The Poison
it's the one place we both know
“Then stay.”
“I can’t, you know that.” Lily wriggled her way out from her friend’s arms, pulling on a pair of his camouflage training pants. He pouted slightly, resting his elbows behind him to prop him up. Lily looked over at him, smiling a little at the pout, "Chris, I mean it. Your sergeant would kill you.” Chris sighed, knowing she was right.
“It’s unfair! He can have his wife here, but I can’t have my girlfriend? Bull, unfair to the extreme.” He joked, then kissed her forehead softly as she kept back the regular blush from appearing on her soft white skin. “Idiot, we’re not together, you know that damn well. And you also know that his wife works on the camp and is like, five months pregnant. He wants to be with her, and it just ended up working out.” Lily was good friends with the aforementioned wife, seeing how occasionally she would stop by and visit for a little while. Then again, Lily was friends with most of the females on the site due to her amiable nature.
“But, Lily, it feels so… childish to call you ‘a girl that’s a friend!’” He complained, smirking a little. She laughed softly before smiling. “Also, promise me you’ll visit soon?” The atmosphere in the room became something very close to intimate, and their eyes locked as their foreheads pressed together. He studied her eyes for a moment, then let them drift away and glanced at his army green camouflage pants that rested on her legs, and then at the denim jacket of his that was in her hands, prepared to cover her white tank-top. She always said she was merely “borrowing” it, though it really was for her to have another piece of him with her. She nodded, her forehead tugging away from his as she pulled the jacket on, then whipped her fingers through her hair, afterwards pulling it back into a ponytail. “You know I’ll be here on the visitation days, and anytime I can possibly sneak in.”
Lily ran a risky business getting into the camp; Lily and Chris’ friend, Markus, was one of the guards at one of the three gates, the one that was used the absolute least. Markus would allow Lily to sneak in on foot sometimes, since Chris’ bunker was nearby the gate, and she would spend the night much like she just had with her best friend. They truly were lucky they had yet to be caught, though the consequences wouldn’t be very severe for Lily or Chris since they weren’t exactly hated or horrible people. Chris was well known as a friendly, protective man, and Lily appeared to always be quiet and respectful, though she truly was a little spitfire.
With those thoughts aside, Chris let out a small, comforted smile. Lily had always been his greatest friend and favorite confidant. “I love you,” He reminded her, knowing he meant it in a platonic way, and she would take it in such a way. “Love you too. And I’ll see you soon.” He pulled her into a tight hug, taking in the scent of her vanilla shampoo and sighing softly, relaxed by it. “Seriously, C, have to go. I have a life, you know. Work and such,” She smiled a little up at him as her lips brushed his chest, the words muffled into his tank top. He released her, and she laughed softly. She shoved her feet in her shoes and started towards the door, looking back at her friend with twinkling grey-blue eyes. She stepped outside, gave him a small wave, and began to run from the building under the confusing fog of the morning, slipped out of the gate and into her car, then drove away.
-
Weeks passed and Chris was called into battle; He was to fight in a small Saudi Arabian country, and he needed to be shipped out as soon as he could be. Lily and Chris spent nearly every possible day together that they could, though Lily did have work and some nights was just too tired to make her way into the camp, and some days Chris called to alert her that there were inspections of some sort. Their visits continued up until the day of Chris’ leaving, and as Lily arrived dressed in his camouflage pants she’d taken so long ago, Chris almost felt himself tear up. He embraced his best friend, promising to see her soon and write her every chance he got. Lily slipped something off of her neck, tucking it in his pocket as she kissed his cheek.
“I love you, Lily,” He murmured as they called for the plane to fly them out. “I love you too, Chris. So much,” She whispered, hiding her tearful face in his chest. And as Chris walked away, to go onto the plane, Lily stood and watched the glass window until she saw his plane high in the sky. Reluctantly, after the plane was far out of her sight, she left the window and went towards her car. Almost the moment she entered, tears overtook her and she rested her head on the steering wheel, already missing her friend.
-
It was nearly eight months into Chris’ tour of duty. Every day, Lily waited for his letters to come, so she could write him a reply and make it as long as she possibly could without losing his interest. Although he could probably sit and read it all and find every tidbit absolutely amazing, since it was something from home, Lily didn’t choose to make him have to. It was just past the end of the eighth month of his duty (December, so there would be plenty of letters and the possibility of him being sent home for the holidays) when she received three letters, delayed by the holiday shipping rush.
As she sat to read them, an unsettling feeling rested in the pit of her stomach. As usual, the first letter pumped Chris’ enthusiasm for what he was doing, his opinions on what she’d told him about in her letters, and asking her plenty of questions with his regular “xoxo, C” signature. The second felt like a weight in Lily’s hands, and the text included was tinged with darker words, along with the news of the death of one of his good friends and referencing some kills he had made. And the final letter made Lily want to puke, having detailed, intense play-by-plays of the shots he’d fired, the emotions he described as a ‘burning pit of desire to kill’ as he’d shot, and about a bombing that had occurred nearby. Tears sprang to her eyes as she snatched up a sheet of paper, her writing barely legible to her own eyes due to the speed she was writing with and how watery her eyes as become. This wasn’t her Chris, and it scared her so much.
-
Chris paced impatiently, waiting for his next orders. Currently, it was to just secure this little area, and Chris wanted bigger things, newer, irregular things. Sighing, he picked up his gun, and one of the men noted this, “Chris, where you goin’?”
Chris glanced at him and sighed indignantly, “Takin’ a piss,” He responded, arching an eyebrow for a moment. The man backed down slightly with a nod, shrugging and Chris wandered out of the room. For a moment, he considered going out into the street and just unleashing a round or two, but he refrained from doing so. He couldn’t wait for Lily to write back, so at least he’d have something to read that wasn’t folded and creased from being put in his pocket.
As he stepped out of the building, heading towards the side alleyway, he noticed a man with a familiar shape in his hands. For a moment, he couldn’t place what it was, so he merely stared for a couple seconds. And then he figured out what the strange object was; a gun. He yelled for backup as the man lifted the gun and started to fire. Chris fired back, and suddenly, what seemed like a whole fleet of men and women appeared, streaming from doorways with guns, knives, and whatever else could possibly be used as a weapon.
The men inside of the building filed out, beginning to pick off people in the crowd who appeared pertinent. Slowly, it began to thin as the natives realized this was a lost cause, and Chris fired until the last one backed away into the houses. Using hand signals, Chris said he was going to go ahead and make sure there was no one hiding in an alleyway. Walking in small, itty-bitty steps as he’d been taught to, he made his way towards the heart of where the fighting had been. He scanned bloodied, broken bodies, some with their weapons lying on top of them. And then he stumbled upon the teen, a girl of no more then fifteen. She wielded a gun, but she appeared to have been forced into this fight, judging by the harsh, hand-shaped bruises adorning her arms. Chris forced himself to look into the girl’s lifeless eyes, noting that their color was nearly identical to that of his Lily’s.
And he fell to his knees in his army green, gloved hands hiding his face.
--
Arms wrapped around Chris, fragile and shaking. His rough hands softly stroked the person’s back, knowing it was Lily. He was sent home from the war, showing signs of some sort of mental illness neither he nor Lily had bothered to hear the name of. He was just so glad, so happy to be home and with Lily, his wonderful Lily.
“Please stay. Please, don’t leave again,” She whispered shakily as she looked up at him with reddened eyes. He gently brushed hair away from her face with his fingertip as he kissed her nose, then her forehead, then her cheek, remembering the wonderful feel of her silky skin, “I’m not going anywhere, Lily.”
“I can’t, you know that.” Lily wriggled her way out from her friend’s arms, pulling on a pair of his camouflage training pants. He pouted slightly, resting his elbows behind him to prop him up. Lily looked over at him, smiling a little at the pout, "Chris, I mean it. Your sergeant would kill you.” Chris sighed, knowing she was right.
“It’s unfair! He can have his wife here, but I can’t have my girlfriend? Bull, unfair to the extreme.” He joked, then kissed her forehead softly as she kept back the regular blush from appearing on her soft white skin. “Idiot, we’re not together, you know that damn well. And you also know that his wife works on the camp and is like, five months pregnant. He wants to be with her, and it just ended up working out.” Lily was good friends with the aforementioned wife, seeing how occasionally she would stop by and visit for a little while. Then again, Lily was friends with most of the females on the site due to her amiable nature.
“But, Lily, it feels so… childish to call you ‘a girl that’s a friend!’” He complained, smirking a little. She laughed softly before smiling. “Also, promise me you’ll visit soon?” The atmosphere in the room became something very close to intimate, and their eyes locked as their foreheads pressed together. He studied her eyes for a moment, then let them drift away and glanced at his army green camouflage pants that rested on her legs, and then at the denim jacket of his that was in her hands, prepared to cover her white tank-top. She always said she was merely “borrowing” it, though it really was for her to have another piece of him with her. She nodded, her forehead tugging away from his as she pulled the jacket on, then whipped her fingers through her hair, afterwards pulling it back into a ponytail. “You know I’ll be here on the visitation days, and anytime I can possibly sneak in.”
Lily ran a risky business getting into the camp; Lily and Chris’ friend, Markus, was one of the guards at one of the three gates, the one that was used the absolute least. Markus would allow Lily to sneak in on foot sometimes, since Chris’ bunker was nearby the gate, and she would spend the night much like she just had with her best friend. They truly were lucky they had yet to be caught, though the consequences wouldn’t be very severe for Lily or Chris since they weren’t exactly hated or horrible people. Chris was well known as a friendly, protective man, and Lily appeared to always be quiet and respectful, though she truly was a little spitfire.
With those thoughts aside, Chris let out a small, comforted smile. Lily had always been his greatest friend and favorite confidant. “I love you,” He reminded her, knowing he meant it in a platonic way, and she would take it in such a way. “Love you too. And I’ll see you soon.” He pulled her into a tight hug, taking in the scent of her vanilla shampoo and sighing softly, relaxed by it. “Seriously, C, have to go. I have a life, you know. Work and such,” She smiled a little up at him as her lips brushed his chest, the words muffled into his tank top. He released her, and she laughed softly. She shoved her feet in her shoes and started towards the door, looking back at her friend with twinkling grey-blue eyes. She stepped outside, gave him a small wave, and began to run from the building under the confusing fog of the morning, slipped out of the gate and into her car, then drove away.
-
Weeks passed and Chris was called into battle; He was to fight in a small Saudi Arabian country, and he needed to be shipped out as soon as he could be. Lily and Chris spent nearly every possible day together that they could, though Lily did have work and some nights was just too tired to make her way into the camp, and some days Chris called to alert her that there were inspections of some sort. Their visits continued up until the day of Chris’ leaving, and as Lily arrived dressed in his camouflage pants she’d taken so long ago, Chris almost felt himself tear up. He embraced his best friend, promising to see her soon and write her every chance he got. Lily slipped something off of her neck, tucking it in his pocket as she kissed his cheek.
“I love you, Lily,” He murmured as they called for the plane to fly them out. “I love you too, Chris. So much,” She whispered, hiding her tearful face in his chest. And as Chris walked away, to go onto the plane, Lily stood and watched the glass window until she saw his plane high in the sky. Reluctantly, after the plane was far out of her sight, she left the window and went towards her car. Almost the moment she entered, tears overtook her and she rested her head on the steering wheel, already missing her friend.
-
It was nearly eight months into Chris’ tour of duty. Every day, Lily waited for his letters to come, so she could write him a reply and make it as long as she possibly could without losing his interest. Although he could probably sit and read it all and find every tidbit absolutely amazing, since it was something from home, Lily didn’t choose to make him have to. It was just past the end of the eighth month of his duty (December, so there would be plenty of letters and the possibility of him being sent home for the holidays) when she received three letters, delayed by the holiday shipping rush.
As she sat to read them, an unsettling feeling rested in the pit of her stomach. As usual, the first letter pumped Chris’ enthusiasm for what he was doing, his opinions on what she’d told him about in her letters, and asking her plenty of questions with his regular “xoxo, C” signature. The second felt like a weight in Lily’s hands, and the text included was tinged with darker words, along with the news of the death of one of his good friends and referencing some kills he had made. And the final letter made Lily want to puke, having detailed, intense play-by-plays of the shots he’d fired, the emotions he described as a ‘burning pit of desire to kill’ as he’d shot, and about a bombing that had occurred nearby. Tears sprang to her eyes as she snatched up a sheet of paper, her writing barely legible to her own eyes due to the speed she was writing with and how watery her eyes as become. This wasn’t her Chris, and it scared her so much.
-
Chris paced impatiently, waiting for his next orders. Currently, it was to just secure this little area, and Chris wanted bigger things, newer, irregular things. Sighing, he picked up his gun, and one of the men noted this, “Chris, where you goin’?”
Chris glanced at him and sighed indignantly, “Takin’ a piss,” He responded, arching an eyebrow for a moment. The man backed down slightly with a nod, shrugging and Chris wandered out of the room. For a moment, he considered going out into the street and just unleashing a round or two, but he refrained from doing so. He couldn’t wait for Lily to write back, so at least he’d have something to read that wasn’t folded and creased from being put in his pocket.
As he stepped out of the building, heading towards the side alleyway, he noticed a man with a familiar shape in his hands. For a moment, he couldn’t place what it was, so he merely stared for a couple seconds. And then he figured out what the strange object was; a gun. He yelled for backup as the man lifted the gun and started to fire. Chris fired back, and suddenly, what seemed like a whole fleet of men and women appeared, streaming from doorways with guns, knives, and whatever else could possibly be used as a weapon.
The men inside of the building filed out, beginning to pick off people in the crowd who appeared pertinent. Slowly, it began to thin as the natives realized this was a lost cause, and Chris fired until the last one backed away into the houses. Using hand signals, Chris said he was going to go ahead and make sure there was no one hiding in an alleyway. Walking in small, itty-bitty steps as he’d been taught to, he made his way towards the heart of where the fighting had been. He scanned bloodied, broken bodies, some with their weapons lying on top of them. And then he stumbled upon the teen, a girl of no more then fifteen. She wielded a gun, but she appeared to have been forced into this fight, judging by the harsh, hand-shaped bruises adorning her arms. Chris forced himself to look into the girl’s lifeless eyes, noting that their color was nearly identical to that of his Lily’s.
And he fell to his knees in his army green, gloved hands hiding his face.
--
Arms wrapped around Chris, fragile and shaking. His rough hands softly stroked the person’s back, knowing it was Lily. He was sent home from the war, showing signs of some sort of mental illness neither he nor Lily had bothered to hear the name of. He was just so glad, so happy to be home and with Lily, his wonderful Lily.
“Please stay. Please, don’t leave again,” She whispered shakily as she looked up at him with reddened eyes. He gently brushed hair away from her face with his fingertip as he kissed her nose, then her forehead, then her cheek, remembering the wonderful feel of her silky skin, “I’m not going anywhere, Lily.”