3 June 2012
I sat bolt up right in my bed and looked across at Lucy, she was rubbing her eyes. I got out of bed and ran to the door closely followed by Lucy. When I opened the door I was greeted by complete chaos, people were running up and down the corridor, some were yelling and shouting and some were huddled in balls crying. I saw someone I recognized and pulled her over. It was Delilah, James' wife, she was clutching their young son, Joshua to her chest. Silent tears were running down her cheeks. 'Delilah, whats happened, what's going on?' I asked frantically. 'it's....James....the team James was sent out with has gone missing, none of them are answering their radios and their trackers aren't sending back signals.' she said breathlessly. 'is that the team Adam is on?' I said as calmy as I could, hoping that some how that might change her answer. '....yes...' she said slowly. Then she collapsed and started sobbing into Joshua's hair. I put my hand against the wall, my legs no longer feeling like they could support my weight. Lucy wrapped her arm around my waist, supporting me and led me back to our room. She placed me on my bed. 'Abby...it will be ok, you know Adam, he won't go down without a fight, he will be ok....' she put emphasis on the, will, but it was undermined by her trailing off quietly at the end. She looked really tired, her forehead had worry lines engraved into it, I could tell she was worried about Adam but also about their child, if he didn't come home. We were called to the courtyard for an emergency meeting, our commander took her place at her podium. 'as many of you have heard, team 919 has gone missing, we are trying hard to find them,' she spoke confidently, without emotion, then her radio crackled to life. She barked back a few words and then addressed the crowd. 'one of team 919 has been recovered, he will be here shortly, in the meantime I would like everyone to remain calm and keep your radios turned on for any further instructions.' There was a buzz in the crowd, one has been found, maybe it is Adam I allowed myself to hope. Then we heard the steady beating of helicopter blades and the crowd moved in the direction of the landing zone. It seemed like eternity before the helicopter finally landed and the deafening engine was switched off. Suddenly the doors were thrown open and the crowd all inhaled quickly. We could see a silhouette walking steadily towards us. I held my breath.
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Love And War Chpt.13 • Opuss № I