12 Seconds (#1 in Military series)

Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Camp Bastion was like a golden city of sand and dust.

Buildings were made out of containers, tents erected in rows symbolised the houses and medic centres and the few trailers which were dotted about the place marked the expensive apartments, mainly because they had the electricity output for a fan.

But since they were occupied by their leaders, Julia guessed they weren’t available for hire.

Roads had been created, compacting the sand beneath their feet into hard ground, restaurants in the variety of Pizza Hut and Subway worked out of containers with window cut out of the metal.

It was a city of sand and metal.

And yet it was beautiful; the sun rose from the east and plastered them all in warmth, glittering off the surfaces and ground.

Julia found herself wearing her sunglasses almost everywhere she went; she envied Ray for the first time since she met him for his blindness.

After exercising that morning, Julia retired to her women’s only tent.

She hadn’t taken it well when she was separated from the others but, as the man had told her repeatedly, it was protocol.

So, for the first time in a while, she found herself occupying a bunk in a tent full of women; most of them were medics, running out in the middle of the night as a new casualty was brought in.

A few others were army but she was the only marine. It made her feel singled out rather than achieved.

She had been in the company of marines her entire time on this journey and now she found herself sharing with other divisions of the forces.

Patting her hair dry with a towel, Julia spun when she heard someone enter the tent.

It was one of the medics. She gave Julia a small, tired smile, wisps of blonde hair falling out of her bun as she collapsed atop her bunk and took a deep breath.

Blood had dried on her arms where she had missed cleaning it off and Julia found herself unable to look away.

She knew she was being rude and in her mind her mother’s voice was telling her off but for some reason Julia could not look away.

She knew before she left that this was a fate that she may face out here. It was the same fate Jules had signed up for and she did not seem to worry about it.

But Julia did worry about it; she had gotten lucky the last time. What if she was pushing her luck by being here this time?

Had she been wrong to come?

“I’m sorry,” The girl spoke when she spotted Julia watching her, “We haven’t been very welcoming.”

“Oh, that’s okay,” Julia quickly turned away, pretending to dry her hair but all she could see was the blood on the woman’s arm.

“No, it isn’t,” She stood up and offered Julia her hand, “My names Emily.”

“Hi,” Julia stared at her hand and saw that it was free of blood, “I’m Julia.” She shook her hand.

“I hear that you’re with that group of marines,” Emily didn’t say it in a mean way but it highlighted to Julia just how much their presence was felt here.

“Y-yeah,” Julia swallowed as she took a seat on the edge of her camp bed, “Amnesia,” she pointed to her head, trying to make a light joke of it.