The minutes before getting in on the action... each soldier face them in his own way. We're travelling on a helicopter that incorporates stealth technology to avoid detection and, even if there's not much room here and we're sitting really close harnessed uncomfortably to our seats, we can't talk due to the noise so each of us focus on his thoughts. Rick is sitting in front of me and rubs his injured leg absentmindedly from time to time: I know he's concerned because he fears not being up to the task but he's shown plenty of times that he can run as fast as any other soldier even with his limp and he's still a trained Green Beret, good at shooting and with a knife in his hand... he'll do fine, as always. Adrian and Nat keep their eyes closed, holding their M16 against their chests and a bag with explosives waits at their feet, I know they aren't sleeping, they're just trying to soothe their nerves. Gabriel tilts his head back on his seat, mumbling while looking at the helicopter ceiling: my Commander feels calmer when he's going over plan A and B in his mind again and again, he's drawing up a plan C right now probably...
I'd do the same under normal circumstances: closing my eyes, resting, going over the action plan... but not today, today I can only look through the window lost in my thought while remembering her scent, her softness, her sweetness... I can still taste her if I lick my lips: my wife. It's been barely two hours since I left her and I miss her already, I wonder how my brothers have managed to go through this every time we went on a mission... all those past years saying goodbye to women that turned to be the light of their lives, never knowing if they'd come back... I've never thought about it before because missions were part of my job and I wasn't leavening anyone behind me but know I'm feeling my soul yelling at me to come back with my wife. I'm seriously considering leaving the army for the first time in my adult life, I've been a soldier for years and always answered my country's call to duty... even above and beyond the call of duty... I have medals to prove it. It'll take many hands and years of hard work to rebuild the ruins after this zombie mess is over and I can help with that.
'I'm getting too old for this anyway...' I think resigned. I could go on for two or three more years at full capacity before injuries begin to be a problem, it's been a while since the shoulder where I got shot hurts and my knees aren't what they used to be.... I'll miss the first line but a whole life with Ruby by my side would make up for it... in case she still wants to be my wife when this is over. Maybe when zombies aren't a threat anymore and she's back to her glamorous Hollywood way of life she'll think I'm not that interesting after all...
"Five minutes," the pilot warns us and I take a deep breath. I shouldn't be thinking about that now, I need to focus on my task not only to save my ass but my comrades' asses too. I check my M16 for the last time, the gun on my hip, my knives and above all that my bootlaces are securely tied... it's a habit of mine that turned into a sort of good-luck ritual. The clearing is right below us and the pilot gets as close as possible: he's decided not to land and we'll rappel down, I don't blame him... I wouldn't like to land on a ground infested with zombies if I could avoid it.
Gabriel opens the door and lets the rope drop, a quick look confirms me that there aren't strange movements around us besides the wind generated by the helicopter moving the tree leaves, and I'm the first one going down in order to secure the perimeter: I've done this hundreds of times, rappelling quickly to the ground and checking the surroundings ready to shoot while my comrades join me in the small clearing. The helicopter flies away immediately to prevent Kuznetsov from spotting it, it's going to stay close to the objective along with the other two that were following us and will be flying over the facilities when we reach the bunker gate and the shooting starts. We walk together, remaining on alert and scanning the entire forest looking for threats doing arc-shaped sweeps, each one of us monitoring a different angle.
