Page 5 of Signed, SEALed, Delivered

CHAPTER THREE

Zach

“CO wants to meet with us at 1300.” Havoc muttered as he adjusted the straps of his rifle, giving me a look of amusement we both knew I shared. As the leader of this team, it was my job to keep my men informed and out of trouble, placing my life in front of theirs. This particular CO hadn't stepped outside of his tent to do more than take a piss. He had no clue what dangers surrounded him out here, or maybe he did and didn't have big enough balls to face them. Either way, this meeting he wanted to have, was pointless.

“Make sure you wear your shortest skirt so he can appreciate your sexy legs.” Doc butted in, his sense of humor one of our favorite qualities about him. Even if you were taking your last breath, Doc was going to help you make it count.

“Fuck him, I'm saving that shit for you.” Havoc pulls Doc in close, dramatically kissing his cheek. Doc pushes him off, wiping the residue of the teasing on his sleeve.

“All right y’all huddle in and let's have a real meeting.”

Walking over to where the trucks would pull in, we formed a semicircle under a pitiful excuse for a tree. Ghost waited while the truck, which had brought the mail in earlier, loaded up to head back out. Bags of mail were the last to go on, as the men here did not have access to computers, and cell service was intermittent with the mountain range.

“We have two areas where they have experienced heavy fire, one of which is reported to be a new hotspot for IEDs.” IEDs were nasty bombs buried under the dirt just waiting for an unsuspecting victim. Didn’t matter if it was a two hundred pound soldier or a fifty pound child, the result was the same.

“I can radio for a sweep, but we might as well hire a band to announce our arrival.” Ghost was right, we would travel under the cover of night, using night vision goggles to navigate in order to avoid being noticed as much as possible.

“No to the sweep.” I instructed as everyone nodded their heads in agreement. “We put Havoc in the lead truck and Reaper bringing up the rear. We need fire power from both angles.” I looked into the eyes of the men I trust most in this world, knowing each would follow me into the depths of hell if I asked them and, in reality, I was about to ask just that.

“One more piece of information y’all need to know. This caravan is different from the others we've done.” Clearing the dust from my throat as the rumblings of newly arriving trucks sounded in the distance. “We have four civilian nurses this time.” I have high expectations of my men, but at the end of the day, we are all trained individuals who are overgrown boys deep inside.

“Do we know if any of them are single?” Case in point as proven by Doc.

“Won't matter to you, Doc.” Chief cautions. “You're about to get all the girl you need once you open the box from Harper Kincaid.” The letter from Kennedy is still fresh in my pocket and a strange feeling is brewing in my chest.

Doc could talk a big game, but we all knew he wanted a family like the rest of us. One could argue he was a handsome guy, but logically every man managed to shine in this uniform. What we did know, Doc had dated every man’s wet dream in the form of Victoria's Secret model, Lisa James.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Senior Chief Fuller, Captain Reynolds’ right hand man. While many of the kids around here gave him the respect his rank required, our Chief would rather spit in his face than address him properly. Reaching the rank of Senior before he turned thirty was a feat unheard of.

“Pecker Gnat at three o’clock.” Havoc warned, he too hated Fuller with a passion, a direct result of the respect he held for Chief.

“Gentleman.” Fuller called to us, making his way in our direction. His hands tucked behind his back, his gait looked as if a broom handle was lodged up his ass. “Captain Reynolds is ready to see you.” Rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet, waiting for us to jump to attention and scurry across the camp.

“Roger that, Senior.” I say and return to talking with my team. Pecker Gnat continues to wait like an expectant father, standing closer to my left shoulder than I'm comfortable with.

“LT, you did hear me say the Captain is waiting?” As a Lieutenant, I out rank him and his attitude toward me is out of line. With his lips permanently planted around the cock of the CO, he assumed he could speak to me as he feels. But he is wrong, very fucking wrong.

Adjusting my stance, the top of his baldhead does not reach my shoulder. He may have sucked a few dicks on his climb to the top, but my dick was reserved for the girl I chose to be with. “Senior, need I remind you, my team is not attached to this unit? We are here on the orders of Admiral Coin, who, correct me if I'm wrong, could shit down Captain's throat in the middle of the afternoon and he would have to open wide, taking every bit of it.” Keeping less than an inch of space between our chests, remaining well within the regulations I know Reaper could spout off at a moment's notice. “Now, until the United States military decides a chief of any level will out rank a Lieutenant, I recommend you scurry on back and let the Captain know we will be there in a minute.”

***

Captain Reynolds sat behind his mahogany desk, a photo of an older woman placed at a forty-five degree angle to his left. An open, and abandoned, laptop took up space in the center of the desk. Everyone knew he had been sent here as a show piece, never with any intentions of stepping foot outside of this camp until it was time to go back to the States. For twenty-three minutes, he lectured us about how critical this mission was to the progression of our troops gaining foot on this war on terror. The man sat in his matching chair, not a single drop of sweat trickling down his clean-shaven face, the rumored ice packs he sat on were doing their job. He reminded us of how the military has adapted a no tolerance policy when it came to sexual harassment involving active duty. I wanted so badly to say it was men like him who women considered sex as a harassment, not men like those standing before him who know how to make a woman swoon, without the uniform.

As we left his tent, the bright sun in the afternoon sky nearly blinded us from the four trucks, which had finally arrived. Four women, dressed in jeans and hiking boots stood under the same sorry excuse of a tree we had half an hour earlier. Five feet away stood another half dozen active duty, all laughing while a couple smoked a cigarette.

“Fuck me, that was a half hour of my life I’ll never get back.” Doc complained as soon as we were out of earshot.

“Chin up, Doc.” Reaper wrapped his arm around him, pulling him close to his side. “He has to talk as much as he does to keep that fucking desk from turning to dust.” I looked to Reaper through perplexed eyes. “Come on Viper, you ever known a patio chair made out of wood to last long in the summer heat without treating it every year?”

Hurried introductions are made as the sun begins its descent behind the mountain range. Four nurses all a little green with an average of less than three years out of school between them. Not a single one of them having ever left the States before this. “You four stick with one of us, I don't care who you choose, but when the bullets start flying, you better do exactly as we say.”

One of the nurses, the only blonde in the bunch, shifted her hips and looked me up and down. “Don't you mean if the bullets start flying and not when, Captain America?”

Stepping closer to her, leaving no room for bullshit. “No, Barbie, I mean when. Now get in one of those trucks so we can get the fuck out of here.”

My team waited until the ladies were inside the trucks before they let their laughter fly. “Captain America? You got a wild one on your hands there.” Doc teased, checking his bag one last time.

“Bitches like that gonna...” Reaper’s words are cut short as something reflective crosses his face. He looks behind me with squinted eyes at the ridge where I assume the light is coming from, but sees nothing.

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