It had been months of living under the sweltering desert sun and a relentless enemy always looming.

"Our little friend is still following us," Gaz hummed in amusement as his eyes watched the omega through his binoculars. Ghost and Soap turned around to see for themselves.

"It's been weeks." Soap wiped the sweat from his brow. "You'd think they'd go home by now!" He said it loud on purpose so the omega could hear him.

Ever since they deployed to the local desert village and started their rounds, an omega started following them around at a healthy distance. They'd called out to the omega before but never got a reply, leaving the team to think it was the language barrier. They just kept following the team of alpha and beta soldiers.

The lead alpha of the task force, Captain Price, gestured for Gaz to hand over the binoculars so he could get a good look. He hummed thoughtfully.

"It's not uncommon for omegas in the area to be sold off into arranged marriages. They must have run away from home or been rejected by an unhappy mate." Price could only assume out loud.

The omega kept a large berth of distance, enough for the task force to feel comfortable, so they ignored their little shadow. They were still waiting for the omega to realize that it wouldn't be getting anything.

On a particularly bad night they couldn't help but notice their persistence. It was another night under the stars. The only cover they had was behind a half demolished building, and the enemy was miles away, taking potshots at the dirt whenever they saw a hint of someone's head peeking up over the fallen bricks.

The enemy had bad aim, but it was still annoying to have fire whizzing above their heads.

The 2 betas, Soap and Gaz, were telling jokes in the dark while mixing up some MREs to eat, while the 2 alphas, Ghost and Price, kept an eye on the enemy in the distance.

They hadn't poked their heads up in a while, so the sudden burst of fire caught their attention.

"Our little omega friend again," Soap said to ease the team. Sure enough, it was the omega coming up the dirt hill. The enemy must have spotted them. Thankfully the omega dropped down and avoided it. Following them for this long, Soap couldn't help his instincts nagging at him to help. He picked up a spare MRE, fully intending to toss it to the omega.

"Jonny? What are you up to?" Ghost's gravelly voice was questioning. His amber eyes glanced down at the food.

"You better not. They'll never leave if you feed them.

"Don't be like that. What's the harm?" Soap pushed back, but his eyes lingered on Captain Price, who watched the exchange silently. He was the captain and lead alpha; it would be his choice. Price cleared his throat and pulled at the heavy vest on his chest.

"Only one" Price warned, but he had a soft spot for omegas. This one had to be starving out there.

Soap had a cheeky smile when he tossed the MRE at the omega, who in turn flinched at the bag landing near them. The task force looked on with anticipation to see what the omega would do. An instinctual pride took over when they saw the omega starting to fiddle with the bag to eat. It was something at least.

Price hummed in contempt. It couldn’t be easy following them for so many miles but this omega was a survivor. Everyday it seemed like the omega was getting just a little closer to them

“Let’s just hope it doesn’t get cold tonight or we might be sharing more than just food” He warned hiding his concern for the omega that was clear on his face.