Birds of Prey

Chapter VIII: Room

Jyromir, Ukraine

I entered the dark room and turned on an old neon that was hanging from the wall. The green cracked tiles looked extremely weird and clean at the same time. I approached the rust framed mirror and lifted my shirt a little only to reveal some bloody bandages on my waist. I removed them carefully and took a look at my wounds. They weren’t infected, healing actually. Thank God. I removed my shirt and put it aside on the sink.

He said there will be spare clothes so I started searching for them. I don’t wanna find myself walking around in a military base naked after shower. I searched the small cabinets near the sink but they were empty. Well full of cobwebs but still empty. I looked behind the wall that separated the showers from the sink area and spotted a couple of crates. I opened them and took out some towels, a long sleeved shirt and some black pants i found a little too big. I put the pile aside near my dirty shirt and begun removing the rest of my clothing.

I took a long stare at my reflection and a small sigh left my lips. Left cheek. Bruise. Right eyebrow. A small cut with two stiches on it. Left eye. Another bruise. Lips. Dried and bloodied as well. Goddamn those russians. My jaw clenched, my hands grabbed the sides of the sink making my knuckles turn white. I refused to look up at the mirror again afraid that I’m gonna punch it or something.

I stepped into the long shower room. There were about six shower heads on each side of the creepy room. I turned on the water only for a wave of ice cold water to fall on me, making me jump back. Now this was the kickback to reality that I needed. I waited, waited and waited, checking the temperature every now and then with my hand. Since the water didn’t give any signs of warming up even more, I took a deep breath and started scrubbing my skin as fast as possible, ignoring the sharp pain from my abdomen wounds. After some time under the cold water, most of my body had already gone numb. I'm only hoping the rooms were warmed up the slightest.

In between the scrubs i heard the door slam somewhere in the back. I quickly turned off the water and took a few steps towards the sink to grab a towel.

"Hello? Who’s there" I asked but no one answered. After a few moments, a dark figure crept it’s head from behind one of the cabinets.

"Oh, it’s only you" a female voice spoke as she began walking more casually. It was the lady who saved my life- Yun.

"No one is allowed here you know." she put down her changes on a small box nearby.

"I know. That’s why they sent me here" I replied still holding the towel in front of my body.

"They? Who’s they? Oh, wait. You’re not that refugee from the heli?" She was still suspicious, not letting her guard down and, to be honest, I'd be as well.

"I am, actually"

"Then what are you doing here? Don’t you have some special place to stay?" She asked as she removed her clothes, getting ready to shower as well.

"How do I put this… I joined your squad" I replied trying not to sound embarrassing. She stopped for a moment and gave me a long unimpressed look then exhaled.

"I’m not dealing with this" she continued undressing. She walked past me and I could only hear a small 'What the fuck Jacob' under her breath. Please don't ruin this first impression.
I put back my towel and proceeded to continue my shower.

"By the way, thank you… for saving my life." her bored gaze met my eyes again.

"It’s nothing. Don’t be so dramatic, those were just some scratches. You passed out from the punches you got, not those." I couldn’t help but stare at her physique. Her arms and legs were toned and muscular. She was indeed built like an ox. I guess that’s how you survive a men only regiment. Then I looked at my slander arms and wondered how the hell am I gonna pass those tests. Lots of training and even more prayers and smoothies, I guess?

"So how is it?" I begun with my fangirling.

"What?" She asked as she let cold water run down her back like it wasn't frozen.

"Being the only woman around here. Were there any more women?"

"There were two twins a couple years ago." she begun after she opened the shampoo bottle. "One of them retired"

"And the other?" so there were other women.

"Enemy MIA"

"What’s that" I really gotta learn these specific terms in english. Not that I knew them in ukranian or russian but still. Won't die dumb.

"Missing in action. We searched the battlefield for her for hours but we never found out if she was killed or taken. She vanished. Her and many others. It was hell on earth. After that, her sister retired early and I’ve heard that she also got PTSD. Poor girl."

"I’m so sorry to hear that." it was the only comforting thing I could say after I heard this traumatizing story.

"You can’t help it. It’s the risk of the job. They knew what they were signing up for." She was stone cold. Well the event was years ago so I guess she’s over it. I wish I was like her.

"Okay I won’t ask you about the whole thing because I don’t give the smallest damn but how the hell did you convince Jake to join the Reds?" She finally asked turning her head to me. Curiosity is getting the best out of these people and I can't really blame them. So people are also calling him Jake? Close friends, maybe. Better not try that, Maya.

"I didn’t. I just spoke to your commander. I explained the situation to him and then the decision was up to him and our captain. They didn’t tell me how, only the fact that I was in. As a trainee of course." I explained as I turned off the water, stepping out of the shower. I wanted to use the sniper save as a reason but I kept my mouth shut only because it would have sounded more childish and pathetic.

"Do you have any physical condition or…" she questioned gesturing towards my hillbilly arms. An awkward chuckle escaped my lips as I replied.

"Strength might not be the my strong point but I am flexible. I did some hardcore ballet." I added trying to make my condition look less discouraging. I strongly believe I don't have the biggest genetics of all time but I look forward to training.

"We’ll have to put some weights on that ballet, sister." she said with a small chuckle.

"Yeah, I agree with you on that one." I begun dressing up in the new clothes, hoping they’d at least remotely fit. I put on the long sleeve and it looked decent on my small torso, not being too oversized. But the pants were a total mess. I walked over to the crates again to search for a smaller size but I only found something a little bit smaller but they still looked like parachutes on my legs. Guess some boots and rope should do the job.

"Hey, um… Yun?" she turned her head to me as she rinsed all of her shampoo.
"Do you have a spare belt?" She let out a small laugh and pointed towards her own pile of clothes on the side of the sink.

"Take that one. I have lots of them back at home and in my bag so I won’t be missing it." I took the black solid belt into my hands and examined it carefully. It was so worn out yet so rigid and after some size fixing it looked more like a corset than a belt on my waist but at least it kept the pants in place.

"Thank you, again" she gave me a small smile.

"You’re welcome, blondie. It’s nice to have another girl around. Now if you’d excuse me-"

"Oh yeah… sure! Enjoy your shower. See you tomorrow then!" I exited the showers and the cold of the corridor immediately made me shiver.

Apparently no one opens a window in that damn bathroom. There wasn't much steam anyway but it felt moist and uncomfortable as hell.

I began walking towards the staircase leading to the third floor and met eyes with some soldiers that were leaving the cafeteria. They stopped their conversation at unison when I walked past them but I only ignored their weird stares. These people literally lack female contact. The last thing that I want right now is to climb three flights of stairs in front of four men twice my height. Every Slavic girl's nightmare.