The Time from Before

One Step Back, One Step Forward

"Sergeant, are you alright?" A voice called out to him.

Allen was slumped against a large boulder, feeling the warm blood seeping out of his chest. He had a bandage applied to his torso, but it was soaked with crimson. Every breath he took sent a jolt of agony through his body.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Are the medics still around?" He managed to say, trying to sound calm.

"No sir, I think only a few of us are left. I think Private Mel might have taken a few more medical classes than the rest of us. Should I..." The soldier standing in front of Allen trailed off, scanning the area for the private he mentioned.

"If you could, that'd be appreciated." Allen sighed, applying more pressure to his wound.

He got this wound from a stray bullet. A sniper round that had bounced off something hit him in the chest, piercing his armor and lodging itself inside of him. He had managed to pull it out, but he only had a few bandages to stop the bleeding.

He and the rest of the surviving soldiers were waiting for evac, as the situation had become too dangerous to continue fighting. Luckily, the enemy had also retreated from the battlefield, so they had some time to rest. But they didn't know if they would come back, or when.

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"Are you sure you'll be fine...?" Marina held a glass of cold water, handing it to Allen.

"I'm all right." Allen said, drinking the water in one go. "This is nothing to worry about."

"B-But you're hurt!" Sasha protested, sitting next to Allen on the couch. "And you promised we would go shooting again!"

"Sheesh, trying to kill me off early? I'm not dying. We can go out for shooting practice in a few days." Allen raised an eyebrow at her, trying to sound casual.

"Oh. Okay!" Sasha got up and plopped down in front of the TV, seemingly dropping all interest in Allen's injury.

"Ain't she sweet." Allen sighed.

"Right... Well, if you need anything, I'll be in the kitchen. I'm almost finished with the editing of my and Pearl's album, and after that, I'll be doing the news thing." Marina then sneezed, sniffling afterward. "Ugh. Allergies."

"That's a new one. Didn't know you could get allergies." Allen remarked, a tad confused.

"Attention, Private First Class Harper Rosewood is present at the bunker. Cv-7 is currently monitoring her movements."

"Yeah, no, let's turn that off. PDA, shut off the unit alerts." Allen requested, leaning back to relax.

"Order confirmed. Local allied movements will no longer be vocally read. The screen onboard this PDA will still display a notification."

"Oh, that's right! PDA, have you been able to call Gramps?" Sasha excitedly rushed to the PDA, looking down at its screen with hopeful eyes.

"Priority order confirmed. Negative; this unit has not been able to connect to the Arctos Network, and by extension, your grandfather. Further attempts will be made, and this Unit will relay a successful attempt."

"Sasha, you have priority over a Sergeant?" Allen leaned forward, looking at her.

"Uhm... I don't know." Sasha replied with an innocent smile.

He sighed, leaning back again. "Well, alright. And keep that TV down." He added, shutting his eyes, trying to rest.

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