Habib cracked his knuckles. Out of all of them, he was always the first to let Tobias wind him up. “He doesn’t look happy to me.”
Tobias turned, and the table fell silent. He addressed Zeke directly. “Noah is concerned we’ve abducted you. Are you having a good time with us?”
Zeke’s mouth dropped open, his face seven shades of scarlet. “Sure,” he eventually mumbled, eyes cast down.
A surge of rage bubbled up within Noah at Zeke’s mortification. Zeke had already had a tough start to the day and now was being tormented by Tobias. Noah gave one sharp nod to Habib.
“Alright, that’s enough,” said Habib, leaping into action. He marched around the table and several people shrank back from his massive frame.
Brandon Penn threw his arm around Zeke’s shoulder as if they were old friends. “Come on, he only just got here.”
Habib ignored Penn and hooked an arm under Zeke’s other shoulder to yank him up, before pushing him back to Noah and Vitt. A small round of snickers circulated, and Zeke’s chin dipped downwards. Noah turned to leave, biting his lip. Had he just made this ten times worse for everyone?
“You’re welcome back anytime, Zeke,” Tobias called after them as they left. “Let me know if they’re causing you any trouble.”
They marched through the streets, back towards the fire pit.
“Was that really necessary?” Zeke asked.
“Why were you with them?” Noah shot back. He was walking far in front of the other three, as if he could run away from the whole embarrassing situation.
“Tobias caught me on the way to the bathroom. He…invitedme to join them outside.”
“Probably to piss off Noah,” said Vitt. Noah turned and caught her eye, raising his eyebrows. “Oh, sorry. I’m sure they do actually want to get to know you, Zeke.”
“Thanks,” said Zeke with a hint of sarcasm, then sighed. “To be fair, Tobias did spend most of the time shit-talking Noah.”
Habib scoffed. “I’m sure he did. What did Newman say?”
Noah grimaced, tensing his body.
“A load of stuff about Noah only becoming lieutenant because of his famous general uncle, mainly. And also—” Zeke paused, glancing at Noah.
“Spit it out.”
“He was also mocking the way you are with Wolf, saying you treated him like a pet.”
Vitt let out a manic giggle, but Habib stopped walking. “That fucker. I’m not letting him talk shit about you to all of those squads.” He turned around and started walking back, turning Noah’s blood cold.
“Wait, Habib, stop,” Noah said, rushing after him and grabbing his arm. “Please. You’ll just make it worse. He’ll just use it as another example of my incompetence as a leader.”
Habib wavered.
“Remember what happened last time you punched him, Hab,” said Vitt.
“It was great. The fucker had a black eye for a week.”
Noah sighed. “You spent twenty-four hours away in the Hole for instigating that fight. You came back with two broken ribs and said it was the worst day of your life,” he said, eyeing him.
Habib sighed and ruffled Noah’s hair before pulling on his ponytail. “Fine. You win. Let’s go back.”
When they returned to the clearing, Frankie greeted Zeke with a massive hug, as if he’d just been rescued from a den of angry lions. Which, perhaps, was semi-accurate. “We’re on the eight-thirty dinner serving today,” Frankie said, pulling him down next to her.
Noah almost returned to his usual stump before faltering, sitting down on the other side of Zeke, on the damp earth. Wolf joined them, and Noah ran his hands through his thick fur, feeling calmer now. Zeke seemed at least slightly happier back with Squad E. He hoped.
“Why does Tobias hate Squad E so much?” Zeke asked.
Splat looked up from gazing into the fire. “Lots of the guys have massive authority issues with the refugee soldiers. Which is stupid, because our military is a third foreign blood at this point. Plus, Noah has been here for years, so he needs to get over it.”
