Shot Throught the Heart

thirty-four

After the morning briefing, I returned to the room I shared with Morgan and managed to get a few more hours of sleep. I know this is going to be a long night and I don't know how long it will be before I could get a few hours of uninterrupted sleep again. When I woke up again, I had an MRE before I started to get all of my gear in order. All of my vest pockets were loaded with extra magazines and I made sure to tuck the one grenade I brought with me into the extra pocket on my belt. Just as the sun started to get lower, I gave the order to the team I wanted to move out of the house in an hour.

            Everyone took the news in stride and moved to get ready. Morgan and I were able to steal a few moments alone together with the door shut again. She held onto me tightly and when I pulled away, I pressed a few hard kisses to her lips.

            "This is going to be hard, when I give you an order, please know I'm asking you to follow it for your own safety." I said.

            "You know that I'll follow you into hell if I have to to also keep you safe. No heroic cowboy shit Daniella, there are people at home who are counting on you, hopefully including an almost ten-year-old who we pulled out of the ruble." Morgan said making me clench my jaw.

            "I'll try. Just know I love you, that is what I wanted to say, love." I said.

            "I love you too babe, now we need to finish getting ready, you might want to dress warm, it's going to be chilly tonight." Morgan said and pressed a kiss to my cheek.

            I could only smile at her before I started to layer some clothes before I pulled on my dark camos. Once I was dressed, I made sure to put everything I didn't need in backpack before pulling on my body armor. After I was put together, I secured my vest then buckled my thigh holster for my pistol before making sure my night vision goggles were good to go before attaching them to my helmet. When I was all done I turned to get a look at Morgan and found her strapping her vest to her chest. Once it was in place, she shouldered her pack and turned to find me watching her. She gave me a nod and gave her a smile in return before leading her out of our room.

            When we got into the living room, I found most of the team was ready and waiting for us. It only took a few minutes for the remaining stragglers to fall in but once they did, I ordered one final sweep of the house before we all moved out. We quickly got into the trucks and started them up and pulled out of the backyard of the home we stayed in for the night.

            As we were pulling out of the neighborhood I spotted a gas station and made the decision to try and fill up the trucks. I gave the call over the radio and as we got closer I could see that there is a Russian flag on the flag pole sitting on the edge of the property. Still wanting to take the chance I had Warren pull up to the pump and I hoped out and rushed the store. Once I got through the door I felt someone tap my back and I knew I wasn't going in alone. I swept left while my teammate went right and we made our way through the store quickly. Nobody was here but I didn't want to run the risk of them showing back up while we were still here.

            "Fill the trucks as fast as you can. Guns up and ready." I radioed back to the team and turned to find it was Morgan who was behind me. "You should have stayed in the truck." I told her and picked up a few packs of gum.

            "Funny, I distinctly remember telling you not even an hour ago not to do any cowboy shit and look at you now." She said annoyed and picked out a pack of gum for herself before sticking a piece in her mouth.

            "Sorry" I said and gave her a small smile before looking out the windows again on to the other side of the street. Out of the corner of my eye a few people walked out of a house and started walking in our direction.