Shadows - Melody Anne Page 0,79

think she’s challenging me to prove her wrong,” Eyes said, his predator instincts on high.

Courtney rolled her eyes, looked at her notes, and tried again. Both men decided to humor her when she asked her next question.

“It took you three days, and an incredible twenty-two miles, before you were found one mile from Operating Base Blessing, the small base made up almost exclusively of the US Army 173rd Airborne Brigade, correct? How did you do it?” That was directed at Sleep, who leaned back, his mouth closed.

Some of the humor fell from Eyes’s gaze, but he was the one to answer. “We put one foot in front of the other.”

“There are those saying that history lessons will be written about you, that healthy men with unlimited rations of water and food would’ve made it no more than thirty-seven miles in that terrain. They are saying the world will call you heroes and learn from your techniques. They’re talking about having you guest speak at colleges and boot camps, other countries wanting to know what it takes to do what you did. How does all of this attention and fame make you feel?”

“We wanted to survive. There wasn’t another choice. It’s not about glory, it’s not about ability. It’s sheer determination to honor our fallen men,” Eyes said. Sleep was remaining oddly quiet.

Courtney looked back and forth between them, shock and awe in her expression before looking back at her notebook. They could see the interview wasn’t going the way she’d wanted it to go.

“I know you guys wear your emotions close to the sleeve, but seriously, it has to make you feel something knowing that parents will talk to their children about determination and always giving it their best. Coaches will give speeches on teamwork and getting through the toughest of times. And then they’ll say your names. You have to feel something about that,” she pushed.

Finally, Sleep responded. “The military trained us, and the SEALs made us brothers. That’s what gave us the knowledge to survive. That same will is in everyone, some need more training than others, but we all have it. Also, if we’d disappeared, our fallen brothers wouldn’t have been found, and they needed to come home and be honored.”

“Will you participate in the parades being given for your fallen comrades?” she asked.

It wasn’t often that Sleep got choked up, actually it never happened. But at her words, he found himself having to clear his throat. He hadn’t allowed himself to think about the men who’d been lost, because he’d had to focus on recovery. He decided to be honest.

“I don’t know if I’ll be able to,” he admitted.

“Me neither,” Eyes said.

Compassion flashed in the reporter’s eyes before she looked back at her notes. She cleared her throat and dug through her notebook and pulled out some pictures, handing them over. Both Sleep and Eyes smiled as they looked down.

“They’ve tied yellow ribbons on the light poles, on car antennas, and around the rails of porches in the small towns your brothers are from. They’re being honored, and it’s all because you made it back home and told their story,” she said.

They looked through the pictures showing the caskets being offloaded, the American flag draped proudly, members of the military and White House saluting. Other pictures showed citizens draping ribbons proudly, some saluting, some crying, and some smiling as they told stories to one another. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. They were absolutely correct.

“Thank you for these,” Eyes said.

“Of course,” Courtney replied. She did something she never normally did and reached out, squeezing Eyes’s hand. He gave her a look of appreciation, and something flashed between the two of them. He wasn’t sure what in the hell it was. Obviously, she didn’t understand it either, because both of them looked away at the same time.

“Once you were found, you were immediately flown to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center just south of the Ramstein Air Base in Germany. Do you remember the flight?” she asked, getting back to her questions.

“We both faded in and out the entire time we were walking through the mountains and while we were being flown to the center,” Eyes said.

“We were later told we’d both lost nearly half our blood, just under three liters. Basically we were walking zombies. They quickly administered blood and medicine in flight, not having much hope we’d make it to the hospital,” Sleep said as if he was talking about nothing more meaningful than