Too Close to the Sun
Disclaimer: The Call of Duty series was created by Infinity Ward and published by Activision. I don't own the series other than my copies of the games.
5 minutes to go. The enemy has been hittin' us hard. If this keeps up for much longer, there'll be no one left. They keep sending a new man in for everyone killed, but we can't last forever. We have a deadline to meet, and we need to turn the tide or be shot and killed.
"Man down!" yells one of my mates. The crack of an M14 Enhanced Battle Rifle echoes as he goes down. I hate street fighting. It's the most brutal kind there is. You're packed up close with the enemy, who can hide anywhere in multiple dimensions. You've got snipers raining death from above, infantry creating a storm of bullets down the street and reinforcements popping out of the alleys to cut you off.
I don't know why this damned city is so important to die for. But that ain't my decision. I take aim with my FN SCAR-H, look down the ACOG scope and shoot an enemy arming a Javelin. I don't need anyone else giving me 'ell. I look up as a bullet pings to my right and gun a sniper out of the window. His body falls to the ground with a sickening thud. He doesn't get up. He never will.
A large explosion hits the enemy up street of us. Somebody got a lucky RPG shot. We take the time to advance. However, one of our boys goes down as a lunatic with a Desert Eagle leaps from his hiding spot and guns him down. We avenge our comrade almost instantly. I check our time. 4 minutes left. We're running out of time to turn this around.
After kicking down a door, we enter a building and begin sweeps. "Clear!" yells several soldiers. This should give those snipers a run for their money when we get upstairs. As we ascend, we reach a floor where some of the fire was coming from. One of our lads opens the doors, ever so slightly…
He's ripped to shreds as an RPD tears him up. Someone rolls a flash bang and I move up immediately, eyes down the ACOG. I see the bugger, still dazed, hand over his eyes. I don't give 'im a chance to recover. After he falls, we continue further in and slaughter the snipers. I check the time. 2 and a half minutes. We're turning the tide slowly. Let's pick up the pace.
After descending a flight of stairs, we exit and engage in a fire fight with enemies holed up in a small courtyard. I hear a metallic thud. Someone's thrown an M67 Fragmentation Grenade into our position. I begin to run, but am overcome when a force knocks the wind out of me, and I fall to the ground. My ears are ringing, and I think I'm bleeding. I sure as hell don't remember any warm liquid on my stomach earlier…
A teammate begins to drag me to safer cover. "You're going to be ok! Just hang in there!" he yells. Cheers mate. I appreciate the reassurance. I think I've only been hit by a little shrapnel…I should pull through. I look towards the courtyard. There are only three blokes left fighting against us. We're closing in. I check the time. One minute remaining. We've done it. We're going to win this one. We're going to…
"ENEMY NUKE INCOMING! IT'S OVER!" yells a frantic voice over the radio. My heart freezes. I look to the courtyard just in time to see a man go down, clutching a radio receiver. They've called a damn nuke. It's over. We're all going to die-them, us…everybody. I'm not going to make it out alive. I'm not going to be ok. I'm not going to be anything. Just dead…along with everyone else.
My dread comes to an end and is replaced by one of shock and awe. A bright light flashes-I don't know how far. It's beautiful, like a second sun. That beauty lasts a millionth of a second, because this sun is expanding into a gargantuan fireball. My flesh begins to burn. My retinas are seared. The heat begins to melt my body. What I don't live to see or hear is the massive mushroom cloud; the wall of dust headed my way or the thunderous roar of the explosion.
How the hell did one of those bastards manage to get 25 kills, anyway? Bloody pack of cheaters…