Oorah - Salim x M!Reader [House of Ashes]

Chapter Ten

(Y/N) nudges the creature with his foot, making sure the thing was dead. If it was alive, it was doing a damn good job at acting dead.

"I've seen ugly in my life... But never that ugly," Nick said bitterly, looking at the beast. He hadn't seen one this up close. It was even more disgusting than he had thought. "What the fuck are we up against? Those things are everywhere!"

Salim kneels down next to the demon, examining it. "Never before have I ever seen anything so vicious," Salim breathed out. He'd killed two of them now but he still couldn't believe they were even real.

(Y/N) didn't like this. It was too tense. It wasn't supposed to be like this. This was supposed to be a simple raid. "Where's Merwin when you need him?" (Y/N) muttered to himself, rubbing the back of his neck. Merwin would be cracking jokes or something right now. (Y/N) missed his stupid jokes.

Nick looked down, sadness filling his face. "Merwin... didn't make it, (Y/N)."

"What are you talking about?" (Y/N) asked, standing next to Nick.

"These... things got to him. Jason and I... We had to leave him behind."

"Fuck..." (Y/N) curses. More dead Marines. (Y/N) began to pace around the room, trying to figure things out. He'd dealt with death before. More than this. But when that happened, it was clear that deaths were going to happen. This was supposed to be simple. King said it was going to be simple.

Salim felt bad for him. Whoever Merwin was, (Y/N) was taking his death hard. Salim felt... jealousy, maybe? He couldn't quite name it. "What do you think those things are?" Salim asked, standing up.

(Y/N) didn't respond. He had barely even heard the question, too absorbed in his own thoughts. So Nick answered for the both of them. "You know what, I-I don't know. I didn't think to ask. How about you?"

Salim shook his head. In truth, he had no clue. "I don't know what they are," He replied honestly. There was a brief silence. "I shouldn't be here," Salim scoffed. "I should be home... With my son."

"I hear you. Family is everythi-" Nick began to sympathize, but (Y/N) walked back up to them.

"You have a son?" (Y/N) asked. Salim's expression told him the answer. "You... never said you had a son." Shit. This was more complicated than he thought. He would've abandoned Salim so easily earlier just to get back to those other Marines... He didn't know Salim had family. (Y/N) felt more motivated to get out. To get Salim out. For his son.

"It didn't matter at the time," Salim responded. (Y/N) looked... angry, almost. Salim had a son. If Salim died here, his son would never know the truth. He would wait for his father to come home. Only... he never would. "It doesn't change anything for you." Except it does. It makes (Y/N) feel guilty. It makes him think of all the soldiers who have died here. They all had families. They all had lives and people to get back to.

(Y/N) scrunches up his noise. He has too many thoughts. He shakes his head, trying to breathe calmly. Nick can see the turmoil in the man's mind, wonders what is going on with him. What few missions they had gone on together, (Y/N) had seemed calm. Collected. Guess this was his breaking point. (Y/N) lets out a breath, relaxing. He had to stay calm. "What's his name?" (Y/N) asks softly, barely loud enough to be heard.

"Zain," Salim answers proudly. He's glad (Y/N) seems to have calmed down. He was worried about (Y/N). He knew the death of those Marines was rough on him. "It's his birthday today," Salim says after a moment. 

"How old?" Nick asks. He knew he had to get back to Jason and Eric. But right now, things were calm. He wanted things to stay calm and normal like this. Well... normal was not the right word for this situation.