𝙡𝙚𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣. Evan Buckley ²

seven

LET YOU DOWN.
chapter seven.

IT WAS OFFICIAL, no cleaning had been done. Hunter had left the firehouse after the shift from hell and went straight home only to find a still sleeping Alexa on the couch. That then turned into a four hour long nap for Hunter followed by reality tv binge watching with her roommate.

Hunter shook her head as she laughed. The two were interrupted by a knock at the door of their shared apartment. "I'll get it," she said while taking one last swig of the Coors Banquet before standing.

The blonde felt herself freeze as she saw the scene in-front of her. Her smiled dropped as soon as the door was opened. "No," she said breathlessly as she looked at the two soldiers in their dress blues standing tall with their arms professionally their sides.

"Can we come in?" One of them asked softly.

"No, no," Hunter said with tears coming to her eyes as she felt herself becoming weaker in her knees, "no, don't..."

"Ma'am, Miss Callahan," the other started, "May we come inside—"

"No, no," she kept repeating over and over, her mind was fuzzy, "you can't do this to me."

Alexa seemed to spring into action as she left from her spot in their shared living room and quickly joined at her friends side. "Hunt..." she tried to whisper to the girl but it fell on deaf ears.

"Let's go sit down," Alexa said softly, wrapping her arms around the taller girl and leading her away from the door. She turned her head back and made a small wave to invite the soldiers into the apartment.

They didn't need to say a word. Hunter already knew this process all too well. Within the branches of the US military there was one thing they all had in common, the formal deliverance of a death notice to the next of kin.

"The commandant of the Armed Forces has entrusted me to express his deep regret that your brother, Cody, was killed in action in Kunar, Afghanistan on—"

"How?" Hunter mumbled out, looking up to finally meet the two soldiers in the eyes, tears welling in her own.

"Excuse me, ma'am?" One of them questioned, not sure if she what asking what she was.

Hunter let her hand drop next to her with a sigh, "how—" Hunter paused, swallowing hard as she bit back tears, "how the hell did he die."

The two soldiers shared a glance with each other before one decided to speak up, "I'm afraid I don't know the answer to that—"

"Don't lie to me," she spat out, not bother to whip the tears off of her face. Alexa reached out to hold her hand as a form of comfort, "you're here to tell me how my brother died, and now you're going to tell me how."

Her words were coming out as strong as she wished. There were long paused between each word as her ragged breath and red face kept her from being straight forward. Alexa knew well that Hunter had yet to fully process anything, she wouldn't for awhile most likely.

Hunter had a strange way of approaching her emotions and if knowing the details of her brother's death was important to herd then Alexa would help get that information. "Please," the brunette whispered out, looking over at the two men.

"Cody's company was moving through Korangal Valley late last Tuesday night. It appears they were caught off guard by a Taliban affiliated group. Cody's official cause of death was determined to be a large caliber gunshot wound to the thoracic cavity."

Hunter felt a shudder in her breath as her head fell off to the side, not able to look the soldiers in the eye. Out of all the things she was expecting, that possibility hadn't made the last. A sniper. Cody was a hothead bomb technician and something bad was bound to happen but Hunter never thought it'd be a marksman.

One hand played at the two chains around her neck, the dog tags and former engagement ring, while the picked at the stitching or the arm chair out of nervousness.

"I think I'd like you to leave now," Hunter whispered out, bringing a hand up to her mouth, wiping at it in nerves.

"There is still more we are appointed to discuss," one softly argued, knowing the sensitive situation.

"I don't give a shit," Hunter said, looking at them darkly through wet eyes. Raising her hand to point at them and then towards the door, "I want you gone—"

Alexa rubbed at Hunter's arm, looking over at the men in their dress blues, "I think it's best if you go."

Alexa stood up, the soldiers following her actions. Before walking to the door one man turned back to the blonde, "The commandant extends his deepest sympathy to you and your family in your loss."

Hunter wasn't even sure if they had left, she wasn't quite aware of her surroundings yet. Suddenly, the woman stood up. Alexa ran over, "what are you doing?"

"I— I have to plan a— a funeral..." Hunter whispered out, not even aware of how quietly she was speaking. Maybe the shock had been over taking her, transitioning into a work mode rather than a grief.

"No, no," Alexa tried to argue, grabbing at her friends hand and sitting her back down, "I think you need to slow down for a moment, honey."

Hunter shook her head, another round of tears coming to her eyes. "I can't—" she shook her head, "he can't— he was supposed to be coming home..."

Alexa could feel her heart breaking, reaching out she wrapped her arms around the blonde. Hunter fell into her arms, the seal on her emotions breaking as she began crying nearly violently.

There was no proper way to respond to this. Hunter didn't know what had gone wrong. Cody was due to be home at the end of the month, and now he would be coming home in a casket. How was she supposed to keep going knowing her brother wasn't there? The one person she felt she had left in the world that would be by her side no matter what.

The two had been through thick and thin together. Fighting non stop but always being there to back each other up if needed. This was one of those times that Hunter knew was real but couldn't help but wish it was a dream.

"Do you need me to call someone? Family back home?"

Hunter shook her head, still shaking in alexa's arms while she stroked the back of the blonde's head. Alexa sighed softly, having her own tears in her eyes. Alexa and Cody had formed sort of an odd friendship through all of the FaceTime calls she had inserted herself into. Cody was a good man and Alexa couldn't imagine the pain of losing a sibling. "How about we go and get you to lay down?"

The Callahan woman nodded softly, breaking away from her friend to stand up slowly. Hunter was a little light headed, most likely having an elevated blood pressure along with an urge to join her brother in his afterlife.

"I can't do this," Hunter sobbed out, looking up at Alexa as she fell onto her queen sized bed, "I don't want to do this."

The military had taken everything from Hunter at this point. And there was an underlying sense of karma that filled her chest. The hurtful irony that Cody was killed by a sniper wouldn't let her go.

"I'll help you through this," Alexa told her, wiping a tear from her friends face.