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So, I find my footing and keep going, pushing through the searing pain.
Then, out of the corner of my eye, I see Ortiz’s gun lock. He tries to unjam his magazine, taking his eyes off the hostiles, and a bullet lodges straight between his eyes. Lucy screams, her crying even louder now as I hold her tighter, trying to force her eyes away from the carnage. Ortiz’s lifeless body falls straight to the ground in a heap. The rest of us glance at him, knowing we can’t stop, even though seeing another member of our team going down hurts like fucking hell.
We run faster with the knowledge other team members are being hit with bullets while we run, but we all keep going while sheltering our assets. The helo pilot spins up the rotors, ready for takeoff. We have to hope those assholes don’t have any more RPGs in their arsenal because one of those will take us all down in the helo without even batting an eyelid. Those missile launchers are deadly when used correctly, but I doubt the insurgents have the first clue how to use them properly.
Parks and Nolan take up the rear as the hostiles gain ground. They stop running and stand firm, laying down cover fire to gain us an advantage. Gates, Churchill, Warner, Darwin, Hopper, and I continue to the helo with the ambassador and his family.
Gates and I reach the helo first. Bullets whizzing through the air, the occasional one hitting the side of the helo.
“You guys better get the fuck in here before these assholes overrun us,” Hunter calls out from the pilot seat as I place Lucy into the helo.
“It’s going to be okay, little one. We’re gonna get you out of here,” I tell her.
She must be all of five years old as she nods at me, her beautiful big doe eyes full of tears, looking up at me with so much hope before I turn back, grabbing the son off Gates and hoisting him up into the helo next to his little sister. “In you go, buddy. Take care of your little sister, okay?” I tell him, and he nods, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.
A whistling sound echoes through the air when another RPG is launched toward the helo.
“Fuck!” Gates calls out as the rest of the team rushes for the helo, the ambassador and his wife jumping in before the hostiles rush toward us.
I leap in, and Gates follows as the other guys hang outside the helo, shooting anything that moves. The grenade lands short, exploding before the helo, sending a shockwave through my body and dust and debris through the air.
“We gotta go. We gotta go. The helo won’t tolerate too many blast waves of that magnitude. Gates, get your men in herenow!” Hunter calls through the comms, the helo preparing to lift off the ground.
While the dust settles, I glance out, seeing Parks and Nolan out for the count from the hit of the RPG. Their bodies are nothing but mangled messes. My chest squeezes as I bring mygun up and begin firing more rounds at the hostiles approaching as they return fire on us. “Get down! Get down!” I yell at the ambassador and his family.
They duck, keeping their bodies small while Gates and I kneel at the entry of the helo, waiting for Churchill, Warner, Darwin, and Hopper to get the fuck inside, but they’re allowing us as much time as we can to get off the ground.
Suddenly, a stray bullet slams into the front of the helo. The chopper begins to wobble, with it being slightly off the ground already. I spin, glancing at Hunter in the front, seeing his head flopped to the side, a bullet hole in the windshield with blood splatter across it.
“Pilot down, pilot down. I’m taking over. Gates, you need to get everyone in hereright now. I’m taking off,” I order my CO before I step through the center opening. I drag Hunter out of the seat, thrusting him through the opening into the back. Lucy screams as I sit in the pilot position—a job I do most of the time on these missions—and I gain control of the helo. Peering to the left, I spot my men preparing to jump into the helo.
But Churchill and Warner are both pummeled in the back with bullets before they drop to the ground. Blood sprays all over the ambassador and his wife. She lets out a wail as Darwin and Hopper climb over Churchill and Warner’s bodies and begin hoisting themselves into the helo.
That was all I needed to see—we have to get the fuck out of here.
I begin the ascent, pulling back on the collective control stick when I hear more screaming. I turn back, seeing the hostiles trying to drag Darwin and Hopper back out of the helo by their legs.
Gates fires as best as he can, but there are too many. So I use the stick to lift higher, angling it so they have no choice but to let go of our men. My heart races so fucking fast as I try everythingto get the hostiles off. Gates shoots, but it does no good. One by one, both men on my team fall, their bodies dropping to the grass below.
The second their bodies hit the deck, the insurgents are on them.
Beating them.
Torturing them.
Killing them.
Gritting my teeth, I spot another hostile with an RPG. I turn the helo, darting off in another direction and deploying countermeasures, avoiding the grenade as it zooms past the helo, missing us completely.
I fight to calm my erratic breathing while heading the chopper for the base.
My heart pounds in my chest, my soul screaming in agony that we lost our entire team except for my CO and myself.
All becauseIdecided to go back.
I feel sick.
We couldn’t even take our brothers’ bodies back with us.
