Rene hung onto his neck, giggling like a complete idiot. Zack was carrying her like a baby, walking down the mitaani, mtaa to her apartment.

“You are so drunk right now.” The red head giggled as a response. Snow fell on juu of them both as he walked down the street. He knew he couldn’t get in through the door, so he phased through the electricity from the phone kura za maoni and out through her answering machine. As he stepped out of it, he looked down at Rene, who was smiling in her sleep. Zack walked into her room, pulled the covers off the bed, and set her down gently. He took her shoes off and covered her up with the blankets, then kissed her forehead goodnight. After he left, the smile on Rene’s face slowly turned itself the other direction.

~~~~~

“WHAT THE HELL???”

“Rene, calm the fuck down. It’s not a big deal.”

“You cut my hair in my sleep Maxine!”

“Sorry?”

“I AM SOOOO NOT FORGIVING YOU!”

“But it looks so cute!”

“I DON’T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT WHAT IT LOOKS LI-“ Maxine shoved a mirror in her face, inaonyesha her the haircut. “Okay… It is pretty cute.”

“Fucking told you.”

“Alright, wewe did.” Rene grabbed her gun and shoved it in her leg band. “I got a date.” Maxine did a small salute with two fingers.

“See wewe later Sergeant Rene.” The red head saluted
lazily back and burst out of the tent.

~~~~~

A line up of men stood in front of her as she paced back and forth. They were recumbent, eyes staring out and arms still at their sides. The red hair had on full army attire: Camouflage sweat pants that were tucked into her mid-calf combat boots, a white tank juu with an oversized unbuttoned camo T-shirt, a dog tag necklace, and a gun strap on her leg arm and waist.

“Men, take aim!” They all simultaneously grabbed their guns and aimed them at the targets in front of them. Rene stood out of their way and screamed ‘FIRE’. The men fired their riffles and hit the targets, almost all of them shooting them. She looked at them complacently, a small smile on her face that none of the soldiers had ever seen. The red head disengaged most of the men, but made the youngest one stay inline. He had shaggy black hair and beautiful bright blue eyes that shone bright in the hot desert sun. His camouflaged shati was ripped at the sleeve, revealing his large biceps; and his pants were also tucked into his brown colored combat boots.

“Yes ma’am? wewe wanted to talk to me?”

“Yes Zack, I did.” She walked around him, contemplating what to say. Then, she pointed to his target, which did not have a single bullet hole in it. “Explain yourself. Why isn’t there a wound in that fake target?” Before he could answer, she continued to speak harshly to him. “All the other soldiers have been able to complete this seemingly simple task, yet wewe are still at the bottom of the rank. wewe can’t even aim your own gun! How the hell are wewe supposed to help in this fucking war if wewe can’t fucking SHOOT!?” Zack stood there, taking every derogatory maoni that came his way. When the red head finished her screaming, she looked at him contemptuously. “Well?”

“I’m sorry ma’am?” His voice sounded unsure. She gave him a glare.

“Disengage soldier.”

“Yes ma’am,” and then he walked over to his tent.

“Ugh, God.” Rene walked back to her tent, bemused. Dear God he’s hot. As she walked in, she saw Maxine, throwing on her camo shirt.

“What are wewe thinking about?” She blinked when she heard her, and looked at her.

“What?”

“What, are you, thinking about?”

“Oh, nothing.”

“Uh-huh, totally. What are wewe actually thinking about?”

“That little hottie.”

“The hottie?”

“Yes, the hottie!”

“Oh, wewe crazy son-of-a-bitch. wewe can’t do this before a battle!”

“Oh, shut up Maxine. I’ll be fine.”

~~~~~~~~

They all marched, side kwa side, towards the battle field. The other army was doing the same thing, the two armies coming towards each other. Once they both stopped, they faced each other, just like the zaidi old fashioned wars started in the 1800’s. The general, Maxine, yelled for both armies.

“TAKE AIM!” They all raised their guns and pointed them at each other. Rene stood inayofuata to Maxine and realized she was staring at Zack. He was in the front line. “READY! AND FIRE!”

All that was heard was the sound of gun shots over and over again. Some men ran away, some crouched behind others. Most of them were shot down, blood gushing from the wounds. Rene quickly pulled out the gun strapped to her neck and attempted to run out and assist; but Maxine pulled her back.

“Let me go God dammit!”

“I am not letting wewe get hurt from this war.”

“Too bad Maxine.” She shrugged the general’s grip off and ran out, avoiding the bullets that came her way. Somehow, Zack had managed to stay alive kwa crawling on the ground where the other army couldn’t see him. The red head shot back at the army, dropping them down two to three at a time. And all of a sudden, a bullet passes through her. Her vision went blurry as she fell to the ground. Zack saw her fall and rushed to her. He started shaking her, trying to see if she was alive.

“Ma’am. Ma’am? Ma’ne? Rene?”

And then she woke up in her kitanda with a jolt, Zack sitting on the edge of the bed. Rene looked down at her chest, looking for a wound shot, then turned her head to her boyfriend and leaped to hug him, a few tears falling off her face. He caught her, trying not to fall of the bed.

“Woah, what’s wrong sweetie?” She sniffed and
looked at him, wiping away her tears.

“Nothing. Just a dream.”