As the troop began to move, Waffle looked back at the pile of items he had managed to salvage.

“What about the supplies?” he asked.

“They’d only slow us down,” said the Colonel. “Unless you plan on carrying it all yourself.”

Waffle took a moment to think, a thoughtful expression forming on his face. Before long an idea struck him. He snapped his fingers and ran over to the scooter. After some tinkering around it hummed to life, hovering an inch off the ground.

“We can use this!” he said.

“How did he…?” Williams started.

“Not a bad idea. Troop, load up everything onto the scooter. I don’t want a single grenade left behind for the enemy to use,” ordered the Colonel.

“Sure changed his tune quickly,” said Rick.

Williams and the soldiers piled what they could onto the scooter and tied everything down to keep it all in place. With a rope attached to the handlebars, they pulled the floating vehicle behind them as they ventured deeper into the canyon.

The troop walked between the two large rocky walls that loomed above them. With the moon as their only source of light, the group, aside from Waffle, had to turn on their visors' night vision in order to be able to traverse through the canyon.

“How big is this canyon?” asked Steve after traveling for an hour.

“I warned you that it could go on for miles,” said the Colonel, who was still bitter that they didn’t go with his original plan.

“Now come on. Let us have faith in the stars that we’ll soon be able to find a way out of here,” said Williams. “Even if that means climbing the canyon itself.”

Unfortunately, the further they traveled, the higher and steeper the canyon walls seemed to get with no signs of an exit for miles. Eventually, they came upon a fork in the path.

“Should we flip a coin?” asked Steve.

As usual, Williams waited for the Colonel’s input.

“We’ll have to split up,” said the Colonel after some thinking. “Captain, Pvt. Wallace, we’ll take the right path. Pvt. Anderson, Pvt. Stevenson, you’ll take the left. We’ll go a hundred feet before coming back here to report our findings. Understood?”

“Might take my sweet time but sure,” said Rick.

“Mind repeating that?”

Steve grabbed Rick by the collar and pulled him down the path on the left before he could say anything else.

“Yes sir!” said Steve.

* * *

“Then she writes that he broke every bone in his body and I just have to come home right away to see him,” said Steve.

“And after he caught pneumonia too,” said Rick.

“That was Uncle Richard.”

“Right, right. How could I forget?”

The two laughed for a good while before continuing in silence. The more they walked, the more Steve’s smile faded away into a frown.

“I’m surprised she misses me so much,” he said.

“Of course she does, you’re her only brother,” said Rick.

“I know, but, like, we used to annoy the hell out of each other. She even hid my shoes the day I had to leave for the military.”

Steve could still remember how angry he had been, turning the house upside down until he found them under Lindsey’s bed. He had yelled at her so badly that she cried. Then he cried and soon the whole family was crying.

He sighed, shaking his head. “How are things with your family?”

Rick frowned, thinking back to the last letter he had received.

“My folks say that things are getting a little tough but that everything is just fine. Angela says the same thing,” he said.

“You don’t believe them?” asked Steve.

“Did you when your folks when they said the same thing?”

“No...”

Rick gripped his rifle. “I shouldn’t be here. I should be back home, helping the family. Not wandering in the middle of some god-forsaken canyon to die of starvation!”

The two suddenly stopped. Before them, the canyon opened up to a large barren field. Aside from the odd rock column scattered about, it lay completely empty without a single sign of life to be seen.

“We found a way out!” said Steve excitedly. “Let’s go tell the others!”

With Steve’s mood temporarily improved, he started heading back the way they had come from. Rick however didn’t budge. Instead, he continued to stare straight ahead at the field.

“Rick?”

“We could run.”

Steve paused, his eyes wandering to the far horizon.

“If we leave now, no one will notice we even left,” Rick went on.

“What about the others?” Steve asked.

“They’ll find the way out eventually.”

Steve pressed his lips into a thin line. Would they ever have another opportunity like this? To be able to go home and stop fighting?

“… we can’t.”

“Sure we can! With the battle going on, everyone will be too busy to come looking for us. And by the time they do, we’ll be long gone.”

“The military isn’t going to let us leave just like that.”

“Then we’ll run off to a place where they can’t find us.”

“What about our families?”

“We’ll take them with us.”

“They’ll get to them before we do.”

Rick grew quiet, knowing full well that Steve was right.

“I guess it is a stupid idea,” he sighed.

Steve placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, we’ll get home. Eventually,” he said. “Now come on, let’s go.”

Rick’s face scrunched up into a bitter scowl. In a fit of anger, he kicked a stone on the ground.

“Damn the Empire!”

The rock flew out into the empty field. It hit the ground and promptly exploded into a cloud of dust.

Steve and Rick ducked down, shielding themselves from the falling debris.

The dust from the explosion soon cleared, revealing a small crater where the rock had landed.

“Huh, what you’d know? A minefield,” said Steve. “Good thing we didn’t run after all.”

Rick got to his feet, dusting himself off. “We better tell the others before they blow themselves up.”

No sooner had he said that when Williams, Waffle, and the Colonel all ran right past him.

“Bots! Run!” shouted Waffle, the scooter trailing behind him as he pulled it along.

Steve and Rick exchanged glances before going after them. Steve grabbed onto Waffle while Rick tackled Williams onto the ground.

“What has gotten into you??” Williams demanded, trying to wriggle himself free.

The Colonel, unaware of the scuffle happening behind him, kept going, fast approaching the minefield.

“Colonel! Stop! There’s a minefield—” Rick shouted after him.

Panicking, Steve picked up a rock and threw it as far as he could. The rock landed a couple of feet away from the Colonel, setting off a mine.

The force of the blast pushed the Colonel backward, slamming him hard into the canyon wall with a loud thunk. He slid down the wall, slumping over onto the ground in a motionless heap. Steve went completely pale.

“Oh gods, what did I do?” he said.

“Colonel!” shouted Williams.

The troop rushed over to their downed commander at once. No matter how many times they called out to him, the Colonel remained unresponsive.

“Steven!” said Rick. “What the hell were you thinking?”

“I-I panicked.”

Williams reached for the Colonel’s helmet. He hesitated a moment and decided to check his pulse instead.

“He’s alive,” he said with a sigh of relief.

Waffle walked up to the edge of the minefield, his expression full of worry. As far as he was concerned, they had come to a literal dead end.

“What now Captain?” he asked.

“Huh?”

“You’re second in command, so command,” said Rick.

“Right. Right. Right, right, right…”

Williams gently shook the Colonel.

“Colonel! Wake up! Please!”

The soldiers collectively face palmed.

“We’re doomed!”