This is Prompt No. 38-Confusion

For two hours, Mitchie prepped herself for what she was about to do and vehemently ordered herself to stop even thinking about crying. She gave her horse a slight tap in the ribs, urging it forward as the army camp came into sight, its beige tents and unattended fires making the place appear foreboding before Mitchie had even reached it. She raised her eyebrows as she saw soldiers bustling about, but seeming to go nowhere in particular, and shouts ringing out from all corners of the camp. Everything echoed, and by the time she had drawn closer to the camp, she was utterly confused as to where the sounds were coming from.

"You there!" someone shouted.

Mitchie's horse sidestepped slightly at the loud voice, but Mitchie ignored the animal and turned to find the speaker. She found a young man sprawled out on the ground, his back propped up against a log that other soldiers were using as a seat. His feet were inches from the fire, and his boots looked old and worn out, but his smile was rather dazzling and seemed to make his whole face light up. He set his coffee cup down and stood up, brushing the seat of his pants off before he walked over to Mitchie. "Were you calling me?" Mitchie asked.

The young man looked up at her, patting the horse all the while, and nodded, "I wanted to catch you before you start trying to find your way around here. You're enlisted, right?"

Mitchie nodded and swung out of the saddle. She smiled back and extended her hand. "Mitchell Torres," she said, trying out the new name for the first time.

"Pleasure to meet you, Mitchell. I'm Jason Black." Jason grinned. "Should I show you to the commander's office?"

Mitchie nodded and grabbed her bags off of the saddle horn. "That would be great," she said.

Jason put his hand to his mouth and let out a shrill whistle, calling out, "Lieutenant Brandon! Take Mr. Torres' horse, will you?"

The young man nodded and came jogging over to take the reins and lead the horse away. Mitchie looked around at the hazy camp and remarked, "How do you ever find your way around here?" She glanced pointedly at the labyrinth of tents and fire pits. "It's so confusing."

Jason followed her gaze and nodded, tugging slightly on his grey uniform. "Well, it's not just the camp that's confusing." He motioned for Mitchie to follow him and he walked as he explained. "We've all gathered here, but there are very few orders for our division. That's why we're all sitting around doing absolutely nothing. This regiment is pretty much the scruffiest, most ill-disciplined camp the Confederates have."

Mitchie glanced around as she walked, being careful not to step on anyone, and muttered under her breath, "Thank you, daddy."

Jason glanced at her and smiled. "Lots of us here think those same words." He shook his head. "This camp is affectionately referred to as Camp Confusion." The sarcasm in his voice made it clear to Mitchie that the term "affectionately" was really anything but affectionate.

"So you haven't had any orders or anything?" Mitchie asked, trying not to sound like she was prying already. Perhaps, if this was the camp that would see no action due to its disorganization, she would be even safer. "I wouldn't have to drink that awful stuff Anna packed for me, either," Mitchie thought with glee.

"None," Jason responded with a shake of his head. "The men are getting tired of just sitting around, waiting." He looked around grimly and said, "Most of them have nice homes that they want to go back to, and someone was shot last week for desertion because he tried to go home."

Mitchie winced, knowing that the story had been told in order to warn her against trying to leave and not just a conversational topic. "Thanks for the tip," she said.

Jason stopped outside one of the larger tents and smiled. "Any time," he told her. He pulled one side of the flap open for her to step through. "In there."

Mitchie nodded her thanks and stepped inside, standing awkwardly for a moment before her eyes adjusted and she was once again able to see clearly. The inside of the tent was much different than she had expected it to be. There were rugs covering the floor, stretching from one end of the tent to the other. There was a small bed instead of the standard issue cot sitting against the wall, and an oak desk sitting in the back of the tent. A small man sat behind the desk, watching Mitchie carefully with piercing blue eyes as she surveyed his domain. She couldn't tell whether he was pleased or annoyed to see her.

"Do you like what you see?" he asked, referring to her obvious curiosity with the environment around her.

Mitchie blushed, afraid that she had appeared too forward in her examinations. "I'm sorry, sir," she said quietly. "But yes, I do like what I see." She glanced around at the sparse furnishings. "It looks very cozy."

The older commander smiled and nodded at the "young man" standing in front of him. "Name?"

"Mitchell Torres," Mitchie answered readily.

"You'll be sharing a tent with Lieutenant Black, Mr. Torres," the commander said in a bored tone as if he had gone through this questioning a thousand times, which he probably had. "Any questions?"

"No sir," Mitchie said quietly even though she had quite a few.

"Good," the commander said. "Lieutenant Black can show you how to load a gun, if you don't know how to already." He nodded at Mitchie. "Dismissed."

Mitchie dared not ask any other question, but nodded and turned, heading once more out into the maze of tents and the haze of the smoky fires. She blinked, trying to clear the tears in her eyes that the fire was inducing. As she glanced around, Mitchie tried to remember which way she and Jason had come to no avail. "I'm so confused," she said aloud.

A/N: Hope you liked it! Shane's chapter is next! Please review!