Closed-Kenneth's Arrival
Who: Kenneth When: Day 6 morning Where: The field What: Arrival Rating: G
Colonel Kenneth Gibson, after thirty two years in the military and most of that as a combat soldier, had developed the very handy ability to sleep whenever and wherever. At the moment, he was in full gear, flak and Kevlar, helmet on over his hat since the hat absorbed some of the swear, M-16 in his lap and wearing a full one hundred and ten pound pack as he leaned back against a large rock. Around him he could hear his men settling in, the rustle of fabric, occasional scrape of metal on sand or the soft click of metal on metal. It was soothing sounds to him, no gunfire, no explosions and the sounds were soft, almost far off as he slid into a light doze.
He really didn't mind maneuvers so much, it kept him in shape and alert; reminded him of why he'd joined the military to begin with and helped clear his head after too many days in a row filled with paperwork and requisitions and transfer requests and leave requests. All the things that went along with being CO of the second largest military base in Iraq. Kenneth realized that most Colonels would be glad of the chance to rest and do a little desk work, but that just wasn't him. Pretty soon he'd have no choice though. He was approaching the age where they were going to insist he took the promotion to General and his field days would be done. But not yet and he intended to make the most of it while he could.
He shifted in the sand that still held the warmth from the day as the air got colder around them and slid into a slightly deeper sleep. Not enough that the slightest out of place noise wouldn't wake him, but enough so that he would wake up refreshed.
It was the sound of unfamiliar voices being uncharacteristically loud that woke him and in that half second between asleep and fully awake he rolled to his stomach and brought his M-16 into position, finger on the trigger. His senses strained as Kenneth looked around and tried to figure out where he was. It was humid like the desert never was and fog was so thick he couldn't make out any landscape details at all. The light was off and the smell of vegetation around him was unlike anything he'd ever smelled before and there was a hint of woodsmoke in the background. The grass was purple...something he'd never seen before and Kenneth had done his fair share of traveling. As the bumper stickers said, "Travel to exotic places, meet new people...and kill them."
He heard footsteps and flattened himself as much as he could, belly crawling through the grass on a tangent to the direction the sound was coming from. Out of the fog, he saw shapes, people he didn't recognize that looked caucasion and were dressed, well one man was in pajamas and the other was dressed like your typical American. There were two men, both around six feet, average build with blond hair and as far as Kenneth could tell, unarmed.
Well, first order of business was recon. He waited until they were a bit past him then moved after the two men, following the trail they left with ease. Kenneth didn't know where he was and until he did, he'd be treating it like he was in enemy territory.