Never Let It Go by Emily Moreton Page B

couldn’t catch—“but we wanted to tell you…. The unit’s being recalled, just heard it this morning. We’ll be stateside early next week. They’re confirming the exact date tomorrow. So—”
    A brief scuffle, then Ade’s voice picked up: “So change the sheets, clean the bathroom, get rid of any one-night stands, you know, the usual.” There was a beat of silence. Then Ade said softly, “We’ll see you real soon, babe. We miss you.”
    Another moment of silence, then the click of the connection ending. Will restarted the message before the automated voice could get a word in and closed his eyes, just letting the words flow over him.
    We’ll be stateside early next week.
    We’ll see you real soon, babe.
     
     
    I F W ILL focused on just the horizon, he could almost imagine they weren’t in an active combat zone and that the bright sun and baked roads were some spur of the moment vacation spot the three of them had picked.
    Well, if he also ignored the radio chatter, the way they were bouncing around the vehicle, the automatic weapon in his hands, and how ridiculously overheated he was under his Kevlar.
    Next to him, Isaac turned away from the road for a moment. His mouth moved, framing what was obviously meant to be a joke from the bright smile in his sharp, pale face, but there was too much noise, and Will couldn’t make anything out. He grinned back anyway, just enjoying a moment of looking into Isaac’s clear blue eyes and wanting to touch.
    Isaac tipped his head, mouth moving again—something about Ade, then, in the vehicle behind them. They were due back at camp a couple of hours before dark, and tomorrow had no patrols scheduled. Maybe they could hitch a ride into town with someone, just get out of camp for an hour or two. Will turned back to the road, now lined with the occasional empty shop and abandoned car.
    Up ahead, the lead vehicle came to a halt, the rest of the convoy following suit. Without the engines, the air seemed too quiet. Too still.
    Sergeant Sutherland jerked his head in a clear indication for everyone to take up a guard around the vehicles—apparently they weren’t moving anytime soon. The reason for it jogged by just as Will stepped out onto the road: one of the Ordnance Disposal guys.
    Will glanced down the line of vehicles and saw Ade looking back at him. He nodded, a quick jerk of his head, and Ade nodded back, already turning away to watch the empty roadside.
    Too quiet, too hot, too still. Will focused and didn’t let himself think about how they’d be late back to camp now.
     
     
    W ILL WOKE himself up screaming, trying to pull free of the wreckage of their vehicle, searching desperately for Isaac and shouting for help.
    All the fighting threw his balance off, and he fell from whatever he was lying on and hit the ground hard. Pain sparked lightning bright up his arm. He scrambled for something to catch hold of with his free hand. He was in the apartment, in the living room, the dream receding as he came all the way awake, but he couldn’t make sense of where he was, everything distorted and shadowy.
    His hand collided with something, so he latched on and held tight, trying to force his breathing back to normal. He tried closing his eyes, but all he saw was his weapon, and beyond that, the road, shortening his breath all over again.
    Slowly, Will was able to make out the shape of the coffee table and then the couch. He’d fallen asleep there and must have rolled off, landing badly on his broken arm. He unclenched his hand from where it was curled in the couch cushion and slowly eased himself up until he could lean against the couch and focus on breathing.
    Will didn’t remember anything between standing at the side of the road and waking up in a hospital bed. He’d read the reports of what happened—the shot and the explosion, how he’d been thrown away from the vehicle by it—and Isaac and Ade had given him the basics of everything between the explosion and the