I wake to someone shaking me.
I opened my eyes a crack only to find Jason hovering over me.
“Hey, sunshine. Time to get up.”
I groaned at the pet name and closed my eyes until the events from last time came crashing down on me. My eyes snapped open and bolted upright.
I looked at the cot left to me and Mariah asleep with Dante laying on the foot of her cot, his head propped on her legs, with his eyes open staring back at me. Looking over to the cot right next to her was, still, an unconscious Ashes. I got up and went to her.
“Ashes.” I nudged her shoulder, but she didn’t move. I tried again and nudged her a little harder. “Ashes. Come on, it’s time to get up.”
She twitched her ears and her eyes fluttered open. I let out a sigh of relief. I turned around and woke Mariah up.
“Mariah,” I shook her. “Mariah. She’s awake.”
“Hmm… What?” her eyes fluttered open and looked at me.
“Ashes is awake.”
Her eyes widen. She got out of the cot along with Dante and kneeled down besides Ashes. She lifted her head when Mariah started to pet her.
“Hey, baby girl.” she whispered. She leaned down and wrapped her arms around Ashes. She pulled back and Dante pushed his way in. We chuckled when he started to lick her, making sure she was alright.
I sigh and got up remembering we had to go to the gate in a couple minutes.
“Are you okay?” Mariah asked, looking at me with a mix of concern and happiness in her eyes.
“Yeah. We have to go out on patrol in ten minutes.” I rubbed the back of my neck.
“Oh, okay.” she looked at Ashes before she stood up. Ashes stood up and jumped off the cot, moving to her brother, who was at the foot of Mariah’s cot.
I chuckled. “I think she wants to go out with us.” I looked at Mariah. “I’ll let you get ready.
She nods.
I walked to my cot and grabbed my jacket. After I put my jacket on, I grabbed my gun and turned around to find Mariah grabbing her gun from the cot.
“Are we ready to go?” I asked.
She nods. She walked out the door followed by Ashes and Dante. I looked around and noticed Liam and Zach already gone and the rest fast asleep.
I chuckled and followed Mariah.
***
“Peter.” I shook his shoulder. “Peter, wake up.”
He groaned and his eyes fluttered open.
“Hey. It’s time to get up.” I said standing up.
He groaned and turned on his side, mumbled an 'okay' and rubbed his eyes and sat up.
I chuckled and went to wake up everyone else.
After waking up Drew, Chris and Peter, I went to Jason’s cot and shook his shoulder.
“Jason, wake up.”
He groaned and turned on his back. I was about to shake him again when his eyes fluttered open. “I’m up.” he said, his voice heavy with sleep. He chuckled and sat up. “What happened? Are you okay?” he asked, looking at me, once he stopped rubbing his eyes.
I kneeled next to his cot and lowered my head.
“No. While we were patrolling I kept hearing noises. The dogs didn’t pick it up, so I’m either being paranoid, but when I looked into an alley I saw a shadow.” I looked up. “I want you to be extra careful out there. I have a gut feeling that something is happening. If anything goes wrong,” I handed him a walky-talky. “I want you to push this button. It let me know that you are in trouble and it will tell me your location.” I said quietly.
He nods.
“Be careful, okay?” I said standing up.
"I will.” he stood up and started to get ready.
I went to my cot and sat down, watching everyone getting ready. They left as Zach and Liam walked in and got ready for bed.
“Hey, guys.” I called them over. They walked towards me and I motioned for them to sit down. “Lieutenant Buchmann, can you come here?” I asked turning in my cot to look at her.
She nodded and came to sit next to me.
“Did you see anything unusual last night?” I asked.
They gave me a confused look.
“Well, when I was walking down the streets, I kept feeling a presence behind me and it felt like I was behind watched.” Liam said.
I nodded. “Same with me, but I kept on hearing something behind us.”
“So did I, but I didn’t think any of it because Ashes and Dante didn’t do anything.” the Lieutenant added.
“Did you see anything from above, Zach?” I asked.
“No. They must’ve hid really well because you can see almost anything from up there.”
I nodded. “Okay. We need to be on high alert. Here, have these.” I handed them a walky-talky. “If any of you are in danger, push this button and it will send a signal to all of them. There are numbers that will blink if you are in trouble and it will send a location to the rest of them so we can go and find you. Is there any questions about these?”
They shook their heads.
“Okay. Whatever you do, don’t tell anybody about these and stay alive.”
They nodded and went back to their cots.
I sighed and sat back on the cot leaning against the tent wall. I watched the guys in their cots, with their jackets still on.
I leaned my head back and closed my eyes.
YOU ARE READING
Brothers
Action(Completed) "What is it, Lieutenant?" I asked warily. "Sir, Lieutenant Hertz has been shot." ********* My team and I were called on a mission in Afghanistan. Our mission was to patrol around the border and throughout the city. Little did we know t...
