Dust Devils - A Girls Und Panzer Story

Chapter 16

February 25th, 2013

Salt Lake City, Utah

Midday. The weather was mild with the sun being pleasantly warm. The sky was blessed with white puffy and tranquil clouds. They floated gracefully. In the city, people were out and about as they went about their business. A plethora of faces of varied expressions. Among the ever-morphing crowd was a middle-aged dressed professionally. She was on her way to have lunch with a dear friend. Buildings were passed and streets were crossed. Having navigating this city for years, she has become highly efficient at getting place to place. A brisk walk and she arrived at the restaurant. It had an outdoor dining area and sitting at one of the tables was her friend, who waved her to come over.

"Sarah! Hey! Come over here!"

Smiling, Sarah walked over and sat at the table. Her style of sitting was relaxed.

"Zoey...how's work?"

Zoey shifted in her seat and stretched. A twist of her back produced a crack. Her hands then rested behind her head.

"Ah, well, It's alright you know...same old same old."

"Trouble at work?"

"No, it's just that the days are now all blurred together. Things have become way too routine for my tastes. I want to do something exciting and new."

A waiter walked over and passed the pair menus.

"Well, if you want to do something new, you could order something different from the menu rather than your usual?" Sarah suggested, half-jokingly.

Zoey let out a small laugh.

"Maybe. A small step but I need a huge leap."

"We both do, Zoey."

The women conversed about other aspects of their lives. Drinks were served and they drank as they chatted, Nothing heavy, just tea and coffee.

"A vacation, perhaps?" Sarah said.

"Hmmm...I could...but where?"

Sarah shrugged. She looked around the area. The tables around them were sparsely populated for most of the restaurant's patrons elected to dine indoors. There was an outdoor television mounted on the wall closest to them. It was tuned to the news, with the people on-screen reporting on recent happenings in the sports world. Here, the tankery convention was advertised. Sarah's eyes lit up.

"Hey, the tankery convention! That's different!"

"The convention? Really? I don't know..."

"It's been so long since our time with the tankery team! Will you think about it, commander?"

Zoey's mind was flooded with memories. It has been ages since she had been called 'commander.'

"Remember our last day with the team? Before we went to college?" Sarah reminisced.

"How could I forget? Our team was disbanded. Everyone was crying...God...it wasn't how I wanted my time with the sport to end."

A brief silence as both women become solemn. Then, Sarah spoke.

"Do you think...they're still there?"

"After all these years? Yeah. We hid them well."

"Did we make the right choice?"

"Never doubted it. Like hell our tanks are going to be scrapped."

They clinked drinks.

"So, that convention...?" Sarah asked