by Avery Samson
It’s after lunch the next day by the time our military ride is ready to leave. Usually our traveling includes a mixture of military vehicles but this time it’s hour after hour bouncing around in the un-cushioned back of a single tactical troop transport.
By the time we get to our next fighting unit, my head is splitting, not to mention the assault to my kidneys. I have a whole new respect for my boss who has spent the last twenty years living like this.
Pulling up to the base, I breathe a sigh of relief. I can already see a shower area set up. Climbing out of the transport truck, I stretch out the stiff muscles in my back.
“It’s not always this rough. Sometimes we get Paris or London,” Jay says next to me.
Trying to prove I’m a team player, I stay to help Jay unload the camera equipment into his tent.
“Then I’ll pray for London tonight as I fall asleep,” I answer him.
“You know, you can always sleep in here with me if she snores too loud,” he says with a slimy smirk.
He’s starting to really make my skin crawl. The biggest problem is, I can’t avoid him because he is our only cameraman.
“Thanks, but I’m good.” I beat a hasty exit from the tent, glad to find my boss already inside the one we have been assigned to. At least he won’t try anything with her around.
I spend the next day putting the segment together before sending it to our head office over our secure connection. I have to shrug off Jay’s hands several times when he lingers over me, checking on my rough editing. I’ve given the brush off before to unwanted advances, but I have to spend every day with this guy. I don’t want to cause any unnecessary trouble since I’m new.
By the time dinner rolls around, I’m exhausted. Not only have I spent most of the day working on the segment, but I’ve also had to fight off Jay’s unwanted advances. I know if Teddy were here, he would never stand for it, but I left him behind to pursue my own selfish dreams.
After working my way through the mess line, I find a relatively empty table to sit at. I’m even too tired tonight to strike up a conversation with the troops at our new location.
“I heard from the home office,” Ms. Shieffer says, sitting down next to me with her tray. “They are very impressed with the story we put together. It runs on the evening news tomorrow with a recap on the morning show. You did a very good job, Sophia. You should let your family know so they can watch it.”
“Thank you. I’m so glad they liked it.”
I make a mental note to send an email to Izzy later. I’m so excited about the news, I want everyone to catch it back home. I don’t think I’ll even bother sending one to Teddy this time since it’s been three weeks now since I’ve heard from him.
“So have you been having any problems with Jay?” Her question takes me completely by surprise.
“Oh, no, I’m fine. Nothing I can’t handle.”
She watches me for a minute while I act suddenly very focused on eating. After a minute under her gaze, she finally shrugs before digging into her own food.
The next two days, all we can do is sit around waiting for the next assignment. Ms. Shieffer talks several times a day to the home office as we all start to go stir crazy.
I spend much of my time trying to avoid Jay, but he always manages to find me. My best defense is to make sure I’m never alone. I’ve began playing poker in the mess tent with off-duty soldiers working on gathering their stories. Thanks to a few lessons from Grayson’s business partner, Matthew, I can hold my own.
When I’m not focused on that, I obsess over not hearing a word from Teddy. I don’t know why he continues to ignore me. I thought we left on good terms and the thought that I missed something is tearing me apart.
“Well, I have early duty tomorrow, so I think I’ll head out,” one of the soldiers says, standing. The men start to head back to their tents, wishing me a good night as I gather up the cards. The tent is empty when I finally stand to head back to my tent. My boss turned in hours ago, so I’ll have to be quiet when I slip inside our tent.
Turning toward the door, I’m met by Jay standing at the entrance.
“Hey, I was just leaving for my tent,” I say with a fake smile. Taking a deep breath, I try to go around him. Usually there is always someone here drinking coffee, but tonight it’s silent. Jay moves in front of me, blocking my path.
“We’re heading out tomorrow. They’re giving us two days at an American hotel in Kabul to regroup then it’s off again.” He leers at me as he takes a step closer.
“Thanks, I’d better go pack then.”
Jay is making me nervous as he slowly advances toward me, cornering me between tables. Suddenly he’s standing way too close, smelling like stale beer.
“Jay, have you been drinking?” I work my way back across the tent, trying to put as much distance as possible between us.
“Where are you going?” Jay starts stalking me across the tent.
I look quickly around, hunting for another exit as I try not to panic. He’s trapped me between my only escape and himself. I wonder fleetingly if I scream, will anybody come to my rescue.
“Jay, I’d like to go back to my tent, please,” I say, trying once more to duck around him.
With a nasty grin, he takes another step toward me.
“You’ve been teasing me all month.”
He is so close to me now, that I put my hands out, pressing against his chest in an effort to hold him back.
Leaning into me, he continues in a hoarse groan. “Shaking that ass at me every time I come around. Hard little nipples paraded around like some kind of whore. I bet you’d like me to fill up that mouth with something hard.”
Taking a deep breath, I make my move. Curling my fingers, I hit him as hard as I can in the solar plexus, running for the door. If I’m lucky, he’s bent in half, gasping for breath. But I’m not that lucky or not that good at throwing punches. I’ve almost made it to the door when he grabs me by the hair, slamming my body down onto a table.
“Stop. Please stop,” I cry out with a sob as I struggle to get out of his grip.
I’ve moved into survival mode, biting, kicking, scratching, anything to get away from him when he drags me off the table onto the ground, knocking the air from my lungs. Within moments, Jay has pinned my hands above my head with one hand and holding my legs down with his body. He reaches down, ripping my shirt open with his free hand. I’m struggling to fight him off, but he is just too strong.
Suddenly, he is no longer holding me down. Something has ripped him off of me and has him pinned to the ground. With a scream, I sit up trying to fight off the arms encasing me.
Opening my eyes when I feel someone trying to calm me down, I find Ms. Shieffer is holding me as I sob. Two soldiers rush in hauling a man up from the ground where he was punching Jay in a rage. I can already see that Jay has an eye swelling shut and his lip is bleeding. Two more soldiers run into the tent, jerking Jay off the ground to hold him between them. The man lands another punch to his stomach, doubling him over before they secure him again.
“Touch her again, I’ll fucking bury you. I’ll fuck you up so bad your mother won’t even know your ass.” The growl that comes from my rescuer sounds familiar but I’m sobbing into my hands too hard to place it.
Ms. Shieffer rubs my back as she calmly talks to me. After I begin to calm, her words finally sink in.
“Don’t worry. I’ve already notified the home office. You won’t ever have to worry about him again, he’s done.”
The soldiers leave with Jay whimpering between them.
“Sophia?”
I look up at my boss.
“This young man claims he has been chasing us all over the Middle East, looking for you. Before I leave you again, I just need to make sure you recognize him.”
I slowly look over. Teddy is standing with his fist balled up, looking like he has walked through hell. The remaining soldiers are half-heartedly holding on to his muscled arms. A slow smile spreads ac
ross his beautiful face when my eyes meet his.
7
Teddy
I trek across hell and back to find her and the first thing I see is some douchebag with my woman pinned to the ground? Oh, fuck no. As my heartbeat begins to pound in my ears, all I can see is red. Pulling him off of Sophia, all I can think about is making sure he pays for touching her.
When they finally pull me off of him, my fists are raw and bloody, but I don’t feel them as I look at the tears streaming down her face. If they turned me loose, I would have a hard time deciding if I go to her or bring more pain to him.
Grayson’s plan had seemed simple when we first started discussing it. I would fly to Israel, hire a driver, and find Sophia somewhere near Syria. Because life is that simple, right? Nothing is ever that simple.
I made it to Tel Aviv just fine, but when I tried to find a guide into Syria to find a reporter with American forces, I was greeted with disbelief. That was actually the tamest of the reactions. Several people laughed, quite a few yelled and one even spit at me.
After days of futility, I finally hitchhiked to the Syrian border. I was fortunate enough to run into a group of servicemen that were able to find out that Sophia’s team had moved to Afghanistan. However, I was nowhere near Afghanistan.
Catching a ride to Beirut, I caught the first flight to Kabul. It took me two more days to convince a military unit to take me with them to the last known location Sophia was. But only after I promised their commander that Grayson could take his pay and make an easy seven percent interest in return. I hope my brother can pull that off. If not, the officer promised to hunt me down.
I was not met with a warm reception when they dropped me at the small base. It wasn’t surprising since I in no way appeared to be military. The commander informed me, harshly, that I had just missed them and pointed to the road leading out.
So, I thanked him and started walking. At least they let me refill my water before heading out. One of the soldiers told me they had moved to the Iranian border, so I headed in that direction. I mean, how hard can it be to find a body in the desert, right? I would have laughed at my own joke, but I was too exhausted.
By that night, I was almost giddy with thankfulness when I stumbled into a small village. I was almost out of water, the temperature was dropping and I was beyond exhausted. I didn’t know how to communicate with the people, but they let me stay the night anyway. Well, they let me fill my water from a questionable well and sleep in the remnants of a shack, but I was good with that.
The next morning, a group of men generously agreed not to shoot me in exchange for my remaining money.
That’s how I found myself hiking down a road toward the border of Iran, hoping to stumble upon a needle in this scorching haystack. I look like hell, with a beard and mangy-looking hair. I doubt I smell much better either. My clothing is dust covered with rips in it and my hiking boots are starting to show more than just a little wear.
“Hey, buddy. Where did you come from?” I look to my left as an armored vehicle pulls up next to me.
“I’m looking for my girlfriend,” I answer. Somehow it sounds really stupid when I say it out loud.
“In the desert?” With a sigh, I stop walking, turning my weary body toward him.
“I know it sounds crazy. She’s traveling with a news crew. Last I heard, she was on the border between here and Iran.” I watch as they all give each other a look that can only be interpreted one way. They think I’m insane. I don’t know, maybe I am.
“Wait, there is a group of news people that arrived at camp yesterday,” one of the men sitting in the back says.
“Yeah, you’re right,” the driver agrees. “But if she’s one of them, you’re going the wrong way.”
Feeling my shoulders slump, I turn to look back down the road I just spent a day and a half walking down.
“Get in, we’ll take you to our camp.”
When I stand staring at him, trying to find the energy to decide what my next move should be, he motions with his head toward the vehicle.
“Come on, we can’t just leave an American to wander around out here.”
With a shrug, I climb in the one remaining back seat.
“So how long have you been together?” one of the soldiers asks me. “She must be something to hike through this desert.” One of the other men taps me on the shoulder, handing me a water and a power bar. As hungry as I am, I don’t know if I can gag down even one more high energy protein bar.
“Officially, about a month. Unofficially, I’ve been hers since I first saw her eight years ago.”
When they just stare at me in confusion, I feel the need to keep talking.
“I was fourteen the first time I saw her. You’d remember her, she’s gorgeous with long dark hair and these caramel-colored eyes that can make a man walk through the desert just to get a glimpse again.”
“Oh, I know her,” the man next to me says excitedly. “Sarge, you know, the one that’s always playing cards with the guys in the mess hall. Body like a wet dream and stacked to here,” he added with a gesture indicating her ample breasts.
“Hey,” I growl. “I might be tired, but I’ll still kick your ass.” The man must have a serious death wish.
“Sorry, man. But, you’re right, she’s hard to forget. A real sweetheart,” the man answered with a shrug. After an affirmative grunt from the front seat, the vehicle grew silent.
Somehow, even bouncing over the rough terrain, I find myself drifting off. I only managed to get a little sleep last night for fear of having either my throat slit open or waking with a goat balanced on my head. Either option seemed like a nightmare. They both kept me leaning upright against the crumbling wall as I tried to catnap. The next time I open my eyes, we’re approaching a base.
“Kaminski can take you to the commander’s office. They can tell you where to locate the tent the women reporters are staying in,” the sergeant said as they bounced into the compound. Pulling up outside one of the many tents, I climb out of the vehicle with the man who had sat next to me climbing out also.
“Thanks for picking me up. Let me know what I can do to make it up to you,” I say, shaking the driver’s hand.
“Nah, it’s not every day you find some crazy American civilian wandering down the road around here looking for a woman. Take care, man.”
I wave as the remaining soldiers drive on through the camp, disappearing between tents. Following Kaminski into the tent next to us, we stop in front of a desk manned by a formidable-looking officer.
“Can I help you? Where did you come from?” the man asks, looking me up and down like he was deciding how hard it would be to break me in two.
“We found him hiking down the road on the way back. He’s looking for one of the news reporters. Sarge thought you could point him to the tent they’re staying in,” Kaminski answered.
“What the hell were you doing hiking down the road?” the man asked.
With a sigh, I began my story of how I had come to be walking toward the Iranian border. As the man’s scowl grew deeper with each minute, it suddenly occurs to me that it could look like I was trying to join one of the Jihadist groups that terrorize the area. That’s just what I need, a new life at Guantanamo.
Quickly I try to assure the man that my intentions are honorable doing everything but breaking into the national anthem. Though, I’m not beyond that as an option. Fortunately before that can happen, the officer finally holds up his hand to stop me from saying any more.
“You must be fucking crazy,” Officer Brown, according to the name on his uniform, informs me. “But, come on and I’ll take you to their tent.”
Quickly shaking Kaminski’s hand, I follow Brown out into the night. Stopping outside of one of the tents farther in the camp, Brown calls out. “Ms. Shieffer, can you come out here, please.”
“Yes, Captain Brown?” says an older woman as she steps outside the tent.
“This kid claims to be hunting for one of your pe
ople,” he responds, sticking out a beefy thumb toward me.
“Hi, Ms. Shieffer?” I say, stepping forward as I recognize her name with my hand extended. “My name is Teddy Bennett. I’m looking for Sophia Wright,” I say as she tentatively slides her hand into mine. Suddenly her eyes light up in recognition.
Suddenly her eyes lit up in recognition. “You’re Sophia’s Teddy,” she says with a much heartier handshake than I thought possible at her age. “She’s all but given up hope of hearing from you again. How did you get here?”
“Yes, ma’am. It’s a long story and my phone disappeared weeks ago or I would have made this a little less of an adventure. Please, can you tell me if she’s here?”
“Oh my goodness, yes,” she says, suddenly spurred into action. “She was starting a card game in the mess tent when I left her.”
“This way,” Captain Brown said, turning around.
I follow him with Ms. Shieffer close on my heels as we cross the compound to the meal tent. Ducking through the door, I freeze trying to take in what I’m looking at. Sophia is there, but she’s being held down by some man. Without thinking, I fly into action, grabbing the man off of her. No way my Sophia would allow any man to assault her like that.
There is a satisfying crunch of bone as my fist meets his nose. He goes to the ground and I follow him down. I manage to get one more shot to his face before I’m jerked off and placed back on my feet. With one more swing, I land an uppercut to his abdomen, bending him over at the waist.
Two strong arms grab on to me as I struggle to get in another swing at him. As the red in my vision clears, I can see that the MPs have the fucker in their grip, so I relax slightly.
Turning around, I find Ms. Shieffer is holding Sophia as she sobs into her hands. That motherfucker, I’ll kill him! But when I spin back around, I find he’s already been hauled off. The soldiers take hold of my arms again, but I don’t think they’re that concerned since it’s obvious I can shake them off. Before I can storm out the door in search of him, Captain Brown lays one of his big hands on my shoulder, motioning with his hand behind me.