Story Projects

"Gung Ho Woman" Project - Part One

The sudden jerk of the APC (Armored Personnel Carrier) vehicle coming to a halt sends me flying into my comrade, Isiah's lap. A fume of diesel fills the interior makes me cough until it becomes bearable. He sits me back up into my seat, then taps my face with something rough. I look over to him, blinking hard to clear my blurry vision. His left glove has multiple ripped holes, the first three fingers are shredded, and round his knuckle, the plastic has sharp cut edges. I'm curious to ask him why he's glove looks like a grenade blew it up, but I can't muster up the courage to ask him. I turn to look forward, finding Randolph, my friend and Squad leader, leaning forward towards me with a half-smirk on his face.

"Curious, Anijah?" Randolph says. I shake my head yes, then lean towards him. "Isiah's closest friend died from an IED. He wears his glove to honor his sacrifices." I slowly nod my head, then lean over to my left against a metal wall near the back doorway. I shut my eyes to resume napping.

"Where did it happen?" Moses says, jumping down from the gunner's seat in the middle of the compartment. "Yemen, Pakistan?" Isiah doesn't respond. All he does is grip his rifle barrel with his left hand, strumming the muzzle with his thumb. Moses moves closer to him with his mouth shifted to the right side of his face, shoulders raised, and arms up with palms outward.

"Damnit, Moses. Would you stop," Randolph says.

"What? I'm curious." He takes a gradual step forward towards Isiah. Isiah stops strumming his barrel then looks up at Moses. Randolph moves his rifle over to his right leg, then puts his legs together with his hands in a fist. I take my helmet off and slap it on Isiah's rifle barrel. Moses tilts his head, giving me a low eyed with one raised eyebrow.

"Get back to," I say," shoving him back up the turret seat, "your position."

"Anijah, really?"

"Yes, really." I return to my seat with my back against the exit door. Moses comes back down again into the haul, but I give him a straight finger pointing up, which sends him back to his spot.

"Thanks," Isiah says, "I was about to—"

"Yeah, I know."

As much I would love seeing Moses get his head rattled, I rather have the boys not explode into chaos inside a small area. I take my helmet off his rifle then slap it on the back of my head. Randolph chuckles, showing his ivory-white teeth. I can't help but laugh with him, but I keep my mouth shut.

The driver yells on the microphone telling everyone to disembark. Randolph flicks his finger towards the door. I unlatch the lever, pushing the door wide open, then leading out. The glare of the sun slams into my eyes, forcing me to flick my sun visor down. Everyone inside rushes out, forming a single file line to my right. Moses is the last one to exit but stops halfway out the door with his boot dangling inches from the street.

"Goddamn, this place is ugly," Moses says. I look at a few of the buildings around me. Concrete walls are littered with big blotches of black, greyish mold. The sheet metal protruding out of the stores have rust mixed with oxidation. Some powerlines hang low enough for someone to grab them if they jump high enough. "Yo, Randolph. Where we at again?" A mother with her child walks by us, their eyes down, looking at the ground mumbling something in Portuguese. Their hair is wavy, loosely tied behind their heads with some strands sticking to their foreheads.

"Santa Marta, now get out of the vehicle," Randolph says.

I slam the door shut, making a loud muffled echo ring inside the compartment. We circle Randolph while he talks with HQ on his radio. He takes one step in each direction but always comes back to complete the circle. His ACR (Adaptive Combat Rifle) swings wildly around his hip, nearly hitting the soldiers around him. A map loads up on my visor, showing my position's geographical location with a 360-degree 2-mile radius. In front of my left eye, there's an individual picture of Moses and me with the words "Alpha One."

"Aw yeah," Moses says, presenting a fully flexed high five. I pretend I didn't see by keeping still. He slowly puts his hand down, clears his throat, and grabs the magazine of his rifle. The awkwardness makes me quietly chuckle through my nose. He shuffles over to me, facing the other way. "So you're just gonna leave me hanging, Flowers?" I act like I didn't hear him by folding my rifle's buttstock inwards and turning on the red dot on my scope. "Your silence really annoys me sometimes." The barrel of his gun smacks against my thigh, so I reposition my leg away from it. It touches my thigh again then I look up at him.

"Move away."

"Give me a high five first, then I'll move." The low octave whisper in his voice gives me a nauseating shiver. I put my rifle in my right hand, then I give him a quick forceful high five to his facemask, cracking the mouth guard into three pieces. His body folds backward with his arms flailing upwards to the sky. The helmet makes contact with the ground, sending his visor over his head.

"You've could have snapped my neck!" All the other soldiers start laughing, except Randolph. He stares at me, not blinking or moving his eyes with his arms crossed. Moses presses his hand against his face, stumbling to stand on his feet. "Damn, ever since you've lost your arms and legs, you've been an asshole these past months." I remain silent, trying my hardest not to send him back to the ground. He stands in front of me, blocking my view of Randolph. I put my left arm up to push him away, but he backhands it with his right forearm, moving my arm a couple of inches to the left. The slap causes him to stroke his forearm aggressively while stomping the ground with his right foot.

"Moses!" Randolph says. He pushes Moses away from me then walks me over to the right side of the APC.

"A'dez, I'm good," I say, whipping my helmet off.

"Anijah, you were about to explode on him. Control yourself."

"This idiot is so annoying!" He grasps my upper arm, firmly but gently squeezing it in his hand. I take a deep breath then put my helmet back on my head.

"Put your aggression on the target, not on Moses. Kay?"

"Yes, sir."

He gives me a tender punch to the chest, and I respond with the same. I wait at the side of the APC while he and Moses talk to each other. Randolph points his finger at Moses, aggressively shaking it back and forth. Moses stands slouched over, still rubbing his face. Randolph wafts his hand at me, and I slowly walk over to them. They look at me at the same time, then Randolph walks back over to the soldiers.

"Uhh," Moses says, looking at Randolph then back at me. "Shit I'm—"

"Shut up," I say. "Let's just get this mission done."

Our squad splits into three teams, each having only two soldiers within them. Moses and I get an assignment to wait in a specified location 1 click due north. I look at the map then the corridor of colorful buildings in front of me. The space between the buildings is wide enough to fit two people, arm to arm.

"Are we really about to go through that death trap? Moses says.

"Yes. I'll take the lead." I walk into the corridor, scanning the windows, roofs, and doorways. At the first bend of the stairway, a blue rusted up chained metal door blocks our path. Moses pulls on the chain, causing a ruckus that makes a dog loudly bark in the building to our right. Someone from inside shouts words that are muffled and low in tone. Moments later, the dog stops barking.

"Looks like we got to jump this." He swings his rifle behind his back, takes a few steps, then leaps on the door. The clash of the metal ignites the dog's barking again and the person yelling. He lands on his hands, but his legs slam to the ground. I look off to my right to prevent myself from laughing. "Okay. Your turn. I'll assist you down."

"Thank's but," I say, ripping the chain off the door, "I rather not rile up the dog again." He lowers his rifle and frowns with his mouth shifted the left.

We make out the tight pathway and end up in the middle of another street. Moses limps up the steps putting more weight over his left leg than his right.

"Anijah, are we there yet? My ankle is killing me."

"Quiet your wining." I cross the road, then take a knee behind a guard rail to look down into a valley of vibrant favela shacks. "We're here." He wobbles over to me, baring his teeth. My radio buzzes, and static noises blast into my ear.

"Alaph One, what's your position?" Randolph says.

"We've made it our location," I say.

"Stand by for further orders."

"Roger that."