Chapter Seven - The Things They Wore

Chapter 7 - Guests

It wasn't long before the Corpsman had Kaeo all sewed up with a fresh bandage on and cleared him for active duty. Before meeting back up with his team, he paused to wash his face and hands and get a quick shave in. No sense in getting chewed out twice for the same thing.

Team One has hard at work washing rocks. They had gathered up all of the fist sized rocks that had been scattered around the camp, nearly two dozen buckets worth and were carefully scrubbing off and dirt then laying them out to dry. Rico and Dygalo were supervising.

“Ah, the wounded hero returns.” Rico called out.

“Yep, all stitched up and cleared for duty.” Kaeo responded.

“Well, if you're cleared for duty, then you can get right to work painting the rocks. They all need to be white in three hours.” Dygalo instructed.

“Both sides?” Kaeo asked.

“Of course both sides warfighter! Don't you love your company commander?” Dygalo said.

“God damn this fucking sucks.” Garza grumbled under his breath as he dunked a rock into the soap bucket.

“Well, Garza, I wouldn't get too mad. It's just the rules of nature. Much like how the sun will always rise in the east and set in the west; shit will always roll downhill. Getting worked up about it is just wasted effort. You could spend all that energy training or, more realistically, jerking off.” Max advised.

“From the mouths of babes.” Rico commented.

“Maybe my dad was right and joining the Marines was a stupid idea.” Johnson belly-ached.

“I left my girlfriend for the corps. She shouted at me for two hours before just breaking down and crying. Now she's dating my best friend.”, McGraw deadpanned.

“Oh you think that's bad?” Kaeo said while cracking open a can of paint with his knife. “You want to know what my dad said to me when I told him I joined up?” The marines fixed their attention on Kaeo. He squinted hard and hunched over turning himself into a racist caricature of himself. “Your great grandfatha didn’ die at Guadarcanal fighting those dirty waito piggu for you to go up and join them! You bring great dishonna to this famiry! Get out of my rester-aunt!” Kaeo spat out with a heavy accent while shaking a finger angrily. The marines burst out into uncontrollable laughter. After a minute of unbroken cackling, McGraw asked a serious question.

“Wait, did that actually happen?”

“Yep, we haven't spoken since”. Kaeo responded while resuming work on his pile of rocks.

“Damn, that's actually kinda fucked up now that I think about it.” Garza said. Rico jokingly smacked Garza across the back of the head.

“Don't think too hard, Lance Corporal. We don't want to tire out your little violence addicted mind.”

“In the opinion of this marine it's all that damn rap music and those violent video games desensitizing today's youth to violence that gives us killers like Garza here. So, if anything, we should be increasing their proliferation to improve the quality of tomorrow’s soldiers.” Max stated while gesturing with his sponge.

“That's an interesting theory, Lance Corporal. However, if you don't want to be ninja punched so hard that they'll have to look for your chevrons at 29 Palms, I'd suggest you shut up.” Dyaglo stated before giving a nod toward the rapidly approaching First Sergeant.

“Well, looks like you all got shaved. Seems like you dumbasses might actually be capable of doing what you're told now and again. However, if you've all got the energy to chat away like middle school girls then you can call cadence while you work. Sergeant Rico lead them.” Black turned and trotted away to chew out some engineers with their hands in their pockets.

“Call cadence? We're not even running, hell we're still technically out in the field, aren't we?” Johnson questioned.

“Can it, PFC. We do what we're told around here. Besides, we can do some of my favorites.” Rico said with a smile before beginning his chant. “Paint my face black and green”.

“Paint my face black and green.” they echoed.

“You won't see me I'm a Recon Marine.” Rico chanted again. They echoed him with each new line

“Slip and slither in through the night.” Rico continued the chant and Kaeo echoed him but slowly tuned it out.

After they finished washing and painting the rocks, they placed them in neat rows along all of the trails around the access road of the camp and around the newly dedicated helipad. All the while calling cadence, Rico was relentless and his knowledge of them seemed infinite. He was almost positive they never repeated one the entire time they were working. Guess they'd finally figured out how to activate Rico's motto boner. The camp and building were cleaner than they had ever been as the sun was setting and the marines weren't even close to done yet. 2nd Platoon was granted a full eight hours of rack time but the rest of Charlie company worked late into the night.

The tents were a new addition. No more sleeping in the open on top of rocks. They had legit cots now. There was even word that they were going to bring out steaks for the event tomorrow. Maybe even beer. Funny thing about the Corps is just when you start to hate them they usually went and did something like this. He doubted the beer part though.

For now he curled up in his sleeping bag and examined the ring by flashlight. It was a simple sliver band. Maybe there was something he had missed before. What was its significance? Was she married?  And if she was, what had happened between those two? Obviously she hadn't been wearing the ring, that was important. Maybe they'd had a falling out or he'd already died. Maybe he sent her up there to him. Had he really just thought that? He suddenly felt very sick. There was no way she was resting peacefully after what he had done.

And Claire, how could he forget? He looked at the page he had torn out.  She had done a little self-portrait on the other side. How convenient, pretty good too. Now he'd have something to remember them both by. He slightly regretted not taking the whole book. All those little words left unread, all those little doodles in the cold ground. But it wouldn't have been right to deprive her of that.

It was odd looking at her with her jaw intact. So alive, so real it was hard to believe that they were both in graves just a short jaunt from his present location. They both could've walked right off the page and he wouldn't have batted an eye.

None of his staring at either of his two tokens would answer the question. Why were they so different? He'd killed at least a few men for sure now. That first one when he got his graze he knew he'd schwacked him for sure and yet, he didn't feel a thing. Was this what it felt like to be a warrior, to be a killer? All he felt was a cold detached emptiness and guilt. There was another ever present sensation: that he was being watched. He tucked them both under his pillow and tried to sleep.

He dreamed that the sky was bleeding red.

There were buildings all around him, he was in a city. It all looked familiar but had a certain hazy quality, like he couldn't quite remember. He was in his cammies and full battle-rattle. He felt lethal, primed to kill. No ammo though, at least he still had his bayonet which he affixed graciously. The immediate area was empty and quiet although he could sense someone not far away. He could taste their fear and hear the patter of their footsteps. It was exhilarating.

As he ran along tasting after the fear, his rifle became an extension of his arm his cammies melded into his skin. His NODs became a part of his eyes. He could feel his claws tapping against the pavement. He loped across the ground on three limbs, keeping his literal knife-hand at the ready. He stopped his trot outside of a large tower overlooking the bay. The bay? Ah yes, this city was by the ocean. He tasted the air and listened hard with his augmented hearing. He could hear the impertinent fluttering of a terrified little heart coming from inside. He trotted in. It was pitch darkness except for the eerie red glow which filtered in though scattered windows. He could see perfectly with his night vision eyes, although he didn't need to. He could hear her quiet little huffs of breath and the pounding of her tell-tale heart. He turned to face her. Smiling a toothy grin as her blue eyes pierced the darkness. Her heart skipped a beat and she sprinted for the stairs.

Too slow. He sprung and grabbed her ankle, revelling in the satisfying crunch of bone under his grip. She toppled down on the stairs. Her heart was racing faster than ever as she rolled onto her back and clawed at him with all of her might. He leaned in close and dragged his wide long reptilian tongue across her face just to savor the terror. She turned her face away in disgust. Her eyes danced around looking for any escape and they spotted something. She reached out and seized a broken shard of glass and slashed at him. He raised his right arm to defend. The blade wrought a deep rugged gash across the top of his forearm. In response he sunk is knife-hand into her abdomen. She gasped in pain and the improvised blade fell to the floor with a clatter. Blood welled up from her wound and dripped down from his mingling in a growing splotch on her stomach. He drove his blade in again and again. She never quite screamed but instead emits small squeals of pain with every new entry. He felt truly alive as the crimson joy drained for her body and mixed with his.
He went for the killing blow straight to the neck and, just as his knife sunk into her neck, he realized it was no longer a part of his body. It was just him in his gear, bayonet fixed onto his weapon hilt deep into the form of a blue eyed girl. He froze. She struggled, softly kicking and gurgling on the blood as it flowed into her windpipe. Her form seemed to flash between the two girls. One second it seemed to be Claire and the other it was Eri both were locked in expressions of total agony. Her heartbeat reached a crescendo and then slowly tapered off. She stopped struggling. Her heart heaved once more and then forever grew still. He withdrew the bayonet in horror. As he did, the flashing form of his victim mouthed one final word while those blue saucers stared up at him in judgment. “Why?” The ring hanging around her neck glinted evilly in the crimson light.

Kaeo practically jumped out of his cot and sprinted over to the wire to attempt to vomit his sins away. Dygalo was already awake, laying in his rack staring at the ceiling while the rest of the squad arose in surprise. Max sat up, rubbed the sleep away and cocked his head to stare at the wretching corporal.

“The fuck is up with Kaeo? Morning sickness?” Max asked.

“Shut up, Max.” Dygalo instructed while maintaining his blank stare the ceiling of the tent. Kaeo straightened up. The sun was already up, that meant that it was almost. His thought was broken by the cry of “Reveille! Reveille! Reveille!” by a screaming private.

“Fucking boot.” Garza mumbled to himself while rolling out of his cot.

“I'm gonna stab whoever put that idiot on last firewatch.” Johnson commented.

Dygalo was already almost ready “Alright warriors, get your PT gear on”. Dygalo locked eyes with Rico and nodded towards Kaeo. Rico snatched up his M4 and started walking a wordless response of affirmation.

“Hey, Kaeo, you alright?”  Rico called out. Kaeo whipped some stray spittle away from his mouth and responded.

“Yeah, yeah.” Rico's face hardened almost imperceptibly at Kaeo's response.

“You don't need to see one of the Docs do you?”

“No, nothing like that. I'm pretty sure I got it out.” Rico cracked open his can of chew and offered it to Kaeo.

“Well, you know what they say. A Dip a day keeps the Battalion Surgeon away.” Rico remarked. Kaeo took a small pinch and placed it behind his lip. Rico smacked him on the back and walked away towards the tent. Kaeo quickly followed back into the tent, put on his PT gear and slung his M4. He slipped the ring and page into his pocket and made damn sure they didn't fall out while they ran around the building. They did ten laps around the edge of the camp and then a brutal series of body weight exercise. Good marines had to stay in shape.

After the gambit of exercises, they joined with the rest of the company for morning formation. They all stood at attention while waiting for Raptor Actual to arrive.

Captain McGregor was just twenty-four years old, graduated close to the top of his class at the Navy Academy. A sharp guy with a good head on his shoulders. However, he'd arrived at Charlie Company the same time as Kaeo just a few months back. Before that, he was running a platoon in Alpha. Kaeo could tell he wasn't quite comfortable yet pushing around three times the number of marines. And, if he could see it, it was blatantly obvious to the more senior marines. First Sergeant Black seemed to have taken up the slack with a liberal dispensation of NJPs. Some were more warranted than others. Johnson's reduction to PFC for punching out a local at bar was completely reasonable. Seven days of extra duty for being a minute late to formation, not so much. As usual, McGregor was late. It seemed like there was some unspoken creed among officers that the enlisted men had to wait at least fifteen minutes before you could grace them with your presence. Almost as if on cue, the captain strutted up, followed by his entourage of platoon commanders who dispersed to their own charges before he continued.

“At ease.” The company shifted to parade rest in unison.

“As I'm sure you've all been informed, we will have guest at this camp at 1800 Zulu tonight. In addition, we'll have a little celebration for Charlie 2's outstanding work. But first I'd like to answer a few questions and clarify some things that I know has crossed your mind at one time or another.” McGregor began.

“Now, I'm sure many of you have questioned why we are guarding a factory anyway. Surely some grunt unit could do that.  And, the fact of the matter is there are grunt units doing that right now all over the country. But this factory and handful of others are special. This facility lies in a hotbed of enemy activity. This one is in fact the most frequently attacked in a hundred miles and that is why we are here. I understand this is outside of our SOP but as Capone often says the SOP is the last refuge of the unimaginative. We are not guards although we are guarding this building. We are hunters, and rest assured we will be hunting; like Lieutenant Eckloff's platoon did last night. That is the main reason we are here, to take the fight to the enemy.” McGregor paused for a second before continuing.

“Secondarily, our mission is to provide a modicum of stability to the immediate area. REVOCS factories like this one all over the region are a key part of Division's strategy for stabilization of this region. This factory right here provides jobs and income to several thousand. That's several thousand invested in the health and welfare of their government. That's several thousand and their families not actively trying to kill us, which is sufficient motive for us to protect it.”

“Now, on to other topics. I'm sure many of you are curious as to where our sister companies are. Bravo is in a similar situation just on the other side of the valley at OP Rhino. Alpha is with H&S Company doing some suppression work near the big base in Nacala.” Captain McGregor switched gears.

“Now hopefully this has cleared the air on the purpose of our mission. Now, our little shin dig; James Nkunda head of REVOCS Africa and Ragyō Kiryūin CEO of REVOCS will be here tonight. You will show both the utmost respect at all times. Mr. Nkunda and Ms. Kiryūin fucking love that we're out here keeping their multi-million dollar factory safe. Which is why they are coming to show their support. They even brought you steaks. You men have done out-fucking-standing jobs so far. Up at division they think First Recon is slaying dragons, which is why we've caught this reprieve. Capone has detached a platoon from Bravo to come over here and pull security for the night. You've all earned a good rest.” The captain was about to wrap up, but stopped himself. Kaeo wished he'd just end his fucking pep talk already. There was shit to do.

“And before I forget, I know this is a little out of standard procedure. But, I've received Corporal Tokura's and Gunnery Sergeant Tipton's Purple Hearts. While you have not gotten them yet officially I'll be proud to pin them on you tonight. Finish cleaning this camp and maintain REDCON 4 until we are relieved. Dismissed.” Captain McGregor strutted off as the units fell out of formation to apply the final touches.

All of the big projects were already done. Now it was down to the small stuff, like raking the gravel so it was more even like a Zen garden and dusting the HESCOs, little menial tasks like that occupied the time well for Kaeo. It relaxed him and kept his mind occupied. After several hours and a very thorough inspection of the whole camp by the First Sergeant, the place was immaculate and they now had time to use the newly constructed showers. There was always something glorious about taking a shower after several days in the field wallowing in your own filth and blood. Despite a rough beginning, it had actually turned out to be a rather nice day.

After his shower, he changed into the cleanest, nicest set of cammies he had, shined up his parachutist badge and pinned it on. He felt pretty stylish out of all his gear and FROG suit back into the utility uniform. Technically they weren't in garrison, but it would rain in hell sooner than First Sergeant Black would let them trounce around looking any less than their best in front of such esteemed guests. Kaeo had always felt like there was just something about rolled sleeves, an eight point cover and a shiny thing on a person's chest that made them feel big. After playing dress up, it was just a long wait until they arrived. Just as the sun was starting to dip below the horizon Bravo's humvees came into view.

“Raptor this is Hitman 1, be advised. We are 1 click out and moving towards the wire. Nice place you got here, over.” came over the net.

“Solid Hitman 1, welcome to OP Bruno enjoy your stay, over.”

“As if. Hitman 1, out.”

Hitman 1's Humvees rolled through the gate dispersed around the camp to relieve Raptor 3 of guard duty.

“Showtime, slanty.” Max said while giving Kaeo a light tap on the shoulder. The squad rose and joined with the more than 200 other personnel of OP Bruno which were assembling in formation in front of the newly constructed stage and adjacent helipad. The officers of all sections broke off and joined with the Captain and First Sergeant Black in waiting near the helipad.

They waited at attention for several minutes before a white civilian model CH-47 came into view.  The red REVOCS logo was just fleetingly visible as the helicopter banked in for a landing. The rear ramp on the helicopter dropped down. Twelve black-clad, armed private security and a small African-looking woman who most likely was the secretary of one of them marched out of the helicopter and broke to the sides of the ramp. A blinding rainbow light emanated out of the open door. Two figures emerged out of the light. The Captain and his entourage waited patiently at the edge of the pad.

Captain McGregor walked towards the two as the light was dying down. To the Left was a tall African man darker than an oil slick in an excellently fitted suit. He had a warm generous smile which was most reassuring. To the right was possibly the most oddly dressed but still attractive woman he'd ever seen. Rainbow hair? Oh well, he didn't like to ask too many questions anyway.

“Mr. Nkunda, Ms. Kiryūin Welcome to Observation Post Bruno. I'm Captain Steven McGregor, Commanding Officer here. Well it's more like a FOB now.” he excused while extend his hand. Mr Nkunda reached out and seized McGregors hand.

“Nice to meet you, Captain. I love what you've done with the place.” He said with a smile giving McGregor's had a few furious shakes.

“Yes, it's just...fabulous.” Ragyō announced. Both of them spoke English impeccably well, not even a hint of accent. McGregor now extended his hand to Ragyō. Who gently took it and gave it a single graceful shake. McGregor stepped back and gestured towards the line of officers who had been standing by and introduced them one by one.

“This is my Executive Officer and Charlie One platoon's commander, First Lieutenant Zachary Beckard.” Bekard stepped forward and shook hands with both of the executives. Black stepped out from the stack next.

“This is the Company First Sergeant, Eric Black.”

Black shook hands with both and tipped his head forward respectfully. “Ma'am.”

The next in line stepped out. “First Lieutenant, Ezekiel Eckloff, Charlie Two platoon's commander.”  Eckloff took their hands quickly with his trademark intensity before stepping out of the way for the next in line.

“First Lieutenant, Alex Kocher, Charlie Three's platoon commander.” Kocher shook with a smile and stepped out of the way.

“Second Lieutenant, Micheal Halverson. He runs our attached engineer platoon.” Halverson stepped out and followed suit.

“Chief Petty Officer, Isiah Lovell, acting commander of our attached Seabees.” Lovell stepped out.

Kaeo watched from his position at the front of the formation with piqued curiosity. After he watched the Captain introduce all of his staff they turned and walked towards and onto the stage. The squad of bodyguards followed the secretary (who was most likely Ragyō's)  to the back of the stage in a slightly jerky but ordered march. The Captain whispers something into First Sergeant Black's ear. Black stalked forward to center stage.

“Company! Atten-shun!” Black shouted his projection easily making up for his lack of a microphone. Kaeo and the rest of Company snapped to. The engineers and Seabees remained at parade rest.

“COMPANY! WHO ARE YOU!?” Black questioned.

“SCUBA! RECON! RANGERS! FIRST RECON BATTALION!” Came the preordained response shouted in unison by the company.

“KILL ON THREE! ONE! TWO! THREE!” Black commanded.

“KILL!” they shouted in unison. Black remained stoic but the Captain beamed with pride. Although he could only very faintly detect it, Kaeo thought he saw a smile appear on Ragyō's face.

“At ease”, Black instructed and strutted to the back of the stage. Kaeo and the rest of the company switched into parade rest. The Captain moved forward.

“I'll try to keep this short. If I could get Corporal Tokura and Gunnery Sergeant Tipton up here please.” The Captain announced. Kaeo broke from the ranks and marched onto the stage just after Tipton and lined up in front of the Captain. As he was walking, he shot a quick glance to the black-clad guards. They were all twitching slightly well-trained but still inherently savage animals. He'd seen the type before. All of their weapons were condition red. The idea of them with a hot weapon unnerved him slightly. He turned and snapped to attention. Black approached with a pair of black velvet cases. The captain gingerly took one and opened revealing the purple ribboned metal inside. Ragyō seemingly swooped out of nowhere and gently lifted the box out of the Captain's grip.

“Would it be alright if I did it?” Ragyō questioned innocently. The Captain paused for a second, like a man whose newborn child had just been ripped out of his arms. He quickly regained composure.

“Why, yes, of course.” McGregor responded. Ragyō smiled and removed the heart from the case and handed the empty box to Black. She then turned to Kaeo who was frozen at attention and slowly approached him

“Tell, me what is your name?”

“Corporal Kaeo Tokura, ma'am”

“Was that the hint of an accent I detected? Just where are you from?” Ragyō stalked close to him. Kaeo remained motionless with eyes fixed forward.

“Tokyo, Japan ma'am.” He stated with the same mechanical precision as before. Ragyō examined every detail of his person with her eyes. Those red, strangely inhuman eyes.

“Is this where you were wounded? How did it occur?” Her fingers ran gently across the top of the graze on his arm. They felt like ice.

“An AK round from an advancing enemy, ma'am.” He responded. Her fingers danced up his arm and shoulder under his collar and down his chest.

“And how old are you?”

“Nineteen ma'am.” Ragyō then presented the medal and removed the pincap.

“My, my, what a respectable, stylish, brave young man.” She stated confidently and plunged the medal's pin into his uniform's collar. She had gone too deep driving it into the flesh underneath. Although invisible with the medal in its current position blood welled up from around the pinprick and soaked into his uniform. There was no way she could have done it accidentally. He showed no outward response. She pulled the pin out of his flesh to place the pin cap on the back.

“Just one more question, Corporal Kaeo Tokura.” Ragyō gently straightened his collar and leaned in close. She whispered into his ear in honey-eyed Japanese.

“Do you like hurting people?” Kaeo stiffened slightly and clenched his jaw.  She smiled broadly in response.

“If you ever find yourself in Tokyo again, give me a call. I'd love for you to meet my daughter.” Ragyo said while walking away. The small African secretary then proceeded to present him with a business card which he placed into his breast pocket.