As the trucks moved along the road all that was heard was the rumbling of the tires beneath them. It was almost like everyone was afraid to speak. On both sides of the truck was nothing but desert as far as the eye could see. Behind the truck was what seemed to be a never ending line of other military trucks, jeeps, and tanks. The harsh reality that things were quickly changing was beginning to set in.
Nick tried to adjust his helmet so that he could lean his head back and rest it on the side of the truck. He searched his mind to try and think of something to distract him and found it all too easy to do so once his mind thought of her. The girl Marcus challenged him to meet.
**********
‘Nick stood up from the bar and started his walk towards the girl sitting at the table with whom he assumed to be a few of her friends. As he approached the table, he took and deep breath and quickly went over in his head what he wanted to say to her. Wishing himself luck he smiled the ‘Carter smile’ and tried to casually introduce himself.
“Hello, I am so sorry to just interrupt you conversation, but I noticed you from across the room and I couldn’t leave without asking you to dance.” He said cooly to the girl.
The girl smiled innocently at him before looking over at her friends and shrugged her shoulders. Returning her focus to Nick she nodded her head before replying, “Yea, sure I would love too. Are you sure you want to dance to this song though?”
Listening to the music Nick decided that the girl was right; it wasn’t really a song that you would typically dance too. “Yea, your right. It isn’t really a dancing song.” He answered as he ran his hand over the back of his neck nervously. Unsure of what to do next he just stood there a little awkwardly trying to think of a way to stay.
“Why don’t you sit down with us and we will just talk for a little while until a song comes on that you wanna dance to.” The girl suggested.
Nick’s eyes lit up at her suggestion and he nodded his head in agreement. The girls at the table made room for Nick to sit down. Once he was sitting he felt a little more comfortable and started to relax. “So what are your names?” he asked everyone at the table, but making sure to focus his attention on the girl that Marcus picked.
“I am Elise.” The girl said.
“Elise, that is a very pretty name.” Nick replied.
“I am Kelly, and this is Melissa and Katrina.” One of the other girls said as she introduced the rest of the table. (AN: This is kind of a tribute to my three favorite authors on here, Honey, Mellz Bellz, and Tri. I hope you guys don’t mind)
“Well ladies it is nice to meet you all. I am Nick.” He said smiling sweetly.
“You too.” Replied Elise as she looked Nick in the eyes for the first time.
Nick almost lost his breath. Her eyes were gorgeous. They were the most unique color green he had ever seen. They almost looked like sunflowers. Starting out from the pupil they were almost an amber color before fading into an olive green and almost a deep blue along the edge. Shaking his head to clear his mind, he noticed that he loved the song that was playing.
“How about we dance to this?” Nick asked.
The girl smiled when she realized that “Bed of Roses” by Bryan Adams was playing. “I would love to.”
Nick took her hand and led her to the dance floor pulling her close to him. He glanced over at Marcus and raised his eyebrows as if to say ‘I told you so’. Marcus rolled his eyes as he took another sip of his beer. Nick returned his attention to Elise as he leaned down and whispered in her ear. “I couldn’t help but notice that you are the most beautiful girl in the room.”
Elis rolled her eyes at this comment. Was he really going to use that line? “Thanks.” She replied smiling up at him.
“So where are you from?” Nick continued to ask questions pretending to be interested.
***
“Nick! Earth to NICK!” AJ called out, snapping Nick out of his thoughts. “Dude, where were you?”
“Just thinking about home.” He replied.
Nick looked around and noticed that it had gotten dark. How long had he been thinking about Elise? Closing his eyes again he tried to shake loose the uneasy feeling he developed in his stomach. Just as he was starting to relax a little, he heard a huge explosion and then the truck began to shake and then slowed down.
“What the hell was that?” AJ asked looking around.
A guy at the front of the truck stood up and demanded that everyone get on their stomach on the floor of the truck. Frantically everyone obeyed his demands. Still confused by the events AJ kept asking what had happened over and over again.
“It was an IED!” One of the guys on the truck finally answered.
“A what?” Brian replied confused.
“A bomb, a homemade bomb!” the guy answered back.
“You’ve got to be kidding me. We have only been in Iraq for like two hours and we are already under attack. This is un-fucking-believable!” Nick said as his voice started to shake with fear.
They lay on the bottom of the truck for what seemed to be an eternity. Finally they were instructed to get back in their seat and the trucks began to move again. Driving past the exact spot that had just been bombed they noticed that one of the trucks were being left on the side of the road. They also noticed that there was a lot of blood splattered along the edges of the truck and on the ground around it.
“What happened? Did someone die?” Brian asked the guy who had initially told them to all lay on the floor.
“I am not at liberty to say, but there were a lot of injuries.” He vaguely replied.
Brian closed his eyes and prayed silently for those who were affected by the bomb. Chills ran down his spine as he thanked God for it not being him, as he realized how easily it could have been. He reached over and put his hand on Nick’s shoulder. Nick was leaning over with his head in his hands as his body shuck with fear, and tears involuntarily escaped his eyes.
That was the most terrifying thing that had ever happened to any of them, and this is only the beginning. How much more would they see. How much more would they be able to handle. Brian closed his eyes once again and asked God to give them the strength to make it through.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Hey guys....sorry it took me so long to update. I didn't think this story would be so hard for me to write, but it kind of is....I hope you enjoy it!
