Blood Lily Company - Afghanistan, year 1

XVII

Before going to bed, I went to see Lin. I had made a promise to myself, for Kris, and I intended to keep it. The night I had kept her company, at her request, she had made it clear to me that I couldn't take advantage of her weakness. I got it loud and clear. Especially loud... Err, sorry, keep getting sidetracked when it comes to the Icelanders. What I wanted to do that night was talk to her as the Lt's brother in arms.

I found her in her office with Fatso, they were, in fact, discussing Kris. I barged in, interrupted them and got an indecipherable gaze from Lin and annoyed expression from Fatso. Then the import of what I'd just done cut through the haze of weariness that enveloped me and I felt a true ass.
- Sorry, Lin, Fatso, I...
- You too are exhausted, and you are forgiven. And I will grant your request. But think about it, Archer, if my three Lieutenants stay on base, then the sergeant & corporals are the ones who will suffer.
- Got it, Lin. This is what we are here for, too. If we don't stand united, might as well shoot ourselves dead and be done with it, right?
- Well! said Erk, whom I hadn't see, partly hidden by the open door. We finally did it, Lin!

She laughed.
- Yeah, after three months, we managed to give you an esprit de corps and some moral foundations... It's about time, I was starting to despair.

I stammered, I wobbled, then I felt a little knock to the back of my knees. I fell down on the stool Erk had kicked towards me. He caught me and held me back to keep me from falling, but boy was I glad to have that thing under my butt. Reflexively I patted his hand and leaned on the backrest of my stool, halfway to sleep.

What do you mean, there's not backrest on a stool?! I can tell you there was one here and, on top of that, it was padded.

I fell asleep.

* *

The guys found out I was keeping a journal and after the first teasing, when I made them read the first few pages, they would spontaneously come and tell me things I had missed. Some I put in it, some I didn't, if I think it doesn't add to the story.

* *

Actually, that night, I was leaning against Erk, standing behind me, and fell asleep, sitting on my stool, propped up against the giant. Fatso told me he'd put his finger to his lips, in the international sign for silence, and that they let me doze off a bit as they continued their discussion. Then, as I didn't wake up, Lin carried me to her bed in the next room – through the connecting door.

I woke up in her bunk for the second time. All alone, this time. I learned she'd slept in my bed. I can imagine the faces of my roommates, Curly, Shorn, Stig, Fatso, Dio – my co-corporal – when, upon waking up, they found the Blood Lily under my covers.

Well, Curly and Dio may not have seen her because they had left on Ocelot Patrol.

In the Company, patrols names correspond to a geographical area. Serval is south, Ocelot west, Puma north and Caracal east. That's for foot patrols. In the Land-Rover, they are called Cheetah for east and Leopard for west. When we would get the bikes, we would add Mustang for north and Brumby for south.

The good thing about these code names is that you know right away where the guys are, where they're going and where they're coming from. Who's on the patrol doesn't matter when you get a radio call.

We alternate areas, because there just aren't enough of us to cover all of them all the time. And, well, our role is not really a truly traditional military role.

If we patrol, it's to turn the local population towards us and away from the warlords. Our role, apart from cleaning the place of the warlords, is to prepare the ground for the UN forces to come and occupy the area when things are a little calmer.