Page 57 of Sol
“I dunno,” I said. “Probably go to In-N-Out.” A branch of this fast food chain had been by my parents’ house my entirelife.
“Oh, yeah. Double Double.” His eyes rolled up. “Sounds so good. Animalstyle?”
“No. Justregular.”
“Burger,” he drooled. “Want.”
I laughed. That guy was governed by hisstomach.
For now, all I had was fruit punch Mentos to chew on. The guys in my platoon always carried them. We never knew how long we’d be out, and they were portableenergy.
The next man in turn stepped up to have his retinal scan. Jerry Lin, one of our buddies, clicked a few keys on the laptop and took his picture. “All done.Next.”
As the man walked back to the village, he turned around, and I saw his face. And I could tell, I could just tell, that something wasup.
“Deg, we need to get out ofhere.”
“Yeah, I don’t like thatguy.”
“Degan. I think. I think he’s up tosomethi—”
Ascuffle.
A fewclicks.
A moped engine vrooming by, then the beep-beep of an inadequatehorn.
Commotion. Yelling off to the side in a language I didn’tunderstand.
And as if in slow motion, Degan pushed Jerry behind a Humvee and threw himself on top of me, his short, sturdy body heavy with a helmet, equipment, and his backpack, knocking the wind out ofme.
“Dude,” I started tohuff.
And then I heard theexplosion.
Boom.
Like a mortarstrike.
I struggled to get up, but he hissed, “Stay down.” He trapped me on the ground, his eyes wide and visible through hissunglasses.
More shouts. Gunfire. And I couldn’t move, Degan holding medown.
I felt something soak through my pant legs andshirt.
His heated, darkblood.
“No!” I screamed. “No!”
“It’s okay,Trent.”
“You are not okay. Let me get a medic. Let me get you out ofhere.”
As I struggled to get up, he leaned over and retched off to the side. To my horror, he was missing his legs. His femoral artery burst, bleeding all over me and him. I ripped off my bag, searching for anything to stop thebleeding.
“Degan,” I panted. “Dude. Stay withme.”
He shook his head, his eyes pleading. “It’s okay. I’m okay. I don’t feel anything. It’s all gone. T, just promise me you’ll find my sister.” He coughed and gasped. “Tell her I love her, and dude tell her you love her too. Please tellher.”
“I promise,Deg.”
“Find Dani, T. Keep hersafe.”
“I promise. I’ll find Dani. Just hang on, Deg, we’ll get youhelp—”
But his eyes glazed over, he got a sort of smile on his face, and his last breath sighed from hischest.
