“Me too,” Melvin admitted. “But I’m not scared of you.”
Mac looked up.
“I’m scared of this place,” Melvin continued. “Of whispers. Of someone looking too long. But not of us. Not anymore.”
Mac didn’t speak. He just stared like he was memorizing something. Then he picked up his spoon.
“This chow still sucks.”
Melvin smiled. “Terribly.”
It was enough to laugh. Just a little. Enough to hold onto.
Later that afternoon, the sun was high and brutal when Private Laird ducked into the motor pool with a clipboard under his arm. Melvin saw him before Mac did, saw the way Laird’s attention snagged and the way his steps slowed.
Mac and Melvin were near the back of the vehicle shed, standing close. Not regulation-breaking. Not obvious. But different.
By the time Melvin realized Laird was watching, it was too late. They shifted instantly, Melvin stepping back, Mac folding his arms, both staring down at the paper like it held classified intel.
Laird paused for a second.
Then he gave a small nod and kept walking.
Later, briefing room, First Sergeant Ramirez was reviewing rotation plans when Bell leaned into the doorway.
“Top, got a minute?”
“Make it quick.”
Bell stepped inside, lowering his voice. “There’s talk about Carter and Hayes. Not from me. Just some of the MPs in Alpha. Saying Carter’s getting soft. Hayes is too close to him.”
Ramirez didn’t blink. “Anyone file a complaint?”
“No, Top. Just people noticing things.”
Ramirez stood slowly. “Let me be clear. If I hear one more whisper about ‘noticing things’ without a Soldier having the spine to speak it out loud, I’ll smoke the whole damn platoon until they’re coughing sand.”
Bell swallowed. “Yes, First Sergeant.”
“Dismissed.”
Melvin didn’t hear it firsthand, but by the time it reached him the shape of it was the same as everything else. Rumor, heat, and the way certain names kept getting dragged into it.
That night, Laird sat near the comms shack watching the sky fade to orange, and Barnes paused on her way to the TOC.
“You alright?” she asked.
Laird hesitated. “Yeah.”
Barnes didn’t push and she didn’t walk away either.
“I think I figured something out today,” Laird said. “About Carter. And Hayes.”
Barnes raised an eyebrow. “You gonna say something?”
“No.”
“Good,” Barnes said, and let it sit. “They’re good men.”
