Not Just a Soldier

Chapter two: Meeting

I stared at the man, unsure how to react. He HAD tried to kill me, then giving me something that I guessed was a compliment. "Err... Yeah... I... I guess."

The man raised an eyebrow at me.

Shaking my head I cleared my throat. "Lance corporal Hanna Ross and Corporal Roja." I introduced us. The man nodded, he was a Lance Corporal as well.

"Your dogs higher ranked than you?" He asked, in a doubtful sounding voice.

"Yessir." I fought to keep the irritation from my voice. "So you'd better treat her like it because she outranks you as well."

He snorted.

Hiding my smirk I leaned over to Roja, whispering into her ear,"speak." Roja snapped to it, barking loudly, showing her large teeth as she did so. The corporal looked startled, but not convinced.

"Roja!" She froze, ears perked, body rigid. The man froze as well. "Kiss!" Roja's legs bent and she sprung off them, front paws meeting the mans shoulders, knocking him to the ground. The man let out a grunt when he fell which was followed by gagging and cries of mercy as Roja covered his face in licks with her freakishly long tongue.

I was laughing so hard I barely noticed the other soldier that came running with he heard his friend cries for mercy. The man looked confused, unsure if the dog was mauling his buddy or not then burst out laughing as well which made me laugh even harder.

"Roja...!" My voice was filled with laughter and hardly sounded like anything more than a wheeze. "Out!" I managed to command, still laughing.

Roja got off the man and trotted to my feet, her wide doggy smile showed on her face.

"I think she's in love with you!" Said the man as the corporal got up. Turning towards me he added," Lance corporal Owens, but you can call me Jordan. This here," he kicked Roja's victim. "He calls himself Nate, Nate Phillips."

"That was not cool." Phillips spat, wiping his face obsessively.

"You disrespected her," I reminded him firmly, with pretend accusation in my eyes and on my face.

"Well my superiors usually scold me or yell at me, not kiss me on the face!" He snapped defensively.

"Like I said, she loves you." Jordan chimed in.

"No way!" I told him. "Don't flatter him, Roja has much better taste than that."

Me and Jordan laughed, Nate scowled.

"Whatever." He grumbled, looking at Roja, his hands on his rifle.

"Salute her!" I snapped.

"What? You've got to be kidding me!"

"Do you want it to happen again?" Jordan asked. Sighing, Nate saluted.

"Roja." I told her looking at her,"salute!" Roja sat on her hind quarters, drawing her paw up just above her eye.

Jordan shook his head in disbelief. Even Nate managed a smile.

"I think you have too much time on your hands." Nate pointed out, ending the salute.

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused.

"If you teach her ALL these things, you must have a lot of time on your hands. And I mean A LOT." Nate explained.

I nodded,"yes, we really do. Anyway," I waved my hand dismissively. "Where are we?"

Jordan looked over at me, grinning. "Your in hell Ross." He said, grabbing one of my bags and led the way towards the base.

"So I'm assuming I'm in the right place." I told them, nodding my thanks as Nate grabbed another one of my bags. I bent over, picking up the last over sized backpack and slipping it over my shoulders before putting Rojas vest on her and throwing all her things inside the crate which I picked up easily and followed Jordan and Nate.

"If your looking for your doom, then, yeah, you've found the right place." Nate agreed as we approached the base entrance.

"Nate? Jordan? Is that you?" I heard a small whisper. "Did you find anything?"

Nate and Jordan glanced at each other before looking back at me, the man must not have seen me yet.

"I heard gunshots and Nate screaming, I mean that's not surprising for him but was there any trouble?" The guy continued.

"Hey!" Nate protested.

"Pl-ease!" I butted in. "I've hardly known you for half an hour and I already know that's exactly what you'd do." I teased, still hidden by the darkness.

"Who's that?" On of the people on watch asked. Did they really need four people on watch? I wondered fearfully. I shook it off when Jordan began talking.

"We found a lost girl." He joked. "Had no idea where she was, we had to save her from the enemy."

"Excuse me!" I snapped, clipping Roja's leash to her collar and walking to the gates so I was visible to the guards. "If I recall correctly, it was YOU guys that shot at me." I crossed my arms across my chest.

"You shot at a dog team?" One of the guards asked, disapproval in his voice.

"Well I got mauled by the dog if it makes you feel better!"

"DID NOT! She was LICKING you!"

"Yeah! She LOVES YOU."

A few soldiers whistled and chuckled at that comment.

"Nope! Re-member?! She has much better taste!"

Roja barked, her head snapping back and forward in confusion.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!" A voice boomed. It seemed more like a threat than a question.

We all snapped to attention, Nate, Jordan, and I dropped my bags to the ground, and in frantic movements, I unclipped Rojas leash from her harness and threw down the kennel as I watched the man stroll over, resuming my attention stance.

The man, who turned out to be the commanding officer ranked at a Major let his gaze fall upon all of us, doing a double-take when he rested his gaze on me and Roja.

Cheeks hot with embarrassment I silently thanked the darkness for shielding my most likely red face. "Roja! Heel!" Roja trotted over, sitting at my left ankle. "Roja, salute!" I commanded as I followed the order I had given. The others did too, but the majors eyes stayed fixed on Roja.

"Who's the dog team?" He asked quieter, but nevertheless still a shout as he returned the gesture.

"Found them outside the gates, sir!" Nate answered. "Thought they were a threat, sir, but no one was harmed sir!"

"Lance corporal Hanna Ross and MWD Corporal Roja of the United States marine corp, Sir!" I probably didn't need to say the last part but it sounded a lot cooler with that, I always liked introducing ourselves. It made me feel like we were important and really mattered.

"Ah, well, accidents happen. Get some sleep, I'll find someone to relieve you of your shifts! Ross, Roja, Phillips, Owens! Meet me here, 0600!" He strode away and I checked my watch, suppressing a groan. 6:00 AM was in less than two hours.

"C'mon." Jordan said. "We'll show you the barracks." He glanced at Roja. "We can fin-"

"No." I raised a hand irrupting him. "Roja stays with me. I don't exactly trust that kennel. It has a so-called air conditioner and I don't want it to break causing her to overheat." I explained.

Jordan nodded, watching Roja before turning away and leading the way towards a large tent like building leaving Nate, Roja, and I, to follow in his wake.