Chapter 5: Growing Pains

After that visit with Dixie, a rather uneventful week had passed. Nothing more than typical class, practice, and hand breaking paperwork. However, the certain drudgery was broken thanks to the the hospital allowing the Stonewall Commander to finally come back to school. I find it so crazy her tank has a crew of eighteen in order for it to operate and now it will have one more inside that giant monstrosity by the end of today. Everyone was happy to see Dixie Harrison out of her infirmary robe and back in a school uniform. Her first step out of the building caused a cheer so loud, the ship crew for our school could hear the entire tankery team. Delilah was clapping her hands while Dixie was getting piled on by her tank mates, I was standing in the background, waiting for the chaos to die down a little.

Delilah gave a shrill whistle. "Listen up, everyone! We still have enough time to get back to the field and get to practice! We'll have to run back to make sure we don't lose too much daylight."

"I brought the GP with me so I can carry a few of the girls to make sure the teachers don't close off the garage."

Ruby jumped on the hood of the general purpose vehicle. "Who all wants to take a ride on Johnny's car?"

Too many hands and screams answered and I had to give a shout. "HEY! We're wasting enough time as it is. I can only carry four with me." I looked across the crowd and started pointing. "Since Dixie's straight out of care, she'll be coming with me, so will Ruby, Delilah, and 'Etta! Everyone else, we'll meet at the field."

I was given a loud "OK" by everyone and the rest of the girls started running off. Now with just the five of us, I watched as each tank commander enter the vehicle and I realized that Dixie's pretty much my height, maybe only a quarter inch shorter. Ruby however, the short red head was more than half a foot shorter than me and the other two captains, Delilah and Henrietta were about the same height and had the same hair color. Though, 'Etta's hair is braided into twintails and Delilah's was kept in a sloppy ponytail. With everyone on board, I started the engine and began driving us back to school.

Dixie was sitting next to me and she held her hand out to feel the wind. "It's good to be back."

"Indeed, your team's been cryin' about you." Delilah said.

"I figure, Stonewall's just not the same without me."

Henrietta leaned towards the front. "You could say that again, practice for your team was a slog to go through."

"Speaking of which," I started as the jeep shifted gears and began riding faster down the road. "Because of what happened, we were able to get everyone to wear a helmet from now on when they get into their tanks."

"Does that mean y'all have one for me?" Dixie asked.

"Yes, indeed we do!" Ruby exclaimed.

"That's a relief." Dixie said while leaning her head out the window.

After that, the ride was mostly quiet, aside from the sounds coming from the road and the engine. It was nice to see the full team back together as well as Dixie out of that hospital bed for once. Only a few minutes of driving later and we were back at the tank garage. Everyone cheered once again seeing the Stonewall Commander jump out of the car. There were screams, shouts, and many hollerings.

"EVERYBODY!" Delilah called out to the crowd, "We've only got a couple of hours left for practice so let's make this count!"

"We only have a couple of weeks before we get the list of opponents we'll be facing!" Ruby announced.

"That's right," Delilah added. "We're gonna need to put the pedal to the metal with what we're gonna be facing!"

And with that, every single girl put their helmet on and gave the rebel yell. I am thankful for being southern born, otherwise I would've ran in horror to what I just heard. Each and every girl made an effort to sound like a fox hunter out screaming a banshee while adding ghoulish overtones.

"DISMISSED!" The team commander ordered and everyone got in their tanks. However, something seems different about the tanks this time around. Each tank now has a state flag. It was rather humorous to see, for some of the flags did not match the generals etched on the respective tanks. For instance, Lee was holding the Florida flag and JEB was holding the flag of Alabama. I guess those are the states the tank commanders are from, nice touch.

And with that, all the tanks were filed out of the garage and I followed for about fifteen minutes before going to my usual spot. The sounds of battle are not as obnoxious to me as the first day where everything really just felt like a mess of things. Though, I can see Stonewall's training really paying off as that massive tank used their size to properly shield Mosby as well as Forrest and Lee. The big tank would bob and weave back and forth, making sure the tanks behind it can move forward without receiving a single shot.

JEB however broke off from the formation the attacking tanks and charged straight towards Stonewall. Rather odd maneuver, especially considering who the tank crew named themselves. Stonewall pointed their cannon and was able to land a hit on JEB who then began to change direction to try to flank Stonewall's right flank. The rest of the attacking force then began to scramble and find a flank. Some were successful, but others were held off by the tanks being guarded.

And that was practice for the span of two hours. Figuring out Stonewall's flanks and how to properly guard them. The sun was down and each tank was parked back in the garage. I felt something dull strike my side as I got out of my GP and turned to see Delilah forcibly hand me back my sword.

"It's not that hard to get a belt for the hilt."

I took the handle of the sword. "I'll keep that in mind."

I held on to my blade and scabbard and watched as everyone got out of their tanks and circled up.

Delilah held her hands above her head. "One three everybody! One, two, three!"

And everyone gave off another rebel yell before filing out of the garage. As I watched, I saw each and every girl make their way but there was someone missing, the tall blonde wasn't there with anybody. Dixie's missing.

Three minutes pass and as far as I know, I'm the only one in the garage. I looked left and right as well as behind me. She's probably somewhere in here. Hopefully.

I started whistling calls. "Dixie! You in here?"

I continued whistling until I climbed atop Stonewall and tried to open the top hatch. It was heavier than I expected but I was able to get it open on the second try. A steady squeak invaded the otherwise silent room I was in and I made my way inside the tank. It really is just as huge on the inside as it is on the outside. I could fit my entire dorm in here if I really wanted.

"Dixie?"

A clanking sound was made and I turned to see Dixie huddled in a corner. Her arms were shaking and I could see some tears roll down her cheeks.

I took a few steps closer to her. "Hey, you alright?"

She waved me off. "Just go away."

I sat down beside her. "Come on, I'm not going to hold it against you."

"I said go away."

"Well, I can't."

Dixie looked up. "What do you mean you can't?"

"As in, I can't. I'm the manager of the team after all. And I don't want to see something lead up to an incident like last week."

Her glare deepened but she relaxed the rest of her body and leaned against the tank wall.

"Look," I said as raised a hand. "It's fine if something's wrong. You just need to tell me."

Dixie shook her head. "I can't."

"And why not?"

"Too many people look up to me, I can't let them know I'm like this!"

"Like what?" I began to raise my voice.

"Look at me! I'm supposed to lead!"

"And did you do that?"

"I..." She paused as she looked around the interior. "I was shaking when a shell hit the armor. I was able to keep it together until 'Lilah called for practice to end."

"Once you were alone in the tank?"

"Yeah," Dixie tilted her head down, not allowing me to look into her eyes.

I rested my head on my left hand. "Well, uh, look. It looks like you haven't fully recovered yet from what happened last week."

Dixie buried her face into her hands. "Why?"

"Well, people take things differently. I know that for sure."

Dixie looked up at a me. "What makes you say that."

I let out a sigh. "What I'm saying will not leave this tank. Got it?"

Dixied nodded.

"I have a younger sister, Clarabelle. She got in a pretty bad accident a long time ago. Her body from her ribs to her waist got burned in a vehicle fire."

Dixie covered her mouth. "Oh my God."

"Ever since that day, both our parents were never really the same people."

"Is she alright?"

This time, it was my turn to glare as I pointed my finger to the girl in front of me. "You know more than what you need to know about me. Now it's your turn to answer the questions."

Dixie was taken aback. "O-okay."

I shook my head to what I said. "Just, help me understand what happened."

"I..." She paused as she moved both her hands to rub at her temples, causing her blond hair to slowly get a little messy. "I remember everything being blurry and falling over. I couldn't- I couldn't breath before my eyes closed."

She stopped talking as she began sobbing instead. It got so bad her screams were echoing inside the tank. If that rebel yell didn't force me to lose my hearing, this certainly would.

"Hey," I called to her and extended my arms. "I'm here. We don't have to go any farther today, okay?"

Dixie sniffed. "Okay."

After that, there was an awkward silence between us. Neither one of us could really muster up a topic to discuss as time seemed to stop between us.

After what felt like an eternity, Dixie broke the silence. "I'm guessing 'Lilah called you to take of this."

I shook my head. "I don't think she knows about this."

Dixie tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

"She didn't tell me to find you."

She blinked my response in. "Then why did you come in here?"

That's a good question. It forced me to really think about it. I was so focused that a solid five minutes passed and throughout that time, I saw Dixie's cheeks blush.

"You alright?" I asked her.

She rubbed some sweat from her forehead. "I-I'm fine. It's just a bit warm in here."

It was rather stuffy inside the Stonewall tank.

"Well," I said as I got up, extending a hand to help her up. "If you ever feel the need to talk about this kind of thing, you can find me in my office."

"Am I allowed to come to your dorm after practice?"

"If it's going to be that late. I... I guess."

Dixie looked down. "Okay."

"Look, I'm not going to hold it against you if it comes to that."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

And with that, we both got outside of the tank and exchanged our farewells for the night as I began walking back to my office. Delilah's probably gonna give me an earful for coming in so late after practice. But throughout that walk, I kept asking myself, why did I go out of my way to look for Dixie? And more importantly, why did I blurt that out about little Clara? I walked for a good few minutes until my door was in front of me. I still couldn't find an answer as to why.