“Really, fucker? We are trying to win.” Lawson threw an empty water bottle at Weatherford’s head. He ducked his head, just in time to avoid impending injuries from a plastic bottle.
“Dammit. I’m dead. Come on, reload, you stupid piece of machinery. Mama wants to kill her some Russians.”
Two seconds to reload and we were five kills away from victory. My character was locked and ready to go. To my right, I caught movement and saw a small red triangle on the soldier’s head. Aiming my gun, I pulled the trigger, and he was dead.
Two kills to go.
Setting my sights on my target, I took aim and fired. Down go the Russians and we win! The room erupts in cheers, and people start clapping hands. Who knew we attracted so much attention while playing.
On the screen, it shows Chinese 0, Russian 3. In this game, you want to reach the number zero in order to win.
I started celebrating, thinking I got the final kill when the instant replay shows Lawson got the winning shot.
“Dammit!”
“Good game. Brianna, you need to come around more often. That was the most fun we have had in months.” If I remember correctly, his name was Prosser. He was on his fifth tour in Afghanistan after 9/11, when his tour was cut short. His patrol was doing its daily route when his battle buddy stepped on an IUD. His battle buddy didn’t make it, but Prosser witnessed things he will never talk about. He told me he was impaled with several pieces of sharp metal; it was a miracle he survived.
There are similar stories throughout the group, some varying from others. A few were able to talk to me no problem about what happened, but others only gave me the runaround. I never approached the men about what happened, I only introduced myself and asked them what branch they were in. I guess asking them what branch they served in, opened up the floodgates and they talked my ear off.
I asked them a few times about Ryan and what he went through, but no one would tell me. They told me he went through hell and back and is still living it to this day. The only way he is able to cope with his demons and move on from that night is by helping his brothers and giving back to the VA.
They told me when Ryan met me, he changed. He was able to smile and be himself for the first time in a long time. But when everything went down, things turned ugly. I was the light in his life; he needed to heal old wounds and see that life was worth living. He felt losing me was a sign from God he wasn’t good enough, so he buried himself in his work.
One day, he got a phone call from a mysterious woman named Leigh Ann, telling him all about our girl’s trip and what they were planning to do. Ryan jumped at the chance to see me again, and here we are. I cursed Leigh Ann in my head several times, but at the same time, I was indebted to her. She reunited me with the man I was madly in love with and was never able to get over.
In the past three hours, I learned a lot and was grateful I decided to take a chance and have Ryan show me his world.
Setting my controller down, I went to find out where Ryan went, when I heard him.
“BRIANNA!”
I turned to see Ryan, beat red and storming towards me. Why the hell is he mad… oh, snap. He saw the back of my shirt.
“What the hell is Nerdboobs?” Smith asked. He scratched the top of his head, and I swear I saw steam coming out.
“Boobs are boobs. Small, big, huge, nerdy, perky. They are all the same to me.” Lemley gave me a high-five and stopped Ryan in his tracks. “Dude, chill.”
“Nerd… Now I get it!” Williford keeled over and slapped the back of the chair. “Nerdboobs! Ha!”
“What can I say? I like to make an impression.” I gave Ryan my best megawatt smile and bolted. I knew he would be mad, but come on, it’s just a shirt.
I felt a strong grip around my wrist and turned to see Lawson holding me back. “Stay here.”
Staying behind the man with kangaroo legs, I waited. Everyone in the room who was laughing at my ridiculous and out of the norm shirt was now silent. Something happened.
Maslanik was the first to approach Ryan. “What happened?”
“Funny Farm is gone. Mike was doing a sweep and was caught in the crossfire. He is at the hospital right now.”
“Was anyone else injured?” Smith said, looking grim.
Having no idea what they were talking about, I figured it was best to keep my mouth shut. The guys were already on edge; now was not the time to let my mouth say something stupid.
“Ryder and Mosley just got there. They are going to give me a report on the damage. But I need to head to McNeely’s. I’ll meet you guys there when I can.” Shifting his attention to me, I laid my hand on his and squeezed tight.
“Stay close to me. You are about to see the dark side of my world.”
CHAPTER 11
Ryan filled me in on everything that happened while I was busy killing people online. One of his brothers used a nail gun to nail the door shut and was threatening to kill himself. I tried to get more information about what was going on with Mike and what Funny Farm was, but he was tight-lipped. So instead, I focused on keeping him calm. He had been holding onto my hand ever since we left the VA. I tried to remove my hand, to let the feeling come back into my fingers, but that only made him hold on tighter.
Breaking all the speed limits in the city, we reached our destination in twenty minutes. There was nothing but trees, trees and more trees. Seeing him like this was surreal. I have never seen this side of the war and to be honest, it is a little scary.
Turning the corner into a quaint little hole in the forest, there was a small house with three very large John Deere tractors out on the front lawn. The house was a small cottage with a two car garage. It was a cute little house, with a decent size yard and a massive garden. But I could not overlook the massive tractors that were staring me in the face. I grew up with toys and such from John Deere, but to see these beauties in real life. They are gorgeous. I wanted to touch them.
Ryan put the truck in park and didn’t move. I could tell by the look on his face; he was hesitating on what to do. I know having me here was a hindrance, but I needed to see this for myself. If we were going to make this work, I wanted to be a part of it in any way that I can.
“Ryan-“
“Promise me, one thing.”
“Anything.”
“Do not leave my side. Whatever he says or does, you will not leave my side. Got it?”
Resting my hand on his shoulder, I nodded in agreement. This was uncharted waters for me, and I had no idea what to do. Bringing my hand to his lips, he placed a gentle kiss on my knuckles and made his way to the house. Throwing open the door, I ran after him. So much for staying by his side.
Ryan raised his hand to open the door, when a woman no older than myself opened the door. “Ryan, I don’t know what happened. One moment we were watching TV and the next he flipped out. We were talking about our trip to see his father and niece…” She started to sob uncontrollably and moved out of the way to let us through.
Without knowing who she was, I placed my hand on her shoulder, pulling her in for a hug. I didn’t know what to say, so I just let her cry. My mom always told me it was good to let people just get things off their chest and wait. Words will come later, when they are ready.
“Brianna?” Ryan turned to see me hugging this woman and motioned me forward.
Squeezing her tight, I let go and followed Ryan.
“Ryan, who was that?”
“That is his girlfriend. They started dating two months ago and hit it off pretty quick. He told me they started having some issues recently, but I didn’t think anything of it.”
Entwining our fingers, Ryan led me to a door with nails sticking out in every direction. It was a scene from a horror movie. Nails, at least four inches long, stuck out of every corner and edge. It looked like he was shooting at the door to keep his girlfriend from coming any closer.
“Don’t you dare come any closer, asshole. I know she called you.” A deep voice called out.
> Ryan stopped a few feet from the door and made sure we stood to the side, just in case he decided to start shooting again, and a nail flew past the door and into our chests.
“Stay behind me.” He whispered in my ear.
Tightening my grip on his hand, I let go and watched him go to work.
“Looks like you need to buy a new door, man.”
“Small talk is not going to work on me. Get out of here. You are wasting your time!” The deep voice cried out.
“Come on, man. You really think going out with a nail in your head is the right way to go. You have someone who needs you right now.”
What in the world was he doing? From all the stories and articles I’ve read, you don’t antagonize someone with a gun to their head. He nailed the freaking door shut; he was one step away from the looney bin.
Ryan and the deep voice, who after a while I learned was Mason, went back and forth. I know soldiers use last names, but to me, I liked to know their first name. I mean, I could call him McNeely, but it doesn’t seem right.
Ryan tried small talk, being direct and even military talk, but nothing seemed to work. There was a man with a nail gun, and I wanted to do something to help. Leaving the boys to their banter, I went to find the girl.
Exiting the house, I found her kicking rocks along the driveway. I knew what I was planning was insane and that Ryan was going to kill me, but sometimes you need to take a chance, and my gut was telling me I needed to do this.
“Is there another way into that room?”
She chewed the bottom of her lip and hesitated. “He would kill me if I told you. He doesn’t want anyone in there. Not even Ryan.”
“I won’t let Ryan in. I promise.” Praying she saw the truth in what I was saying, I waited patiently for her response.
“Ok.” She turned her back and started walking around the side of the building. “Are you coming or not?” She called out.
Running after her, she led me to a small opening in the wall that led to the room. Getting on my hands and knees, I saw the hole was big enough for a small body to crawl through and was about six feet deep. It led to a small room, and I could make out someone walking back and forth in the room.
“Is this the only other way into the room?”
“He wanted to build a safe room, and he made a small tunnel for his dog to get in and out of. He said nowhere else is safe. The walls are several feet thick and impenetrable, he says.”
God dammit. It was summer and, knowing the lovely state that is Montana, there was bound to be spiders all over that tunnel. I hate spiders with a fiery passion, and every single one of them should be burned to a crisp, but people say they were created for a purpose.
Mason started shouting at Ryan, and I could hear a few nails being released from the gun. Holy sweet alien babies, what the hell was I doing? This man could kill me without a second thought.
“Where is his dog now?” Trying to think of anything besides a nail being lodged into my skull or spiders crawling up my pants.
“She is locked in the master bedroom. She was panicking, and I didn’t want her hurt.” Her voice started to tremble, and I could tell she was trying not to lose it again.
“Don’t worry. I know what I am doing.”
“Do you?”
“No, but no one else is going to risk their life crawling into this tunnel and facing a guy with a loaded gun. And if Ryan found out, I’d be dead.”
Ryan would go ballistic when he found out. Good thing he was too distracted with Mason right now to even notice I was gone. Well, here goes nothing. Keeping my eyes closed, I army crawled through the tunnel until I reached the small impenetrable room. Staying within the confines of the tunnel and trying not to freak out, I looked around the room and saw Mason pointing the gun at the door.
Swallowing my nerves and putting my big girl panties on, I did the unspeakable. “Hey, Mason. Care to help a girl out here? I’m kind of stuck.”
Mason scanned the room, gun still pointed at the door, when his eyes landed on me. “Who the hell are you?” His voice boomed.
“I just said a girl is stuck here and the first thing you ask is ‘who the hell are you?’” I retorted back. I wasn’t stuck per say, but I needed to get his guard down somehow.
“Uh…”
“I’m not getting any younger down here. You don’t want Ryan to bust down the door because his woman is stuck in a tunnel with scary spiders trying to crawl up her legs and you let her have a panic attack, do you?”
That seemed to snap Mason out of wherever he was. He put the gun down on the table by the nail-ridden door and bent down to help me out. Sticking my arms out in front of me, Mason pulled me into the room and I proceeded to dust off my legs.
“Why are-“
“Don’t ask.”
Shivering to myself, I mentally thought about spiders crawling all over my legs and started to feel my chest tighten. Ever since I was a kid, seeing a black spider jump on your walls and four big burly dudes try to kill it with a two by four, with no success, I was terrified of them. Hence why I said they all need to burn because that was the only way we could kill the black spawn of Satan.
“Ryan can’t fit through that tunnel, can he?”
“Nah, I made sure the guys didn’t have a way in. It looks like I forgot about the nosey woman.” Mason gave me a quizzical look and turned his attention towards the door. “You might want to get out of here. If you are who I think you are, he will do anything necessary to get in here. Even kill me.”
“Aren’t you the man who used a nail gun to bolt himself inside your safe room and threatened to kill yourself?”
Mason ran his hand behind his neck and chuckled. “You got me there.” Seeing him like this, it was not what I pictured on the other side of the door. I imagined a man spitting, hair in every angle and veins popping out of his head. But he looked normal, with dark circles under his eyes. He wore a tight white t-shirt and black basketball shorts. His light red hair was styled in a shaggy crew cut and he had bright blue eyes. He was a dreamboat.
Shaking my head from my internal scan and trying not to drool, I focused on the task at hand. “You know, for a man who was ready to kill himself; you don’t seem like it. What gives?”
“I’m yelling at my brother when I hear this woman ask for help and talk about spiders crawling up her legs, and you looked petrified. I couldn’t just leave you there.”
“Huh, interesting.”
“BRIANNA!”
Oh, snap. Focusing on Mason, I forgot Ryan was on the other side of the door and could hear every word. I was done for. I made a promise to stay by his side and did the complete opposite.
“Keep your toga on! I am fine. Mason saved me from the spider army that was threatening to crawl up my legs. So cool it, beasty.” I yelled.
“Beasty?” Mason said, with a grin that would make any girl’s knees buckle.
“He gets all growly and overprotective. Plus, have you seen the dude? He is huge. Reminds me of a teddy bear, but is all soft and squishy on the inside. He is all bark and no bite.”
“I heard that! What the fuck are you doing in there? I told you to stay beside me!” Ryan growled. If I were on the other side, I'm sure he would tie me to the couch and give me a lecture. Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but I do things my own way.
“See! Beasty!” I pointed to the door and smiled. “But anyway, back to you. Why did me getting attacked and nearly dying, stop you from doing… Whatever it is you were doing?” I moved my arms in an up and down motion, pointing to the door.
“Already told you, you-“
I put my hand up in front of me and gave him my best ‘nice try buddy, what’s the real truth’ look.
“I-“
With crossed arms, I waited for him to tell me the truth. I may not know soldiers, but I knew when a man was yanking my chain.
“Fine! God, you are worse than Ryan!” He threw his hands in the air and sat down on the floor, with his arms on his kne
es.
“Hey, I did nothing.” Bending down to sit next Mason, I crossed my legs and waited for him to spill the beans.
“Are you an alien or something? You are not like any girl I have ever met.”
“Ha! I am one of a kind, mister. Just wait until you meet my best friends.” I wiggled my eyebrows at him, and he started to relax more.
“I’m good. Thanks.”
“So, tell me what happened. Obviously, Ryan cares a great deal about you, because we broke every speed limit just to get here. I was fearful for my life.” I pretended to be scared, but it failed miserably. I ended up laughing.
“Yeah.” He sighed heavily and had a haunted look on his face. I was worried he would bottle back up, but he shocked me when he looked me in the eyes and smirked. “You are not going to let this go, are you?”
“Ha! You had a gun to the door and wanted to shoot us. I will sit here for as long as it takes. But just know, this floor is really uncomfortable, and I have plenty of cushion on my ass. I can be here a while.”
“You must be the girl I’ve heard so much about.”
Giving him my best smile, I leaned back on my arms and made sure to get comfortable. I had a feeling this might take a while.
“Alright fine. Ever since coming home from my last tour… I can’t get him out of my head. He was my best friend. We served with each other for ten years. I was his best man at his wedding and I’m Godfather to his daughter. We may not have been blood, but he was the closest thing I had to a brother. One day, when we were in Iraq… It was our third tour, and it was going to be our last. We missed home, and it was time to put our boots up and rejoin the real world.”
There were only ten days left until we shipped out of that Godforsaken place and headed back home. Thomas grew to love the place, since we worked at one of the local hospitals. If bombs weren’t going off once a day, something was off. He was always the one to jump into the fire and save anyone. He was a true hero.”
But that day, fate had different plans. We were ambushed. We received word that the local cartel was selling stolen weapons, and we went to investigate. Whoever gave us that information was wrong, and we paid dearly. Fifteen men lost their lives that day. My best friend was blown to bits, and I was covered from head to toe with his parts. I lost my brother and fellow brothers in arms that day.”
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