Chapter 2
Carter
Shivering in the November chill, Carter walked back to the Les DesChamps base with his friends. Tyler was half carrying Leo who had just spent the majority of his paycheck on alcohol.
“I should have won,” Carter complained. Leo flung an arm around his shoulders.
“You were great,” he said, his alcohol-laced breath made Carter gag.
“Hold on,” his friend slurred. “Gotta use the men’s room.” He staggered over to a pile of trash. “Hold me up,” he said as he unbuttoned his pants, swaying. Carter propped his friend up as Leo watered the garbage heap. Carter heard something rustling in the trash pile.
Leo yelled, “It’s a rat! It’s going to bite my—”
“It’s not a rat,” Carter said as the animal nosed its way out of the garbage pile. “It’s a dog!”
“That is the ugliest dog I’ve ever seen,” said Tyler.
“Here pup pup!” Carter called, bending down and holding his hand out for the dog to sniff. The little white dog crept over to him, shivering.
“She’s probably cold,” he said. “You’re so skinny!” The dog looked ill. It was missing an eye and part of an ear and it walked with a limp due to an amputated front leg.
“What her name do you reckon?” Tyler asked as Leo pitched forward and landed face first in the urine-soaked garbage pile. Picking up the dog with one hand, Carter used the other to help Tyler haul Leo up. Gagging as the men slowly walked back to base, Carter said, “I think I’m going to call her Maggot. She’s little and white.”
Tyler nodded. “Makes sense to me.”
“Should we do a rideshare?” Carter asked.
“Not with that animal and Pukey McPukey face over here. A walk is good, it’s not that long. We’ll sober up in time for PT.”
The sun was just starting to rise as the guard at the gate greeted them. They weren’t allowed to have pets in the barracks, so Carter shoved the dog down the front of his pants.
“I bet we make it back just in time for PT,” Tyler said. Leo yawned and stretched as he handed over his ID. “Nice walk.”
“We carried you through most of it,” Tyler said with a glare.
The guard waved them through, not asking about the bulge in Carters pants. He and his friends jogged the rest of the way back to the barracks and changed for PT.
“This sucks,” Carter said under his breath as their lieutenant stood in front of them practically dancing on the balls of his feet as he gave some stupid motivational speech.
“At least you’re almost out,” Tyler whispered him. “Couple more months and you’re a free man.”
“I won’t miss this place for one minute,” Carter said as they all started off on the morning run.
Carter could smell the alcohol wafting off of Leo as they walked back to the barracks after the lieutenant released them.
“I think you might have an alcohol problem,” he told his friend.
Leo made a rude gesture. “You’re about to have a dog problem. I heard a rumor that Sergeant is doing room inspections today. You need to find something to do with that animal.”
Carter ignored him. They never had room inspections on Fridays. He fished the dog out of the nest she had made in his dirty pants and headed to the showers. There wasn’t any hot water, of course, so he cleaned himself and the dog off as quickly as he could. While dressing in his room, a fist banged on the door.
“Inspection!”
“No,” Carter groaned as the door slammed open. He stood at attention as his sergeant and a corporal stepped into the room he shared with three other marines.
“Is that a dog?” his Sergeant asked after a moment. “You’re getting a write up, Lance Corporal, and that animal is going straight to the pound.”
“But it’s a kill shelter, sir,” Carter said. “And she’s not my dog. She belongs to a friend of mine; I found the dog wandering around. Just let me call my friend and—”
The Sergeant held up a hand. “You have thirty minutes and that animal better be gone when I come back.”
“Yes, Sergeant,” said Carter as the sergeant and the corporal left the room.
Carter slumped down on Tyler’s bunk. “What am I going to do?”
“You don’t have anyone you can call?”
“Not that could be here in thirty minutes!” Carter said and curled up on the bed. “Think,” he told himself. Something dug into his hip and he pulled an old pizza crust out from Tyler’s sheets.
The dog wagged her stubby tail. “This might be the last meal you eat,” he told her sorrowfully. The dog gnawed on the stale crust as Carter’s phone beeped. His rideshare app notified him he still had a 50% off his next ride.
“I think,” Carter said smiling, “I have a solution.”