Prototype≫GoldenBlackHawk

.14

We all hold on tight to the railing to the left, or right for some, as James maneuvers the vehicle through sand dune after sand dune at a fast pace that sent us hurtling out of our seats with each bump. By now my knuckles were white from hanging on for my life, and I was questioning who let James drive. Everyone else seemed bothered as well but no one said anything at all, instead we all just gripped the railing and tried to battle our own thoughts.

"James, come to a stop up here!", Jordan yells over the roar of the engine. James nods but doesn't respond to Jordan. Moments later the Jeep comes to a screeching halt that sends all the members of the vehicle face first into the seat in front of them.

"Dammit James.", Aleks mutters after peeling himself off the seat in front of him.

"Shut up. Now why are we here Jordan.", James asks demanding an answer. Jordan unbuckled himself from his seat before hopping out the passenger door. We watch curiously as he looks around surveying the area.

"This is our first mission.", Jordan sighs.

"To sit in the middle of dumbfuck no where?", James asks.

"No there's an small enemy camp up ahead. They've been trying to find the compound but haven't been successful. They want us to keep watch for a few days, and report any suspicious activity.", Jordan explains.

"So we're not going into combat, we're just keeping watch?", Dex asks.

"For now, but if there's anything suspicious we go in. If anything happens here we gain a few members then carry on toward bigger missions. They're still hesitant to send us into battle. When this all goes right though we'll be relocated somewhere we're desperately needed."

"So basically we're doing the pointless work until they really need us?",Dan asks.

"Pretty much.", Jordan confirms. We all look content with small work though; I don't think anyone really wanted to go into combat yet. Yet despite not wanting that we all sit there for a moment letting Jordans words sink in.

"Who's gonna be on what shifts then?", Dan asks a slight edge to his voice. Jordan holds up a finger before digging through his pack and pulling out a piece of crinkled notebook paper.

"Myself, Dan, Seamus, and Dex are on one shift then Kevin, Jenna, Aleks, and James are on the other. We'll watch it twenty-four seven with minimal exceptions. Two people will face their camp, and two people will face our camp just in case.", Jordan states,"My shift will go first. You guys get some sleep for tonight.", Jordan says.

Slowly we all begin moving toward what we needed to be doing. Guys on the day shift were gathering supplies they would need such as food and weaponry while guys like myself who had night shift were headed for the jeeps. Jenna runs after me looking lost as to where she was supposed to go.

"What are we doing?", she asks quietly.

"We're going to sleep."

"But it's day.", Jenna says pointing up at the sky.

"Yeah but we have to stay up all night to watch the enemies so we sleep during the day.", I explain. Jenna nods but still looks unsure.

"How long do you think we'll be here?", Aleks asks looking back at us. I'd forgotten that him and James were walking in front of us, or even there at all really.

"I have no clue, a week or two maybe?", I predict a little unsure.

"I say no more than a week, three or four days at max.", James says.

"Why do you think that?", Jenna asks curiously.

"Well with the supplies we packed we're going to run out in that amount of time and I doubt they plan on delivering us food. This isn't just a watch like before they plan for them to act and for us to act faster.", James sighs. After taking it under consideration I nod in agreement figuring James was right. He usually was the best at telling how long we'd be in certain places and I doubt he'd gotten rusty at that. There had only one time he'd been wrong and that was at the compound.