I didn't talk to anybody else after that, most of the other guys were quiet too. We had run out of things to say and think. I just sat there picking the sand out from under my nails thinking about how my mom used to bitch at me to keep my nails clean because women hate seeing a man with nasty nails. That's when everything went red and then black.
The truck I was on blew apart and threw most of us all over the road, some guys were all together, but some went in parts. Any other time I would have probably thrown up seeing shit like this but I couldn't do anything now but lay on the ground all dazed and out of it. There was a real loud high pitched metallic type of buzzing sound in my ears and I was dizzy as hell. Maybe I passed out, maybe I didn't, I really can't say, but when I finally got a sense of what had happened I guess I just knew in my head that I had to put my game face on. There was a feeling in my leg and all over in my stomach that felt like I had stepped on a mound of fire ants and the bastards were all over attacking me. Used to happen a lot as a kid, i'd be out in the backyard exploring and next thing my mom knew I come flying in the garage stripping down and she'd get out the ol' garden hose and have to start spraying me down.
I really wish I could have gotten to spend another Christmas with her, and really tell her goodbye.
So I look down to these fire ant pains and see some blood on my pants but it didn't hurt that bad. I heard guys start screaming and the ground had twisted pieces of metal, blood and people. Shit was on fire all around us and smoke was blowing. I guess in my heart I knew I still had a job to do, I kept hearing people screaming so I got up and tried to walk but my legs wouldn't hold me. So I start crawling up to a guy close to me that had been yelling. I think it was the guy from my unit that was always telling us that he and his wife were going to buy a racehorse someday, he used to talk about that all the time.
