character :: Mathew Carter
Mathew had his life planned out from his early teenage years: he wanted to finish school, join the U.S Marine Corps and he wanted to keep his options open, relationship wise, for as long as possible - after all, he was such a catch and Mathew, being the driven young man that he was, did just that. Following his first few years in the Marine Corps, and a messy break-up with his previous girlfriend, Mathew returns home to Oklahoma where the younger sister of his ex-girlfriend catches his eye. Carolina was smart, attractive and ambitious, completing her teaching degree at the local university which leads Mathew to begin pursuing her for a relationship to which Carolina, after some convincing, finally agrees. But the newly budded romance has to take a backseat when Mathew is called away by his duties in the Marine Corps and Carolina for further schooling. For several years, the two make it work long distance until they are able to settle down in their new home just outside of Beverly Hills, California. It's here that only a year or two later, Mathew is elated to hear that Carolina is pregnant and the two are having a son whom they will later name Samuel. But there is one thing Mathew isn't counting on: having an imperfect son.
I did so as a Marine
Samuel is born with a birth defect that makes him legally blind (in both of his eyes), a devastating blow to a man who had always planned out each step of his life carefully. As he looks at his young son, all he can see is the legacy that his his father, grandfather and his great grandfather left behind crumbling before him - this kid couldn't be a Marine...he couldn't be anything with his blindness and maybe that's when Mathew realized how wrong he wasn't...he didn't want to be a family man, not to this family. His years with the Marines soon tipped ten, then twenty, nearing thirty by the time he heard whispers around his unit about a strange new virus that the government was keeping hushed. It was rabies-like, deadly and painful and worst of all...it was spreading out of control. As Mathew wandered home that night, something stopped him at his son's room where the idiot was still awake, just listening to music, oblivious of his surroundings, of him standing there, of what was to come. What would happen to him? He was so careless - so unprepared. And that was the moment Mathew decided...
'Not my damn son.'
Weeks of training in their storage building seemed useless, nothing more than a waste of time, another thing that his son couldn't do until Mathew heard it: the sound of Samuel's handle hitting the target. With a small smile, Mathew turned and looked at his son...maybe he could do it after all. Time flew by and before Mathew knew it, he was called to Washington D.C to help with the outbreak, leaving his sweet Carolina behind. He could see tears in her eyes, he knew she didn't want him to go but it was his honor.
'Give 'em hell, devil dog.' would be the last words he'd say to his son and the last time he'd ever see him. Mathew isn't sure what happened to his family but his last thoughts were of them.
