The Story Of Soldiers

Chapter 26 (end of segment 2)

THIS CHAPTER IS LONGGGGG

Warning(s): disturbing urban legends, talk of violence,

There the team sat, in the large plane as they awaited their turn.
There were several teams on the ship, all of them separated and sat on different benches.

There were large windows on the ship, many floor-length ones along both of the walls.
Kira gazed out the window, observing the falling snow and ice coating the land in a sheet of pure white.

It must've been deep into winter by now. Kira liked it, it looked as if the sky itself was falling.
The clouds were white and fluffy and looked like marshmallows.

Jay had his hands against the window, gazing out the frosted glass, his eyes shining.
"This is so cool!" He exclaimed, a grin on his face.
Colleen turned and looked at it herself, blinking.

"Oh, cool," she said, trying to mask her excitement.
The rest of the team turned as well,  gazing out the window.
Kahsbi breathed against the window, watching it fog up before drawing a flower into the fogged glass.

Following her lead, Kamlyn did the same, drawing a flower as well.
Kira gazed out across the snow, feeling as if a memory was coming back to her when she was snapped out of it by Jay's energetic voice.

"I never saw this! It's snow right?" Jay asked, dragging his fingers along the glass to make invisible shapes.
"Uh, yeah?" Kaze muttered.
"Where did you even live!?" Colleen exclaimed.

"I mean. Like, we got a little bit of snow for a day or two back where I'm from," Colleen crossed her arms, "But have you never seen snow!?"
"I dunno. I lived in Florida though." Jay answered shyly.

"That makes sense," Aayan says next, "Florida is called the Sunshine State, right? They never get snow."
Kai hadn't stopped staring out the window, eyes shimmering.
"Wow! I barely got snow back in London! This is awesome!"

Suddenly the ship jerked to a stop, though it was unnoticed by the team.
Diaz made his way from the control center of the ship, fighting internally and hoping against hope that at least she would survive this.

Diaz knew very well that this could be fatal for some trainees.
He spotted the team gazing longingly out the window. He was about to stop them, before stopping himself.

Akira loved the snow.
No, shit. Why was he thinking about her right now?
It had nothing to do with her. Stop it you fool. Just leave them be. Looking at the snow couldn't hurt.

"Fire Team Red Alpha is first up," Diaz announced loudly, making his way over to the door.
Kaze swallowed his nervousness, glancing out the window as the ship stops and hovers over a spot.

"Red Alpha, your meeting spot is that cliff," Diaz points out of the window, "The one in the North."
"Yes sir," they all say at the exact same time, almost as if on queue. Like robots.

"What about you guys?" Kahsbi asked, referring to the triplets, "Did you guys ever get snow?"
Kira shrugged. "Not a lot."
"Yeah, we got it sometimes, but not more than once a year," said Kaze.
"It was fun to play in," Kamlyn said softly, "Winter was pretty."

Kahsbi giggled. "Winter is my favorite season. It's all crystal-like and white, like my hair."
"Your hair is really pretty," Kamlyn said.
"It isssss," Kira agreed, dragging out the 's'.
Kaze chose to stay silent.

"Thank you," Kahsbi said, blushing pink.
"Fire Team Red Alpha," Diaz's commanding tone broke through the conversation, "It's almost time. Remember, you have two hours to meet at the cliff. Someone will come and pick you up after the time is up. If you're not there, you're walking."