Electric

chapter twenty-four

"Men, this is your squad leader Private Evans." Parker barks and I stand tall under their scrutiny as they look me up and down. The soldiers in the compound all know of me and most men I've spoken to a few times, but in this group, the only men that really know me are Ty and Levi. "You are Squad C which means you are all the third best group of men in here. Be honored, men, for the squads go all the way to letter J. You all know Private Evans here has a power and you all know she can put you in place easily. She knows what's she's doing and she is the third best soldier in the whole army. Treat her with the respect she deserves and she'll take care of you out there."

    He sets a hand on my shoulder and squeezes. I give him a nod while trying to stop myself from tackling him with a hug and then smothering his face with kisses. No one has ever spoken so highly of me to other people. And the third best soldier? There is absolutely no way. I know that Josh has squad B and Ryder has squad A and I know of one other man that is in charge of the squad leaders H through J and then there's Parker. So that leaves me as the fourth best soldier in the whole compound.

The fourth best soldier in Division 64.

"Alright guys," I address them as Parker moves to the next squad, "there's a fine line between bravery and bravado. If anyone of you crosses that line, I'll shoot you myself. Even if you dare to press your pinkie toe to the other side of that line, I won't hesitate to pull the trigger. There are five other men counting on you to not screw anything up. I lead the six of you and I don't want to see any of you get hurt because a fellow squad member thinks he's better than the rest of you. We are a team and we will act like one." They all nod at me.

"I have faith that we can make it out of this if we all do what we're supposed to." I continue. "I read the battle file this morning and know that the area we're attacking is a Flesh Feeder camp of sorts. There at least a four thousand of those uglies, and it's only our Division and Division One going in there to kill them. Division One may be our top Division with General Hawkins and all, but if we go in there believing they're going to have it taken care of, we're wrong. Division One may be good, but they certainly aren't going to kill four thousand Flesh Feeders on their own."

"What's our setting, Private Evans?" Levi asks and I nod thankfully at him. I was waiting for someone to ask.

"The camp has a population of four thousand, like I said, and is located on the coast." I inform. When I first read that in the file, I couldn't believe it. I still can't. I get to see the beach.

I get to see the ocean.

I looked over at Parker, knowing that no one would notice since the rest of the squad leaders were engrossed in their files like I was. He was already looking at me and he smiled, giving me a small nod. I smiled down at my papers knowing that he knew full well what I was excited about. I get to finally see the infamous ocean that my brother spoke so highly of. Well it's not like I'll get to lie down in the sand, but at least I'll get to see it. At least I'll get to see one thing that Mitch always wanted me to see.

"I'm sure we'll be able to use the ocean as an advantage somehow, and we also have the element of surprise. I know this isn't going to be an easy battle since they have us out numbered two to one, but I'm feeling confident that we can win this." I conclude. "Dismissed." The men solute me before running over to where the other finished squad members are standing. I make my way over to where Ryder and Josh are talking to the leader of squad D.

"We were just discussing about how we're getting to the Flesh Feeders, Freak." Josh fills me in and I nod. "Ryder has just informed us that we're riding in the tanks and the squad members are marching along with the tanks. General Parker says there will be two squad leaders per tank but he wants squad leaders D, E, and F to ride together since he will be riding with you." Me? Squad leader D turns to Ryder, questioning him about this, and while they talk Josh winks at me. I laugh and roll my eyes. Only Josh would find a time in all of this to make fun of me.