“So, how are going to do this,” I asked, as we all came back down to Earth. “We have to get into Captain Miller’s squad? Do we just volunteer?”

“We basically have a whole fire team here… No way they would let me go, though,” Zach sighed, holding his wounded arm. “I can hardly move it, much less hold a gun. I would just weigh you all down…”

“Hey don’t worry too much about it, kid. You can stay and take care of the other wounded guy- he can get his leg fixed back on the Island,” Keith revealed. “Maybe try and find the one missing Player, even if they’re dead. Did any of you meet Miller out here? Or anyone else from the movie?” Keith looked at me and Zach expectantly, Davey and Miles both shaking their head.

“I was with a Richard Reiben for most of the battle, and I briefly met Captain Miller and the sniper. Jackson, I think,” I said, thinking back on the last hour of chaos.

“Wade is the medic in the movie, right? He was the one that treated my arm and I talked with him a bit. I met Miller for all of ten seconds. That’s about it, right?” Zach continued, scratching his head.

“Yeah… Wait, we saved Lieutenant Briggs! Did you see if he made it or not?” I asked Zach, wide-eyed.

“Oh yeah! Last I saw he was stable. I guess we could use that as an in?” Zach looked from me to Keith, then tilted his head. “What’s wrong?”

“You saved Lieutenant Briggs?” We nodded and Keith pinched between his eyes, closing them and groaning. “You changed the story. Fuck!” We stepped back as he punched at the wall, cracks spreading in the cement around his fist. “Changing the plot can have absurd consequences, especially this early in the Mission! It's the fucking butterfly effect, man! Did you change anything else?!”

“I think that was the biggest thing… Uh, you know the scene where a bullet hits a guy’s helmet, someone calls him a lucky bastard, then he gets shot again anyway?” He nodded, and I could already tell he knew where I was going. “I pulled him down after the first shot hit his helmet. As far as I know he should still be alive.”

“That… That probably doesn’t change much,” Keith admitted with a sigh. “Anything else?”

“One more thing, I guess,” I continued as he winced. “There were two Germans trying to surrender. In the movie I’m pretty sure they get shot, but I took them prisoner instead. I don’t think the guys that were supposed to shoot them ever showed up, unless I was just early.”

“That’s actually pretty good,” Keith admitted, nodding. “You’ll probably get extra Points for that one. For all three, really, but you’re playing with fire here. Especially the first one. What do you think our greatest advantage here is? Over this world’s inhabitants?” We were all silent for several seconds, before Davey spoke up.

“We know the plot?”

“That’s right,” Keith replied. “And any small change in the plot can have huge consequences. Don’t ever forget that.”

“I’ll be more careful, then…” I muttered, before I spoke louder. “But I’m not going to just let people die if I don’t have to. And if I’ll get Points for it, well, then that’s even better.”

“Rescues are usually okay,” Keith sighed, “At least in this Mission. But going forward we need to discuss changes beforehand whenever we can. Got it?”

“Okay,” I answered. “What do we do now?”

“We plan, and we wait. The rescue doesn’t start until the ninth, so for now we just lay low and rest. Follow orders if you get any; we’re still technically part of this army, but don’t do anything stupid.”

“They’re gonna set up a base here soon, right?” Miles asked. “Should we help with that?”

“We’ll probably have to. Wait for someone to order it.”

We chatted for the next ten or so minutes, mostly discussing the potential ramifications of my rescue missions. We came to the conclusion that Briggs surviving was the most impactful, but agreed that even that shouldn’t change much. He was seriously wounded, after all. That’s about as far as we got before some young lieutenant came along and ordered us to help construct the base camp, so we got started on that straight away.

Zach went to find the medics and see if the one-legged guy was awake yet, as well as check on Lieutenant Briggs. The officer could see he was wounded, so he let him go. The rest of us were led back to the beach and ordered to help unload the ships. We made dozens of trips over the next few hours, primarily hauling oil drums and supply crates up the beach. The powers-that-be had designated the least damaged of the nearby abandoned bunkers as the command post, so the last few batches of crates ended up there.

After our last trip, we were ordered to set up the command post. Miles opened one of the crates, and we all groaned as its contents were revealed: hundreds of empty burlap sacks, and five shovels.

We began filling up the bags right away, two going further inland to fill them with soil, while Miles and I brought half of the bags down to the beach to shovel sand in. Many other soldiers on the beach were gathering our dead; I was glad I didn’t have that job, at least. Filling and carrying the sandbags was boring and repetitive, but it wasn’t actually that difficult. Sand is pretty easy to shovel, after all. Once we’d gotten a few bags ready we started alternating, one of us always shoveling sand and the other carrying the bags back up the beach and building one of the small sandbag walls. Davey and Keith were doing the same, getting another wall set up.

It was dark by the time we were done, and we were finally allowed to get some rest! Keith sent Miles to bring back Zach, while Davey and I set up our ‘camp’. Really, we just cleared any rocks out of our small section of the beach and laid down five blankets, but that was good enough for me. Miles and Zach returned as we finished, a third soldier in tow.

I noticed right away that the new guy was wearing one of our watches- it was that one missing soldier! So he was alive after all! Next I saw his helmet; he was a medic. No, wait. She was a medic.

“Hey guys, I found the missing Player! This is Cora,” Zach said, grinning as the rest of us stared at them. “Everyone is accounted for now!”

“Uh huh. Uh, Keith, do we have any extra blankets?” He just nodded and drew another blanket from a bag; we had been allowed some of the gear we brought ashore. He spread out the other five blankets, adding in the new one. Our ‘camp’ was really just a collection of six blankets laid out wagon-wheel style, but it was home. Sort of.

“Cora, was it?” I asked, and she nodded. “I’m Lee. Did Zach explain the situation?”

“I think I got the gist of it,” she said, in slightly-accented English. Maybe Eastern-European, I thought. “We can not do much until we get back to… the Island, Zachary said?”

“Right. For now our hands are tied; we have to go along with the movie’s plot for now.” She looked at my hands incredulously, then shrugged.

“Okay. This is where we are sleeping? Outside?” She sighed, as she glanced at the blankets.

“Do you see any hotels around here?” Keith asked, practically scoffing. “We’re lucky we get to sleep at all.”

“I see your point,” She admitted. “Zachary told me about all of you earlier; which one is which? You are Lee, yes?” She asked me, so I nodded. Keith and Davey introduced themselves next. Presumably she was introduced to Miles when he went looking for Zach.

“They made you a medic here? Are you actually a doctor? Or a nurse or something?” She seemed about my age, way too young to be a real doctor.

“I am a paramedic. Or was, I suppose. This is all very…strange.” She sighed again, taking off her helmet. “We should go to sleep now.”

“No arguments here,” I stated, the others reciprocating. I removed my glasses, sighing at the grime that now encrusted the lenses, then shoved them in a pocket. We each claimed a blanket, quickly settling down. Zach was to my left, Keith to my right. I placed my helmet above me, and sighed, trying to process the day’s events. I stared up at the night sky for a few minutes, momentarily entranced by the bright stars, more visible than I’d seen in a long time. It wasn’t long before the fatigue of the day overwhelmed me, and I drifted off.

---

BOOM!

I shot up as the explosions began, confused and disoriented for a few seconds before the events of the previous day crept into my sleep-addled brain. There was another explosion, this one much closer to me and even blasting sand over my shoulders! I spun and dove to the ground, immediately donning my helmet then covering my ears with my hands. The Germans were shelling the beach! I slowly looked around to check on my companions, finding most of them to be in similar positions to me. Neither Davey nor Keith were there, however, and Miles was sitting up and clearly still half asleep. I motioned for him to get down and he looked at me funny, until the next explosion went off, about fifty feet north of our position. The blast jolted him and he, too, dove to the ground, hands over his ears.

There was really nothing we could do from the beach but stay still and wait it out, and I shouted something to that effect at my allies. Their artillery barraged us relentlessly, never letting up for more than thirty or so seconds. The shelling had begun at the crack of dawn and only began to wind down as the twilight ended. There hadn’t been an explosion in over thirty seconds so I raised my head, only to see a blast go up not forty feet in front of me. Ten seconds passed and the next blast was twenty feet closer. I could hear the third shell coming before I saw it; it was headed straight for me! I lay there on the ground in silent resignation. Time seemed to slow down as my eyes followed the artillery shell, the harbinger of my own death charging down to me from the sky.

“Ah... “ I whimpered, as the shell impacted, cascading into the beach not a foot from my face.

The artillery shell… didn’t explode?

I was alive?

No explosion? A dud?

I was alive!

It was a dud!

Tears streamed down my face and my heart beat out of my chest. My entire body was covered in a cold sweat, like I’d just run a marathon around the arctic. All the while, my mouth had deformed into a crazed grin! I had never been so afraid, so emotional, or so deliriously happy to be alive. The cognitive dissonance from experiencing all three at once pushed me into such an intense mental state that I nearly passed out. I held on, though, and slowly regained my senses.

The shell that should have killed me was the last one fired; we hadn’t been attacked for several minutes by the time I could actually think again. I shakily sat up and removed my helmet, dropping it into the sand. I touched my face with one hand, picking up a handful of sand with the other, letting it run through my fingers.

I laughed and I cried, as I realized once again that I was truly alive.

“Are… Are you okay? Lee?” Cora asked me, the female medic kneeling on top of her blanket, wide-eyed. Zach was situated between the two of us, and he sat up then, panting, tears streaming down his face. He looked back and forth between us for several seconds then leaned back, staring into the sky.

“I… I think so…” I sighed, wiping my eyes on my sleeve. “Are you all okay? Miles?” I called out, and the younger music student sat up. He made a peace sign and wore a fake smile.

“Nev… Never better! Haha…” We all sort-of laughed with him, then I got to my feet, observing the damage. Our army had faced many casualties in the strikes; dozens of men lay dead and dying all over the beach.

“Did you guys see… Did anyone see Keith? Or Davey?” I asked, finally starting to regain my cool.

“Davey was gone when I woke up. Keith had to, uh, take a piss, he said.” Zach answered, as he dumped sand out of his helmet. That seemed like a good idea, so I followed suit.

“We should just… I guess we should just wait here?” I asked, the others nodding. “They know where we are…”

“Speak of the devil,” Zach said, as Keith dashed straight to us.

“Devil? What do you mean?” Cora asked, confused. Before Zach could respond, Keith spoke up.

“Ho-ly shit! Everyone alright?!” We all just nodded weakly, as he rejoined our circle. He nodded, apparently satisfied. “Wait, Davey ain’t back yet? Where the hell did he go, anyway?”

“Was someone talking about me?” We heard, and we all turned to see Davey trotting towards us, carrying a small crate.

“What’s in the box?” Miles asked, and Davey slid the top off.

“Breakfast!” He exclaimed, revealing six juicy red apples, six full canteens, several slices of meat, and two loaves of bread. The revelation was met with full-hearted joy, and we all dug in.

“Finally some good news!” Keith shouted heartily, taking a big bite out of his apple.

We talked some more as we ate the food, but we were all much more reserved. Well, except for Miles. That guy always wears his heart on his sleeve. I laughed for a moment; I’d better not let Cora hear me say that, I thought. Maybe it just hadn’t felt real yet yesterday. But waking up and finding we were still stuck in this god damned war was all the proof we needed that this was our new reality.