The Past brings the Future

Name: Katherine (Katie) Archer
Age: 29
Occupation: Aide Worker/Nurse

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Graduation Night (12 years earlier)

“How could you do this Josh? You never even hinted at it...” Katie was doing her best to keep her voice steady, but there was no way she could look into his eyes as she spoke.

Joshua Michaels had been dreading telling Katie this since receiving the letter from the Army. He never told her because well…look at how she was acting. He knew she’s take it hard. “Katherine…” he started…but he couldn’t finish. Instead he took a deep breath and reached for Katie’s hand, which she promptly yanked away. Josh sighed, “Please Katie, don’t do this…we still have a month to spend together, plenty of—“

“NO! No Josh…” Unable to hold It in anymore, Katie started to cry openly, “You’re going away Joshua! And by not telling me makes me think that all we shared was nothing! What if you don’t come back? What if you forget me?” There were so many ‘what ifs’ that Katie couldn’t speak anymore, instead, she was overtaken by sobs and didn’t feel Josh’s arms wrap around her, holding her close to him.

“Katie… I’ve loved you for so long, there is no way I’m going to forget what we have. We can still have it Katie, please…”

She wrapped her arms around him and just buried her face in his chest, “Why didn’t you tell me you had signed up?”

The answer was simple “I was afraid.”

Katie could understand what he was saying but it didn’t make things easier. She had loved Josh with all her heart. She thought they would be attending college and then get married after and then… God, who was she kidding? These were things she had been assuming and not told Josh about…just like he hadn’t told her that he was going away in a month…

“Katie girl, don’t cry…please?”

Katie girl, he had always called her that as far back as she could remember. With a sniffle and a slight nod, Katie backed up, her watery eyes looking up into Josh’s, “Don’t forget about me Joshua Michaels…”

How could he forget someone so dear to his heart?

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Present day

The small convoy of military trucks made their way through the night, hopefully undetected and at peace. Civilian Nurse, Katherine Archer was in the back of one of the supply trucks, letting her mind wander aimlessly as the truck swayed, rocking the back. It had been a tough few weeks since coming to this side of the world.

A few weeks ago, Katie was working a nice paced life in Chicago as an ER nurse. What she saw in the ER was nothing compared to what she was seeing here. Gunshot wounds, stabbings, beatings…those were all mild compared to what she was seeing now…bombing victims, children sacrificed, starved… It all didn’t seem to end. She felt like she had grown up more here than she had when she was in college and nursing school… or even living alone with her two cats in her nice 2 bedroom apartment.

Now, her she was, her apartment had been taken over by her little sister while she was away…going through the desert in the cover of night…

She didn’t know why she had thought of Joshua…it had been years since they last spoke and eventually, lost touch. She had remembered their teenage years of being in love, her teenage dreams of them being together forever…if she could go back in time and talk to her young self, she would’ve knocked some sense into herself, telling herself that there was no such thing as happily ever after…

Katie smiled to herself. The first real smile she had in a long time.

Suddenly, the truck stopped, as did the rest of the convoy…why were they stopping? The soldiers readied their weapons, this wasn’t planned…suddenly, and the whirling of an incoming missile got their attention…

Shouting and followed by an explosion that rocked the truck Katie was in! One soldier slammed into Katie, knocking her down as another explosion rocked the ground! It was all happening so fast, Katie didn’t know how to react, how to feel…her head accidently slammed into the floor of the truck…she saw stars…then heard shooting, foreign words…shouting and yelling…

bumping!

Name: Joshua (Josh) Michaels
Age: 29
Occupation: Solider

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Graduation Night (12 years earlier)

Her tears always broke him down, and in that moment he was convinced that Katie would always be his one and only love. Walking away that night, trying his best to maintain his composure Josh thought there would never be another, and that some how he would find her again. Over time they would see this short break as just a momentarily lapse in their time together. They would find each other somehow. He was sure of it.


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Present Day

Josh could not have been more wrong. He had made a huge mistake.

He had been leading a small team of special forces through a series of villages in the middle of the night when they had gotten lost and disoriented. Rather than throwing up a flare to get their bearings (just asking for trouble in this territory) he had aimed them north for a road that was familiar with the hope that they could find a ride back to their base from there. It was an embarrassing moment for a younger commander, but he hoped that this would turn out better than trying to be too clever and getting his troops butchered for his foolishness.

But he was wrong. As they crossed the last field, headed for the main road in front of them he heard the sound of loud and angry voices and the sudden burst of RPGs and small arms fire. Up ahead a convoy was stopped on the road, and Josh shouted to his men to press forward, trying to gain the high ground and discover what was happening. At least for the moment they were not under fire, but that could change at any moment. Sprinting ahead he leapt into a dry drainage ditch and took aim at an enemy fighter with a shoulder mounted RPG trained on one of the cargo trucks on the road. With a short burst he dropped the hostile and another standing next to him. The lone other gunmen immediately took off, leaping into the back of a waiting pickup and roaring away.

The damage was clear, two trucks wrecked, one against the other. Moving quickly Josh directed the rest of his arriving team to the front truck, leading a second team to the rear vehicle. He threw the canvas covering back and scooped up an unconscious nurse, carrying her to the side of the road and carefully setting her down.

And then it hit him. This woman was no mere nurse. It was her. After 12 years and who knew how many miles she was back in his arms again. And she could be dead. Josh went numb, dead inside, totally lost in an instant.

"Katie?" he whispered, agonized. And then her eyes began to flutter open.

Katie wasn't sure she heard right or if she was dreaming about hearing Josh's voice. She thought it was a dream...a wonderful dream she didn't want to wake out of but the dulling throb in the back of her head brought to her consciousness whether she wanted it or not.

The pain was horrible...like nothing she ever felt before. But really, you had to feel pain to know you were alive right?

"Katie?"

There it was again. Forcing her eyes open, Katie immediately closed them again because of the brightness...wasn't it dark when it all happened? How long had she been out?

That's when it all rushed back to her, the night ride, the sound of a bomb heading toward them, the truck over turning...the explosive pain to the back of her head...

The other soliders?!

She sat up, and with a sharp intake of breath, she ignored the pain as she looked around, the wounded! Pushing herself from the arms of the solider, Katie rushed to one of the men who was flat on his back, a bad gash on his side with a pool of blood around him. "Help me with him!" She yelled, still not aware of the other solider as she reached down and felt for a pulse...