For Love, For Honor - #SYTYCW15 #CarinaPress

Part VIII - Chapter 7

The roar of the jumbo cargo jet's engines was still ringing in his ears, leaving Tyler partially--hopefully temporarily--deaf. His unit was to disembark while the plane refueled on the way to Okinawa. Guam's Anderson Air Force base was a post-war relic, complete with operational planes he'd only seen in museums. The outside wall of the receiving station was riddled with bullet holes from past conflicts, a blatant reminder of the men who'd gone before him. The humidity of the tropical island was stifling. Entering the building, he swore an oath of gratitude as the coolness of air conditioning embraced him.

Tyler checked his watch. Four in the afternoon local time. That would make it six in the morning back in Indiana. His farm girl should be up by now. He settled into a much-too-small-for-his-frame plastic chair in the corner and checked his phone for wifi reception. The icon blinked on and he selected video chat. It only rang once.

"Tyler?"

"Hey babe, I'm checking in. Almost there."

Her sleepy face appeared on his screen, her long, disheveled curls falling in front of her eyes.

"Were you asleep?"

"Mmm...sort of...my alarm is set to go off in about fifteen minutes. Where are you now?"

"Guam. Listen, I have to make this quick. It's the middle of the night in California. Would you do me a favor and text my mom in a few hours to let her know I called? I don't want to wake her up, but she wanted to know when I arrived. I don't know if we'll have wifi right away and like everyone else, I turned off my phone service for the duration of the deployment to avoid the outrageous international charges."

"Sure, I'd be happy to. So...what's Guam like?"

"A hot little island with lots of humidity." He glanced at the wall beside his chair. "And spiders...see?" He held the phone camera close to a monster arachnid and counted under his breath, 3, 2, 1...

Her shriek was right on cue.

"Tyler Stevens, that is not a sight I want to wake up to! What are you thinking? How can you sit beside that?"

He chuckled. "If Miss Muffet can take it, so can a Marine."

"Well, this one time I'm glad I am not with you. Although I do miss..."

"I miss you too, babe. But I need to sign off and get some chow. We're taking off as soon as the plane is refueled. Don't forget to text my mom, okay?"

"I won't forget. Take care of yourself, Tyler. Be careful." Her face moved closer to the lens. "And for goodness sakes, stay away from large spiders!"

"Roger that. Bye for now." He touched the screen and ended the call. He realized the next six months were going to be filled with short stolen moments like this. The image of the bullet holes outside reminded him of what it must have been like back then. He couldn't imagine letters being the only form of contact with his family.

The days passed quickly on Okinawa and Tyler wasn't sure if today was Wednesday or Thursday. The morning was cool and calm for once as he stepped to the edge of a steep cliff, a rope in each hand. The jungle was still, their presence observed silently by the resident creatures concealed in nearby cover. The quiet was broken with a bellow, "On rappel!"

Tyler took a step into the air, kicking himself away from the rocky cliff as he descended one hundred feet. The clock was running. The next obstacle was a quarter mile ahead. He hit the stream running and dove into a partially submerged cement pipe, trying to keep his gear from getting snagged as he pulled himself through with mere inches to spare. Clearing the pipe he continued down the stream to a muddy beach set up with folding tables. This was "Kim's Game," a memory exercise that challenged him to silently observe a set of items for two minutes. From there it was a mad dash to the falls, where he steadied himself before stepping out onto a two rope bridge, using the top rope for handhold and working the bottom rope with his feet. The bridge was suspended over a deep crevasse. Don't look down. Damn! Don't look down!