Arrow woke up in a confined like room with tons of monitors in him, he began to look around frantically. A nurse and Katana rushed to his side, Katana easing him back. "Arrow, relax... it's okay. It's okay."
He turned to the nurse, "Where am I?"
"You're safe in the US. You're at Walter Reed right now dear."
"Fuck me... " He leaned back in his bed. "Discharge?"
A gruff voice echoed from the nearby entrance that immediately drew his attention. "No son, you're not being discharged. I take care of my men." General Shepherd stepped into the room with his arms clasped behind his back. "Sergeant Guerroro, step outside for a moment."
Katana looked at Arrow, smirking. "Don't do anything stupid now without me watching you." She turned and soon left the room nodding to the General. The nurse soon followed her too.
Shepherd watched the door close as he turned to Arrow. "Sergeant Austin Rehnskiold, the man who tried sleeping with my daughter."
"Sir, please. That's a mistake-"
"I know. It's why I pulled you. Ignoring that past, you survived an ambush that left two of the men in the Task Force dead. These weren't just any men, Sergeant Jamal "Meat" Moore was Green Beret. Sergeant Emil "Royce" Brandenborough was Delta. From what the evac team told me, you were shot and even applied your own aid before succumbing to loss of consciousness. Impressive son, very impressive." He stood at the foot of his bed, crossing his arms. "I need your skills son, America is at war and the Russians have struck the US. Troops are already fighting in Virginia and we are losing ground. I have authorization for a unit and I need bodies in it. You in?"
He paused thinking, "What about One Four One?"
"You will be reassigned. One Four One is obtaining a different mission objective and your skills will be needed elsewhere, if you wish to remain in, you will be an attaché between the others and I. Is this acceptable?"
He considered everything, Katana had stuck by him but he could tell something was there. He didn't know what but he could feel some feelings that she could possibly have. He also knew his country needed him more than the Task Force did. Hell he was tired of sitting on the sidelines but at the same time, that was his unit that he was a part of and he was taught from Day One of his Army career; loyalty is an important virtue in the Army.
"I can tell you're lost in thoughts, seeing your talents, you will not be on the backup team or sidelines; you'll be in the front with your unit." This did hit him as he pondered more, finally he looked up to Shepherd.
"I'm in sir."
"Welcome to Shadow Company. Your CO will be here shortly. Any questions, ask him." He turned around, opening the door for two figures to walk in; Katana and another man except he was in black fatigues with a hoodie that had a spade on the front.
"Arrow, finally awake to meet ya!" The man smiled as he stepped forward to shake his hand, Arrow responded with a firm handshake.
"Nice to meet you." He nodded, Katana stood by the foot of the bed with her arms crossed.
"He's a part of the crew that pulled us out." She eyed his IV; it was low and it concerned her. She stepped out to find the nurse.
The man then turned his gaze back to Arrow after watching Katana step off, his eyes were elsewhere on her. "Down to business. You're being assigned to Shadow Company. Best of the best, your old crew can't compare to us bro."
"So I've heard... do they know about this?"
"The General will address that shit, you should know him by now man. Anyways, you'll be falling into my unit. My name is Royerick, or to you Disciple One. You'll be filling in my squad personally as Disciple One Two, it shouldn't be too hard to fill."
He nodded at this, "When and where do I get my gear?"
Royerick just nodded over to the duffel bags in the corner. "All right there buddy."
He nodded once more, "Thank you. How long is my down time?"
"Two days. Your wound will heal in time but right now we're going to need all hands on deck soon. Disciple elements will be fighting through some of the rougher shit that Shepherd slugs at us, but you'll get to meet everyone in time. It's a tight tight family, more-so than your Task Force, I heard about what they've done with you man. Shit ain't right."
"Yeah, it sucks but you gotta start somewhere man and I don't mind starting from the bottom of everything. Just blows that ya know, others get to do shit you were trained to do while they don't trust you. It's embarrassing to a degree but I went on an op and hell, we survived it while we lost two of our men. That's rough there, especially when I couldn't help them."
"Don't beat yourself up over it man. We'll see you in the field." He stood up and left as Katana walked back in the room. She moved to one of the chairs close to Arrow and sat down.
"Hey Kat.." Arrow turned his head to her.
"Yeah what's up?"
"I just wanna say, I know I'm not the top pick in the team but I got your back from here on out."
"Stop talking like that, you're one of the best I've seen period."
"Thanks..." He grinned as he leaned his head back.
YOU ARE READING
A Shadow Company Tale
ActionIn a time of uncertainty and bloodshed, an American warrior steps up and does what he thinks is necessary in the time of war. While serving along his friends and family, he sees sights that haunt him to his core but also push him to find something h...
