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Author's Note: An update! Oh my! Someone go check the status of Hell, as I think it just froze over just like here in Minnesota! Yes I am back, AROTC and college life have been beating me down relentlessly. That and this is an important chapter. I won't spoil it, but this is HUGE. If you miss it, then you will be required to wear a helmet to Breakfast from now on (lol). Also, if you have a critique about the upcoming chapter, please give it to me. It's what feeds the muse in me. No feedback = slower chapters. BTW, this was meant to be up by Christmas, but thanks to a horrible internet connect at my grandparents house, I couldn't. Then this was supposed to be up by New Years, and due to my laptop not wanting to connect to the network, I couldn't do that either... Anyway, have a very belated Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

Chapter Nine: Past Hauntings

_ A bird sat in a tree outside, right next to the window, and started chirping. It was a sunny day out, and there wasn't a single cloud in the sky. The wind was calm, and it almost seemed like a normal day. Like those days, he had heard about before Tiberium had arrived on Earth. Something startled the bird, and it quickly flew off. The sunlight shone from the cloudless sky, right into the classroom, and right into his eyes._

_ 'Another boring day at school,' I thought, as the teacher went on to explain some shortcuts about doing derivatives. The soon-to-be eighteen-year-olds took notes as the teacher showed her class how and why they worked. I stopped writing when I thought I heard something. Suddenly, a loud explosion rocked the school. The windows on the back wall shattered and sent glass into the classroom. People were screaming in both fright and pain as some shards of glass found purchase in some students' bodies._

_ "Get down!" a deep voice yelled as gunfire suddenly appeared. I dove for the ground and started to crawl towards one person who was bleeding from a large piece of glass embedded in his back._

_ "Stop moving!" I yelled over the roar of gunfire and explosions, "Let me treat this! Stop moving and trust me!" I grabbed a pair of scissors from nearby and cut off several inches from the bottom of the teen's shirt. I then carefully grabbed the piece of glass, and yanked it out. The eighteen-year-old man screamed in pain. I quickly placed the strips of cloth on the wound and pressed down on it._

_ "I need help over here!" I yelled just as I heard a snap-hiss pass right by my head. I immediately ducked. I then heard several new screams of pain, and a few suddenly stop, as bullets riddled the classroom. 'This is bad,' I thought as I started to panic. I fought against the feeling with everything I had. Panicking would only make this situation worse. Suddenly a body flew into the classroom, and several people screamed in fright. I looked at the body. It was in a NOD uniform._

_ I then started to crawl for the door of the classroom, along with everyone else still in the room. I eventually got to the door, a crawled out to the hallway. Even though there were no windows, bullets still whizzed by my head as I ran, crouched, down the hall._

The hallway was almost choked with the dead and dying; GDI, NOD, or civilian. I stopped to help those I could, but more often than not, I was too late or the wound was too serious. I soon became numb to the gory environment around me as I focused on getting out of the school and getting back home, while stopping to help those I could along the way.

I soon came to the front door. I then noticed that the fighting seemed to have stopped. I peeked outside and saw several GDI personnel running around. I quickly opened the door.

"Hey! In here! We have wounded!" I yelled as I tried to flag down some of the Riflemen. One stopped and looked in my direction. The soldier then pointed at me, and a few squads of Riflemen ran towards the school.

"Where?" one of the Riflemen asked. I just stepped aside, and the Rifleman just peeked inside. He heard a slight gasp what could have possibly been a muttered curse, and the man rushed past me. I then left the school and started to run home.

I didn't think, at all. I just ran. My sole focus was getting home to my family. I was still in shock from the whole even at the school. What started out as a normal boring day, turned into what felt like hours of bullets, gunfire, and death. I was in disbelief about what happened. When I turned onto my block, I got tackled to the ground.

"Kid! Stop! There are still NOD militias down that street! Get out of here! You hear me?!" the armored, white helmet with a blue viewport yelled.

"Wha-B-but my family!" I said as I pointed a shaky hand toward my house. The garage door was open and a car was still inside. It was obvious that people were still in the house. The soldier looked at where I was pointing.

"Alright, I'll check to see if they are still inside. Stay here!' the soldier ordered. He then pulled me to my feet and pushed me against a nearby building. He then ran off toward the house.

Not seconds after he took off, I heard a high-pitched whistling sound. I looked up to see a Vertigo bomber start flying away. I glanced back down at my home, just in time to watch the bomb that the Vertigo dropped hit my home. The house was consumed by the explosion, sending debris everywhere.

The GDI soldier had just enough time to dive to the ground before the building exploded. He quickly got up and looked at the crater that the house had become. I, however, was too shocked to notice the trooper. My mind was completely blank as I desperately tried to piece together what had just happened, and yet deny everything as well. I was then roughly hauled to my feet. I didn't even notice that I had been knocked off my feet from the blast.

"Answer me kid! Are you okay?!" the soldier asked.

"My...M-My-" I stuttered before I was cut off.

"There is no time for that! We need to leave. Now!" the soldier said as he dragged me stumbling behind him. I followed the soldier wherever he dragged me. My mind was running on full autopilot and nothing else was registering.

When I started to come out of my funk, I looked around. I found myself in a hospital-like area. There were several injured people around, and GDI Medics were running back and forth treating their wounds. Tears slowly welled up in my eyes, but I clamped down on the feelings. I wouldn't cry. Not here, not now.

"_Ghost," a voiced said. A Medic walked over to me, and offered him a glass of water. The Medic's mouth hadn't moved, so she didn't say it._

"_Ghost," the voiced said again. I looked around as he tried to locate the sound of the voice._

"_Ghost!" the voiced cried out. Everything suddenly went black._

Johnson woke with a start. His hand immediately grabbed his weapon as he scanned the surrounding area, the rage from the dream still burned in his chest and it allowed him to focus better. It hadn't been the first time he had that nightmare, he just wished that was all it was. Krystal was standing over him, with her arms on his shoulders. Tears could be faintly seen in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Johnson asked quickly as he sat up, and shouldered his rifle.

"You were tossing and turning so badly...I tried to wake you up...I...I saw...I'm so sorry," Krystal said softly, a faint sob in her voice.

"Saw what? What are you talking about?"

"Ghost...I don't know if you know this, but I'm a telepath. I looked into your mind to see what...I'm...I'm so sorry," she all but sobbed.

"What do you mean, telepath? You can read minds?" Johnson asked quickly, the idea of his mind being invaded by Krystal not sitting well with him.

"Y-Yes, but-but I only saw your s-surface thoughts," Krystal said as she fought to pull herself back together.

"Don't do it again," Johnson said, "My mind is my own, not something for you to read at your leisure."

"I only did it because you were tossing and turning so much. You wouldn't wake up," Krystal said. "You don't have to be alone anymore," she softly whispered.

"I don't need your help," Johnson growled back, anger flaring in his chest. Memories of friends and family shot to the surface.

"Sergeant Stevenson, good to see you," I said as I saw my friend from Basic walk up to me. He smiled as he saluted me.

"Good to see you too, First Sergeant," he said as I returned his salute.

"I have a job for you and your Platoon," I said as I pointed to a small area on the map in front of us, "There's a bunch NOD Militiamen hold up in this block here. Higher want us to clear them out. I know that you're new to the whole PL lifestyle, and a replacement is coming, but we don't have a choice. They need to be cleared out so the rest of our division can move through. Second and Third Platoons will be guarding your flanks to make sure that there are no unwelcomed surprises."

"Sounds fun, First Sergeant. When do we leave?" he replied.

"As soon as you and the Platoon are ready. Let me know and I'll signal for the rest of the Company to cover your advance," I said, "By the way, I'll be with your Platoon when we engage." He smirked and quickly walked off and fifteen minutes later, we were neck deep in Noddies.

"RPG! RPG!" I yelled out as I ducked back into cover. An RPG slammed into my cover, and scattered dust everywhere. I popped out of cover and opened up on the NOD RPG team with my G2.

"Well, Intel did promise us a lot of fun, eh First Sergeant?" Stevenson said as he open fire with his G2. We had taken cover behind the same chunk of building that had been blown off sometime during the fighting for the city.

"Yeah, fun_," I replied sarcastically, "we need to break through this stalemate. Take Second Squad and flank this RPG nest from the right. The rest of the Platoon will cover you."_

"Roger, Oscar Mike," Stevenson said as he stood up to sprint over to Second's position. Before he could even pass by me, his head jerked to the right, and I was sprayed by a red mist. Stevenson flew to the right, a hole in his head and neck.

"Stevenson! Man down, man down!" I yelled before I got onto the radio, "This is Alpha-four-fife, we have a man down! We are pinned..."

Sorrow suddenly struck me as I thought about my fallen brother, but I fought off the tears the built behind my eyes. I had lost

"Ghost, friends help each other. You don't have to go through this alone," she said, "not anymore. I want to help you, Ghost. Please, let me bare some of this burden you have, like friends are supposed to." That was the straw that broke the camel's back.

"Private Fisher!" I called out.

"Here First Sergeant!" he called out.

"Corporal Davidson!" I called out.

"Here First Sergeant!" came the reply. Roll call, an honor for First Sergeants but at the same time, our curse. It was the last name on the list. The last name, and he was a friend of mine. Good soldier, even better squad leader, and an even better friend and brother.

"Staff Sergeant Stevenson!" I called out. The entire company was deathly silent.

"Staff Sergeant John Stevenson!" I called out again. Again, silence answered me. I force my emotions down. Tears threatened to spill down my face, but I won't fail my duty as the Company's First Sergeant. I won't let my brother down.

"Staff Sergeant John M. Stevenson!" I called out. Memories of that battle, that horrible Rattenkrieg_battle. The closest equivalent would probably be Stalingrad back in WWII. Sprinting from building to building while under intense laser fire from Scorpions, and small arms fire from NOD Militia units; it was probably the closest one could get to Hell without dying. Diving to cover and landing in what used to be the guts of a close friend and brother. Seventy-two hours of nothing but death and destruction. Our Company was lucky to get off as light as we did, especially in the chewed up condition we entered it in, with only one KIA. I just wish it was me and not him..._

"Company!" I called out, the platoon sergeants looked over their shoulders and called out, "Platoon!"

"Attention!" I yelled, and as one, the company snapped to attention. I did an about-face and faced the battle cross we made out of Sergeant Stevenson's gear. His rifle, with its bolt open and no magazine, driven into the ground, his dog tags were on the handle, his helmet on the rifle's buttstock, his boots in front of the small memorial. The battle cross was once described as the only memorial that could truly bring sufficient honor to the fallen hero. Whoever said that was right. Stevenson deserved nothing less.

"Present!" I yelled, "Arms!" Everyone in the company saluted our fallen brother. Off to the side of the formation was an honor guard, who did their job.

"Ready! Aim! Fire!" the element leader called out, which was followed by a rifle shot. He repeated his order, and another gunshot, then finally a third time, followed by the third gunshot. Tears stung my eyes as Taps played over the base's PA system. We all held our salute until the last note faded off into the distance. I slowly lowered my salute. I then did an about-face.

"Order!" I yelled, "Arms!" Again, as one, the company lowered their salute. It was then I swore, never again. I would never lose another friend, who are the closest thing to family I have. I died inside that day. Another casualty of war, just my body didn't know it yet.

'Never again,' I thought as anger and sorrow surged through me at the memory.

"What do you know about friendship?! You are nothing but a merc! Loyal to nothing but what writes your next paycheck! I am not you friend! I'm your superior. Nothing more, nothing less!" Johnson yelled, "Now leave me alone!" Krystal reacted as if she had been slapped and stabbed in the back. Tears built in her eyes as her tail wrapped around her legs and her ears went flush with her head. Tears spilled from her eyes when she blinked. She then stood up and ran away from the rest of the squad as tears poured down her face. Johnson just sat there and watched, feeling nothing but anger at her.

"Was that really necessary, Sergeant?" Haggar asked, "She only wanted to help." 'Must have been awake for the whole thing,' Johnson thought.

"I'm not a person you get close to, Lieutenant. Not if you want to keep living. Stevenson, see if you can get her back. It's almost time to move out, and see where we can get extracted," Johnson ordered emotionlessly.

"Yes, sir," Stevenson said as he walked after Krystal.

"Once he gets back with Krystal, we'll get three more hours of sleep, and then move out," Johnson said as he lay back down, "Gets some sleep, sir. It might be the last we get for a while." Johnson then quickly fell asleep.

GLOSSARY :

Rattenkrieg: German for "Rat Warfare," it is used to describe heavy urban combat. First came into existence during the Battle of Stalingrad during WWII. The joke was that while you may have won a victory for the living room, you're still fighting for the kitchen.