The Military Boy - At War

Chapter 1 | A Widow & A Virgin

Water. I need water.

The grit of sand can be felt in every possible crevice of my body. Even my eyelids feel painfully scratchy. The earthy smell of dust and dirt serves as a constant reminder of the vast barren desert that stretches in every direction around us. My dry throat can't even rasp her name. They took her away almost immediately, and I kept calling after her. She kept calling after me... until her voice faded completely.

We were segregated immediately, and I was interrogated. She must have been too. She knows to tell them we are a married couple. In our attempt to escape the conflict-ridden Middle East, this was a plan we devised to keep from being separated. If they learned that an unmarried man was accompanying an unmarried woman, we would be punished by this kingdom's rules. She would risk being jailed and stoned as punishment. I would be imprisoned until they decided to maim or behead me. We'll be alright because they have no reason to question whether we are actually married or not. She just needs to remember what to say, just like we practiced.

'Innahu zawji' (He is my husband), 'Iinaa zawjatahu' (I am his wife)

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They've just brought her back after what feels like days, but it's only been a day and a half. She's been bathed and is wearing a clean black kaftan-style robe. The material is loose around her but is thin and moves hypnotically as she moves her body past me under their watchful gaze. The lanterns illuminating this space create a glow, and the silhouette of her naked frame can be seen beneath the sheer fabric. My eyes widen, but I recover quickly, showing no other outward reaction. "Are you ok?" I ask, and she nods as she places water in front of me and goes to sit down, her eyes fixed on the two guards still standing inside our tent.

One of them steps forward and unbinds me, allowing me to drink. The other guard takes her and ties her hands behind her back. Something doesn't seem right. It's in the way she holds her body. She's tense. I've learned this much about her while travelling discreetly, trying to blend in between various army troops, villagers, city dwellers and now nomad tribes. Posing as her husband meant sharing the same sleeping arrangements, and although I fought hard not to, I'm more accustomed to her body language than I'd like to admit.

We're sitting on an ornate hand-tied Persian rug spread on the sandy desert floor of this Bedouin tent in the middle of this fucken desert.

Both our hands now tied behind our backs, she sits freely while I'm bound to the center post that serves as the main support and props up this shelter.

We hoped to fly out from Bahrain and away from this war zone, but to do that, we would have to make our way across this Saudi desert, past the last cities and across the King Fahd Causeway. Hopeful that we could do this, provided I could get to the British airbase in the city of Sitra in Bahrain and finda suitable aircraft, we could go back to our lives... individually.

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~Flashback~

"Don't move, keep your head down and don't make a sound!"

She nods in agreement, and I cover her with a tarp, sitting on it, trying my best not to hurt her.

We're in the back flatbed of a military vehicle with the sun glaring down at us relentlessly. "Here," I pass her a canteen full of cold water discreetly under the tarp.

"There's a checkpoint up ahead. Keep your heads down, so we don't have to disembark and hide the girl!" The lieutenant barks at us. The three other British military officers on the flatbed duck down.

"Pull over so we can check your vehicle. You foreign soldiers always bring alcohol with you everywhere. It is not allowed here!"

"I'll create a distraction, mate! You get yourself and the girl out of here. Head east towards King Fahd Causeway. Take this. It should help along the way. We are still in the outskirts somewhere between the cities of Riyadh and Dammam." Tossing a pouch of cash and some food, Alex gives me a nod before turning away. It pays to have a fellow member of the RAF squadron on this convoy.