Their Guardian

Chapter 17

Authors Note: Lot's of POV changes this chapter so be prepared. 

*Noella's POV*

Flashes. Each memory was broken, pieces of the whole picture. 

I saw a child smiling up at me. 

A woman in a hijab, guiding me towards something.

I felt the ground crunching beneath my boots as gunfire rang through my mind.

I ran towards a dying man.

I saw the knife, pulling away from my body. 

Then I felt it. 

Terror. That's the first thing. I choked on my own blood as it escaped from my neck. A woman's hands pressing firmly on me. 

More flashes, a name tag, more pain. 

I watched fear overtaking her eyes as her please fought their way into my ears. The last thing was the life bleeding out of my neck. 

I jumped up, effectively waking myself from the nightmare. The scary part was everyone else did too. 

I looked around in shock as I took everything in. Only Booker and I shared dreams, always about Quynh. This was different, and that could only mean one thing. 

-Afghanistan-

*Third person POV*

Nile shot out of bed, gasping for air.

The dream keeps playing over and over again in her mind. A train, a man drinking, chains rattling, two men cuddling with a girl snuggled beside them and a woman watching. That woman's face was the clearest part of the whole thing.

She looked around the room, finding it completely empty, with the exception of a few nurses. She was completely alone.

She slowly reached up to touch her neck, only to find no pain. She had no explanation for that, and she was not going to find one. Not yet. 

-The Train-

*Noella's POV*   

Andy was panicking, repeating "What the Fuck?" over and over again. So I rushed to her first. I pulled her tightly into a hug that she leaned into. 

I whispered to her softly, stroking her head as I did. Booker drank from his flask, hands shaking slightly. He was also in bad shape. Joe and Nicky weren't much better, however Joe was able to pull out his notebook and start drawing everything he could remember. 

Andy finally spoke. "No, not another one. Not now." She brushed me off of her and put her hands to her head. I started unconsciously rubbing my necklace, fingers brushing the old charm.

Nicky started recalling details as Joe furiously drew. 

"I saw an older woman in a hijab." Joe looked around before turning to Booker. "What did you see?"

He struggled "I saw part of a name tag."

I spoke next, quietly. "Uh yeah. Free... free something."

Nicky went again. "Dirt floor, clay walls."

"And a Medevac." Booker said. 

"Military." I spoke confidently.

Joe thought. "Yeah, so maybe a, uh... a coalition... medical team."

"The knife was a pesh-kabz. Pashtun." Nicky spoke. I nodded, semi-confidently.

Booker was still in bad shape. "I felt her die."