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The pained words threatened to rip Landon in half, but still, he held firm. “Where would her friends be? We can make a plan as a unit to find her.”
“Arizona!” Cooper screamed, spitting the word as he arched his back.
Landon almost lost his grip and was forced to adjust his wrists to tighten the hold. Arizona? “You’ve got to calm down, man. Take a second to think.”
“I’m not wasting anymore time,” Cooper cried out, kicking his legs against the floor.
“What in the hell are you two doing?” GySgt. Fuimaono’s calloused hand enclosed around Landon’s bicep as he pried him off Cooper and lifted both men in the air. Landon hung his head as Cooper started to sob.
“Tiffany took one of my bikes, Gunny, and headed to Arizona. She’s only ridden a few times before the deployment. I can’t stay here without knowing if she’s okay.”
“Sit down.” GySgt. Fuimaono forced both medics to the couch and folded his arms across his chest as he looked them over.
Landon avoided his stare, taking in the elements of the small room instead—the gaming system hooked up to the flatscreen TV, the Ikea furniture and hand-me-down couch. A wall of wedding pictures surrounding a wooden hand painted sign with the celebratory date carved in it. It’d been less than a year. They’re just kids. But he knew even years ago, when he’d first married Tessa, he would be acting the same.
“Gunny, I have to find her.” HM3 Cooper wiped his face.
“I can’t authorize a mission of that scale.” GySgt. Fuimaono sighed as he began to pace. “And I can’t in good conscious let you go AWOL during a time like this.”
“You can’t make me stay,” Cooper said pointedly. Landon had always hated his loud mouth.
“Stand at attention, HM3,” GySgt. Fuimaono barked, holding to military procedure even as the world fell apart.
Cooper jumped to his feet with his fists clenched so tightly at his sides that his knuckles were white. The two medics held their breath as they waited for Gunny’s wrath.
“What do you think should happen right now, HM2 Ward?” GySgt. Fuimaono directed the question to Landon, breaking the tense silence.
Landon leaned forward and rubbed his hands over the back of his head. He knew what this meant. The consequences that came with this decision. If Cooper left, he’d be the only medic on this mission and there was no way he’d be able to leave until it was complete. Two more stops. It’ll be okay. And if everything went back to normal tomorrow, then Cooper would be severely punished. Heck, he’d still be punished anyway if Chief Elyse had anything to say about it. The Corpsman would lose everything he’d ever worked for in his career. It was a tough decision.
HM3 Cooper risked a look in his direction and Landon sighed as he brushed his thumb against his wedding band.
“If it was my wife, I’d give it all up.” And that was the truth of it. Loyalty and honor could split you in half. Sometimes you just have to hope you pick the right side of the coin. Landon looked up to meet Gunny’s gaze.
The Samoan warrior nodded. “Alright, Marines. Load him up. Baby Doc needs ammo and food for his solo mission.”
Cooper’s shoulders sagged as he turned to Landon and whispered, “Thank you, brother.”
The motorcycle sped down the residential streets, kicking up dust with its back tire, as the military convoy continued to advance east. Landon sat cramped next to Sierra’s legs as the Marine manned the machine gun. He didn’t want to be alone in the darkness with his thoughts, and he honestly never wanted to ride in the back of an AAV again.
Cpl. Hemming stood holding to the crew chief hatch, full of anxious energy as he called out the turns that would lead them to his house. GySgt. Fuimaono grunted in response, quiet and introspective, lost in his own inner turmoil too. Landon hated this. At least with HM3 Cooper here he could have justified leaving, but now he had no choice but to see the mission through. All the way to the last stop.
“You lonely, Doc?” Sgt. Sierra kneed Landon in the back as he looked down from the hatch. “You’re all up in my junk.”
Landon punched Sierra in the thigh. “Do your job, dude. I want to get this over with.”
“Right up there!” Cpl. Hemming called out, his excitement filling the cramped cabin. “The last house on the left. You can’t miss it. She painted the damn door purple.”
Cpl. Hemming watched for another minute, beating his fists against the top of the vehicle as he let out a holler of joy. Then he ducked down, pushing past Landon and Sierra as he made his way to the back and opened the doors before the AAV even came to a stop.
“You got him?” Sgt. Sierra looked down at Landon.
“Yeah. I’ve got him.” Landon sighed as he adjusted his grip on his M4 and followed Cpl. Hemming into the sunlight.
The corporal puffed out his chest as he marched across the dirt yard. They were parked on a hilltop overlooking a dark blue lake in the middle of the valley. The driveway sloped to a quaint little house with a purple door and gothic arched roof. Nothing about this seemed like Southern California, but here it was, smack dab in the middle of it all.
Landon had to blink to make sure he wasn’t seeing things. “How’d you afford a place like this, Hemming?”
The corporal turned to wink at him. “Get you a girl that knows how to invest.”
