Army Strong

Chapter 1

She was running, just as she had been for some time now. There was dust everywhere. She was almost back to camp, but they were gaining on her. She knew she shouldn't be bringing them back toward the others, but there weren't many of them. She began to run faster, just as the camp entered her sight. She was so close.

"Help!" she yelled with her hands waving wildly! "He-" she began, just as a bang was heard, followed by a sharp pain, as she collapsed to the ground.

She awoke with a start. Sweat covered her face, and she had a hard time catching her breath. She sighed, this had been her fourth dream of deployment this week alone. She rolled out of bed, and trudged her way into the kitchen. She grabbed a frozen breakfast burrito, and tossed it into the microwave. Deuce, her German Shepherd, jumped up and growled at the ding, the microwave let off when the burrito was done.

"It's ok, Deuce" she began, smiling as she reached down to pet his head. "No one is gonna hurt me," she finished.

After eating her burrito, she made her way to the bathroom. She started up the shower, and waited until it was steaming to get in. A nice, hot shower was what she greatly missed while deployed. She closed her eyes and relaxed, with the hot water running over her. Her dream began to take hold of her again. She flashed back to herself running, panting, and sweating. She saw herself falling to the ground, and she felt the same sharp pain once again. She opened her eyes abruptly, trying to shake off what she seemed to keep seeing.

She got dressed, throwing on her typical shorts and a T-Shirt. It was time for her to begin working out harder, and more often. Deployment was coming up in one short week. She jumped up at the mixed sound of the doorbell and Deuce's protective barks.

"Coming!" She yelled making her way toward the door. Nikita opened the door to see Nicole's face.

"Hey Nikita!" Nicole yelled, wrapping her in a huge hug.

Nicole was Nikita's best friend through high school. The only issue was that they were complete opposites. Nicole was the head cheerleader and homecoming queen. She got all the boys. With her long blonde hair, gorgeous green eyes, and constant tan it wasn't hard for her. No one was surprised when she was recruited by several magazines to model. Nikita, on the other hand, was the athletic one. She spent her free time playing whatever sport was in season. From volleyball to basketball to soccer, she did it all. With her naturally curly brown hair and crystal blue eyes, she could easily have been a model as well.Though she didn't bother with makeup or fancy clothes because all she ever wanted was to be loved for who she is. Not for what she is covered by.

"Let's go get coffee, my treat! We need to talk," Nicole said.

They arrived at the coffee shop and began to talk. "So, how are you?" Nicole asked her, with a smile.

"I'm fine."

"Oh? Really? You're fine? I mean it isn't like you're going to war in a week or anything. I mean, don't you remember the last time you went off to Afghanistan?"

"Yeah, I remember last time,"

"You were so excited to go off to your first deployment, but when you came back, you were like this whole new person. It took weeks before you began to smile and transform back into who you were. Now you're going right back into whatever monster it was that changed you. You can't seriously pretend that you are fine!" Nicole vented fueled by frustration.

"Ok. You want to know the truth, Nicole? I am scared. I am scared out of my mind. At any given point during this year I could die. When I leave, it could be the last time that I see my family, my friends, or even you. That scares the heck out of me, but I choose to push that behind me, because I am protecting the land that I love, and that's a reward enough for me," Nikita responded firmly.

Everything that she said was true, she was scared, but no matter how scared she was, she knew that she was doing the right thing.