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Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum
By Portrait of a Scribe
"For everything there is a season, And a time for every matter under heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; ...A time to kill, and a time to heal; ...A time for war, and a time for peace."
--Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
Chapter 1.
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2030 A.D. - Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton - 1941 hours
Amanda was just going into the mess hall for dinner when she spotted Dwayne walking toward her. She also noticed that he had a little boy and a little girl with him, probably not much older than she was. The boy was tanned with dark brown hair, almost the same color as Amanda's if not a shade lighter, and hazel eyes. The girl, on the other hand, had light, honey-blonde hair, and her pale skin offset her own hazel gaze. They both had wide eyes and full lips. Both of the children, however, looked so sad and sullen that Amanda almost felt her heart break.
However, Amanda grinned through the ache, and waved to Dwayne when she saw him looking over at her.
"Dwayne!" she called cheerfully. "Wanna grab a bite to eat?"
Amanda saw Dwayne glance at the kids, and then he turned to her. "Sure," he said. "Hope you don't mind company."
"Not at all!" Amanda returned. That said, she watched as the big Marine led the two children over to where she was standing. Amanda smiled at the pair, trying to make them feel welcome.
"Hi!" Amanda said. "My name's Amanda Halley. You can just call me Amanda."
The pair were silent, looking forlorn and huddling together like they only had each other.
'These are Samantha and John Grimm," Dwayne supplied when he saw that they weren't going to answer. "They're going to be staying on base for a while."
Amanda smirked wryly at them. "I'm sure we'll all become the best of friends, then," she drawled. "At least, that's what I'm supposed to say. You might not like me, though. I tend to swear a lot, and a bunch of people've told me I'm insensitive and cynical."
"Even though you shouldn't swear," Dwayne growled. Amanda shrugged nonchalantly.
"Well, whaddaya 'spect?" she quipped, putting her hands on her hips and looking up at the Marine with a raised eyebrow. "I live around Marines, so I'm going to adopt some of their habits."
She paused. "At least, that's what Simmons always says."
"Awfully smart-sounding for a shrimp," Dwayne muttered as Amanda led the way into the mess hall. She turned so that she was walking backwards, and glowered at him.
"I'm not a shrimp!" she protested. "You're just a big fucking giant!"
"Amanda Blair Halley!" exclaimed a female voice from behind her. Amanda flinched, and Dwayne smirked at her.
"Tex," Amanda greeted, laughing sheepishly as she turned around and tucked her hands behind her back. "What're you doing here?"
"I cannot believe that a ten-year-old would use such language!" Tex scolded. She angrily brushed a strand of auburn hair out of her flashing, ice-blue eyes. Amanda gulped as her 'big sister' scowled down at her.
"But Tex," Amanda whined.
"No 'buts', young lady!" Tex growled. Her eyes flashed. "I don't want to ever hear you say something that foul again until after you've proven yourself worthy of such language! Now go eat your dinner!"
Amanda scowled, but did as she was told, while behind her Dwayne just snickered at her expense. Samantha and John were just as quiet and solemn as before.
Amanda sighed as she stepped into one of the food lines that ran around the mess hall, this one on the right-hand side of the doors.
Why'd Tex have to be so mean? Amanda fumed. She ignored Dwayne's continuing chuckles as he slid into line just behind her. It must be that time of the month, or something.
"You totally got owned, Amanda," Dwayne sniggered. Amanda snarled and whirled on him, her fist flying out to catch him in the side. He grunted, but continued to chuckle, unfazed by the blow.
"Shut up, numbnuts!" Amanda hissed. Dwayne scowled dirtily at her for the slight. "You're scared of Tex, too!"
He gave her an odd look, which was echoed by the Grimm kids. "Everybody's scared of Tex, Amanda."
"Yeah," she stated, "so you have no right to tease me."
Dwayne shook his head. "I'll never understand your train of logic," he mumbled.
"All the better," Amanda groused, and then shivered slightly. "That Sheila Burns Church is the scariest teach around!"
"Better kiss some ass in homeroom tomorrow, then," Dwayne pointed out. Amanda huffed as she finally reached the food counter and took a tray.
"I don't kiss nobody's ass!" she crowed proudly. "I'm not a suck-up! Everything I get, I earn!"
Dwayne raised an eyebrow at her, taking his own tray and following her through the line after making sure that Samantha and John had gotten trays of their own.
"Including the food you're going to be eating?" he pressed. Amanda paused, and then nodded with a scowl at him.
"I help make it, you know," she told him. "I come in here and help the cooks." She paused, and then coughed. Sotto, she added, "Usually it's after I mouth off to somebody." Then, suddenly, she turned to the Marine behind the counter. "Simmons? Did you cut your finger again?"
The Marine in question glanced down at his bandaged hand, and then gave Amanda a tight smile. "Yeah, I seem to be pretty clumsy, huh?"
Amanda grinned at the young man with the mousy brown hair and muddy brown eyes. "That's okay," she said. "Just slow down when you're peeling the potatoes, next time, and you'll be fine."
Simmons chuckled at the inside joke, and then ladled a dollop of mashed potatoes onto Amanda's tray. "Have a good dinner, Amanda."
"You, too, Sims," Amanda returned. Then she moved on, missing the glances that were exchanged between the Grimm children.
By the time they got through the food line, Amanda had joked and chatted with no less than six Marines, and had a plate piled high with potatoes, carrots, chicken, turkey, roast beef, and green beans. Most of it, she knew, was left over from the Thanksgiving dinner that the base had had the night before.
Sitting down at a table, Amanda waited until Dwayne, John, and Samantha sat down next to and across from her. Then she looked expectantly at Dwayne. He caught the look and sighed.
"Can't we just skip it this once?" he asked. Amanda scowled at him and shook her head. Dwayne rolled his eyes, but then bowed his head and folded his hands. Amanda did the same, as did the Grimm kids after a moment.
"Thank you, God, for your love, and thank you also for the grub," Amanda prayed, closing her eyes. Then she softly recited the Lord's Prayer under her breath.
Amanda opened her eyes a moment later and dried them on her sleeve, and then she tucked into her food. It was a few minutes before she noticed John staring at her.
"Wut?" she asked thickly around a mouth full of potatoes.
"Why were you crying?" he asked sofly. Amanda blinked.
"It's a beautiful prayer," she explained, as though it was obvious. "Aside from Psalm 23, it's my favorite."
"Her family's Lutheran," Dwayne interjected. "They live back in Missouri." He took a stab at a piece of turkey. "Half her favorite songs are hymns, and the other half are hard rock and mother-cussing metal."
Amanda scowled at him. "That's not true!" she objected. "I happen to have a very wide range of musical tastes!"
"Name four genres that you really like," Dwayne challenged with a raised eyebrow. Amanda caught Samantha and John looking at her expectantly.
"Soft rock, pop, new age, soundtracks, hard rock, folk, alternative, and Elvis," Amanda rattled off, taking another bite of mashed potatoes. Dwayne stared at her in open incredulity.
"'Elvis' isn't a genre!" he pointed out.
"Of course it is," Amanda replied, frowning at him. "He's awesome, and you know it!"
"Elvis is dead," Samantha murmured. Amanda shook her head, and looked at the blonde girl with a grin.
"Elvis isn't dead," she said, and then continued the quote with, "he just went home."
Dwayne, sitting to her left, groaned and covered his face with one hand.
"God, please smite me now," he pleaded, looking up towards the ceiling. Amanda grinned and chortled maniacally.
"My work here is done," she proclaimed. Then she happily went back to her food.
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Disclaimer: I don't own Doom or any of its characters or locations. I only own a copy of the movie and the book (which is much better than the movie, by the way).
A cookie goes to the person who can name the references in this chapter. (wink, wink, nudge, nudge.)
Okay, just so you know, I'm not trying to preach, here. Amanda is a Christian girl, was raised Christian, and will be Christian throughout this fic. I'll try to not make that big a deal of it, but I thought that it would be fair to warn you that, since the majority of this fic is from her point of view, she will be praying periodically, and there will be some very non-Atheistic content here, if that makes sense to you. If you're offended by such things, then I pity you.
I made Amanda rather mature, I thought, but I figured that since she's practically growing up on a Marine base, she's bound to be exposed to some things that most "normal" kids wouldn't be exposed to. I, myself, had a pretty sheltered childhood. Not that that's a bad thing, but even I was always mature for my age. Then again, I'm generally considered to be "abnormal".
Again, that's not a bad thing.
Oh, and if you notice any formatting abnormalities, I blame it on the Document Manager here. It's being a total bitch to me.
Anyway, thank you so much to the one person who reviewed the last chapter: EnigmaticPseudonym. Your support means a lot to me!
-Portrait of a Scribe