Chapter 25: Last Day On Earth

Ghost POV

I walk into base, over my shoulder I carry a duffel bag full of clothes and other personal things I'd bring along with me. Through the halls, everyone still averts their gaze from me, passing by silently. None of them know about my deployment, Last day on earth, almost as if I was walking into the gates of hell. They see where I'm going, not stopping me, almost encouraging me to go.

I open Price's office door, "I PACKED ALL OF MY THICK JACKETS, LIKE SOME SORT OF DUMBASS" Gaz yells out. Yep, hell, "I never said that the location was cold" Price defends. Gaz has him by the collar, "WHY WOULD YOU ASK ME IF I LIKED THE COLD?" Gaz yells. Price puts his hands up, defensively "Well there still might be a breeze" Price says, trying to hide his laugh. "You're a real son of a bitch, you know that?" Gaz says, letting go of his collar.

I walk over to the chairs in front of his desk, setting my duffel bag next to it "Hey" I greet sitting. Gaz and Price looks over to me, "Ghost?" Gaz says, "Yeah?" I respond confused by his tone. "Here to drop off your stuff?" he asks, slowly walking towards me, I nod crossing my arms. "What'd you bring?" he asks, looking at my bag "Toothbrush, clothes, notebook" I say.

"How many jackets?" He asks, "Do you wish to search through my bag?" I ask. He takes my bag opening it "You mother fuckers-" Gaz says, looking at me. I shrug, Price is over by his desk, holding his stomach from laughing. Gaz walks over to him, hitting his arm "You're telling me I stayed in the barracks for NOTHING?" Gaz says angrily.

"And we were really confused when you told us that, no one said we were going to be in the cold" Price explains. Gaz points to him, "WHY DID YOU SAY YOU HATE THE COLD?" Gaz argues. Price puts his hands up defensively again "I was just telling you about myself, small talk" Price says. "FUCK YOUR SMALL TALK" Gaz yells.

"Kyle" I say, both of them turn to me, "I.. Am going to run home and get different clothes" Gaz says. Price puts his hand on his shoulder, "That wouldn't be wrong  to do.. Unfortunately-" Price says. Gaz rubs between his eyes, cursing to himself "If you tell me that they already picked up my bag-" Gaz says. "I feel that this a small misunderstanding, even though it was in the contract, AHEM, but that's not important" Price says.

"You're both bastards" Gaz says, walking to the door, Price lets out a hearty laugh. "We leave at 1am, be sure to be here by then" Price yells out. Gaz flips him off, leaving the room, I stand "You leaving too?" Price asks. I nod silently, he leans back on his desk "Not joining us for our traditional bar trip?" Price asks.

The night before we're deployed, we always go to a bar, drink the night away. Signaling the last night we're able to drink peacefully before we're thrown into the pit, I always go. Not tonight, because tonight.. I want to see you. "Not this time" I say, "Have something you need to do?" Price asks. I stay quiet, "Ghost, remember what I said, we don't send dog tags to-" I turn to him.

"And he's not.. He's so much more" I say, Price looks shocked by my words. "Then what are you to him?" Price asks, "He trusts me" I say, he scoffs. "Does he trust you, or did he just tell you that he did?" he asks, I pause, not really knowing the answer, I confidently say "We trust each other."

I walk to the door, His words mean nothing, all that matters is that you trust me. "Ghost" I turn to him, he shows me soft smile, "I know" he says in a soft tone. I furrow my brow, "You don't have to convince me that you do, I trust that you know what you're doing" Price explains. He walks over to me, patting my shoulder "Don't make me regret thinking that."

I nod, leaving his office, down the halls, out the doors. I stop, Should I call him? No, I should text him. I take out my phone, it's still barely morning, I should waste time before I do. I tap my foot on the concrete, 18 hours... 18 hours till I have to leave.

Medium time skip, like a pizza, medium

{REAL QUICK SIDE TRACK, you can skip this if you want, but LOOK- If you put ranch on pizza, that a bit weird, it overpowers everything, and you can't even taste the pizza anymore. The pizza just isn't good if you feel the need to smother it with ranch. Ok I'm done}

Soap POV

"Maddison I can see you not brushing" I say, Maddison stands next to me, showing her teeth. She mumbles something along the lines of 'I'm trying', "I see you hoovering, brush like this" I show her with my own toothbrush. She stands on her toes, looking at herself in the mirror as she does it. She looks to me for approval, I nod to her, continuing to brush my own.

Lydia dropped off Maddison an hour ago, it's normal to just drop her off on her days, usually when she and Ben have a date night, or when she feels like shoving her duties as a parent to me. I don't mind these nights that I get with my daughter, time I would otherwise spend drinking, or watching Late night tv by myself. Instead, I spend this time reading children's books, and making sure that she doesn't do her signature trick of pretending to brush her teeth.

Soap- 1, Maddison- 0, another thing I've learned about being a dad, is that 4 year old's have energy, and lots of it. I've come up with a strategy, Maddison likes to follow me around the house, so I ask her to pick a book, and I pace while reading it to her. She holds onto my shirt, stomping her feet, while I read a chapter of Charlotte's Web.

She usually gets tired near the end, where I can read the rest to her while she's in bed, but unfortunately not today. I look back to her, "How you feeling Maddie?" I ask, "Happy" she says proudly, showing me a toothy grin. "One more chapter?" I ask, she nods, pulling at my shirt. I look at the time, 9:46pm, 15 more minutes.

"Chapter 6, Summer days, The early summer days on a farm are the happiest and fairest days of the year. Lilacs bloom and make the air sweet, and then fade. Apple blossoms come with the lilacs, and bees visit-"

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

Both Me and Maddison turn our attention to the door, I check my phone again, 9:46.. 9:47pm. I fold the page, handing the book to Maddison "Go to your room, I'll be right there" I say patting her head. She walks off, I open the door, "Simon? What are you doing here?" He looks me over. He's wearing his black face mask that covers from his nose down to his neck, and that same leather jacket he always wears.

His eyes gloss over me, "I wanted to see you before I left" Simon says, he reaches for my hand. Running his thumb over my knuckles, "Oh, well hi then" I say. He pulls me closer, starting to pull his mask down, "Daddy, can we keep reading?" Maddison comes out her room. She notices Simon in the doorway, her eyes light up, "GHOST!" Maddison yells in excitement.

There goes our sleep routine, She runs over grabbing his hand, pulling him inside. "Ghost Ghost Ghost Ghost!" Maddison chants excitedly, jumping up and down. He crouches down to her, looking her over "How you feeling?" Simon asks. "Really happy" Maddison says, he scoffs at her response. "I have something for you" he says, digging into his jacket.

Hopefully it isn't a claymore, Simon, please do not give my four year old a claymore. He pulls out Maddison's stuffed bunny that had been lost at the park, she grabs it hugging it tightly "Bunny" she says into it. She hugs him "Thank you Ghost" she says, Ghost hesitantly hugs her back, slowly accepting it. "Ok, I understand that you're excited that Ghost is here, but it's time for bed Maddie" I say.

She looks down sadly, "I know, but it's time, say night night Maddie" I say, showing her to wave at Simon. She waves to him, softly smiling, he stands, waving back to her. 'Wait on the couch' I mouth to him, I walk Maddison back to her room. She crawls into bed, while I tuck her in she asks, "Is Ghost coming over again tomorrow?" I think for a moment.

He's being deployed tomorrow, "Likely not" I sat, tucking her in. "Can we go to the park again when he comes back?" she asks, holding onto her bunny tighter. I smirk down at her, "Sure baby, get some rest" I say, I kiss her forehead, walking out of the room. Simon stands from the couch, looking over to me "Hey" he says. "Hey" I respond, giving him a small smile.

I walk over to him, his eyes almost shaky, I put my hand on his face, moving my thumb over his cheekbone. "Tired?" I ask, he grabs my hand, "Restless" Simon responds. His eyes soften, I take his hand, leading him into my room. He follows, softly closing the door behind us, I sit him down on my bed, sitting next to him. "What's on your mind?" I ask.

Ghost POV

"You", I say unknowingly out loud, John smiles, chuckling softly. "Me?" he asks, I nod, "Why am I on your mind? I'm sure you have other stuff to worry about" he asks. I look to my lap, fidgeting my fingers, "You don't have to talk about it, we can just sit here if you want" he says. He grabs my hand, we sit in silence for a moment, the comforting quiet.

Just me and my thoughts, thoughts that the quiet has made obvious. I hate these thoughts, they don't occur often, but when they do, they're loud. Thoughts of what I've seen, what I've done, thoughts of people that no one will ever see again. I can't get rid of them, if I got rid of everything that reminded me of someone that I hurt, I wouldn't have anything at all.

Because everything's connected, my everyday life is surrounded by memories of what I've done, and I'm finding it hard to forget it all. "How do you think they put Chapstick in those tubes?" John asks, I look to him confused "What?" he looks to me. "Chapstick, how do they put it in the tube, I've been thinking about it lately" John explains, "I.. I don't know" I say.

"Especially in mass, must be messy work" he says, I chuckle at the thought, "Right" I say quietly. John lays back on his bed, closing his eyes, I watch him "You can stay up, but I have a 4 year old who has daycare in the morning, and while you're up, you can keep thinking about my Chapstick dilemma" John says. I look back to my lap, chuckling, "What?" John asks, I sniffle a bit.

"God.. I'm gonna miss you"

I feel myself tremble, trying to hold back my tears "I want to tell you everything, every thought, every step, everything I see, I do, but I can't" I say. "I don't want you to worried about me, because there's nothing to worry about. I don't want you to try to understand why I am the way I am, because I should be the first be the first person to understand that, and I don't understand yet."

I feel John grab my arm, pulling me to him, I lay next to him as he pulls me in, kissing my tears. I wrap my arms around him, pulling at his shirt "I'm sorry, fuck I'm so sorry" I cry quietly. "I know.. I know" He rubs the back of my head, holding me close. My breaths heavy into his chest, the smell of him flood my senses, I kiss his neck, wanting to taste more of him.

I dig my hand up his back, digging my fingers into him "I'm gonna miss you so.. So much, Johnny" I say into his skin. I feel the vibrations on his throat, letting out a laugh, his perfect laugh. The night quickly whiles away, from laughs, slow movements, and soft kisses.

While the comfort is fun, it doesn't last..

I put on my shoes, jacket, and grab my keys. I have to leave, 12:24am, deployment day. I kiss John's head, leaving his room, closing his door quietly. I look around his apartment, a place that's feels like home, more than my own ever did. I grab the door knob, felling a tug at the bottom of my jacket. I look back and see Maddison, holding her bunny.

"Maddie? What you doing out of bed?" I ask, "Where are you going?" She asks, her voice sleepy. I crouch down to her, "I'm going on a trip" I say, "For how long?" she asks. Five months, thirteen days, "A while" I lie, she looks down in disappointment. "Why?" she asks, Peace, "I have a mission" I say, shocking myself that I've said that.

She smiles, "When you're done with ninja stuff, when will you be back?" she asks quietly, I smile at her words, "As fast as I can" I say. She giggles, I stand up, taking her hand, leading her back to her room. She climbs in her bed, I tuck her in, "Go to sleep" I say. She grabs my hand, I look back to her. "Are you coming back?" she asks, "I plan to" But I don't know if I'll actually make it back, but like every other time, I'll try.

"Are you coming back in time for my birthday?" Maddie asks, this would be the first time I would hear of her birthday. "I wouldn't miss it for the world", she smiles at me, I tuck her in. I stand walking to the door, "Goodnight Moon" Maddison says. I pause, I'm your moon, "Goodnight star" I say back to her.

I walk out her room, out the apartment, out the building, into my car, Start the car... I clear my throat. "Start the car.. Simon, start the car" I say to myself, holding the key in the ignition. Why am I struggling to turn the key? Just start the car, you're running out of time, it's time to leave.

"Start the fucking car..." I feel my eyes start to burn, causing me to tear up. I start to hit my steering wheel, over, and over, and over. Yelling "YOU HAVE TO LEAVE, YOU HAVE TO LEAVE", but I don't trust my words. I accidentally honk the horn, breaking my anger, I have to leave. I check the time, 12:46am, I have to leave.

Drive to work.

"He's usually the first on" Price mentions, Gaz rushes out, pushing past him "Time for a new era, move bitch" Gaz says, stepping into the plane. Price lets out a hearty laugh, I open the door of the roof access building, walking towards the plane. "Lieutenant Riley, good to see you up bright and early" Price says, patting me on the back.

"Least I could do" I say, I get on the plane, strapping in. "Tired Ghost?" Gaz asks, his words remind me of you. "Extremely" I respond, leaning my head back "Sucks you weren't at the bar, Gaz almost got drugged by some crazy chick" Price says, strapping himself in. Gaz whips his head over, whispering to Price, "You said you weren't gonna tell him."

"Gotta keep a look out, what if that bitch comes back?" Price says, "I just want to say, that I'm the one that pointed out that the drink looked weird" Gaz explains. "And good for you, I'd hate to have to babysit you on this flight" Price says. "Happy for you Garrick" I say, closing my eyes "Fuck both of you" Gaz says.

I chuckle at his comment, conversations like this remind me, that it's not forever. The pain isn't forever, the sadness isn't forever, the voices aren't forever. These feeling are only temporary, they don't last, they don't. They might hide in the back of my mind, tormenting the rest of my thoughts, but they aren't as loud when you're around.

You, the person that silences everything, causing the chaos, to stop. God, I miss you already, Spending my last hours on earth, lost in you. Your eyes, your voice, your smell, the way you say my name. My name, no one else's, Simon Riley. Why does seeing you make me feel this way? "How long are we gone for?" Gaz asks, "Five months, thirteen days" I respond.

Five months and thirteen days until I get to see you...

{WHOOOOO! We're almost done, it's almost over, almost finished. There's gonna be a epilogue after this, stay on the lookout for that. Well not really a look out, it's gonna be on Saturday as per usual. Hope you enjoyed.}