Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
HUDSON
The recon assignment should have been serious. Observe and report on simulated enemy movements and document tactical positions without being detected. Standard surveillance exercise that would factor into their final rankings.
Hudson and Reed gave it their absolute professional best. Hudson pressed his face into the dirt to muffle his laughter. Reed's shoulders shook beside him.
"I'm just saying," Reed whispered from his position three feet to Hudson's left, both of them belly-down in the underbrush monitoring the clearing below, "if you're hooking up with a girl and she has a cat, you gotta pretend to like the cat."
Hudson turned his head slowly to stare at Reed. "But it was one of those weird hairless ones that looks like raw chicken."
"Still, man. Gotta pretend to be into it. For the sake of your sex life.”
Hudson bit back a laugh. "Right. Good advice. I’ll make sure to remember that.”
Three hours documenting enemy movements, and somehow they'd ended up discussing previous dating disasters instead. Reed was the best partner for shit like this. Made the boring stuff bearable.
"Okay, but seriously," Reed continued, adjusting his binoculars, "the cat thing is real. Girls love when you pay attention to their pets. It's like... I don't know, shows you're paternal and shit. Baby-daddy material."
"You get all this wisdom from dating Sarah?"
"Nah, I figured this out way before Sarah. Trial and error, man. Lots of error." Reed paused. "Wait, hold up. Phone Guy is taking a fucking selfie."
One of the “enemies” had been on his phone for the last hour, doom-scrolling.
"No."
"I shit you not. He's literally taking a selfie right now."
Hudson swung his binoculars over. The guy had his phone up, doing that thing where you angle it to get your good side. "What the hell does he need a selfie for now?"
"Probably updating his socials. 'Felt cute, might simulate enemy combatant later.'" Reed chuckled.
Hudson stuffed his knuckles against his mouth. His shoulders shook, his eyes watered, and Reed made this weird silent wheezing sound that was somehow even funnier.
"Stop," Hudson gasped.
"You stop,” Reed shot back.
Yeah, they were nailing the whole "professional" thing.
"Okay, three guys moving northeast," Reed murmured, back to business, scribbling notes in his field book. "Carrying what looks like supply crates. Probably heading for that equipment depot we marked earlier."
Hudson tracked them, noting their positions, their route, and the way they moved.
Sloppy. In fact, the whole simulated enemy force seemed sloppy, which meant this exercise was probably more about patience and observation skills than an actual tactical challenge.
"Got it. You wanna move to that ridge point or stay here? "
"Stay here. Better sight lines, and if we move now we risk getting spotted by Phone Guy."
"Roger." Hudson paused. "Should we call him Phone Guy in our report?"
"Sergeant Kowalski's gonna lose his shit if we turn in a report calling someone Phone Guy."
"Feel like it would be worth it."
Reed bit his lower lip, stifling another laugh. "You're gonna get us both recycled back to week one."
"Nah. Kowalski loves me."
"Kowalski thinks you're a pain in the ass."
Hudson smirked. "And yet here I am, top of the rankings. Weird how that works."
Reed punched his arm. “Asshole.”
They settled back into position, and Hudson let his mind wander while keeping his eyes on the open ground. It was weirdly peaceful, in a way. Just him, Reed, the Montana wilderness, and the sound of wind through pine trees.
And Phone Guy, of course, now bent over with his hands on the grass and ass pointing at the sky.
"Is he doing yoga?" Hudson whispered.
Reed raised his binoculars. "Holy shit. That's downward dog."
"In the middle of his guard shift."
"This is the worst enemy combatant I've ever seen."
"This is the best enemy combatant I've ever seen. This dude’s having the time of his life."
Reed made that wheezing sound again. He shifted beside him, adjusting his position. "So anyway, back to the dating thing. How did Julie handle the break-up?"
"Fine. Why?"
"Just asking, man. Making conversation."
Hudson stayed focused on the clearing, tracking movements. "She’s fine. We’re fine."
"Okay. That’s… fine,” Reed said mockingly. “By the way, Novak bet me twenty bucks Shaw’s got someone back home. You know anything? I’m trying to figure out if that ice-cold act actually lands with the ladies or not.”
Hudson stilled, ignoring the weird flip his stomach did at the question. "How would I know?"
"I don't know, you two are always partnered up for shit. Figured you might've talked about it."
"We don't really talk about that stuff." Hudson's voice came out more defensive than he meant it to, so he course-corrected. "Pretty sure he's focused on rankings. Dude's intense."
"That’s putting it mildly. Seems like a decent guy though."
"Sure. He's all right."
Reed shot him a look but Hudson kept his eyes on Phone Guy, who was doing his yoga stretches like his life depended on it. Shaw was focused. That was basically all there was to say about him.
"Anyway," Reed said, letting it drop, "I’m gonna ask Sarah to marry me.”
Hudson's head whipped around so fast his binoculars nearly slipped from his grip. "What?"
Reed’s eyes went bright, his grin a little shaky. "Yeah. Figured it’s about time.”
"Holy shit, dude." So much for staying quiet. "That's amazing. Good for you, man."
"Thanks." Reed beamed like a love-struck fool. "I know it's fast, we've only been together two years, but I don't care. I don't want to wait. Life's too short to wait, you know?"
"God, you’re a goner.”
"Shut up."
"No seriously. You're like, disgustingly in love. It's embarrassing."
"Fuck off."
Hudson grinned. "This is great though. Really. I'm happy for you. Sarah's lucky."
Reed's expression softened. "I'm the lucky one. She's incredible. Smart, funny, puts up with my shit. Crazy hot too.” He smirked. "So yeah. I'm marrying her."
"Damn right you are." Hudson nudged Reed's shoulder with his own. "I'm gonna give the worst best man speech at your wedding."
"Who said you're best man?"
“By the time we leave this dump, you’re gonna beg for me to be your best man. Wait and see.”
"Your confidence is truly inspiring. Also completely unfounded."
Now it was Hudson’s turn to smack Reed’s arm.
They went back to watching the ground, but Hudson’s brain was stuck on Reed getting married—assuming Sarah said yes, of course. Insane. Also, kind of great.
Reed had his shit figured out. He knew what he wanted.
Hudson had no idea what he wanted, except maybe to stop thinking about Shaw's hands all the time, which wasn't working out great.
"Movement," Reed said, snapping back to professional mode. "Two o'clock, three combatants heading for the supply depot."
Hudson made notes. Back to work.
"Phone Guy's following them," Reed said. "Still on his phone."
"That man is committed."
They documented the movement patterns, marked the depot location, noted the supply routes. Exactly what the assignment required.
Then, one of the combatants tripped over absolutely nothing and face-planted into the dirt.
Hudson and Reed looked at each other.
"Did you—"
"Yeah."
"He just—"
"Yep."
They both shook with silent laughter again, and Hudson had to bury his face in his arms to keep silent. This was the worst surveillance mission ever. Or the best. Hard to say.
Later that night, the barracks buzzed with an unusual energy. Some people slumped around, reading books, or listening to music. Others busted balls and made stupid jokes that made the space erupt with laughter.
Hudson collapsed onto his bunk, every muscle in his body protesting. Three hours lying prone in the dirt turned out to be way harder on your body than any of the running or hand-to-hand combat drills they used to complain about.
Reed dropped onto the bunk next to his with a groan. "I'm gonna feel that tomorrow."
"Yeah, no shit."
Novak sprawled on his bed across the aisle. Fernandez sat on the edge of his, slowly unlacing his boots. Their corner of the barracks settled into that kind of easy rhythm that comes from living in each other’s pockets for weeks.
Further down the aisle Shaw lounged, book propped against his knees, looking like he hadn't spent the entire day on some grueling assignment.
"So, how was recon?" Novak asked, his voice tired. "You two see anything interesting?"
Reed and Hudson eyed each other and burst out laughing.
"There was a guy doing yoga," Reed offered. "Downward dog, no less. Spent the rest of the exercise on his phone."
Fernandez paused mid-bootlace. "Seriously?"
"Really kept America safe,” Hudson added.
Novak laughed, shaking his head. "Sounds like you two had a real challenging day."
"It was very serious military business," Reed deadpanned. "Super professional the whole time."
Hudson cracked up again. Jesus. Too tired and too giddy to stop himself.
“What’s the first thing you’re doing when you get out of here?” Novak said, changing the subject.
“Eat real food.” Fernandez didn’t hesitate. “My abuela’s cooking. I don’t care what it is as long as she makes it.”
“Dude! I’m gonna get the biggest sandwich from this deli in Brooklyn,” Hudson said. “Like, absurdly big. The kind where you can’t even fit your mouth around it.”
“That’s what she said,” Reed muttered.
“Jeez, get your mind out of the gutter,” Novak retorted, being all grown up and shit.
Hudson snorted. “What about you, Novak?”
Turning, Novak pulled out a photo from under his pillow. It showed a little girl with dark curls and a huge smile, holding a stuffed dinosaur almost as big as her. “This is Emma.”
“Shut up, man. You’re a dad?” Fernandez exclaimed
“Yeah. She’s two. I’m gonna take her to the zoo or something when I get back. She’s obsessed with dinosaurs right now.”
“She’s cute,” Fernandez said. “Must be from her mother.”
“Dumbass.” Novak grinned. “But yeah. I miss her like crazy.”
“You do know dinosaurs are extinct, right?” Reed called from his bunk.
Novak threw a shoe at him.
Hudson watched as Novak settled back against his pillow, thumb tracing the edge of the photo. He wondered what it felt like to have a dad who kept a photo of you under his pillow. To have a dad in general.
The conversation drifted, and got lazier as exhaustion started winning. Out of the corner of his eye, Hudson saw Shaw sitting up in his bunk.
"What about you, Shaw?" Fernandez called out. "You got plans for leave?"
"Not particularly," Shaw said.
"Come on, man. You gotta have something you're looking forward to."
"No."
The word landed flat, final, and Fernandez dropped it.
Hudson stared at Shaw. His jaw had gone tight, eyes fixed on his book but not moving across the pages. Maybe he didn't want to go home. Or maybe he did and couldn't. Hard to tell.
Eventually, someone killed the lights, the emergency exit signs casting green shadows across the otherwise dark barracks.
"Night, dumbasses," Reed's voice came from the darkness next to him.
Hudson smiled. "Night, lover boy."
"Fuck off."
"Love you too, man."