One team pushing pressure from below while another circles wide along the upper ridge.
Slowly tightening.
Boxing us in.
I scan hard across the terrain while bullets snap overhead.
There.
A narrow cut through the rocks thirty yards east.
Steep drop.
Tight choke point.
Ugly as hell.
Perfect.
“Lucas!” I bark. “Pass on the right!”
He spots it immediately and nods once.
“Move!”
Everything explodes into motion again.
Clay lays down cover fire while Miles pushes the civilians toward the opening. Dust erupts beneath pounding boots as gunfire cracks across the canyon walls.
I fire twice toward movement uphill.
A man drops behind cover.
Another immediately takes his place.
Too organized.
“Go!” I shout at the first group reaching the pass.
The opening barely fits one person at a time. Jagged rock scrapes shoulders as they squeeze through.
Perfect funnel point.
For us and for them.
I stay at the rear, firing short controlled bursts to keep heads down while Lucas helps shove the civilians through faster.
A bullet slams into the rocks inches from my face.
Stone explodes across my cheek.
Ignore it.
“Move!” I roar again.
Children cry somewhere behind me.
Mothers scramble through the rocks.
