"I hear you."
"And second--" He doesn't finish his sentence. He does curse a few times, though. Some of the words are in English, and I know some are curses in Hebrew because I've heard my dad say them on rare occasions when he's royally pissed.
I watch as Avi pushes a small button on a headset I didn't realize he was wearing. He says something in Hebrew. I can't hear the response, because the receiver must be some kind of earpiece in his ear.
"So I guess you're not doing range exercises, huh?"
He shakes his head.
"Running exercises?"
He shakes his head. "Amy, I hate to break the news to you but you've just entered military war games."
"War games? With real guns?"
"With real paintball guns." He picks up his rifle and shows me the gadget attached to it, which turned the gun into a paintball gun. "It's dangerous. I'm taking you back."
"I'm sorry. I just wanted to say goodbye to you. It was an innocent mistake."
"All of your mistakes are innocent, and yet they still get you in loads of trouble. Come on," he orders. He talks into his headset again as he leads me back up the mountain. He groans into the microphone, then turns to me. "I just got word from Nimrod that Ori got captured. He did manage to hide his weapon right before they got him."
"What does that mean?"
He winces, obviously pissed at this new predicament. "It means I can't take you back, not now."
"I'll go back myself, then."
"When the other team sees you walking up the mountain, it'll give away my location. I can't let you do that. It could jeopardize my team." After making me put on his vest for protection, he motions for me to follow him.
"When will this exercise be over?" I whisper.
He gives a short laugh. "When one team wins and the opposing team members are either dead or captured. Dead meaning paintball dead... not real dead."
"Oh," I say, grateful for the elaboration.
Avi leads me over the rough terrain. I slip every once in a while because my high tops aren't exactly made for mountain climbing... or war games, for that matter. Avi is moving quickly, holding my hand so I don't fall on my ass.
"Get down," he mouths, motioning for me to lay on the ground next to him and stay silent. "Stay here." He crawls away, and is back in less than a minute. He takes my M16 away and hands me another one. "This is Oris. It's loaded with paintballs. They're dangerous, so don't shoot at close range and don't shoot unless fired upon."
"Don't worry." I might be a Jewish warrior woman, but I'm not about to shoot this thing without Avi telling me to.
I move right next to him as he pulls small binoculars out of his pocket and surveys the area. He pushes that button again on the headset he's wearing and talks softly into the microphone in Hebrew.
"We'll stay here and wait for instructions from the team leader."
"Who's the team leader?"
"Nimrod."
"Why not you?"
"Because Nimrod doesn't have a civilian tagging along on the mission who also happens to be someone he's romantically involved with."
Wait. Does that mean... "Avi, were you the team leader ten minutes ago?"
"It doesn't matter."
Oh, no. It's bad enough I've been dragged into military war games because of my own curiosity and stupidity. But Avi being stripped of his team leader status because of me is awful. "Let me be captured so you can be team leader again."
He shakes his head. "Not happening."
"Why not?"
"Because this is real, Amy. Even though this isn't real war, we're supposed to act like it is. It's not capture the flag in gym class. In a real situation, I'd give my life up to protect yours. I know it and my entire squad knows it. That makes both of us liabilities."
I'm quiet as this new news sinks in. "You'd die for me, Avi?"
He pulls the mask off his face. His soul is reflected in the depths of his pupils. "I'd do just about anything for you."
Heart-melting time. I'd do anything for Avi, even die for him. I'm not sure he's convinced I'm tough enough to deal with the war games scenario. One thing I know for sure, though, is that I've single-handedly ruined my boyfriend's reputation. He got demoted because of me. How am I supposed to fix it?
Avi, oblivious to the fact that I'm ruining his military career, talks to his squad and waits. Then he talks again, getting information from Nimrod and passing back information from our end. "Doron got hit." He lets out a breath and shakes his head. "This isn't good."
"Where's Nimrod?"
"Near the other team's headquarters, where Ori is being held. Come on," he says. "Crawl on your stomach to the big rock over there. Stay low."
I follow Avi to the big rock, my knees scraping the desert floor and my monoboob pressed to the ground. I don't complain, but look on the bright side of being caught in the middle of war games: I'm with Avi.
I wished on the shooting star, and my wish came true. Next time I should specify for it not to be while he's in the middle of war games, but whatever. Being with Avi is better than the alternative, any day.
Avi is listening to instructions from Nimrod. He motions me forward, so we're side by side. "Udi is covering Nimrod so he can rescue the hostage. I told them they needed a second cover man, but Nimrod ordered me to stay put."