Some Music to set the toneThe dry, inhospitable valleys and mountains of Afghanistan passed before the eyes of the staff sergeant's eyes as she hung her legs out the Blackhawk's door. The various mountain faces were covered in cliff side villages, pine forests, and even snow in some areas. Fields of poppies and agriculture filled the valleys below. Contrary to what many believed, this place was not all desert and sand. In fact, for the staff sergeant at least, it felt like they were somewhere in the Rocky Mountains more than somewhere in the Middle East. The crew chief crouched next to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey Winters, you think you'll be alright, back in the fight so soon?" he asked. She gave him a small nod and smiled.
"I'm not just gonna leave everyone behind because my problems."
The helicopters banked and began to rise over one of the many ridges. They were entering one of the hottest zones in this theater of war... the Korengal Valley. Outposts were seemingly attacked every day, and that meant Sergeant Winters knew this place well. For the fifth time this week, they were responding to a medivac call to one the OPs here in Korengal, however this time, it was going to be hot. The OP was under fire, but they had critically wounded men who needed to get airlifted to a hospital ASAP. As they neared the zone, Winters pulled herself back into the Blackhawk and prepared the stretcher with a partner as the door gunner got ready. The helicopters banked around a cliff face.
It was like they were hit by a storm.
The other Blackhawk began to open fire, hoping to draw fire away from Winter's helicopter as got ready to land. Tracers and bullets zipped across the battlefield from the OP to the surrounding terrain, with Winter's helicopter landing in the middle of it all. Rushing out the moment the Blackhawk was close enough to the ground, she ran over to the army medic who had been carrying the wounded soldier.
"He's got multiple shrapnel wounds to the neck and face!" the medic yelled over the helicopter and gunfire. "I also gave him 10 mg of morphine! To keep him from going into shock!!" Winters nodded and strapped the wounded soldier to the stretcher. On the count of three, she and her partner lifted the man up and jogged to the helicopter, swiftly loading the wounded into the Blackhawk and giving the all clear signal to the crew chief. The helicopter began to lift off the ground and make its way out the combat zone......
---
Addison awoke with a sputtered gasp, squinting as sunlight peaked over the edge of a building. There was a high pitch ringing in her ears that was slowly fading and her vision was somewhat blurry. Addison slowly pulled herself up to a sitting position, glancing around. She was leaned against a sandstone wall in some sort of alley. The faint sounds of talking and bustle of urban life began to reach her from the entrance. Incredibly confused, Addison tried to remember what happen. And she did, though, it didn't help her.
---
The helicopter lifted off bullets flying around the aircraft as it went. Addison had began to immediately stabilize the wounded soldier in front of her when suddenly the crew chief shouted. "INCOMING! R-P-" he was cut off as a lucky anti-tank rocket slammed into the rear fuselage of the helicopter. Smoke and sparks engulfed Addison as she instinctively ducked over her patient to protect him from any debris. The helicopter began to lurch and slide uncontrollably through the sky. They began to lose altitude fast. Addison looked up just in time to see the crew chief tumble out of the helicopter as it barreled out of control.
"BRACE BRACE BRACE" the pilot yelled as the Blackhawk slammed into the treeline. The last thing Addison remembers was getting thrown from the helicopter and slamming into the ground.
---
As if on que, a immense sore pain racked her whole body. It felt as though her entire body was covered in bruises. Her medical knowledge kicked in, and Addison slowly began to test herself, moving a finger, then a toe, then a hand. Very gradually, she made sure that nothing was severely broken or dislocated. when it came to her right arm, she began to try to move it and. "GAH! Ow ow ow ow ow..... Damn... dislocated." she mumbled to herself, staring at her protruding shoulder. With the courage that only an experienced combat medic could muster, she got up, stumbled forward a bit, then slammed her right shoulder into the wall. With a sickening sound, it popped back into place. She sat back down for a bit to catch her breath and let herself recover.
Feeling somewhat better, Addison stood up and began to take stalk of what was around her. As she realized before, she was in some sort of alley way and ahead was what sounded like a market place. Strange, as she would have definitely thought a crashing helicopter and the sounds of combat would turned this place into a.....
"Hang on... There wasn't any settlements near by..." Quickly, she checked her gear. "Shit... just my pistol... must of lost my M4 in the crash..." Reading her weapon, she quickly moved to the entrance to the alley, and glanced around the corner.
Before her was something that she had only seen in movies, only dreamed of after a long night of playing fantasy games as a kid. And it terrified her. Before Addison was a medieval style marked, filled with all sorts of creatures, demi-humans, regular humans, and other sorts of things akin to a fantasy world. She looked away from the scene...
Then looked back.
Looked away.
Then looked back.
Addison suddenly bit her thumb, drawing blood. It smeared in her dusty, fingerless gloves. Grimacing she sighed and holstered her pistol. "OOookay Addison, take it slow... This IS real... you're not dreaming.. Yes that is a cat person.... yes that is a teenager creating a floating ball of water... breath in, count to three, breath out... Alright!" She turned and walk confidently into the street. "Time to find out what the hell is going on."
