Chapter Text
Potomac River, Virginia. August 20th, 1948
8:22 A.M.
A 29 year old American soldier gazes over the horizon from the side of the ship, groaning and trying to hold back the beacon and eggs- his first real breakfast in years. They entered the Potomac river en route to his home in Washington DC hours prior, and he only now began to make out the silhouette of the Washington Monument in the distance. "Finally..." He turned around after hearing footsteps.
"Seasick, Sergeant?" Asked William Johnson, the African-American marksman and second in command of the 280th rifle squad, composed of 4 rifle men, a marksman, a radio operator, a medic, two automatic rifle men and lead by their patriot Sergeant, Eugene Wright. They landed in Europe in '44 after D-Day, pushing with allied forces through France, Belgium, the Netherlands and southern Germany. After the war ended, they were assigned to reconstruction and peacekeeping missions for 3 years, and were finally granted leave. Most of the Unit lived in DC before the war, and were thrilled to finally get some rest. "I... hate boats..." Replied the Nauseous Sergeant. The calm waters of the Potomac were easier on the stomach compared to the roughness experienced on the voyage across the Atlantic. Truth be told, Wright Preferred air travel over both.
"Leave the man alone, Will." Said one of the Rifle men, Charles Martinez. He was on the deck, playing a game of poker with the Radio operator, Willie Louis and the Medic, Paul Kenneth. Martinez took a swig of whiskey, glancing back to his superior officer as he lost his lunch over the side of the liberty ship. "A man's gotta puke when a man's gotta puke." He said with a smirk. "Don't make me... go over there and... shove that bottle up your ass, Charlie..." Groaned Wright, walking away from the edge of the ship and sitting at their table. Johnson followed, handing him a paper bag in case of emergency. "I say do it, Sarge. I've been meaning to since the Rhine, anyway." Said Louis, Dealing in the two new players. "We're close to Alexandria, but I think we can squeeze in a game or two. Any bets?"
"How about this?" Johnson sets his silver watch on the table, Kenneth whistling in amusement. "Where'd you get something that shiny on this piece of floating crap?" Johnson sighed in response, rubbing his eyes. "A French girl gave me her pop's watch for my last chocolate bar before we left. It ain't much, but it's the best I got." "That'll do." Louis continued Dealing, adding the watch to the pile of money and rations from previous games, glancing over to Wright. "How 'bout you, Sarge?" "How about that photo of your wife, Eugene?" Joked Martinez, Wright responded by swiping the bottle of whiskey. "This is mine now, Asshole. If you're nice and apologize, I'll give it back. Better yet, Apologize to my wife when we reach DC." Wright said, taking a long sip of the confiscated Jack Daniels. Johnson scoffed, glancing over at Martinez. "Trust me here, Charlie. I've met his wife, and the last thing you want is to piss off Rose." Louis and Kenneth nod in agreement, both of them and Johnson briefly met Mrs. Rose Wright before deployment and found out the hard way how protective the couple were for each other.
Eugene didn't pay much attention through the remainder of the game, thinking back to the day before he shipped out to boot camp. It was a sunny autumn day in 1943, in a small house on the border of Montgomery County, Maryland and DC proper. Being lovers since high school, both were skeptical on joining the war effort out of fear that they'd lose each other, even after hearing news reports of the attack on pearl harbor. After months of consideration, they agreed that Eugene could sign up, but had to promise that he'd return home alive. After packing the last of his things, he met Rose in their kitchen, tears streaming down her eyes and leaving light stains on her shirt. "Are you sure you want to do this...? What if..." She was immediately cut off by a sudden hug, one that was returned in kind. "I promise, I'll come home as soon as the war's over." Eugene placed a small kiss on his wife's cheek, giving a reassuring smile. "Who knows? Maybe I'll bring back a souvenir or two." Rose chuckled at the attempt to lighten the mood, feeling a little better. "Really, then? Well, now you have to grab a good bottle of wine when you get to France..." Eugene softly kissed her on the lips before responding, "I'll get the best I can find, and maybe some cheese to celebrate my return home?" Rose nodded, hugging her husband one last time, both sharing an "I love you" before Eugene leaves for bootcamp.
In the years since he left, Eugene passed bootcamp in January 1944 and assigned to the 280th rifle squad in March of the same year, put in charge of 4 rifle men (Charles Martinez, Walter Hughes, Michael Aiko, and Larry Kent.) As well as two Automatic rifle men (Jimmy Lloyd and Larry Grant), a Medic (Paul Kenneth), Radio operator (Willie Louis), and a Marksman (William Johnson). Most of the men either didn't care or outright hated each other, but that would noticeably change when they landed in southern France in July '44, when Grant, Aiko and Kenneth were separated from the rest after a raid on a German occupied barn, the three held down by MG42 fire in an artillery crater, Grant being wounded when a ricochet bullet hit his leg, Kenneth almost out of bandages and morphine and Aiko's rifle out of ammo, forced to use Grant's BAR with no experience. The 3 were only expected to last barely an hour after the others fell back to regroup, but were discovered when the rest of the 280th launched a counterattack under the cover of a nearby Sherman tank regiment, still holding out in the crater barely alive, but alive nonetheless. Over the course of the war, similar events occurred up until they crossed the Rhine, each one bringing the group closer together despite differences.
After the remainder of Hitler's inner circle surrendered on May 8th, 1945, and the Japanese surrender the following September, the 280th were hoping to return home. Unfortunately due to the need for reconstruction, rapid Soviet aggression and attempted intervention in the region, namely the Greek civil war starting in '46, the Turkish straight crisis, and the biggest; the recent Berlin blockade and Airlift kept them in Europe for three years longer than expected. Like other soldiers, they all wrote to their Families and loved ones back in the states to let them know the situation, Especially Eugene, who wrote to Rose every month. Both were heartbroken during the extended period apart, but Eugene was over-the-moon when he and his Unit were allowed leave. Rose was even more so when she received a letter with the same news, and invited all 9 men for dinner on their first day in DC, to celebrate the end of the war and a safe return home.
Lost in thought, Eugene was brought back to the present when the loudspeakers of the Liberty ship played feedback before an announcement followed.... "Attention all hands and Passengers, prepare all belongings to disembark, we are arriving at Alexandria port. Welcome to Washington DC, Folks." After the Captain finished, there was a collective applause from the men as they began to pack their things, excited to get off the boat. Wright and Martinez lagged behind to put away the cards and collect their winnings from the poker hands. "You know what? I'll apologize to the lovely Mrs. Wright by buying a nice bottle of Champagne for tonight. I mean, you got some good stuff there, but you never know..." Martinez said, gesturing to the bottle of red wine in Wright's bag. Wright tossed him a roll of Quarters he won from his winnings. "Might as well buy some actual clothes and maybe some cologne. You smell horrible, Charlie." Martinez Nodded, stuffing the coins into his pocket before shuffling off to the port. Wright stayed behind for another minute, processing that he was finally back home after 5 years. He picked up his pack, glancing at the photo he and Rose took a moth before Bootcamp before stuffing it in his pocket and started heading off the ship. "I'm almost home, Honey..."
The Lincoln Memorial
9:01 A.M.
After getting off the ship, Wright left to grab a bouquet of Rose's favorite flowers before heading to Montgomery County, while the rest look for food, beverages, and maybe a few activities to bring to the Wright residence. Between their search, Martinez and Kenneth thought that it would be a good idea to take additional stops since only 4 of the 10 men- Wright, Johnson, Louis and Kenneth- were from DC. Some of the choosen locations included historical landmarks, tourist attractions and places to find souvenirs upon request. "Breathtaking, Isn't it?" Asked Johnson, admiring the huge marble statue of one of the Nation's most famous presidents, Abraham Lincoln. "I wonder what he'd think of us now..." Grant looked up from a newspaper he picked up. "He'd probably wish the statue was bigger." He joked, receiving a slap on the back of the head by Aiko. "What? Can't take a joke?" "Knock it off, both of you." Ordered Martinez. "It's a damn memorial, joke around when we're at Wright's." Both nodded, going back to their own business. Hughes was further back than the others, trying to get a good angle to take a photo. After 3 tries, he puts the camera away to save film. "Alright, got what I came here for. Y'all ready to head out yet?" Johnson took a bit to answer, taking in one last look at his personal hero before turning around and signaling the others. "Alright men, move out. It wouldn't be nice to keep Rose waiting longer than she needs to." After that, the 280th departed the Lincoln Memorial and began headed North towards Montgomery County, making sure they have everything they needed or wanted before they headed off.
"So, how are you boys enjoying DC so far?" Called out Kenneth, noting that some of the men were using some of the items they bought for themselves, namely books consistent of several categories. Kent set his newspaper aside for a second to answer. "It ain't Austin, but it's alright. I'm just glad to be home and see what changed while we were gone. I'll tell you boys, I was considering going AWOL if I had to stay in Europe for one more week without a break." He got mixed looked from everyone, mostly confusion or disgust. After everything they went through, they were shocked to hear any one of them mention desertion. But, they didn't disagree, even Johnson and Martinez. It was nice seeing all Europe had to offer when the war ended, but most of their travels were because of increased Soviet aggression in the Mediterranean. When Wright broke the news that they were allowed 30 days of leave, the men were exhilarated. Johnson was relieved that the men finally got a well-deserved break back to the States. "Besides the implied treason, I have to agree. This stuff is fascinating..." Said Lloyd, looking up from a science book he picked up from the DC public library titled 'The science of Engineering and Nuclear Power'. Ever since they heard the news of how the Japanese surrendered, from two so-called 'Atomic Bombs' that could flatten a city in minutes, many of the men had mixed reactions. Shock, happiness, worry, the list goes on. Being the squad Science guy, Lloyd wanted to learn everything he could about the energy the bombs used, seeing it as a sign from the lord when he saw a copy publicly available Information in the library. "You know, fellas... according to this book, besides destroying cities, the Atom could power them. We could be looking at a new industrial revolution-" "I'm going to stop you right there, Einstein." Interrupted Grant, tired of the boat ride and walking all day. "As interesting as that nonsense is, I would love to relax at some point today. So how about we save the new discoveries until tomorrow. Yes? Talk about something different. The scenery, childhood memory, anything." Lloyd closed the book, annoyed that he was interrupted. "Alright, fine. Until tomorrow, then. But now that you mention it, did anyone see anything strange when we went by the Washington Monument? I swear there was a stone arch or something..." Johnson shook his head, wondering how much longer it would be until they got to Wright's.
Around half a mile from the DC/Montgomery County border, they all stopped walking after hearing a loud screeching noise coming from behind them. They and surrounding residents looked around in confusion and panic. The tension thickened when they all felt the ground shake, "What the hell was that...?" "Is a parade going on?" "Honey, I'm scared..." Said some of the civilians, who were getting more anxious as the sounds started getting closer. Among the crowd was an officer in the DC police department who was on patrol, who attempted to calm the situation. "Settle down, everyone. Settle down. I'm sure this is just uh... an unscheduled event. I'll check in with my superiors and see what-" Before the officer could finish his sentence, a giant flying creature flew incredibly close to the ground above them, causing many of the civilians to scream and run in fear. Martinez took a closer look at the creature, seeing that it resembled a dragon, but with black and dark Gray scales and roughly the length of a car. He notice someone was riding it, who appeared to be wearing armor resembling a... Roman Legionaire? "What the fuck...?" Yelled Grant as the small dragon made another pass, but flew lower. The men saw the rider pulled out what appeared to be a sword, and their suspensions were unfortunately confirmed when the rider slashed his sword through multiple civilians, killing them instantly. Horrified at what they just witnessed, the 280th, the officer and remaining civilians in that street entered a state of fight-or-flight, the civilians running or trying to enter nearby shops for shelter, while the cop took out his Smith and Wesson revolver, firing a few rounds at the dragon and it's rider. Johnson, Martinez and Hughes following suit with their M1911 pistols. The rider headed back south towards the Washington Monument, where everyone saw more of those things in the sky, smoke rising from several areas in the city. It was then that everyone realized that Washington DC was under attack, but from who and how was unknown... "You 9, listen up. Do you boys know how to shoot?" Called the officer, who was in more of a panic than the men. "We should be asking you that, boy. We're army." Replied Martinez, trying to unjam his gun. "You know where to find a radio? Or better, bigger guns?" The officer stammered, trying to find the words while looking at the horizon, Screams and battle cries can be heard from throughout the city. Johnson marched over to the officer, slapping his face to bring him back to reality. "FOCUS, MAN!! DO. YOU. KNOW. WHERE. TO. GET. GUNS?" He yelled, years of training kicking in. "I-I... yeah, the PD's 2 blocks from here... there's a-a radio, and Tommy g-guns, and-" he stopped mid-sentance. His eyes widen as he glanced behind Johnson, seeing a massive formation of roman soldiers marching towards their position. "Let's hope that radio works... we have to call every national guard unit on the East coast for this..." Exclaimed Kent as they all started to back away from the approaching horde, Walking quickly turning into running. "Wait, what about the Sergeant?! We have to warn-" Yelled Lloyd before being interrupted by Johnson. "There's no time to search for him, we have to repell whoever these fuckers are! Besides, Everyone within 10 miles can see that smoke, he'll know!! This has to be a nightmare..." "yeah, Well wake the hell up!!" Yelled Martinez, who finally fixed his pistol. "Because if not, Look alive, boys! America is under attack!!"