Corporal Matthews

#### Day Six

*"I don't know why I've started making these but... this is my first video log. Uhm... February eighth... twenty-forty-four... Corporal Matthews..."*

*"We're almost a week in and I still can barely believe what I've seen. We've... lost. And we keep losing. Badly. The Americans still haven't surrendered yet or at least the military hasn't but the government did. My God... those... things... were everywhere. They don't seem to feel any pity or remorse for their actions either. We kill one and a dozen simply take its place. I can't see an end to this that doesn't end with humanity going extinct. I mean I emptied my entire magazine into that creature's chest and it didn't even slow down while it ripped apart the rest of my fireteam. I heard that Bravo team had some success from the people in charge but... I saw the looks in their eyes and the wounds. They looked like they were already dead."*

*"Jenkins looked... different. More alive somehow than he was before. I can't explain it. I guess some of us are more at home when we're backed into a corner and have no way out other than to fight like hell. He's become enamored with ways to improve his weapon and make it a killing machine. It seems to work for him. Maybe I should try that too. Keeping busy will at least distract me from... everything that happened."*

*"I... I miss you, Ellie. I don't know where you are now. It's still hard to believe that you're gone. You were right next to me one moment and then... all that was left was ashes. I couldn't even bury you or say goodbye. I've never prayed before... but maybe I should start. I can't believe any longer that there's nothing after this. But... that doesn't matter right now. Wherever you are... I'll find you. I'll find you even if it means that I have to become ashes too."*

*A knock on the door followed by a muffled voice that is not readily picked up by the camera announces something.*

*"Alright! Just a minute!" Corporal Matthews says as he looks towards the sound before turning back to the camera. "We're going on another assault. Commander's got something big planned... asked for volunteers. Corporal Matthews, out."*

#### Day Twelve

*"Day twelve... I think. Corporal Matthews again. We've been hitting the aliens as hard as we can but... today something else showed up. I don't know what it was. We've seen those... dog things. Hounds are what a lot of folks are calling them. And we've seen their soldiers but whatever the hell just attacked us was different. I'm really not sure how I'm alive. Honestly I wonder sometimes if I'm dead and this is just hell..."*

*"It... didn't even move. It just stood there as we unloaded everything we had at it. And we weren't even just a fireteam. The whole God damn company was marching towards the next point when we found it. It just raised a hand and everything we shot at it just stopped in midair and... we didn't even scratch the damn thing. Tanks... rockets... didn't do a damn thing. When it lowered its hand everything we'd shot at it just fell to the ground like we'd placed it there. It raised its hand up again and our commander just... he just started levitating. It made a weird motion with its hands, and he just got torn apart entirely before it started to wreak havoc in our lines..."*

*"We had to retreat... I had to retreat. There was no stopping that thing. We even had armor support and it just lifted and threw our tanks aside like they were nothing with those weird motions it made. Maybe some kind of telekinetic power...? But... but that's impossible..." Corporal Matthews said as a shudder shook him. "I guess a few weeks ago it was impossible that aliens would want to invade us. I don't know why they're here or what intentions they have. Maybe it's to steal our precious metal or maybe it's to enslave us... whatever it is can't be good if they're willing to resort to violence so readily. I... I need some coffee." Corporal Matthews said before he moved away from the camera.*

*The sounds of him retching and vomiting off screen are readily apparent and anyone with eyes can see that he's shellshocked at best. When he returns, he is more composed than he was. He has a cup of some liquid, presumably coffee.*

*"We have to win... whatever the cost. If we lose... we won't be human anymore, that's for sure. I don't know what we'll be... but it won't be human. I think I'm going to see the chaplain after this. It's time I got right with God. Corporal Matthews out."*

#### Day Fourteen

*"Corporal Matthews. Jesus... why do I even try? The days have become just... blurs. I can barely remember the last time I had a normal meal. I can't remember the last time I slept. Brass says if we push just a little harder we'll eventually win this war but... I think it's already over. Our company was reduced to basically nothing when we fought that thing I mentioned last time. Commanders is what they've started calling them. I'm not sure if..." he begins before a klaxon begins to sound.*

*"Man fighting positions! Get into your trenches! Let's go! Let's go! We're under attack!" a voice, very loudly, exclaims from a nearby loudspeaker. Corporal Matthews hurriedly stands up and grabs his weapon. He is bloody... though he does not appear wounded. Dirt is caked on his uniform and his armor. His helmet falls as he sprints out the door to his bunkroom. Whatever is happening, the gunfire is already in the hallways and it is accompanied by the screaming of wounded men and the groaning of those that are dying.*

*For several minutes, Corporal Matthews is not seen on camera though the gunfire and the alarm never stop. When he returns, he falls backwards through the door and slams into the wall behind him with enough force to place a sizeable dent in it. Blood runs from his mouth and he is visibly injured with shrapnel poking out from between his ribs and obvious swelling in his arm indicates a fracture or break. Regardless, Matthews raises his weapon and fires at something outside of the camera's field of view. Whatever he is firing at releases a howl of pain and a thud marks its demise. Briefly after the thud, the hand of a Nell Soldier is visible on the floor as Matthews rises into a stagger, holding his ribs.*

*"Retreat! Evacuate the facility immediately! Our position is overrun! Sa-" the speaker calls again as Matthews grabs his phone and gunfire eliminates whoever was on the other end of the speaker.*

*"Matthews!" a voice in the hallway calls out as another soldier enters the room. His nametag reads 'Adams' and his rank insignia denotes him as a Sergeant. "C'mon, we're getting the fuck out of here." he says as he loops his arm underneath Matthews's and the camera feed is cut off.*

### Day Twenty-Three

*"Matthews here again. I doubt Corporal means anything anymore. I just got out of the infirmary. Bruised up my ribs pretty bad... and some shrapnel but nothing that couldn't be fixed. We're down to the last of our medicine though... and we're in this new place. I think it used to be some kind of farm or something. I don't really know. But wherever the family is that used to live here, I hope they don't mind that I ate a can of their beans." Corporal Matthews says, this time from within a wooden room that does not look anything like the bunker he used to be in. A small German Shepard joins him. It is young, barely old enough to be rehomed without issues. "Oh... and this..." he says, hoisting the dog up with a fair amount of effort to look into the camera. "... is Howie. He was just wandering around whining. I gave him a can of food too. He needs it. He was all ribs when I found him." he continues, indicating the dog's malnourished body. "He's going to be our mascot for... I guess whoever's still alive out there. He's small now but he'll grow up bigger with time and care." he says before he stares into empty space for almost a full minute.*

*"I don't think we're going to win this war anymore." he speaks, finally. "We went into a city the other day. There was... just nothing left. Corpses, dust and echoes. There were some old Castle units still milling about but most of them were badly damaged beyond repair. We did manage to salvage a few but without connection to a nexus they're... less than formidable. It was the strangest thing I've ever seen seeing a city so quiet. No cars, no people... just nothing. It was like being in a void almost. No lights either. Just... empty."*

*"We have to survive. Not want to... we have to survive. I think I'm starting to understand the gravity of the situation. I did before... intellectually but... it hadn't really sank in. We lose this war... humanity is done forever. We'll be just like that city... nothing left of us but dust and echoes." Matthews speaks, petting Howie between his ears. "Some days I wish I were like Howie here. He's too dumb to understand that... emptiness. That nothingness that'll be left behind when we're gone. He doesn't care either, I'd suppose. Right Howie? Dummy..." he continues, ruffling the dog's fur and petting him between his ears. "There won't be a winner of this war. There's just us... and there's them." he says, before shutting off the camera.*

### Day Twenty-Four

*The camera turns on and Matthews sits next to Howie. Momentarily, the view is obstructed as he turns the camera around. "Working on a few commands today..." he whispers to the camera as if being quiet will assist him in some way.*

*There are other soldiers in the room though most of them are unconcerned with what is happening at the moment. Howie, still barely old enough to be walking, teeters in place as he stands on all fours. Before him is a paper plate littered with puppy chow that has been soaked in water and left in a pile for Howie. The dog starts walking but ultimately flops onto his belly and begins to slide across the floor rather than walking. It takes time and elicits chuckles and sometimes even laughter from the nearby soldiers including Matthews but eventually Howie stands up next to the plate of food. He stands there triumphantly gazing down at his bounty of food then lowers his head to eat before immediately face planting into the plate. Rather than immediately stand, Howie begins attempting to crawl forward while consuming food the entire way until Matthews helps him stand back up.*

*Other soldiers nearby have stopped what they were doing and gathered around Howie to pet him, assist him in eating and encouraging his efforts. One of them moves Howie's plate closer to him, another holds him gently on his sides to help him stay balanced, another guides his nose towards the food by tapping his finger next to it and a fourth helps him by cleaning the food that has collected into his fur off of his body.*

*"... maybe we'll work on commands another day..." Matthews says into the camera, a smile on his face as he reaches down and pets Howie between his ears while he eats.*

### Day Twenty-Six

*"Corporal Matthews... no idea what day it is. They all sort of blur together now. We linked up with the fourth fighter group today. They'd hidden their planes in some old tunnels that highways passed through. Right before that we linked up with the remnants of first armored. They nearly ran into one of the fighters with a tank." Corporal Matthews says as he toys with a helmet camera in his hands, raising it up into plain view and shaking it a bit. "I'll be wearing this out there so people can see just how bad it's gotten. We're planning an assault on one of the captured cities nearby. I think it was called Raleigh or something like that. I haven't quite figured out where I am and at this point, I'm both too afraid to ask and moreover I've stopped caring. It's all one battlefield now." Matthews says as he sighs and Howie crawls into his lap.*

*Matthews begins attempting to speak again as he pets Howie with one finger but Howie retaliates by nipping at him and growling as he interprets the petting as play time. For a long while, Corporal Matthews forgets all about the camera and instead bats at Howie's paws and nose; prompting the puppy to begin pouncing at his finger and attempting to catch it. Howie is exceptionally energetic though uncoordinated. He inevitably ends up falling onto his side and Matthews continues to 'attack' him by poking at his belly, ribs and his chin. Eventually Howie submits, tired from those few minutes of respite from the chaos that seems to have enveloped the world.*

*Without another word, Matthews sits up and grabs a blanket which he lays down on top of Howie before shutting off the camera.*

### Day Thirty-Eight

*The camera is turned on though the source of what turned it on remains unknown. There is gunfire and the shouting of soldiers outside. Matthews is in view hiding Howie underneath the bed before fleeing outside. The dog is clearly stressed and whimpers underneath the bed, occasionally poking its nose from underneath the hanging covers to investigate the room before pulling itself back under the bed fully. With Matthews no longer in the way of the camera, the room is in better view and reveals a bed that has been taken apart and nailed against windows to provide better cover, several smaller cots that indicate several soldiers share this room and other fortifications that seem haphazard, panicked and hastily done.*

*On his helmet camera, Matthews engages multiple Nell Soldiers that advance on his position alongside a handful of other soldiers. Their bullets are laughably ineffective in the face of such a foe and only by concentrated, sustained gunfire are they able to take a few of them down. The others that assault their position retreat as the remaining soldiers, several of which are heavily wounded, chase them into the woods surrounding the farmhouse. All around them booby traps explode, spring traps swing shut on the legs and arms of the retreating Nell and IEDs take out their legs for Matthews and the others to make quick work of them.*

*Both camera footages eventually end when Matthews shuts them off.*

### Day Forty

*The camera turns on, but Matthews is not in the room. There are several other soldiers around though they are not focused on the phone. Instead, Howie is looking directly into the camera and perks his ears up as he sees himself on the screen. His head tilts to the side and then to the other as he debates what to do about this sudden appearance of another dog. Howie sniffs the camera, paws at it and sniffs it again.*

*Howie seems happy despite the circumstances surrounding him. One of the soldiers nearby tosses a bone from some animal down and Howie happily pounces it, momentarily forgetting the camera as he gnaws on the remains and cracks the bone between his teeth. Many of them pay great deals of attention to Howie; petting him, feeding him treats or playing with him by tugging at the bone in his mouth. Howie's grumbles elicit gentle laughter among them... even the wounded. Eventually, having had enough of the tugging at the bone, Howie throws himself onto his back and pitches a fit of whines, snuffling and twisting about as several of the soldiers rub his belly.*

*Eventually Howie returns, snuffling, at the camera to confront his image. He paws at the phone which eventually falls to the floor, causing him to back away from it in momentary fear before approaching again and pawing at it, barking a few times which prompts another soldier to turn it off.*

### Day Forty-Three

*The helmet camera turns on as Corporal Matthews walks through a heavily wooded area next to a city. He is alone, entirely, and does not seem to be inherently aware that his camera is turned on. Most likely, the camera turns on when it detects activity of others nearby though it is not a certainty. Regardless, his boots are incredibly quiet despite the fallen leaves on the ground, and he kneels next to a tree as he raises a pair of binoculars to his eyes. Whatever he sees is too far away for the camera, but Corporal Matthews proceeds into the city on foot and makes his way into a shopping center. His steps are uncertain, and each time scattered gunfire erupts in the city he gets behind cover with his weapon readied.*

*During his travel, he enters an alleyway and as he is proceeding two men step out from around the corners at the front after a third whistles from behind him. The two men in front of him have firearms of their own though they are not military issued and the one behind him, seen in a glance backwards, holds a handgun up and leveled with Matthews but weilds a crowbar in his other hand.*

*"Hey, hey... lookie what we have here... one of those spooks you think, guys? Gov'ment boy. Pretty, ain't he?" one of the ones in front of Matthews says as he steps closer, prompting Matthews to raise his rifle. "Tut, tut... ain't none of that here... you're outnumbered... and surrounded."*

*"I don't want any trouble. You go your way, I'll go mine." Corporal Matthews says as he keeps his weapon trained on the speaker's chest. "BACK OFF! NOW! OR I WILL FUCKING SHOOT YOU!" he shouts, whirling around to face the third who had stepped closer to him.*

*"We're just after your stuff. Give it to us and you'll live." the third says, stepping back as commanded.* *"Don't test us though. We'll kill you."*

*Matthews does not wait to give them another chance to speak. Instead, he opens fire and catches the one threatening him in the throat with a bullet. The next two that he fires hit the looter in the face. Corporal Matthews does not stop as he turns and fires another shot to catch the other looter, the silent one, in the chest three times with a quick burst. While he is adjusting his aim to kill the last looter, the remaining survivor runs away into the city and disappears from view. For several minutes, Matthews remains in the alley and looks from body to body until he eventually stops and collects their weapons, munitions and the limited amounts of food they carry. He also takes their shoes and their backpacks which he stuffs into his own bag that he took with him.*

### Day Forty-Four

*Matthews is inside a shopping mall and is going from shelf to shelf gathering food and other supplies. In the corner of his camera feed something moves quickly but Matthews seems not to notice. There are other people here... though no one is talking and many of them are severely wounded. A handful of the passerby are so badly wounded that it is apparent they will succumb to their injuries with or without medical attention. Most of these survivors give Matthews a wide berth and stay well away from him throughout his visit. A few approach either to offer him a gift and thank him for his service or to plead with him to get a medic to save their dying loved ones. Matthews renders medical assistance where he can to their wounded but through conversation it is revealed that he is unable to communicate with his team from this far away. It isn't until Matthews is about to leave that he stops and focuses on a small child missing an arm; the stump of which has been hastily bandaged with rags.*

*"Hey kiddo." Matthews says, kneeling down next to the child. "You doin' okay?"*

*"No..." the child speaks, wiping his nose with his remaining arm and attempting to hold back his sobs. "... I can't find my mom and dad... and no one will let their kids come and play with me." he says. His voice is strained and he has clearly been crying for an extended period of time. With Matthews next to the child the camera picks up his breathing which is very shallow, quiet and seems to take a lot of effort.*

*"Can I see your arm? I can't give you a new one, but I can try and make it feel better." Matthews says, reaching out a hand towards the child though he does not touch him until the child nods his head. Matthews says nothing as the child lifts his arm and reveals how bad the damage is, but his vital signs show that Matthews, despite whatever facial expression he is showing, is clearly in distress. Underneath his arm the energy from the plasma has stricken the child in the ribs though given damage samples from other individuals it is most likely that the child was not the target and simply a casualty of war. "What's your name little guy?" Matthews asks him as he reaches into his bag and applies his morphine to the child.*

*"Tommy." he says, wiping his eyes again as another bout of crying briefly takes him. "I want my mom. I want to go home."*

*"I know." Matthews replies as he sits down next to Tommy. Tommy's wounds are ultimately fatal without a hospital and emergency surgery. With the war, most of the cities are no longer inhabited and most emergency services are no longer functioning. "I want to go home too." Matthews says as he reaches out and straightens out a little of Tommy's hair. "I can wait with you for your mom and dad if you want."*

*Tommy is silent for several minutes and does not answer the question. Instead, he curls up next to Matthews as his breathing becomes more ragged and labored. Matthews' morphine does appear to be helping in relieving Tommy's pain but can only do so much with the limited amount of medicine available to him. As they sit, Matthews reaches into his bag and produces a teddy bear which he hands to Tommy who accepts it as he speaks. "I'm scared."*

*"Me too, Tommy. Just rest... it's going to be okay."*

*Corporal Matthews sits with Tommy for several hours until Tommy eventually dies there. Tommy's parents never come, and it is assumed that Corporal Matthews said they would so that in Tommy's final moments he could have some hope that things would return to normalcy. After Tommy has passed, Corporal Matthews puts a blanket around him and carries him away outside. His camera footage ends as he begins to dig a grave.*

### Day Fifty-Eight

*"Matthews here..."*

*"And the whole rest of the crew!" another soldier interrupts Matthews as he puts his arm around his neck. The others in the background are rowdy and there are a number of party poppers going off, coupled with confetti, as Howie looks at Matthews for guidance. Howie is wearing a conical party hat this day.*

*"Ek... lemme go... bastard." Matthews says, though he is smiling as he is released and Howie shoves his face into what appears to be dog food that has been crushed and made into a sort of pseudo-cake. "We decided it's Howie's birthday today and we're celebrating. We've been training him non-stop... but he's still definitely..." he says, picking up the phone to turn it to face Howie who is blowing bubbles in the cake with his nose. "... just a goofy little guy."*

*Howie is much larger than he was when he was first obtained. He no longer walks drunkenly and instead walks with all the confidence and pride of a properly trained military working dog. Though he still lacks the size of a fully grown German Shepard, it is undoubtable that Howie is a capable companion and will be invaluable to the team for sniffing out explosives, hostiles and more. More importantly, even in this single excerpt, it is apparent that Howie is good for morale among these soldiers.*

*As he is on camera, Howie wolfs down more of that dog food cake as soldiers around him pet him and scratch him between the ears. Howie's presence has a particularly noteworthy effect on the morale of the wounded who seem to be in much better spirits. They present him with gifts wrapped in paper which Howie tears open with his paws and immediately begins to play with when they are toys or begs for them to be opened when they are packaged food items. No one denies Howie and all is going well despite the ongoing war. For a minute, in the faces of these brave few survivors, nothing else matters but Howie and life is good. Howie finds a particular favorite toy he is presented with; a stuffed duck with a squeaker inside which he enjoys being thrown and squeaking in his jaws.*

*At some point, Howie accidentally throws the duck underneath an end table where he cannot reach it. After several minutes of trying, he howls and throws a fit as if the situation were much more dire. Howie rolls onto his back, legs in the air as he howls and remains otherwise motionless until one of the nearby soldiers understands and retrieves the toy for him. As soon as the toy is retrieved, Howie is immediately in better spirits and begins chewing the duck where the squeaker is contentedly. Most of the others toys, while played with, do not receive the same treatment and affection from Howie.*

*"Alright Howie... one last gift. If you can call it that..." Matthews says as he kneels next to the dog and presents him with a vest with a large K-9 symbol on the side and the name 'Howie' on the other. "You're going to have to wear this for a while to break it in. I'm just glad that Miller knows how to sew like he does otherwise someone might've thought your name was something like Sparky. That'd be a bit much, wouldn't it?" Matthews continued as Howie, slightly small for it, slipped into the vest. Despite the weight of the armored plating, Howie does not seem too bothered and in a way seems proud to wear the armor. "You're in the Army now, Howie..." Matthews said, sniffling a little before shutting off the camera.*

### Day Sixty

*"Jenkins... Jenkins wake the fuck up... c'mon, we gotta get the fuck out of here... wake everyone else up." Matthews says as his helmet camera starts to record. It's in the dead of night and the camera shifts its night vision on to show an eerie green glow to illuminate the surroundings. Jenkins does not question the orders from the corporal, and instead immediately begins to smack other soldiers awake hurriedly, knowing that something must be happening for such urgency. "Howie...?" Matthews calls. "Howie, where are you?" he calls again, looking this way and that before he finally finds the dog which is cowering beneath a desk in the corner of the room. "C'mon Howie... we gotta go." he calls, patting his thigh as he and a half a dozen other soldiers make their way out into the night. Howie, the entire time, is uneasy and keeps lurching suddenly away from shadows.*

*"What is it, Corporal? Why're we moving?" Jenkins asks as they hurriedly leave the structure that they had made their home for a while.*

*"Scouts. Lots of them. Looks like whatever we did recently kicked the hornet's nest. They're searching for us." he answered as the platoon moved through the night.*

*"Where's the rest of us?" Jenkins asked, aiming his weapon this way and that in the darkness.*

*"Hush... I'll answer all that la-" Corporal Matthews begins to speak before something strikes him in the chest plate and knocks him to the ground.*

*"CONTACT! CONTACT!" another soldier, currently off camera, shouts as bullets and plasma begin to fly.*

*"AMBUSH! WE'RE FUCKING SURROUNDED!"*

*"MAN DOWN!"*

*The gunfire from the alien invaders flies from all directions as the human defenders scramble into fighting positions while Howie ducks, barely visible in the feed, next to Corporal Matthews who turns over onto his stomach and begins to return fire. His armor smolders from the plasma... but it looks to thankfully be a glancing blow rather than a direct hit. If it had been direct he would have likely become a true casualty rather than merely stunned for a moment.*

*"HEY! PUT FIRE ON THAT TREE LINE! THEY'VE GOT SOME KIND OF CREW SERVED IN THERE!" Matthews shouts as their own machinegunner turns and opens a barrage of gunfire in that general direction, panning his weapon back and forth across the trees as Hounds begin to screech in the night and rush their position. Matthews is accurate and precise, engaging and destroying the Hounds that assail his position quickly and effectively... but there is only so much he can do when he inevitably has to reload. Several Hounds rush his position as he stands, the first of them lunging at him as he slams his bayonet through what is presumably its heart. The second dies in a barrage of gunfire but the third knocks him back down onto the ground as it snaps repeatedly at his face while its claws fail to find purchase on his armor.*

*It is Howie that saves him. The dog throws its entire body into the Hound's and bowls it over, falling in the process before both of them stand. Howie snarls, growls and his hackles raise underneath his armor while the Hound hisses, screeches and makes several false lunges towards him. Matthews, meanwhile, is forced to engage additional reinforcements as they too rush to join the Hounds and fire plasma all the while.*

*"Howie!" he calls as the two engage one another, Howie lunging first as the Hound's claws rip open his armored vest but do not find any skin beneath it to attack. Howie's jaws clamp down on the Hound's face and Howie bites hard, crushing bone and ripping skin between his teeth before the Hound wriggles from his grasp and lurches backwards. Despite being new to the fighting, Howie does not give his opponent any time to recover as he lunges forward again and keeps his momentum, rolling and snarling and howling the whole time that he and that Hound are engaged in brutal melee.*

*"EAT SHIT AND DIE!" Jenkins shouts as he slams into a hostile Nell soldier, bowling it over onto its back as he grabs his rifle by the barrel and slams the stock into its face repeatedly. The first few strikes do nothing but disorient the creature who fires its plasma weapon in vain, but the next few strikes see bone begin to crack before Jenkins's rifle reveals brain at which point he switches his grip and shoves the barrel down, blasting a fully automatic spray into his foe's head at point blank range until it stops moving.*

*As the plasma begins to thin, Matthews takes view of his surroundings. There were only a handful of Nell soldiers that actually attacked them but the human defenders have suffered dozens of casualties as a result. Finally, their ambushers are beginning to retreat as Howie's jaws find purchase on the Hound's throat and he crushes it, shaking his head back and forth to snap its neck until it lays still which prompts him to rip out its throat, ensuring its death.*

*"Get that mother fucker! I want him alive!" Matthews shouts, pointing to the machinegunner who is now starting to attempt a retreat. Dozens of Marines charge its position, both wounded and not, clubbing it over the head as two of them leap down upon its weaponized arm and hold it while the other cuts it off. Even severely outnumbered, the Marines suffer among them a vicious bite wound, several claw wounds that will require stitches and one of them even comes away missing an arm as they drag it back to Matthews.*

*"C'mere bitch... time to see if aliens are covered under the Geneva convention." he growls as other Marines tend to the wounded and scavenge weapons and ammo from the dead. Matthews turns off his camera... just in case.*

### Day Sixty Three

*"Corporal..." Jenkins says from nearby as Matthew's helmet camera turns on again with the detection of motion. "... got some kind of camp up ahead. Looks like one of ours." he adds as he flops down onto a ridge. The soldiers in Matthews's view are heavily injured... some who will have lasting injuries that will never heal and some who have simply not realized that they are dead yet. All of them are dirty with blood both human and alien alike as well as more typical grime.*

*Matthews settles in beside Jenkins and takes out a pair of binoculars, surveying the encampment that they've found. The camera cannot see into his binoculars, but it is assumed by their gleeful reactions that they've found other human resistance fighters. The entire platoon makes its way down where they are greeted by medics and chaplains, as well as the commander of the makeshift fortress.*

*"Hey, hey. Corporal. Corporal Matthews..." the Lieutenant says as he reaches out and grabs his shoulder. "Hey... who's in charge of your unit...? Where are all your officers and NCOs?"*

*"That's me. Just me. The rest of us... the rest of us didn't make it. We were ambushed and separated. I've no idea where everyone else is."*

*"Your entire unit is... at the least MIA? Jesus... get inside. You guys have seen enough."*

*"Negative, sir. Respectfully, get the wounded Marines inside. The rest of us are in the mood for a little payback. Something hard we can sink our teeth into. I'm sick and fucking tired of losing. I want to make the bastards bleed." Matthews replies, his tone indicating annoyance at the idea of even taking a break.*

*"Alright... at least come in and get some new armor and some food. You guys look like you've been through hell. But if you're so inclined to fight, we have a mission we're getting ready to launch ourselves." the Lieutenant says even as Matthews shrugs him off and walks past while Howie busies himself with sniffing at their shoes. Nothing exceptional happens for several minutes as Matthews gets a meal, water and new armor and ammunition. Eventually, he is in a briefing room where the Lieutenant stands as soldiers gather around.*

*"Before I give my briefing... none of us are supposed to be here. We're supposed to be at home, having arguments with our spouses, disciplining our children, getting into fights over stupid things with people at bars and getting article fifteens for no good reason." the Lieutenant began. "None of us expected to be fighting for the survival of our species. I'd doubt a soul here thought they'd be hundreds of miles from home wondering if their family is even still alive." he added as he pulled up a holographic display of their immediate surroundings in the region. "Our enemies have secured quite a bit of territory. Their air forces are superior to ours and control of the skies is paramount to victory in an invasion... but we have something they don't. You're Marines... and every one of you is a rifleman. Each of you has the training and firepower to kick some serious ass out there and the Corps isn't done with you yet. The quickest way to return home, to return to normal life, is to win the war. So... we're going to strike at something today. And we're going to make the bastards pay in blood for every mile they've taken from us." the Lieutenant said as he moved the hologram to a small depot of some kind on the edge of the projection. "We're not entirely sure what this is, but judging by the way it's protected, it's a supply depot or maybe a landing zone for their reinforcements and heavier vehicles. Whatever it is... it's on a hill. I want that hill. Trackin', Marines?" the Lieutenant asked.*

*"HOORAH!"*

*"You fuckers will have everything in this base at your disposal but we've already tried attacking a similar compound directly before. It... didn't work. We're asking for volunteers now for a more surgical strike. You'll have to infiltrate and exfiltrate on your own. We don't have helicopters and our vehicles are in desperate need of repairs. But we have plenty of fireworks and bullets. Make the most of them. You move at zero hours. Whoever the highest ranking is on said mission will be in complete command as radio contact will be impossible with the unit. Give'm hell, Marines." he finished, prompting a handful of Marines to stand and immediately come forwards, including Corporal Matthews.*