Ghosts of the Past (A Call Of Duty: Ghosts Fanfiction)

Chapter Nine

Mr. Rorke, I'd thoroughly enjoy another tour of part of your facility...

    I held the sides of my head there, trying to decide whether to delete or continue with that sentence. Contacting Rorke again was going to open up a whole thing in itself. Merrick had tasked me with getting him again, but I was hesitant from last time.

    "Acker," Hesh came into the doorway of the small room. Riley jogged up and butted his nose underneath my arm, causing me to rub behind his ear. "Too busy to take a break?"

    "Of course not," I gave a smile and stood.

    Hesh eyed me once and then nodded. "Struggling with a way to get back in?"

    "Yes," I breathed in acceptance. "I feel like it's too obvious with what I've drafted so far. I can't be too curious nor too distracted. Keeping a solid façade in front of him is also going to be...difficult."

    Hesh paused to glance down his nose at me. "Is he intimidating to you?"

    I didn't want to admit that part. Not at all. Rorke was extremely intimidating. Something in his eyes held a danger so deep, it raised the hair on the back of neck. His gaze was constantly calculating and so very relentless; it was exhausting to try and hold the Kayla Hurst mask for so long. Not just dangerous and calculating...Rorke's eyes hinted at a type of game, as if he found most things simply to his amusement.

    "You have to remember he's just a man," Hesh acknowledged my silence. "He bleeds red and breathes the same air we do."

    "The same blood to spill and the same air to take from his lungs," a deep voice spoke from my left and I turned to see Keegan joining our walk. "The sooner the better."

    "Well that won't happen if I keep failing," I hung my head and looked down at my boots.

    "You're doing swell considering your level of experience," Hesh complimented, clasping my shoulder. "I know you'll figure out a way to meet up with him again."

    "Thank you," I managed a smile as the older soldier sauntering off with his canine comrade at his hip.

    Keegan stayed beside me, his presence a never-ending reminder that I'd not only failed my first solo mission yet also almost jeopardized the Ghost's location. According to Merrick, if anyone had potentially followed my car to the motel then they also would've followed to the base. The security feeds were accurately depicting no enemy activity, but the guilt alone was enough to send me into a doomed mindset.

    "Tell him you liked it."

    "What?" I came out of my head to glance upwards at Keegan.

    His icy blue eyes shifted to meet my own green ones. "Tell Rorke you enjoyed seeing his facilities and that you're interested more deeply than just your college paper. Sell yourself as a soldier, not just a student."

    "You think that will work?"

    "He wants to build an army doesn't he?" Keegan pointed out. "Offering your interest to join will encourage him to consider adding to it."

    I sucked on my lower lip and nodded. "Good point."

    "Now," Keegan straightened, "when was the last time you ate?"

    Like you would actually care. "I don't remember."

    "Excellent," Keegan cocked the tiniest of smiles, his rounder and rougher-looking face not quite fitting the expression. "I'm starving."

    Now, all of a sudden, the soldier who'd wanted nothing to do with me was inviting me to eat a meal with him? The Ghosts really were a strange and confusing bunch.