Page 68 of The Biggest Sacrifice

“Then I heard it. A faint click. I raised my hand in a fist, signaling us to freeze. And my blood ran cold. Something was wrong.”

I swallow down a lump and she sits up.

“Tommy, if it’s too much, you can stop.”

“No. Let me get it out.”

She nods and waits for me to continue.

I’m back there. I’m seeing that night replay in my mind like I’m watching a movie.

“The smell was wrong.

The quiet was too quiet.

But the sound.

The sound was like a dart hitting the board. Quick. Silent.

Deadly.

Then, the sound of a drop of a gun. And the worst sound of all, the drop of a body.”

That sound still being too familiar and one I will always dream about.

She grabs my hand. I can’t look at her. I see her wipe her eyes, but I don’t want to see the pity. Or the fear. Or the sadness.

But the sound is the one I dream about. The nightmares that she’s talked me through and held me through have all held that same sound. The howl that I’ve always heard and never realized where it came from.

Shouts filled the air.Bullets whizzing by joined the chorus of yells. It was dark, but like every abandoned town we’d walked through, we knew this terrain. But knowing and being aware are two different things.

“Grab him! Now! Now! Around back!”

An unfamiliar scream carried through the wind. We ducked behind the corner of a building, essentially trapping ourselves. We knew better. I knew better, but I just wanted to move us out of the way. I radioed our troops. “Man down! Currently taking fire! Send help now!”

“Come on, come on, man.” I work on stripping his Kevlar off, ripping his uniform, giving him air and trying to find where he’s hit. “Cover me!” With night vision in place, the remaining four of the team stood at the corners surveying the buildings, trying to identify where the lone sniper was sitting. While I tried to save our brother.

It was only one.One versus six and I couldn’t stop it.

That scream? It was coming from me.

CHAPTER 41

FARRAH

Tommy is frantically speakingout words that seem to only agitate him further. I sit up, throwing my legs over his lap, and pull him close. The cries I’ve heard way too many nights are seeping from his lips.

“Tommy! Tom, please, I’m here. It’s okay.”

I talk him through it until he’s looking at me and really seeing me.

“It wasn’t your fault.”

“Don’t say that, Farrah. I was in charge of them. I took an oath to make sure they all got home. And I failed.”

I remain quiet. Cash was right. This is so much worse and I don’t know how to handle it. I don’t know the right words to use. I’m tempted to call him here, but I’m afraid to lose the emotion I’m finally getting from Tommy.

“Tomorrow will be seven years. Seven years since I’ve seen his face or heard his voice.”

---