Righteous had a harness that according to a note left in the case was designed to be worn under her backpack. It looked complicated when Emily looked at it. The harness was designed to be worn on either her left or right of her back. She put it on under her dress uniform jacket and except for a slight bulge when she twisted her waist it was invisible. She tested it out with a tug and Righteous came out easily from under her coat. Getting it back in the harness was a pain. Emily ended up having to take her jacket off to put Righteous back in its harness.

Wonder escorted Emily back to her Barracks room where Emily laid down in her bed. Wonder wanted her to go to medical to get checked out but Emily assured her that she was fine just tired. Once Wonder left Emily fell asleep and for the first time since her awakening she slept for nearly twelve hours. If Emily dreamed she didn’t remember it.

Emily woke up on Saturday starving. It was too late for breakfast at the chow hall but the Base Exchange was open. She took a shower and changed into her BDUs and not even realizing that she put Righteous on under her BDU jacket. She sprinted to the Base Exchange and bought herself hot pockets for her micro fridge back in the barracks. She ate a pizza and a pretzel from the Exchange for breakfast then putting everything she bought in her backpack she made her way back to her barracks room.

After she put her groceries away she then unpacked her duffel bag and put all her uniforms away. Once she had everything where she wanted it she sat back down by her desk stumped. It was the first time since intake at Fort McCain nearly a year ago that she had nothing to do. She sat in her room for a few minutes before heading down to the barracks lounge.

She sat in one of the recliners and watch some TV for an hour before getting bored. She had not seen anyone but the barracks admin guy sitting in his office. She was just getting up to go back to her room when Wonder walked in.

“Hey, Never how you doing?” Wonder asked.

“I am doing good. What's up?” Emily asked.

“Just checking up on you. Your new toy knocked you for a loop yesterday.” Wonder said walking into the lounge. She sat on the arm of the couch looking at the TV.

“Oh, I am fine now. Thanks for checking up on me.” Emily said feeling a nice warm feeling in her chest.

“Hey me, Jan and her boy toy are heading out to the river if you want to come with us.” Wonder said looking away from the TV.

“Oh, yea sure. Ah, don’t have anything to swim in though.” Emily said frowning.

“No worries we will stop by the exchange before we head out. I have to pick Jan up from medical anyway. You can get changed at my house.” Wonder said nodding.

“Oh is your roommate sick?” Emily asked.

“Nah Jan’s a combat medic. She was on duty last night and took a half shift today. She gets off in twenty minutes.” Wonder said.

“Oh ok. Do I have time to change.” Emily asked her.

“Yea.” Wonder said giving her a half smile.

Emily got dressed in her only pair of civilian clothes that still fit and met Wonder outside in her deep blue Jeep. They drove to the Exchange and Emily tried on a few bathing suits. She ended up with a two piece green and white bathing suit. She also got some cute little tan sandals that had a white and yellow daisy on the toe. She bought herself some short tan shorts and a white tank top that she could wear over her bathing suit. She grabbed a few other things that caught her eye including a bunch of civilian clothes while she was shopping for her bathing suit. She bought her stuff and went into the bathroom to change.

Wonder’s had taken off top or doors of her Jeep and it had a really loud sound system that she played country music. Jan was waiting on them as they drove us. She has already changed into her civilian clothes by the time they got there. She threw her small bag into the back before she climbed in using the back tire as a stepping stool. “Bitches lets ride!” She yelled as she climbed in the back of the jeep.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

“Jan this is Never our new Main. Never this crazy chick is Jan and she completes me!” Wonder said yelling the last bit of the sentence. Jan laughed a deep booming laugh her red hair bouncing like crazy.

Wonder drove the speed limit on base but really turned on the gas once they were off. Jan and Wonder were quiet for several minutes until a song they like came on then they started to sing off key and badly. Emily laughed and joined in. They drove for nearly fifteen minutes but to Emily, it felt like only a few seconds. Wonder found a dirt road and without slowing down much she turned off the main road.

Emily leaned back and watched the tree branches pass above her. For the first time in a long time, she felt relaxed and happy. They drove for a few minutes on the dirt road before they found a small dirt parking lot with one other car. They piled out of Wonders Jeep and walked down a dirt path towards a small river. It wasn’t really a river more like a waterway in a marsh wetlands. There was a hill overlooking the waterway with a really large old tree. Tied on the tree was a rope swing and as they made their way Wonder’s Mr. Honey was swinging out into the river crying out “Caveman!”

A man with a Boston Red socks hat on walked out and grabbed Jan around the waist and swung her around making her laugh for a few seconds before he leaned down and kissed her. Emily and Wonder made their way towards a red flannel blanket where they dropped their stuff off. Mr. Honey came walking out of river dripping wet and made his way towards Wonder.

“Hey Never.” He said his eyes not leaving Wonders. He leaned in and kissed Wonder. “Hey, beautiful.”

“Ah! You're all wet!” Wonder said smiling as she broke the kiss.

He just smiled and grabbed a towel to dry off. Jan’s boyfriend name was Ian, Emily finally learned when they came up for air. He was also in Spec Ops platoon as an SK Cannon gunner. He was Vermont native with a New England accent that he denied he had.

“I am from Boston and even I can hear that you have an accent,” Emily told him as they sat around the blanket eating a really good sub. Ian had gone to a hole in the wall deli before he had driven to the river and bought everyone a sandwich. Mr. Honey, whose real name was Todd, had brought the drinks.

“Hey, Never you're strong enough to throw me into the river right?” Jan said jumping up and taking off her shorts.

“What?” Emily asked confused.

“Come on let's head to the top of the hill. I always wanted to try this.” Jan said getting up. Shrugging Emily followed her up the hill. “Ok give me ten fingers and throw me over your shoulder but not too hard. I want to land in the river.”

Emily cupped her hands together. Jan put her both her feet in Emily’s hands. She had Emily count to three than with a war cry Jan was flying in the air as Emily threw her into the air. She flew about fifteen feet into the air and dropped into the river.

“Who-ho!” She cried as she surfaced. “That was awesome!”

“Do me next!” Wonder cried as she ran up to Emily. Emily lobbed Wonder into the air after the countdown reached one. Then the girls convinced the boys to try it. Mr. Honey was really reluctant for Emily to throw him but everyone teasing him and he relented and let Emily throw him. They took pictures of Emily holding him in a single hand while he grabbed her head to keep his balance. Then he surprised them all by crying out “Caveman!” when Emily threw him into the river.

“Hey, Mr. Honey why do you always yell that?” Jan asked.

“It's from an old cartoon.” He replied smiling. He had a really good smile.

They spent the rest of the afternoon at the river and Todd suggested that they go out to a restaurant for dinner. Emily ended up going to Jan and Wonder’s apartment to get changed. At the sports bar, they all ate way too much and everyone except Emily drank beers. They stayed late into the night and Emily ended up driving Wonder and Jan home. Since she was the only one sober the girls told Emily to crash on the couch in Jan’s and Wonder’s apartment for the night.

In the morning the girls ended up going out to eat for breakfast at some local dinner. Halfway through breakfast, the boys called asking if they wanted to go to the movies that night. Wonder and Jan dropped Emily off to get a shower and change into clean clothes that she had bought the day before. They stuck around in Emily’s room while she got changed. Once Emily felt clean again they headed off back to the apartment.

That night they ended up watching a movie at Ian's place. It was an old horror movie about some supervillain who like invade superheroes dreams and kill them. The hero of the movie was a female Brute who in the movies got her superpowers from a car crash. She was finally able to kill the supervillain by taking control of her own dreams. The Villain was played by the aging eighties superhero Whiplash and the teenage hero was played by a teenage Lady Lighting.

After the movies, they headed out to an Italian restaurant called Tony’s. They discussed the movie. The consensus was that everyone liked Whiplash he was a great actor but thought Lady Lighting ruined the movie. The all agreed that Lady Lighting ruined every move she had been in so far.

Jan and Wonder dropped Emily back off at her barracks for the night. She took another shower got her uniform ready for the morning so she could change quickly after morning physical training. She set her alarm and went to bed.