Missing You

Jenny (Chapter 5)

"God damnit," Jenny shouted as another explosion rocked the base. Walls were crumbling in, people were falling from the line of fire and she was trapped inside the call center, debris covering the lower half of her body. She wasn't hurt, that she could tell, just stuck under the weight of falling materials.

"Are we compromised?" she asked as the Marines began to dig the rubble away from her body.

"No, ma'am."

Well, that was good news at least. "Casualties?"

"None that we're aware of."

Even better news. Now all she needed to do was get the hell out of this mess. When the first blast shook the call center, she hung up her phone and ran towards her Marines. She wasn't sure what she could do to help, or even what the hell was going on, but like hell was she going to cower in a corner and let her people die.

That was not happening. Not today. Not any day.

"Get me out of here, Lance Corporal," she commanded the Marine that was closest to her. He was trying his best, and she could see that, though she was still impatient and needed the ability to move. Both the men were digging and throwing pieces of brick and metal away from her until she had enough off her body to move things herself.

Grunting, she grabbed a large piece of debris and shoved it away, glancing down to make sure she was in one piece. At a glance, she seemed fine. Reaching back to be sure her Berretta was still in place; she steadied her hand against what was left of a desk, got her bearings, and did a quick survey of what she could see.

Another explosion went off and the ground underfoot shook, causing more debris to go flying. Instinctively she covered her head and began to run towards the loudest of the shouts.

"Ma'am! Captain!" The boys behind her were shouting, and she was ignoring them. This was a situation that needed all available personnel, and that's what she was. This was her unit, her people, her life. No way was she running in the opposite direction.

Outside the building, she stopped and looked around. The base wasn't pretty beforehand, and now it looked like nothing more than a level playing field. To her right were their vehicles and hanger bays, everything there still standing, and that would be the best shield they could have. At least until she knew what was going on.

When both the Lance Corporals caught up to her, they were wide eyed and scared. She knew the look and had known it well. "Boys," she yelled into their faces, bringing their gazes towards her and only her. "I need you to get anyone that is down and bring them to that hangar bay." She pointed violently in the opposite direction until both had seen where she needed them to go. "Get anyone that is down and get them over there, now. That's an order."

"Yes, ma'am," they both replied and took off. They may not have an idea what to do on their own, shock being a hell of a mental freeze, but had been drilled for so long to follow commands that that would override any of their personal feelings.

Once she was sure they were headed towards safety, she turned and ran towards the chaos. It had seemed that her boys were right, and no one had crossed into their base that wasn't friendly. For now, it seemed, it was a matter of dodging falling debris and explosions, which could be far deadlier than hand to hand fight.

As she ran, she forgot to pay attention to the ground, which tended to be more important than what lay ahead, and tripped over something, falling onto her hands and knees. Cursing, she looked back and cursed even louder.

"Mills," she shouted as she crawled towards her family member. "What the hell are you doing down here?"

"Inspecting the dirt," he gritted out as Jenny got to him and rolled him onto his back.