A Good Soldier- Chapter 3
By Slayne
notes- thanks to Bard for pointing me in the right direction...she knows what
i'm talking about, and thanks to all of you who have been encouraging me with
this. I DO appreciate it a ton!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Wayne met Will and Brad outside the barracks at three o'clock and they stormed
the place, waking the soldiers with snarling tenacity and thundering shouts.
Most of the recruits took it well and adapted quickly. One of the female LT's
was sent for Burnett, and when the men were finally mustered at attention on the
lawn, Burnett was already there, standing ready.
They marched the recruits out and onto a nearby trail. The ten-day physical
regimen would soon give way to exercises that were more war-games in nature and
less boot camp. One more hard run to make sure they got the point. They didn't
stop until midmorning for a meal.
Wayne eased himself down on a patch of grass and stirred the MRE. More grey meat
in sauce. God, he loved it! He glanced up at Burnett sitting across from him.
She was leaning back against a tree, her MRE finished. She had the worn
paperback out again and was firmly engrossed in it. He finally read the title.
'Shakespeare's Sonnets'. Shakespeare? He was mildly surprised as he watched the
soldier in full combat gear reading the book. But she was still a woman.
Figures.
"You into poetry, Burnett?" He asked, his voice still sounding hard and a little
condescending, even though he had tried to soften it a bit.
She glanced up at him and squinted a bit in the sunlight. "Um...I'm into
Shakespeare anyway."
"Hmm." He swallowed some food. "That's right...you're an 'actress'." He
emphasized the last word as if it explained everything from her book to her very
existence.
"Not anymore...now I'm a soldier." She answered, managing to surprise him once
again. "But I don't have to give everything up I love to be here."
He said nothing to that and she buried her nose in the pages again. He watched
her for a few long moments, finishing his meal and watching the way the sun made
her brown hair shine red in places. He was reminded of the way he had found her
meditating a few days ago. Keeping her inner peace. How had they come from such
different beginnings and ended up here, together? He remembered what she had
said about her passion for Covert- Ops, comparing it to his love of Ranger
School.
He had excelled in boot camp and then gone on to Infantry training, Airborne
certification, and then Ranger School at Ft. Benning, Georgia. And there he had
found his true calling. They made him crawl in the mud and run miles in full
gear in the heat and humidity. The obstacle courses were a living hell designed
to test your endurance and strength to the limit. The war games were advanced
and tricky and required split-second thought and fast reflexes. He had loved
every second of it...all the more because it was difficult and he had had to
make himself better. They had made him a lean, mean, killing machine and he had
graduated, once again, at the top of his class. All in all...if there hadn't
been a few comments recorded about his 'failure to get along with others' and
'outspokeness bordering on insubordination', his career so far would be
exemplary. His lack of social skills, however, hadn't prevented them from
offering him a position at the Ranger School as an instructor. It was there that
they began sending him on occasional covert missions. Places the U.S. couldn't
admit to infiltrating. The Jungles of South and Central America, the deserts of
the Middle East, even the occasional mountainous terrain. He had traded gunfire
and taken to combat with a calm, cool, determination that had earned him respect
quickly. He looked back at the Corporal.
"That inner peace of yours keeping your legs from aching, Burnett? How about
that MRE...does inner peace make it taste better?"
She glanced up at him, her eyes showing over the top of the paperback. He held
her gaze.
"Give it up." He suddenly urged. She was silent for a moment and then raised her
chin.
"You'll have to drag me kicking and screaming onto the plane out of here,
Staff."
He grinned at that. Good girl! There was hope for her yet. He gestured towards
her book. "Lots of love poems and 'thee's and 'thou's in there?" He asked her
just to be annoying. Keep her on her toes. Too much inner peace could get you
killed out here.
She glanced up at him again and fixed him with a steely gaze. He held it and
suddenly she was reciting one of the sonnets, her gaze not leaving his.
"As an unperfect actor on the stage,
Who with his fear is put beside his part,
Or some fierce thing replete with too much rage,
Whose strength's abundance weakens his own heart;
So I, for fear of trust, forget to say
The perfect ceremony of love's rite,
And in mine own love's strength seem to decay,
O'ercharg'd with burthen of mine own love's might.
O! let my looks be then the eloquence
And dumb presagers of my speaking breast,
Who plead for love, and look for recompense,
More than that tongue that more hath more express'd.
O! learn to read what silent love hath writ:
To hear with eyes belongs to love's fine wit."
He stared at her, speechless. She shut the book and stuffed it back into her
pack as Will barked out the command to re-group. Wayne stood slowly and took up
the rear, his gaze finding the back of the slender Corporal time and time again
as they marched forward. He hadn't been completely sure of the meaning of the
sonnet. Shakespeare was confusing and took practice to read correctly, but he
thought he caught the general gist of it, and he wonderd why she had read it to
him.
They marched the group all day and into the night. They slept out on the trail
and Will put himself, Wayne and Brad between Burnett and the rest of the group.
It was hot, humid, and the insects were horrible. Brad woke him up at oh three
hundred for his watch, and he rose easily and silently, packing his gear and
leaving it sit while he walked around the perimeter of the small camp and then
took a lean against a tree, his eyes slicing into the darkness and his ears
listening for something out of place. Nothing. It was peaceful. His eyes
reluctantly fell on the small sleeping form a few yards from where Brad was
fidgeting and trying to get a couple more hours of sleep. What was she doing
here? Rich family, college education and place in society. What did the Army
offer her that she wasn't getting at home? He had to finally admit to himself
that he was intriqued by her. He'd never had a recruit so driven to succeed and
so...confident and comfortable in her own ability. And yet...there was some
vulnerability to her that he couldn't put his finger on. She was impressing
him...and he'd gone from dismissing her completely to being surprised and
gaining respect for her...to feeling a part of him that wanted to root for her
and help her through all this. A little 'knight in shining armor' syndrome of
his own, he supposed.
It didn't help that she was attractive. And that disturbed him most of all. That
he even found her attractive. He'd known plenty of good looking women in the
Army. He'd never had a problem disassociating from it before. It was simply not
a factor to him. He shook his head as if to clear it and walked the perimeter
again. Two more weeks and she'd be gone and he wouldn't have to worry about it
anymore.
They marched back towards base in the morning, stopping for another MRE on the
trail, where one of the LT's had eaten his lunch and then reached over and
pulled a stick up out of the sand beside the trail. Will had been waiting for
this, since Brad had run ahead and planted the out-of-place long, straight stick
there earlier. The Major had jumped on the LT in a near rage. A stick planted in
the ground was an old Vietnam booby trap. They were usually attached to a nice
big buried explosive.
"You'd have been hamburger, Lieutenant! Along with everyone here within a 15
foot radius!" Will had stepped out to fifteen feet from the LT and walked in a
circle, showing the young officer how many of his team members he would have
injured or killed. "You're an officer! You should know better!"
The rest of the recruits had watched silently as the LT was blasted and Wayne
knew they'd be a lot more observant now. Things were changing here. They were
about to get more complicated. Time to use their brains instead of their brawn.
Wayne had glanced at Burnett through the incident. She had been grim and
thoughtful, her attention fully riveted to Will and what he was saying. Wayne
could almost see her mind turning over the information and processing it for
further use. Amazing.
They marched back into camp a few hours later, and Will had ordered everyone to
the rifle range. The soft swearing and dejected looks made him grin at Wayne.
Wayne would have grinned back...but, keeping much closer to his personality, he
just lifted a corner of his mouth in smug amusement. Quite frankly, it was the
equivalent of a broad, laughing smile in Wayne- language. They hesitated for a
moment as Wayne went to the ammo shed for some M16 rounds. The assigned guard
for that evening, Nelson, stood there leaning against the makeshift armory. He
looked casual...and his helmet sat on the ground beside him. Wayne swore and
made a beeline for the MP. Will had watched him and then slowly followed.
"Nelson!" Wayne barked as he drew closer. The MP looked up, surprised, and then
quickly stood at attention. The rest of the soldiers in the yard stopped talking
and watched the confrontation. Wayne scowled as he got in the young Corporal's
face.
"Why the hell is your cover sitting on the ground?"
"I was hot, Staff Sergeant!"
"Hot? Are you or are you not supposed to be covered when you're on guard duty
around here?"
"All soldiers on guard duty are supposed to be covered, Staff Sergeant!" The Corporal
glanced at Major Elias, who stood, arms folded over his chest, and watched
silently.
"Then why is your helmet on the ground, Corporal?"
"I..." the MP hesitated and glanced at the Major. A Staff Sergeant didn't
concern him as much as the officer.
"Answer the Staff Sergeant, Corporal Nelson." The Major ordered.
"It's...uh..."
"How many times have I reminded you about your helmet, Corporal?" Wayne cut him
off and asked.
"Three times, Staff Sergeant."
"Three times! Three strikes and you're out, Nelson. You're cut! Go home to your
unit!"
The MP stared at him in disbelief. "What?"
"I'm done with you! If you can't obey the simplest regulations, then you're out.
I despise incompetence like this. Pack up and report to the personnel officer
tomorrow morning. You're out of here!"
"Sir..." Nelson was flabbergasted and he glanced towards the Major for
help. Will shook his head.
"What are the rules concerning cover for the Military Police, Corporal?"
The MP had blanched slightly then and answered firmly. "MPs are to be covered at
all times out of doors, sir...We may be uncovered when under shelter except
while armed, sir. If we are armed, then we must be covered while under shelter."
Will had nodded and then held up his hands and shrugged. "Staff Sergeant Sneeden said
you're gone, Corporal. You'd better pack up and be ready to go tomorrow
morning."
Nelson stared at the Major, but didn't dare argue.
"Yes sir!"
"You're dismissed, Corporal Nelson."
"Yes sir!"
The Corporal picked up his helmet and began to walk away. Will stepped closer to
Wayne.
"Are you sure about this, Wayne? The kid's father is CID."
"Hell yeah...I've told him three times to keep covered. That's two more warnings
than I like to give."
Will tried to hide a smile. "Ok...I'll back you up."
They began to walk away, Wayne already thinking about who to order into guard
duty to take Nelson's place. The other soldiers stared at them, and Wayne heard
a comment expressed slightly too loud by a tall PFC to his left.
"What a prick."
He suddenly lunged to his left and glared into the young man's face. "You have
no idea, Private! I can be more of a prick than you could ever imagine!" Will
had put a restraining hand on Wayne's shoulder and led him away.
"Easy Wayne. Let me handle this."
Wayne walked away as Will began to shout orders. He met the eyes of every
soldier who looked his way. And then he looked into a pair of brilliant green
ones that held his gaze with something akin to indecision. Burnett broke the
gaze when she realized he had stopped walking to fix her pointedly with his
piercing stare. She turned away and marched with the others, but Wayne wondered
if she shared the PFC's, and undoubtedly the rest of the camp as well, opinion
of him. He swore softly and turned back to go find another guard. He didn't care
what she thought. But he wondered why he had to keep repeating those words to
himself silently.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
By Slayne
notes- thanks to Bard for pointing me in the right direction...she knows what
i'm talking about, and thanks to all of you who have been encouraging me with
this. I DO appreciate it a ton!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Wayne met Will and Brad outside the barracks at three o'clock and they stormed
the place, waking the soldiers with snarling tenacity and thundering shouts.
Most of the recruits took it well and adapted quickly. One of the female LT's
was sent for Burnett, and when the men were finally mustered at attention on the
lawn, Burnett was already there, standing ready.
They marched the recruits out and onto a nearby trail. The ten-day physical
regimen would soon give way to exercises that were more war-games in nature and
less boot camp. One more hard run to make sure they got the point. They didn't
stop until midmorning for a meal.
Wayne eased himself down on a patch of grass and stirred the MRE. More grey meat
in sauce. God, he loved it! He glanced up at Burnett sitting across from him.
She was leaning back against a tree, her MRE finished. She had the worn
paperback out again and was firmly engrossed in it. He finally read the title.
'Shakespeare's Sonnets'. Shakespeare? He was mildly surprised as he watched the
soldier in full combat gear reading the book. But she was still a woman.
Figures.
"You into poetry, Burnett?" He asked, his voice still sounding hard and a little
condescending, even though he had tried to soften it a bit.
She glanced up at him and squinted a bit in the sunlight. "Um...I'm into
Shakespeare anyway."
"Hmm." He swallowed some food. "That's right...you're an 'actress'." He
emphasized the last word as if it explained everything from her book to her very
existence.
"Not anymore...now I'm a soldier." She answered, managing to surprise him once
again. "But I don't have to give everything up I love to be here."
He said nothing to that and she buried her nose in the pages again. He watched
her for a few long moments, finishing his meal and watching the way the sun made
her brown hair shine red in places. He was reminded of the way he had found her
meditating a few days ago. Keeping her inner peace. How had they come from such
different beginnings and ended up here, together? He remembered what she had
said about her passion for Covert- Ops, comparing it to his love of Ranger
School.
He had excelled in boot camp and then gone on to Infantry training, Airborne
certification, and then Ranger School at Ft. Benning, Georgia. And there he had
found his true calling. They made him crawl in the mud and run miles in full
gear in the heat and humidity. The obstacle courses were a living hell designed
to test your endurance and strength to the limit. The war games were advanced
and tricky and required split-second thought and fast reflexes. He had loved
every second of it...all the more because it was difficult and he had had to
make himself better. They had made him a lean, mean, killing machine and he had
graduated, once again, at the top of his class. All in all...if there hadn't
been a few comments recorded about his 'failure to get along with others' and
'outspokeness bordering on insubordination', his career so far would be
exemplary. His lack of social skills, however, hadn't prevented them from
offering him a position at the Ranger School as an instructor. It was there that
they began sending him on occasional covert missions. Places the U.S. couldn't
admit to infiltrating. The Jungles of South and Central America, the deserts of
the Middle East, even the occasional mountainous terrain. He had traded gunfire
and taken to combat with a calm, cool, determination that had earned him respect
quickly. He looked back at the Corporal.
"That inner peace of yours keeping your legs from aching, Burnett? How about
that MRE...does inner peace make it taste better?"
She glanced up at him, her eyes showing over the top of the paperback. He held
her gaze.
"Give it up." He suddenly urged. She was silent for a moment and then raised her
chin.
"You'll have to drag me kicking and screaming onto the plane out of here,
Staff."
He grinned at that. Good girl! There was hope for her yet. He gestured towards
her book. "Lots of love poems and 'thee's and 'thou's in there?" He asked her
just to be annoying. Keep her on her toes. Too much inner peace could get you
killed out here.
She glanced up at him again and fixed him with a steely gaze. He held it and
suddenly she was reciting one of the sonnets, her gaze not leaving his.
"As an unperfect actor on the stage,
Who with his fear is put beside his part,
Or some fierce thing replete with too much rage,
Whose strength's abundance weakens his own heart;
So I, for fear of trust, forget to say
The perfect ceremony of love's rite,
And in mine own love's strength seem to decay,
O'ercharg'd with burthen of mine own love's might.
O! let my looks be then the eloquence
And dumb presagers of my speaking breast,
Who plead for love, and look for recompense,
More than that tongue that more hath more express'd.
O! learn to read what silent love hath writ:
To hear with eyes belongs to love's fine wit."
He stared at her, speechless. She shut the book and stuffed it back into her
pack as Will barked out the command to re-group. Wayne stood slowly and took up
the rear, his gaze finding the back of the slender Corporal time and time again
as they marched forward. He hadn't been completely sure of the meaning of the
sonnet. Shakespeare was confusing and took practice to read correctly, but he
thought he caught the general gist of it, and he wonderd why she had read it to
him.
They marched the group all day and into the night. They slept out on the trail
and Will put himself, Wayne and Brad between Burnett and the rest of the group.
It was hot, humid, and the insects were horrible. Brad woke him up at oh three
hundred for his watch, and he rose easily and silently, packing his gear and
leaving it sit while he walked around the perimeter of the small camp and then
took a lean against a tree, his eyes slicing into the darkness and his ears
listening for something out of place. Nothing. It was peaceful. His eyes
reluctantly fell on the small sleeping form a few yards from where Brad was
fidgeting and trying to get a couple more hours of sleep. What was she doing
here? Rich family, college education and place in society. What did the Army
offer her that she wasn't getting at home? He had to finally admit to himself
that he was intriqued by her. He'd never had a recruit so driven to succeed and
so...confident and comfortable in her own ability. And yet...there was some
vulnerability to her that he couldn't put his finger on. She was impressing
him...and he'd gone from dismissing her completely to being surprised and
gaining respect for her...to feeling a part of him that wanted to root for her
and help her through all this. A little 'knight in shining armor' syndrome of
his own, he supposed.
It didn't help that she was attractive. And that disturbed him most of all. That
he even found her attractive. He'd known plenty of good looking women in the
Army. He'd never had a problem disassociating from it before. It was simply not
a factor to him. He shook his head as if to clear it and walked the perimeter
again. Two more weeks and she'd be gone and he wouldn't have to worry about it
anymore.
They marched back towards base in the morning, stopping for another MRE on the
trail, where one of the LT's had eaten his lunch and then reached over and
pulled a stick up out of the sand beside the trail. Will had been waiting for
this, since Brad had run ahead and planted the out-of-place long, straight stick
there earlier. The Major had jumped on the LT in a near rage. A stick planted in
the ground was an old Vietnam booby trap. They were usually attached to a nice
big buried explosive.
"You'd have been hamburger, Lieutenant! Along with everyone here within a 15
foot radius!" Will had stepped out to fifteen feet from the LT and walked in a
circle, showing the young officer how many of his team members he would have
injured or killed. "You're an officer! You should know better!"
The rest of the recruits had watched silently as the LT was blasted and Wayne
knew they'd be a lot more observant now. Things were changing here. They were
about to get more complicated. Time to use their brains instead of their brawn.
Wayne had glanced at Burnett through the incident. She had been grim and
thoughtful, her attention fully riveted to Will and what he was saying. Wayne
could almost see her mind turning over the information and processing it for
further use. Amazing.
They marched back into camp a few hours later, and Will had ordered everyone to
the rifle range. The soft swearing and dejected looks made him grin at Wayne.
Wayne would have grinned back...but, keeping much closer to his personality, he
just lifted a corner of his mouth in smug amusement. Quite frankly, it was the
equivalent of a broad, laughing smile in Wayne- language. They hesitated for a
moment as Wayne went to the ammo shed for some M16 rounds. The assigned guard
for that evening, Nelson, stood there leaning against the makeshift armory. He
looked casual...and his helmet sat on the ground beside him. Wayne swore and
made a beeline for the MP. Will had watched him and then slowly followed.
"Nelson!" Wayne barked as he drew closer. The MP looked up, surprised, and then
quickly stood at attention. The rest of the soldiers in the yard stopped talking
and watched the confrontation. Wayne scowled as he got in the young Corporal's
face.
"Why the hell is your cover sitting on the ground?"
"I was hot, Staff Sergeant!"
"Hot? Are you or are you not supposed to be covered when you're on guard duty
around here?"
"All soldiers on guard duty are supposed to be covered, Staff Sergeant!" The Corporal
glanced at Major Elias, who stood, arms folded over his chest, and watched
silently.
"Then why is your helmet on the ground, Corporal?"
"I..." the MP hesitated and glanced at the Major. A Staff Sergeant didn't
concern him as much as the officer.
"Answer the Staff Sergeant, Corporal Nelson." The Major ordered.
"It's...uh..."
"How many times have I reminded you about your helmet, Corporal?" Wayne cut him
off and asked.
"Three times, Staff Sergeant."
"Three times! Three strikes and you're out, Nelson. You're cut! Go home to your
unit!"
The MP stared at him in disbelief. "What?"
"I'm done with you! If you can't obey the simplest regulations, then you're out.
I despise incompetence like this. Pack up and report to the personnel officer
tomorrow morning. You're out of here!"
"Sir..." Nelson was flabbergasted and he glanced towards the Major for
help. Will shook his head.
"What are the rules concerning cover for the Military Police, Corporal?"
The MP had blanched slightly then and answered firmly. "MPs are to be covered at
all times out of doors, sir...We may be uncovered when under shelter except
while armed, sir. If we are armed, then we must be covered while under shelter."
Will had nodded and then held up his hands and shrugged. "Staff Sergeant Sneeden said
you're gone, Corporal. You'd better pack up and be ready to go tomorrow
morning."
Nelson stared at the Major, but didn't dare argue.
"Yes sir!"
"You're dismissed, Corporal Nelson."
"Yes sir!"
The Corporal picked up his helmet and began to walk away. Will stepped closer to
Wayne.
"Are you sure about this, Wayne? The kid's father is CID."
"Hell yeah...I've told him three times to keep covered. That's two more warnings
than I like to give."
Will tried to hide a smile. "Ok...I'll back you up."
They began to walk away, Wayne already thinking about who to order into guard
duty to take Nelson's place. The other soldiers stared at them, and Wayne heard
a comment expressed slightly too loud by a tall PFC to his left.
"What a prick."
He suddenly lunged to his left and glared into the young man's face. "You have
no idea, Private! I can be more of a prick than you could ever imagine!" Will
had put a restraining hand on Wayne's shoulder and led him away.
"Easy Wayne. Let me handle this."
Wayne walked away as Will began to shout orders. He met the eyes of every
soldier who looked his way. And then he looked into a pair of brilliant green
ones that held his gaze with something akin to indecision. Burnett broke the
gaze when she realized he had stopped walking to fix her pointedly with his
piercing stare. She turned away and marched with the others, but Wayne wondered
if she shared the PFC's, and undoubtedly the rest of the camp as well, opinion
of him. He swore softly and turned back to go find another guard. He didn't care
what she thought. But he wondered why he had to keep repeating those words to
himself silently.
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