the deployment went off without a hitch. In fact, it was boring. Mostly desk work and some manual labor (I didn't see why I couldn't do the same thing at Camp Williams, but I didn't want to frustrate myself by thinking about it too much). Kristina was happy to see me during my leave halfway through.

During the last month, I was ordered to lead a supply convoy through Kabul.  I wasn't scared because there hadn't been reports of casualties there in years. Turns out my convoy had the dubious honor of being the first in that many years.

A rocket propelled grenade hit the first jeep which I was in. The driver was killed. I was hit with shrapnel in my left shoulder and thigh; the two soldiers in the back were unscathed.

I didn't feel my injuries at first. I was too adrenalized and pissed off. I thought to myself, "Really? I'm in this stupid country that I shouldn't even be in; I'm almost done with this deployment, and these thugs couldn't respect a simple SUPPLY CONVOY! I want to go home and see my wife, goddammit." 

Enraged, I hopped out of the busted humvee, yelling like a psycho gone berserk. I took cover behind the front driver's side, whipped out my .45 and shot at anything that moved. I don't know if I hit anybody, because they were far away, and because the Humvee behind us was laying waste to the bastards with the .50 caliber machine gun. 

After a few seconds, I felt a sudden tug on my right shoulder and I hear, "Get in the Humvee, Lieutenant! Now! We're outta here!" I hobbled to the back of the second Humvee, practically thrown in there by the Sergeant. As we flew out of there, my injuries finally started hurting. It was a miserable combination of needles and burns that I felt. I couldn't focus on being glad to be alive. All I could think of was the pain. The medic bandaged the wounds, stopped the bleeding, and gave me some Morphine. I passed out.

Next thing I knew, I was in a hospital. It didn't look familiar. "Morning, Lieutenant. You're in Rammstein hospital." "In Germany?" I asked in a daze. "Yes. And my name is Captain McNamee. I'll take care of you." That's Lucy Bednarz's husband. Later, Lucy (also an Army nurse) came in, commended me for my bravery, and says it's bittersweet to reunite with a friend after all these years in this way.

I got another surprise: the Army paid for my wife Kristina to fly to Germany and visit me. What a joyful reunion. I hadn't seen her beautiful face in too long. It made my heart feel good. "I lost weight, honey!" I laughed that that's the first thing she reports to me. "I went with Suzanne to do Zumba at the gym and I've been sticking to my gluten free diet. I wanted to look good for you when you came home."

"Honey, you didn't have to do that. You were always beautiful. But I'm proud of you for exercising and eating healthy." 

"I know, now I'm hot and I can finally fit in my old clothes." We both chuckled.

"Kristina!" I laughed, embarrassed, "I don't care what size you are." 

"I do." She smiles.

She caressed my arm, "Why did they do this to you? I wish I could talk to those bad guys and punch them in the face." We laughed again. 

"They're probably dead, honey." 

"I know, I just wish I could tell them, 'You know what? My husband is coming home soon and he's just delivering supplies. He's not here to kill anyone. Just leave him alone.'" 

"You're so sweet."

"And why did the Army even make you go in the first place? You're not supposed to be fighting on the front lines." 

"Believe me, honey, I've asked myself that a million times. But I guess since other guys are dying it's not fair to keep the rest of us out of harm's way." 

"I know. Do you have to do this every time?" 

"Probably not, especially with these injuries." 

"Ok. Just please think about getting out, alright? I enjoyed it while it lasted. It's time for you to be a daddy." 

My jaw dropped, "You're pregnant?" 

"Yes. I wanted to surprise you. Did you like the surprise?" 

"Yes!"

*This post is a work of fiction and is dedicated to the brave men and women in the armed forces.

My Family and the Zombie Apocalypse

While I'm hurrying to pack our stuff, Kristina goes to fresh market down the street. When she comes back several hours later, she said, "Hey, I tried to get all our stuff but it was jam packed and they were out of some of the stuff. I wish you were there to help me." I give her a hug and say, "Sorry, honey. Are you okay?" "Yeah, I guess, but some jerk ran into our car and now I'm not sure it can take us to Hill Air Force base." I examine it and realize she's right. It gets us partway there. Fortunately we have our bikes mounted on the car, so we can ride them to the nearest frontrunner station. Even though we're packed like sardines, the crisis isn't too chaotic yet, so the train still works... until it breaks down at Farmington. Most of the people are stuck, but we have our bikes.

It's still a long bike ride. Kristina stops and asks for a break. I hesitate but I agree to because her face is red with exhaustion and I am tired too. We find some shade under a tree, but I keep my hatchet on hand and vigilantly guard our spot while she catches her breath.

When she's had a minute to collect herself, she says "Okay, I think I can do this. I'm tired but I am not going to let that get to me." 

I yell, "Good because there's one right behind you move." She screams as it grabs her hair. I bury my hatchet in its skull. The relief is only momentary because we can hear the snarls of more zombies further down the street. 

Kristina panics and says, "What do I do what do I do what do I do?" 

I calmly instruct her to get on the bike and remind her that they shuffle slower than we walk, so as long as we keep moving on our bikes, we'll be way ahead of them. She still high tails it out of there as fast as she can pedal. I ask her to slow down a few times but she retorts, "No! I almost died last time! Do you want them to eat me?" Now she's more anxious to get to Hill Air Force base than I am.

It's good we brought our bikes because the road blocks have kept out all cars. It makes me wonder how authorized military vehicles get through. 

After going through the obstacle course, the guards stop us before we get to the gate. They point their rifles at us (I don't know what good that does. I guess that's their idea of "better safe than sorry.") and bark at us, "This is for military personnel and their dependents only." 

Thinking quickly I say, "I'm in the Utah National Guard." Not quite true because I'm a civilian employee *for* the National Guard, but my military ID doesn't say that. In any case, I know my brother is inside and he can get me through if my white lie doesn't work. Fortunately it works. The guard looks at my ID, glances at his supervisor for approval, then instructs us to go in.

You would never guess by looking inside this base that the world is descending into chaos. It's like a city on a normal day, business as usual. Grant happens to be doing PT with the people in his JAG unit. He stops, we hug. He splits from his group (they understand) to take us to the apartment that Sara, Mason, and Joshie are in. 

Chatting with Sara: "Bad timing that we got reassigned from Germany to Ogden right before the catastrophe, but it's good that we're here with you guys. I'm glad we got your message that you were coming before the servers went down." Then she jokes, "Looks like you guys end up at every one of our air force bases, come hell or high water... or zombies." A light hearted moment after the stress and panic.

We watch the sad news on TV everyday of the whole state of Utah (along with parts of Idaho, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, and Nevada) suffer an apocalyptic scenario. We have it easy inside the base.

I get to exercise in the mornings with Grant. Apparently one of their paralegals left to be with his family in Nevada, so they let me fill that position. When I told them the only legal experience I have is LSAT prep courses (haven't even taken the test), they said "Close enough." So I get some valuable work experience to keep my sanity.

I pass some of the time playing chess with Mason and helping him with his math homework. Although I don't think he really needs it; I'm the one who needs him to teach *me* how to do math.

Kristina spends most of her time hanging out with Sara, and then the wives of the other Air Force personnel.

Fortunately it gets contained after a few weeks. We can leave and we get a ride home on the bus and the train. Part two is rebuilding Utah.

Write about the prison in Draper, point of the mountain.