Fort Hood, Texas, US

“Rise and shine, blondie” Andrew’s hoarse voice awakened me as he shook mu shoulder slightly. He must’ve been sleeping too since Rafe finally got bored and stopped talking with everyone on the trip. I raised my hand to scold him but a yawn cancelled my action. I looked around and quickly realised we were no longer in the air. We landed. We finally landed. What time is it? Where are we? Are we there yet?

The helicopter blades were still spinning but slowing down significantly as the sound of chatter and rush was overlaying the roaring engine. Yes, we were here.

“Don’t forget those files, Rafe.” I heard the captain yelling from the back of the helo.

“All of them? Damn…” he muttered under his breath as he grabbed the heavy looking stack of papers.

“Need help? I don’t have as many luggage as you do” I offered again, after my attempt with Pearl went terribly wrong but this time Rafe nodded.

I went to the back to grab my mediocre backpack that wasn’t so buff as the others’ and picked up the pile of incredibly thick folders. I turned my head outside the aircraft, looking for the captain but failed miserably. Who would’ve thought all the soldiers look THE SAME? Look for a woman, look for Yun. If Yun’s here, then the whole squad’s here, then the captain is here. Where the hell did everyone vanish?
I scoffed as I begun walking towards one of the entrances all the other soldiers were using, trying my best to not look desperate and clueless. I didn’t dare to ask or yell for someone as I was already earning some new stares from the rangers. If he went inside, then he must’ve gone to his office or something. An important place for… Important people…? I’m so bad at this. You had one job, FOLLOW ONE MAN.

“Are you lost, darlin’ ?” a thick voice spoke from behind me. Here we go again, you random little shit.

I turned my heels towards the voice and let me tell you, ‘the shit’ was, in fact, not so little. I was now facing the torso of a six-feet-something black haired man that, surprisingly, was not grinning or anything at me. His blue eyes looked, kidda promising if you’d ask me.

“What? No. I was just… Getting used to the surroundings”

“Then you must be new around here” he reached out his hand, clearly seeing that I have no free hands to shake his with.

“Kole Redfield. Captain of Squad Black” he said with a nod, lowering his hand.
“Maya Navarro, sir. Pleasure to meet you” I mirrored his nod as I suddenly felt the urge to bow in front of higher-ups. “There might me a slight chance I got separated from my squad” I replied with a forced smile. Smile and nod, Maya, smile and nod.

“Who are you looking for?”

“Captain Turner, sir. I was assigned to bring these folders” his eyes fell on the thick stack of papers and then looked over my shoulder.

“Follow me” I gave him a short nod and did as he said as we started walking on the long corridors of the base. They were much brighter and cleaner than the ones back in Jyromir. Of course they paid more attention to these facilities than we did. I mean… They were Americans after all.

“So how was your trip?” he finally spoke, trying to make small talk as we walked. Too bad for him that was the last thing I wanted.

“It was… Interesting. How about you?” I instantly passed the ball into his court.
“Kind of tiring. I had to set up some things regarding the last mission and my squad wasn’t exactly… Cooperative” I think no one was cooperative after the hell they’ve been through.

“They must be tired, too” a small chuckle escaped his lips which made me turn my head towards him. That smile. Goddamit, Maya. Focus for once!
We passed all kinds of rooms and offices until we came to a stop. A rusty grey door with no name on it.

“I guess this is your place” what’s this supposed to mean? It’s an office? A basement? A random room?
I opened the door only to reveal a mediocre living room similar to the one we had in Ukraine. The first half of the room was a small kitchen with a sink, drawers, standing bar and a small fridge on the side. The other half included a sofa, two armchairs that looked decades old and a mahogany coffee table that probably was their latest purchase since it was shining compared to anything else in the picture.

Of course they had a TV and a side table with… Books? Okay, now that was new for a military base. I’m pretty sure they all get bored sometimes, like any human being.

“This is your squad’s recreation room, I believe. They should regroup here at one point” At one point? Am I supposed to sit and wait here until someone comes to get me?

“Right… Thank you, captain Redfield” just as I saluted, I heard someone fast run behind me. Turning my head, my eyes met the captain’s but I saw something different in them. He looked like he was… Pissed. Was he mad at me for not finding or following him? Was he mad at me for not bringing his papers on time?

“What’s your deal?” he finally spoke as he made eye contact with the other man. God, he was so hard to read with that mask.

“Nothing, Hawk. Just showing the lady around. Trying to familiarise her with her new home.” He said effortlessly, ignoring the captain’s strong gaze. A moment of silence fell between them before his eyes finally landed on me again. I looked from him to the papers in my hands and gave him a faint smile as I handed him the pile.

“The folders, sir” He grabbed them without replying, giving me a small nod. Sparing the other man one last stony glance, he turned around and begun walking, motioning me to follow innocently behind him.

It was clearly he didn’t stand the captain one bit and I can’t help but wonder why. He was kinda… nice. Something I haven’t seen once since. Weird. Maybe some men really know how to talk to women around here. Or maybe some of them don’t really care if they are women or not.

“Thank you” he finally spoke in a low tone after a big exhale.

“Yeah… Um- sorry about that-“ my apologetic self begun, trying not to ruin the first impression even more. I really wanted to ask about his problem with the other captain but decided not to poke into more personal topics.

“Don’t bother. Just try and stick with others” he interrupted “You should be careful around here. Don’t put your trust in any person. They know you are new.” So bullying and misogynism still exist, good to know.

“Right. With the risk of being misled, I still asked a ‘local’ for directions” I replied, waiting for the smallest faintest most invisible amusement sign on his face. But nope.

We walked for a little while and passed a huge room which I assumed was the cafeteria after the smells coming from inside. I noticed some cooks shuffling inside and one of them stopped by the door. Her eyes seemed to lit up a little at the sight of me. I just smiled and kept walking besides the captain. Feels good to know there is another human here with the Y chromosome.

Four flights of stairs later we have reached a long corridor with not so many soldiers roaming around. I suppose we have finally found the headquarters.

“The tests start tomorrow morning at 8.” He stated out of nowhere. “You don’t have any bad health conditions, do you?"

“Not as far as I know, no.” if I had asthma or something like that my ticket to meeting God on the battlefield would be premium class.

“We’ll see about that. We’re here.” we stopped in front of a washed white door and he took out a set of keys from his pocket. “This will be your room. This side of the floor is our squad’s HQs.” He said gesturing towards five other doors with silver name plates on them. Mine was the only one with no plate on it. At least for now. “Down the hall on the right side you will find private showers. Only women are allowed there so you won’t be bothered.”

He unlocked and opened the door with a sharp creak. After thanking him I stepped inside to adjust to the surroundings. A simple white room with plain walls and a small window was unveiling in front of my eyes. It was way more modest than any campus room I’ve ever been to but at least it looked cleaner than one. I’ve been visiting my colleague’s private campus one night and had an amazing meeting with a huge bug in the bathroom. I think those are genetically modified or something because I did not study gigantic insects at school my whole life.
On the right side was a mediocre cabinet next to an oak worn out desk with a very uncomfortable-looking chair. Facing the desk was a single bed with clean white sheets and a side table. There was also a lamp I don’t think I want to plug in if I don’t have suicidal thoughts. Overall: a place I can live and survive in.

“Thank you, sir.” he replied with a small nod and handed me the keys, taking his leave.

“Training at 6 in the morning. Don’t be late. Oh, and I almost forgot about this” he reached deeper in his back pocket and gave me a phone with a charger. “Don’t get too attached to it.”

“Of course not, sir” it’s not like I had any other personal belongings with me anyway