"But you can't know for sure," I finish the sentence for him. He can't know when he'll be back, and he can't know that they won't just turn around and send him elsewhere, right after it's done.

There's all this tension suddenly welling up in the back of my throat, heart hammering, stomach churning, and I've got this unfamiliar, really fucking weird urge to cry. It's been too fuckin' much, and I just feel... Stupid. I feel stupid for hoping... For hoping for something I'm not even real sure was ever possible.

But instead, I cough out a laugh, pinching at the bridge of my nose and flicking my cigarette butt out the window.

Peacekeepers. What a bunch of bullshit. They're sending him right into the fucking thick of it. This isn't even in the same league as those safe little military bases.