Fight or Flight

“This is what we call the chow hall.” Veronica led the five men into the cafeteria the soldiers ate in when they weren’t in combat.

The cafeteria was large and plain, much like a school cafeteria. Tables and restaurant-style chairs were set to accommodate everyone. There was a long line of people with trays, starving and ready to eat. Cafeteria food wasn’t the best food, even if it was prepared and cooked by professional army chefs. Eating in the chow hall was a luxury compared to eating packaged meals in the middle of nowhere.

“It’s not the best, but it’s good,” She told them.

They followed her to the line. She picked up six trays, one for each of them and herself. She passed them along, her stomach grumbling lowly.

“It’s sort of buffet-style, so just ask for whatever you want,” She instructed, looking at the menu that was posted up.

The line usually went fast so they didn’t wait too long. Veronica decided on chicken cordon bleu with rice and two vanilla pudding cups. She waited until the band got their food before looking around for a table to sit at. She normally sat with her team.

“Scottie!” Nathaniel waved her over.

“I guess we’re sitting over there, if that’s alright with you guys,” She said, looking at them.

“It doesn’t matter to us, we’re following you.” Matt shrugged his shoulders.

Veronica made her way to the table. They’d pushed two tables together to fit all of them. She set her gun on the floor and dropped her tray onto the table, sitting next to Nathaniel. She told the other guys they could sit wherever they were comfortable. She and her peers dug into their food like they hadn’t ate in days. Really, they hadn’t eaten since before the early morning mission and they burned more calories than they had consumed. They ate snacks throughout the day, but nothing was better than a filling meal.

“You guys on a time limit?” The short one, Johnny, asked with a laugh.

“Sorry.” Veronica swallowed her food and wiped her mouth with a napkin. “Most of us haven’t eaten all day.”

“Why not?” Zacky asked.

“We were a little busy before you guys flew in,” She explained vaguely. “In basic training, they only gave you two minutes to eat and you were damn sure going to eat all of it if that was your only meal.”

Her friends grunted in agreement, continuing to shove their food into their mouths. They all remembered the days of basic training some years ago. Veronica remembered the time she had to throw her food away in basic training. Her feet hadn’t been planted firmly on the floor together and her drill instructor, she couldn’t remember his name at the moment, made her throw out her whole meal. She thought she was going to go hungry after that, but Nathaniel had successfully sneaked her some food later on. Ever since then, she’d always eaten in correct posture even though things became a little more lenient.

“Damn, that’s harsh,” Brian commented and Veronica shrugged.

“Oh, right,” Veronica remembered, taking a sip of her bottled water. She was so hungry that she’d forgotten to introduce the band to her team. “You guys, this is uh, Avenged Sevenfold, but you know that already.”

The five men not in uniform introduced themselves to the others around them. They were all friendly to one another, and a few guys expressed how much they liked a certain song or album of the band’s. Veronica figured they must be pretty high up there in a metal genre.

“So, this is our team leader, Stunner.” Veronica pointed at Nathaniel beside her, using his nickname. Everyone called him Stunner because he was impressive and at thirty years old, he was the youngest team leader there was.

“There’s Sam over there, there’s Brandon, there’s Billy aka Princess,” She snickered. They called Billy ‘Princess’ because he’d brought satin sheets and pillow cases with him to base when they first arrived. “This old man right here is Cherry.”

“Screw you, Scottie,” Max said with a grin.

Cherry was Max’s nickname. On his first deployment, the only food he craved was his homegrown cherries from his backyard. That remained his nickname to this day. No matter how much fun they made of his nickname, he could still kick anyone’s ass any day. He was Stunner’s right-hand man, even though he thought he’d be the better team leader out of the two of them.

Veronica continued to introduce everyone else, and then returned to eating her food and conversing with the band.

“I feel really weird asking questions because a lot of people here are fans of you guys,” Veronica said, feeling somewhat awkward. If she’d had internet access, she would have looked them up on Wikipedia and try to at least sound informed. “How long have you guys been a band?”

“Since 1999,” Zacky answered quickly. “Right when we got out of high school.”

She nodded, “Cool. I’ve honestly never listened to you guys but I look forward to watching the show tomorrow night.”

“We’ve been trying to come out here for a while now, and we couldn’t because of logistics and all that complicated shit,” Matt explained. “I don’t think they were too keen on having a metal band like us come out here. You either love us or you hate us, though.”

“I’m sure I’ll love you guys. I’m really into music. Metallica, Slayer, you know that stuff.”

They praised Veronica for her good music taste. They continued to talk about their background. It was like a personal interview rather than looking them up online. She learned a lot about them and they were easy to talk with. It was nice to talk to outside people about things that she missed and couldn’t experience for months. It was like getting updates on the world outside of the army base.

Dinner was soon over and everyone stood form the table, signaling that it was time to leave.

“Well, it’s time to head back to the trailers,” Veronica said, throwing her tray into the trash. “I’ve gotta walk you guys over there to, you know, make sure you don’t get shot or anything.”

They left the cafeteria, stepping into the dark of the night. Veronica used her flashlight to navigate through the pitch black areas with them behind her. She opened the door to their trailer for them.

“I hope you guys enjoyed dinner and thanks for talking with me,” She said. Treating them nicely was part of this assignment. “If you’re not comfortable or you need something, just let me know even in the middle of the night.”

“We’re good,” Brian said.

“Okay. We didn’t have much time today but tomorrow we’ll get an early start. I’ll show you guys around and maybe do some target practice before you guys do sound check.”

“Sounds good.” Matt nodded.

“Goodnight, guys. I’ll be back in the morning,”

They all thanked her again before she left. She walked back to her own trailer alone. When she walked in, her friends had changed taken off their jackets and put their weapons away. They relaxed in their t-shirts and shorts. Max was sitting in a chair, keeping to himself while playing his miniature acoustic guitar. Brandon and Sam sat in front of the tv playing a game- a video game that they all experienced in real life daily.

Veronica passed Nathaniel in his own bunk, looking at pictures of his wife and son. She glanced over his shoulder, smiling at her little nephew. Nathaniel looked deep in thought as he sighed. She placed her hand on his arm, rubbing it for comfort.

“We’ll be going home soon,” She told him. “Also, tell the guys to go to bed soon or keep it down, please.”

She went to her own bunk, stripping out of her uniform. None of the other guys paid attention to her; it was normal to have seen your buddies half-naked or fully naked by now. She changed into her pajamas and then climbed into her top bunk. Before she could get deep in thought or close her eyes, she heard a ‘psst’ sound from next to her. She turned her head to Kenneth, who was in a top bunk next to hers.

“Was that the guy from Dream Theater in the chow hall?” He asked curiously.

Veronica snorted and laughed at his question, even though she could tell he was serious. She turned away from him, mumbling. “Goodnight, Kenny.”