Despite being terrified, Leo found that he was strangely good at survival. Maybe it was all the documentaries his dad forced him to watch. Maybe it was his natural wit. Or maybe it was sheer dumb luck.
When the platoon commander asked for ideas to avoid enemy fire, Leo blurted,
"Why don't we fake retreat and circle behind them at night?"
It worked.
The soldiers started calling him "The Boy General", even though he tripped over his rifle twice a day.
In his free time, Leo made them laugh with future slang:
"Lit," "bro," "no cap" - they assumed it was code talk.
He even fixed a broken radio using techniques from a YouTube video he would eventually watch in 2026.
Still, Leo never forgot:
He didn't belong here. This was real war, real danger… real people.