The past brings the future (closed)

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 accidentally slammed into the floor of the truck…she saw stars…then heard shooting, foreign words…shouting and yelling…

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"Don't you forget about me Joshua Michaels" the words still haunted his mind. Josh had joined the army to serve his country and prove he had what it took. He'd been cock sure and proud with only one regret: Saying goodbye to Katie.

At first he'd written her every week and his heart soared every time she answered. Then his sergeant had recognized his natural ability as a marksman and he'd been told he was going to sniper school.

Josh hadn't just done well in training, he'd proven himself to be one of the best and by the time he'd been deployed he was as prepared as anyone could possibly be to kill a man in cold blood.

When he made his first confirmed kill, his Lieutenant had bought him a drink, his squad had laughed about him popping his cherry and when he sat down to write to Katie, he'd found the pen wouldn't move. Another week went by, another man died and Josh stopped writing letters.

Noise brought him back to the present, he realized instantly the convoy was under attack. Years of training kicked in and Josh sir to his feet hurtling out of the humvee and into the night. Bullets were flying, men were yelling and in the chaos he saw a civilian nurse stumbling in the dark she was directly in the line of fire.

His flying tackle knocked her to the ground and drove the air out of Josh's lungs, a split second later bullets you're through the metal of the trick where her head had been.

Scrambling desperately Josh pulled her under the stopped truck.

"Miss are you hurt?" He asked without looking at her. His eyes trained on the darkness trying to determine range and angle.