Boom... Boom... Boom...
The sounds of the explosions slowly grew louder. What Claire, at first, thought was her only hearing things. That the explosions were a part of her dream, she was proven wrong when the sound from the outside continued to get louder.
Opening her eyes, with her vision blurry at first, she looked towards the window. As her vision began to clear up, she saw flashes of orange and a dark silhouette in the middle of the bright colour.
The person by the window turned around. "Good morning," said a voice. Instantly, Claire knew to whom it belonged. It was Garrett.
"What's happening?..." Claire muttered out as slight worry began to fill her up. She swallowed the fear that accumulated in her throat in the form of a lump. It all came from the bright flashes and explosions emitted from the other side of the cement wall.
"The enemies are trying to bomb us... But they haven't found our location yet," Garrett replied.
"How can you be so sure of that?" Claire asked as she stood up. Carefully, she walked across the pitch-black room - that was, from time to time, lit up by the bombs - as she made her way over to Garrett.
"They are bombing the wrong side of the town," he replied as he kept his eyes out the window.
"Should we get ready to leave?" Claire asked.
"You can get ready, but we were told by the Major not to leave yet. We hope that they'll give up and leave the area soon.". To the words he said, Garrett swallowed the slight lump in her throat. Uneasiness spread across his face, but not that Claire noticed.
Instead, she turned around, she didn't see Gabriel anywhere. "Where is my Captain?" she went on to ask.
"He went out for a quick smoke. He should be back very soon.". Claire froze at his words. 'Gabriel smokes?'.
Only when another explosion sent Claire out of her thoughts did she notice that the rest of the room was empty. She furrowed her brows. "Where are the other soldiers?".
"They spread throughout the building, armed and ready for anything that might happen.".
Just as Garrett finished his sentence did they hear the door opening. Looking behind them, both Claire and Garrett saw a flash of light. A flashlight was held by someone. Only when the person approached them did they turn off the flashlight. "I hope I didn't take long.".
"Not at all," Garrett replied, smiling ever so slightly as he looked at Gabriel.
"When did you wake up, Claire?" Gabriel asked as he sat back down beside Garrett. When Gabriel settled down, they were both in the exact same places as Claire remembered them to be right before she fell asleep.
"A minute or so ago, Captain," she replied. She found it strange to call him such a thing. Although he was her Captain, she was much used to referring to him by his first name. But Claire knew that she had no other choice because of her brother's presence. 'The last thing I want is for another military personnel to suspect something going on between us by the way I talk to Gabriel.'. And then another thought went through her mind. 'Why did he insist on me calling him by his name in the first place?'.
She was kicked out of her thoughts when she heard Gabriel's voice. "Here...". Though it was dark in the room, the pristine white of the cigarette was not hard to notice.
"You didn't smoke it?" Garrett asked.
"No, I don't smoke. Just needed something to play within my hands. It helps me calm down," He replied, and right before finishing his sentence, his eyes moved to Claire.
Upon him looking at Claire, she felt a rush within her chest.
A memory came rushing to her. She felt it come back to her in the form of melancholy.
At the airport, Gabriel was sat beside her. He held her hand, caressed the back of it.
She told him to do so, she let him in as to how he can calm her down. What he can do to help her get rid of the worry...
He had a similar way to get rid of his.
And then, at registering his words, she felt slight relief flow through her. 'So... he doesn't smoke...'. A pause followed such thought.
But next, another thought, inquiry entered her mind.
"Why did you have that Cigarette, Garrett? I didn't know you began to smoke.".
"I didn't begin smoking. It was given to me by a mate of mine a few weeks back. Kept it so that I can have something to remember him by," Garrett spoke, placing the unused cigar back into his pocket.
The sadness didn't stop its accumulation on Claire's chest. "What happened to him?" she asked. "Did... Did he-?". She couldn't get herself to finish her sentence, but Garrett knew what she wanted to ask.
"He saved me... that's what happened..." Garrett began. As the memories flooded back his mind, the tearier his eyes grew. "He took a bullet for me.".
Upon closing his eyes, he could hear the shooting that he heard day in, day out ever since the beginning of the war... and then, he saw him.
Next thing, within a blink of an eye, Garrett saw his eyes widen. The moment he took the bullet for Garrett.
Although it was one bullet, its damage was nothing short of lethal.
'Go... go! You have to survive. You have your wife and your child waiting for you at home...' Garrett remembered his words as he tried to carry his buddy to safety.
'You too have loved ones waiting for you at home!' Garrett replied, rushing to get to the building where all the doctors were. 'Stay with me!'.
'I have no one left, Garrett... I don't have a happy family to come home to. But you do...' he replied to Garrett's words. 'Please grant me my final wish, that favour you owe me... drop me here... get yourself to safety.'.
Garrett swallowed whatever was in his mouth at the memory of his words. "I was ready to make him my child's godfather..." Garrett muttered under his breath as he picked the cigarette back in between his fingers. He looked at it, as a small, saddened smile evolved on his lips. "That's how close we've become in such a short period of time.".
Without their notice, the bombings outside seemed to have calmed down. Quiet took over.
But little did they know.
The planes were coming...