Jyromir, Ukraine
Maya Navarro

I placed my bags… well bag in the back of the helicopter that we were taking and took a deep breath, casting one more glance over Ukrainian land before… before I’m gone. It feels so wrong. It feels like I should stay here and fight for my people even though I’m not a soldier. It feels wrong leaving such chaos behind without lifting a finger. What a sight after the end of a city, or most of it. What are these people after? Money? Power? Recognision? All of them? I still think about my parents and still hope that they might be alive. They said no one found them. And no one dared to go after them unless they had a death wish. What really happened back there, last night? Looking back, I feel like it's been days but it's nothing more than a couple of hours. Are they really gone? I will not be there to bury them, no one will. Tears pick at my eyes but I don't dare let them spill as I glance at the clear sky.

Am I actually… alone?

“Ten minutes!” I heard the pilot yell as the other soldiers were gathering around their aircrafts. The blonde man whose name I remember was Andrew was struggling to fit his bag inside, the funny sight taking my mind off things for a while.

“Need help?” I asked taking a few steps towards him.

“What? Oh, no” he said without turning to me. After bashing into it for the third time he bumped into me, causing me to nearly fall on my butt. Luckily, he was fast to catch my wrist mid air as we shared the most awkward stare of my life.

“Sorry ‘bout that” he let out a nervous laugh. I didn’t say anything, I just stared in embarrassment. Like an idiot. Great first impression, Maya.

“It’s okay I just-“ I motioned towards the bags, avoiding eye contact.

“It’s fine now, don't worry.”

“If not, I think you could store it in the cabin. There’s plenty of room” I suggested, trying my best not to force a conversation. He spared me a flustered look and then stepped away from the bag, closing the steel trapdoor. Only God knows how many languages I cursed in for those twenty seconds.
Everyone was boarding the aircraft and I followed along, taking a seat just beside Yun who was holding a tablet. I didn’t mind at first, but curiosity got the best of me again.

“Now that looks… complex” I remarked taking a peek at all the lines and numbers displayed on the screen.

“Just a quick weather check before take-off. Luke needs a copilot but he is way too shy to ask” she replied nodding her head towards the pilot who scoffed, seeming unimpressed. "Here, put these on." She handed me some thick black headphones which I quickly found out were quite big for my head.

"Now, do you hear me?" Her distorted voice spoke through them and I nodded. "Good, keep them on all the time if you want to hear what's going on around you." She got up and placed the tablet on a stand in the cockpit and then fastenef some belts around the bags and herself. "Remember, if you break of lose them, you pay for them."

"Right..." Her warning took me by surprise as I immitated her gestures.

“Alright, folks. Buckle up. We’re leaving.” the captain announced as he was the last to enter the helicopter. I locked eyes with him for a second only because I thought this aircraft had some kind of… doors? That would close? But apparently it doesn’t. And he didn’t seem to notice my anxiety. So we took off.

Mediterranean Sea, Spain

After some hours I thought I’d be sleeping but ended up starring out the window instead, I finally turned my head towards the interior of the aircraft. The whirling sound of helicopter blades was the only thing that broke the silence we were standing in, most of the squad members just chilling. Yun was still typing some number series on her tablet as well as Hawk who was also reading some papers from a thick folder. On my right was the afro man holding his radio playing with the channels from time to time while Alejandro and Andrew were leaning against the steel wall, often drifting to sleep.

“Uhh… Luke? Got any music back there?” he said out of nowhere, making Ale scoff in frustration.

“The hell d’you think this is? Ryanair?”

“Naw, man. I’m just bored to death. Can I take your copilot headphones? Maybe someone’s telling some highway jokes” he said, clearly unimpressed.

“Or you could get some sleep, imbécil. God knows when you’ll get this chance again” Alejandro groaned, throwing a jacket at him.

“Yeah, Rafe. Try and loosen up a bit” Andrew added with a short yawn, not as annoyed as the man beside him. “What about you, cadet? Feeling lively?” his question caught me off guard, making me turn my head to him.

“Definitely” was my only answer, trying to avoid the sleeping topic as much as possible. Especially last night. Andrew crossed his arms up his torso, eyeing me even deeper with his tired gaze, making me break eye contact.

“You’re right. What’s the deal with you, anyway?” Rafe asked as I suddenly became the most interesting thing in his visual field.

“What do you mean?”

“What do you do? What makes you part of our squad now? Can you shoot? Can you fight?” his question dump made me frown my eyebrows a little and as I took a look around I noticed that the captain was no longer reading his papers. Now I’ve got some audience. Some serious audience.

“I am a… translator”

“Is that so? What languages do you speak?”Andrew added, clearly more awake and curious now.

“Well, I am a native in Russian and Ukrainian. I speak English fluently as well and I know little bits of Spanish, Romanian and French if those count-“
“Whoa, you know Spanish, chica?” Alejandro suddenly said like it triggered some kind of command in his head.

“ Sí, hermano. Un poco.” I replied, hoping my line would impress him enough to shut his mouth that was now curling up into a smirk. Men…

“And where did you learn all these languages, if I may ask.” the captain asked, raising an eyebrow, his deep black eyes sending shivers down my spine. I didn’t want to sound spoiled but I also didn't want to lie because these are some skills I could use in some God-knows-how-life-threatening situations in the future.

“International programs. I get sent to different counties as an exchange student for a couple of months to study and if I adapt and get good grades I get paid for them.”

“You’ve been to the US?” Andrew questioned. I could tell from a mile that he was American and he wanted to make a brag about it and I wasn’t going to stop him. It’s not like he had anything better to do anyways.

“No, we aren’t exactly… welcome there”

“What about your parents, your family? Why were those people after you?” Rafe changed the topic, bringing me back to the reality I hate most. My head lowered, avoiding everyone’s gaze as I tried to compose myself but memories started flowing. Emotions started flowing. And they were on the verge of spilling as tears. But they didn’t. Not here. Not in front of all these new people I hardly trust.

“Oi, leave her” Yun intervived slapping Rafe’s shoulder with the tablet “Can’t you see she’s going though a hard time? Don’t be an asshole just for the sake of the conversation.”

“Hey, I was just curious” he replied raising his arms in defense.

“Well, be curious about something else. Maybe she’s curious where are you guys from. Get creative, dammit” she added, sounding exactly like a mom talking to her socially avoided kid. It’s like she read my mind, eventhough I’m more interested in knowing their ages now. They all look much older than me but not so old at the same time. They look… worn out, tired… used.

“Alright, my name’s Alejandro Cortez. Callsign: Ranger. I’m from Mexico and-“

“And he also spent some good years in Cuba.” Andrew added jokingly.

“AND we don’t talk about those times” he continued, giving his mate the ‘shut up’ look.

“You really wanted to start with the worst, eh Yun?” Rafe remarked, earning a questioning hum from the black haired man. “This arrogant mountain man we have here could’ve been dead more times than I can count. If going on the field after you had a couple of jack’s was a sport, he would be a world champion”

“Okay, Charcoal. If I am that bad, what about you?” the nickname he just gave Rafe made me let out a chuckle. He turned to me as if Alejandro asked him to confess his darkest secret to me.

“Uhh, hi, I am Rafe Graham. I was born in South Africa but all my life I’ve been living in Brazil. I moved to America when I was around uhh… 18 I guess and joined the military to make up for my missing academic diplomas. It was some kind of charity action they were doing at that time for people in tough situations. A couple years later I met Jacob in basic training and we kidda became mates.” He nodded towards the captain. I tried imagining them both a little younger doing normal stupid teenage stuff as that troublesome duo from some movie.

“Affirm” he responded, finally putting the papers back into their folder.

“Those really were some times”