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CHAPTER ONE
Alpha
Chaos.
It lingers in the air.
The piercing sound of screaming penetrates my ears as rapid gunfire threatens to drown it out. My chest heaves, my breath heavy, trying to fill my lungs. But I don’t have time to stop, to catch it.
I have a job to do.
People to protect.
With my rifle raised high and Master Sergeant Ortiz at my six, we take the stairs, two at a time. I signal to Ortiz when we reach the top of the landing. Almost deafening screams erupt from the room in front of us. My heart thumps in my chest, knowing we need to get everyone in the US embassy out before the insurgents take hold, dragging the US into a civil war in a country we wantnothingto do with.
We’re here to protectourpeople.
This war is their own to fight.
But they need to leaveourpeople the fuck out of it.
The screams become louder when I signal to Ortiz. He darts past me, reaching for the door handle and pauses briefly. I give him a head nod, then he yanks the door open, and I race forward, gun drawn high.
My eyes focus on the insurgents, three of them leaning over the female embassy workers. I don’t hesitate. Before the hostiles have a chance to pull up their ragged clothing and reach for their weapons, Ortiz and I fire.
Blood bursts from their wounds. The three men go down in quick succession, their lifeless bodies colliding with the floor asthe women clamber together. Their tear-soaked faces tell me everything I need to know about what was happening to them.
I hasten my steps, standing over the fucking scum bastards. My lip turns up, looking at the pricks before I unload another round each into their heads for good measure for putting these poor, defenseless women through that shit. The three women let out a scream, huddling in a tight group. Their fear and fragility seep off them in waves.
I reach out my hand, but one of the women tries to push me away, scared shitless that I am just another asshole here to hurt them too.
“C’mon, Landry, we gotta go, man!” Ortiz calls out, and I grit my teeth.
Fucking insensitive bastard!
Turning back to the women, I pull my balaclava down, showing them my face. “It’s okay. I’m Special Forces with the US. We’re here to extract you. Come with us. We’re going to get you out of here… okay?” I tell them in a soft voice, even though the continuous blast of bullets and explosions keep sounding around the rest of the embassy.
One of the women stands, nodding her head. “Thank God. Get us out of this godforsaken country. I want to go home.”
The other two raise to their feet and rush forward.
“Stay close to us, in a single line. Don’t veer off. It’s dangerous out there.”
“Landry, let’s go, let’s go!” Ortiz calls out.
I glare at him, then pull my balaclava back up to cover my identity.
“Do I need to remind you who your superior is, staff sergeant?” I grunt out the words to him as I edge past.
He shakes his head. “No, Chief Warrant Officer… but I do know we have an asset we need to get to.”
“Yeah, we do. ButeveryUS citizen in this building is an asset,Ortiz. We geteveryoneout.Understand?”
He tilts his head. “Yes, sir.”
“Let’s get these women to the extraction point.”
He nods, and we take off down the stairs, meeting with Major Gates and Sergeant Hopper on our way through with more embassy staff.
