The Love Within The War

Op's Misson Preparation

Alice's Pov

After we all eat, we get into one of the bigger tents, as we walk in, we see maps and photos of the Russians and their allies. They looked like we had people who had been following them. I look at Leo in shock he just nods and gives me a weary smile. We go over the one more time before the two agents get here to lead us, except none of us here really trust the CIA.

The plan is to go on through the towns, which will take us 4 days to get behind enemy lines, and then from there, we'll wait till nightfall to get our people back. This all just sounds so crazy. How can it be me and Leo, the ones going to save my dad? I sigh, and Leo looks at me with a soft smile, and I realize I might have sighed a little too loudly. I get pulled out of my thoughts as I hear Gunny Kellin say "Dismissed"

As we start walking out of the tents the two agents walk into the compound followed by a two more CIA agents, who are wearing civilian attire, the two agents are the ones we met last night named Chris and Amelia, as they meet up with us they introduced their group to ours, they say everyone meet our other agents Marie, who smiles at us and say hello, she seems middle-aged maybe, she has green eyes with red hair, and she has a lean build. Then we meet Xander who has a lean toned build he has brown hair, hazel eyes, and a British accent and along with tattoos on his arm's he's also the only one wearing an olive green long-sleeve with some patches on both sides of his sleeve with khaki cargo pants and black boots. While Chris is wearing a navy blue shirt with black cargo pants and brown boots. Xander shakes all of our hands, and when he breaks, I can see his eyes lingering on me. I just roll my eyes at him, and then he smiles at me.

Chris is the first to speak to the group "Okay enough with the formalities, we only have 5 days to complete this mission, and the majority of this time we will be walking on foot, so we don't look out of place, once we get reinforcements then we can take a vehicle until then make sure you're wearing proper shoes and let's get a move on people." As he finishes up, we all look at each other. I look at our group, and we are a group of 15 with the added CIA agents.

Our group without the CIA agents is made up of Gunny Kellin, Leo, Ross, Chloe, Lee, and Henry, and then we have some new faces I just met this morning at the meeting, we have Gonzalez, who has a muscular build and looks like he's only maybe 19. He is carrying a refile strapped around him in his hand, with another young-looking kid named Rodriguez who's also strapped with a rifle. Both men are privates, which is the lowest rank in the Marines ranking system. Then we have Robert, who is carrying a tactical radio, which can only mean one thing. He'll be the communication person for this mission to call in any danger or reinforcements if needed, Leo told me he's a Lance Corporal and that it's surprising since he's only 20 years old and has been in less than a year.

As we leave the compound, I feel a light breeze, and I am glad I decided to wear my brown leather jacket. We walk in silence for what feels like an hour. Luckily, Chria breaks the silence. "So, Gunny, how bad has it gotten around here?" Staff Sgt looks around, and I sigh.

I know he's trying to pass the time, but it's pretty obvious as we see the crumbled building children crying and asking for help, and mothers holding their babies trying to just find a place to rest. As much as I dislike it I know it makes for a good story, so I pull my camera and start snapping some pictures, careful not to blow our cover I put away my camera in my purse as soon as I'm done.

I hear Gunny's voice as I focus back into the group. "Well, as you can see, we have a lot of work ahead of us, and if we make it out alive, I'm sure this will go down as one of the most disastrous wars there has ever been" I see Chris stiffened taking in the Staff Sgt's words.

I look next to me and see Leo just looking ahead, I brush my hand against him to get his attention, and he looks at me giving me his soft smile but his eyes don't match his smile. They look tired and beaten and like he's losing hope. I squeeze his hand for reassurance and whisper, "We'll be okay." He squeezes my hand and gives me a reassuring smile. We both know we can't make promises, but I just hope that if we do make it out alive, it's together and that neither of us loses one another. I'm not sure how'd I live if I lost him.

We're all just making small talk now as we are getting our distance away from the compound and closer to enemies' territory.