Operation Military Run (In Progress)

(7) The Barking

Slobber filled the ball that was in Zipp's mouth, his breathing was very quick as he sat on his rear and looked up at me with his hazel eyes.

Looking down at him, I placed my hand atop his head and began to scratch toward his ears. His eyes closed as he grunted softly, ball still in his mouth as we both decided to head back to my bunk.

When we had arrived inside, Zipp had dropped the ball out of his mouth and let it roll underneath my bed.

The scorching heat here was getting worse by the minute. Every time the clock ticked to a new hour, it felt ten degrees hotter than it was originally. Knowing that back home in Colorado, the temperatures during this time of year are freezing cold made me anticipate leaving this hell hole as soon as I got the chance to. Sadly, I knew that wasn't coming any time soon. Knowing that I was going to be at the front a fire team of men over a mountain of potential booby traps and bombs gave me the indefinable feeling of dread and an sort of edginess I've never felt before.

When sitting down on my bed, I looked down to the Malinois and he had rolled on his back sticking his tongue out, drool beginning to cover the floor. This was his one sign that he would always give me that he wanted his belly scratched, and if I didn't, he would then go forward with sitting his head on my lap and continually licking me on the hand or leg until I would put my hand on him. Therefore, I slid off of the bed and down on the ground as he rolled back onto his stomach and walked toward me, putting his head on my thigh as I began to pet his head, neck, and stomach as he whined in relief.

"You're annoying, you know that right?" I said to him as he gave me his sweet innocent little puppy dog eyes.

After sitting on the ground for a while playing with Zipp and scratching him, I stood up and stretched, putting my arms up to the roof and looking at the empty space on the other side of the room at the twin sized bed and then back to my own bed.

I was promised a roommate after my first month here, which wasn't a promise I wanted them to keep. I was extremely independent and sharing a room with someone felt like an invasion of privacy to me.

Don't get me wrong, being in the Marines, I have to be open to the fact that I have to be social and have people loath in my business, but when it comes to personal connections to people, I would rather not deal with it. I was used to not having my own shower and having to time my showers around the men on base and also eating chow with plenty of people that I didn't care for, but after that was all said and done, I could return to my own space and get away from everything for a little while.

Since I also had Zipp, it was a harder time for them to find a female who would bunk with me along with my dog, even though Zipp wouldn't be in the room over night. A lot of the females they would try to pair me with would generally be uncomfortable with my animal or even say they felt "In Danger", which I do not blame them for being afraid, but at the end of the day, the Marine Corps does what they do best and practically don't give a hoot or a holler about what anyone says.

The day came for my new bunk mate to arrive. She was a slimmer blonde girl out of Nebraska- with beautiful green eyes, stick straight hair when I was able to see it down, and pasty white skin. Her bone structure on her face was almost chiseled out as well. Her jaw line sharp enough to cut sliced bread and her freckles seemed to be placed almost perfect onto her skin.

For the first couple days of her arriving, we didn't communicate to one another very much. The only time we did speak was when we first met and she asked my name and MOS and vice versa.

I learned that her name was Everly Miller and that she was two ranks under me, making her a Lance Corporal. For a Lance Corporal though, she knew her stuff. She was an engineer equipment mechanic, working on our specialized motor vehicles ranging from HUMVEEs to tanks to cargo carriers. She knew the ins and outs of every vehicle we possessed and everyone knew not to mess with her when she was in the shop.