Viper Team Seven (The Viper Team Seven Series Book 1) by Rykar Lewis

tasks. He was the model enlisted man for the company.
He lived to be a Marine and he devoted a lot of his time to the Corps. Parks
often thought that if Bingham stayed in for a few more years he would be a good
candidate to become the Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, the highest ranking
enlisted man in the Corps.
    “Well, that’s
all,” Parks told him, looking again to the PCS orders file.
    As Bingham stood
and began to leave, Parks called after him. “Thanks for the good service,
Marine. You’re one of the finest.”
    Bingham turned
around and looked at his CO, searching for something appropriate to say.
“Semper Fi, sir,” he said at last. Then, he turned again and walked out the
door.

7
    Wednesday, March 12 th – 1800 hours
    Camp Lejeune, North Carolina
    Parks pulled his
truck into the parking lot of the base bachelor officers’ quarters. His home
was nothing special, just four walls and a roof. Maybe if he were an Air Force
officer he’d have gotten the “cream of the crop” housing. But a Marine Officer made do with what they had, or so it seemed.
    The Ford’s
diesel engine was the only thing that had kept Parks’ nerves in check during
the drive home. He loved that sound. It was so peaceful and restful. Most
people thought he was crazy for thinking that, but he liked it. That was one of
the big reasons he’d bought the truck.
    Parks put his
truck in park and then shut it off. He took a minute to grab all his papers and
other paraphernalia before getting out and going into the BOQ. The building was
old and seemed almost haunted. He couldn’t put his finger on why it felt like
that; it just seemed like some evil thing was looming there, and it petrified
him at times. He wondered what may have happened there to cause that eerie
ambience, but when he asked the housing manager, all the man could say was he
hadn’t the slightest clue. It had gotten to the point where Parks had considered
just renting or buying a house off base, but he literally had to force himself
not to. Parks had to have the TV or the radio running 24/7 to make him feel a
little better. Every time he went in that “haunted” building, he just felt
uncomfortable. The feeling had improved over time, but it was still there,
ready to greet him after a hard day’s work.
    He unlocked the quarters’
door and stepped inside. There it was; the spookiness greeted him immediately.
Parks took a deep breath, angered that such a stupid feeling was getting the
better of him, and walked further inside, pulling the door closed behind him.
The phone rang the instant he walked into the kitchen. He threw his belongings onto
the counter and yanked the phone to his ear.
    “Hello?” he
answered.
    “Hey son.” It
was his dad. “How you doin’?”
    Parks was in no
mood or position to talk at the moment. “Dad, can I call you back later? Now’s
not a good time, I just walked through the door and I need to grab something to
eat and get changed.”
    “Oh that’s fine.
And you don’t have to call if you don’t want to.”
    Parks knew that
his dad would be crushed if he didn’t call back, so he scribbled on a nearby
piece of paper to call his dad back so he wouldn’t forget. “No I want to. Just
give me about an hour or so. Okay?”
    “Sounds good.
Bye son.”
    “Sure, bye.”
Parks slammed the phone back onto the holder, and headed to his room to change
into some casual clothes, stopping only to turn on the TV to Fox News and crank up the volume. What a habit. Religiously every time he came home,
he’d go through the same exact drill. Put down his stuff, run to the TV, turn
it to some news channel, run to the room, get changed, slap a sandwich together,
and chill out. That was his ritual, and today was going to be no different.
    Parks jumped
into a pair of Wrangler blue jeans and pulled on a light blue Nike collared T-shirt while he hung his uniform on a hanger in the closet. As he
walked down the hall, he turned up the heating unit. It was