The Republic of ARMY

27. New Faces

"Back up, back up, back up... Okay, very good. Keep reversing... Good! We're good! Kill the engine!"

Men ran back and forth, helping to unload items that came by sea for us. UN trucks picked them up for us, so they were unloading them.

More trees.

These ones were from arid climates. They went through customs and were allowed to leave the country of origin.

China.

There were also a few from Israel.

Other than that, we were also receiving more solar panels and the necessary assembling odds and ends. I was watching the whole unloading process going on, standing behind my brother who assigned duties to all the soldiers.

Richard was back at the camp with the rest of the team, and they were coming up with strategies to improve the soil's water retention. I had been too distracted since I got the news about Namjoon, and the days that followed I barely paid attention to what they said.

Until today, when my brother drove us to the site of the second base they were about to set up. He had indicated that the engineer sent to help us reassemble our solar cars was coming with the delivered goods. He came with the convoy and would be with us for the rest of the month.

I didn't even know what his name was. I had been too distracted as I was lost in my thoughts about my dad, Namjoon, the project and why the pimple on my butt had gotten bigger.

Don't ask.

The engineer was coming along with an anthropologist who was going to look at the cave drawings. I didn't catch the name either, but I heard it was a she.

"Zoning out again. Raina, this is your project. You can not afford to be this distant."

"I am sorry. I really want to forget what happened but... I can't."

He pulled me into his arms and hugged me closely. "Little sister, you will be fine. If it makes you feel any better, next time I see whats-his-name I will punch his face in."

"It does make me feel a little good, but you can't do that. He can't have bruises on it. Apart from that, I was at fault too. I haven't kept in touch long enough-"

"I refuse."

"Cmon. Just a little-"

"Nope."

"Cmon-"

"Da ge," I said, stopping him with the Chinese word. "You can't punch him. He has a tendency to break or wreck everything around him by simply touching it accidentally. Just... Leave him alone. Besides,we already talked. we are cool."

"Maybe he is cool," your brother said, "but you aren't. So I must punch- hi! You must be the new engineer," he said to the young lady who walked up to us, her skin a few shades lighter than my brother and I.

"Anthropologist, thank you though."

A young, lighter skinned gentleman came over, standing behind the anthropologist. "Hi. I am the engineer. Drew Xing." His shoulders were wide, his skin tanned, and his face...

"Dios mio..."

"Sis, you're drooling," Ryan teased in a low voice, poking me hard enough to wake me up. I realized where i was and smiled, blinking twice as i squarely met Drew's charming smile.

"I'm Freda Javier. Anthropologist." Her hair was flowing, the wind blowing locks of it behind her. It looked like a scene from a movie. Behind her, his profile taller and more impressive, Drew stood smiling and looking perfect.

The weather was suddenly hotter than usual, making me fan myself.

"I am Ryan, and this is my sister Raina."

"Sister? Wow!"

I never knew what bashful meant, but that day, I felt it. I suddenly forgot how to speak. My brother wasn't much help anyway. He snickered as I struggled to process everything.

Luckily, Carter yelled out my name and mentioned something about earthworms, and then I was dashing off randomly, leaving my brother laughing hard at me.

I didn't know him anymore.

That turncoat!

If I thought that was the end of it, I was terribly wrong. I found myself working hard to avoid making direct eye contact with Drew, which, by the way, was not easy. He always seemed to be right around the corner of my eyes. Doing something.

I still didn't see the point of having the desalination plant in the desert with us. We already had water and were a small community of people. I called Dr. Li later to talk about the issue and she laughed down the line before telling me that it was an experiment.

As time went by, the number of trees getting healthier got better, so we decided, my brother and I, that we could try keeping more animals in our settlement. They would help produce farm yard manure that could help improve the soil's fertility.

"Is this gonna work?" He asked me as he changed into plain clothes. The rest of his detail, two young men, were also waiting outside for us. Our resident veterinary doctor was coming with us. Earlier that morning, we had a meeting to discuss the impact of bringing in more animals. She supported the idea wholeheartedly and even suggested what to choose.

My brother drove the car to a nearby village in Egypt, and promised to pass by the river before we headed back home. The two young men helped lead the goats into the back of our lorry and headed back to the camp without delay.

Ryan and I spent some more time together bonding. It felt great to be away from the pressure of deadlines for a while. I could not help thinking to myself about all the things I wanted to try out in the desert.

"No."

"Oh, come on. Just once."

"Raina, you know when you start you can't stop. So... No."

"Please? Pretty please?"

Ten minutes later, we were sliding down sand dunes on flat and smooth wood pieces.

"BEST DAY EVER!"