unbearable. Frays snorted a chunk of something disgusting out of her nose and fished a pack of nasty smelling Miami cigarettes out of an ammo pouch on her LCS and lit one. She blew smoke out of her nose and glanced at her watch. There was a twinge in the pit of her stomach. The chow hall would be opening for lunch in about an hour…
“C’mon, Frays! Watkins!” a giant in ABUs called from the doorway of his connex. Frays hid a small smile behind the motion of taking the cigarette out of her mouth and butting it out. A little part of her still wanted Master Sergeant Brian Emery badly…even though he was married with two kids. “Get your shit and let’s go! Chow time!”
Frays and Watkins gathered their weapons and gear then trotted over to their NCO. She looked startled for a moment. “Crap…Sergeant, I gotta grab my flash drive.” Frays grumbled as she searched through her pockets and pouches. The woman rolled her eyes and frowned clearly upset with herself. “I’ve gotta get my homework emailed off. Be right back.”
Frays turned on her heel and jogged back to the connex. There was a big flash of light. All of a sudden the world when white and all she could hear was a high pitched whine like a giant mosquito… Cold water snapped the world back to crystal clarity.
It felt like she was stuck inside a giant washing machine. The current was tearing at her splashing water into her nose and mouth. Frays took a deep breath intermingled with water and dove under the surface trying to catch up to the fading taillights of the Humvee as it sank to the bottom. Her lungs ached and the water was so cold…
A pallid face appeared out of the depths as groping hands caught hold of her forearms. Frays released a scream in a cloud of bubbles into the frigid water as the creature pulled her towards its gaping maw. She screamed and sucked in a lungful of water, things going dark around the edges nasal passages burning as the strength left her. I’m drowning… Frays realized, her thoughts becoming sluggish from lack of oxygen and thrashed almost half heartedly. Just as the creature was about to bury its jagged broken teeth into her throat she recognized the craggy features of her father’s face…
********
Frays sat up with a scream, pushing and kicking at the green woolen blanket she had over her. The woman shouted still kicking and screaming and choking. Somebody grabbed hold of her and she screamed louder slapping punching kicking spitting… Frays tumbled off of her cot and fell against the wall of the cubicle and somebody cussed and shouted next door.
“…ays! Chill out!” Rodriguez said in as calm a voice as she could manage. Frays had smacked her around a good one while in the throes of her nightmare. Rodriguez held her friend tight until she calmed down whispering reassuring words in her ear. All of a sudden she understood why Carl would come visit her when his big sister was like this. “It’s okay…shh….it’s okay…” After a couple minutes Frays started to calm down a little bit. “Look…just wait here, okay? I’m going to go get Lacey.”
Rodriguez hustled as fast as her gimpy leg would let her out into the area of the Resettlement Center set aside for families. Lacey and his kids had to be around here somewhere… After the first couple of tries she almost gave up and went back to Frays’ room. She tiptoed into the little room and smiled down at the sleeping children. “Sorry guys.” Rodriguez whispered as she slipped past them and went to their father’s side. “Need to borrow your daddy for a minute, alright?”
Rodriguez patted Lacey’s shoulder and winced when he woke up. “Hey, Lacey…sorry about this. Sorry.” she said quietly as the man sat up and blinked wearily. “Frays needs you, man. She’s having a major freak out.”
The scrawny Marine wiped at his eyes and took a deep breath. “Okay.” He frowned sleepily and collected his M16 and plate carrier from under his cot. He
“C’mon, Frays! Watkins!” a giant in ABUs called from the doorway of his connex. Frays hid a small smile behind the motion of taking the cigarette out of her mouth and butting it out. A little part of her still wanted Master Sergeant Brian Emery badly…even though he was married with two kids. “Get your shit and let’s go! Chow time!”
Frays and Watkins gathered their weapons and gear then trotted over to their NCO. She looked startled for a moment. “Crap…Sergeant, I gotta grab my flash drive.” Frays grumbled as she searched through her pockets and pouches. The woman rolled her eyes and frowned clearly upset with herself. “I’ve gotta get my homework emailed off. Be right back.”
Frays turned on her heel and jogged back to the connex. There was a big flash of light. All of a sudden the world when white and all she could hear was a high pitched whine like a giant mosquito… Cold water snapped the world back to crystal clarity.
It felt like she was stuck inside a giant washing machine. The current was tearing at her splashing water into her nose and mouth. Frays took a deep breath intermingled with water and dove under the surface trying to catch up to the fading taillights of the Humvee as it sank to the bottom. Her lungs ached and the water was so cold…
A pallid face appeared out of the depths as groping hands caught hold of her forearms. Frays released a scream in a cloud of bubbles into the frigid water as the creature pulled her towards its gaping maw. She screamed and sucked in a lungful of water, things going dark around the edges nasal passages burning as the strength left her. I’m drowning… Frays realized, her thoughts becoming sluggish from lack of oxygen and thrashed almost half heartedly. Just as the creature was about to bury its jagged broken teeth into her throat she recognized the craggy features of her father’s face…
********
Frays sat up with a scream, pushing and kicking at the green woolen blanket she had over her. The woman shouted still kicking and screaming and choking. Somebody grabbed hold of her and she screamed louder slapping punching kicking spitting… Frays tumbled off of her cot and fell against the wall of the cubicle and somebody cussed and shouted next door.
“…ays! Chill out!” Rodriguez said in as calm a voice as she could manage. Frays had smacked her around a good one while in the throes of her nightmare. Rodriguez held her friend tight until she calmed down whispering reassuring words in her ear. All of a sudden she understood why Carl would come visit her when his big sister was like this. “It’s okay…shh….it’s okay…” After a couple minutes Frays started to calm down a little bit. “Look…just wait here, okay? I’m going to go get Lacey.”
Rodriguez hustled as fast as her gimpy leg would let her out into the area of the Resettlement Center set aside for families. Lacey and his kids had to be around here somewhere… After the first couple of tries she almost gave up and went back to Frays’ room. She tiptoed into the little room and smiled down at the sleeping children. “Sorry guys.” Rodriguez whispered as she slipped past them and went to their father’s side. “Need to borrow your daddy for a minute, alright?”
Rodriguez patted Lacey’s shoulder and winced when he woke up. “Hey, Lacey…sorry about this. Sorry.” she said quietly as the man sat up and blinked wearily. “Frays needs you, man. She’s having a major freak out.”
The scrawny Marine wiped at his eyes and took a deep breath. “Okay.” He frowned sleepily and collected his M16 and plate carrier from under his cot. He
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