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The next day AJ was able to convince Nick and Brian to go play volleyball with Audrey and a few of her friends. This was no easy tasks. It took a lot of begging and telling Nick that Audrey had some hot friends, although AJ wasn’t sure if she did or not.

After hanging out with Audrey the day before, AJ was sure she also had a crush on him. It wasn’t like he could act on it though. Even if he wanted to do something about it, there weren’t any convenient places to be alone. AJ couldn’t help but smile at the idea though.

As the guys left the berthing to go met up with Audrey and her friends, Barrin, the solider that Nick met the day before ran into them. “Hey man, what up? Nick right?” Barrin said cooly.

“Yea, that is right and not much. Just going down to play some volleyball. Apparently it is supposed to help us get acclimated.” Nick replied rolling his eyes. “These are my friends Brian and AJ, and this is….sorry man I am bad with names.”

“It Barrin, or Rin whichever you prefer, and it is nice to meet you guys.” Barrin said as he shuck hands with Brian and AJ.

“So, you wanna join us for some volleyball?” Nick asked.

“Sure, why not. It isn’t like there are some many things for me to do here.”

As the guys reached the volleyball court, Nick found his eyes wondering around looking at all of the girls. Never in a million years would he have ever thought that military girls would be this hot. Sure there were some that were fat and out of shape, or really masculine, but for the most part, they were thin and toned. Nick was not looking forward to having to spend so much time with a hot girl and not being able to get any. He couldn’t help but smirk as his mind imagined all of the crazy places he could have sex out here.

Dividing up everyone into two teams, Barrin and Brian on one team with four other girls, and Nick and AJ on the other team with the rest of the girls. The game started out fairly normal. Everyone just hitting the ball around, but it didn’t take long before AJ and Nick started acting out. Nick purposely bounced the ball off of AJ’s head twice; of course he was talking to Audrey each time and not really paying attention to the game. After the second time, AJ decided to get Nick back and he “accidentally” hit Nick between the legs while passing the ball for him to serve it.

Overall, the game had been pretty entertaining. Nick had to admit that the longer he was out there, the less hot he seemed to be. He still thought it was way too hot for his liking, but his lungs were starting to adjust. The funny thing about it was that he wasn’t sweating. Back home in Florida or California, he would defiantly be sweating in this types of heat.

After a second game everyone sat down to cool off and get to know one another. Everyone seemed to be pretty cool. Even more amazing is that no one mentioned that they recognized the Boys. It was like a level playing field. It made Brian feel more welcome than he had in a long time. To just be able to hang out with a group of people and not be asked a million questions about your personal life. That could very possibly be the best thing about being out there; the chance to be normal.

Everyone’s attention was soon drawn to a commotion behind them. Audrey and Barrin immediately knew what was coming. “This is it.” Audrey said. “We are about to go into Iraq. They are coming to tell us to get our gear ready.”

Sure enough, that is exactly what happened. They were instructed to retrieve all of their belongings and meet at the rally point at 1700 hours (5pm). From there, they would load into five ton truck and be convoyed into Iraq. It would be a 7 hour trip in the back of a truck that all too often got blown up.

Nick could feel the knot in his stomach that had only recently disappeared began to return. He almost felt like he was going to throw up. In just a few hours, he would be heading into Iraq, a hostile territory. Kuwait was sort of safe, but Iraq was a whole different story. He continued to swallow the lump in his throat as he gathered all of his things to head for what he was sure was his impending doom.

Brian was relatively calm about the entire situation. He knew that he had prayed time and time again for god to keep him safe. That gave him the security that he would be. While gathering his things, he picked up his picture of Leigh and Baylee and kissed it. Smiling as he looked down at his family he felt comforted knowing that they too were praying for him.


AJ seemed completely oblivious to the entire situation. All that he could think about was Audrey and how much he liked her. He kept thinking of all the possible conversations and the outcome of these conversations that he wanted to have with her. He was hoping that she ended up on the same post as him. If she didn’t, he would be forced to think about the real reason he was out there. And that was something he didn’t want to think about.

1500 hours rolled by rather quickly and before they knew it they were standing at the rally point with all of their gear waiting for muster to be called. (AN: Muster is like a roll call.) One by one the boy’s names were called and they loaded onto the trucks. Once the boys took their seats reality really started to set in. They were made to put on protective gear for the first time, which included a Kevlar helmet and jackets, along with sappy plates in the lining of the jackets. They were also instructed to wear ear plugs and glasses.

Brian took a hold of his to friend’s hands and said “Let's say a quick prayer.”

Nick and AJ nodded their heads as Brian began to pray “God, you said that when two or three come unto your presence that you are here. Well God, here we are. We pray that you keep us safe on the coming journey. We pray that you keep your angels around every person that is going out tonight to fight for our great country and the freedoms that it possesses. We thank you God, for keeping us safe up until this time, and pray that you continue to do so. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.”

“Amen.” Nick and AJ replied simultaneously.

At that moment the trucks started moving. “He we go.” Said Nick as he put his head down into his hands.