9:00 June 2nd, 2023
Slovak's House, NC
I had woken up earlier, at about eight. I was already read to go to Gaz's Diner then head to Bragg. I was about to walk out the door without eating until I got a call. I pulled my phone out of my pocket to see who it was. Townes. I answered it,"Yessir?" I said, "Slovak, I'm guessing your back from your 'trip.' Come to Bragg ASAP. We have stuff to talk about. Alright?" He said quite fast. "Alright." I replied, "Alright. Cya when you get here." He then hung up.
That was strange... He said that pretty damn fast. Anyway, I went back to my fridge, grabbed a few power bars, and headed to my truck. I then hopped into the front seat, started it, shut the garage door, backed out of the driveway, and headed for Bragg.
The drive to Bragg seemed short, too short. Before I knew it, I was at Bragg, with the guard waving me through the gate, and me waving back. I drove to one of the many parking lots and parked in a spot close to the main building. I then turned it off, hopped out of the truck, locked it, and walked towards the main building.
Once I made it there, I walked to Townes's office, which was right down the first hallway. I knocked on the door once I had made it. "Come in." Townes said. I opened the door, walked in, and shut it. "Mornin' sir." I said. "Morning Slovak, take a seat." He said. I then took a seat, and asked:"Alright sir, what's the brief?" "Well," he responded,"Good job on everything. You've put the forces who attacked our country into disarray, and restored our image as a powerful nation. The Black Confederation's forces in Africa have all either been routed, or killed. So far, most have seemed to be eliminated. But Slovak, you deserve a damn medal for what you've done. You're a fucking hero. You may have gone renegade for the first month, but damn! I understand why you did. You're a patriot, wait, more than a patriot... Ah, you know what I'm trying to say. Anyway, I just wanted to personally say thank you. Thank you for just... Being a true soldier. So, take a break for awhile Slovak. Go on vacation or whatever. Oh, and, we're gonna put together another team, since your team kinda left. But this time there'll be more than one. There'll be at least three teams of four or five. Except, we'll make the cuts more strict. You'll see what I mean soon, but for now, take off Slovak. Alright?" He said and explained, I then replied with, "Alright sir. Thank you." He then put his palm up, "No big deal Slovak. Do you need anything else?" He asked, "A million bucks?" I asked, "As in deer?" Townes replied chuckling, "Yeah, so I can sell those things for twenty million." I then laughed with Townes. We both stood up and shook hands. "Have a good day Townes." I said, "You too." He replied. I then stood up, about faced, walked to the door, opened it, walked through it, and closed it.
"Another team? Or should I say, more teams? More strict too?... I hope Townes is right about this whole thing..." I thought to myself as I walked down the hallway and out the door to the parking lot. I made my way to my truck, unlocked it, hopped into the driver seat, and started it. I back out of my spot carefully, since the lot had filled up since I arrived. As I backed out and started to make my way to the gate, I looked at the clock on the radio. "Ten fifty... Imma miss breakfast at Gaz's..." I said to myself. I got to the gate, and the guard waved me through. I then drove through, and out the base. I made a left turn, and headed for Gaz's.
After a good ten minute drive, I made it to Gaz's. But as I pulled up onto the gravel parking lot, I noticed something... Odd... There were more cars than usual there, they couldn't be employees, because Gaz didn't have that many... Something was up. The shutters were shut as well, you couldn't see in. The "we're open" sign still hung from the front door.
I parked my truck and got out. I made my way to the door. Once I reached the door, I crouched down against the concrete beneath the window beside the door. I knocked on the door. A knock came back with Gaz's voice, "Come on in laddie!" Is what he said. His voice showed no shakiness or nervousness, a good sign. I then stood up, faced the door, and opened it while walking in. Suddenly, the shutters came up, and the lights came on. "SURPRISE!!" Said the huge crowd of people in the diner.
"God! Fff- damn!!" I said as I looked around, all the people in the diner were my family, and only two friends, Ryan and Kaden. Along with a special someone...
"You- oooohh I wish I could say it." I said as Sydney walked up to me and hugged me. "Bastard?" She whispered in my ear. "Yeah. I thought you left." I said as I hugged back tightly. "Nah, Ryan and Kaden set this up. They knew that you were expecting it at your house, so we had it here." She explained, as she did, I let go and looked at Ryan and Kaden, who were sitting there laughing. I walked up to them, and punched both in the arm. "You made me look like a fool at my house last night." I said angrily-ish. "Yeah yeah. I bet you did." Ryan said. "I'm guessing Syndey explained to you the whole thing?" Kaden said. "Yeah." I replied. "Well alrighty then." Ryan said. "Alright, well I'll get back to you guys, I need to get to my family."
Ryan and Kaden then waved at me as I walked around the diner, catching up with family members, and sharing stories. I then got to my mom and dad, Kimberly Slovak and Bob (Beau) Slovak.
Both my mom and dad are retired, they retired after my dad wrote a book called, "Dear America..." A book about his life, and his thoughts on America, and the world. It was a very moving book, I read it myself. He made a fortune off that book... Raking in Billions from across the globe. So, after that book, they both retired into the hills of Tennessee. I barely get to see them anymore...
"Dad, mom." I said, as I hugged both of them. "Thirty seven eh? Damn your getting old." My dad said, smirking. "So how's our little soldier doing?" My mom asked. "Oh I'm fine, as you can see. I've been super busy these past months." I explained, "Doing what?" My mom asked, "Mom, you know I can't tell you that. What I can tell you is is that within two months, I had a neighbor move in, then move out, and this past month I found someone." I said as I pointed to Sydney. "Ooh." My mom said. "So you're finally settling down?" My dad asked, "Nooooot just yet." I said, turning back around. "Higher says that I may be running Bragg soon. I hope not, I prefer to keep the current base commander." I explained, "Huh, so you'd prefer Townes instead of yourself?" My dad asked, "Yeah, I don't think I'm quite there yet." I replied. "Son, you're a Colonel, a damn higher rank than I was. You should run Bragg, it'll make ya' look good." My dad suggested. "Dad," I said, softening my voice, "even if I become the base commander, Sydney, my new girlfriend, is working on a ranch and can't possibly move here, we'll have to live separately. I couldn't make the army a full-blown career. I mean, my timeline for this has been blown over. My hopes for becoming a police officer have been blown over, and I'm about to begin studying to be a history professor in a few years. Plus, if I take the position, and Sydney stays in Missouri, I can't go back and forth from Bragg and Missouri. I mean, my unit is permanently stationed here. I would have to become a reservist or step down as commander of the fifth special forces group in D company of the first battalion. The reservist thing may have to require me to step down though... Anyway, dad, I love the army to death, but I can't stick with it forever." I explained. "I have other plans too..."
My dad scratched his head, then replied,"I understand son, I don't want you to do something that you don't want to do. I'm just saying it would be good experience. But as always, you are you," he put his hand on my shoulder, he kinda had to reach down, since he was way taller than me, "you're my son, and you do what you want to..." He put his hand down. "So how's this.. 'Sydney?'" My dad asked. "Oh," I said with wide eyes, "wait until you meet her."
I walked over to Sydney, and politely pulled her out of a conversation with my aunt and grandad. I then walked Sydney to my parents. "Sydney, my mom, Kim, and my dad, Beau." I said, introducing her to my mom and dad. "Nice to meet ya'll." She said, shaking their hands. "Oh you're pretty." My mom said with a sweet voice. "Well thank you!" Sydney replied. Sydney and my parents then talked, Sydney asked a lotta questions, especially about my dad being an army ranger, and my mom being a real estate agent. My parents seemed to like her, as they were smiling as she talked. "So now here I am, with this terrible person." She said, finishing her story of how we meet. She hugged me as she finished it. "Better than how we met." My dad said, looking at my mom, then back at us. "It was a crazy night..." My dad then went on to explain how he met my mom at a bar that he was on duty at while he was a police officer. The story is is that while my dad was on duty at this bar/night club, he was guarding a fridge full of beer, and how my mom and her friends wanted more and more beer. By the time the night club was winding down, my dad had offered my mom a ride home. He brought her home, and a few days later they started dating.
"Well that IS crazy." Sydney said, smiling.
Before we could start talking again, Gaz whistled. "Alright lads and ladies! Gather around the cake! And could Dimitri please report to the front." He said, as he did, everybody clapped, whistled, and cheered. They also chanted my name as I walked to the front of the diner. One of Gaz's employees rolled out a huge cake, with thirty seven candles on it. "Aw shiz." I said as the employee rolled out the cake. I sat on a stool that someone had brought up, and everyone gathered around me and the cake. They then started to sing happy birthday once Gaz lit the candles. "Haappy biirthday too you. Haaappy biirthdaaaay, toooooo yoooouuu! Happy birthdaaay deeaar Dimitriii. Happy birthday too yoooouuu!" Everyone then cheered as I blew out the candles on the massive cake. "And now, CAKE!" Gaz said as he sliced the cake evenly for everybody. Everybody got a piece, and ate it. Once the cake was finished, the present opening came.
I opened present after present after present that was stacked on the table I was sitting at. It was mostly ammo, guns, knives, history books, targets, money, posters, and more money. I then opened a present that held a book by General Townes. It was called:"Future Military, the new age of technology, and the military." It was about the technology that he had perfected, and about the way the military uses it. It doesn't hold any secrets though... "Thanks Kaden." I said, pointing the book at him. He smiled, "No problem." I then finished unwrapping the presents, until I got to the last one, Sydney's. I opened it slowly, and was shocked to see what it was. An ACU cowboy hat. I looked at her, and asked her;"Where did you find this?" She simply said,"I didn't find it. It was custom made for you. Try it on." I put on the hat, and it fit perfectly. "Stand up, lets see if it goes well with the outfit." My dad said. I stood up to show the crowd, and everyone nodded in approval. I then said, "That's all." Everyone then cheered, and got ready to leave.
After talking to my mom and dad one final time, I loaded up all the presents into the truck, and drove home. It was 15:59 when I pulled out...
I got home at about 16:25, and started unloading everything. It was easy to organize stuff and put everything where it went. Since it was mainly the same stuff I got last year. Once I was done organizing, I sat at my computer, looking at my phone mostly. I was bored until I got a call from Sydney. I quickly answered it, "Yello?" I said, "Hey." Sydney said, "Hey." I replied. "So, I gotta question... Ever heard of Lake Meramac?" She asked. "Yeah, I've been there once, its a place in Missouri. I love that place." I replied. "Well..." She started, "I got a reservation there... Just us.." She said. My eyes widened, lake Meramac was a place in Missouri, middle of nowhere. Not hard to get a reservation, it has a nice cabin with an undeground living room, a pavilion, and water sports. Cool place. "Really?" I asked. "Yeah, all we have to do is leave tonight, we have the weekend and monday through Thursday with it." She explained, "Well... Alright, what about your ranch?" I asked. "Don't worry, it runs itself." I could feel her wink through that phone. "Well I'll be there shortly, hope your ready, we're driving." I said, she then simply replied with: "Alright. I'll be here." We both said bye, and hung up. I quickly packed the stuff I needed, grabbed my ACU cowboy hat, asked Ryan if he could watch the house, and then hopped into the truck and drove to Sydney's.
I arrived shortly at Sydney's cousin's house. I knocked on the door and her cousin answered. "Yeah?" he said, "I'm looking for Sydney." I said. "Hang on." He replied. he then shut the door, five minutes later Sydney showed up with her bags, and I asked: "Ready?" She replied: "Yeah... I'm always ready..."
***
Lake Meramac, MO
15:00 June 2nd, 2023
Sydney and I walked around the lake, hand-in-hand. It hadn't been long since we arrived, and we were already taking a walk around the massive lake. While we were walking, I pulled out a mentos and put it into my mouth. Sydney saw me do it, and got a funny look. "What are you doing?" She askedm reffering to the mentos. "Oh, nothing." I replied, "You're up to somethin'... Whatever it is..." She stopped me, and I faced her. "I like it." She said after a pause. I quietly said;"You thinking what I'm thinking?" I asked, Sydney smiled, and said, "Yeah..." We both stood there, looking deeply into eachother's eyes. Sydney then leaned up, and I leaned forward. We kissed eachother, then hugged eachother tightly. "I love you Dimitri." "I love you Sydney."
So there I was, holding the girl I loved in a beautiful place. After all the pain, bloodshed, and violence in general, there was peace for once... For me.... I could rest with someone I loved, and hopefully start something special with her... But anyway, she, like most of the world, does not know that I am vengeful, protective, violent, sadistic, loving, a killer, strategist, and a patriot. I. Am. Slovak.