"I'm never going to your mama's house. I promise." Robert Epps pointed his finger at the man across from him.
"Bobby, Bobby!" Fig shook his head. "Alligators are know to have the most succulent meat."
Epps rolled his eyes as the man went off in Spanish, mouthing strange words along with Fig.
"English, please. English." Robert grumbled.
"How many times-" The young man next to Fig glanced around. "We don't speak Spanish, man."
"Why you gotta ruin it for me, man? That's my heritage!" Fig began before spewing out his native language.
"We don't do Spanish." Lennox muttered, turning his head away.
"Hey," The man across from Lennox spoke up, peering through his glasses. "You remember weekends in the States? Eatin' a cold hot dog and drinking a flat beer?"
"Hmm." Fig nodded, and looked at Lennox. "What about you, Captain?"
"I just can't wait to hold my baby girl for the first time." He smiled, listening as his friends started teasing him. "Shut up!"
"What about you, Lieutenant?" Fig leaned to look at the quiet figure on the other side of Lennox. "Lieutenant?"
"Someone poke-" Donnelly, the flat beer guy, started.
"Dude, I'm Spanish. Not suicidal." Fig protested, raising his hands.
"Good." The Lieutenant finally spoke up, and the figure leaned forward on her knees. "Cause by now, if you had poked me, you'd be hard pressed to fire your gun for several weeks."
"Mitch, you wound me." Fig cried, dramatically clutching his heart as their ride lowered towards the base.
"I can if you want me to. But then you'd have to see the medic." Fig shuddered.
"Look how pathetic they are," Mitch snorted, hands on her hips as she leaned against a pole near her childhood friend. Lennox snorted. "In their little blow up kiddy pools, and their blow up toys. Wonder what they'd do if their pools were suddenly popped?"
"You're not going to do it are you?" Will looked up.
"Maybe. Maybe not. You'll never know. I'm gonna find Rob and get a game of poker going. Say hi to Sarah for me during your video chat." Mitch turned and walked off, smiling down at the local boy running towards the Captain. He smiled back and rushed up to Will.
Mitch sauntered past the tents housing other units and ducked into the fourth from the end of base.
Fig and Epps were standing in their boxers, arguing. Fig was going off in Spanish again, and Epps looked as though he wanted to blow.
Mitch grinned, crossing her arms over her bound chest.
"You guys were having an underwear party and you didn't tell me?!" She snickered, stepping towards her cot on the other side of the room. The poker chips and the cards she'd brought were stashed underneath.
"Yes?" Fig nodded, grabbing his pants from his own cot, clean ones. "I'm having a shower. Deal me a hand, chica. I'll be back in tres minutos."
The Spanish man left and Epps grumbled as he dressed.
Mitch shook her head and swept everything on their small table onto the ground before opening the case.
"You're gonna have to clean that up." Rob pointed out as he pulled on his shirt. Mitch shrugged, shuffling the cards.
"You still got that bag of pretzels?" The woman asked, blowing some of her short black hair from her eyes with a grin.
"Nope. I've got Cheezies though. Monica sent them. I love her care packages." Rob fished under his cot and then paused. "You should get a boyfriend, like a chef. Then he can send us good food."
"Tch. Doubt he'd be able to keep up with me." Mitch snickered. "I live for danger. A chef would be too goody-two-shoes. Hurry up, Rob."
"I'm comin'." He mumbled as Fig rushed back in.
"Did you feel that?" Mitch frowned, snatching up one of her Cheezies.
"Feel what? All in." Rob pushed is tiny pile of Cheezies into middle. The ground shook and there was a sudden spray of gun fire. Mitch and Rob dropped what they were doing and bolted, grabbing their weapons on the way out.
Mitch easily pulled ahead of her black friend, her long legs providing swiftness. The two pistols she kept at the small of her back were out in seconds, loaded and ready.
She skidded to a halt, grey eyes wide at the giant walking weapons platform. There were a pair of copter blades on it's back and two bright crimson optics shone through the dark metal of its face.
The woman ducked beneath a stationary tank, gazing around. Her eyes caught movement and she crawled under the war machine before darting over to where Lennox, Donnelly and Fig were hiding.
"What is that thing!?" Mitch hissed, crouching beside them.
"Big, ugly and ready to kill us?" Lennox growled, peering around the edge of the tank they were hidden behind. "Where's Epps?"
"Uh," Mitch internally growled at herself. 'Uh' was not professional. She swung her grey eyes around the dark military base. "He was behind me...kind of."
Fig sent up a spray of dirt as he skidded into their hideout.
"What the hell is that thing!?" The Spaniard squeaked.
"That, my friend, is a giant freaking robot. And it is trying to kill us." Mitch finally spotted Epps, beneath the behemoth metal invader. "My suggestion: Save Epps, and then haul ass out of here!"
"I like that!" Lennox nodded. "Let's do that!"
Fig fumbled for the flare gun at his waist, firing one of the two flares he had straight into the chest of the metal monster. The team shared looks as Epps ran forward and Lennox pulled him behind the tank.
"Fire the other one for cover, and then we'll run." Mitch tensed. The team looked at Lennox who pointed to her with a very serious expression. "Fig, pop a flare."
"Yes, sir." Fig loaded up his gun.
"Don't call me sir." She growled, and then looked at Epps. "Do I look like a sir?"
Epps shook his head as Fig fired and the group of soldiers dashed for the edge of the military base, where the sands offered protection. The sand would not offer protection from the sun, if they managed to escape. Lennox, Donnelly, Fig and all the other men were dressed in full battle uniform; Lennox, Donnelly and Fig not having been able to take it off.
Epps and Mitch on the other hand, were both wearing their uniform pants, which were surprisingly comfortable, combat boots, and tank-tops. The one Mitch wore was one of her favorites, a blue loose top she'd gotten on sale at a Walmart, one which read 'You're just jealous because the voices only talk to me!'. It was quite comfortable thank you very much. Against the large group of escapees, which wasn't many, Epps and Mitch would be the only too not roasting in their clothing.
There was probably a seventy percent chance that most of the men, because Mitch was the only woman, would strip off their clothes and leave them behind.
Mitch easily kept up with her Captain, glancing over her shoulder twice, once with a camera on the crappy flip phone she kept with her to take pictures. It was the only reason she had it.
Mitch had no direct family left, and the distant relations she had she didn't talk to. She had no romantic partner, so there was no one to call. And the phone was shit anyway.
The only person she called was the pizza place, by borrow her neighbours phone, and Will Lennox, usually by a nearby payphone outside her apartment building.
But she wasn't home; Michelle "Mitch" King was stuck in the desert of Qatar, running from a giant robot, and she was about to get sucked into something, she had no idea was coming.