June Mondragon Act 1- Struggle4Air

June Mondragon watched bemused as the other women struggled to pull their chins up over the bar. She hated the idea that the physical standards were lower for females. She herself had trained for this for years and could do 18 pull ups before she had to take a break, with the only actual requirement being that she pull her chin above the bar and hang there for 60 seconds. This was the base requirement for all women in her age group, yet here were most of the women in CLB-8 (Combat Logistics Battalion 8) struggling to do even that. Mondragon winced as she thought of all the men watching her fellow women struggle. This was the burden you had to bare as a physically competent female in the military. Listening to all the men talk shit and downgrade your service because most women did the bare minimum. She dropped from the bar with a light thud and got in line to do the crunches portion of her PFT (physical fitness test). This segment was as easy as the rest for her, she could do 100 crunches faster than most of the men in her company, her 3 mile run time was better than half of them at least. She would put out extra hard today, today was special to her. In fact, other than receiving her eagle globe and anchor this would be her next most special day of enlistment thus far. Although it had only been 2 months since MCT (Marine combat training) and she was still considered the new girl in her unit, she would be getting promoted to Lcpl today. This was not something most Marines looked at as highly significant, after all, it’s still only E-3 and the pay raise is minimal. Mondragon was never in it for the money though, she thirsted for the glory. She sought only to be a part of the worlds finest fighting organization, and she was just that. The morning after the PFT came and went quickly for her, doing the menial tasks she had been presented upon arriving at the shop (a logistics Marines place of daily work). When noon finally arrived she was ecstatic to be pinned in her very own promotion ceremony. The company was called into formation with June Mondragon front and center, eye to eye with their company command. The promotion warrant was read allowed and she stuck her chest out and sucked in her stomach. She felt 10 feet tall today. With a sharp salute she was dismissed and rushed by all of her company to congratulate her, as was the custom. Eagerly they lined up to show a new found respect for their fellow sister at arms, though the boys all seemed a little more eager than the girls. It had not escaped Lcpl Mondragon’s notice that every man in the company wanted her, she understood it. The other women weren’t all the best looking, and the ones that could compete looks wise could never hold up to Mondragon’s physical prowess. She was what the other women referred to as a “muscle mommy”. Lcpl Mondragon liked the sentiment, but she was never planning on being anyone’s “mommy”. Children would never be in her future unless she decided to adopt one day later on in life. This wasn’t due to a lack of ability, rather a lack of desire. While she did secretly find some of the men and women in her unit attractive, she never quite figured out the dating thing in her younger years and so she had more of less given up the idea of a partner. Besides, she had a career to focus on. One day she would be one of the very few female sergeant majors in the Marine corps, this she knew for certain.

Later that night she found herself outside of the barracks back on the pull up bars, this time by her own choice. She loved keeping herself strong while the other Marines relaxed and played their video games, or drank themselves silly. A little while later and she stepped into her barracks room to clean up and change for bed. Her roommate, Emily Martinez informed her that she would be staying off base with her boyfriend that night, so Mondragon didn’t bother waiting to strip out of her soaked training attire. Her clothes were so wet they made a smacking noise when they hit the floor. Lcpl Mondragon stood in front of the bathroom sink brushing her teeth before her shower. She caught her own gaze in the mirror above the sink, her hazel eyes stared back at her and she took a moment to admire the pump and had gotten from her vigorous workout. Her triceps rippled, beads of sweat ran along and between the outline of her abs, her heart still beat so hard that her left breast jolted with ever pump. Her bronze Spanish body glistened in the dim light, even she had to admit she was truly a sculpture to behold. As she stepped into the shower and adjusted the water to her liking, she surfed Spotify for some good tunes. je te laisserai des mots covered by a french girl signing in the rain. A classic and one of her favorite songs to shower to, so peaceful. She hummed along and let her mind drift into happy and relaxing thoughts as she soaked in the steaming water.

What Lcpl Mondragon didn’t know was that she hadn’t bothered to lock her barracks room door. CPL Thereu (Corporal) a rank above Lcpl and also Mondragon’s direct squad leader had had an entirely different evening routine. As soon as he got back to the barracks he twisted the top off of a brand new bottle of Jamesons distilled Irish whiskey, drinking a quarter of it in his first gulp. The bottle bubbled as he turned it up, he decided to meander out to the smoke pit and have a cigarette with whomever might be out there. To his surprise it was a quiet night and he found himself alone on the bench. The liquor had set in well and he was powering through his pack of Newports, an odd choice for a hillbilly from Southern Ohio. But he liked what he liked and no stereotype would change his mind on that. Of the many out of line things he enjoyed that most of his folks back home would disagree with, was colored women. And I mean women of any color, they struck him as exotic and interesting. All the redneck girls back home fuck the same and talk the same. Boring. He realized his thoughts were becoming more and more arousing, liquor often had this affect on him. He was horny as hell most of the time actually. Liquor just brought it out in an insatiable way. He compared it to the transformation of a werewolf, he’d kill for some pussy right about now. As his thoughts wandered and his bottle emptied, he reflected on the day. When suddenly his thoughts lead him to the earlier formation. That new girl, Mondragon. When he had shaken her hand and congratulated her he definitely got the “fuck me” eyes. He was sure of it. He smashed his empty bottle on the table and returned to his room to retrieve another. Jamming to some stone temple pilots while he started on his new bottle of liquid gold. He had downed nearly half of it when the courage finally struck him. I have to go make a move he thought to himself.

Lcpl Mondragon stepped out of her steaming shower and began to dry off before unlocking her wall locker to retrieve some sleep attire. She produced a pair a green pt shorts and stepped into the–

What was that? Her mind shouted at her. Her door handle had turned. As the door swung open she tried frantically to cover herself.

“CPL Thereu!?” “What the FUCK are you doing in my room!?” “CLOSE YOUR EYES CPL!”

Thereu could barely believe what he was seeing, a goddess stood before him shouting commands as she tried to cover her breasts and groin. Her nipples could barely be covered and he could see the dark brown outlines. He knew she was attractive but this woman looked as if she had been chiseled from marble by a Greek God. He could see her screaming at him but between the alcohol and her beauty he couldn’t hear a word at first. ” I’m sorry Lcpl, I just came to–“his sentence stopped. This is an act of Providence he thought to himself. Something told me to come here tonight and now here she is completely nude. Part of her must have been waiting for me in here. He moved toward her quickly.

“WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING!?!?!” she screamed. She quickly came to her senses and realized the situation at hand. This was danger, she had heard the stories of some of the female service members being raped but that would NOT be her legacy. She grabbed her clothes and bolted into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. Rapidly dawning her attire she did a quick breathing exercise to gain her composure and think clearly. The door knob jiggled behind her. And she reached down for her phone. Nothing. “FUCK” she said allowed, realizing it was laying on her bed. “Okay girl, this is it, we’ve trained for a situation like this for 10 years now” she gave herself a quick speech and reminded herself that she was quite capable in hand to hand combat. The Marine corps martial arts program otherwise known as MCMAP had taught her well. “When we open this door, we fight like hell and we fight dirty” she told herself. She snapped the towel rack bar loose of it’s little screws and armed herself.

Immediately after undocking the door she kicked it open as hard as he could, Thereu was sent stumbling backwards and slammed into her wall locker. She thought to run or grab her phone but adrenaline and rage had taken over. Her heart pounded like a war drum in her chest. She sprang forward taking full advantage of his imbalance and started bludgeoning him in the head with the rod as hard as she could. The aluminum rod bent after only a few swings. She screamed with rage and fear as she discarded it and continued her assault. Punching the top of his head and utilizing her knees to his face anytime he tried to sit up.