LOVERS FOREVER by Chrys Romeo Copyrighht © 2021 All rights reserved. 1 PART 1 LOVERS UNDERCOVER Chapter 1 Going Deep Undercover Love can exist under any circumstances: time, place, whatever... it can happen. It can change a lifetime with its presence, with its light. Here's a story that happened in my life and convinced me of the truth that love is more powerful than anything... and it can exist anyway, anyhow. When we got closer to the place where we had been sent someone shouted “ambush!” and we had to spread out and run. Bullets started raining above us from somewhere nobody could see. I threw myself on the ground, covering my eyes, as if that could have protected me from the bullets. After a while, the sound stopped. I looked up: the whole group had scattered on the field that was interspersed with steep trenches and valleys. I got up and walked aimlessly a few steps, when a field mine blew right next to me, throwing me over the edge of a pit and covering me with loads of dusty soil. I almost fell over in the large trench below. It was the edge of a crevasse in the ground, made by an earthquake or previous 2 explosions. I stood up, trying to step away from the slippery ground under my feet and I scattered the dirt from my head, adjusting the metal helmet. Suddenly, I heard a voice from below: “Hey, who's there?” Looking down, I noticed a girl. A soldier too. It wasn't a surprise that war also recruited girls – but it was astonishing to see her there, in the ditch. Her long hair the color of sand flowed on her shoulders, from underneath the helmet. Her greenish eyes were strangely and brightly staring at me. “You covered me in dust” she said jokingly and smiled, scattering it off her uniform. “How did you get there?” I asked her curiously. “Probably the same way you almost did”, she answered and kept smiling. That seemed funny and I laughed. She laughed too, then said: “Will you help me climb out?” “Sure”, I said and I extended a hand. Her long fingers, the color of pale moonlight got my attention. When she stood next to me, I realized she was probably the same height and age as I was. We were both barely eighteen, not ready for war and not ready to be exposed to imminent danger, but we were laughing at it with that unconscious defiance that young people have, with unexplained certainty that we were somehow invincible and unaffected by whatever went on around us. “Thanks!” She sat down and started scratching off the mud from her boots. 3 I wanted to get out of the trench, but a bullet sizzled by my ear, so I crouched back in the ditch. I sat next to her, as she kept clearing her boots off with a stick. “What unit are you from?” I asked her. “Twenty. What about you?” “Twenty one.” She looked at me attentively. Her eyes so full of light astounded me. The sounds of guns were still firing above. “We might have to crawl our way out of here”, I said. “Hmm... it doesn't matter, we're both done for”, she replied a bit displeased. “Let's go!” We jumped from the ditch at the same time, crawling and rolling quickly under the flying bullets until we reached the forest. Then we ran to find our comrades among the trees. I watched her get out of sight and I was a bit sorry that I hadn't asked her name. “Anyway, we might not see each other again, so...” I thought to myself. My comrades were already gathered in line. The commanding officer saw me integrate among them and questioned me severely: “You! where have you been?” “There was an explosion nearby and I fell in a ditch and...” “Take your hands out of your pockets and don't wander off from the group again! Understood?” “Yes.” Irritated that I hadn't said “Yes sir”, the officer turned his back on 4 me and ordered us to go uphill, to the top of the deep forest. In the evening we arrived at the barracks that represented our quarters in that mountain. It had been a long tiresome way, so when we got there I was both hungry and sleepy, so I rolled in bed immediately. Early in the morning the deafening siren woke me up. I went to the bathroom, to find only ice cold water running in the taps, so I washed my face and got out in the yard. Everyone was already in line again. The commander frowned at me. The morning light was suddenly sharp and blinding. “You're always separated from the group, soldier! Didn't you hear the siren?” “I did.” “Then why didn't you move faster and get here in time for morning checkout?” “I went to the bathroom.” The lines started laughing, their voices rising in the clear morning air. “Silence!” roared the officer. “You go to your place now and don't make this happen again, you hear me?” “Yes.” “Yes, what?” “Yes, sir!” “When a superior officer is speaking to you, you must stand up straight. Didn't you know that?” “Yes sir, I knew that.” “Then why didn't you?” 5 “I couldn't remember.” “What do you mean, you couldn't remember?” “If you're yelling at me I can't remember everything I must, sir.” The commander stared at me, trying to see if I was making fun of the situation or really meant what I said. He couldn't decide, so he shouted ay us to go have breakfast: “To the dining hall, soldiers! Move!” The canteen was suddenly filled with noise, chatter and clinking dishes. I ate in silence, alone at my table. I didn't know anyone well enough: there hadn't been time for it. We had been gathered and rushed up the mountain to strengthen the defensive posts, before we could even glance at each other. Then I heard more noise flooding from the doors of the canteen: a new group was coming in for breakfast. “Unit twenty”, someone said next to me and I looked up curiously. They were mostly girls. The guys in the canteen whistled cheerfully, welcoming the pretty soldiers who seemed to expect that and not pay much attention to the atmosphere. They were hungry and only cared about the food at that moment, which they quickly placed on their trays. The commander announced that the new unit would be mixed up with ours, so we had to make room for them in the barracks. I had just finished breakfast and I stood watching the girls unpacking in the yard. Suddenly, I saw the one I had met a day before, in the ditch. She was struggling with a backpack. I approached her. 6 “Hi. How are you? Can I help you?” She looked at me and didn't seem surprised. She allowed me to help, agreeing to it somewhat tired: “If you want to, you can take this backpack; it's a bit heavy.” I picked it up. “Which are the barracks we're staying?” she asked, looking around mostly bored and detached, as if she had seen enough and had had enough of it already. “Over here. Those are the officers quarters. We're staying on this other side. Why did you get here so late? We arrived yesterday. Weren't you supposed to be here at the same time?” My questions made her answer simply: “I don't know. Our guide probably took a detour. It was a long way up the forest. Actually, it was quite a miserable track”, she said with disgust. I opened the door to the barrack. “You can choose your place, there are enough available. We've got bunker beds.” “Where are you staying?” she asked me somehow disoriented and undecided. “I'm over here, the top. The one below is free.” “Perfect. I prefer the one below. I'll stay here, if you don't mind.” She seemed to feel safe next to me, so she placed her backpack on the bed and sat on the edge, looking around in desolation. Then she suddenly remembered something and glanced up cheerfully: “Let's introduce each other. We've met, but I don't know your 7 name.” “It's Ky.” She looked at me attentively and her eyes glistened with a deep light. “Ky”, she smiled as she said my name. “It suits you. My name is Seloren.” I shook her hand again – the same pale moonlight hand with slim fingers. “Nice to meet you, Seloren.” Her name was just as delicate and refined as her hands. I was amazed by the unusual girl that somehow had landed in the same forest, on the same mountain, in the same barrack with me. She seemed tired and she took off her boots, stretching on the rough blanket. The wooden barrack was empty. Everyone was still at the canteen. “You didn't eat much” I noticed. “Don't you want breakfast? I could bring it for you.” “That's nice, but I don't like the food they give us. I must be careful what I eat. I have some sandwiches in this backpack.” “I'll let you rest now”. I got out, as the soldiers were gathering for the instructions in the yard. We had to make a schedule for patrolling the forest and I didn't want to end up in the night shift, though it kind of happened anyway. As I was crossing the yard, the commander saw me. “You! Are you wasting time wandering around? Don't you have 8 anything better to do, soldier?” “I was going to check the schedule.” “I'll simplify the schedule for you: go to the canteen and help wash the dishes! Are you there yet? Move!” I had to go to the kitchen, so the schedule was decided in my absence... and I got the night shift, of course. At night the forest was full of lurking shadows, cracking branches, screeching owls, unexpected shuffling of leaves and we being startled at the slightest sound. We put our night vision goggles, so we at least thought we were safer somehow even though it was still unnerving, to stare into the darkness and walk on our toes. Close to dawn I came back and climbed in bed. Everyone was asleep. Seloren was asleep too. However, in the morning when the alarm went off, just a couple of hours after I had thrown myself in bed, I looked around and I didn't see anyone: they had already exited to the yard. I was still so sleepy that I put the blanket back on my head. Then I heard a voice next to me: “Ky, wake up. The alarm already went off.” ”I know, I heard it”, I said from under the blanket. “So come on, get up!” she insisted. “It's been five minutes since the alarm.” I took off the blanket and looked around. “Get up Ky”, Seloren spoke again. She was closing her backpack, putting a towel in. I mumbled from my bed: 9 “I don't feel like going to the morning checkup. I've been on patrol last night and I'm sleepy. You go and tell them I'm asleep.” “You'll be in trouble. The commander will be furious.” she warned me. I yawned. She came next to my head. “You really aren't coming out?” “Nope. I want to sleep.” “And I'm telling you the commander will be furious.” “So what. Let him.” “ As you wish,” she said and went out. She returned in less than ten seconds. “The commander said you should come outside right now.” I realized I had to get out of bed and face the situation again. I went outside. The commander was waiting in the yard, with everyone in line, staring at me. The yard was too silent, with too many eyes. “Why didn't you come out when you heard the alarm, soldier?” “I was sleepy.” “Is that how you talk to an officer?” “No, sir.” “I didn't hear you!” “No sir!” I shouted. “No sir what?” “No sir that's not how I talk to an officer, sir!” The commander scrutinized me again, squinting his eyes to see if I was doing it on purpose. 10