Helen sits surrounded by rock and takes another drag from her smoke. Slowly, things are starting to sink in, and the picture that comes from that isn't a pretty sight. Maybe that's what she gets for taking things way too lightly on the way in. She runs her hand over her face as she thinks about how to get out of this mess, but some noise disturbs her thoughts. No, no noise. The signal.

She switches off the flashlight so whoever is outside can step into the small cave without exposing them to possible observers. Not that it'd matter much. As soon as the tarp is back over the hole, she switches the light back on and the room is bathed in the dull red light again. She recognizes the man as the supply sergeant from base. The other passenger on this harmless scenic tour next to herself. His name doesn't come to mind though. Something with A, she thinks, but she isn't too sure.

Harmless scenic tour my ass...

At least she partly knows what he's going to tell her: She's calling the shots now. She's medical branch and it's been what, 5 years since PLC ? Not like anyone out there gives a shit about any of that, that's not how all this works. He lights a cigarette and grimaces. 'Perimeter's as secure as can be. We've done what we could with what we've got left, but if they come to get us and really mean it, we won't be able to hold 'em off forever.' He doesn't have to speak on and thankfully doesn't. Everyone knows the old stories what the guys lurking out there do with those they catch alive. None of them particularly wants to find out first hand how true those grisly tales really are... There is an awkward pause as both just look at each other and the map on the ground. Some lines are hard to see in the red light, but most of those aren't important right now.

"Any news about getting us out of here ?" She asks. "The Lieutenant, though ? Close call, looks pretty bad. Fighting chance, if he makes it through the night. And that's being generous. Some of the others could also use an airlift out." she quickly adds, but something in her opposite's face tells her he's understood what she wants to say. No shit, all of us could, really..."Anything from base ?"He shakes his head and exhales some smoke through his nose. 'No flight operations. Kabul's got a bad weather front predicted for later today. If anything can get up higher than the average morning wood, division has grounded it. They'll get us as soon as they can, but until then, we'll have to make do.'

Well, shit. So much for that. She's already figured as much, but it's like hearing someone else say it out loud makes it more... real ?

"I see." What else to say to that ? She crunches some numbers in her head. Subtracting the wounded and the towelies whom she doesn't feel like trusting fully, she ends up with 19. Assigning a bunch of nurses and excluding herself, about 15 or 16. Knowing what she does about the supply situation ? It's bad.

They hash out some more details, but Helen's mind is mostly wondering how she could get into this shit. No, she knows what got her into this, but having her first time out of the wire already spiral out of control like that ? That's a very bad omen for whatever's still to come. If there's something to come. That's what she gets for wanting to play soldier and jumping at the chance to get out into the boonies... Should've known better ! After her partner has left the cave again, she lights up another cigarette and looks at the map on the ground. But to her in this moment, it's more like trying to stare down her own mortality. In the end, she blinks first, spending the rest of the night coming to terms with the realization that not making it out of this is more likely than she likes to admit to herself. That the notion that death is something that mostly happens to other people is a pretty comfortable blanket, but also a pretty thin one.

That night, she learns what fear is. Not the chickenshit daily life 'No, I can't talk to the guy' fear. And she tries coming to terms with how small and unimportant she is in the grand scheme of things. That she might have seen her family for the final time just a few months prior.

She makes her peace with God that very night.
After that, all thats left to do is wait for what will happen. Try to work through the fear. Turn it into something useful. Put that to work.
Putting as much elbow grease into the project she calls 'staying alive' as she can.