More Than a Soldier

Chapter 1 - Hot and Dusty

No one's POV:

The sorrow that filled the air was heavy and weighed down on everyone in the chapel. The weather seemed to be mourning in solidarity as the rain drops created a rhythmic sound on the roof, representing the grief and pain that everyone was feeling. It was almost suffocating. Scarlett gripped her daughter's hand tightly as they walked behind the Union flag draped coffin. No matter how much she has tried to comfort Ava, she couldn't stop the tears that fell down the 8 year olds face. It added to her own grief to see the pain the small girl was in. So she did the best she could by hiding her own emotion so she could support her whilst they took the short walk down the chapel aisle. Her thumb subconsciously turning her engagement ring around her finger, a heavy weight on her heart.

She could feel the tear filled gazes of her friends as they passed, each of them trying to express their love and support in any way that they could. It hurt them to see their friend in so much pain. To see Ava almost inconsolable. They knew that they were needed now more than ever to be there and vowed to not allow the family to suffer alone. 

The sounds of Elgar's Nimrod echoed around the room, accompanied by small cries and sniffles of people morning the loss of a hero. This wasn't how Scarlett's life was meant to go. Y/n was meant to return and they would be able to start their new life together as a family, never to be torn apart again. But that happiness isn't there. In that moment, Scarlett couldn't see where her life was heading. All she knew was she had to take it one day at a time and make sure that she is as strong as she can be for her family. 

6 months earlier

Y/n's POV:

3 days. It took us three days to actually get to Afghanistan. We flew from LA to Brize Norton in Oxfordshire. Here we had an overnight stay before boarding a flight to Cyprus. He we have another night stay whilst also making sure that we had all our equipment and supplies for the flight into Afghanistan and Camp Bastion. The worst part was, we had no way to communicate with our families back home. When we transferred onto the C17 that was taking us to Bastion, it was mixed with relief and nerves. Relief that we were nearly at the end of this journey, but nerves over what was waiting for us.

I managed to get some shut eye on the last flight. But I was rudely awoken to the announcement that we were approaching our landing zone. This meant that we had to make sure we were in our body armour and helmets. There is often a risk that the Taliban will attempt to take down a plane when it comes to land into Camp Bastion. Luckily for us, we're not in their sights today.

When the plan lands, I order my guys to gather their belongs and get ready to disembark. When the rear cargo door opens, a gust of sand blows into the hold and we're all covering our faces. As the highest ranking officer on the flight, I lead the soldier's off and head towards a hanger we were being directed to.

When I step off the plan, I'm hit by an intense heat and it's only 7am. I forgot how hot it was here. Being in full uniform and armour was not making this a pleasant experience. As we get to the slight shelter of the hanger, I'm greeted by a Sgt Maj who will go over our arrival brief.

For an hour we sit and listen to everything that we need to know about being here on Camp Bastion. All of the rules and dos and don'ts. When it's finally over, we're given our accommodation assignments and are free to collect our bags. Julia sticks with me as our allocations are next door to each other. When we've all got our belongings, we're ushered onto buses that are going to transport us our accommodation. "Platoon on me!" I shout gaining everyone's attention.

They all fall in line in front of me. I look over the mix of British, American and Canadian soldiers that form our platoon for this deployment. It's unusual for a platoon to be commanded by a Colonel and a Major, but the nature of our job here required it. "I have the briefing with Col McKnight in 90 minutes. I want all of you to assemble in the briefing room by the mess at 1100 where I will brief you. Take the time to settle into your accommodation and I'll see you in there." I order them.