Chapter 10 The Run
They were together at last, bodies entwined, moving as one. Passion coursed through their veins as they explored every inch of each other, seeking out the secret places, unlocking new pleasures, the experience raised to new heights by the thrill of discovery.
James traced the line of the beautiful neck with his tongue, moving up to the delicate conch like ear. "Oh Molly, Molly, Molly" he whispered into it before moving across the stubbly cheek in search of the soft inviting lips.
James suddenly paused in confusion. Stubble? He drew away to find a man's face smiling up at him "Its Morley actually but you can call me anything you like lover boy"
James yelled in surprise and disgust and pulled away sharply, over balancing and falling off the side of the bed. As he hit the floor he awoke and sat up, breathing hard.
"Oh thank god that was a dream!" He said to himself and started to disentangle the sheet which had become entwined around his legs. He then sat on the bed and glanced across at his alarm clock. 0500. He rubbed his eyes and contemplated going back to sleep but abandoned the idea quickly and went in search of his running gear.
Just before he left his quarters he picked up his iPod,put in his earphones and selected his favourite running album. As the first track came on he started to sing along
"I remember when rock was young,
Me and Molly had so much fun"
He smiled to himself. He'd done it again, it was Suzie not Molly!
With a shake of the head he left his quarters and ran into the darkness.
James loved these early morning runs. It gave him an opportunity to think, to review progress on the mission and decide what needed to happen next. It also gave him time to think about Molly, think about their recent conversations and where he might now stand in her affections.
If he was honest with himself, he had little to go on. The last month had been incredibly busy with no time for anything other than working, eating and sleeping. The few moments they had had together they had spoken about some aspect or other of the mission.
James was sure that he had been forgiven for the fiasco at the restaurant but it was very difficult to explore where they took things next, if anywhere, given the lack of time or space to discuss things properly and the need to maintain the pretence of an appropriate relationship between ranks.
James ran on, the next song filled his ears:
"And I think it's going to be a long long time,
Till touchdown brings me round again to find..."
He skirted the airstrip and headed towards the warehouse complex. It had been just over three weeks ago that their new training equipment had arrived, brought together by their friends and relatives back at home. The packages had been accompanied by letters and parcels with personal gifts and messages for all the members of two section and the unloading had turned into something of an event which James, as always, had insisted on overseeing.
"Brains, just a little one for you" said James handing him a small box wrapped in brown paper "but you never know, it might inflate into something a lot bigger and more exciting!" This was met with howls and wolf whistles from the rest of the troops while Mansfield Mike called out "It's your mail order girlfriend!".
James then picked up another packet and shook it, causing it to rattle loudly. "Fingers, either your mother has sent you a set of maracas or her latest batch of baking hasn't survived the trip"
Fingers grimaced, "And she was going to use the new stag baking tin I got her for her birthday. I told her to use bubble wrap"
James had then spotted a letter to Molly which he could tell from the handwriting was from her sister Bella.
"Dawes, do I see a letter from your little sister among all this junk mail?" smiled James.
Molly came forward eagerly but James held the slim envelope back "not so fast private, you need to earn your treats around here. We need a suitable task lads!" Called James to a chorus of cheers.
"Truth or dare sir!" Suggested Nude-Nut.
"Ah excellent" smiled James. "Dawes what will it be?"
Molly rolled her eyes and shook her head "truth" she said with a smile
"Truth it is" called James "gentlemen do we have a question?"
Bas Vegas responded "which one of us did you dream of last Dawsey?"
More cat calls erupted. James knew that Molly fed off this kind of banter and would fire back a quick retort but to his surprise she hesitated for a moment and appeared tongue tied. She shot James a quick glance and then looked down at the ground. James was about to step in but a moment later Molly had looked up with a mischievous face and responded: "I dreamt that you and I were walking down the aisle Baz"
Baz Vegas beamed but Molly hadn't finished
"...of my local Tesco to get you more cream for your farmers!"
Two section cheered and James presented her the letter with a bow.
James ran passed the ANA barracks and another song started
"You could never know what it's like,
Your blood like winter freezes just like ice"
Just over two weeks ago James' training detail, or what he called the hairy belly brigade, had been formed up outside the barrack block. When the first of their number had been led away by Molly to a temporary med tent which had been set up nearby the pair were the subject of what James imagined to be fairly ribald comments from the remaining soldiers. However these were short lived as a loud rending sound was heard from the tent followed by a blood curdling scream from the Afghan. Molly could then be heard saying "oh don't be such a baby, you wait 'till I do your bikini line"
Several minutes and waxing strips later the screaming had turned into a hoarse whimpering and the man eventually emerged from the tent clutching his belly with both hands and walking with a strange knock kneed gait. Molly followed him out with a new waxing strip in her hand and called "next!"
The waxing session had been followed by an introduction to the abdominal crunch and the principles of a low fat diet before James then took his class on a 5k run around the base. Two weeks on and he was pleased with the progress of the group, although there was still a way to go.
James joined the main road through the base and headed towards the large parade ground.
"...laughing like children, living like lovers,
Rolling like thunder under the covers..."
The previous week James had joined one of Dangleberries and Mansfield Mike's music classes. The Afghans were struggling with some of the lyrics and Mansfield Mike was running through the pronunciation.
"Right listen its 'Sweeeeeet Caroline bah, bah bah'. See you need to stretch the vowel sound in the first word"
The detail sang out "Sweeeeety carrot line, nah, nah, nah"
"No, no listen again..."
James had glanced across at Smurf who was standing motionless at the edge of the parade ground. The zombie was never too far away from Mansfield Mike these days. He was encouraged that the two soldiers had formed some sort of strange bond, aided by the fact that Mansfield Mike seemed able to interpret Smurfs attempts at speech. However, the other members of two section continued to be standoffish and it was clear that there was still some progress to be made in that quarter. As he ran, James turned over this conundrum in his mind for the umpteenth time.
At the corner of the camps main admin block James took a sharp left and cannoned into someone sprinting in the opposite direction. His feet slipped on the dusty ground and he fell over, landing on his back with the other runner on top of him in a tangle of limbs. The collision knocked the air out of his lungs and he lay gasping whilst the person on top of him seemed to be in a similar state.
They lay panting in this position unable to move. James' vision was obscured by something and he raised his hand to his face to clear it away only to discover that it was the long brown hair of the person who had run into him. Brushing it aside revealed Molly's face just a few inches from his.
In his ears the song had changed again
"I hope you don't mind that I put down in words,
How wonderful life is while your in the world"
Molly's eyebrows arched in surprise. "Sorry sir" she gasped. "Are you alright?"
James removed his earphones
"I'm fine private, you just knocked the wind out of me. I think you need to wear a bell to warn people you are coming"
"I've got a pair of pants with one of them on at home" she said
They both laughed which made James very aware of Molly's body moving against his. Molly's smile faded and she looked deep into his eyes. James cleared his throat "errr I was going to say something but I seem to have lost my current thread completely" he admitted.
"Don't worry sir, you just need to go back to the last one and follow the link, always works for me" said Molly
James grinned. "I think we better get up."
Molly nodded and rolled off of him and onto her feet. She offered him her hand and he grabbed it and also rose in one easy movement.
"Couldn't you sleep either?" He asked.
"No sir, I can't seem to get a calmness in my night" said Molly "it just feels wrong"
"I know what you mean" said James
They stared at each other for a long moment then slowly moved closer together.
In the distance the engine of a lorry was revving. It grew louder and was followed by men shouting.
James tore his eyes away from Molly with a frown. "What's going on over there?"
As he spoke a large army truck careered through the metal gates of the camps main entrance, sending the sentries scattering in all directions. It screeched to a halt just in front of James and the rear tale gate crashed down revealing an interior crammed with shuffling, moaning figures, red eyes burning and mucus dripping. As James watched they started to jump down from the truck one by one. Among them were small children and James couldn't help thinking they looked like strange zombie gnomes.
He turned to Molly. "Raise the alarm private, we are under attack!"