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as they come. Don’t waste your time, though. Nobody has ever scored that one.”
    “Real nice, Ian. You just threw down the gauntlet. Now he
has
to try,” Ted said, shaking his head.
    “Challenge accepted!” Mike shouted from behind.
    Ted shook his head, Ian laughed. “You better wear your Nomex underwear, brother, ’cause you’re gonna go down in flames!”
    Ted let out a loud laugh. “I can’t wait to see this!”
     • • • 
    Doc looked down at the small trench. “This is the latrine?” The visual was almost as bad as the smell wafting out of it.
    “Yeah, I know it’s crude, but it’s the best we can do.”
    Doc looked at the slot trench, which was woefully unmaintained. It was obviously being used to urinate into as well.
    “You know everyone is supposed to cover their waste when they use it, right?”
    “Well, yeah, but some people don’t.”
    “We gotta fix this.”
    “I’m all ears if you know a better way.”
    “Let’s go talk to the lieutenant.”
    Harmon led the way back to the CP. Livingston looked up as they approached.
    “Well, what’s the diagnosis, Doc?” he asked.
    “We need to do something soon. What you guys are doing to manage waste is not helping matters around here. It’s probably why those two are sick.”
    Sheffield grunted. “Tell me about it, that damn latrine is nasty. I only use it when I absolutely have to. I’ll take my chances and piss in the woods.”
    “That’s another problem. You can’t be doing that either. You’ve got over a hundred people here. If everyone
pisses in the woods
, this place will be a cesspool.” Doc paced back and forth. “We need to redo the latrine and make a urine pit where everyone goes.” He looked at both officers. “Everyone.”
    Livingston and Sheffield both nodded, admitting their guilt in not following the standard procedures. “Just tell us what you need,” Sheffield said.
    “Hm. I need some empty drums, fifty-five-gallon ones, and some pipe too.”
    “We’ve got a few empties that used to have fuel in them. As for pipe . . .” Livingston trailed off, then looked at Harmon. “We got any pipe you know of?”
    Harmon shook his head.
    “We need some sort of aggregate too. I doubt there’s any gravel lying around,” Doc said, trying to think of an alternate.
    “No, no gravel,” Harmon replied.
    Doc looked sideways at Livingston. “How about cans, like soda cans or food cans?”
    Ian and the guys walked up.
    “Need cans? We’ve got a stack of empty cans and aluminum trays from squad meals. Would that work?” Ian suggested.
    “What the hell you going to do with that?” Sheffield asked Doc.
    “Crush the cans, wad up the trays, and use them as filler for the piss pit. Harmon, you need to find a spot for the new latrine, get all the cans moved over there and have someone crush them all.”
    “Will do, we’ll get started right now,” Harmon said, nodding at the captain. Sheffield dismissed him.
    Sarge stood off to the side during the conversation, as shit holes and piss pits didn’t much interest him. Looking at Ian, he asked, “Where’s this Amazon goddess hunter of yours?”
    “She’s on her way. She’s rounding up the other guy we need.”
    Sarge looked at Ted. “What’s your plan?”
    “I figure we need to go out and poke around for a place to set up an observation point. We’ll do that tonight and then keep an eye on them tomorrow. Maybe tomorrow night we’ll move to the opposite side of the camp, see what we can make out.”
    “You going to take both buggies?”
    “No, just the Hyena. Less tracks.”
    “Sounds good to me. Try and get a head count, equipment, whatever you can see.”
    “Will do. In that case, we need a ride down to the cabins to get the buggy,” Mike said.
    “I’ll take you guys down in the boat. I need to get some stuff from Morgan,” Doc volunteered.
    “Works for me. Soon as your help gets here, you guys head out, and grab all the ammo and grub you want,”