Thanks for the reviews for the first chapter. It lets me see that people actually think this story can go somewhere.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters belong to JE.

Enjoy!


Chapter 2

Thankfully, I had gotten my certified nursing certificate from the technical school that combined with my high school, otherwise I probably would not have gotten into the Army Nurse Corps. I have only taken some courses at the community college. So, I just had to pass the normal requirements for Army corps nursing. I know I will receive some more training before getting put out in the field, but it's nerve wracking to think about. This is potentially the third world war which is why my involvement is especially needed. Telling Joe had gone over as well as expected, and after our goodbye I went on to tell my family. Surprisingly, it went better than expected. My father was beyond proud, my mother, while a little shocked, accepted it calmly. Then there was Grandma Mazur, she was beyond delighted and her words came back to me, "You'll get to be with all those hotties, giving them expert care." With those words, she gave me a wink. I rolled my eyes at the time. I would not have time to flirt while in a dangerous war zone.

I look around me on the plane and see lots of people dozing off, not worried a bit. We're headed to San Antonio, Texas to complete our Officer Basic Course or OBC as they call it. We'll all be in close quarters for nine weeks down in Fort Sam Houston. I'm excited and nervous at the same time. I'm excited to be serving my country in a way it needs, and I'm nervous that my service could potentially get me killed. I had signed up and passed my classes over the summer after hiding my attendance at Seton Hall University. Luckily, Grandpa Mazur had saved college money for me that I was able to use freely. I then used that to pay for the final classes to ensure I would qualify. I had been watching the news for a while and sometime last year the urge to help hit me. Now here I am, off to a foreign country in less than two months.

Thankfully, I've already bought a pair of approved boots and broken them in, which is apparently crucial to being successful. I'll get my full uniforms when I arrive on base. I've already gotten my fitness uniforms which consist of a gray t-shirt with the word army written across along with some black sweatpants, and a sweatshirt similar to the shirt. I also received my army combat uniform (ACU) which is the full camouflage uniform most people are accustomed to seeing. The third uniform will be waiting for me when I get to base. It is my army service uniform (ASU) which is the nicest of them all. It is very formal. I'm not exactly sure what to expect when I get on base, but I know I will be taking a lot of orders. I have to finish and pass two online courses to help prepare me as well. They include Antiterrorism Awareness Level 1 (ATL 1) and Composite Risk Management (CRM) Basic course. I feel like I should be able to pass with ease. I will mostly likely struggle the most with the physical aspects of my stay on base. I'm not overweight, or out of shape, but I am in no way a fitness buff. To prepare, I had been running two miles a day, but I'm not sure if that will be enough. With my worried thoughts going through my mind, I drift off into a fitful sleep.

The plane lands and I am jolted from my sleep. I open my bleary eyes, and I allow my body to stretch, to wake up. I'm suddenly nervous with butterflies flying rampantly in my stomach. What if I'm not good at being an army nurse? What if they don't want me? I close my eyes and take a deep breath and clear those thoughts from my mind. After rolling to a stop at the gate, we finally file off the plane. I can already feel the Texas heat as I head into the air conditioned airport. I head to the baggage claim to retrieve my duffle bag. Once I collect my stuff, I head outside to hail a cab to the next journey in my life.


"You'll need to go undercover as a jihad extremist," General Adams explains, handing me a folder. I open it up and see all the information about one, Fahad Imani. My mother had been killed by Americans shortly after 9/11, and since then I've hated all Americans and become a follower of the extreme jihadists. I shudder to think that many Middle Eastern people actual believe and think in this way. They get sucked into the extremist's way of thinking and then they don't care who they hurt as long as it's in the name of their Allah. I have nothing against Muslims or Middle Eastern people until they become a threat to my country. I close the folder, knowing I will become well acquainted with it in a few hours.

"Our mission is to go in, find the leader and try and take over," the general continues explaining. I'm shocked, but I know my facial features let nothing show. Take over? Take over our enemies who will outnumber me?

"You'll try and covertly change their viewpoints as you're in there and gain their trust. Once you have done this, you become their leader and you make the violence stop," he continues as though this mission will be the easiest thing possible. You've gotta be fucking kidding me. This mission shouts FUBAR, and I haven't even started yet.

"With all due respect sir, I'm not sure this will work, and if it does…what does that mean for me? Am I supposed to stay and lead to make sure no violence happens again?" I question wondering if I'll ever lead a civilian life again. He sighs.

"We've worked out most of the details…but that was one kink we had. I'm beginning to rethink this plan as well. We want to keep casualties down, but as of now, there are a lot of injured," he replies, "I guess take out as many as you can without becoming too suspicious." I nod, thinking this would be much better for me in the long run.


A week in and I'm tired and sore. I've already added definition to my body I never knew could happen. My soft curves are slowly leaving my body. They're training us to eat on food typical of the war zone, and we've been running drills almost all day every day. It's running everyone ragged. I'm surprised by the fact that most of the other nurses are men with only a few of us women. I've been missing home something fierce, but the weather has been nice. It's a nice dry heat with little humidity which is not what I'm used to. My hair has been cooperating, not that it matters since it's been up in a bun. Today, we're meeting with a seasoned field medic who will be drilling and testing us. I've heard he's a real bad ass but also young and handsome. While the medics I've been working with are men, they're still too young and not very easy on the eyes. I could definitely go for some encouraging eye candy. I'm nervous I won't pass, but I have to believe in my instincts and my skill. I was at the top of my class for this kind of stuff. I should not be worried. But I am. I guess that's healthy, right?

After finishing up our morning workout routine, we've been instructed to put on our ACUs to simulate what it will be like out in the field. One thing I've noticed, the army sure loves acronyms. Once we've gotten dressed—quickly—we head outside. They've set up a special practice area right in front of the medical brigade gym. They've got tents up with medical stations inside. I wonder how this is going to work. I glance over at Mercedes, one of the other females in the group with me. We've become acquaintances since our time here. We're on the same level fitness wise so we bonded. She's from the Bronx in New York. She's tough and witty. We get along nicely. We continue assessing our situation and file in a line in front of the tents. We stand silently, straight, with our arms behind our backs as a man comes out of the tent. He's at least six foot with broad shoulders. His uniform hints at the bulging muscles underneath. His hair is short brown, and from what I can tell so are his eyes. His skin is dark, but I'm not sure if he's mixed or not. He comes to a stop and assesses each of us.

"My name is Sergeant Major Brown and you will address me as such. Today we will be doing field drills. You will partner up and take turns being an injured soldier. Each time you will drag your partner inside the tent and then inside, you will practice stitching on dummies. I will be shouting orders and be making sure you do everything in a timely manner." I swallow hard at his words, but my eyes find Mercedes. She gives me a quick nod. Well, at least I have a partner.

"Yes Sergeant Major," we all reply in unison. Sergeant Major Brown claps his hands.

"Line up with one of you by the tents and the others fifty yards from the field," he commands. We scuttle to do as he says. It looks like I will be the medic in our first round since I ran for the tent, and Mercedes went to the field. Once we've lined up, he gives us more orders.

"Medics! Get in your tents, soldiers, fall to the ground!" Brown commands in his powerful voice. Being closer to him, I can definitely tell he is an attractive man. He seems to be half black and half white, but I couldn't be sure. He has a slight accent that sounds like he may be from New Jersey…maybe I'll get the chance to ask him sometime. Once inside the tents, I see the many gurneys with fake patients on them, and each one seems to have different wounds. Sergeant comes close to all of us.

"Now, this simulation is not exactly like a war zone but it will have to do. I'm giving you strict time requirements in order to show you the pressure you will be under. The only downfall is there will be no real threat to your lives in this situation. When you're abroad, you will always be in danger," he explains, "Go get your fallen men! Fast!" As soon as the order is off of his lips, I take off. I'm not the fastest one, but hopefully my knowledge and skill will be on my side. I run to Mercedes, and I'm not the last to reach my man. I bend down quickly, and using my legs, I hoist her up. I then throw her over my shoulder in the fireman's carry. With her safely secured, I run back as fast as I can. Mercedes' weight hinders my running, but I push through. If this really happens, I need to be fast. Ignoring the pain, I push myself faster. After depositing her safely inside the tent, Brown meets my eyes and points to one of the many patients. I quickly go over to the table. I see a small chart and my hope deflates as I notice only four words. Gunshot wound to chest. No other description to help me. I quickly set to work. I check to see if the gunshot wound has made it clean through. I notice it hasn't. I'm surprised by the gush of blood from the point of entry. Damn, these dummies are very realistic. I grab gauze to try and staunch the bleeding. I know the only way to help him is to remove the bullet if I can. I grab a pair of the forceps to examine the wound. I see the bullet has not gone too deep. I know what I need to do—remove the bullet and quickly stitch him up.

"You have five minutes!" I see that the Sergeant Major is directing that command to me. Okay, five minutes. I've got this. I give him a quick nod. I feel his eyes on me, but I ignore it for the sake of the dummy in front of me. I carefully use the forceps to grip the bullet. I steady my right hand with my left in order to make sure the bullet comes out slowly and steadily. I pull up slowly with the same amount of force. The bullet comes rushing out. I quickly put it in a clear container at my side and grab a syringe labeled 'anesthetic.' I made sure to administer it and then I got some gauze. I dabbed the wound before getting the needle and thread. I sewed up the dummy in the way I was taught before covering it with gauze. I looked up to see Sergeant Major Brown giving me a nod of approval.

"4 minutes and 30 seconds," he acknowledges. "You two wait until the rest have completed then you switch." Mercedes and I nod before turning to watch our competition. A few other teams had finished, but we were fourth or fifth, to my relief. I watched as some of my comrades cracked under the pressure and could not complete their tasks with the time Brown had allotted. Others were speedy, yet he would have to correct their hastily done procedures. I felt a swell of pride knowing I had done mine with thought, and I still beat the time. Everyone finally finished and we did it all again—switching our roles. I went fifty yards out and laid down on the grass like a rag doll. It wasn't long before I heard Brown give the signal and the rush of feet was next. I counted, and it took Mercedes almost six seconds to reach me. She bent down, much like I did, and threw me over her shoulder. She ran as quickly as she could, and it took her about four seconds longer with me on her back. Once inside the tent, she puts me down and sees Brown point to a table. I follow to observe her. I see she gets a man with a bullet wound in his calf. Oh, that's dangerous. She sets to work quickly, and sets up a tourniquet on the dummy. Smart move, I would do the same. She then examines the bullet would.

"Five minutes to you," Brown instructs to Mercedes. I feel like the time is inadequate for such a wound, but I guess he's trying to be realistic. She basically does what I had to do. She removes the bullet wound and stitches him up before putting the gauze on. Brown returns when he notices she finished.

"Four minutes and fifty-five seconds," he comments as we both sigh in relief. We both want to do well. We idly chat and watch the others as we wait for the end. Everyone finishes and Brown ushers us to gather up.

"These field tests are so I can categorize each of you and help me decide who is suited for the war zone…" he pauses, "and who would be better off helping somewhere else in another aspect." I nodded, his reasoning makes perfect sense. I just hope I impress him and make it to the field. I have the strangest feeling that I am meant for the field. I think when it happens my life will change forever, but not in a horrible I'm gonna die way.

"Most of you performed well under the time constraints I imposed, but you all have a long way to go," Sergeant Major Brown finishes, "now off to lunch." We all relax as we walk to the building we eat lunch in. I'm surprised to see Sergeant Major Brown accompanying the group. Somehow, Mercedes and I end up walking next to him. I work up some courage to talk with him…hopefully he's willing.

"Permission to speak Sergeant Major Brown?" I request as we continue walking. He glances over at me with a blank face before giving a nod.

"I noticed you had a slight accent, sir, I am just wondering where you are from?" I ask politely.

"New Jersey," is all the reply I receive. Ha! I was right.

"Oh me too, sir!" I exclaim, "Which part, if you don't mind my asking." I feel like he would roll his eyes, but he surprisingly answers.

"I'm from Newark, but I work in Trenton when I'm not doing something for the military," he explains, and I'm definitely shocked that he gave me more than one word.

"I live in Trenton, my name is Stephanie Plum," I reply. He gives a nod, but no reply. I decide to stop questioning him before he decides to cut me off. We enter the building to enjoy lunch.


AN: I did some research and Sam Fort Houston is real as well as most of what Steph has to complete. I did take some creative liberties and make up the training they did at the end. If you see anything too unrealistic or any mistakes I would love to know. I'd also like to know if you liked the chapter so PLEASE review and tell me what you're thinking so far.