Always Army Strong

Chapter 7

        Nicole was now officially on her own. No one would know who she was. She got the chance to start fresh, without the past haunting her. She knew that she better take this opportunity and run with it, because there will obviously never be a chance like this again. 

        After passing through security, her next goal was to find the right gate. Terminal A - Gate 3, she read from her ticket. Where is that? She wondered. She searched the airport for the gate, until she finally found it. As she scanned the people there, she noticed it was mainly men. There were also quite a few men dressed in an army uniform. Looks like I'm not the only one headed to Fort Hood, she deducted. 

        She found a seat by a man who looked like he had been through a lot. He put his head in his hands, and then ran his fingers through his hair. He had tapered brown hair, crystal blue eyes, tan skin, and the perfect amount of scruff. There was a fine line between too much facial hair and not enough. The man wore a fitted white shirt that highlighted his toned muscles perfectly. He was also wearing a chain with  the end of it tucked under his shirt out of sight.

     An announcement was played throughout the gate that it was time to board. Nicole grabbed her bags and made her way onto the airplane. After finding her seat, she tried to locate the man she had sat next to and eventually located him a ways down. He sat down and immediately pulled out his headphones, settling back into his seat in attempt to catch some sleep. 

        Probably a good idea, she thought. I'm gonna need my sleep for training. So she laid her seat back, put in her own headphones, and closed her eyes. She thought about Dean and Dani and what life would be like without them having her back. Then she thought about what the furture would hold for her. She couldn't help but picture the guy sitting next to her. It was impossible to get over the look of dispair on his face. She slowly began to drift off into her own thoughts. 

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        "Hey, excuse me," a voice said, gently nudging her. "The flight's landed." 

        She slowly came back to consciousness, but had a hard time opening her eyes. When she finally managed to get them open, she saw that the person nudging her was the same man from the airport. 

        "Oh. Thanks, can't believe I slept through that," She responded.

        The man simply nodded and waited for her to get up. Nicole grabbed for her bag which had been placed in the overhead bin, but it had gotten stuck.

        "Here, I got it," the man offered, swiftly pulling the bag out of the bin and gently placing it behind Nicole.

        "Thanks," she thanked quickly reaching back for her bag.

        She happened to touch the man's hand and immediately blushed. Instead of saying anything she just kept her head down and headed for the door. Quit being such a girl, she scolded herself. 

        As she entered the airport she looked around for a sign that would direct her to the provided transportation. Lucky for her, there was a man standing with a sign that read, "Fort Hood". She headed for the sign and waited near the man for a while. She was too caught up in her own thoughts of the future to notice the people around her; however it was time to head to the vans. 

        "Nicole, Hannah, Reagan, Hendricks, Ryan, Alec, Carson, and Jethro are on van 1," the man began, but Nicole tuned out since she already knew which van was hers. 

        She opened the van door and climbed into the back. Following her was a girl with wavy brown hair and a girl with long blonde hair. The girl with the brown hair claimed the seat next to Nicole, while the blonde haired girl sat next to the brown haired girl. Nicole leaned in to get a better look at the blonde and noticed that she was wearing make-up. Who the heck wears make-up to the military, she thought. 

        "Reagan," the brown haired girl introduced, offering her hand.

        "Hannah," the girl with make-up introduced with a wave. 

        "I'm Nicole," she responded, shaking Reagan's hand and waving to Hannah.

        "How many times you been deployed?" Reagan asked.

        "First time," Nicole answered.

        "Same with me," Hannah seconded. 

        "Fresh blood, huh? Well let me tell you something," Reagan said addressing Hannah. "You ain't gonna make it 10 minutes out there with a face caked with make-up," 

        Nicole couldn't help but laugh a little as Hannah's mouth dropped open.

        "I can wear whatever I want to wear and do whatever I want. I don't need some scarred little girl to tell me what's right and wrong," Hannah argued.

        "Hate to break it to you hun, but you gave up your rights the second you decided to volunteer." Reagan countered.

        When the van pulled up to the gates of Fort Hood, everyone got out and grabbed their bags. Hannah's bag looked like she packed Rhode Island in it. It was then Nicole started to notice the men that rode in the van. Some looked like her, fresh blood and all, but others looked like they had been through all this before. 

        "Head into that building," the driver told them pointing. "There you will be given hair cuts, uniforms, and have your bags checked."

        Some of the men and Reagan started jogging to the building, it took the others a few seconds to realize that this was a jog and not a walk. It would be a while before they would be allowed to walk again. Nicole saw Reagan jogging a short distance ahead of her, so she rushed to catch up with her. 

        "I'm on your side about the whole Hannah and make-up thing." Nicole told her.

        "Obviously. Who wears make-up in the military?" Reagan responded.

        "Exactly! This is the military not a photo shoot," Nicole agreed, making Reagan laugh.

        "Poor girl will never make it. You on the other hand. You have promise." Reagan told her smiling.