[Baghdad, Iraq. Thursday,
May 30, 2003.]
The young lady yawned as she stretched, her arms reaching for the sky. Her back was in agony, having to fill out paperwork at a desk for the first part of the day and carry around a 5.56mm select-fire assault rifle for the remainder of it. Nathan Merwin's music boomed and echoed throughout the vacant stone palace. "Merwin," she tiredly groaned, pinching her nose. "May you please turn that music down? It's giving me a headache."
Y/N L/N
STAFF SGT. USMC FORCE RECON
AMIABLE
CONSIDERATE
EMOTIONAL
The camp itself, or rather called "Camp Slayer", is an American military installation on the former Radwaniyah Palace, in Baghdad, Iraq. It served as a designated home base, and headquarters for the United States Marines. Despite typically being in a peppy and enthusiastic mood, Y/n couldn't help but feel burned out. She hadn't slept for the past few nights which caused her patience to wear thin, making Merwin's tunes all the more annoying.
"Aw..." Merwin gave her a sympathetic frown. "I'm sorry, sweetheart," he said, sarcastically. "Scared that the boogeyman might take you away?" He took note of her groggy state.
NATHAN MERWIN
CPL. USMC FORCE RECON
HUMOROUS
FEARLESS
DISRESPECTFUL
"Oh, har har." Y/n mirrored Merwin's demeanour, playfully rolling her eyes. When she was originally deployed to Iraq, it took some time to get used to Merwin since he is known to make frequent jokes surrounding women or other's mothers. "Better watch yourself," She nodded towards the weight set. "Don't want you getting injured on us."
Merwin pretended to be shocked, "Worried about little ol' me? I'm honoured." He let out a chuckle before resuming his bench pressing. As to not disturb him, Y/n was quick to abandon his side to aimlessly wander around Saddam's Palace until further instructions. She knew what room to dare not enter since she had to, unfortunately, turn a blind eye to Rachel King and Nicolas Kay when it came to their love affair.
What was supposed to be a peaceful stroll soon turned bitter when Y/n saw a figure approaching her. Her body tensed, eyes narrowing upon seeing Lieutenant Kolchek nearing.
JASON KOLCHEK
1ST LT. USMC FORCE RECON
CONFIDENT
INTOLERANT
IMPULSIVE
She couldn't help but allow her mouth to twist into a sneer upon seeing him. Y/n then closed her eyes, taking a moment to regain her composure as she took a deep breath to steady her heartbeat. "About time you joined us. What took you so long?" Kolchek tilted his head to the side, squinting while he questioned the younger woman.
She slightly rubbed her eyes in an attempt to wipe the tiredness away. "A lady needs her beauty rest, sir," Y/n replied in a snarky tone, not bothering to respect her superiors — an unhealthy trait that she partially inherited from Merwin. Lieutenant Kolchek was less than amused by her rebuttal, "It is 1400, ma'am. The Lieutenant Colonel will be arriving here any minute now."
Her mind wandered and began playing out fantasies of violence or humiliation. Y/n couldn't bring herself to wring Jason's neck, but she could certainly throw him outside with the rest of his mangy kin. "I am aware." She mumbled under her breath and proceeded to avoid his gaze.
"Then act like it." He coldly advised before walking away.
Truth was that Y/n is not fond of Kolchek in the slightest. Three weeks prior, she, Jason, and Nicholas Kay were involved in an incident at a checkpoint which ultimately ended in a casualty and Y/n being caught in the crossfire — the wound on her neck just barely beginning to heal itself. Many considered her lucky for coming out nearly unscathed since the bullet from Kay's gun just nicked her.
Countless minutes passed and Y/n found herself unable to find an interesting enough activity to keep herself occupied, so she spent the time conversing with a variety of people on the base which mainly surrounded José Gomez. "You should've seen him," Y/n referred to Kolchek. "He was so uptight and stubborn. It was embarrassing." She crossed her arms over her chest.
"That bad, huh?" Joey raised an eyebrow at Y/n's behaviour.
JOSÉ GOMEZ
LANCE CORPORAL USMC FORCE RECON
RELIGIOUS
ANXIOUS
LAID BACK
"I know that he's your Squad Leader and everything, but—" Y/n's sentence was promptly cut off by groaning loudly to show her frustration. Joey, who was currently sitting behind a desk, smirked. "Did that make you feel any better?" He let out a quiet laugh as his eyes didn't leave his computer screen. While Joey is prone to be rather timid — especially around Y/n — he tends to make a lot of jokes with Merwin, which has coined him as one of Y/n's most-liked people on base.
"A little bit..." she admitted, sheepishly. "Thanks for listening to me though, Joey, I appreciate it." Y/n offered him a smile which he wholeheartedly reciprocated.
"Yeah, it's no problem!" He dismissed her, finally tearing his gaze away from the electronics in front of him to fully focus on his comrade. "I should be heading back, don't want Kolchek getting on my back for being in here when I'm not supposed to be." Y/n pressed her lips together, growing agitated at the thought alone.
"Try not to get on his bad side this time, okay, N/n?" Joey teased while Y/n made her way towards the exit.
As soon as Y/n reached the hallway, she was met by Lieutenant Kolchek. "He's here." He uttered under his breath but Y/n was unfazed by this information since it was just a briefing. "You want to meet him?"
"The Colonel? No, you go on ahead. The pleasure is all yours," Y/n hummed and ran her hands over her messy hair before shaking her head. "Besides, somebody has got to spot Merwin." She used the older man as an excuse.
Given that he had no time to protest, argue, or question the girl's alibi, Kolchek simply let out an exasperated sigh, "Okay."
YOU ARE READING
𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐎𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐁𝐈𝐀 ━ jason x reader.
Random𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐎𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐁𝐈𝐀 | ❝ long is the way and hard, that out of hell leads up to light. ❞ ━ A book in which at the close of the Iraq War, a military unit searching for chemical weapons unearth something far deadlier. In the ruins of a buried...
