Mayhem || B. Bradshaw

Chapter 13

     THE SUN WAS SLOWLY RISING, covering the road in a soft, orange glow while Lizbeth walked the short distance from the Top Gun facility to the Hard Deck.

     A smile played on her lips as she adjusted her sunglasses, shoes clamping against the asphalt with the rest of the aviators.

     "Nice shirt," Lizbeth grinned at Hondo's football t-shirt as she passed him, with Phoenix and Bob nearby as they made their way around their favorite pub.

     The sun was barely adorning the top of the ocean, a luminous decoration in the horizon, showering her face with a comfortable warmth.

     Lizbeth let out a pleased breath, taking a moment to stand transfixed in the tepid air, feeling the sun dance over her cheeks.

     "Penny!" She exclaimed with a smile, seeing the familiar brown-haired woman ready to welcome them on the porch. A chuckle left Penny's lips, and she engulfed Lizbeth in a hug, moving on to greet Natasha with the same gesture.

     "You know what this is about?" Lizbeth asked as she leaned against the railing, watching the rest of the aviators pile onto the glowing sand. Maverick had ordered them to the beach that morning, with no other information than to bring lunch, water and light clothing.

     Penny smiled with a secretive look in her eyes, answering with a wink, "you'll have to wait and see, May."

     Maverick came last, together with Hondo, sunglasses perched on his nose, a content grin enveloping his mouth as he neared the group of pilots.

     "All right, aviators," he began, walking up on the porch to have sight of everyone. Lizbeth's eyes followed him with interest. "Today, we'll have an alternative exercise. Dogfight football.

     "The rules are simple," he continued before anyone had time to cheer, but the content was clear on every face. "It's football with defense and offense at the same time. You'll be playing with two balls, and the goal is to win.

     "Red team is Fanboy, Phoenix, Hangman, Halo, Payback and Omaha. Blue team is Yale, Coyote, Mayhem, Rooster, Harvard and Bob."

     A cheer spread through as the two groups started doing high fives and chest bumps, hyping each other up. Though, Lizbeth hoped that the fact that she and Bradley were on the same team wouldn't affect her too much. "Hondo is the referee, we're playing on the seashore."

     Maverick received two footballs from Penny, one red and one blue, and gave them a smug wink before he dragged a portable greenish chair and a bag with him halfway down the beach, settling down.

     A chuckle escaped Lizbeth's lips as her eyes followed Maverick getting comfortable in his chair, and she debated taking off her upper body garments as the sun continued to blaze its warmth.

     In the end, she chose to lighten up, and pulled off her t-shirt as the boys buzzed together in hype. She noticed that Phoenix followed her choice as well, and the two walked down the beach with Halo following their moves.

     "You up to be crushed, boys?" Lizbeth yelled behind her with a laugh, grabbing the blue ball from Maverick and sending a sly wink back to the rest of the aviators.

     An echo of "oooo"'s and shouts from wounded egos rumbled through the group, and Lizbeth laughed as the boys followed the girls' removal of clothes before they came racing down the sand, Hangman first in line as he grabbed the other football.

     "Bob, heads up!" Lizbeth shouted, and threw the ball into Bob's hands, which drew a smile on his face. "Let's make 'em eat sand!"

     None of them noticed the wary look growing on Bradley's face.

     The game began shortly after, and to Lizbeth's joy and pride, her team went up in the lead with four points after she scored a touchdown.

     Though, after a while, the scores became higher and higher, and soon enough, no one had the slightest clue of which team was leading and which was losing.

     Lizbeth hadn't been this happy in days. The unpleasant events from the day before were long forgotten as she ran through the flock of aviators, catching a flying ball from Yale, before she tried her best to reach the line without being slammed into the sand.

     The boys did not go easy on her, Phoenix or Halo, after realizing they were golden assets to their teams. Omaha, Payback and Hangman had on more than one occasion managed to push her into the ground in hopes of getting hold of the ball.

     It was too bad for them that she always managed to pass before it happened.

     The atmosphere had never been better between the twelve aviators, and a collected groan erupted when Maverick called for a break.

     He had his own box of refreshments beside his chair, whereas the pilots got theirs back from Penny, who had preserved it for them inside her pub.

     Lizbeth sat down in between Phoenix and Bob, enjoying the lunch break with jokes and discussions about the upcoming mission. But as the minutes ticked by, she couldn't help but notice both Maverick's and Bradley's occasional glances thrown her way.

     She knew she had to talk to Maverick soon. Every time he looked at her, every time he talked to her, she could see that he knew something, that his gears were turning the entire time, as if he was trying to figure something out.

     But for the time being, she would let it be and just enjoy the day.