What in the hell have I gotten myself into?

I looked around the small island airport lounge. It was customs, a departure gate, arrivals, and baggage all in one bright room with sticky floors and a sweaty smell. Two rows of cracked white plastic chairs lined the room and the rubber soles of my white Chuck Taylors made too much noise for my comfort as they stepped nervously across the dirty floor. I looked once more at the old chairs and frowned. I didn’t want to sit, nor did I want to stand.

I readjusted the straps on my small violet backpack and walked slowly around the room, pretending to be interested in the local news that played loudly on the TV in the upper right-hand corner. No matter where I looked, no matter what time of day, all I could think of was Ty. It had been just over forty-eight hours since Axe and Honor’s wedding and I had been in a daze ever since. I was caught between apprehension and anxiety for my volunteer mission and a longing for Ty that could not be satisfied no matter how hard I tried to distract myself. Everything reminded me of him and as the hours passed the longing only seemed to burrow deeper and deeper into my core. He was in my heart, my blood, my bones; Ty Powers had rocked my world and I would never again be the same person.

* * *

“I just don’t understand,” I had wept to Honor, who graciously held me in her arms, yesterday morning after the last sounds of the chopper faded away. She had even more reason to be upset: she’d not even been married for a full day before Axe was called back to duty.

Wasn’t he supposed to be done with all that?

Something must be really bad…

But what?

“It’s okay, sweetie,” said Honor as she palmed my tears away softly. “I am used to it. The boys will be fine, don’t worry, they’ll be back before you know it and listen, I know it’s hard to have zero contact with Ty, but you have to stay strong. Now, tell me about your little mission, you crazy daredevil!”

Thankfully Honor had been completely understanding of my volunteer mission—which I was now dreading more than ever—but as always, Honor was nothing but reassuring and loving.

“When do you leave?” she had asked.

“Tomorrow,” I sheepishly looked at her from behind my balled-up fists that had been covering my eyes. “I am so sorry! I wanted to hang out with you and baby Walker. I hate to leave you like this!”

Honor just laughed sweetly; she had always been a pretty fantastic and empathetic friend, constantly putting others ahead of herself, but something about motherhood had made her near-angelic. She was even more lovely, sweet, and supportive, especially of my crazy, spur-of-the-moment lifestyle.

“You are too much, Lizzy,” she smiled. “You and Ty are a match made in heaven, I am telling you! Go ahead, have fun, be safe and come home soon! Listen, I still haven’t heard a peep from Walker’s cabin. We had him sleep in one of the cottages with the nanny at the far end of the property so the noise from the party wouldn’t wake him. He must have been just exhausted but I really should wake him up. Just go, honestly, it’s totally fine. I will have car brought out for you right away and it will take you wherever you need to go.”

Honor kissed my forehead and gave me a big hug, “thank you,” I half-pouted.

“Just hurry back! I’m sure Ty will be sad to hear you’re off saving the world without him.”

“I will,” I promised.

* * *

Now, as I stood in this completely unfamiliar airport waiting lounge, I longed for anything comforting but mostly I longed for Ty. I looked around the room and frowned.

Two desks, one for coming, one for going, were positioned at the front by the doors. Each desk had a sleepy attendant: one played on her Motorola cell phone while the other rested his head on his arm, looking bored beyond belief and flipping through a newspaper without really reading it.

The doors at each end of the lounge were open and a sweet cross breeze—smelling of papaya and tropical flowers in bloom—wafted lazily about. Offsetting the sweetness of the morning however, was the mild smell of sweaty, unwashed uniforms and lethargy. It was unfamiliar and it made me uncomfortable.

It was also bright and hot, even for early morning. Come to think of it, I wasn’t even sure what time it was. We’d flown all night and I was so disoriented I could barely think straight.

Aside from the two attendants at the check in and check out desks, I was the only person in the waiting room. I had been instructed by the officer who’d flown with me to “stay put”.

After gesturing for me to sit among the white plastic chairs, he told me my next handler would be in shortly to escort me the remainder of the way to Camp Zero: the US Military Base on the outskirts of The Fields.

I asked if Camp Zero was the official name for the base, the officer only smirked and said out of the corner of his mouth, “there’s nothing official about any of this.”

I thought about Honor and her trip to the Green Zone—the small military city erected just a couple hours away from the treacherous Red Zone where she first met Axe. Honor had said over and over again just how organized and efficient the Green Zone had been. There were actual buildings and small apartments, even a little hospital, so how bad could Camp Zero be?

Still, I couldn’t help but feel anxious, or at the very least, uneasy. For some reason, it had been imperative that we did not take a direct flight to Camp Zero.

I thought this was a US Military Base?

What’s more official than that?

“I’m just a temporary volunteer nurse,” I half-protested the day before, while still safe on US mainland (and feeling as though I should turn around and run away from this insane adventure just as fast as I could). I had just been told of my upcoming 2o-hour journey. “Are you seriously telling me we can’t fly direct? Who would care about my arrival?”

“It’s not you, darlin’,” said the uptight-looking woman in full military attire as she checked me in at my first departure point. She didn’t look up from my documents as she scanned them: medical preparedness papers, vaccinations, release of liability should I get injured or…

The woman continued, “it’s that shiny—and very expensive—plane you’ll be flying in. We don’t give a rat’s wet behind about your comfort, to be honest, we just don’t particularly like it when the bad guys know what kind of equipment we’re using… and that teeny tiny little plane is very costly, so if that’s okay with you, we’re going to go ahead and protect it. You know, for America.”

“Of course,” I gulped as I looked at the teeny tiny plane that I would spending the next thirteen or so hours on for the first leg of my trip. “I didn’t mean, um, I apologize…”

But she had already waved me off.

Once on the plane, my military escort provided only a little more information on the subject. From what I could gather, all arrivals and departures from Camp Zero had to be conducted under a cloak of secrecy so that no Fear Division rebels could track military movements.

The entire magnitude of what I had signed up for was slowly rolling over me like relentless waves that refused to break. Surrendering to this dangerous and mysterious mission was my only option.

So here I was the next morning, confused and tired in a humid-as-hell airport lounge in Guam feeling dizzy, dehydrated, and sweatier than ever. It was a strange land and I was all too aware that I was an outsider.

“There she is!”

My thoughts were interrupted by a familiar man’s voice.

You’ve got to be kidding me.

What is he doing here!?

Was this on purpose?

Did he know I’d be here?

Is he here to meet me!?

I couldn’t help but smile as I stood up and rushed towards him.