Gone | hs

11-Stay Alive

[Jenna's POV]

---

"You're kidding me!" Harry says exasperatedly. I groan and cover my face with my hands.

"It's closed!" I complain to him, while he peers through the dark and clouded glass into the pizzeria.

We just drove to Boston, for pizza. The pizza place is closed and now we are going to make the four hour drive back to New York City. I have no words for this situation. I can't even begin to explain what I'm feeling right now.

"Well, that was a fun field trip." I mutter sarcastically. Harry just looks blankly around at the closed storefronts and comes to an understanding that we will not have pizza tonight.

"Yeah, I, erm, just wanted to show you around Boston."

"It's beautiful, thank you, Harry." I chuckle as we gradually turn and come from the way we came.

The tires slide through the slush of melted show as we begin our journey home. I desperately wish that Harry would rent an apartment or something, considering he has no plans to go back to London anytime soon. He can't possibly stay in that hotel the entire time he is here.

I shrug off the thoughts before I do something rash.

Somehow, Harry convinced me on the way back to New York City that the only place we can possibly eat tonight is Dairy Queen. I don't know why I find myself agreeing.

He pulls into the parking pot around the halfway mark; we go inside before the cold get seep through our layers. After an annoyed woman takes our orders, we sit down at a small table near the corner of the restaurant.

"So, about how you embarrassed those to guys earlier, how did you know how to do all that?" Harry asks after a slight silence.

"Well, like I said earlier, I worked in Special Forces during my second tour so I kind've need to know peoples weaknesses," I pause, "in order to get a mission accomplished, I guess."

I shrug and Harry nods understandingly.

I get a few uneasy glares from around the restaurant but shrug it off; I'm used to it.

Our food is brought to us and Harry and I don't speak to each other again until it's time to go.

The time is growing later and later and I realize I will most likely fall asleep in the car.

We listen to the radio for about an hour before my eyes begin to droop. Harry rolls his window down an inch for the sake of fresh air. I don't complain.

I rub my eyes, trying to convince them to stay open, but they don't listen.

I head nod for a few minutes before Harry subtlety turns the radio down a few notches and rolls his window all the way up.

Somehow, I manage to sleep long enough to dream.

---

The early morning sunshine comes through the bars. For some reason, I'm late. Quickly, I slip on my boots and put my shortened hair into a tiny ponytail. All the other beds around me are empty.

I hastily through the sheets over the uncomfortable bed frame and I head down to the mess hall here at the Special Units Compound.

I pass many tired and familiar faces on my way. A quick exchange or wave is all that's given. The watch on my wrist tells me it's nearing seven. Down two more flights or stairs I go prior to walking through the metal detector that is the mess hall entrance.

Walking into the line, I simple pick up a banana and a cup of orange juice. It's bad to eat a lot before a mission.

Only a week remains before I can fly back home. I miss Harry so much even though he writes frequently.

Commander Lynn looks scornfully at my breakfast as she mounts a stack of wooden crates near the front of the mess hall. When she clears her throat, everyone stops talking.

"Justin Price, Megan Worthy, Jenna Grace, and Zane Johnson please be ready to deport at the top of the hour. Meet at section six for departure. It's the last mission for all of you before you return to the States."

Lynn steps down from the boxes and exits the room.

A short, dark skinned boy sits next to me, hardly eating at all. He seems nervous.

"So, is this your first term?" I ask him quietly.

He nods after looking at me like I had five heads.

"It's not so bad, you'll be home in no time." I say once again.

"Please forgive me." The boy says painfully.

I look at him in question, right before I hear the distinct ping of a grenade pin hitting the ground. Numbly, I shout for everyone to take cover as I shove the boy off the bench. I feel around for the grenade, finding it in his hand. He gives up without a fight and I curl my body around the activated grenade, yelling for someone to get help.

No one can help a girl with an activated grenade. It's over. I won't make it back home.

The boy that hand the grenade is pinned up against the wall by a woman whose name escapes me.

My bestfriend here, Josh, bends down to me. Isabelle stands behind him.

"It's okay Jenna, we'll figure something out." He says soothingly. He can't tell me that, there's no way to disable a pulled grenade.

"If you're gonna try, damn well better start finding someone to help." I say.

By now, a circle of dauntless troops stand around me, while the scared ones left.

Th cold tile floor seeps into my skin and the grenade seems to grow heavier and colder with every passing minute.

A bomb tech has come and assessed of the situation and declared it helpless. Everyone tells me it's okay and also thank me for my service.

The thing that kills me is that I only had one more week. I survived five month of bombs and battle to be taken out by a terrorist in the mess hall.

If I would've been on time this morning, surely the mess hall would still be smoking.

I get up, still clutching the grenade, and head to the surface.

After climbing four stairways, I open the door to the outside world. A lake on one side and barren desert on all others.

Releasing the grenade, I throw it as far as I can before I blows.

Bits and pieces of rock and metal slam into my trembling body as I lose consciousness screaming.

---

I sit bolt upright in bed. In bed? I thought I fell asleep in Harry's car. When we got back, he must've carried me up the stairs to my apartment. That's weird, why wouldn't he wake me? Maybe I woke up and walked up here, yet I don't remember it.

The clock on my nightstand reads 4:37AM and my sweating body shivers from the shock of cold air. I try to calm myself down by telling myself that nothing like that would ever happen. How would a grenade even get near the compound? It's couldn't, and that's that. It was good to see Josh again, even if for a short while. It was shocking to see Isabelle. I still feel somewhat guilt for her passing. I was suppose to be on patrol that night, not her.

I guess if I go back to the war, the best thing I could do is not make attachments and stay alive.

---

I don't even know -.-