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  It all started one year ago, he thinks sighing as he looks out onto the carnage from the battlefield. He could remember it like it was just yesterday, and in his moment of shock he let his mind wander over it all. He allowed himself a smug almost grin thinking back on all the events that led him here. 

     He had walked into the recruiter's office determined that time with the sweat prickling his smooth white forehead. It wasn't his first time standing where so many brave men and women had stood, but he was confident that this would certainly be the last. For the past two months he had been contemplating this idea, but after realizing he didn't have anything here to live for. He figured why not live and possibly die for his country. The man smiled and they got the papers signed. Before he knew it, his feet hit the ground on the soil of a country he had only heard briefly of before today. He shuffled his gear on his back walking up to camp. This was what he had been training for the past six months and he was ready to get started.

     "Brad Longley!" A Sergeant called making the man run faster.

     "Here, Sir!" He called as he reached the man lifting his hand to his forehead in a salute. 

     "At ease, Soldier. Welcome to your first day in what we like to call Hell on Earth." The Sergeant smiled. 

     "No offense, but I thought that was boot camp, sir." He replied in as serious of a tone that his gruff voice could manage. 

     "Oh! If you thought that was hell, private, then you might as well go back home to your Mama. I know that's what those old fogies always call it, but what you'll experience out here makes that shit look like child's play." The Sergeant released a hearty chuckle and placed his hand on Brad's shoulder. "Now come on, we've got a lot of work ahead of us, Private Longley. The name's Sergeant Major Slader, most men here refer to me as The Sergeant. I will be your closest thing to sanctuary in this hell, but by no means will I be your actual friend." He said as he led Brad back to an empty bunk in the barracks. 

     "Hold on this looks urgent, set down your stuff, Private."  The Sergeant says walked away and out the door to talk to a man standing outside. Brad supposed the man was giving him an update on what was happening on the front lines. 

     Brad walks out to meet the Sergeant and notices the grave look on his face. "Sir? Is there something wrong?" The Sergeant just stands next to him speechless for a long while without moving others then flexing and relaxing his jaw muscle appearing deep in thought.  

    Finally the Sergeant sighs and says, "I wont lie to you Private Longley, we are not currently winning this war, and we are losing more and more men every day. The man who just approached me was the radio transponder for our most recent mission in the middle of enemy territory. His news was not of the good variety. None of the ten men in the platoon survived. Five were killed on the field and five captured and died during torture without revealing any information." 

     "Is there any way I could train to be on the next mission, Sir?" The Sergeant releases a hearty laugh, then turns to see the serious look on Brad's face. He thought that surely this man was mocking him or cracking some kind of sick joke, but as soon as he saw the look on Brad's face he knew that he was completely serious. 

     "Private Longley, you are one strange bird aren't you? I just told you that the last highly trained ten men to go on this kind of mission were all killed, and you respond by asking if you can be part of the next one?" He ponders for a moment before speaking again. "I just have one question for you son, Why?" 

     "I have nothing to live for, and I simply wish to make that work to as much of my advantage as I can. Having nothing to live for in my case means I have no fear of dying." 

     " I like your spirit kid. Let me introduce you to a few men then." He smiles slapping Brad's shoulder and leading him down a hallway to a room with six men sitting around a table laughing about something that must have been said before they entered. 

     "It's The Sergeant!" A man said as they all stood to salute. 

     "At ease boys, I just wanted to introduce you to the newest sniper for your team. This is Private Brad Longley, graduated top of his class and he asked to join a team like yours. Longley this is Team Alpha Beta, furthest to your left is Corporal Henry White, next to him Army Private Jody Pivett, the tall guy is Army Private First Class Finn Platt, the man next to him is Army Private Jay Flitch, the first guy on the right side of the table is Private Zachary Glunn, and the last man closest to you would be Army Private First Class Brett Zanken." They all smile as Brad feels overwhelmed by how many names and ranks he has just heard, but smiles anyway. 

     "Come sit with us Private Longley, Sergeant we can take it from here thank you, Sir."Corporal White said smiling at the two men in the door frame. Brad goes and sits at the open seat to his right on the table as the Sergeant steps out of the room and you can hear his footsteps echo down the hall. 

     "Brad the Bad, are you okay man?" Flitch asked shaking Brad's shoulder. "We were all close to Tight Trigger, I mean Jody, but come on we've gotta keep moving." Flitch says as they look up to see Corporal White climbing over the next ridge with the other four men following close behind him. 

     "Yeah, sorry I just can't believe we have to hide his body among the enemy's dead." Brad says as they run to catch back up with their platoon. 

     As they break over the top of the ridge they see their targets coming into view and realize just how short of a window they have before being spotted. Ducking down behind a boulder next to the rest of the men they hear White the Light barking out position orders and verifying personal targets. Brad gulps when he hears his target, but knows he won't miss as he's never missed a shot before. 

     Brad gets into position and lines up his shot waiting for his perfect opportunity. The man walks out from behind a wall and Brad takes his shot, waiting anxiously to see if it was a miss. As soon as the bullet strikes the leader's head Brad feels something strike his own chest and then blacks out. 

     "Where am I?" Brad asks as he shoots up in a white bed immediately feeling an intense pain in his chest. He winces as a nurse tells him he was shot in the chest, but got lucky as the bullet passed straight through only inches from his heart. She informed him that he would be fine, but the army would give him and honorable discharge. Then thanked him for his service and leaned in to whisper you got him before walking away. 

     Brad sat contemplating what he would now do with his life. This had been his big plan, and now he didn't even have that. He sat in the bed for days trying to cope as the same nurse came, changed his bandages, and brought his food. He learned from Finn later on that only four of them had made it out alive. Jody, Brett, and Zach had all been killed minutes after hitting their targets, and they hadn't gotten Brad's own luck of surviving for long.

     After a few weeks, Brad gets up his courage, smiles at her one day and asks "Ya know, I've seen you around here a lot and I don't even know your name, Miss." Brad asks letting his Texan accent slip. 

     "My name is Jade Tanger."

     "Private Brad Longley, Ma'am." He smiles.

     "Jade, That's pretty." Brad says smiling as he takes in her blonde hair and perfect tan. "Well, Miss Jade Tanger, how about I take you out on a date once we get back to the states." 

     "Oh, Where in the states would we meet?" 

     "How about Fort Worth, Texas?" He asks.

      "Sounds nice." She smiles. 

************************************** 2 Years Later******************************************** 

     "Brad, it's freezing out here, what are you doing?" Jade laughs as Brad lowers himself to one knee in the snow.

     "Jade, I love you, Will you marry me?" He proclaims.

     "I'd thought you'd never ask!" She weeps kissing him as he stands.