In the Stars ✅

Chapter 11- False alarm

    

    My hand was wobbling—still wobbling as I held my gun in my hand. Everyone else was out on the field, stationed in their positions. Guns were held in place, ready to open fire. They all seemed prepared, but I questioned my capabilities. I don't think I was ready for what was to come.
   " Hold fire!" I heard Major Harris order in a very firm voice. He repeated the command before I reached for my earpiece to repeat the order to those within my range. I got a reply right after. I was shaken. Too shaken, I decided to get back into the staff office. I made my way to my desk and settled down. Letting a shaky breath escape my lips, I buried my face in my palms. The earpiece was still tucked in my ears, and I could hear the conversation my team was having.

    " This is first Lieutenant Fahad. And this is a false alarm! Nothing else. Ease out, comrades. Over!" I was supposed to be giving out this address as the head of the Sigma team, but Fahad was doing the job just perfectly.

   "It's the recruits. Two of them were messing with the system." That was Yasser. My team had this odd habit of using this small forum we have like a group chat, and that was what they were doing at the moment. We could be stranded in the middle of a forest, and they would be discussing the most hilarious topics. I won't deny that it was a tad bit entertaining.

   " If I catch them eh," Noah spoke with a thick Nigerian accent. I trust him when it comes to that.

   " Major Harris is to deal with their shenanigans."

   " God! He's going to be brutal."

   "You know him."

   "I swear to God, they almost got me. I can't shake it off." So it wasn't only me. Garba was holding it up quite perfectly. I felt like a coward. Like I wasn't ready for what I thought I was prepared for. There's more work to be done.

    " Is Captain Malik with us?" Fahad made an enquiry, and the whole group went silent, probably dreading what would come. Normally, my silence wasn't a good sign amongst us.

   " This is Captain Ashraf Malik, and I repeat; This is not a group chat. Over!" Silence. None of them spoke for a stretched minute until Garba decided to break the spell.

    "Ranka ya dade,"

   " What's the situation outside?" I really needed to know, and he took it upon himself to answer.

   " As it is, we are clearing out. It's a mess right now."

   Hearing that, I forced myself off my seat and walked out of the staff office. Enough of the dulling. Now outside, I took a look at the vast environment, noticing that the dust had settled for a while. On the brighter side, our reaction to the false alarm was quite impressive. Even Major Harris had commended it. As good as it sounds, it still bothered me, and it kind of went too far. Even in the middle of the night, I kept thinking about how shaken and unprepared I had been. It was getting into my head and driving me crazy.
   It had to come out as a sick joke because this wasn't me. This wasn't who I was on our last operation. I've tried many ways to get these thoughts out of my head. Training didn't work well for me. Sleep was far away from me. I sat at the edge of my bed in my room, clad in a pair of sweatpants and a tank top, wondering why this was happening to me. I raised my head to check the time on the digital clock that was sitting on my worktable.
    12:02.
  The time read.

   I heaved out another breath before grabbing my phone from the bed, where the pillows lay. I got up on my feet, dialing that one number I knew would be my remedy to sleeplessness.
   I stared at the screen of my phone as my father's number dialed on. I wouldn't expect him to be awake by now, but it wouldn't hurt to find out.
   I took a look at the vast barracks through the window. It was devoid of any other people apart from the group seated around a bonfire. Even they were all silent, giving the environment a spooky feel.