General Herst swung his two muscular arms and slammed his two enormous fists onto his flimsy cast-iron desk, which trembled under the force of his physical outburst.
“You’ve FAILED?!!” he roared at the top of his lungs.
My legs felt like wet noodles. “Yes, sir,” I answered.
He stood up and paced across the room. When he stopped, his face was only inches from mine. His breath smelled like stale cigars, and he needed a shower. “How did it happen?” he asked, slightly calmer than before, but he was still breathing heavily. “We were ambushed by a big tank, followed by big men with very big guns,” I said stiffly, ”We are lucky to even be alive.” “How about Tyson?” Herst asked, eyeing me dubiously. “Karma,” answered Brian, who sat nonchalantly with Brett and John along the back wall of the general’s office, “He harassed me since I joined the army.” Realizing what he just said, he shifted his eyes to the carpet beneath him in hidden shame. “Too bad he died, though,” he said quietly.
General Herst turned his glare back to me. “I want that terrorist fort in our control, do you un-der-stand? Now get outta my sight.”
Theodore was waiting outside for me, twiddling his thumbs in boredom. I ignored him and walked past him, extremely mad. He jumped up and followed me, perplexed. “What happened?” he asked. “I’m going to go back and destroy that city fort. This time, I’m taking the biggest tank I can find in the vehicle storage. He gave me another one of his smiles, “Make that the TWO biggest tanks WE can find. Let’s waste these crazy *female dogs*”
Here we go again. As we traveled to the abandoned city, I felt pangs of guilt poking at me every minute. Had I brought Theo into this? This was my decision, and I don’t think Theo had to become involved. I was in deep thought when Theodore said something over the radio as if he read my mind. “Hey, I don’t care what kind of stupid crud you want to get into. I’m in this with you, man.” I felt like crying, but instead, I laughed to myself. “I’ll race you to the city fort,” I said over the radio
“A tank race?” he said quizzically.
“Why not?”