To Hell and Back // Alex Keller.

Allies

The haze of the smoke from wildfires arrived with the first wind streams, as it rode on the back of the breeze from afar. The smell of the burning leaves stayed in the air, making the residents of a small town forget about the once refreshing, cold air on a hot summer day. As the long day was finally ending, the sun was setting down over the horizon. Blankets of smoke tightly wrapped themselves around the small town, turning the warm colours of the sun into bloody orange. Not even a single patch of blue could make it through the smoke, as the sky turned into a darker shade of gray when the twilight hour fell onto the ground.

The stars were shining through the smoke on the dark, night sky. Everything around the tall house was quiet. Nature was deep asleep, while only rare noises of the animals would escape out of the woods. Rare lights were shining in the windows of old houses, as some locals enjoyed the cool breeze of the night. Heatwaves were still returning to town after a few days of nice summer weather. But, it seemed as if nature itself made a plan of turning comfortable warm days into burning hell on Earth. The temperature on the thermometer was only reaching up, and not planning on going lower.

Artificial yellow light stayed up in the kitchen through the evening until the late hour of the night. Cups of coffee were piling up in the sink, as another portion was brewing in the coffee machine. Two wooden chairs were standing next to each other at the dining table and were occupied by the two for hours. Keller was never interested in surveillance missions the CIA was operating all over the world. And now, years after his last mission with the Delta Team, the officer was dealing with the exact thing he was running away from so hard. Countless tabs were open on the bright screen of the laptop that was sitting in front of the two pairs of eyes. One page was leading to another, as Alex couldn't find anything he needed. 

"No, he was American with a strange accent." Kelly's hand was sitting on the shoulder of the officer when she rested her chin on the palm of her own hand. Months ago the exact place was permanently covered by the armored west with the patch of an American flag. The last wave of energy was leaving a redhead, as she saw another unfamiliar face in front of them. A captain who was with Liam during his last mission, and possibly the last minutes of life, looked back at the two of them with a serious grin from a black and white photograph.

"Like mine?" Keller chuckled, noticing how different their accents sounded in the quietness of the night. For a quick moment, hazels found the blues as they met in an eye contact, The man could swear there was a light in Miller's eyes brighter than the full Moon on a cloudless night.

"No, less understandable." The new tab finally loaded, breaking the eye contact between the two, as the officer's attention shifted from a redhead to the screen. It was hard to ignore the side of Alex's mind that was intrigued and curious about the situation. There has to be a valid reason for military men to go after someone. When life's boomerang of actions fails to come back, retribution is the only way for justice to be served. Keller knew that whatever Kelly's brother did, it was no good.

"Okay. It narrows the circle a bit." At one moment, all the old tabs with countless russian commanders were closed by the officer. Faking the accent was a hard job, but never an impossible one. Alex was determined to find the person a woman encountered in the pub. Hours of work already passed, and no one knew how many more were waiting for them ahead. It felt like a marathon, where in the end the price was supposed to be worth the long road.

"Alex, can you please stop scrolling?" Miller's fingers tapped on his shoulders as if she were a cat trying to get a bit of attention. Liam was 6 years older than her and joined the army at 18. Long years of service led to longer files, more names mentioned, and endless classified missions that were nothing but a dead end for the two. Kelly could see the stranger's tanned face with the dirty-blonde hair even with her eyes closed, as she patiently waited for them to finally find the right person.