Annabeth

Percy being gone has been the hardest time of my life. Not only because of me being pregnant, but simply because he isn't here with me.

Yes, the pregnancy makes it harder. I wish he was here to be the tired husband, going to get me peanut butter and pickles at midnight. It would be nice to be normal for once.

Piper has been helping a lot. We have spent a lot of time together. We give each other emotional and moral support. She has gone with me to every doctor’s appointment. I honestly don't know where I'd be without her.

Percy's letter have been more sporadic since he left basic. For a while, he was at Pearl Harbor, awaiting deployment. The letter became slightly more regular, but then he was shipped out.

I don't know where he was sent, or when he would be back. All i know is he and Jason and all the other Marines are headed to some island in the Pacific.

I just want him home safely.


Percy

"Marines! Prepare to enter boats!" This brings out of a deep haze. The voice was from our company's Lieutenant,Charles Beckendorf who yells to us. "Up and over the sides, let's go!"

It's August 7th and we are just off the shore of Guadalcanal, a small island in the Solomon Island chain.

"Alright, 2nd Platoon, you heard the Lieutenant! Up and over!" I yell at the soldiers that I command. I did well enough during boot that they deemed me fit to be a platoon sergeant.

We arrived at Guadalcanal a couple days ago, and the Navy has been shelling it to smithereens since we got here, hopefully softening up the forces there. Now we are preparing to invade it. We don't know what the resistance will be like, but it has to be taken.

I've been in battles before, but this one was different. Before we were on ships shooting up at planes that were diving at us, we couldn't see the people who were trying to kill us, only the machines. This was going to be more personal, almost face to face.


As the landing craft finally makes land fall, I mentally prepare myself, for what could be the last moment of my life.

The ramp falls, and we all take off running out of the boat onto the beach. I yell at my men to keep moving and not to run in straight lines, to watch their spacing, trying to keep us all alive by being tough targets to hit. But nothing opposes us, no one shoots at us, not a single round.

I aim my Thompson sub-machine gun toward the tree line, looking for my enemy, but nothing shows up.

"Underwood! Front and center!" I holler for my radio man.

Grover Underwood, a scared young kid, runs up to me with his radio strapped to his back. "Sir?"

"Get me 1st Platoon on the radio."

"On it," he turns away and starts working on getting ahold of Jason's platoon. "I got them sir," and he hands me the radio.

"Thanks Grover," I pat him on the shoulder, trying to give off a confident expression, trying to give him courage. Grover is just a draftee who would rather save the environment. He hated how we were destroying the environment with war, but he couldn't do much to change it. He is a good kid, I hope he makes it through.

I turn my attention to the radio, "Jason, what's your situation?"

I hear Jason through the static of the radio, "No resistance, not a shot fired. How are you over there?"

"Same, we can't advance until we know what is waiting in front of us."

"Got any ideas?"

Not a clue. Right now, I really wish my Wise Girl was here, she would know just how to draw someone out of hiding. We played hide and seek at her house so I could learn the layout of it. She could always draw me out during the game. Her favorite tactic was to hit whatever she thought concealed me, see if I moved. Then it clicked.

"Tell your men to pick a target, then fire three rounds at it. No more than three, let’s see if we can scare anything out."

"Copy that." We both gave up the radio and pass down the command to fire at a target on my signal.

I pick out a lump that could be a helmet on someone's head.

*BANG BANG BANG*

Down the line, I hear my men fire their shots, still no movement.

I give the signal to advance. We slowly move toward the tree line, on constant alert for any movement in front of us, still nothing.

Maybe this will be easy.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

All throughout the day, we encountered sporadic resistance. My force suffered a few casualties. Three dead and seven wounded. We defeated many enemies, I killed fifteen men myself.

I killed fifteen men today. Fifteen men who would never see home again. Fifteen wives who would never see their husbands.How many men have I killed now?

I try to think back from the beginning. At least 40 since I’ve been deployed. It’s only been two months and I’ve killed 40 men. How many more men do I have to kill to get back to my Wise Girl?

"Sergeant Jackson," Lieutenant Beckendorf enters the command tent where I have been waiting for him. "Status report."

When he comes to the map, I point out where I have my men dug in. "I have my men set up here, about a mile north of the airfield. We have encountered slight resistance. Mostly small arms fire, some machine guns, oh, and one bayonet charge."

"Casualties?" he questions

"Three dead, Ethan Nakamura, Michael Yew, and Lee Fletcher. Seven wounded. The dead were killed during the bayonet charge. They were on point."

"Damn shame, Jason's platoon is about the same. One more dead, couple more wounded."

"I have my men dug in for the night. Three to a fox hole, rotating watch shifts. Mortars dug in behind the line. I also ordered the men to fix bayonets. No telling what will come at us tonight."

"Good work Sergeant. Hold the line, tomorrow we are going to keep headed towards the air field. Looks like these Japs are fighting to the last man… so be prepared for tough fighting."

Once I get back to my foxhole, shared by Grover and another kid, Nico di Angelo, I pull out my pad of paper and start writing.

"Writing to Annabeth?" Grover asks me. Normally I wouldn't let my soldiers talk to me in a formal way like this, but Grover was the type of guy who just brought that out in people.

"Yeah, she is probably going crazy with worry right about now."

"She is probably about ready to have your kid isn't she?"

"Yeah, couple of weeks until her due date. Knowing her, she is going to be right on time, down to the minute." I chuckle, thinking about my Wise Girl talking to her growing belly telling it that it is ahead or behind schedule. "Just wish I could be there when it happens, you know?"

"Look Perce, you'll be home with Annabeth and your child soon. I'm sure Annabeth understands what you’re doing here."

I'm not sure how, but Grover just sort of snuck into the spot of one of my best friends.

"Thanks G-man. I bet Juniper misses you, it just sucks that we have to be here, rather than home."

He nods in agreement.

"Di Angelo, what about you? Got anyone back home? You've served under me for what? Three months now? I don't know much about you."

"There isn't much to tell, Dad left mom when I was little. He was around for more of my sister's life, then I was born and he was around less. Then mom died in a hotel accident and he left shortly after. Ever since then we bounced around foster families. Then I figured, why not join the military and get the hell out of here?"

"Sounds rough, sorry man."

"It's nothing, really, I'm hoping being here will give me a sense of what to do with my life."

We all agree silently, then the silence becomes slightly awkward.

"Nico, go ahead and get some shut eye, we got first watch," I say to him.

He nods and turns in towards his gun, cuddling it, and turns in for the night.

A short while later Grover turns to me. "Hey man, go ahead and finish your letter, I can watch for now. Tell her you are alright."

"Thanks G-man, let me know if you see anything."

Notes