I woke up early around 0600. The sky was just heating up. The sun hadn't crept up over the land yet, but the sky was a brilliant blue color. I took a quick shower. I had taken one before I went to sleep last night, but I needed another one to calm my hair down so I could slick it into a bun. I got out, dried myself off, pulled my hair back, brushed my teeth, and put a small amount of waterproof mascara. Mascara was the only make up allowed on base. Even then, it could only be used in sparse amounts. I pulled a fresh pair of BDU's on and laced my boots up. I made it a point to grab the radio before I left to go get breakfast. The line in the mess hall was long. My stomach growled at the smell of eggs, bacon, toast and coffee. I loaded my plate and grabbed the biggest mug of coffee manageable. Eldridge waved at me from a random table. James was sitting next to him reading through a few sheets of paper. His plate was empty, but his coffee mug was still steaming. Eldridge had barely touched his food. He greeted me with a kind good morning.

"Morning," I yawned back. I sat down like a weighted sack. I could feel my body hit the chair hard. I wasn't used to getting up this early the last couple of months. We sat quietly at the table. My eyes scanned around the room. I found Sanborn sitting two or three tables away with another squad. I didn't care. As far as I was concerned, he was going to show James respect if it was the last thing I did and if that meant he hardly spent any time with his own squad… I could have cared less.

"You ready?" asked Eldridge.

"Yes," I answered. James took his eyes off of his papers and peered over at me.

"If we don't get a call by the time we head out, we'll just do normal patrol," James told me.

"What's that like?"

"It's like shit." He returned to his papers and took a sip of his coffee.

"Yeah, it's pretty boring to be honest," Eldridge added with a shrug. I knew patrols were never fun. Even when I was a part of an extraction squad the patrols were boring. A girl can hope for change though, right? Patrolling is a bunch of walking around with your gun out like you're overcompensating for your bad ass-ness, peering in bushes, looking in abandoned buildings, keeping the citizens in check, and watching for potential activity. It's a lot like glorified babysitting…. with guns. There was an audible beep from James side of the table. He picked up his radio and walked out of the mess hall to hear the call better. Eldridge and I both watched him carefully. He pointed at us both and motioned for us to come on. Sanborn got the message too, as I saw him move from the corner of my eyes. I jogged out of the building right behind Eldridge. I was thankful my bunk was close, but disappointed about the garage being on the other side of the damn base. I threw on my gear as quickly as humanly possible. With 50 more pounds of weight I ran across the base at a steady pace. The men came running up behind me. Eldridge opened the door for me at the Humvee and I gave him a disapproving glare. He mouthed a sorry and climbed into the back seat opposite me. Sanborn hopped in the driver's seat, James in the passenger seat.

"What's going on, Sergeant?" I asked James.

"Someone found a bomb sticking out of a pile of trash. There are quite a few of them, I guess. They've set up a perimeter and they're just waiting on us." It took us almost 45 minutes to get into the city. There was a small roadblock set up of 10 soldiers. They lifted up a small barricade they had set up to stop cars from plowing through the road and let us through. "How far down is the target?" James asked a private standing just outside of his window.

"About 200 yards or so."

"Head down about 100 yards, Sanborn," ordered James. Eldridge started getting his gear together. Double checking everything. "Rakton, I want you watching the area to our twelve and three o'clock. Eldridge, I want you to scan the area behind us. Sanborn, you've got from twelve o'clock to nine. Call out any strange activity. Understood?"

We replied in unison, "yes, sir." James immediately set to work on putting his gear on. I couldn't imagine how heavy and hot it was inside of it. 100 pounds of gear in this heat? And I thought that my gear at 50 pounds was heavy. I helped him flick his shield down and watched him walk down the narrow street. Little kids peered out of the windows as he walked by. Some men gathered on the roof just ahead of where he was walking.

"I've got a group of men on the roof just ahead," I rambled.

"None so far," added Eldridge. Sanborn took a moment before adding that he had two people on his side on a balcony. "How many are in your group, Rakton?"

"I can't tell. I might have to move in closer to take a look." I took a few careful steps closer and walked a bit out to see over the ledge of the roof. "Looks like there are 5."

"Just watch them," growled Sanborn.

"I am," I snipped back.

"How close are you to the target, James?" called out Sanborn. James didn't answer. "I asked you a question, sir?"

"I'll let you know when I'm there, cowboy." I thought I could hear Sanborn's teeth grind together from where I was standing. I scanned the apartments again, making sure I wasn't missing anything crucial. I wanted to make sure that this went smoothly, especially since it was my first mission with them. I didn't want the blame to be on me if this shit went south. I could already hear the horrible things they would say. A few minutes later James cleared that he was standing over the bomb. "This shit is going to take a while, there are at least three different bombs down here." A male popped up from out of nowhere at my 3 o'clock pacing anxiously.

"I've got a man pacing on the roof." Sanborn turned from his view to look at the man.

"Shoot if necessary. He's definitely suspicious."

"Everything okay out there?" James asked.

"We got it," I assured him. The man pulled a device out of his pocket and I panicked. "Man on roof has pulled out a device." I aimed my gun at him and yelled. "DROP IT NOW!" I screamed. The man peered down over the edge at me and smiled. He held up his cell phone and pointed at it. "DROP IT!" The man sneered. He went to use it again and I felt my heart race. I did the only thing I could… I fired. The bullets hit the concrete barrier he was standing close to causing bits of rock and dust to explode and fall around us. He panicked and dropped the cell phone over the ledge. Eldridge and Sanborn both turned their guns around in a hurry to see what was going on. The man on the roof started yelling out things in his native language. Probably about what a bitch I was and how I should burn in hell… all the sweet things you want to hear, you know? I waved him off and picked up his cell phone. It was shattered into three different pieces. "Hey, James, are cell phones that are used for det devices still salvageable in pieces?"

"Just hold onto it," he muttered. I put the pieces on top of the Humvee and returned to monitoring. "Done. Sanborn, radio for a removal squad." He turned back around and started walking towards us and the door beside me burst open. A man came out carrying a large metal bar. The same man who I had just shot at on the roof. He was pissed. He ran towards me with the bar in the air. I started to call for the squad's attention, but there just wasn't enough time. I put my gun up on my shoulder and charged at him, my head down and shoulder out. I knocked the guy to the ground and pinned him underneath me. Eldridge wrestled the bar out of the man's hands and pointed his gun at his head.

"You're a serious piece of shit," I yelled at the man. "Sanborn, radio for a translator and an extraction team. This fucker needs to be investigated or at least jailed for a while so he can learn some respect." James stopped just feet from the man and removed his helmet.

"Nice job, Rakton," he said motioning towards my prize. I felt like a cat who had just dragged a mouse to its owner.

"I put the cell phone pieces on the hood of the Humvee." He peeled the bomb suit off. There was a layer of sweat coating his face, hair, and arms. He picked up each piece and poured over it.

"I'll have to look over them in more detail back at the base." I nodded and removed myself from the man's back as the translator and extraction team showed up. I told the extraction team what had happened while the translator began furiously talking with the man.

"He was only calling his brother to tell him to come outside. His brother had never seen the bomb squad," the translator said, eyeballing me angrily. I shrugged it off.

"My squad's lives are more important than his." The translator started to call me a few choice words as I helped throw some gear into the back of the Humvee. "You know what's so funny, specialist," I spoke to the translator in a condescending tone, "is that none of the things you just called me are new news to me." I watched the specialist's shoulders rise and fall in fury. I could have sworn I heard the guys chuckle, but I was boiling hot mad. "Now go on and tell your superior all of what I just said and fuck off. That guy was suspicious and a potential threat to my team. Get your head out of your ass and think about what side you're on." I tracked the specialist as he slammed the door to his Humvee and sped off.

"I think I like working with a woman," sputtered Eldridge. I turned around to look at him and he just smiled. "I'm just saying…that was pretty awesome. Did anyone else think that was pretty awesome?" Sanborn nodded slightly. James had the bridge of his nose pinched between his index finger and thumb, his head bowed, trying to hide his smile.

"You've been called a dangerous bitch with no morals who is PMSing? " James asked me with a smile on his face.

"Not in that particular order, but yes."

"I thought you handled yourself very well, Sergeant."

"Thank you, sir."

We spent the rest of the day patrolling, looking inside buildings, walking down areas that were major targets for bombs, and driving to check points if they put out a call for help. Our day ended around 1800. As Sanborn pulled into base James turned to look at Eldridge and I. I could feel the grime over my body. It wasn't pleasant. I felt like I had sand in every crevice of my body. "You guys at my bunk tonight. We'll celebrate our first successful run as Team Havoc," he said while carefully balancing the cigarette in between his lips. "Be there at 2000." I pulled myself out of the Humvee as Sanborn parked. Sanborn and James immediately took off for their bunks. Eldridge had gear to pack away and ammo to restock. I helped him throw a new box of rations in the trunk and restock the water supply.

"Thanks," Eldridge huffed as he leaned up against the Humvee.

"No problem. I'll meet you at the mess hall in about half an hour or so. I've got to shower this shit off of me." He silently nodded. "Maybe you can show me how to play that game of your's before we meet up with James and Sanborn." His eyes lit up.

"That'd be great, Sergeant." I waved at him and slowly took off to my bunk. I took off my helmet and pack as I walked and carried them in my hands. I thought it would cool my head to take my helmet off, but I barely noticed a change in the heat. I turned the fan on full blast in my room and shook all of my gear out before setting it down. I hated having sand in my bunk. It was annoying to deal with outside, let alone in a place you're supposed to relax in. My undershirt was completely soaked in sweat. I threw it over my hamper to dry out and tossed the rest of my clothes over it. The shower was amazing. I actually turned the water on a cold setting. It felt amazing. Sand glided off my body and down the drain with the flow of the water.

I didn't take me too long to get ready. I turned on Bruno Mars on my mp3 player, took the time to rub some aloe on my burning skin and lotion on the parts that weren't burned. My clothing choice was a white t-shirt, dark gray sweatpants, and tennis shoes. There wasn't a wide variety of clothing accepted on base. If you were going to be out on the town and off duty you could wear civilian clothes, but on base, it was strictly prohibited. Even if civilian clothing was allowed, I would have been extremely cautious of what I was wearing. You don't want to put out the wrong vibe to the other guys on base. I pulled my hair into its bun and skipped the mascara.

Eldridge was waiting for me outside of the mess hall when I walked up. He was wearing cloth shorts and a t-shirt. The major skin color difference between his legs and arms looked hilarious. His arms were a crispy red/brown color while his legs were a light beige color. "I know this shit is pretty funny, right?" Eldridge asked motioning to his legs.

"Maybe we should start putting you out to sun bathe in between jobs," I said teasingly. He laughed as we headed inside. The line was shorter than breakfast, thankfully. I could feel my stomach grumbling relentlessly. I picked out beef stew with carrots, potatoes, and cornbread. Eldridge did too. We sat the same table we sat the night before by the window. "Hope this is as good as it looks." I picked up my spoon and took a bite. It wasn't amazing, but it was awful either.

"Not too bad," said Eldridge as pulled the spoon out of his mouth. We ate quietly. There wasn't much to talk about and I think he was just as hungry as I was. After we finished we took our trays up and walked out to the rec room. There were about 10 different televisions set up. Only two of them had gaming consoles. There were about 5 guys at one television watching some crude comedy at the farthest television. We sat down on the couch closest to us and Eldridge turned everything on. "Alright. It's really easy…" He gave me all of the directions for all of the buttons and handed me a controller. I nodded and took it from him. "We'll play on the same team first, so you can get a handle on it." I was really confused for the first five minutes, but I finally got a good grip on what I was doing and started killing more than dying. "See you're getting good." I sat the controller down and pointed to my watch.

"It's 2000."

"Alright. Nice job!" he told me with a smile. I smiled back.

"Thanks for showing me how to play."

"Willing to show anyone anytime. I get bored playing by myself." We both walked out across the sand. The sun was starting to set. There was a beautiful orange, yellow, red color to the sky. A few security lights flickered on as we walked out to James' bunk. I knocked on the door and waited for James to answer. Sanborn answered instead. He opened the door a little wider and let us in. James room was really plain. He didn't have any pictures on his wall. I had only been in my room a day and I had pictures taped up everywhere of Adriana, me, and my mom. There were empty and full alcohol bottles littering the large desk and table. He had a couch, bed, and a couple of chairs along with a nightstand. It seemed he didn't have any personal effects whatsoever.

"James went to get a chaser from commissary," said Sanborn as I sat down on the couch. Eldridge sat down at the table with Sanborn. "What have y'all been doing?"

"Playing Call of Duty," Eldridge answered. Sanborn shook his head.

"I can't believe you want to play a game about war in the middle of a war. That's crazy shit, man."

"It's fun. It keeps me from thinking about anything else."

"Fun my ass." The door opened and James stepped in carrying a large container of orange juice.

"Hope you bitches like orange juice with your vodka," James stated putting the orange juice down on his desk. He pulled out 4 double shot glasses and filled them up. He also pulled out red solo cups and filled them up with orange juice. We each walked over and picked up a shot glass and cup. "Here's to the best damn bomb squad in the desert," he cheered. We clanked our glasses together and chugged them quickly. The familiar burn tore through my throat and I waited a second before taking a drink of orange juice. I didn't want to hear the stereotypes about women not being able to handle hard liquor. Eldridge took a drink immediately after. James refilled our glasses and we all downed them at once. The second burn wasn't as bad as the first. I took a few good drinks of the orange juice and poured some vodka in with it. Eldridge did the same. James took a half of cup of vodka over to his bed and sat down. Sanborn stood at the desk and did another shot before sitting back down at the table with Eldridge.

"That shit is strong, sir," said Eldridge clearing up the silence.

"Best shit you can buy out here."

"It ain't doing shit yet," quipped Sanborn.

"Just wait, man." About five minutes later it started to hit everyone. I started to feel inhibited and invincible. I poured myself another shot and chased it with my mixed drink.

"You think that guy was really calling his brother?" I asked casually before carefully sitting back down on the couch with my drink. James turned on some rock music on his radio and turned to face me.

"No."

"I regret what I said earlier to you, man. This shit feels good," Sanborn sang as he sank deeper into the chair.

"Told you." James clapped his hands and pointed at Eldridge. "You want to arm wrestle, Eldridge?" He smiled and stared at James.

"Sure, sir." Sanborn scooted out of the way and let James sit down beside him across from Eldridge.

"You two are crazy," I said simply as I took another long drink from my cup. They both started grunting and carrying on as they locked hands. "Want to do another shot, Sanborn?" I held up my shot glass and he poured us both another shot.

"Fill us up, too," James ordered as he put Eldridge's hand to the table. He held his glass up. "Another toast, to the success that has to yet to come for Team Havoc." We all clanked our glasses together and chugged. Eldridge pumped his fists in the air and stood up.

"You and me, Sanborn," he said pointing at him.

"You and me, what, Eldridge?" he scoffed.

"We're gonna fight…" Sanborn shook his head.

"I don't wanna break your nails, son." James walked over and shoved Sanborn towards Eldridge.

"Get out there soldier. You've got a challenge."

"A challenge? You think Eldridge is a challenge? Why don't you fight him then?" Sanborn walked behind James and shoved him. James walked across from Eldridge and stood there.

"Show me what you got," he taunted, holding his arms out.

"I'll fight the beauty queen over here," Sanborn said looking at me.

"I'll beg your fucking pardon," I quipped.

"You heard me," he growled.

"Fucker, I do not play like that. You want beauty queen, I'll show you a beauty queen." I pulled my fist back and clocked him as hard as I could in the stomach. He fell backwards onto the floor and looked up at me with a glint of fear in his eyes. James and Eldridge both stopped to look and laugh.

"Sanborn, didn't you look up anything about Rakton before she got here?" James asked between laughs. "This girl killed three men in hand to hand combat." He held out a hand and helped Sanborn up off of the floor. "She's far from a beauty queen, as you put it…"

"Yeah, I see that now." He rose up and held out his hand for me to shake it. I shook his hand and nodded. "I know I don't need to worry with you on my side in combat. That's for damn sure."

"What about you, Sanborn, let's see what you got," James said walking in front of him with his arms raised. I sat down across from Eldridge and smiled.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about me asking you to arm wrestle. I'm good on getting my ass whipped today." I laughed and took a long swig of my drink.

"You're not as weak as you think you are, Eldridge. You've got to be confident. Most of it is mentality. At least it is for me." Sanborn punched James hard in the stomach. The force sent him flailing backwards into the wall. He laughed hysterically and stood up. They took turns exchanging punches while Eldridge and I talked.

"Did you really kill those guys with your bare hands?" he asked almost at a whisper.

"I had knives - I just didn't have a gun. I'm not a fucking beast or anything like that. I did what was necessary. You guys would all do it if one of us was being held captive. I wasn't going to let a member of my squad become a prisoner." He nodded and took a long drink.

"You want more?"

"Sure." He dodged Sanborn and James to grab the bottle off of the desk and filled up his glass and mine.

"Is it weird that alcohol starts to taste like water after a while?" I laughed.

"That just means you're wasted." He laughed and rubbed his head. The two boys wrestled each other senseless and finally both sat down. "You two finally wear yourselves out?" James patted his stomach and stared up at me.

"Yeah," he answered through a sigh. I looked beside him and saw a crate full of wires.

"What's that, James?" I motioned towards the crate on the ground. He slid over the black milk crate and held it up for us to see.

"Trophies."

"Trophies?" asked Sanborn peering in the box. "Looks like a bunch of bomb parts. Why the hell do you have a bunch of bomb parts in your fucking room?"

"They're all from missions. They're all different from each other. It's just- I don't know. I should have put it up before you guys got here." He diverted his gaze and stared at the crate. I could tell he was embarrassed or at least ashamed about someone finding his secret.

"No, it's not weird and you shouldn't be ashamed about it either. Let me see it," I assured him while giving a glare to Sanborn. I held out my hands and took the crate from him. I held up small rods and different colored wires. "These are awesome, James." I took a second to look at each one before handing them over for Eldridge to look at. He held each one carefully and squinted at it, inches from his face.

"Thank you."

"You don't think that shit's fucked up?" Sanborn asked in a condescending tone. I looked over at him. I felt my brow drop even farther.

"No, I don't. James disarms bombs for a living. He's good at it. He's saved hundreds, if not thousands of lives by clipping just these few wires. They're like his trophies. They're his accomplishments. What the fuck do you have to show for your accomplishments, Sanborn, besides a title and fucking patches on your BDU's?" He stared at me, his eyes blazing. I wasn't just taking a moment to put Sanborn in his place, I was also defending James. I understood why he did it. He kept them for sentiment. They meant something to him. While we looked at pieces of wires, he saw lives he had saved. He held onto them because they reminded him that he was actually worth something.

"I apologize, Sergeant," muttered Sanborn to James.

"No problem, Sanborn," James replied in a zoned out tone. I put the wires back in the crate and handed it to James. The clock on his desk read that it was midnight already. I felt it after looking at the time.

"I'm going to head back to my room. I need to get some sleep. Eldridge should too, he is long gone." I motioned to a dozing Eldridge. "Sanborn, you wanna help him to his bunk?" He gave me a curt nod and stood up to help him out. I opened the door for them and watched as Sanborn dragged Eldridge down a couple of units. James rose up from the floor and grabbed a cigarette.

"Want me to walk you back to your room?" he asked with a flick of his lighter. I shrugged.

"I'm not as drunk as what I was. I should be okay." He nodded and leaned against the doorframe.

"You know, you didn't have to do that."

"Do what?"

"Stick up for me like that." I turned from facing out to the pathway and looked to find James standing inches from my face. I backed away slowly, being careful to make sure I didn't trip down the wooden steps that led to his door.

"Well, I get it. There's no reason to bully anyone. Especially when we are all on the same side… that's just pathetic. He tries to take every jab he can at you. It's annoying as fuck." He smiled and took a long drag of his cigarette.

"It doesn't bother me too much. I'm used to dealing with pricks like Sanborn. After saving their asses enough times, they get over it."

"You know that shit's bad for you," I said out of nowhere, pointing to his cigarette. He gave me a big, wide smile.

"But, it feels so good."

"Just wait 'til you get emphysema and lung cancer."

"I'll take my chances."

"You already do that with more than cigarettes," I laughed.

"That's just how I am." I started to walk away and gave him a nod.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning, sir."

"Are you sure you don't want me to walk you back, Sergeant?"

"I'm fine. Don't worry about this beauty queen," I responded with a small beauty queen wave. He laughed and threw his cigarette out into the sand.

"Just trying to look out for my squad. I gotta keep an extra eye on them, especially when they're of the opposite sex." I raised my eyebrows at him. His face went stone cold and he rubbed the back of his neck. "I mean like I have to watch over you more, because of- well not because you're weak- but because you know…" I held my hand up.

"I understand. You don't have to say anything, sir." He smiled.

"See you tomorrow, Sergeant."

"Good night, sir.