-TASK FORCE 141- *ghost x y/n*

-dice-

I ducked, holding the backpack over my head as I crouched down on one knee. A football went over my head with a zing, and I felt my curtain bangs flutter on my face for a moment.

I got up, backpack now sitting on the ground at my side and eyes searching for who had thrown the football. They landed on two soldiers- one of whom was a bit taller than the other, but they both gave me a worried, embarrassed look.

I looked back to where the football now was laying, then looked back at them and said, "You have terrible aim."

The shorter one laughed and said, "I told him he did. Almost hit our lady soldier, didn'tcha, Soap?"

The other one- Soap, I realized- said, "In my defense, the wind was picking up as I threw it-"

"Blah blah blah blah," They began walking up to me, and both stuck out their hands.

"Soap," The worst football player ever said as I shook it. "Nickname's because I'm good at cleanin' house."

"I'm Gaz," The other said after I finished shaking Soap's hand and moved on to his. "Captain Price picked it for me because I 'don't say much'. Your name is...?"

"Dice," I said, picking up my backpack. "Got it because I was mildly reckless and gambled a lot."

"Damn. Sounds cool. We'll lead you over to Price." Soap had picked up the football and began walking to the building.

The inside was nice enough. brick walls, some posters, a bulletin board with random notices and whatnot on it. But Price's office was straight up beautiful. Bookshelves filled with various novels, textbooks, records, and files were all lining the walls. His desk was made of dark wood and had a computer and globe on it. Two chairs sat across from that. The windows behind were his chair showed a view of the gorgeous lake, a shooting range, and behind that, forest. Yet, the chair he was supposed to be in was empty.

"He's probably watching TV or something," Soap said. "We'll get him for you."

"Thanks!" I smiled as they left the room. So far, everything seemed good.

Sitting down in one of the two comfortable chairs, I thought the office looked welcoming and warm. I looked over at the wall that the entrance to the office was on, and saw a cork board. A paper with Price's name, photograph, specific skills and weaknesses, and other attributes was tacked onto the board, and underneath that was four others. Four papers, including Soap, Gaz, and I were all in the row, however what caught my eye was the first one in our row. "Simon Riley," it read, but without a picture listed, and some of the physical attributes were missing. My eyes narrowed as I studied the page. His skills included snipers, stealth, efficiency, and speed. His weakness list was empty, as was mine, for now. The only attributes that were on the page were his height, weight and eyes. Damn. He's 6' 2". 

The door pressed upon, and I quickly saw that it was Captain Price.

"Good evening, Dice. Or do you prefer Lia when we're not on duty?"

"Good evening, Captain Price. I prefer Dice, sir."

"Price will do."

"Alright, sir."

"So," He untacked my paper from the board. "You're good with a sniper?"

"Any gun, really. I've trained with most of them since before going in for Basic Training."

"Interesting. Have you done any stealth missions in the past?"

Shouldn't he have asked about this before I drove my ass out here?

"Only in training, sir."

He looked over my paper once more, before telling me, "You know you're going to be in the toughest situations, correct?"

"Yes sir."

"You understand the risk you're taking when you take this job."

"Yes sir."

"You understand the risk of you being added to the KIA list is rather high."

"Yes sir."

"You are ready to be a part of a team, while simultaneously ready for the moments when you'll be forced to go solo."

"Yes sir."

Price smiled, crinkles appearing in the corners of his eyes. "You'll be having an evaluation at 0700 tomorrow. I'll be judging your performance, but don't get anxious. And don't get flustered if you mess up once. I'll see you then."

"Thank you, sir. Have a good evening."

"You too, Dice."

I practically skipped to my room, which Gaz pointed me to after I stumbled into his and Soap's game of pool when I was looking for it. It was an almost copy-paste of my previous room, but it was a bit bigger and the windows showed a gorgeous view of the lake.

I unpacked my stuff quickly, wanting to go hang out with Soap and Gaz, seeing as how they were friendly towards me. I changed my top into a black tank, but left my cargo pants on.

As I was about to head down the hallway and enter the hangout room, I noticed another person in the hallway. He had a balaclava on, yet half of a 3D skeleton mask had been stitched to it. He was entering the room besides mine.

He looked at me for a second, acknowledging my presence, but when I said hello, he didn't respond and instead entered his room, almost slamming the door shut.

I shook off the weird encounter, instead focusing on trying to make my way back to the hangout room.

Soap and Gaz had moved on from pool to Monopoly, where they were setting up the pieces. Gaz sat on the couch in front of the coffee table they were using to hold up the board and cards, whereas Soap sat on the ground to the side, able to see the large TV that was broadcasting a rerun of Friends. Price was laying on the larger-sized portion of the couch, his legs stretched out and a happy, relaxed expression on his face.

"Dice, hey!" Gaz waved as I entered the room. "Wanna play Monopoly?"

"You can't be the top hat, though." Soap said seriously. "I'm the top hat when Ghost isn't around."

"Ghost?" I asked, raising an eyebrow as I sat across Soap.

"Our only other team member," Gaz explained. "Wears a mask and everything, he doesn't let us see his face."

I quickly realized he was the man I had seen in the hallway. "I've seen him. Didn't say hi, though." I laughed as Soap handed me my starting allowance.

"That's Ghost. Probably trying to read your personality. Or your mind." Soap joked.

"Speaking of him," Price chuckled. "He's right behind y'all."

The three of us turned to see Ghost leaning on the pool table behind him, his eyes with red on the edges peering at me, and only me. He wasn't in here when I first came in- How the hell did he get in the room so quickly and quietly?!

"Ghost, don't be rude, greet the lady." Price set his hands behind his neck.

Ghost made a low, soft sigh before taking a final up-and-down look at me and leaving the room quickly.

Gaz was quick to reassure me. "Don't be bothered... He's like that all the time."

"He only acts like a normal person when we're out at a bar our something." Soap muttered, pushing the pieces onto the GO space.

having so much fun writing this lol :)