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So, the ambassadormustbe in the basement area.
Taking a left, I turn, bringing up my handgun. I take out another hostile coming down the stairs. His body jerks with the bullets, then he falls over the railing, his body slamming onto the tiled floor at my feet. I curl up my lip at the sight and keep going.
Before I rush in, I feel a double tap on my shoulder. Spinning, I shove my gun into the stomach of the asshole behind me, ready to pull the trigger. But Gates sideswipes the gun from me so fast as he signals to my comms. I glance past him to see Churchill, Warner, Ortiz, Darwin, Hopper, Parks, Nolan, and even Clutterbuck have come back to help. A slow smile lights my face when I pull my comms into my ear while my team continues to fire at the incoming hostiles.
My eyes stay focused on my CO with his hard on mine. “Youeverdisobey me again, I will have you removed from my command. You understand me, soldier?” Gates yells into my comms.
I nod but don’t answer before we start moving through therooms, checking them individually.
“We don’t leave our brothers behind. You know that, Landry. You stay and fight. Weallstay and fight,” Churchill calls, shooting another hostile.
“Then let’s complete our mission,” I tell the rest of my team.
My guys surge forward in a file, taking out insurgents as we go. We edge for the basement, where I suspect the ambassador and his family will be hiding. When we make it to the door, Gates and I split off from each other to fight these assholes trying to take down the door. I bring up my rifle, firing off round after round, the same time they fire back at us. There are ten of us and only four of them at the door, so Gates and I blast off the rounds quickly, their blood splattering over the basement door.
We surge forward, Clutterbuck, Parks, and Nolan on our six protecting us when we try to breach the basement. I pull out a breaching charge and place it on the secure door. I activate the charge and tap Gates, signaling to move back. “Fire in the hole,” I call down the comms.
The team all turn, huddling together to shelter from the debris when the explosion ignites. The door breaks from the hinges, flying off toward us, only narrowly missing Warner as it lands on the concrete floor with a heavy thud.
We stand and rush for the door. The ambassador stands at the entrance with a gun in his hand. His wife and children behind him are terrified.
“Ambassador Kelly, we’re your ride out of here, sir. But we need you and your family to come with us.Now!” Gates orders.
He lowers the gun when I surge in. Nodding at his wife while I reach down for the youngest of his children, I say, “It’s okay, ma’am. I got her.”
Her tiny arms loop around my neck, clinging on for dear life as tears stain Mrs. Kelly’s cheeks. She reaches out, gripping my arm. “Please don’t let them take my Lucille.”
“I will die trying, ma’am,” I reply honestly while Lucille snuggles into me.
“I got you, Lucy. I got you,” I tell her.
Gates takes the other child. Churchill takes charge of Ambassador Kelly, and Hopper grabs his wife. The team surrounds us for cover. We head out with Gates, Hopper, Churchill, and me all surrounded as we protect our assets. We run in formation, the insurgents closing in. It’s not far from the back door and the helo parked on the lawn.
We can make it.
Bullets whip past us as the hostiles shoot on approach. My team lay cover fire as we run for the helo, making it to the back patio and racing down the stairs to the lawn. Suddenly, a surge of hostiles rush around the corner of the embassy, barreling straight for us.
One is holding a rocket-propelled grenade—RPG—launcher.
“Fuck! Grenade,” I yell out when the insurgent launches the weapon straight for us.
We all duck. Luckily, the shoulder-fired missile wasn’t aimed correctly, and it extends over our heads and slams into the side of the embassy. The explosion dropping us to the grass, my body covering Lucy as she cries so hard with the sheer amount of fear running through her. I try to shelter her from the debris raining down over us before a slab of the wall begins to fall. I turn back. The blast has knocked Clutterbuck out cold, but none of us can reach the staff sergeant in time before the heavy side of the building comes down on top of him.
“Nooo!” we all cry out in unison, but the hostiles are running hard and fast for us, and we don’t have time to bring him home—we never leave our fallen behind, so this is hard.We have to get out of here and now.Rushing, we stand. I grab Lucy in my arms and start running for the helo. Gates has the young boy, and the others continue with the ambassador and his wife.
The insurgents begin to rapid fire on us, and we run faster than our legs can carry us to get out of here. The fact my men were dragged back into this dogfight because I chose to go back doesn’t get past me.
But Ican’tthink of that right now.
I have to get these assets on the helo and get the hell out of here.
That’s my mission right now.
My mission later will be to dissect this whole shit show.
Bullets continue hurling at us, flying into the ground, flipping up chunks of grass at our feet. A bullet lodges into my back at the side, and I gasp, feeling the burn ignite inside me. I stumble for a second, but I know if I go down, if I stop fighting, Lucy will be in danger, and I might not get to go home to my wife, Livvy.
That’s not something I can live with.
