Lucas Meyers?”
Lucas straightens his spine and salutes. “Yes, sir.”
The soldier breaks out into a grin. “Welcome. Good work, son. Let’s get the two of you back to camp.” He nods at me, but doesn’t address me by name. Either he doesn’t know or more likely does and just doesn’t want to say anything.
I can really care less while I watch the other soldiers grab our bags and supplies. We made it. We really made it.
Relief
If the van is bad before it’s three million times worse now. The bounce of the large army truck over the landscape luckily masks most of my frantic movements. To say I’m nervous is the understatement of the year. I’m flipping freaking out!
The tall walls of what can only be the camp come into view and my movements cease. Now I’m just scared—too scared to move even. Inside these walls lay so many answers and I’m not even sure if I’m ready for some of them…for any of them really.
This camp appears much more permanent than the last one; more of a compound really. We drive through a massive set of steel doors (maybe twenty feet high or more) only to find ourselves in an enclosure with yet another set of massive doors. They stay shut tight until the ones behind us are fully secure. The second set of doors opens and my heart drops into my ass. This is it. We’re here.
The truck rolls to a stop and the head soldier guy is by my side. Before anything else can happen I grab Lucas’ hand. With my promise and all we have been through I’m not letting go until I’m sure everything’s okay. He’s kind of like a walking security blanket right now.
Soldier-guy starts talking: something about our stuff being taken somewhere. I know that I should probably pay attention, but I can’t even if I want to right now. Everything sounds like I’m underwater. My vision keeps getting blurry and doubling. I momentarily wonder if this is what a panic attack feels like.
They lead us into the main building and I get a serious case of Deja-vu. The inside looks identical to the building on our last camp (not like our government has a generic standard or anything.) Same scuffed white walls, tiled or generic carpet flooring and crappy-looking drop-ceiling tiles. Don’t forget the harsh fluorescent lights. None of this helps my possible panic attack.
Our convoy stops outside a door and I take a deep breath in. No turning back now.
The door opens and inside I can see Captain Jennings and Dr. Ford both smiling from ear to ear. Lucas squeezes my hand and I realize I’m probably hurting him, so I relinquish his hand. We’re ushered through the door and I look around. Immediately I feel disappointment and fear that there’s no one else in the office.
It’s Dr. Ford who notices first—always so perceptive. He gives me a quick hug and whispers in my ear, “Don’t worry, they’re all fine and on their way down. We didn’t know when you were coming.”
It feels like a gazillion pounds lifts from my chest and shoulders. ‘Okay’ and ‘on their way’ keep spinning over and over while I briefly embrace the captain, too. Both gentlemen commend Lucas on his involvement while I stare at the door.
“Oh, for Pete’s sake Jennings let her do this later. Look at her, she’s not listening.” Dr. Ford says.
The Captain looks at me. I know he’s always had a soft spot for me. He sighs. “I expect you back here in one hour to be debriefed. Go down the hall, hang a left and then keep going straight. Stop on the outside if you don’t catch them on the way.”
My thank you gushes quickly while I bolt from the door. Lucas stays behind shaking hands so I just run faster. At the end of the hall I make a sharp left. I trip over my feet and catch myself on the wall. Someone races through the door before I can burst through. We both just stop and stare.
His hair’s longer. He’s sporting a goatee that’s new—but he’s real. He’s right in front of me . A sob escapes as this
Lucas straightens his spine and salutes. “Yes, sir.”
The soldier breaks out into a grin. “Welcome. Good work, son. Let’s get the two of you back to camp.” He nods at me, but doesn’t address me by name. Either he doesn’t know or more likely does and just doesn’t want to say anything.
I can really care less while I watch the other soldiers grab our bags and supplies. We made it. We really made it.
Relief
If the van is bad before it’s three million times worse now. The bounce of the large army truck over the landscape luckily masks most of my frantic movements. To say I’m nervous is the understatement of the year. I’m flipping freaking out!
The tall walls of what can only be the camp come into view and my movements cease. Now I’m just scared—too scared to move even. Inside these walls lay so many answers and I’m not even sure if I’m ready for some of them…for any of them really.
This camp appears much more permanent than the last one; more of a compound really. We drive through a massive set of steel doors (maybe twenty feet high or more) only to find ourselves in an enclosure with yet another set of massive doors. They stay shut tight until the ones behind us are fully secure. The second set of doors opens and my heart drops into my ass. This is it. We’re here.
The truck rolls to a stop and the head soldier guy is by my side. Before anything else can happen I grab Lucas’ hand. With my promise and all we have been through I’m not letting go until I’m sure everything’s okay. He’s kind of like a walking security blanket right now.
Soldier-guy starts talking: something about our stuff being taken somewhere. I know that I should probably pay attention, but I can’t even if I want to right now. Everything sounds like I’m underwater. My vision keeps getting blurry and doubling. I momentarily wonder if this is what a panic attack feels like.
They lead us into the main building and I get a serious case of Deja-vu. The inside looks identical to the building on our last camp (not like our government has a generic standard or anything.) Same scuffed white walls, tiled or generic carpet flooring and crappy-looking drop-ceiling tiles. Don’t forget the harsh fluorescent lights. None of this helps my possible panic attack.
Our convoy stops outside a door and I take a deep breath in. No turning back now.
The door opens and inside I can see Captain Jennings and Dr. Ford both smiling from ear to ear. Lucas squeezes my hand and I realize I’m probably hurting him, so I relinquish his hand. We’re ushered through the door and I look around. Immediately I feel disappointment and fear that there’s no one else in the office.
It’s Dr. Ford who notices first—always so perceptive. He gives me a quick hug and whispers in my ear, “Don’t worry, they’re all fine and on their way down. We didn’t know when you were coming.”
It feels like a gazillion pounds lifts from my chest and shoulders. ‘Okay’ and ‘on their way’ keep spinning over and over while I briefly embrace the captain, too. Both gentlemen commend Lucas on his involvement while I stare at the door.
“Oh, for Pete’s sake Jennings let her do this later. Look at her, she’s not listening.” Dr. Ford says.
The Captain looks at me. I know he’s always had a soft spot for me. He sighs. “I expect you back here in one hour to be debriefed. Go down the hall, hang a left and then keep going straight. Stop on the outside if you don’t catch them on the way.”
My thank you gushes quickly while I bolt from the door. Lucas stays behind shaking hands so I just run faster. At the end of the hall I make a sharp left. I trip over my feet and catch myself on the wall. Someone races through the door before I can burst through. We both just stop and stare.
His hair’s longer. He’s sporting a goatee that’s new—but he’s real. He’s right in front of me . A sob escapes as this
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