Pretty quick update! The next chapters will be up quicker because they are really exciting chapters and i'm eager to get them typed up. And i'm re-reading it as I type it. This'll be my second time reading it all the way through and it's been a while since I have so i'm just as eager as you! Enjoy! Oh and please review! :)


Chapter 5

The plane ride back to Afghanistan was boring. They played a movie but he kicked back his seat and tried to get some sleep. The time difference between Wilmington and Afghanistan was about nine and a half hours.

When he arrived on the base that he was newly stationed at, he recognized a couple of people he knew. One of his friends ran up to him,

"Hey, Ben." They shook hands,

"Hey, Matt." He knew the question was coming and he prepared himself for it. As if on cue, he looked around and asked,

"Where's Jeff? Weren't you coming back with him?" Ben looked away and nodded,

"Yeah we were supposed to come back together. But, umm, Jeff was in a car accident- he didn't make it." By then, a couple of more people came u.

"What?" Asked a fellow officer. Matt looked up at Ben and said,

"Jeff was in a car accident. He didn't make it, guys."

"Oh, man." A couple of guys said.

"When is the funeral?" One of them asked. Ben shrugged his shoulders,

"Whenever I go on leave again." One of the guys motioned to a building,

"I would request an emergency leave; they've probably heard about Jeff by now." Ben nodded,

"I will in a couple of days."

The base was centered in the middle of nowhere. There was sand everywhere- as far as you could see. He wondered why in the world they would build an air force base in the middle of the desert. He set up his room in the barracks and a couple of guys showed him around the base.

They showed him around the hangar and showed him all of the planes. Ben knew about every single one of them- he had studied so much about planes and aviation that he could name every one of the planes just by looking at them. They took him out back and showed him the runways. There were multiple planes flying and practicing. He wanted to fly one so bad. As if reading his mind, one of the guys asked him,

"Do you want to fly one?"

As he climbed into a F-16, he was sort of nervous. But, as soon as he climbed in, he felt right at home. He started up the engine, taxied it out onto the runway and, as soon as he got the "okay", he took off. He flew for about 45 minutes. It wasn't much of a scenery but he loved every second of it. He did turns, flips and barrel roles and everything he could think of. He looked down after 45 minutes and saw them giving the signal to land. He landed the plane perfectly and taxied back into the hangar. He got out of the cockpit and the three guys ran over to him.

"You are one heck of a flyer, Ben" One of them said.

"I'm impressed." Came a voice from behind them. They turned around and saw General Roberts standing with his hands together. They immediately saluted him and he saluted back.

"That is quite some flying you did there Mr. Carter." Ben smiled,

"Thank you, sir." He nodded,

"I might recommend you for the next mission, if you'll accept." Ben nodded,

"Thank you, sir, I'm sure I will."

The general nodded and saluted them. They saluted back and he walked towards the main building. One of the guys punched his arm,

"Nice going, Ben." He smiled,

"Thanks."

They headed back towards the barracks- he shared a room with Matt. When Ben went in the room, Matt was staring a picture.

"What's that?" He asked. Matt looked up,

"Oh, nothing. It's just a picture of my wife and kids. Do you want to see?" Ben nodded,

"Sure."

Matt handed him the picture and Ben looked down at it. His wife had brown hair and their two kids looked exactly like her.

"They take after their mom. They get their good looks from her, too." Ben smiled,

"Cute kids. How old are they?" He pointed to the oldest,

"Chris will turn seven in March." He pointed to the baby girl,

"Little Anna will turn two in August." Ben smiled again and handed him back the picture.

"What about you, Ben? You got a girl?" He shook his head,

"No." Matt shook his head,

"You need one, man. There's nothing like coming home to your wife, or girlfriend even. There's no better feeling in the world."

Ben laid on his bed, thinking about what Matt had said. Though he was happy, or at least thought he was happy, he thought about what would happen if he did get a girlfriend. For some reason, Allison's face immediately popped in his mind. Though he wasn't planning on going out with her- he barely even knew her- he couldn't help but wonder why her face came into his mind at that moment. He wasn't the kind of guy who just got with a girl because he was lonely or wanted some "female companionship" as Jeff had phrased it. If he was going to be with someone, he was going to be with them because he liked them and enjoyed spending time with them. He would never have a "one night stand" with a woman. He was turned off by the kinds of girls that would just throw themselves at any guy, and he was turned off by the guys that took advantage of girls.

He got up and took a quick shower and changed into his sweatpants and t-shirt. He laid back down and Matt asked him,

"So, are you going to request for an emergency leave?" Ben nodded,

"Yeah, I'm going to tomorrow."

"All right. Well, I'm going to head to bed, okay?" Ben nodded,

"Okay."

He looked at his watch and saw that it was 10:30 p.m. Afghanistan time and 8:00 a.m. Wilmington time. He was still operating on Wilmington time and he figured he would try to sleep, even though he wasn't tired at all. If he didn't go to sleep, he would be staying up at night and sleeping during the day. He laid there for a while, listening to Matt snore before he finally drifted off to sleep.

Ben woke up the next morning with Matt still snoring across the room. He got up and put on a pair of work out shorts and a t-shirt. Even though it was still February, it was 80 degrees in Afghanistan. He walked to the exercise building and spent a couple of hours working out. He ran on the treadmill and lifted weights. When he got back to the barracks, he took a cold shower and put on a pair of shorts and an air force t-shirt. While he was putting on his shirt, Matt walked in.

"Hey, what's up?" He asked.

"Nothing, I think I'm going to go talk to the general and ask for that leave."

"Okay, I'm going to head to breakfast, do you want to come? Ben slipped on his shoes,

"Yeah, sure."

They headed down to the cafeteria and sat down with a group of other guys. While they were eating, the intercom came on overhead. A deep voice said,

"Ben Carter please report to the main building immediately." The group of guys he was sitting with looked at him. Ben shrugged his shoulders and threw his breakfast away and started walking towards the main building. He wondered why he was being summoned and, when he walked in, General Roberts was sitting at his desk and an officer he saw when he arrived was sitting in one of the chairs. Ben went in and saluted them and they saluted back. General Roberts stood up and said, with a serious expression,

"Sit down, Ben." Ben sat down in a chair across from him.

"Is something wrong, sir?" He asked, already knowing the answer.

The general brought his hands together and leaned forward. He took a deep breath and Ben knew that something bad was coming.

"Ben, we got a call from Edwards Air Force Base. Your father called them and told them some pretty bad news." Ben's throat tightened. The general took another deep breath,

"Your mom was in a car accident. A drunk driver hit her." He took a break and Ben knew there was more.

"Your mom didn't make it, Ben. She was killed on impact." His stomach sank. He barely heard what else the general told him.

"We are granting you emergency leave. You'll be going back and you'll have two weeks. I'm so sorry, Ben." He stood up and Ben took it as his cue to leave. He saluted and the general saluted him back.

He ran on autopilot for the rest of the day. He didn't go back to the cafeteria, instead, he went back to his room and packed his things. His plane was scheduled to leave at 9:30 that evening. He packed his stuff and laid on his bed.

His mom was dead. The woman who had raised him; the woman he had seen just two days before was dead. He couldn't believe it. The tears he had tried to hold inside were coming to the surface. He laid there for the rest of the afternoon, crying. Matt came in later in the afternoon,

"Hey Ben, what's-" He looked around the room and saw that his stuff was packed.

"Why are all of your things packed?" Ben sat up,

"I'm leaving."

"Leaving? Why?" Ben tried to swallow the lump in his throat,

"My mom died." He finally said. Matt's shoulders slumped,

"What? Are you serious?" He nodded and Matt sighed,

"Were you granted emergency leave?" He nodded again and he asked,

"When are you headed home?"

"My plane leaves at 9:30. The general said the taxi would come pick me up at 7." Matt instinctively looked at his watch,

"Well, it's only 5:15. Do you want to come have a beer with me and a couple of guys?" Ben shook his head,

"No thanks, Matt." Matt stood up straight,

"All right, well, if I don't see you, then good luck with everything. And I'm really sorry about your mom and Jeff both." Ben nodded,

"Thank you."

They shook hands before Matt turned around and walked out, leaving Ben alone once more.


Another sad chapter, i'm sorry :( The chapters after this will be happy ones, I promise! Except maybe the funeral ones, but they'll have happy parts of them! Hope you enjoyed it! Please review! :)