Green Collar

Midnight that same evening I was sound asleep on the couch in our room. I don't know how I managed to fall asleep over Jonathan's snoring, but I did. I was quietly awakened by the light from the hall way as the door to our room slowly opened, then closed shortly after. I was alarmed, the bright light had slightly blinded me and I couldn't tell who had come into our room. I sat up, alert and searching for the intruder. I could make out a figure making it's way towards me and a million thoughts ran through my head. How should I react to this? Where did I leave my weapon? Should I wake Ed and Jonathan? And of course was Meryl okay?

These questions quickly disappeared as I realized the figure advancing was a slim, fit, feminine one, and as my eyes readjusted to the dark interior of my hotel room I realized it was Meryl. Enough light came in from the exterior of the building for me to recognize her distinct build. I was surprised by her coming here at this hour, then I was completely blown away when I realized what she was wearing.

It was a simple green tank top, form fitting and hugging each curve of her beautiful upper body. She wore only black underwear with it, and revealed to me her defined and ridiculously sexy legs.

A soft hand reached out and caressed my face, she slowly raised the lower portion of my mask and then finally with great force pulled it from my head completely. She pushed herself on top of me, using her hand to press against my chest and lower me back down to lying flat on my back. I was gasping for air, hardly able to breathe.

She looked at me longingly, her hand still caressing my cheek and jaw line. Then she lowered it to my chest and ran her fingertips down all the way to her own body, which she then traced up her stomach and between her breasts to her mouth. I felt as though I would have a heart attack.

"Johnny," she muttered in a low and sexy tone.

I took a deep breathe as her hands went down to her waist and she grabbed hold of her tank top then pulled it up over head. She tossed it aside carelessly and leaned into kiss me deeply. It was a satisfying kiss, but a simple one. She pulled back up again, displaying to me her figure in all it's topless glory. I had an enormous lump in my throat and I started to cough and choke, I'm certain I was going into cardiac arrest. She shook me trying to see if I was okay. My eyes were clenched tight from the pain but the shaking continued until I finally I opened them again and then…

Ed looked down at me with a befuddled look.

"You okay, Akiba?" He asked.

I blinked several times and sat up, rubbing my temples. "What?" I asked utterly confused.

"Seemed like you were having a nightmare," he responded.

Was it a dream? All a dream? No, not possible it seemed so completely real. I mean, it didn't make any sense but damn it that didn't mean it wasn't awesome! Oh but why? Why must I be tortured so!?

"Hurry up and gear up, we've got to post up outside shortly and wait for this guy to make contact," Ed began to tell me. "Commander wants us downstairs in thirty minutes."

That morning we spread out around the hotel. We never left each other's eye sight, that way none of us would mysteriously disappear. But the idea was to make ourselves more visible to whoever this guy was. We had no idea what to look for, we were waiting for him to find us.

I walked around in a complete daze that morning, still trying to figure out the dream or night before. So then, was Meryl asking me if she was beautiful real, or was that a dream? There's no way our midnight encounter was real, but that whole episode on the balcony could've happened. At least, I think it could've.

Suddenly my forward progress was stopped as I ran into a group of IDF soldiers.

"Watch it freak," one of them said in a heavily accented voice.

"Hey take it easy man," I replied.

"What? You don't give me orders, freak," he whipped back angrily. What's this guy's problem? "I'm going to teach you who is boss in this country!" he stepped forward attempting to thump me with the muzzle of his rifle, but I stepped aside, firmly grabbed the barrel and lifted it high into the sky. I delivered a pretty powerful blow to his solar plexus then brought my leg around behind him and swept his feet from beneath him. He landed on his back and whatever air was left in his lungs after my initial attack must've quickly left as he hit the deck.

I was happy with my performance there. In fact as I returned to a casual stance I had a huge smile under my mask, but it was decimated as another IDF soldier stepped forward and caught me in the cheek bone with the butt stock of his rifle. I spun around and landed on the ground, my lights very nearly knocked. The other men began to kick me and I curled up in the fetal position attempting to defend my face and vitals.

"Stop!" shouted a stern voice. The men immediately halted and I looked up to see Meryl and the rest of the team moving in. The IDF soldiers looked confused.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Meryl snapped at the senior man, a Sergeant.

"Excuse me?" he asked, blinking.

"He's an American soldier, you trying to start some kind of international incident!?" she demanded. I stumbled to my feet, coughing and taking note that I was probably bleeding. My Oakley sunglasses were lying on the ground where I had been laying.

"He insulted us." the man said, unsure of himself.

"Shut up, you have no excuse! You and your men get out of here before I bring you up on charges!" she seemed extremely angry. The men sheepishly left, taking their friend who I had beaten away with them.

She looked at me and shook her head. I had my hand against my cheek and she bent down and picked up my glasses.

"Here." she said, offering them to me. She looked into my eyes, the first time without my glasses, and I think she lingered there, staring into mine as I stared into hers. "What did you do to piss those guys off?" she asked, suddenly snapping back into reality.

"Nothing, Commander." I replied earnestly, replacing the glasses on my face.

"I doubt that," she said back. Then she turned and walked away, and Ed and Jonathan split back off again as well. I guess we continue as planned.

I walked over to a small café and sat down, nursing my bruised cheek bone. It felt like they cracked a rib or two.

I asked for a lemonade and the waitress brought me tea, what a ridiculous day this has become. I sighed and drank the tea anyways.

"Howzit, my bru?" an accented voice asked.

I looked up and saw a man standing before me with sandy blonde hair, dark green eyes, a scruffy attractive face. He wore green military style cargo pants bloused with tan combat boots, and a button up long sleeve black shirt with the sleeves rolled up and only halfway buttoned revealing a gray tank top beneath.

"Can I offer you a cigarette?" he asked.

"No, I don't smoke," I replied. He sat down in the chair across from me.

"That's too bad. How 'bout a drink?" he tried again.

"No, I can't drink, I'm working." I said back getting slightly annoyed.

"Well so am I, doesn't stop me," he said lighting a cigarette and enjoying a few puffs. "In fact, I think you're waiting for me, huh?" he said with a slight grin.

"What? And how would you know that?" I asked suspiciously.

"When they told me to meet up with your team they said there would be a bumbling idiot in a mask. Judging by your encounter with those fellows across the street I'd say you may not be so bumbling, but you are an idiot. You're wearing a mask and it's about ninety two degrees out right now, yeah?" he insulted me with a chuckle and then took another drag of his cigarette.

I sat their looking at him, I had no good response.

"Samuel Archer, your contact in the Middle East." A smile crossed his face, a cigarette dangling in one corner of his mouth, he reached across the table offering me his hand to shake.

"So you're from South Africa, then?" Meryl asked, her eye brow raised with interest.

"Born and raised." Archer replied. He had another cigarette perched upon his lips, and it dangled precariously.

"What is it you do exactly?" she wanted to know. She sat across from him at the same café. She was flanked by the hulking Jonathan and the slightly less hulking Ed. It seemed almost as if my presence was going unnoticed.

"That's my business." he said back bluntly. "Besides, it has nothing to do with your operation, does it?"

Meryl sat back in her chair and studied him. I also tried to size him up. He seemed to have a careless attitude, yet something about him seemed professional. No doubt he could handle himself.

He glanced at the two Desert Eagle's that Meryl carried with her.

"You know, I can get you quite a deal on an extended barrel and telescopic sight for those handguns there," he told her with a charming smile.

"What information do you have to provide me in relation to Ocelot's whereabouts in the region," she asked him.

"Ah, straight to business then. I like that. Well, I don't have the information about Ocelot. Rather, I have information about one of your mates that does," he explained.

"Who?"

"One of your inspection teams. Came into the region not too long ago. They were compromised and things got ugly, huh. One of them survived but the Syrians got a hold of him. He's being held in some base near the border North of here. I was told I should guide you there and help you free him, if you like." his eyes lit up and his brows flexed up and down a couple of times. "I'm handy when I need to be."

"You have the location of this base?"

"Yah, yah but no grids. Only know it from where I've been up North doing business. It shouldn't be too hard to get to. Getting in might be a bit more difficult, huh." he tapped ash from his cigarette and placed it back between his lips.

"How do I know you can be trusted?" Meryl asked him, tilting her head. I didn't trust him, this all seemed pretty fishy.

"Ah, you can't trust me. But you haven't got much else, have you?" he asked mockingly. "I'll take you there, you let me conduct business as usual and once you've got your fellow back we part ways and I bid you good luck," he stood up and offered Meryl his hand.

Meryl narrowed her eyes, still wondering if she could trust him. His hand didn't waver. Instead he stood there resolutely, as if he were about to seal some sort of business deal. The cigarette in his mouth was now nearly down to the filter, and a long bit of ash seemed to hang from it, but he paid it no mind.

Meryl reached out and grabbed his hand, she shook it and then let go, sitting back in her chair and knowing full well that he was our only option right now, but that she'd still keep him at arm's length.

"Okay then. No worries, darling, I'll get you where you need to be, huh." he promised. He dropped the cigarette and stepped on it, extinguishing what was left of the light. "You all sit tight this evening. I'll collect you in the morning and we'll be on our way. No worries, huh." Without another word he put his gold rimmed aviator sunglasses on and walked out into the sunlight, mixing in with the crowd of people milling about on the streets.

"Interesting guy," Ed commented.

"Weird accent." Jonathan added.

"South African."

We all sat in momentary silence then. We waited for word from Meryl, but she sat quietly in her chair, perhaps lost in thought or wondering what to do next. Finally she spoke up.

"Stay in the hotel tonight. We get plenty of rest tonight since we don't know what's in store for us tomorrow. I don't like all this cloak and dagger business, so we keep Mr. Archer at arm's length. Got it?" she stood up.

We all nodded. "Got it," was the unanimous reply. Well, it might have been fishy but going off into the desert with some guy who has to conduct 'business as usual' to go find a surviving member of a previous survey team captured by Syrian troops after being mysteriously compromised sure beat the hell out of sitting around in a hotel room in Beirut and having odd dreams that left me sexually frustrated the next day. I think I'd rather be getting shot at then be let down by another dream like that again!