The Soldier Next Door

I watch Ana stand motionless while she watches me as I am about to disappear into the bushes behind the very far end of the camp. Just as we completely disappear, I turn to her one last time and mouth to her, ‘I love you.’ She waves at me, and seconds later, we are completely out of sight.

I feel my heart skip a beat at the overwhelming thought that it might have been the last time that I would see her. It is absolutely absurd; that is not even a thought I need to entertain, for I shall always return to her no matter the circumstances.

But I need to push this fear aside and focus on the mission at hand. So it is in absolute silence that we make our way into the forest, with Williams ahead scanning the floor and the surrounding to check for any fresh footstep. With each step, we are scanning every bush as we slowly creep our way past it.

With the sun hanging low, there is a warning of rain that should become in within the next hour; if the present situation is not gloomy enough, this will indeed worsen it by a small fraction.

Though taken the fear of the unknown, the constant alertness, and looming bad weather, there remains that feeling of excitement amongst us. This is our first mission, and nothing, perhaps not even intimate moments of sex, can beat it.

And as I look over to Gibbs, he, as my second in command, falls out of the row and joins me by the side. This is not really ideal, but there is something on his mind.

“Sergeant, forgive me if I am being forward, but how are you feeling?”

“Gibbs, I appreciate the concern; I am well. I promise you that you shall be the first to know if I feel different.”

Before he falls back in row, he gives me an update, “Williams has given word that we are getting halfway to where we shall put up camp.”

And not even a few minutes later, it seems that I have underestimated the weather, for the rain starts coming down hard. I feel as the drops beat hard onto my skin. Could it not have waited until we are undercover, but that is not my only concern; it poses as a completely new problem. We are now moving into the unknown; we have no idea what we are headed into. All the signs of movement through this very path and those around us have now been removed in an instant.

Now the real mission starts.

…Ana POV…

At times like this, I wish that nurses are allowed to go out with a quad, but yes, even though the need sounds reasonable, the logic is that it is not wise for one that is not trained. And not even to mention that a woman shall be the far better target to capture.

So I need to have faith in Ethan; I don’t know why I keep on thinking that he is not capable of doing this. I guess in my own cruel way; I am judging him by his disability that he shall not be able to handle himself as an able body Marine shall. This makes me no better than everyone else outside in the world beyond this camp.

The very fact that he is here, that he has disappeared off into the forest, just proves and is a reminder that he can and will set his heart to everything that he stands and believes in.

But there is a different kind of trouble that is looming here, in fact only with me, for I shall need to make a decision. Ray has just informed me that there shall be a supply plane coming in tomorrow. I shall need to make the decision if I am remaining here or if I am going to go. This is not how I would have like to make this decision; I wish that Ethan would have been her. Yes, I do know that he said that he would like me to stay, but I still wanted to discuss this with him.

So not having him here while he is on this dangerous mission makes me feel kind of heartless. Here I am, wanting to run away from something I can not handle, while he is running towards the thing that he needs to protect us from. Do I even dare to think of doing this now, at this time? But Ray said that this should be the only opportunity I can get, for they need to bring in another nurse to take my place then.

I guess I have proven to everyone that I am weak and not the strong woman I pretend to be. And let is emphasize strong; I am not even close to it no matter what everyone tells me.

Now the question begs, what am I going to do?

…Ethan POV…

We are two-thirds of the way to where we need to be; the rain is coming harder with each second that passes. It has come to a point where we can barely see in front of us. Now, do we wait it out here or continue to push forward, hoping that it shall soon clear up. The weather here is somewhat unpredictable, so the chances that it will soon stop is relatively high. But do I want to put my squad in danger for even a few steps longer that might not even be necessary?

So I call for Lewis in front of me to pass the message ahead for everyone to come to a halt.

“Boys, we are going to have to wait here.”

My words come out as a gentle whisper that can barely be heard underneath the thunder.

“Double up under nearby shelter. Let us rather wait this one out.”

With that, they all huddle together; once I am for absolute sure that they are under safety, do I take my place next to Gibbs, who is looking somewhat nervous.

“Now it is my turn, are you okay?”

“Yes, Sergeant.”

“You forget whom you are lying to, now out with it.”

“The misses just found out that she is pregnant. I hate not being there with her.”

“Well, congratulations! But I am sure that she understands how hard it is for you to do this. When did she find found out?”

“Yesterday, if I knew I don’t think I would have deployed, does that make me a bad Marine?”

“That makes you a good father.”

These words do set his mind at ease. He is the best in my squad that I have got; it would be sad to see him go. I guess for some; their priorities change; it is not like we are eighteen anymore. Now someone that has just step out of his teens is Lewis, the boy is just a little bit over twenty, but he has become that ray of sunshine we need at times like this. I think I should rephrase and say ray of stupid. The boy is going to be a good Marine, but he lacks everything else.

It is his constant wisecracks that are entertaining us here in the middle of god knows nowhere, so as well listen to him, we almost forget where we are. But it is Williams that soon reminds as he calls for silence.

He looks at me, with eyes wider than usual, and as softly as he can utter, he says the words that we were not hoping to hear from him, “Someone is coming.”

We fall back even deeper off the path into thick brush. Once we are very confident that we can not be seen from the pathway, we get down on our stomachs, laying like a snake in the darkness, not even able to hear our own breath under the calmness. Not even a finger is stirring as it lays softly against the trigger. With the earth covering our faces, we are melted into the surroundings; and we wait.

We wait.

And for a fraction longer, we wait.

Until they come into sight, we can hear their cheerful chatter; they are obviously unaware of our presence. The question is, do we wish to make them aware that we are lurking here in the bushes, or do we want them to pass? They might not even be our target; they might easily be militia that has wandered from the city into the forest; for what reason, I do not know. We are not ready to start a war with something bigger, well, not for the time being. We are here to get intel to eliminate a threat that is standing in the way of our bigger picture.

So after carefully considering our options, I show for the rest of the squad to be on the lookout but not act if they truly have to. I listen as the voices inch closer and closer, above the rain, it is not clear to what they are saying, but they are speaking their own language. This only heightens the tensions and nervousness that I fill boiling in my stomach. And as I try to listen with a deeper purpose, there is one thing that becomes clear. The longer I listen, the more I become certain, then, in an instant, it takes over my body.

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