Not too much detail but enough

Eric took his time explaining his presence. Helen sat on the bed and Eric paced around the room, keeping his brain running through things. When he got to the last week, he stopped pacing and sat on the ground in front of Helen.

"About a week ago, we had a few people approach one of our informants about something they wanted us to know. Through the grapevine, it was passed to the leaders that there was a smaller resistance group in this area that badly needed help. We spent a day trying to figure out if this was true or not. If it was, it meant there was the chance of others too. If it wasn't, that meant that someone knew about us and wanted us to get discovered. I was on the truth side. Not many others were. I pleaded my case that we needed to go check it out and they decided to send me here alone. I packed up a few things for myself and some supplies for whoever was living here and headed out. I got here earlier today and, well the rest is history." Helen sat there and looked Eric up and down. He seemed genuine but she still couldn't fully trust him. That's when the noises started.

At first, there were just a couple voices talking in the distance. Then the sound of engines could be heard. Then the sound of gravel crunching under tires and boots. The voices were a lot clearer now. Eric stood up and put his finger to his lips, telling Helen to keep quiet. He got closer to the hidden entrance and listened closely. He stayed there for a minute before walking back to the bed as the sounds faded into the distance.

"Well it seems both sides were right. There was a group here that needed help. But they beat us to them and wiped them out. From what I could make out, they got a tip that a resistance group would be making their way into the town. So somebody tried to double cross us. Luckily I'm the only one here. And luckily you let me hide out here." He smiled up at Helen softly and he saw her eyes soften and her shoulders shaking slightly. "Are you alright?"

She reached a hand up and wiped her eyes. "Ever since that day, I've been hearing those sounds and distant voices in my nightmares. And now I know they're really out there again..." Her voice trailed off into a soft whisper then into nothing as a sob caught in her throat. Eric could tell that she wasn't breathing and moved to the bed beside her.

"Breath. It's alright. Let it out." He placed his hand on her upper back and rubbed slow, small circles to help relax her. It was something he had learned early on to help calm and quiet the children who were scared or upset. Before he knew it, Helen had turned and wrapped her arms around his shoulders and was crying into his t-shirt. He carefully wrapped his arms around her too and held her. It seemed like this was a long time coming for her and it had been bottled up for a while.

Maybe ten minutes in, Helen's tears had stopped but Eric could still feel her shaking and hear her sobbing. He just kept his hand on her back going in circles and let her get it all out. They stayed like that for almost an hour until finally Helen slowly pulled away from Eric.

"I can trust you to stay here tonight, right?" She wiped her eyes with her hands and looked up at Eric, eyes red and still wet.

"Of course. I wouldn't dream of leaving you here like this alone."