A Soldier's Girl

Chapter 6:

Chapter 6:

The months drag on and still no word of Daryl has come back to me. Three years and another one ready to pass and still he is not found dead or alive. I have tried not to worry or cry to much over this, but how can I celebrate Christmas and New Years without thinking about my missing friend? Even if it comes back to the point that I can't be his girlfriend or his wife, I am still his friend and if he never gets back, then I will never truly be able to be happy. Imagine him gone for the rest of our lives. I wouldn't be able to be happy. To move on with someone who isn't him, even as a friend.

"Are you ready for Christmas break?" Michone, my new friend that now is my new neighbor in my building, takes a sip of hot coffee as Charlie Brown's Christmas plays on the t.v.

"Not really. I just need more work so I don't focus on him." Grabbing the remote, I mute the t.v for a while as we talk.

"Beth, he'll be fine. They'll find him and he'll be back before you know it. It's been what? Six? Seven? Years. He's coming back. It's probably one of those missions where you're just not allowed to know it's a mission. It happens sometimes." Michone tries to be comforting, she's been in the military herself. Army, actually. When she got back about two years ago, her and her exboyfriend, Marcus, got together, ended up having a son, Andre. Michone left Marcus, now her and Andre live next to Beth. It makes Beth wonder if she could ever do that. Have a kid and be by herself? To just be a single mom and have others think of you as a harlot or some whore. Not that she thinks that of Michone, she just assumes people would think that of her.

"I hope so. I really just wanna know he's okay."

Breaking News flashes across the screen.

"Turn this up." Beth says and Michone grabs the remote quickly and unmutes the t.e, turning it up so they can hear it clearly.

"Breaking News from the Middle East. Syria is in shambles. With drones flying over head and HSPS polarizing the area into lock down, Hell has broken out in the Middle East. Footage of two American Naval officers running through the Damacus streets has leaked out onto the interwebs. These two Naval officers have not been identified yet, but it seems ISIS members are on the chase to capture these two hostages once again. The footage is not clear enough to identify these officers, but it has come from suspicion that these two, out of a group of five, have been missing from the base on a top secret mission for a few years. One inside source has been saying that these officers went on a secret watch mission with three other officers and their group was taken hostage into the Syrian Canyons for years to get information out of them. No further word has been heard on this topic, but we will keep you updated."

Silence falls in the room. My heart races faster and faster as the last few seconds of the clip shows a white guy and a black guy in uniforms running and HSPS members shooting guns at them. The clip switches back to Charlie Brown and I can't breath. My heart races faster and faster to the point I feel it will explode. Could that be him? My Daryl? Looking at Michone, she doesn't move or say anything. The possibilty that that is Daryl is very low, but we both seem to have that glimmer of hope in us. Andre breaks our silent hope and Michone twitches back to reality. 

"I go get him. He's probably hungry." Sitting on the couch, Michone leaves me to my mind. I can't stop imagining him, being home. All I want is for those two men to be safe and for the other three to be safe as well. They need to be okay. They have to be.

........................Three Days Later, December 23rd............

I've done nothing, but watched the television for three days. Watching, waiting, and hoping for more on those men. I try and Skype Rick, every chance I get, but he hasn't been answering. Laying on my couch, a knock on the door intrudes in my scattered emotional brain.

"Hello?" Rick is on the other side of the door in his uniform. 

"Beth Greene. It's nice to see you in person, instead of that small screen." I give him a hug and let him come in. He has bags with him and I find this odd, but don't think about it.

"Rick, so nice to meet you in person. Have you been home yet?" He seems forlorn and hurt. Looking down, I only assume that he now has his bags because he was home and had talked to Lori.

"I was yes. And I know about Lori and Shane. I guess why I'm here is because...well I talked to Daryl, a long time ago. He always said, if I ever needed a good person to talk to or get help from... was you. Well, I... huh, never mind. I'm sorry I bothered you." He goes to leave, but I grabbed his bicep, a few tears in my eyes from thinking of Daryl.

"I can help you Rick. You... you can stay here if you'd like." 

"Wow, thank you. Uh, only for a few days. I'll make sure I find my own place no later than New Years." He gives me a hug and I feel crushed. He shouldn't be here. He shouldn't be hugging me in my living room, taking solace in me. He should be Daryl. He should be my best friend. Not some guy I only kind of know. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah...I jus....no. I'm not. It's not you though, I swear. It's...."

"Daryl." I nod my head to him. "He's out there Beth. I don't know where, but I know whereever he is, he's thinking of you... here." 

Reaching in his inside jacket pocket, he pulls out a tattered envelope with the Naval seal on it. My eyes light up and I slowly reach for it. My stomach feels sick and I can't even breathe.

"I found this in his bunk, when they were cleaning his stuff up.... I didn't read it cause it was addressed to you, but I know he probably intended to send it." 

"Thank you... um, theres a room down the hall past the kitchen. You can sleep there if you want. I only use it for storage." He smiles and heads toward the room. Going to my own room in the opposite direction, I shut the door and sit on the bed. "Can I read this? Can...can I even open it?"

I can't. Setting it on the night stand, I prop it against my lamp and lay flat on my bed. The longer I let it sit there, unopened, untouched, unred- the longer I have him in the only state I know him. 

Safe.