2: Natalie

 

 

Natalie

 

 

          The noise in the day room was palpable. Two large Sony TVs were mounted upon the wall. On one, four soldiers with half-tucked undershirts sticking from their digital camo trousers played the latest Call of Duty and shouted fervently and aggressively to each other, laughing and swearing in turn. The other TV ran a cable network. One soldier flipped through the channels lazily, ignoring the pleas from two female soldiers to change it back to a show they loved. A specialist played his sergeant in pool. The balls clicked and rolled noisily with every turn. At a small circular table, three soldiers played blackjack while talking comfortably. The atmosphere, while loud and potentially obnoxious to those unaccustomed to it, suited Natalie Andrews perfectly well.

          Her legs were sore and she had felt disgusting until her shower an hour earlier; Arizona was dry and warm at best, arid and scorching more often. She was thankful that her duty station wasn't as physically intensive as basic training or AIT had been. Even with days spent in the classroom, she sweat more often than she would have liked, which left her feeling sticky and uncomfortable. It could easily get miserable at Fort Huachuca. The air conditioning in the building worked, although some of the soldiers who had been there for some time admitted that it was only by the Grace of God. It wasn't uncommon for the circulation of cool air to falter and turn the buildings into little more than glorified ovens.

          She sat on one of the couches that had the least amount of stains on it. Her jet black hair was tied up in a tight wet bun. Water beaded and dropped onto her tan undershirt. She, like every other soldier in their recreation room, had folded her jacket and placed it on one of the larger tables. Sometimes she kept her jacket on when she didn't want to be bothered; her full breasts were more prevalent when only in the undershirt, and it unwaveringly attracted the attention of men who vastly outnumbered the females. It could get overwhelming and some days she didn't want to deal with it. Although, even with the jacket she'd still get a few suitors. She had a developed feminine figure, a pretty face, and large eyes that stood out against her light brown skin. Though Portuguese and German, she was often mistaken for being Indian or Puerto Rican.  

          Natalie was counting the days until she could return back to her home in Denver. For Christmas, she was taking leave and going to see her friends and mom. She had left for basic only a few weeks after graduating high school, which didn't leave a whole lot of time to do all the things she had wanted to. Particularly now that she was eighteen. After all the time being in uniform, she just wanted to put on a sexy dress, grab a few friends, and head to a club. Maybe she'd go out fishing too, she hadn't done that in awhile. While she did enjoy the Army and the friends she had made, she also missed being in high school in a way, which she never would have guessed back then. She had been so eager to get out of Colorado that she never really stopped to enjoy how good it had been to her. She may have hated that her mom was never around since she was always at work after her dad left, but the friendships she had made were incredible. They were different from the ones made here, but she couldn't quite place her finger on why.

          "You can suck my balls, Tolson!" a soldier called out, putting his controller down. "Son of a b***h."

          "Don't get down on yourself because you suck," Natalie called out, grinning widely. He flipped her off and went cross-eyed, which she gratefully returned.

          "Well, nothing seems to be on so I think I'll settle with this," the soldier with the TV remote declared, leaning back in the couch and crossing a leg over his knee.

          "No, not this. This sucks," one of the other females in the room was saying, trying to grab the remote that was being held just out of reach. "Go back. Oh, now you've broken it, a*****e."

          Natalie turned to the TV and frowned. The screen crackled and hissed before displaying a series of horizontal colored stripes and blaring a loud continuous beep through the speakers.

          Then the screen went black.

          "Yo, pause it," one of the soldiers said to someone holding an Xbox controller. He obliged and all eyes turned to the TV. The silence in the room was thick. Natalie's heart began to pulse a little harder in her chest. She stood up to get a better view.

          Then the harsh rhythmic beep preceding an Emergency Broadcast sounded, long and terrible. The very sound sent shivers and goosebumps through Natalie's skin. With each grating sound, the tempo would increase. On the screen appeared the first words against the black.

 

EMERGENCY BROADCAST SYSTEM

THE EAN NETWORK

ISSUED AN

EMERGENCY ACTION
NOTIFICATION

 

 Abruptly a static-lined voice broke through, making several jump. "We interrupt this programming  to bring you an important alert. This is a national emergency. Details are to follow."

          More beeping.

          The voice returned. "At nine-thirty-eight Eastern time, hostile forces detonated ElectroMagnetic Pulse devices over the following cities: New York, Boston, Annapolis, Raleigh,  Charlestown, Savannah, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Orlando, Miami, and Washington D.C.. Hostile forces are being deployed by air and sea to the coastline. Power remains out in much of the Eastern Seaboard. More details to follow.

          Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep-beep-beep.

          There was another moment of pure silence. Everyone stared in disbelief. Then urgency. Everything in the day room lay abandoned and forgotten as soldiers sprinted for their jackets and tucked in their undershirts or laced their boots. Some of the sergeants were barking out commands as they threw their arms into the sleeves of their jackets.

          "Let's go!"

          Outside, air raid sirens began to wail. Natalie shivered as she zipped up the digital camo jacket and ran out to find her squad leader.

          War was upon them.