The Soldier that Saved Me (ON HOLD)

The Stars

"America without her soldiers would be like God without His angels." -Claudia Pemberton

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After two days of being in simple luxury, another group came in. Ms. Edina had said that we could stay until the next transfer arrived, which made me sad. Great. Time to have a lovely diet of beans and prairie chicken again.

Then, my eyes widened on the people in the group. The person I noticed was a really good friend of mine, a girl called Casey. She was more on the tomboy side and I had met her in sixth grade when I went to one of Jamie's baseball games. She was part of the team. Though she still had a boyish side, boys never failed to keep their eyes off of her. Case had long light brown hair that went right below her shoulders and green eyes. A cute dash of freckles sprinkled her nose. Everyone fell for that "cute appearance" but she was a real devil inside.

I ran and hugged her tightly. Casey cleared her throat. "Uh, who are you?" I pulled back and she gasped. smiling. "Ocean?! Oh my gosh! You look terrible!"

Wow. Way to be blunt. "You survived it! I'm so happy!" I said, ignoring her remark.

"Yeah! My parents and brother did too! I guess since we were on the north side of town it didn't hit us that much. Where's yours?"

An innocent question. People had been hitting me with that for weeks but it hurt every time. I shrugged and looked away. Her face had a knowing look but she didn't pry or say sorry. I always liked that about her. She may have a tough exterior but she knew when not to dig deeper.

Eliaphaz walked up behind me. "Hey, we're going to leave early in the morning. Be prepared at five, alright?"

I nodded and turned back to a shocked Casey. "What?"

She closed her shocked jaw and whispered, "You've been traveling with that hottie? There's no way nothing happened."

My eyebrow rose. Casey never thought a boy would be cute or even hot for that matter. Maybe I had to do some reevaluation over Phaz. "You think he's hot?"

"Girl, yeah! Get it!"

"I mean...we kissed once. But we both agreed we wouldn't do anything about it. He said he's not ready. Something about God?"

She walked over to a bunk bed and sat on it. "So he's religious? Hm. Well, maybe see what it's about. It could be interesting."

My lips curved up into a smile. "I thought so too. I'll ask him later."

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Eliaphaz told me to start packing up the little things I had and to put some supplies that Ms. Edina had given us, along with a hiking backpack. I was finishing putting up cans of beans when Phaz came up to me.

"We leave in five. Done?"

"Uh...yeah," I said. He started to turn around to leave but I quickly grabbed his hand to stop him.

The soldier looked at me, questioningly. "What is it, Ocean?"

Clearing my throat, I took a deep breath. "I still don't understand why you stopped. You didn't explain, okay well nevermind, you did explain, I just don't get it. You keep saying you're a Christian and I know you believe in Heaven and bla bla bla, but you never told me the religion yourself."

He looked down at the ground then fully faced me. "I think of it as more of a faith. My faith in my Lord and Saviour..."

"And--"

Our short conversation was stopped when Ms. Edina suddenly came into the room and hugged me tightly. "You have to go now. It's dark. Please, be safe." She whispered. I returned the hug, tears coming to my eyes. She reminded me of my mother, her warmth.

All three of us left the small house, not saying a word for a full ten minutes. We were definitely going to miss that place. I hoped Casey and her family would be safe too as they traveled as well.

There were miles of grassland as far as the eye could see and I sighed. Of course, we had a break from walking for a while but I just wanted to be home, not having to become a refugee. If only we could use a car.

After an hour, Jeb's voice broke through the chill of the air, "You alright?"

Gripping the straps of my bag closer, my eyes went to the millions of silver beams of light in the night sky. "Just tired...of all this...."

Phaz dropped his backpack to the ground with a heavy 'thud.' "I think we can stop tonight. It's twenty-three thirty. Jeb, you start the fire. Princess, I still haven't completed my training with you. Has the couple days in luxury slowed you down?"

I scoffed. "As if! Come at me!"

He smirked and ran at me. I immediately reacted to where he was weak, kicking him in his thigh while moving my head aside to dodge his punch. We sparred for around five minutes when Jeb loudly groaned, clearly wanting his food.

As we sat down around the fire, enjoying a good bowl of beans, chicken, and bread, Jeb asked, "Do you think the lost ones are in the stars?"

I looked up to where he was looking at the glittering lights, then at him. "Who have you lost?"

"My girlfriend. We like taking walks throughout the prairie..." He put down his bowl and his voice started to shake, "I-I was gonna propose to her."

My heart broke for him. Immediately, I crawled to the man, wrapping my arms around him. That was the worst experience and I definitely have not felt that. He chuckled softly, "You trying to get with me?"

Smiling, I let go. Jeb was flirtatious but he had a human heart and got hurt. Any person could like him instantly.

"I feel that...sort of," I admitted, ready to speak about the person-well, people- I lost. "You may think it's simple and not as important...I lost my childhood friend. Jamie..was also my crush. I liked him a lot. I--also my parents..."

Eliphaz's head snapped up and looked at me. "...Really?"

Nodding, I studied his facial expression. Did it mean anything to him? Jeb smiled, "It's very important, even with a crush. Parents also are the biggest part of your heart."

We both looked at Phaz, waiting for him to spill. He blinked at us then sighed, putting down his meal. "My little sister. Rosie. It was years ago. She was only three and wandered over the fence into a pool. I was seven at the time. I got her out but never knew CPR."

That sounded horrible as well. Thinking to myself, we were all broken in different ways; losing a beautiful person in our hearts. "I'm sorry Eliaphaz..." I whispered.

He half laughed and scoffed. "I took up this job for her. She always liked playing with soldier dolls, not Barbies like the other little girls. I want to save as many kids and people as possible."

"Guess life hurts, doesn't it?" Jeb said, picking at the grass.

"Yes...yes it does..." He whispered.

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Finally, a chapter has come! Remember to check out Hiss Miss Alpha and Unbreakable Diamond as well!

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Love ya'll -Vi