Page 12 of Scars of Fate

I didn’t answer.

I wasn’t here because of experience.

I was here because innocent people needed someone willing to walk into hell.

Everything else was secondary.

A burst of static interrupted my thoughts.

“Movement inside,” Russ reported. “Thermal shows multiple heat signatures approaching the main floor.”

I shifted my scope.

I couldn’t see through the walls, but shadows moved past the broken windows.

Dozens of them.

“They’re gathering the prisoners.”

Adam’s expression hardened.

“That’s our clock.”

I checked my watch.

01:17.

Once those trucks rolled out, finding the hostages in the mountains would become nearly impossible.

Adam checked the helmet-camera feeds.

“Hawk.”

“Ready.”

“Boone.”

“Ready.”

“Russ.”

“Ready.”

Each answer came back calm.

Steady.

Confident.

Adam finally looked at me.

“You ready?”

I checked the magazine in my rifle and seated it again.

The metallic click sounded unnaturally loud in the stillness.

“I was ready yesterday.”