Three Strikes [✓]

Shell Shocked

Chapter Thirty-Six: Shell Shocked

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Cape Rainy Air Base, Erusea.
September 16th, 2019.
0700hrs.

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The early morning celebration only lasted a little over an hour before Strider Squadron had made the decision to go to turn in. With not much time to really clean up and settle in after their raid, some of the soldiers had been tasked with clearing out the barracks or as many as they could and stripping the beds. Everyone was provided with a sleeping bag to use instead, and everyone was grouped together to save as much space and work for later. If the beds were full, you slept on the floor. Naomi, being among the higher ranking officers residing at the base for the time and being the only woman there, had been offered a room of her own but she turned it down to save space.

So, all of Strider slept in the same room. Jaeger took the bottom bunk, Lanza took the couch in the room, and despite Count's arguing Naomi had taken the floor and given him the top bunk. Her squadron and their comfort came first, and since she was the one in charge then she simply ordered Count to take the bed. Last thing she wanted was him sleeping on the floor and then complaining non-stop about being uncomfortable for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, they didn't get to sleep in for very long. The internal alarm clock that they all seemed to share from being in the military woke them up at six in the morning after what could only be considered a nap. They didn't really need much more than that. Naomi had functioned on less and the others had as well.

After they were up, they headed straight to the mess hall to find that Long Caster and Major Grimm were already up. Outside, soldiers were taking shifts between eating breakfast and moving on to working, and sleeping. The Erusean soldiers, now officially POWs, were being prepared for an Osean transport to move them to a camp where they'd probably stay and be interrogated until the war's end. Naomi also thought she heard a couple of the marines mention shipping them off to the penal base set up in Tyler Island to work alongside Osean prisoners, which wasn't a very comforting thing for anyone to hear. Prisoners or not, she doubted that they'd allow Eruseans to actively work with them. It was really nothing more than a rumor, and one that she didn't concern herself with for very long.

As they entered the mess hall, Long Caster and the major greeted them with friendly smiles. "Hey, you're finally up!" Long Caster said, gesturing with his cup of coffee. Beside him sat a plate of reheated pizza, several slices, which he seemed to be working his way through. He pointed them towards the closed off kitchen area. "Plenty of pizza and drinks left over from last night if you're in the mood for breakfast. We made some fresh coffee, too. You'll have to drink it black, though. Probably some other things in there, too, if you want to look through all the freezers in there."

"Well, that sounds good to me. Think I might just take advantage of that," Jaeger said with a sigh. He looked to the rest of them as he headed towards the kitchen, pausing to ask them, "Anybody want anything while I'm in there? Food, coffee?" When everyone promptly answered 'yes' at the same time, Jaeger chuckled and started walking again. "Alright, alright. I'll see what I can find while I'm back there. You three can just wait here, if you want."

Lanza broke into a jog to catch up with him once he was about halfway, calling out, "Hey, wait up! I can give you a hand!"

As the two of them disappeared into the kitchen, Naomi and Count decided to take a seat at the nearby tables. Since nobody else was in there but their rather small group, Naomi chose to take a seat atop one of the tables, crossing her legs underneath her so she was in a more comfortable position. Count rolled his eyes at her choice in seating and sat down in a chair that was right beside the one she'd be sitting in. He turned it so that they both were facing Long Caster and Major Grimm and leaned back with a sigh. "Ugh, this has been one hell of a morning," he groaned, briefly leaning his head back to rest it on the table before looking out the window. "At least we have a nice view to look at while the sun rises, right?"