Chapter 2
Hunter
We watched from our hiding place at the corner of the street. No sound or any movement was coming from the house. This was where our intel had told us the soldiers would be.
It was quiet. Too quiet.
“B Team, can you see anything?”
“Negative, Lieutenant.”
I hated this part, especially without my second lieutenant and best friend with me. He had gone to help out B Team, as they recently lost some of their men.
We waited patiently to see if our intelligence was correct. If so, they should have been leaving around now.
That was when I heard the sound of gunfire coming from the other side of the building, directly where the B Team was hiding. The problem was, we couldn’t see who was firing at them. It wasn’t coming from the building that we were watching.
“We have multiple injuries here. We need to pull out!”
Now I knew our intel was incorrect and we had been compromised. We needed to get back to safety.
“All teams, pull out to our meeting point!”
We all fell back to safety and our meeting point. With my team being the closest, we were back first and waited for the other teams to arrive. I knew with injuries to the B Team, they would probably be last to get here, but some of them were already arriving.
Then I saw him being carried by two soldiers. At first, I hardly recognised him, but as they got closer, I could see the stripes on his arms.
Elliott.
I rushed over and took him in my arms as we gently laid him down on the ground. The medic team had already been called, but I wasn’t sure how long he would last.
“Elliott, it’s Hunter. I need you to stay with me for a while. Just until the medics get here.”
His face was covered in blood, and I could see the stomach wound. I just had to keep him awake long enough for the medics to arrive, and then he would have a chance.
He slowly opened his eyes and looked up at me. “Hunter, keep your promise. And please look after Mum and Dad.”
He started to close his eyes, and I started to shake him, anything to keep him awake.
“Elliott, you’ve got to stay with me. I’ll keep every promise I ever made if you will just stay with me, please!”
But I felt him go limp in my arms.
He was gone. I had lost my best friend.
I woke up suddenly, my heart pounding and sweat pouring from me. It wasn’t often I had nightmares now. Only on days like today. It would have been Elliott’s thirtieth birthday.
Of all the days, this was the one I hated the most. Ever since I had lost him in Iraq three years ago, this day had filled me with dread. It took everything in me to get out of bed in the morning and get on with life.
Elliott was my best friend. More than that, he was like a brother to me. I had no family, so his parents had taken me in as one of their own. They had always been there for me, even after Elliott had died, and I had kept my promise to him to look after them both.
I got out of bed and grabbed a quick shower before getting dressed and heading downstairs. I couldn’t face breakfast this morning and probably wouldn’t eat at all today. The memories of what happened to my best friend three years ago were still too vivid in my brain to face any food.
I made myself a coffee and sat down at the kitchen table. Every day, I asked myself the same question.
Why couldn’t I have been the one to die? No one would have missed me. I was nothing, a nobody. Elliott had a family around him. Two amazing parents, and a wonderful sister.
I couldn’t dwell on it much, as I couldn’t turn back the clock and change what happened. I just had to live with the consequences every day of my life.
I’d made the trip to our local church this morning to visit Elliott’s grave. I didn’t come here much now, but I always made the journey on his birthday and the anniversary of his death, if I was home.
Now that I had left the army, I didn’t have that problem anymore. I would just stand here for a while silently asking the same questions over and over again.
Of course, I would never get an answer. Bryan and Lily, his parents, both knew I came here and at what time, so they tended to leave me alone. They would always call me later in the day, though, if I hadn’t already been around to visit them.
Today was one of the days I would visit, though. They were forecasting a severe snowstorm this evening, and I wanted to make sure that they had everything they needed just in case.
I walked up to their front door and rang the bell. It was only a few moments before Lily opened the door for me.
“Hunter, it’s lovely to see you. Come in.”
I walked into the house and instantly was engulfed in her embrace. She was the closest thing I’d had to a mum since I was fifteen years old, and I loved her and Bryan dearly.
“I’ll put the kettle on,” I heard Bryan say.
I looked up to see him smiling and walking into the kitchen. Both of them had retired at an early age. Being solicitors, they had earned a great deal of money throughout their working lives and didn’t need to continue working.
Lily eventually let go of me, and when she pulled away, I could see the tears in her eyes.
I placed my hand on her shoulder. “Come on, let’s enjoy some tea and talk.”
She smiled, nodded, and led me into the kitchen. A mug of tea was already on the kitchen table, and I found Bryan standing there. I walked over to him and placed my arms around him. We all needed this comfort, today especially.
“Sit down, son.”
I had repeatedly asked Bryan not to call me son. After all, I wasn’t his. However, no matter how much I tried, he would still insist on calling me that, saying I was his second son and nothing in the world would change it. I sat down on a chair, and Lily sat next to me, taking my hand in hers.
“How are you doing, Hunter? You look tired.”
“I’m fine. Just had a restless night, as always. I did some cleaning at the graveside today, so it should look nice when you get there.”
“You don’t have to do that. And please stop blaming yourself for what happened.”
I went to reply, but she instantly stopped me.
“Hunter, you forget we know you. I know you blame yourself for Elliott’s death, but nothing you could have done would have stopped it. It’s time to let go.”
She paused for a moment. “Have you spoken to Ember? She misses you, despite what she said. I’m worried about her and that so-called fiancé of hers. He isn’t right for her. You’re the man she should be with.”
I sighed. We’d had this conversation so many times, but for once, it was time to come clean, at least to Lily.
Bryan and I had already had this conversation years ago.
So many times, he had tried to convince me that I should forget it.
That it was just a silly promise Elliott had made me make when we were younger.
“I know I should be with her. I love her. I always have loved her.”
A smile came over Lily’s face, but I knew it wouldn’t be there for long.
“I can never be with her, though. I made a promise years ago. Elliott asked me never to touch Ember. He said I should let her live her own life and never get involved. He even mentioned it as I held him in my arms when he took his last breath. I made that promise, along with looking after you both. I have to keep it.”
I could see the tears in her eyes as I spoke.
I knew they had always wanted me to be with Ember; I also knew how much she had cared for me and that she’d had the biggest crush when we were teenagers.
I guessed Elliott hoped that Ember would grow out of it when she got older, but she never did.
Even when we were about to go on our first tour of duty, I could still see the love she had for me in her eyes.
That was when I first made that promise to Elliott, and I had to keep it.
“Saying that, if Wayne ever hurts Emmy, I never promised not to hurt him.”
Lily squeezed my hand. “We know you would. But please don’t hold on to a promise if it makes you both unhappy. Even Elliott wouldn’t have wanted that,, I hate to see you so alone. You have a lot of love to give, and I want to see you happy.”
I smiled at her. I would never be happy. There was no other woman out there for me. However, after everything that had happened, I knew Ember would never be mine.
“I will find someone. I’m just not ready yet. Anyway, this isn’t what I came here for. I wanted to make sure you were prepared for the storm that’s coming in this evening. Did you need me to get you anything?”
I looked over at Bryan, unable to meet Lily’s eyes anymore. I knew if I did, I would see the sadness in them. Bryan quickly looked over at her and then back at me, then let out a sigh. I knew he was just as disappointed as Lily, but he would never voice it.
He spoke with a sadness in his voice. “We are all good, thank you. I went out yesterday and stocked up on all the essentials. We have a gas fire to keep us warm and have plenty of battery-powered lights. How about you, though? We do worry about you being out in the woods. Why don’t you come and stay here? We have plenty of room.”
“Thank you, but I’m good. I have everything I need up there. You know I don’t do well with lots of people around me.”
“Well, the offer is there.”
I smiled at Bryan as I replied. “I know.”
I knew the real reason he was offering: Ember. She would be around later, I was sure of it, if the weather wasn’t too bad.
And I couldn’t see her. Not today. Not ever. I had made that promise to Elliott, and I wasn’t going to break it now.
It was already dark, and I truly needed to get this wood chopped before the snow really came down.
There was a good chance that I would lose electricity at some point tonight, and I would need the wood for heat and cooking while it was out.
I carried a load over to my wood storage that was sheltered from the elements and headed back to my chopping block.
Just then, a movement caught my eye. I looked up towards the end of my drive and saw a figure walking towards me.
Whoever it was had not come prepared to be in a snowstorm like this, so I had to guess that their car had broken down and had come to ask for help.
Not that there would be much I could do tonight, but I might be able to get them to town on my snowmobile.
As the figure got closer, I could see it was a woman. I couldn’t believe that someone would be so stupid to come out at this time of day, knowing how bad the weather was going to be. She continued to walk closer, and I was sure that I knew her from somewhere.
That feeling only grew when I heard her speak. I was positive I recognised her voice, but for the life of me, I couldn’t think where.
“Sorry to bother you, but my car broke down on me in the layby a mile or so back. I was wondering if you had a phone so I could call for help?”
A mile or so? It was more like five miles back. I was surprised she had even made it this far without collapsing from the cold, especially as she was so ill-prepared for walking through the snow. I brought down the axe to rest in the lump of wood I was currently chopping and stepped forward.
“Sure. Come in and I’ll make you a hot drink. You can warm up while we sort out what to do.”
It wasn’t until she stood right in front of me, looked up, and smiled that I realised who it was.
Ember. The woman I loved, but had promised her brother I would never touch.