Warren twisted around in his seat and opened the door. “What’s up, Negan?” he asked.
“Captain wants to see her right away.”
“What about?”
“Don’t worry about it,” I said, climbing down from the massive vehicle.
Warren stared at me. “Be careful,” he said in a quiet voice.
“I’m always careful,” I s
aid as I walked past him.
Negan dashed back to the CO’s office building, reaching it before me.
Warren walked back to his CHU. I smiled at how familiar I’d become with the terminology in such a short time period.
Inside the long, metal building, my smile faded as soon as I saw Captain Jacoby behind his desk.
“What in the hell were you doing off base with Warren?” he asked, skipping any form of greeting.
“Hello to you, too, Captain,” I said as I walked over and sat down in front of his desk.
“You better answer my question.”
I quickly flipped through a few options in my mind. “Warren and I have been getting along, and…”
“Don’t say anymore,” he interrupted, raising his hand into the air. “I don’t want to hear it.”
“It was my idea, not his.”
“I don’t care whose idea it was, Ms. Bennett. He should know better than to go out in that area unaccompanied with a civilian.”
“We were fine. I didn’t see anyone around for miles.”
“You didn’t see anyone?”
I shook my head and lied again. “No.”
“Nothing out of the ordinary?”
I laughed nervously. “Now you’ve got me thinking I missed something. Do you have something to tell me?”
“Yeah,” he said. “You’re leaving on the next chopper out of here.”
I blinked. “I thought you had to wait because of the Taliban or something?”
“The situation in Afghanistan is still fluid, Ms. Bennett. I want you to be packed and ready to leave at a moment’s notice. Do you understand?”
“But I’m not done with my story!”
“That ain’t my problem,” he said, damn near smiling.
I stood, furious at him and the rest of the male-dominated world. After leaving his office, I headed to my quarters to pack my belongings.
I thought about going to talk with Warren, or maybe even Melvin, wondering if one of them would give me the information I needed before I was forced off the base.
It didn’t take long to get it all packed up; all I had brought with me was a week’s worth of clothes, my laptop, my phone, and various cords and chargers for the electronic equipment.