It is a new millennium, and the United States is at war with Russia. Josh Saunders has just received the surprise of his life-his girlfriend Yuko is pregnant. But Josh and Yuko both know he lives for the battle that continues to rage outside his Texas home. Now he must somehow balance his new family responsibilities with his duty to his country. But for now, the sounds of war have quieted, and Josh busies himself helping his friends, Elliot and Kaliegh, prepare for their wedding-unaware that the Russian army is steadily advancing toward Texas to seize the oil and gas refineries along the coast. As Josh and his group struggle with the troubles that war leaves in its wake, only Josh's Russian comrade, Akbashev, is aware of the incredible capabilities of the Russian army. As Josh continues to fight a war that seems unending, every part of him wants to give up, but he is determined not to live in a country controlled by the Russians. Unfortunately, time is running out. In this modern military thriller, a Russian soldier must decide whether to leave and betray his American friend or stay with him to fight for the freedom of a nation he has grown to love.

IN THE SUN

Part 2By Joshua Patrick

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2011 Joshua Patrick
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4620-6001-6

Chapter One

Josh wanted to wake Yuko up and explain to her why he had to go, but he didn't. He lay awake in the bed with a frown on his face. This was the biggest surprise that had ever happened to him in his life, and he didn't know if he would be able to deal with it right then. He turned over on to his side and looked at Yuko, her face was so peaceful and he pondered on how she could sleep so well in the middle of a war. Her eyes were closed and she would let out a light breath of warm air every once in a while. Her black hair was draped across her shoulder and her face was expressionless except for an occasional twitch while she dreamed.

He realized that he knew nothing about being a father. He didn't know if he would even have enough money to support his new family. He didn't even know how to change a diaper. It was those thoughts that ran through his head and added up to a rational decision, he would have to leave her, but only for a little while so he could work things out by himself. It would make Yuko sad, leaving without any explanation or valid reason, but maybe a note would help ease her tension and fear. Josh slowly and quietly got out of the bed and found a piece of paper and began to write a message. The only thing he could come up with was that she shouldn't worry and that he would be back soon. It sounded pitiful and he stopped writing from frustration and crumpled the letter up in his hand.

He understood that there wasn't anything he could say that would help ease her anguish while he was gone. He thought that once he was gone, she would be able to do much better without him and that each of them would be able to figure things out alone. Before he went, however, he resisted the urge to kiss her forehead from fear that she would awake and ask him why he was leaving. He wouldn't be able to bear the question and he would never be able to conceive a plan to support them together and it would end up a much worse thing nine months from now than it would be in a day or two. He had every intention of coming back, he could never permanently leave the girl he loved, and the child he had created with her.

Josh looked at the pictures of his family on the wall of his room for a moment. He wanted there to be some new ones with him, Yuko, and the baby ... but unlike the older pictures where no one was smiling, he wanted to replace them with happier ones. He exhaled quietly and gave one last look to Yuko's sleeping form and walked out of the door. It had been left open to circulate the night breeze and cool the rooms of the house. He walked as silently as he could down the stairs and turned right, towards the front door, and turned the handle gradually so that it wouldn't squeak as it was prone to do and then guided the door back gently.

Chapter Two

Shamil eyed the vehicle behind theirs suspiciously. It was following quite closely but the windows were so tinted that he wasn't able to see the driver or passengers. "Take the next exit." Shamil turned his head slightly towards the front where First Sergeant Konstantin was instructing Lev where to drive. Shamil could see the red tail lights light up the car's hood behind them as he stared intently, trying to catch a glimpse of the person inside.

"Da." Lev mumbled, as he squinted in an effort to keep his eyes on the road. First Sergeant Konstantin had wanted to start in the morning when the sun was coming up, but Shamil had refused to leave and had insisted that they leave at night so that there wouldn't be so many people on the road. He had also taken care to mention that the soldiers at the checkpoints might be asleep or tired. Shamil sat in the absolute back, away from Stanislav, who was sitting in the back seat that was opposite to his. Stanislav was sandwiched between Diminitrov and the right side of the car, and Shamil, on the left, was thankful that Diminitrov had taken the seat next to Stanislav before he would've had to.

Lev quickly pulled off the road and onto the exit and held the steering wheel as tightly as he could. The force of the car pushed Shamil in to Diminitrov as it turned left in a tight circle.

"Damn American's can't build a straight road," First Sergeant Konstantin said quietly as he held onto his door.

"Ugh," Shamil grunted and righted himself as soon as he could.

"Where the hell are we?" Lev asked as his head twisted back to look at another sign they had passed.

"I'm not sure ... I can't read English that well ... I only know where we're going." First Sergeant Konstantin replied and consulted the map in his lap, holding it close to his face to try to see the names through the darkness.

"We better stop at the next sign to see where we are." Lev said and exhaled lightly as he rolled down the window and pulled off on the side of the road.

"This is the last town we were in," First Sergeant Konstantin said as he handed him his map. Lev nodded and got out with his flashlight. He walked up to the green sign and stared at it for a few minutes, along with the map, trying to find the name of the next town. He came back shaking his head.

"What?"

"We're not in the right direction," Lev replied and closed his car door.

"What do you mean ... where are we?" First Sergeant Konstantin yanked his map from Lev's hands and studied it.

"Right here." Lev replied as he pointed to the dot on the map and started the car again.

In the Sun

"We were going the wrong way." First Sergeant Konstantin said and tossed his map on to the car floor in front of him. "What the hell is wrong with you? Don't you know how to read a map?"

"I know how to read a damn map!" Shamil could feel the anger in his voice as he spoke; "You were directing me and besides, I don't even know where the hell we are going!"

"Just great ... we went in the wrong direction for two hours ... we'll probably run out of petrol before we even reach the halfway point!" Lev said nothing as he merged back on to the road and made a large turn in the opposite direction. "Idiot ... can't read a map ... shouldn't even be a soldier." First Sergeant Konstantin grumbled and began to flip the automatic lock on the door back and forth annoyingly. Shamil sighed and looked back out the window. It was going to be a long day.

* * *

Aloysha stood in the vacant lot that the wagon had stopped in. It was surrounded by an old apartment building that, from the outside, appeared abandoned also, but was occupied by several families that walked by them without a spoken word. They were a few miles inside of Ukraine and Aurek warned everyone to watch out for the police since they were nothing like the Polish police, they'd want bribes or would take any one of them to jail without a second thought. No sooner had they unfurled the awning to protect themselves from the cold biting wind that blew harshly through the flat piece of land, a short, pudgy Ukrainian police officer covered tightly in a green woolen coat, approached them and began to yell about a law that didn't seem to exist.

"There is no loitering permitted in this part of the town." He said loudly so that everyone could hear. All of them stood quietly, unmoving, until Aloysha walked forward and asked the police officer if he could have a word with him.

They walked over to the side of the apartment building's brick wall and Aloysha asked him quietly what he wanted,...