S.L.J.V. - Chapter 2

Chapter Two

An Oceanic Daydream

In my mind, the water was warm and salty.  I feel the bright sunlight beating down on my skin, surely giving me an unpleasant sunburn for later.  I was situated so I was floating on my back, lying with my stomach facing the brutal sunlight.   The flesh between my breasts felt hot and stingy a sure sign of a fierce scorching due to the little detail that this part of my body never saw the sunlight.  Thanks to the little green bikini that I was wearing I felt exposed, naked, but pretty damn hot nonetheless.  Normally I wouldn’t be caught dead in something like this.  But it was the only swimwear that took up next to no space in my pack and overall, it did server its purpose.

I closed my eyes, relaxing within the saline massage against my back.  Experiencing total bliss, I never wanted it to end.  I dazed in and out of consciousness, floating up and down, lazily on the waves.  The water seemed to wrap me in a blanket and rock me gently from side to side, lulling me soothingly, slowly putting me to sleep.  Though my thoughts began to drift to some far off dreamscape, I kept just alert enough to keep myself afloat.  But I knew it wouldn’t last too much longer for days like this rarely come along.  And just as that thought crossed my mind, a strong voice called out over the soft crash of the waves, bringing me back to my reality. 

“Hey Jade!  It’s time to come in, girl.  Time to move.”  Danny’s resilient voice cut through the beach like he was right next to me.  In fact, it startled me enough that I splashed about, trying to get myself upright.  I threw my arms out to the side to steady me and forced my feet below, kicking sturdily to hold my own against the waves.  At this point I was staring out into the sea to see a thick, black cloud making its way towards the shore.  Well shit. And I’m sure I have quite a swim ahead of me.  I turned around to realize I was actually right there.  In just a few feet I would be able to touch the pebbles on the bottom.  I said a silent ‘thank you’ to the waves for carrying me ashore and then headed in the direction of Danny as he gathered up my clothes. 

My legs felt heavy as I made my way out of the water, my feet somewhat sinking in the softened stones that made up the ‘sand’ of the beach.  As soft as they were, they still pained my feet – the first thing I grabbed was my knee socks and my hiking boots.  As I was tying up my last strand of laces, Danny walked over to hand me the rest of my attire.  I stood up beside him and grabbed my pants from his hand and began forcing my boots through them.

Danny was a good-looking soldier and that was for damn sure.  His sandy-brown hair was tousled about his head with natural highlights the color of honey.  But his eyes, they were what held you.  The purest color of sea foam green would catch you in their glimpse and you would be helpless to stare back into those vivid gems. Thank God I had been around him long enough to get used to the color – they don’t hold me in their grasp anymore.  Aside from his good looks though, Danny was way too confident in many instances.  He was confident in his skills and confident in his ‘charm,’ but too much confidence in this world and you’re bound to end up dead.  But besides all of that, he was skilled, he was attractive, and honestly, aside from him knowing all of that, he was nice to be around.

“You know, girl, it would be a lot easier if you put your shoes on after your denims.”  Danny laughed, watching me struggle even more with the damn jeans.  It was to the point now that I was nearly falling over in the fight.  Leave it to him to just stand there and watch.

“Now this would be a sight for the guys back at the base.  Jade, one of the top fighters for the cause, losing a fight to her pants.” Danny was howling now at his own jokes.

“Fuck you, Dan.”  I spouted off as my foot finally broke through its barrier, making its way to the pebbles below.  I pulled them up, zipped, and buttoned.  I felt accomplished.

“I thought you didn’t swing that way, girl.”  Danny smirked, just trying to piss me off.

“Danny-boy, we’ve had this discussion before.  Just because I don’t swing in your direction doesn’t make me a lesbian.”  I grinned back at him.  This was our normal game of cat and mouse.  Insult after insult was all that we had for each other and we were fine with that.  Somehow, it showed us that we cared for each other.  If we were ‘nice’ to one another, something would be wrong.  That’s just how we were.  I suppose you could say we had kind of a sibling-like relationship going on.  But then again, if that were the case I’d think my ‘brother’ was hot.  And now… hand me a puke bucket.  The very thought of that made me sick.

Danny handed me my jacket and I threw it on overtop of my bikini.  As I went to zip it up, Dan ran a cold finger across my cleavage, causing the sting of the sunburn to flare up.

“Get a little sun today, girl?”  Dan joked, immediately pulling his hand back before I caught it in the zipper.  It used to be I’d get pissed at him for his sexual gestures, but in the past few years I had come to welcome them.  He’d made passes at me on more than 50 occasions and I rejected him every single time.  Though I was very fond of him, I didn’t want to get too attached to anyone.  Not in this day and age anyway.  Danny and I had worked as partners for nearly 8 years now and through all of that time we had experienced many losses and hardships.  Our families, fellow combatants, and friends had died all around us leaving us to somehow carry each other on in this time of sorrow.

And I know that it just doesn’t make much sense to care for someone so much and hide it all these years.  I mean, if I were to lose Danny at any point, I would be completely devastated.  I know that I would hurt so much that I don’t know if I could go on.  But in the end, I would.  And yet, if I were to fall in love with him, even in the slightest bit, and then he was taken from me I know that I would be beyond words.  I don’t know if I would ever recover from something like that.  To lose my parents, my best friends and fellow fighters, all of that hurt so much, but Danny was there for me.  And in his time of lamentation, I was there for him.  We’ve seen each other at our highest highs and our lowest lows. So here we are today, partners that are so into each other that we’re not sure where one ends and the other begins.

Finally dressed, I took my pack from Danny’s hand and mounted it upon my back.  The extra ten pounds was nothing at all compared to the normal traveling pack.  But then again, we weren’t actually relocating anywhere at this point in time.  We were merely out enjoying the day.  Or at least I was – Dan just tagged along because he didn’t want me out here on my own. 

The world that we lived in was like something out of a science fiction movie – run by technology in its most intelligent form.  Where most of the population believed that this was for the better, there were a select few that knew better.  We were part of that fraction that was against it all.  I suppose you could say we were the modern-day hippies and tree huggers.  But where the peace-lovers of the past spouted off ‘Make love, not war’ we sent our message with the spray of shrapnel and shells.  I don’t want to send the wrong message though.  Our targets were the machines not the humans that created and depended on them.  It’s funny how some people believed that we were actually killing living creatures.  Their argument was that the technology could think for itself, it could learn, and it could make decisions so it must be living.  But where they are mistaken is that these machines don’t have a soul.  Nevertheless we are still the outcasts, the rebels of this world.  So we are constantly in hiding.

Danny led the way through the dense vegetation with me following close behind.  This growth of old trees and foliage was scarce around the world in this present day, therefore making it difficult to keep hidden.  But we managed.  Dan and I were traveling soldiers for the cause so we didn’t stay in one place for too long.  We went where we were needed, which left very little time to just relax.  This afternoon had just been one of those rare occasions.

“Hey girl, I’m thinking we’re not making it back to base right away.”  Dan called back over his shoulder, awaking me from my thoughts.  I looked up from the ground to realize that he was referring to that far off storm from the shore was now right on top of us.  Damn it, I hate when I lose track of my surroundings.  That’s a sign of a poorly trained soldier and I sure as hell am not one of those. 

The blackened squall whipped around us in a violent thrashing of the trees above us.  I heard Danny on the radio, calling in for information on shelter locations in the area. 

“Yeah, base, we’re not going to make it in by 1700.”  I heard some static and some murmuring answer back.  Somehow Danny understood. 

“Copy that base.  We’ll wait this out at the sector 5 unit.  Over.”  Then he turned back to face me, continuing to walk backwards. 

“Jade, there’s an unoccupied shelter unit about a fourth of a mile up this path.  If we pick up the pace we may get there before the rains hit.”  I nodded and began to walk faster than before.  But the rains didn’t wait for us.

All of a sudden it was like the clouds turned themselves upside down and poured out the gallons they held inside.  The torrents thrashed down upon us in stinging rushes.  Forget cats and dogs, this was in caparison to fucking elephants! 

We were running now, but soaked through nonetheless.  Then we were there, on the front stoop of the sector, watching it come down all around us.  It was like we had taken shelter under a waterfall for we couldn’t even see out into the forest we had just left behind.

“Jesus, what the hell was that all about?”  Dan exclaimed as he began punching the code to get the doors unlocked.  The faint beep of the doors sounded and we made our way into the pitch black station.  I felt along the wall for a switch, but found nothing.  The lights came on anyway for Dan found the lever across the room. 

They weren’t lying when they said that this was an unoccupied base.  It looked like no one had been here in years.  There were sheets over the weapons and equipment, complete with a layer of dirt and dust from years of abandonment.  Putting myself in the mindset of the deserted gear a shock of excitement would’ve flown through me at the awareness of soldiers coming through a door that had been locked for far too long.  Finally, a chance to add to the fight! I would think eagerly.  But sadly, the soldiers weren’t here for combat.

I made my way, alone, through the dimly lit hallways, looking for a place to hang up my wet clothes.  I turned to the left to find a training room.  Surely there was a locker room off of this somewhere.  Walking through the outsized gym, my boots echoed off the walls in an eerie manner.  Then, there were two dark rooms ahead of me – a weight room, and sure enough, a locker room.  I found the light switch easily as I made my way into the tight locker room.  There were no locks on any of the sideboards, so I helped myself to the space.  I took off my jacket and hung it up on one of the hooks, letting it drip to the bottom of the steel cage.  Even though my bikini top was soaked as well, I wasn’t about to take it off to dry.  It’s not even like I was removing my clothes because I was cold, it was just the shear discomfort of soggy gear that bothered me. 

I started going through the empty lockers, one by one, trying to find some fitting pants to replace my own – at least for the time being.  Empty, empty, empty, then a pair of pants that would probably fit Dan, empty, empty.  No luck.  All of the lockers were either empty or had clothes that wouldn’t fit at all.  So I went back to the first pair of pants that I found and tried to make due. 

They would work, I suppose, even if they did hand low on my waist, showing off the slightest bit of the emerald green bikini.  I wasn’t worried.  But then again…

“Hey girl, looking good.”  Dan stood in the doorway munching on a protein bar.

“So I’m guessing you found the pantry?”  I laughed as I turned to face him, catching him in mid scan of my body. 

“Maybe.”  He muffled through his munching. “They’ve got mostly dehydrated shit.  But this isn’t too bad.”  He held up the bar for me to have a bite.  I walked over and took it from him; I don’t eat from anyone’s hand.  I took a bite of the rock hard block and the stale taste of chocolate and peanut butter melted over my tongue.

“Not bad.”  I commented out loud as I took the last bite and threw the wrapper in Dan’s direction.  He bent over to pick the trash and threw it away in the can next to the door.

“So what do you say we put this training room to good use while we’re here?  I wouldn’t mind grappling with that hot body.”  He smirked, being just a little more over the top than usual.

“Why don’t you just say what you are really thinking, Dan?  Don’t hold back.”  We both laughed and I headed to the gym, pushing him out of my way as I went through the doorway. 

This training room really was oversized.  Or maybe it just felt that way because there were only two of us sparring at the time.  I’m sure with a whole base full of soldiers the room would probably feel small.  In spite of the echoing of our every movement, Dan and I took our beginning stances and started. 

We were both of pretty equal fighting skills but where I lacked in brute strength, I made up for in speed.  Dan, of course, was the exact opposite.  This made for a very interesting fight and an even more stimulating outcome. 

We circled each other for only a bit then I, of course, was the first to strike.  A swift kick to the chest was thrown off by a strong forearm.  This was retaliated upon with a strong palm just inches to the side of my face as I dodged to the right.  A quick bend of one knee and I was back in the fight with two straight fists into his stomach.  Dan doubled back only slightly.

“Oh, so this is how we’re playing, girl?”  He laughed, taking off his wet T-shirt and casting it aside.  I laughed too, but held my position.

“You think you’ll do better half naked?”  I teased.

“Just thought I’d level the playing field a little bit, sweetheart.”  He casually pointed to my upper half and took his position as well.  Flustered, I took the initiative to begin again.

The scrap this time around seemed like a blur.  Swift kicks and strong blows, fervent punches and fast strikes echoed out through the empty training hall.  Some of the thrusts made contact while many blew by the opponent by way of ardent blocks and abrupt evasions.  We were just too equally matched, but we both were aware of that going into this.  Sooner or later though, one of us would get careless or tired and we would make a mistake.  Then I found his.

As Danny threw out his fist, once again nearly inches from my face, I turned quickly to the side, letting him extend past me, meeting a sharp knee to his chest and a strong elbow to the middle of his upper back.  I heard the air rush out of him violently and felt his body twist in a very uncomfortable manner.  Then he hit the floor with a solid thump and I was immediately on his back with my arms around his throat, trying the submissive route to ending this little spat.

“Damn it all, Jade, get the hell off of me!”  He shouted angrily, grabbing my wrists and pulling them from around his neck.  I got up and stood there dumbfounded.  What the hell had I done for him to get so irate?  He got up to his hands and knees and then paused there.  Had I really hurt him this time? 

The next thing I knew, a foot was swinging around and making contact with my ankles, sending me, plummeting, to the floor below.  Straightaway, Dan had gyrated around and was on top of me, pinning my arms to the ground above my head.  I was breathing hard – a combination of the fall and the shear anger that radiated through my body as he stared down at me with a shit-eating grin on his face.  What he had just done was completely dirty and unforgivable in my book.

“You are such an asshole, Dan!”  I screamed in his face, trying to pull my hands free of his grasp.

“Would you just calm down?”  He laughed as he pressed down upon me even more, causing his bare stomach to touch my own.  My muscles retracted at the movement.  I had a feeling I knew what he was attempting, and it just pissed me off that much more because we both knew the outcome.

“You always get so enraged when I beat you, girl.  You’re such a sore loser.”  He laughed, knowing that he was just ticking me off even further.

“That’s because you cheat.  You never win in a fair fight.”  I uttered in calmer tone.  It’s hard for me to stay mad at him, especially when he plays it all out like it is all one big joke and I’m the one not getting the punch line.

“Now Jade, you know that I’m just a unique fighter that has his own special techniques.  You shouldn’t be jealous of what I’m capable of doing.”  He mocked.

“You’re still a cheater, Danny.  You’ve always been a cheater and always will be.”  I muttered under my breath.

“I’ve never cheated on you, girl.”  I knew it was coming, but I still paused at his comment as he loosened up my arms to place a hand on my chin, forcing me to face him.

“I’ve never been with another woman, Jade.  I don’t think I ever will.”  I swallowed hard and tried to look away, but I couldn’t.  It was his eyes, those damn sea foam gemstones that locked my gaze with his, and try as I might, I couldn’t divert my stare.  He knelt even further down towards me.  I could feel his hot breath on my lips now and it sent chills down my back.  His chest was pressing down upon my breasts causing my skin to crawl with anticipation.  Then suddenly, a shock of electricity jolted between my legs. My body was reacting in a way that I didn’t like and it was making my anger flare up again.

“Don’t do this.”  I spoke, a little too heatedly, but it got him to at least pause in his endeavor.  I could feel the sensation between our lips.  They were so close that the slightest movement would break the barrier that I had maintained for so long.

“I’d never do anything that you didn’t want me to do.”  Danny whispered softly, desperately. 

“Then stop this, Daniel.”  I whispered back.  As if using his real name wasn’t harsh enough, I put my hands upon his chest and pushed him away.

He was easy to push off of me, probably from the knockback that I had just dealt him.  Sure enough his ego was hurt, but this time I might have even hit his emotions as well.  For some reason though I didn’t feel at all sorry for the blow I had given him.  He knew damn well where I stood on the matter and he just wouldn’t face it.  But he just kept setting himself up for the disappointment and defeat. 

Dan sat back on his knees, almost dumbfounded.  He didn’t even react when I rose from the floor and walked out of the training room without a word.

I found myself wandering aimlessly through the corridors.  Somehow ending up back at the main entrance, I realized that I needed some fresh air because the atmosphere in this building was just too stuffy with tension and emotion.

As soon as I stepped outside my senses came alive once more.  I immediately shut the door behind me, not wanting the preceding situation to follow me outside.  Inhaling deeply, I could taste the fresh moisture in the air.  It was still raining, but at this moment I could see into the forest once more.  I breathed deeply again, this time sampling the slightest taste of sea salt on my tongue.  I loved how the rain could carry my senses to new heights for even though the ocean was a good mile and a half away, I could still feel it as if it were right here.  A cool breeze whipped around me causing my skin to develop an array of goose bumps where no material kept it warm.  Apparently the thunderstorm had brought a cold front along with it, causing the temperature to drop at least 10 or more degrees.

Overall, the experience was absolutely exhilarating.  I leaned back against the inner wall of the entryway, just letting myself enjoy the moment, a rare occasion for this woman.  I listened intently to the rain as it fell all around me.  But mostly, I listened to the sounds of the forest.  Every time the wind played a game of tag through the thick bunches of leaves an assortment of rain drops would fall to the ground, laughing as they came in contact with the next series of branches.  Feeling complete relaxation from the thrill of my senses I slide down against the wall until I was sitting in the corner of the damp porch.

But of course, my content couldn’t last long enough.  Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the door opening ever so slowly, allowing the disarray to escape from within the sector.  The dismay of emotions poured out through the entrance, polluting my world outside, and with that apprehension, Danny made his way back into my meditations. 

He didn’t say a word, but sat down opposite of me in the entranceway.  His back was against the wall behind him, but his gaze was towards the forest.  I wanted to return my observation back to the woods as well, but I just couldn’t tear myself away from him.  I wanted to say something, but thought better of it.  So instead, I just sat there waiting for him to find the right words to break the silence.

It seemed like hours went by, but I knew it to only be minutes.  The faint rays of sunlight that had found their way through the clouds gave way to the time.  Those patches of light had moved only inches across the cold metal floor under me, displaying the silent minutes as they snuck by us.

“It’s going to be getting dark soon.  I’ll go contact the base to see what our plan of action is.”  Dan finally broke the silence with a distant afterthought.  Then he stood up and walked back inside leaving me alone to feel like shit. 

After a moment’s contemplation, I rose as well to go back inside. With a hand on the handle, I glanced back to the setting sun to see that the clouds were still their gloomy gray.  With no pink in the sky the sailors were in for a hell of night.

I unfortunately walked back inside only to become face to face with Danny.  For the second time today we were too close for comfort and I backed away.  At this gesture, I could see his expression change from somber to irritation in a matter of seconds.  And the tone in his voice echoed his ire.

“They want us to stay here tonight and observe their shut-in night travel regulation.  But don’t get comfortable, we leave at daybreak.  We relocate to the city tomorrow.”  He crossly verbalized then walked out of the hallway and into one of the dorm rooms.

Now first of all, I felt downhearted.  Not from Dan, however, but from the fact that we would be departing for the city tomorrow.  Secondly, I was just downright pissed.  Dan had no reason to treat me that way when he brought all this shit on himself!  And damn it all, he was going to know about it.

Okay, you’re all riled up.  Now what the hell are you going to spout off once you’re in his room?  But as I violently forced his door open with a loud crash, I realized I had no time to think about what to say once I got there.

“What the fuck is your problem!?”  Dan shouted at me as he stood from his bedside.

“My problem!? What in the hell is your problem!?”  I screamed back, storming into the room and violently shoving him back down upon his mattress.  He was immediately surprised and pissed to be back on his bed with me towering over him.  Of course, he wouldn’t allow that to continue for he was instantly standing again, inches from my face, trying to threaten me to back down.  But I wouldn’t budge.

“You want to know what’s wrong with me? Well here’s a big shock!  I’m so sick of this fucking game that we’re playing!  I am so fucking sick of you playing me along!  I’m sick and fucking tired of actually caring enough for you to come crawling back every time you push me away! And all in all, I’m just so sick and tired of you!”  With each sentence he grew louder and more enraged.  It was as if all of his wrath was finally spewing out in a torrent of infuriating bile.  But would I back down?  Of course not.  In fact, all he did was piss me off so much that I blindly lit into him with defensive retaliation.           

“Are you seriously going to blame this on me?! Listen to me Dan, you’re the one that keeps playing this fucking game!  I told you long ago that our relationship would never reach that point!  You’re my partner, my friend, even my fucking family!  But there’s no way in hell that I’m ever going to feel…”  Immediately, a tight hand was cupping my mouth, cutting off the angry words that were overflowing.  That hand was cold against my hot skin, soothing my fury in the slightest bit, giving him the fleeting window he needed to speak.

Dan’s face came within centimeters from mine.  I expected a blast of angry words but his tone was much calmer than before.

“Jade, just don’t say it.”  He breathed in a broken voice.  Then he sighed hopelessly and continued.  “The more you tell yourself that, the more you’re brainwashing yourself with the useless shit that they cram down your throat.”  He paused, staring deep into my dark green eyes.  “I’m just so tired of all of this, girl.  Everything you say and do screams out your affections.  But every time it reaches this crossroad, you back down and take the predetermined path, leaving me to trail behind.  And the worst part is, I will always follow you, wherever you choose to go.  But damn it, Jade, I just want you to be true to what is screaming out within you.”  At this, he took his free hand and pressed it to my chest, another cool touch to calm my flames.  “I just want you to stop with this bullshit hard-shelled exterior that you feel you have to show off.  We all know you’re one hell of a soldier, girl, you don’t have to prove that anymore.”  With those sincere words still echoing through my brain, he leaned in and placed his lips on the back of his hand, kissing where my lips would’ve been. 

He lingered there for a moment, but not too long.  Then he stepped back from me and left the dimly lit room, leaving me standing there alone and ambiguous.  Not knowing whether to be angry or sympathetic, I closed my eyes to clear my thoughts.  As the lashes of my eyelids came together, I felt a delicate moisture fall, caressing my cheek as it fell.  Had I been crying?

I heard the sector entrance open and close.  Perhaps it was Danny’s turn to get some fresh, night air.  Knowing that I could walk to the pantry without running into him, I left the small dorm and made my way to the kitchenette.  As I opened the fridge, my mind began to wander again.  It wasn’t that I didn’t want to see Danny.  But what would I say to him after all of that.  Either way, I knew something had to be said tonight.  I wasn’t about to start off the next morning trying to come to terms with the occasions of tonight.  Speaking of those certain occasions, I think after all of that I deserved something a little harder than bottled water.

I closed the refrigerator and began to search the cabinets for something, anything that would help ease me back into the talking mood.  Bingo.  In the cupboard just above the stove, there was the windfall of alcohol.  With it being just out of my reach, I grabbed a stool from the corner and hopped on up to see the selection.  “Hmmm.  Looks like we got a little bit of everything up here.”  I said aloud to no one.  “Vodka, rum, some coconut shit – no thanks.  Red wine – now what kind of soldier is going to sit on base sipping a glass of fucking Sangiovese for Christ’s sake?  And… here we go, I think a few shots of this shit and I’ll be feeling better in no time.”  I chuckled as I brought down the dark green bottle of triple distilled Irish whiskey. 

I opened the dark crimson top and took a swig.  The burning of my throat was, without a doubt, the most pleasant thing I’d felt all day.  I closed my eyes as the fire flowed down my body, causing me to shiver at the heat from within.  At that moment, the goose bumps returned to my skin, reminding me that this whole time I was still wearing my bikini top. 

With the bottle in hand, I proceeded back to the locker room to grab my jacket.  Surely by now it would’ve been dry.  As I took it from the hook in the locker, I realized it was still a bit damp in the sleeves, but I was wearing it nonetheless. I zipped it up to my chest and took another draught of the savory drink.  Once again my body shivered with extreme indulgence of the alcohol.  However, sighing deeply, I made my way back to the entranceway of the sector.  It just wasn’t as enjoyable drinking alone.

I pushed open the door and walked out into the crisp night air.  Holding the bottle out in front of me as a peace offering, I began to speak.

“Dan, I found this…”  My voice trailed off as I looked up to find myself alone.  “Dan?”  With the door still ajar, I checked inside.  “Dan?!”  I yelled out, but the only thing that returned was the empty echo of my own voice calling back.  Had he left me here alone?  But that’s so unlike him.  I mean, we’ve argued about this shit numerous times and he’s never abandoned me over it.  In fact, it’s against regulations to abandon your partner.

All I could do was stand on the front step listening to the slight mist of rain, which was all that was left of the initial tempest.  Then another familiar sound blasted out against the quiet darkness sending back into the mindset of a soldier.  A sound I knew all too well.

Gunfire.