Lost Battles

Five trucks were driving on a deserted road one day. The first truck hadn't noticed a landmine straight ahead of the road. A tire in the front row hits it, leading it explode and causing the truck to flip over. Joel stared out of the window from his truck.

“Ambush.” He shouted to the other unit members.

Joel realized that they had been ambushed by enemy soldiers. After the truck had exploded, the soldiers come out with one carrying another with injuries. A firefight begins with both sides. Frank then calls for backup to help the unit. A hour has passed and some of the unit members transferred to another part of the city, being treated for injuries. A week later, Catherine was notified by email through a friend about the ambush. She falls on the floor, scared and worried that something happened to Ralph. Until he calls her about the end of the week.

After the attack, Joel received a letter from Vanessa Avery, his wife of two years, with whom he is separated from. He begins reading the letter with no one else around him.

“I'm sorry I didn't tell you about this before but I have given birth to our twins.”

Joel shows a excited look on his face after he learned he has twin children, a boy named Joel and a girl named Josephine. Joel then finishes reading the letter.

“I know Ralph was with another woman at a restaurant. I've seen them talking but I don't know if it was anything more.”

Vanessa was eating lunch one day and noticed Ralph sitting at another table with someone who was not Catherine. It was obvious that Vanessa hadn't told her longtime friend Catherine about about what she saw, as Ralph was preparing to go to Iraq. Joel quickly hid the letter under his mattress and decided to write Catherine a letter about what Vanessa saw, but under a false name. His letter actually reached Catherine without Ralph knowing.

When Catherine read the letter, she looked both disgusted and betrayed. She called Vanessa over to the house to discuss the letter that Joel sent to her. Once Vanessa read the letter, she knew the letter was written by Joel.

“I know that handwriting from anywhere.” She stated to Catherine.

But what upset Catherine is that Vanessa didn't say anything to her before.

Half of the unit arrived in a village with houses with either have rival soldiers on the rooftops or watching from windows.

“You think they're staring at us?” Frank looks at Ralph.

Two helicopters are flying above the houses and began firing at the soldiers. The unit fired at the soldiers from the windows and doorways. Ralph and half of the unit go to one of the houses. He takes out a C4 and placed it on door, causing it to explode. They enter the room and are quickly ambushed there. They managed to fire at back and took another C4 to explode the bedroom door. Ralph quickly leaves and shoots at a window from another house. He throws a grenade at the window, exploding a part of the house.

“That can't be good.” Joel looks at the explosion.

Multiple soldiers fired at the house and throw another grenade at a doorway, causing a door to explode with two enemy soldiers in the way. Joel and Frank called in more artillery which helped the platoon. Brandon walked to a body and sees blood while checking for weapons.

Joel looks at one of the windows of one of the houses the unit entered and sees other more enemy soldiers and fires. Ralph ran into another house and is pushed down by two enemy soldiers but shoots one of them.