Texas Nights - Book 13 of the Damned of the 2/19th

Check-Up

Charlie Company Area
15th FSB Area
Fort Hood
Texas, United States of America
Friday
11 October, 1991
0810

The formation broke up when First Sergeant Ramirez called out 'dismissed', everyone gravitating into squads and chatting. I lit a cigarette, watching how everyone grouped up, filing the groupings into my memory. How they spoke to one another, their body language, how at ease the lower enlisted were with their NCO's. Who disappeared, who stayed, who wandered around, who moved with a purpose.

Captain Jane and the three lieutenants went into the building to have some kind of meeting. I hadn't been invited, and honestly, I didn't care one way or another about whatever they were talking about.

I watched First Sergeant Ramirez follow them and suppressed the urge to curl my lip in distaste. I held the cigarette in my mouth while I pushed my fingertips under my sunglasses and rubbed my eyes.

I'd had a bad night, woke up like I hadn't had a wink of sleep, feeling like I'd been dragged behind a 5-ton for a few miles of bad road.

Donovan moved up next to me, jingling the keys to Five in his hand.

"You all right, Chief?" He asked.

I nodded. "A little off kilter this morning," I told him. I turned toward the parking lot, lengthening my strides a bit and holding out my hand. "When we get to Five, you'll be taking the rest of the day off."

"What about you?" He asked, handing the keys to me.

I shrugged. "Gotta see a man about a horse," I told him. "Take the rest of the day off, have a few beers, and don't get thrown in jail."

We were silent till we got to Humvee-Five, which was sitting in the cold rain. I turned around. "See you on Tuesday, Specialist," I told him, opening the door. He nodded and I climbed into the vehicle, slamming the door.

He walked away as I hit the power to the glow plugs. When the light turned off I cranked the engine listening to the engine fire up, listening to it idle, sitting in the rain and listening to the rain patter on the unarmored vehicle.

Sighing, I threw it in gear and pulled out.

The drive was only two blocks. I felt stupid driving a vehicle to literally go across the street to the Red Team Clinic.

Morning sick call was underway, medics from Charlie Company and other medical units checking out people's injuries and illnesses. I needed to spend a day or two in the Red Team TMC (Troop Medical Clinic) to get a feel for how everyone worked together, but that wasn't why I was there.

I went down the short hallway and signed in, sitting in one of the chairs. Normally I'd pull my favorite book out of my pocket, a habit I'd picked up from Stillwater and Bomber, but instead I opened the folder and took a minute to find where I'd left off.

Captain Jane's plan was both audacious and tentative at the same time.

The Battalion would be going to the field next week, supporting 67th Armor during qualification and maneuver practice. All four companies would be mobilized by alert, load up their vehicles, and roll out to Field Site 26 on West Fort Hood. We'd spend almost two weeks out there, coming back on the 25th. The Battalion Training Schedule, which was not for dissemination yet, scheduled everyone to clean and do maintenance on the vehicles over the weekend.

That part annoyed me.

Working over the weekend always pissed off the enlisted, and this time it pissed off me. Sixty-Seventh would be coming back to garrison on Wednesday and do all their clean-up and maintenance over Thursday and Friday.