Read Camouflaged (Hiding From Love #0.5) for Free Online

after we called a truce, Alexis and I were working our way through the village, doing a survey of needs when one of the storms whipped through. Our group had split up into different sections of the village, and the area we were canvassing was almost entirely residential—narrow streets with rows of adobe housing strung together with common walls. There weren’t any businesses on this street, and no one was opening up their door to offer us help. But I knew from experience that if we didn’t get to cover fast we’d be sandblasted.
    Alexis stood with her head down, face against the wall of a house, as I’d instructed, while I looked around as best I could for someplace to take her. This was why she had me here—to be the one who knew how the place worked, to keep her safe and make sure she could do her humanitarian work. As a fifty-mile-per-hour wind scoured her hair and scalp with sand and she huddled against the side of a mud hut, I didn’t feel like I was doing such a great job.
    Finally, I spotted a crevice between two houses down the street. Most houses were constructed with common walls, so there weren’t a lot of spaces in between, but I guessed we could fit into the one I’d spotted.
    I had my bandana over my mouth and nose in order to breathe while I hunted down a safe place, but I took it off and came up behind Alexis, reaching around her and tying it over her face, leaving just her eyes exposed.
    “What about you?” she shouted over the wind.
    “I’ll be fine,” I answered, my mouth right next to her ear. “We’re not going far.” I pointed toward the crevice. She squinted at me, but for once, she didn’t argue. I put my arm around her, she tucked into my side, and we ran.
    When we reached the small opening, I shoved her inside. There was slightly more room than I had thought, and we each fit facing one another so our backs were to the openings on either end, blocking the wind and sand that occasionally surged in.
    Once we were settled, Alexis yanked down the scarf and looked up at me with big, wide eyes.
    “Oh my God! What is that?” she breathed out.
    “ That is a sandstorm, and not even a very bad one,” I said, reaching out and tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear without even thinking.
    “Does it happen a lot?”
    “Every few weeks. They’re not so bad if you’re on base or in a vehicle, but out in the open it’s major suckage.”
    She laughed at my understatement. “So I guess we’re stuck here until it’s over?”
    “I’m afraid so, but a lot of times they’re quick, so don’t panic.”
    She shifted a little, trying to find some way to get comfortable in our little prison. “I just hope I don’t have to pee or anything before it’s over.”
    I chuckled. “I think you’ll be all right. One of the other guys and I were trapped in a cargo truck for six hours during one of these things, and amazingly, no one wet themselves.”
    She rolled her eyes at me before she said suddenly, “Why’d you join the Army anyway?”
    “Wow. Don’t bother with any preliminaries.”
    She blushed and shifted her weight from one leg to another again, accidently brushing my chest with hers as she did.
    “Sorry, my mom’s always saying I’m completely tactless.”
    I smiled, secretly relishing that little chest-to-chest contact.
    “It’s okay. Really. I enlisted for two reasons. The first was that my best friend from home, Nick, wanted to enlist, and well, I’ve always watched out for him. It’s sort of how we work. Although in the end even I couldn’t save him.”
    She started at that, and her face fell, her eyes welling up. “Oh, God, he…I mean, he isn’t…”
    “No, no, he’s alive and well in Sacramento. Or maybe not so well, but in one healthy piece physically and the rest I guess he’s working on.”
    She sighed and I saw a single tear roll out of her eye and run down her cheek.
    “Aw, hey, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize how that sounded when I said it. I’ll