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COLE
“Desert. Desert. Oh, and more desert,” says Linc, or Sergeant Lincoln Hayes to anyone not on his fire team. “Welcome to hell, Morgan. I hope you brought everything you’ll need to keep your ass clean and your demons at bay.”
I snort, unable to help myself. “Yeah, thanks, Linc.” I am already counting down the hours until I get out of there. For the first time in my life, I don’t want to deploy. Even though I may not be able to hold Casper, or even be with her, I still need to know she is going to be okay.
“You ready to tell me what was so important that you got me over here without getting official clearance from my physician?”
It is the same question I’ve had since I got his first call, when he told me I was coming over. I have to be on the next international flight, no less, and that they’ll figure shit out when I get on base.
He sighs deeply, takes his cover off his head, and readjusts it, before putting it back on and cursing to himself.
“I dunno, man. I just follow orders the same as you. All I know is that we were told that we needed to bring you and another guy over.” He looks out over the busy camp around us. “But if I had to guess, your brother pulled some sort of strings to get you over here before you got out since he knew you were pissed about being held back all because of a formality.”
I don’t mention the fact that it isn’t just a formality, but my health on the line. Nor do I mention the accident at all.
“There’s chatter about not letting guys take a tour without having more than six months on their enlistment right now.” Linc shrugs again, this time more distracted than I’ve seen him before. “Did I tell you that I’m getting out after this hitch?”
“No.” I am shocked and not in a good way. Linc had pretty much sworn that he’d be a lifer, especially after he lost his twin brother in a Huey accident a few years back. “Why?” I sling my bag over my shoulder, trying to get a little bit more comfortable under its weight. Especially since the sun is beating down on us, and the wind is starting to pick up.
He takes an old, wrinkled photo out of his pocket, and I catch myself staring. I swear the girl in the photo looks like an older version of Casper, but it can’t be. Even after I blink twice, she still looks exactly like her, and the photo I’ve seen of Cassie, too.
Not even seventy-two hours after I saw her last, I am already superimposing her image on photos of other redheads. Which doesn’t bode well for my sanity over the next fifty years of not having her in my arms.
The woman in the photo is a little bit older, maybe her mid to late twenties. She has to be older than Casper. Even as I look closer, I realize that she doesn’t have the same brown eyes Casper does, either. But I’ll never admit that I took that close of a look. She is beautiful, though. Just not mine, not like Casper is.
“I can’t stay away anymore. My mom called to tell me she thinks the fool my girl has been seeing is going to propose. And if I don’t do something, I’m going to lose her forever.” He touches the woman’s face with his thumb. “I messed up, bad. I just can’t find a way to make it better. Going home, being there, is gonna hurt. But I can’t watch her spend her life with someone else.”
“She’s not yours, dickhead.” A dark-haired man joins us, slapping Linc upside the head. “You left her. Remember? And you’ve never gone back so you don’t know how hard it’s gonna be. You’re too much of a pussy to find out. Kennedy isn’t gonna wait for you to pull your head out of your ass, and then I’m gonna have to deal with you complaining forever, because you’re the cause of your own misery.”
When Linc drops the photo, I almost feel bad for the man. He literally drops to all fours to make sure that the photo doesn’t get damaged. He obviously has it bad for the girl, and I can’t blame him. I think about the photos on my phone that I took of Casper when she didn’t know it. Ones I am not sure that I can ever delete.
“Remy,” the other man says while holding out his hand for me to shake.
I look down at his chest, but he isn’t wearing a tag with his last name on it. Instead, he has a plastic ID holder strapped to his arm, but I can’t see the details on it. Meaning I don’t know what to call him.
“Yeah.” He snorts. “I wasn’t set to deploy until next month. But they needed bodies, and a Marine does what he’s ordered.”
The desert we are currently standing in is proof of that. Although, we all know more than most that orders are orders. There isn’t a way to get out of them and we just have to do our best to get through them.
“Corporal Cole Morgan,” I introduce myself.
He smiles at the obvious attempt to get him to tell me his rank. Though it is clear he doesn’t want to give it away.
“Lieutenant Remy Townsend,” Linc introduces. “But he hates being called by his last name. It’s Remy, unless there’s someone higher ranking around.” He gets back to his feet and tries his best to act like he hasn’t just embarrassed himself. “Best friend, pilot, and all-around jackass on most occasions. But he’s right. I did leave his baby sister, and he hasn’t murdered me for it yet.” He puts the photo away, careful not to let it blow away again. Then I watch as he kisses his fingertips and pats the chest pocket where the photo is kept.
“I guess I’m gonna be stuck with your ass on this deployment too,” Remy jokes with him. “I’ll make sure to slit your throat for snoring if I have to.”
Watching their interaction is strange, but not completely uncommon. Especially in a unit, we become family.
Remy shoots a glance to the mess hall. “I’ll see you later, man. I’m fuckin’ starved, and this slop is gonna have to do until the care package from Kennedy gets here.”
He leaves us standing there, and Linc flips him off behind his back.
“I’ll get you back for that, dickhead.” Remy doesn’t bother looking over his shoulder; he just hollers into the wind. “Remember who’s getting the goods, and who’s not gonna get shit.”
“Guy’s got eyes in the back of his head.” Linc shakes his head. “He used to be able to get out of all sorts of shit back in Maine.”
“Wait.” Dawning suspicion hits me like a ton of bricks when Linc starts to walk toward the bunks, where I still had to offload all my shit. “Did he say his last name was Townsend?”
