Cause and Effect
"Of the good in you I can speak, but not of the evil. / For what is evil but good tortured by its own hunger and thirst?"
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Michael noted his breath moving upward away from his face. The relatively warm microcosms of steam billowing around each other were slowly being absorbed by the acridly dry and frigid arctic air. He'd stare at things like this it seemed, like a four-year-old with a ten-second attention span. This, he attributed to the cold. He also attributed his numb fingers, nose and toes to the cold, but he never told anyone about those.
"You ever watch your breath?" Michael whispered.
"Say what?" Travis asked, also whispering. Travis seemed slightly more "in the moment" than did Michael. However, Michael could never tell, because Travis's right eye was almost always closed, and he was on Travis's right side. This was because Travis had an NVG mounted on his left eye. They were both were laying pronated underneath a low-hanging spruce tree branch. This, one of many such snow-covered trees in a snow-covered landscape, happened to be situated halfway up a snow-covered hillside overlooking a small, isolated, snow-covered building. The two young men were not covered in snow as everything else was. They were covered in frost, which Micheal also attributed to the cold.
"Your breath. You know, when it's cold and you breathe, steam comes out. Have you ever watched it?"
"Mike, you really are a spacey motherfucker you know that? When was the last time you actually made an entry in that thing?" There was a pause before he replied.
"Two seconds ago when that goofy lookin' dude walked inside." A man had just entered the building they were watching.
"Good, pay more attention. Hey what time is it?" Travis asked. He opened his eye and blinked it a few times to melt the frost on his eyelashes.
"We got about five minutes. Why do you always bag on me for being spacey?"
"Because you are! Nobody else gets caught up in actually playing with legos when we're using them to build a terrain model."
"Yeah, whatever. That model was pretty fuckin sweet. Anyway, at least I don't fall asleep on the OP like Larsen did."
“Larsen...” There was a long pause. This pause kept getting longer until Michael wondered if Travis was ever going to finish his sentence, or whether he was simply saying Larsen’s name in an utterance of pondering Michael’s statement. His pause was so long in fact, that Michael’s attention was taken by other things around him such as the snow that started to fall. He began to notice the smoke from the building drifting in another direction. He was so enraptured by these mundane things that he was jolted when Travis started in again.
“Larsen is a good guy, and a good team leader. He’s had some shit going on in his life that’s really fucked with him. You know, he stayed up all night writing the patrol order that got us this mission in the first place. You should be thankful he traded eight hours of sleep for dosing off. Besides, he only closed his eyes for ten seconds.”
“Hold on, Trav. The ‘shit’ he’s had to deal with was all his fault. Going out, getting plastered, driving over that stray dog, which, by the way is still in critical condition, and sleeping with Brian’s sister? Who else’s fault could that have been?” Obviously appalled by what Michael just said, Travis entirely removed the NODs from his face.
”How about this for a try: The man hasn’t had a drink, or a girl or a smoke in his life. He lets liquor touch his lips once and he goes nuts. He’s never been late for a thing while I’ve known him, and I’ve known him for awhile. I don’t blame the guy. He was a stiff before that all happened! Now the guys can relate to him more and actually know he’s human now.”
“Yeah that is true. Isn’t that the convoy?” Michael noted three large trucks pulling into the compound.
”Yeah, call it in. It’s time for a radio check anyway.”
“Prude, Prude, this is Eagle Eye, we have confirmed eyes on target. Standby to copy pos.”
“You are such a prick, you know that?” Travis remarked with a smile after laughing.
“Roger, Eagle Eye, standing by to copy…” Kyle Larsen’s voice was distinct, even over the radio. As Michael gave the position of the convoy, Travis continued to observe the building.
”You like that? I think he did.” Michael snickered as he put the binos up to his face.
”I think you’ve given him enough shit for failing himself and his boys. Michael, I know you don’t give a shit when you’re standing tall in front of the man because it happens so goddamn often, but when he fucks up, it gets to him.”
“Shot, over.” The radio almost didn’t interrupt the conversation.
“Shot, out.” Michael replied without thought.
“I’m not saying he’s not a good guy. All I’m saying is that it’s his fault.” Michael’s voice could be heard over the incoming range round that impacted just inside the garrison fence. Just as his personality would have it, he shifted his attention to it. “Look at those fuckers scramble around down there.” He keyed his headset, “Range and deviation correct, fire for effect.”
“Cool, they never get it on the first try,” Travis remarked. ”His fault or not, he’s a good guy, and I’ve seen his performance. The one time he’s messed up I’m not going to fault him for, especially given the circumstances, and his outstanding record. I might actually go as far to say it was because of his perfect record that he wrecked his car and slept with Brian’s sister.”
“Man she is a wreck! But you’re right, Kyle’s good to go.” Michael giggled as he watched the destruction of the encampment below. “Rounds complete, all targets neutralized or destroyed.”
“Did you just call him Kyle?” Travis asked in astonishment.
“What?” Michael asked, obviously more in tune with the violent secondary explosions below.
“Nothing. Pack your shit, let’s get the fuck out of here.”~
--
Author’s Notes:
-NVG= Night Vision Goggle
-NOD=Night Optics Device
-Prolific use of slang, and otherwise inappropriate language is necessary for realism. This story is fictional. Any similarities to real life people, places or things is purely coincidental and is not intended.
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