A story task, written by me

Following on from my previous post, we decided to have a little bit more writing fun. This time I told Tyla to set me a story task - write a short story of his choice, and this is what I was told to write about.

---------


"Wake up, soldiers!" were the first words Mick heard that morning. As he sat up he felt a hard rush followed by a throbbing temple. That bottle of scotch last night was nothing but a bad idea, especially with the knowledge that he was due to be fighting this morning. This hangover would, inevitably, slow him down. With a groan though, he climbed off of his bunk, taking care not to land too hard, and pulled on a pair of trousers, shirt and a pair of sunglasses to hide his bloodshot eyes. Around him, other soldiers, small and large, were pulling on their combat gear - known as "greens" throughout the army - and assembling their rifles. Today was a big one and they had to be prepared. Mick was soon reminded of this and vowed never to drink again.

Outside of the troops' sleeping grounds the soldiers were lined up and awaiting their briefing. "Ladies and germs, today is a day which will place your abilities on the line. You will fight, and you will win. Injury may occur, but giving up is forbidden. Fight to the win or fight to the death. Your choice! Now, when I say 'Fight' you charge those scumbags with everything you have! Am I clear?"

"Yes, Sir!" the soldiers - including Mick - replied in unison.

After a long and silent wait the general finally gave his order, "Fight, motherfuckers, fight!"

And so they charged up and over the sand dunes to be greeted with something they'd never seen before: toad-green, shiny, lumpy alien creatures. Mick knew they wouldn't be pretty, but this was far from his expectations. Before he could think any more, though, the creatures were approaching. Fast. "Shoot!" was all he heard before squeezing the trigger, causing his rifle to spit out a stream of bullets at breakneck speed, striking and piercing his target with ease, ripping the top of its head off in the process. He laughed. What. A. Shot, he thought. Stop thinking and fight. Fight. Fight!

After a battle which resulted in 5 deaths, countless injuries and the destruction of an alien battalion, the soldiers returned to camp for their lecture on the day's work. "I would like to congratulate you on your fine fighting today, soldiers. We may have lost some of our own but we killed more and for that you receive my full congratulations. However, I would also like to remind you that this is only the beginning and that we are far from the end of this war. Tonight, though, we celebrate!" He kicked the trunk beside him which opened to reveal a line of bottles filled with, undoubtedly, alcoholic substances.

Mick groaned and looked away but before he could walk in the opposite direction Private Chiko tapped his shoulder and held a cup filled to the rim towards him. "Drink?" he asked in his high, Asian voice. "no thanks, Chi", was Mick's reply, "I don't drink". He then winked, turned on his heel and walked towards the soldiers' camp - for once he was going to have an early night.