Dempsey and I were childhood friends. We always liked to play together when time permitted. When I was six, his family moved across the road from me, and he introduced himself. From that day forth we were inseparable.

I guess that's part of the reason I'm standing here now.

"Look, precious, I've already spelled it out for you. Do you want me to write it down? NO. WOMEN. ALLOWED." The draft man, in his thick Jersey accent, scolds me.

"Please, sir. Just let me sign up! I'll show you what I can do!" I bang my fist on the table, and I feel rage beginning to rise in my soul.

The man sighs loudly, and his expression turns angry.

"Look baby, we've got plenty of prostitutes to buy around here... we don't need another perky blonde runnin' around givin' us orders, capiche? Now how's about you go back to the kitchen, and make some of my boys a sandwich, okay honey? NEXT!"

My face turned red-hot as he brushes me out of the way, causing the dozens of men in the line behind me to erupt with laughter. I grit my teeth.

"Yeah, baby! I'll take a turkey on rye, okay?" I hear I voice shout from the middle of the line.

I wheel around, my anger overtaking my wit.

"The only kind of sandwich you'll be getting from me is a KNUCKLE SANDWICH!" I growl and wave my fists at the line, and the guys gasp and laugh again.

"Ooh, you hear that, Jack? She's gonna stomp ya'!" A dark-headed man laughs, as another steps out of line to advance toward me.

The man, who I assume issued the comment,  must be at least six feet tall, and he wears a smirk on his face. As he nears, the smell of cheap alcohol and cigars wafts toward me.

"Aww, look at this. You better watch it, baby. I've got a short temper. But you know what? You're cute, so I'll let you off here. Heh, I bet you ain't never even shot a gun." 'Jack' crosses his arms and looks down at me condescendingly.

"You really want to make that bet?" I challenge, scoffing and looking him dead in the eyes. A roar comes from the crowd that we have attracted, and even the draft man is interested and smirking.

"Oh? Okay sweetie, how about we make a deal? If you make a bullseye before me, I'll convince General Briggs to let you in. But if you lose..."

I watch and nearly gag as Jack takes a lusty look over my body with his acidic green eyes.

"You're coming home with me tonight, and I'm going to show you a real good time. I mean, either way, it's a win for you." He chuckles and the rest of the men follow.

I take a minute to think. Do I risk my virginity for the sake of pride? Or do I back down and show my weakness?

No. I never back down.

"You promise that if I win, you'll tell the General to let me in? And why would he listen to you, a new recruit?"

Jack smirks. "Because I'm his son, darling. If you don't believe me, ask Roger here." He points to the draft man.

My eyes widen, and I look to the draft man for confirmation. He nods.

A look of determination crosses my visage. Even if they were both lying, I wouldn't back down, no way.

"Fine. I'm ready."

Jack smirks and raises his hand. "Bring me two Springfields, somebody. I'm going to show Baby Blue how its done in the Army."

A cheer erupts from the crowd, as two guys nod and head toward a case of weapons. As they pull out the rifles, a pang of worry hits me.

What if I lose?

I am not one to break promises... but I couldn't go home with this awful man!

Suddenly, a sniper rifle is shoved into my hands by a burly man with red hair and freckles.

"Good luck, sugar. You're gonna need it! Jackie here's one of the best shooters around these parts."

I gulp, but not visibly, so as not to show any form of fear. I am led, with the entire line of men and Jack, to the outdoor area, where the same two men set up two firing ranges.

"Alright! Say the all clear!" Jack shouts to the other side, as the men come running back to the safe side of the barrier.

"Clear, Jack." The red man nods and pats Jack.

All of a sudden, the loud ruckus from the crowd comes to a stop, as Jack raises his gun to fire.

Instinctively, I cover my ears, as I never liked loud noises.

BANG!

I flinch as Jack's rifle goes off, and two men are sent to retrieve the target. Jack leans on the gun, like an idiot, and smirks.

"Baby, you are so coming home with me tonight. I hit that right in the middle." The crowd laughs, and then gasps as the target comes into view. I take a look for myself, and see that there is a pea-sized hole of impact, just about a half-inch off of the bullseye.

My eyes widen, and I take a deep breath, and begin to ready my gun.

"You could just give up now and take your reward." Jack coos, and I feel him trying to distract me.

I remain silent and still, steadying my aim and loosening my grip on the Springfield rifle.

The world around me begins to blur, and it is now just me, the rifle, and my target.

I inhale deeply, before holding my breath, aiming at the red bullseye...

And finally, I fire.

The ricochet of impact echoes in the courtyard, and the men go silent again. My heart begins to beat at a million miles per minute.

The men go to retrieve my target.

The crowd gasps as it comes into view.

"W-what!" Jack grunts as I smile wide.

Bullseye.

"Yes!!!" I can't help but exclaim, overjoyed that I have beaten Jack, and will not be taking a visit to his home.

However... he had other plans.

"Hmmph... you bitch...." he growls, and I become worried as his eyes fill with fire, looking at me. Before I can react, his arms lift me up and sling me over his shoulder as he walks out. "You're coming with me anyway!"

"Hey!!! Put me down, you jerk!!!" I continuously try to knee him, to no avail. I can scarcely breathe, let alone move my legs. I watch the masses, as they do absoulutely nothing to help me.

"Hey, Jack... she won fair and square...-" I hear the familiar voice of the draft man call to him.

"Out of my way, Roger!!! I'll stomp you to the ground!!!" Jack rams through the sea of army-men and almost makes it to the door when a loud voice calls out.

"Hey!"

I wriggle around in his grip, as Jack stops.

"Put her down. Now." My eyes widen as a deep voice advances toward me. I am turned the opposite direction, so I can't see him, but at this point, I already know who it is.

I also know that if I am not released, this will not be pretty for Jack.

"Or what? What are you going to do about it?" Jack spits in the man's direction.

"You wanna find out?" I hear a step forward and the crowd disperses and goes quiet.

"Get outta here, 'fore I stomp you too." Jack reels, and turns back around, causing me to be able to see my soon to be savior.

He doesn't look happy at all. I have seen that face before, and I know someone is about to get beaten to a pulp.

That man happens to be my captor.

"I asked you nicely. Put. Her. Down." The vigilante fights through the dust from Jack's boots, and he grabs the fabric of Jack's shirt, and wheels him around.

"Hey, don't you touch me, asshole!" All of a sudden, I feel my bottom come into hard contact with the rocky ground. "That's it, you're going to get-"

"That's about enough out of you." Tank Dempsey soars right into Jack's jaw with a powerful right jab.

I smirk, and already know the outcome of the battle. Taking a stance, I back a safe distance away from the fight and catch my breath, watching and holding back a smile.

Just minutes later, Dempsey is standing over the now bleeding Jack, and all the men in the crowd are in awe of his strength.

"Never touch her, or any other girl again, if you know what's good for you." Tank growls down at the man whose blood has begun to drip down his chin. He looks up weakly at his superior and scoffs, stumbling to his feet. Without another word, the General's son trudges off with a nasty look on his face.

"Hey!" I shout, suddenly remembering the promise he'd made to me. "What about our deal!"

He did not respond, but looked back in my direction, Tank crossing his arms as a warning. I had a feeling that our deal would go through without his help, anyway.

I make eye contact with Tank for the first time in a while, and expect his expression to soften, but I am wrong. As the crowd returns to the line, he approaches me.

"What the hell are you doing here?" He asks in a harsh tone, looking down at me disappointedly. "You're going to get hurt, damn it, I told you not to follow me here!" He whispers, so that only he and I can likely hear.

"I'm not letting you do this alone!" I fight back, clenching my fists.

He sighs somewhat angrily. "No, I need to do this alone. I came here to fight for this country, and I can't let you risk your life to come with me. Go home." He walks past me, and I grunt and get back in line, watching him walk around to a place where he leans against the wall and watches me with furrowed brows. Less than 10 minutes later, I am the next person in line to sign the forms.

I hear my best friend verbally growl, and out of my peripheral vision, I see him get up from his resting place, and I shoot a warning look at him.

"No, sit down." I mouth silently. Deep inside, I know he knows that I will not falter in my path.

"Next!" calls the draft man, Roger.

He sighs, and I cross my arms at him. He looks down at the papers, as if debating upon whether he should allow me to sign.

My heart stops, and my eyebrows furrow.

"Last name then first, age, weight, birthday, height, gender... signature at the bottom." Roger slides the papers across the table and slams a black pen on the table, and I almost gasp. "Can't promise you'll make it past basics... but you at least earned the chance to try."

I shakily pick up the pen as thoughts circle in my mind.

I fill out the required fields.

Age: 22

Birth Date: June 16, 1890.

Height:  5' 4"

Write in: Gender: Female.

Signature:

I pause before pressing my pen to the paper, and ask myself if I am making the correct choice. I look over at Dempsey, who sighs immediately.

I finally graze my pen across the white, coarse paper.

Eliza Washington.

I slide the paper toward the man and click the pen. "Thank you, sir." I say, as I walk out of line.

Mentally I begin to prepare myself for whatever was to come in this tough time.

I could never have prepared myself enough.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter One complete? Hope you guys enjoyed.... not so happy with the way this was written. I'd like to know what you guys think!

TO THE START OF A NEW BOOK! *raises glass*

Love, Mac <3