There's More to Soccer Then That

Chapter 12

The team made their way to the stadium in downtown Seoul. The group was getting prepped in the locker room, then we walked out an stood for the national anthems. As soon as we broke, I started doing exercises and warm ups. I kicked a ball back and forth with Carli for a while, then did a dribbling session with Christen, Kelley, and Meghan. Then, we were getting in our positions to start up the game. We had won first ball, so Carli took it. I took a deep breath, closing my eyes and clenching my fists as I anticipated the blow of the whistle. "Prove to them..... Show them.... Let them know.... Who I am.... And what I'm capable of...." I told myself, before my crystal blue eyes snapped open to the sound of the game starting. I jogged head, feeling the pain in my right kneecap slowly dissolve through the bandages as I was moving. I made sure to keep moving, so it wouldn't give any thought to locking up. Carli sided the ball to Tobin who jogged down the left side, then kicked it in to Christen. Christen took off down the left end, and I did my best to sprint in the middle. Once I got past the defenders, Press sent me the ball. I drew back my right leg and gave the ball a swift kick, the ball zooming straight past the goalie. I jumped over their keeper, making sure not to step on her as I put my hands up. A bright smile pressed to my face as Christen hugged me, followed by Alex and Tobin. We ran back to our positions, and got back to the game.

In the 27th minute, we were playing pretty defensively because the Koreans were pushing hard. I had already deflected 2 good shots with my head, Julie had made a good save, so had Becky. Hope has been getting a work out, but luckily the score remained 1-0. I was about to run in as Kelley and Carli were trying to get the ball away from a forward. The ball flew up, back towards me, and I knew Alex was a bit behind me. I jumped up and headed the ball, hoping it'd get to her feet, when suddenly my feet were knocked from under me and I was sent falling straight to my back from the high midpoint I had jumped. I lay there for a moment, completely dazed. I wasn't in pain, it had just knocked the air out of me before. I rolled to my stomach, sitting up to my knees as I took the out stretched hand of Ali. "You okay?" She asked me, placing a hand on my back as I stretched a bit. "Yeah, I'm good. Thanks." I replied with a slight smile before jogging off after the others that were already midfield. I watched as Alex took a shot, the ball deflecting off the top post, and into Carli's position. I then watched as Carli took another shot, but was kicked in the leg by a Korean defender. She let out a pained scream as she collapsed at her side, clutching her left leg. My eyes widened, and I quickly sprinted, sliding to her side. "Carli. Carls, hey. Hey! Look at me, I know it hurts. But you can make it through. You can make it." I tried to sooth my friend, sliding a hand into hers. Her gripped tightened as it progressed, she continued to wince and grunt from the pain. The others were standing around, as a medic team came out to help her. I felt bad, our captain lay injured and in pain. I continued to attempt to sooth her, watching the medics trying and stretch out her leg. "It's not broken, probably just a sprain. She'll have to be subbed in." The medic told me. I glanced down at Carli, offering her a sympathetic smile. "It'll be okay. Morgan will be a good fill in." She spoke weakly to me, then took my hand as I helped her up. She hooked her arm around my neck, and I helped walk her to the sidelines. "Coach Ellis, let Brian sub in." Carli said as she sat down, getting ready to let the medics work. She then reached for the red white and blue captains band, and held it out to me. I looked into her eyes, shocked as she offered it to me. "Get out there." She told me with a smile, and forced it into my hands. I took a deep breath then gave her a nod before I stood up and looked towards Moe. "You ready?" I asked, as I slipped the captains band around my right biceps. She gave me a nod and a side hug before we ran back out on field. Everyone gave me smiles as we got ready to get back to business.

The rest of the first half went by quickly with a lot of back and forth action. Once we went back out for the second half, the Koreans would be getting the ball. I stretched out a bit, feeling a bit sore from that fall earlier. My kneecap was also aching a bit, but I was ready to go. Once the whistle blew, a Korean defender kicked it back to a defender that happened to be right in front of me. I ran in and dove to head it, knocking it to Tobin's position as I rolled back to my feet and sprinted down field. Tobin kicked it high for Alex, who then parried it to me. I dove for the header, making the ball go over the keeper for the goal. I flopped on my stomach, but gave a victory gesture as I rose into a push up position, then got back to my feet.

In the 49th minute, I was able to get a good kick on the ball to send it away from our goal. I glanced down field, seeing a potentially good play. I read Morgan whom was already down field a bit, and also saw as their keeper was far off their line. I put my hand out a bit to signal to Moe before I kicked the ball high in. As planned, she kicked the ball hard from the midline, and  to as able to pick up our 3rd goal of the game. I threw my hands up in triumph, running at her as I smiled goofily and gave her a funny nod. She jumped at me, wrapping her arms around me as the team joined in. Just then, whistles blew for some reason.

I glanced at the ref, wondering if there had been a foul, but then realized fans were screaming and running for the exits. I glanced at the far end of the stadium, and it was on fire. The roof was collapsing, and the rest of my team began to look around. "What just happened." Kelley asked beside me, as we all stared in awestruck. "Fire?" Ali asked, then Hope jogged over to us. "Guys, it was an attack. Let's go." She said, then ran for the locker rooms. Kling followed, along with Krieger, Saurbrunn and Press. But I couldn't just run. Even if Korea had something to do with this attack, innocent people were still hurt. "You guys go ahead. I can't just run away, people need help." I said, before sprinting for the side of the stands that was smoking. "Scarlet wait!" I heard Julie call from behind me, but it didn't stop me. I leaped up and grabbed the railings of the stands, then lifted myself up and got over it. I realized Tobin, Kelley and Alex were right behind me, the others running to escort other people out. "Go help those people." I say loudly over the screaming, pointing to a group of fans struggling to find the exits. The three of them nodded, then ran towards them. I focused on the thick smoke just in front of me, before covering my mouth and sprinting into the cloud.

I looked around, squinting a bit at the heat that was beginning to tug at my skin. I found a small group of people, helping them find their way out of the thick ash. I then kept going up, ignoring the heat that intensified. From what I could tell, everyone was safe, so I walked out of it. "My daughter!" I heard a woman scream, just below me. My eyes widened, and I looked back into the now flaming area. "My daughter is still in there!!" The woman cried. I took a deep breath, before sprinting back into the smoke.