-𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟓-

                                    

                                          



I held onto my nieces hand as we walked down the pavement in the QZ, our noses and cheeks were rosy from the cool fall morning. The two us of were heading to the small market that was held once a week, I hoping to find a blanket or two with it getting colder and all. I kept a keen eye on my surroundings, it was a busy morning, military vehicles drove down the street and soldiers were stopping random folks asking for their identification. I dug my free hand into the jacket pocket just to be sure I grabbed the two cards before we walked out the door and sighed in relief when I felt them in-between my fingers. I glanced down at Ellie, she clutched onto her stuffed bunny in her right arm and had a small skip in her step, I was lucky she woke up in a good mood, or else this trip would've been hell. Since my eyes were on my niece, I hadn't seen the soldier I was about to bump right into, "Oh," my eyes shoot up and I'm met with a very tall and slender man, anxiety swelled up in my chest, "I'm sorry. I didn't see you." 
                          
I was expecting to be reprimanded by the solider, Ellie did too as I noticed she squeezed my hand tighter, but instead he spoke in a gentle voice, "Clearly." He laughed softly before reaching out his hand, "May I see your identification, please?" I was caught off guard by the sweet nature of the man, I don't think I had ever heard a military personnel use 'please'. 
                          
"Of-of course," I went into my jacket pocket and handed the him the cards, still bewildered by his generosity. I looked at his face as he scanned the pieces of paper, he had these dark blue eyes, if one didn't look close enough they almost could've been mistaken for black. 
                          
He handed them back, "Thank you, Ruth." I nodded with a polite smile before sticking them back into my pocket. He kneeled down in front of the small girl and she dug her face into her stuffed animal only showing her eyes, "You must be, Ellie?" She nodded shyly as he reached his hand up to her bunny, "And who's this?" She pulled away before he could touch it causing him to chuckle, "Shy, huh?" I watched her push her brows together and her eyes turned to slits. 
                          
"Barnaby," I raised my eyebrows in shock as my niece mumbled the name of the stuffed bunny to the man, no one knew his name except her and I. 
                          
"That's a strong name, I like it." I noticed her mouth quirk up before she wrapped herself around my leg to hide from the man. He stood up to his full length and looked down on me, "Well, I won't hold you two up any longer. Have a nice day." 
                          
The soldier brushed past my shoulder and I realized something, "Wait," I turned around as did he, "I didn't get your name." 
                          
He flashed another bright smile, "Jack. The name's Jack." 

                          


                          
➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶

                          


                          
I shed a few tears recalling the distant memory as guilt hung over my head like a dark cloud. Ellie and I walked side-by-side, neither of us had said a word to each other since we escaped the outskirts. I glanced at her briefly, she had her eyes on the floor and her hands in her pants pockets, I couldn't tell if she had been crying as I couldn't really see her face. I wondered if she blamed me for what happened, I would understand if she did. 
                          
"Do you remember that time he made me laugh so hard that water came shooting out of my nose?" Hearing her voice brought on instant relief, and I nodded with a soft smile on my lips. 
                          
"How could I forget. You thought you were dying afterwards," I chuckled thinking about the blood curdling scream she let out and we both fell quiet again. 
                          
It was another minute or two before she spoke again, "I just don't understand," I looked at her quizzically, "Why did he do it?" I had been wondering the same thing since we left, you know someone for seven years and they do one thing that makes you question if you even know them at all.