Camp Koradel

“Don’t!” Sophie yelled to Scott. She couldn’t bear it anymore. “Please don’t shoot, Scott. Just let him go and get us out of here. Please.” Her voice was weak and pleading, but Scott’s arm remained outstretched towards the strange man.

“Who are you?”

“Scott. Put the gun down!” It was Erin, still mending to a shot Kasie.

“I might as well get the practice now.”

“No!”

It was too late. The bullet released with a loud bang, and Scott watched the man fall to the ground. He wasn’t sure who had screamed no, and he didn’t notice Erin standing in his face, shaking his shoulders violently. “Why!?” she screamed. “Why in the hell would you do that!? Scott!”

Finally, he came to, and looked in Sophie’s direction. “Dear God, Sophie, are you going to make it?”

“She’s going to make it! And so is Kasie. Everyone’s going to be fine!” Erin paced around, wondering what they were going to do with the man’s body. “Except him! What are we going to do about that?”

“Did he shoot Kasie too?” Sophie asked, trying not to look at Scott.

Scott answered yes sadly, making his way towards the weak girl. “Are you tied up?” He felt ropes around her though, so she didn’t have to answer. “Where did he shoot you?”

“Chest,” she whispered, hardly any voice left in her, “and stomach.”

Scott swore again, fumbling with the ropes as Erin made her way to Galvin to untie his ropes as well. “He shot you before we got here?”

“Yes,” she whispered, and finally, he got the bloody ropes untied. She groaned, lifting her arms weakly from the ground onto her stomach. “Thank you.”

“You’re fine, Sophie. You’re going to make it.” She shook her head, though, and he groaned. “Yes, you are.”

“Why did you lie to me, Scott?”

“What?”

She explained, “You didn’t have to pretend to like me.”

He shook his head, still confused. “Why would I have pretended? There was nothing to pretend. I liked you from the start.”

“But… I did too.” She half-smiled and her head drooped. “You’ll win, Scott.”

He thought about that. The war? Or perhaps against Galvin over her. He wasn’t sure, but he leaned down to kiss her once more. He didn’t care that she was covered in blood, sweat, and dirt.

“I’ll take her,” a voice intervened.

Scott glared up at Galvin through watery eyes, but let him pick her up gently from the ground. He didn’t understand. “Who was that?”

“It was her dad, Scott.”

——————————

“You’re kidding me, right? This is a joke.”

“We wouldn’t joke about this!”

He just couldn’t believe what they were telling him, but Erin’s tears were inexplicable otherwise. Galvin placed a hand on his shoulder. He shook it off angrily, though, staring up at Erin’s ceiling fan absentmindedly. “They couldn’t do anything?”

“No, it was too late—”

Frustrated and close to tears, Scott turned on his heel and pushed through the bedroom door, leaving Erin and Galvin alone. He trudged through the hallway and sank heavily onto the couch. He couldn’t help thinking about Sophie. They hadn’t known each other a week, but she was on his mind 24/7. Added to that was the journal in his hands. He couldn’t open it without her permission, but he needed to. All he could do was stare at it blankly, as if it would magically turn into her, and she’d be there laughing next to him like everything was normal. Nothing was normal anymore, it seemed to Scott.

He opened it up to the last page anyway, his eyes scanning through a poem titled “I Wish.” He thought it was beautiful, and if he’d read it sooner, he could have told her that. Holding it against his chest, he could almost detect her scent on the notebook. It was the closest thing he had to her, and he wanted to keep it close as possible for as long as possible.

“Scott,” Erin said, standing in the hallway entrance. “You’re not alone.”

He didn’t want to speak to her, or anyone, really, but he had to. Looking up at her, he whispered, “I know.”

“Oh, Scott.” She hurried over to the couch and wrapped an arm around him. He couldn’t help letting a tear or two escape, but he ended up staring blankly at the ceiling once again. “I know how you feel.”

“No, you don’t!” He was being such a kid about it, but he didn’t care. Nothing mattered right then except what could’ve been. He’d never know.

“Hey,” she said gently, placing a hand on his knee. “I was with my last boyfriend for two and a half years, from age 12 to 15, and he was killed in a car accident.”

He stared at the floor, shocked. How selfish of him to tell her she didn’t understand. “I’m sorry, Erin. I didn’t know.”

“It’s alright,” she said in her always-forgiving tone. “What could’ve been may never be known, but we can remember who they were and be strong for them. They don’t want us to mourn forever; they want us to live our lives in memory of them.”

Unable to express the gratitude he felt, he just smiled at her. It wasn’t a full smile, but it was enough to let her know she had helped.

——————————

Two tanks carried them through the fields. It felt odd; they had planned to go in with sixteen, including Galvin and Chris, but they only had 15. Scott would steer the tank he was in, and Erin hers. It took him a while to convince himself that he could do it; it took a lot, including talks with Erin and visits to Sophie’s grave. She’d been gone almost two months when they set out for the attack.

Even Charley had had a difficult time with her death. She hated Sophie before the incident, but she had realized she was wrong, and now that Sophie was gone, she thought differently of her. Sophie would have understood the hate anyway, being that it was mainly because of Galvin’s attention.

Chris had trained them harder, knowing they’d leave soon, and as Scott observed him driving the tank, he felt confident in them. They weren’t the only tanks headed that direction, of course. There were others around them, all in a semi-straight line heading towards the border of Mexico and Texas to Matamoros.

Scott twirled the ring on his hand nervously, glancing over at Erin’s tank. She was observing Galvin the same way he was watching Chris, and the rest of the girls were looking out the windows, guns in hand and covered in new ACUs.

“Just remember that they won’t be wearing the same clothes as us, Scott.”

“Yes sir,” he replied instinctively, smiling at the memory of Sophie glaring at him for being so polite to Galvin. The man was confusing, but who wasn’t? He had to give him a little credit: the girls had trained hard and Scott believed they were ready for the war. He still hardly believed the circumstances, but as it happened right in front of him, he couldn’t deny the occurrence. Perhaps this would be where his life would be taken. Even if he did lose himself here, what would be the punishment? What did he have to go back to anyway?

That didn’t mean he wasn’t going to fight. America was his country, and he wasn’t going to just let himself get killed. Placing his hand over his heart, he closed his eyes and remembered Sophie once more. I’ll fight for you… Then his hand went to an inside pocket of his jacket. When he felt the black journal, he smiled. She was still with him in a way, and the little notebook gave him courage.

Soon, the tank drivers were instructed to introduce themselves to each other, and Scott and Erin walked out together, shaking hands with at least a dozen other teenagers.

“Can you believe this, man?” One guy said in their little group.

“That we’re fighting? We’ve been training for months; of course I believe it,” was Scott’s answer.

Erin glared at him, but the boy laughed. “You have to be almost eighteen at the least. I’m 14.”

“What?” Erin said, “They’re not supposed to send anyone younger than 15.”

He shrugged. “I was homeless. And that girl, Mary—” He nodded to Erin’s tank “—her ex that died a year or so ago was my brother. So if you don’t mind, could you tell her I’m here?”

“Of course,” Erin said gently, and apologized for the loss of his brother. Knowing how it felt to lose a love, she grieved for Mary as well.

Galvin came to retrieve them, but walked ahead of them back to the tanks. They knew what was coming, but weren’t sure if they were prepared for it. “Sophie’s watching down on us right now, Scott.”

He closed his eyes, leaning against the tank and considering that. When he opened his eyes again, tears were streaming down her cheeks. He pulled her into a tight hug. “It’s alright. We’re fighting for her, and we’re going to win.”

“We are, aren’t we?” She stepped away from him, wiping her face with the long sleeves of her ACUs.

She wasn’t the only one with tears welling up; he didn’t even bother to wipe them away. You’ll win, Scott… “For Sophie, of course we will. I don’t know if that’s your motivation, but it damn well is mine.”

She smiled. “For Sophie.”