Leo made a rude gesture. "You're about to have a dog problem. I heard a rumor that Sergeant is doing room inspections today. You need to find something to do with that animal."
Carter ignored him. They never had room inspections on Fridays. He fished the dog out of the nest she had made in his dirty pants and headed to the showers. There wasn't any hot water, of course, so he cleaned himself and the dog off as quickly as he could. While dressing in his room, a fist banged on the door.
"Inspection!"
"No," Carter groaned as the door slammed open. He stood at attention as his sergeant and a corporal stepped into the room he shared with three other marines.
"Is that a dog?" his sergeant asked after a moment. "You're getting a write-up, Lance Corporal, and that animal is going straight to the pound."
"But it's a kill shelter, sir," Carter said, as he quickly thought up a lie. "And she's not my dog. She belongs to a friend of mine; I found the dog wandering around. Just let me call my friend and—"
The sergeant held up a hand. "You have thirty minutes, and that animal had better be gone when I come back."
"Yes, Sergeant," said Carter as the sergeant and the corporal left the room.
Carter slumped down on Tyler's bunk. "What am I going to do?"
"You don't have anyone you can call?"
"Not that could be here in thirty minutes!" Carter said and curled up on the bed. "Think," he told himself. Something dug into his hip, and he pulled an old pizza crust out from Tyler's sheets.
The dog wagged her stubby tail.
"This might be the last meal you eat," he told her sorrowfully.
The dog gnawed on the stale crust as Carter's phone beeped. His rideshare app notified him he still had fifty percent off his next ride.
"I think," Carter said, smiling, "I have a solution."
3
Allie
After Allie spent hours arguing with the fire marshal, the Wildcat was slapped with a fine. She was thankful the fire marshal hadn’t shut them down for good.
"You all keep having violations," the fire marshal said sternly. "The noise complaints, the trash your patrons leave outside. Y'all need to clean up your act."
After they finally finished scrubbing the bar and prepping for the next evening, Allie washed her face, made some instant coffee, then sat in her car and logged onto her phone for her next job, driving for a ridesharing service.
"You can take me home, right?" Stacy asked her.
"Sure, but if a ride comes through, I have to grab it," she warned her roommate.
"It's super early, so there probably won't be anyone needing a ride yet." Stacy yawned.
"I hope so. I'm beat."
As Allie pulled out onto the main road to take them to the small apartment they rented, a notification came through on her phone.
Pickup at Camp Les DesChamps.
She accepted the ride.
"That's odd," Allie said, taking a sharp turn to drive toward the base.
"I wonder who needs to be picked up at this hour," Stacy said, snuggling down in her seat. Allie opened the windows.
"Hey, it's freezing!" Stacy complained.
