Thirty two windows. Uneven, warped slabs of plywood nailed to each window.
Thirty two hard-backed cushion-seats. Edges fraying, with bits of yellow filling spilling out between split zippers.
One dark partition separating bus passengers from the driver.
Two hours of rattling and rumbling. A creaky, lurching brake. In stepped three young women, heads down and tense eyes darting this way and that.
Ninety minutes of rumbly riding passed. Another stop. Seven women hurried onto the bus, breaths shallow as they shuffled into the nearest open seats.
In motion again, the faint glare of red-to-green traffic lights flickering in the bit of windshield visible.
Nervous coughs. Wheezy snores. Hushed murmurs traded between strangers...knowing they'd soon be much more to each other.
"Why'd you join?"
"To blow shit up, duh."
Another seven hours passed before the harsh spotlights over Parris Island lit up the bus's drab interior through the windshield. A sharp speed-bump jolt. The humid South Carolina air buzzed with hungry insects.
Slouching in the back seat and still a bit hung-over, Anna turned and gave Rapunzel's short, chestnut hair a pat. Then, she burped and grumbled.
"I miss your sunshine hair."
Rapunzel hummed, patted Anna on the back, and giggled at burp number two. "Maybe I'll buy a weekend wig with that sweet, sweet enlistment bonus." She trailed fingertips up and down Anna's back, then shivered as the bus passed through the main gate. She nearly swallowed her tongue when Anna fumbled for her hand and croaked self consciously.
"Feels like I should...thank you. Again...but...not like…" Anna trailed off with a pair of hiccups, then gulped as Rapunzel squeezed her hand.
"Free college? And all the sand fleas I could ever want?" Rapunzel let out a little hum as Anna's head dropped against her shoulder. "And keeping an eye on you."
A scratchy voice crackled over the loudspeakers at the rear and front of the bus. "In a few moments we will arrive at recruit intake. A drill instructor will guide you off of the bus, and you will go from there."
Anna gritted her teeth and forced out a queasy laugh, even as she pressed against Rapunzel and tried to hide in long hair that was no longer there.
"I hope we're put in the same platoon."
The bus lurched to a halt, and Anna shivered as Rapunzel slid an arm around her shoulders. Rapunzel murmured encouragingly. "Stay close to me and I'm sure we will."
Anna's stomach rumbled in distress. Faint shouts right outside made her toes curl, and her mouth went dry. A guilty grimace. "I'm not ready to see her again."
Rapunzel inhaled sharply, but before she could respond, a crisply-uniformed Marine sporting a wide-brimmed hat bounded onto the bus. Pale greens, browns, and blacks of her starched camouflage utilities almost glowed in the dim light, and in that moment, twenty five young women gasped in unison.
"GET THE FLYING FUCK OFF MY FUNKMASTER FLEX BUS, YOU DIRTBAGS. PUT YOUR NASTY CIVVIE SHOES ON MY YELLOW FOOTPRINTS AND SURRENDER YOUR SOULS TO ME. GO, GO, GO."
In a flash, Rapunzel hopped up and hauled Anna down the aisle as they brought up the rear. She heard laughter.
Are you laughing?
More hollering filled the air, but Rapunzel felt Anna's firm hand squeeze, and she glanced back for a split-second.
Rosy cheeks and a hand clasped over a toothy cackle.
You'll be fine. I'll be fine. It's all…
Rapunzel turned back, caught the wild-eyed scowl of the drill instructor, and immediately clasped a hand over her own snickering grin.
Ah, shit.
"ARE YOU SMILING AT ME...SUNSHINE? GOOD, GOOD, WE'LL PLAY GAMES, THEN."
Rapunzel yelped and stumbled off of the bus, yanking Anna along before the raging drill instructor could get a look at that freckled laughter-bomb.
BE LOUD. BE QUICK. TRY NOT TO LAUGH 'CAUSE NOW WE'RE IN…
A dimly lit parking lot. Rapunzel crashed into twenty other young women in a flustered panic before she finally managed to find two adjacent sets of yellow footprints. She hopped on one set, deposited Anna on the other...and got barfed on for her trouble.
"OH GOOD, WE GOT A PUKER ALREADY. MORE GAMES."
Anna blanched, slapped her arms right against her sides, and immediately forgot about the horrible taste in her mouth. She managed a small, raspy murmur. "Sorry, P." She trembled in the cool, pre-dawn air.
Seventeen sand fleas immediately assaulted her.
Rapunzel bit down on her tongue and trembled as she tried to stand still, not puke from getting puked on...and not burst out laughing.