Snowflakes

[Carolyne Weber]

The ride back to the camp was quiet, and Carolyne didn't have much to say in the classroom either. If that had been a real bullet, she'd be dead. She remembered the chill she felt right before it hit. It was hard to think about all the times her own ignorance could have gotten her killed overseas. Still, her job wasn't all running around getting shot at with fake bullets. She rubbed the spot on her forehead; it was definitely a bruise. She didn't even want to begin to think about how much effort it'd take to cover that up.

The staff sergeant was getting dressed down for bed and loading up her duffel bag when Carolyne pulled out her wallet. She wanted to start her series of articles on the 75th off as soon as possible. It'd be good to cement whatever happened later in the foundation of how things worked at home. "Sergeant Perez?"
She said, "I'm sorry I ruined your exercise."


The staff sergeant frowned at that. "The failure is mine, not yours. You didn't know any better."
She turned away and looked at a photo on the wall. "The whole purpose of training is to get better, anyway. So we make mistakes now rather than later."
Then she turned back at Carolyne. "Mistakes out there -- not paying attention -- will mean people killed. Don't forget that. Ever."


"I won't,"
Carolyne said, before pausing for a moment. "So you're not even a little pissed off at me?"


She scoffed. "Am I pissed off at you? No."
It sounded like she bit something back with that one. Carolyne knew better to tug at that thread. The staff sergeant's back was stiff and she wasn't putting her uniforms away too softly. To say she was built like a man would be a lie, but she was definitely thickly muscled.

"Well, I'm glad to hear it."
Carolyne turned back to her wallet and kept typing. "I'll get to bed once I finish this up. Hope you don't mind."
If the sergeant heard her, she didn't give any indication. She finished packing her stuff up, did some pushups, and turned in.

Carolyne finished writing and sent the article out. It was ten o'clock, and time for her to get to sleep. Knowing these Army people, they were probably going to be up and about at six o'clock.


Edited by Carolyne Weber, Sep 18 2016, 12:19 AM.

[Toni Perez]

It was 0030 when Toni's Wallet went off. She glanced at it and immediately sprung from her bed. Weber was still snoozing and snoring something awful.

Toni banged out an alert to her squad on her Wallet first. She threw on her BDUs in less than two minutes and flipped the lights on.

"Weber,"
she called out, putting a hand to her shoulder and giving her a shake. "Hey! Wake up!"


Weber's eyes fluttered a bit. "What?"
Clearly she wasn't an early riser. It was going to be hell on her the first time an incoming missile siren went off in the middle of the night. Toni would probably have to drag her ass to the bunker. Good thing she didn't look like she weighed much.

"The aircraft for our chalk is inbound to the airfield. We gotta go right now."


The girl stumbled out of bed and wiped her eyes. She stretched and started grabbing her stuff, choking off a yawn. "You could've warned me, you know."


"I told you we hurry up and wait, didn't I?"
Toni threw her ruck on her back and grabbed her duffel bag, checking her Wallet again with her free hand. "Eighteen hours. Almost on the dot."


"I'm seeing a lot of the first one and none of the last one, Sergeant."
Carolyne said as she finished pulling her stuff together. She seemed to have shaken off most of her sleep grogginess, but she clearly hadn't been asleep for long.

Toni threw her head back and laughed. "I am certain that the Army will not let you down."
She hoofed it to the door. "Let's go."


The none-too-eager reporter said "I'm ready"
and filed in behind Toni as they made it to the courtyard outside the barracks. The trucks came by to pick them up. She threw their gear into the back and climbed up into the bed, and extended out her hand to help pull Weber up.

They sat down in the bed next to their gear. Soon the trucks had brought them around to the airfield. An XMC-130 was rumbling on the airstrip, and soldiers were loading pallets of ammunition into the bay. "How do you feel about moving out?"
she asked Weber with a grin.

"What do you mean?"
she replied. "This isn't the first time I've been in a war zone."



Toni chuckled. "This ain't your run of the mill outfit you're running with."


"That means I'm safer than I've ever been, right?"
Weber laughed. "You're like training wheels."


Geez, Barbie is SO going to get herself fucked up out there,
Toni thought to herself. Was probably going to see something shiny and run after it. Seemed way too sure of herself in a way that wasn't backed up much at all by her performance during training. Well, as long as she came back mostly in one piece she'd have done her job right.

Toni called out for her squad members to assemble as they piled out of the truck, and counted off two for baggage detail and another two to gather and distribute the weapons. "I hope you packed your sunscreen because it's sunny where we're going. We're expecting to be landing hot, however you are on weapons status green until we enter country. Hooah?"


"Hooah, Sergeant!" they called out, voices ringing across the dark flight line in the cold pre-dawn air.

"Hooah is fucking right, you snowflakes,"
she called back. "Private Watson, give me a cadence. Sound off!"


They counted off one by one, until they were all accounted for. "Airborne Rangers!"

"Guts and Danger!"

"One, two, three, four!"

All in all, it wasn't all that bad a way to get sent off to war.


Edited by Toni Perez, Sep 18 2016, 01:26 AM.