Chapter 24

                                    

                                          
After getting ready to leave this cabin, we gathered in the living room where the rest of the team was already waiting for us. It was already dark outside, we had about 45 minutes before the exfil would get here and we're able to go back home.
We walked through the woods towards the small open space where Laswell said a heli would be waiting for us. Since we were still in enemy territory, and they were still looking for us, we had to be extra careful. The darkness helped us conceal ourselves but gosh I'm so blind in the dark and couldn't see anything.
I had Simon's arm wrapped around my shoulder to help him walk since he was still in a lot of pain. There were a few incidents where I tripped and almost took him down with me. Luckily for me, Soap was holding onto his other side,  and in doing so he prevented me from falling. He had to hold onto Simon who held on to me, meaning it was an extra workout for Soap, but he should be thankful, now he has a reason to skip a workout once we get back. 
The moonlight was casting a beautiful glare over the trees, it was gorgeous but also creepy. I swear I've seen horror movies start this way, and once I started hearing noises, I for sure couldn't appreciate the beauty of it anymore. A wild animal jumps in and out of the bushes next to us, snapping of a tree branch and even the silence was giving me goosebumps.
In my head I was already picturing how we were going to be hunted by a wild animal or murdered by zombies, it did make me extra careful for any noises I previously heard on 'the walking dead'. But a buzzing through my comms made me snap back to reality.
"Movement detected near the LZ, could be civilians but be alert." Laswell called out but I had this feeling with our luck, it wouldn't be just civilians taking a late night stroll through the woods.
When I saw the rest of the team pull out their guns in front of them. Looking through their scopes to see if they could spot any sign of hostiles, I'd take their word for it since the only weapon I was holding was Simon, and he didn't make really help with seeing better.
The team continued their way towards the LZ but I noticed how they were all on high alert, it made my heart beat a little faster in my chest. There wasn't any danger yet, and maybe there wasn't going to be any but seeing them act as if we were walking through warzone made me nervous.
I turned my head to look at Simon, seeing him somehow always made me relax more. I found him already staring at me, he probably already knew how nervous I was. He offered me a quick wink to try and comfort me and I admit it helped a little.
Since my first panic attack, or at least the first one in a long time, I noticed how he continued to offer me more small gestures that he knows will make me relax. I think he is worried about me, it's sweet of him even though I used to have them all the time, I never had anyone help me with those so I learned how to cope with them. It just surprised me last time, I had hoped they would stay away.
Price held up his hand and we all can to a sudden stop. I took a deep breath and looked around, panicking slightly but I couldn't see anything wrong. The sound of a small tree trunk breaking, it was so soft that I almost though I had imagined it but when I noticed the other looked up as well, I know something was about to happen.
Without a warning, they all took cover behind the big trees that were surrounding us. Simon his arm fell off my shoulder and he quickly grabbed my wrist and pulled me with him behind one of the trees closest to us. He pressed me with my back against the trunk while he pressed against me.
My body was completely out of enemy sight by the way he covered me with his own body. The man is recovering and in pain but still he is doing everything he can to protect me, gosh I couldn't love him any more then I already do. Love, seriously? Realization hit me in the worst timing ever, I love him. Everything around me seemed to have disappeared because all I could do was overthink, did he love me too? Should I tell him? Is it too soon?