Letters to the king

Chapter 1: König

''Yoo man, captain wants us in the meeting room in 5!'' Horangi yells trough my door after he knocked twice. ''Ja!'' i yell back before grabbing my sniper mask.

I was sitting in my room, music playing softly in the background from my radio. When i'm alone, my mask is off. But my door is always locked. Horangi has seen me without the mask, but i rather not show my face. I shut down the radio and pull the veil over my head. No balaclava underneath this time. I don't find it really necessary to be in full gear and mask and all for small random meetings like this. Only in combat i prefer to wear a balaclava underneath in case the enemy pulls it off or something.

I unlock my door, lock it back behind me and walk trough the hallways to the meeting room downstairs. My heavy boots stump on the cold floor when i make my way over to two doors of the meeting room. I'm visited with other soldiers talking to each other, laughing and enjoy being here. I sit down as far away from the captain as possible. I don't like to be in the middle of things, being stared at, talked to, or other kinds of interaction. I like to be on my own. The only one i tolerate is Horangi. Speaking of him, he sits down next to me with a big sigh.

''What will it be today? 10 yen on another intel mission'' he holds out his hand. I side eye him, ''you know i don't have any yen'' i roll my eyes before crossing my arms. ''Dollar then'' he slaps his hand palm. I shake my head and grin a bit. ''I'm from Europe, i gamble with euro's'' stupid Horangi.

''Alright! Sit down and listen boys!'' the captain shouts and everyone quiets down. We sit at a large oval shaped table, de captain at the end of it. Behind him a projector screen. When it turns on we see a logo of another private military company, task force 141.

Before our captain can say anything, soldiers are starting whispering things to each other. I look at Horangi, ''10 euro's for me it is'' i grin with my eyes and he rolls his head back with a disappointed sigh before he grabs his wallet from his pocket to give me money.

''Boys, as you can see behind me, we are going to work together with 141. I talked to Captain Price about multiple missions and we came to the conclusion that working together is for the best. I know you guys are not really good mates with each other, but please. For your own sake, behave while they're here'' Horangi shoves some money into my hand before grumpy looking away. I just ignore him, working with 141 has my attention right now.

''They are staying here?!'' some soldier yells. ''Yes, they get the top floor to stay'' our captain says. Horangi bumps my shoulder. ''That is the old dormitory'' he laughs a little, ''they have to sleep next to each other'' i don't reply to him, but i do think it's funny as well. ''We will welcome task force 141 in two days''.

''One last thing guys! I signed us up for some program. Sending letters to strangers or something. Linda is hanging a form in the living room to sign yourself in. You can also find some information there'' he mutters. Then he slaps his hand on the desk. ''Dismissed!'' And everyone stands up to go back to what they where doing.

''Jesus, 141 being here? I wonder for how long they will stay'' Horangi says while walking beside me. He needs to walk fast due to his lack of size in comparison to mine. I slow a bit down for him. ''The thing i wonder about is for how long we will live in peace while they're here'' I say back to him, he laughs. ''That's right, we always fight'' he giggles while clapping his hands. Weirdo. ''You think Ghost is going to beat you this time?'' I stop walking, cross my arms and raise an eyebrow when i look at Horangi. ''Of course not'' His grin is despicable, but funny. He lives for violence. Not that i don't...

We enter the living room. ''I was going to grab some snacks, but don't join me in my room please'' i ask Horangi. I know that when i don't say this, he will follow me the rest of the day. Horangi is my best mate, but he has a little attachment problem. ''Of course man, i was going to train in the shooting range anyways'' he slaps my shoulder, ''See ya later, alligator!'' And he's gone. I turn around to the kitchen, deciding which snack i am going to get.

Sometimes i bring some snacks from home, i hide them in the top cabinets in the back so no one can steal them from me. My stomach is telling me to go for some butterkuchen. Yummy.

''Ah König! How are you dear?'' Linda walks in the living room, which is connected to the kitchen, with a paper and sticky tape in her hands. ''Uhm, ja... Good i think. How are you Linda?'' she smiles at me when i ask her. ''I'm good, thank you'' It stays silent after this. I slowly open the pack with the butterkuchen while leaning my hips against the counter. ''Are you seeing friends lately? Or family?'' she is taping the paper on the wall near the door. Weird question for her to ask, she knows about my private situation. Linda is the human resource manager for a reason.

''No...'' i take a bite from the butterkuchen, narrowing my eyes at her. I doubt if she can see though. ''No contact with anyone?'' – ''No'' i say with my mouth full. ''When is the last time you had a relationship?'' i almost choke on the butterkuchen after hearing her question. ''Is this some type of interrogation?'' i snap back at her. I feel bad immediately. So i walk away. I always do when situation become awkward or difficult for me. In combat i have the fight instinct, but outside all the violence it's flight.

I stomp into my room with still the snack in my hand, but the kuchen are crushed now. Shit. I lock my door behind me and yank off my veil. ''Verdammt'' i sigh when i throw the kuchen on my desk. My fingers go trough my blonde wavy hair, gripping it tightly. I hate how i react sometimes. I feel bad for Linda, but she knows how i am. She'll forgive me.

I sit down in my desk chair. The desk in my bedroom is small, it's more a table with just junk on it. I have a different room with my desk for work. I like to separate work and my private life within base. My legs sit at a wide angle, i lean back in the chair staring at the ceiling.

I think back at Linda's question. When was the last time i had a real relationship? Well, never. I never had the time to be in one. I'm in the military since i was 17. I must admit, i had a few dating phases. Meeting a girl somewhere when i was on a mission. Her taking me to her place, spending the night, going back to the mission and never seeing those girls again. It was maybe three times. Never been in love as well.

My hands slide over my thighs to my knees, gripping them hard while anxiously sighing. Maybe it would be nice to have some friends, or a girlfriend. I never really had friends like normal people do. I was never good at interacting with people. Horangi is just a odd one himself, but other soldiers never contact with me the way he does. I tolerate Ghost and his companion though. I admire his look on life and his strict way of working. We just roll around in the mud a lot because we are each others level in the work we do. Me fighting Soap would be a dead wish to him, same for Horangi and Ghost. Ghost and i challenge each other, it's good to keep being trained at a certain level. But i cannot forget the fact a lot of our teams dislike each other and only see them as a game to win from.

I need to cool down from this rage i feel, so grab my sport clothes and decide to go for a run around base.