Chapter One: Under Fire
One second, not even. One second and the world went from peaceful woodland like some kind of camping trip with the extended family, all the cousins, and sweet lemonade in hand to the hot fire reality that this was a warzone after all.
The team was rather small, fitting in two jeeps and the Captain's motorcycle, and made their way without urgency back towards camp. The sun had just started to creep out and filter speckled light through the trees. Bird's sang over the crunch of ground under tires and the hum of the motors.
It was a sleepy morning. The adrenaline high from anticipating a mission had worn off in a weird sense of disappointment and relief. Dugan and Jim Morita were joking about it over the space between their separate jeeps and it kept everyone else awake enough.
Peggy half-smiled, the jokes were dumb but their laughter was infectious. She had settled herself in the front passenger seat, resting against her rifle, just relaxed enough that she could have dozed if Gabe Jones hadn't kept driving them over larger rocks and jolting her from comfort.
Then the ground before them ripped open with a deafening blow.
The jeep lurched and rolled as a spray of earth, smoke, and fire hit them like a wave. Peggy gripped the side and seat of the vehicle. She couldn't be certain, she had her eyes fixed shut, but it felt like they went over three-sixty degrees, before hitting the earth with a bone-shaking thump.
Peggy's fingers ached, straining to hold herself in place. A ringing pain shot down her neck from whiplash. It rocked through her, suddenly seeming like a loud thing as the jeep skidded to a stop on its side.
Indistinguishable German shouting came from multiple directions. It sounded as if it were submerged in water or far away, but the sudden rat-tat of gunfire proved they were all too close.
She slid from the seat a little too fast, an alarm blaring in her head screaming at her to get moving, and landed between Jones and Dugan. The two men had been knocked to the ground, but recovered fast. This wasn't the first time they'd been thrown from something and it certainly wouldn't be the last.
"How's that for a wakeup call?" Jones shouted.
"It'd be better if it wasn't trying to kill us," Dugan quipped.
Jacques Dernier stumbled from his seat, falling on top of Dugan with a grunt. Peggy followed his eyes as he looked up. "Incoming!" He shouted, throwing himself to their left.
She saw it too. Grenade. Before she fully processed it, Peggy was diving down the slope with the others. Some responses had simply become hardwired and automatic from experience. She hit the ground into a roll and tumble downhill. Dirt and debris showered them, clogging their lungs.
Where was the rest of the team? Steve? Had they been hit? Or chased in the opposite direction?
Peggy dug her should in, skidding to a stop. It felt like someone poured sawdust down her throat. She lifted her head, spat out a powdered lump of dirt and dust, and shook off the dizziness. Now was not the time for 'how did they know where we were' or 'they followed us' or any other baffled words. It was time to move, survive, and speculate later.
She pushed herself up off the ground enough to know to stay down. The spray of bullets nearly took off her head. "Keep low!" Peggy shouted, throat raw.
"Where are they coming from?" Dernier shouted, holding an antitank grenade ready.
Dugan rolled on his back. He watched the spray and pointed south. "Fire's coming that way!"
Dernier nodded. In a swift movement he sprung to his knees to his feet, lobbing the grenade and hit the earth again.
The four exchanged looks, tensing for the explosion.
It hit. Loud.
The fire spray stopped.
They sprung to their feet. Peggy bolted the opposite direction of fire. They needed to get behind some cover. Dugan and Dernier sprinted past her, aiming for a partially overturned tree whose ripped up roots made a wall of earth and limbs. It would be their best option. She strained her legs. If only they could get there before-
The firing started again. Peggy ducked her head, her hands flying up as if they could shield her. It came sooner than expected. Multiple units? She thought as she desperately flicked her eyes in search of the next closest defense.
Jones grabbed her by the shoulder and thrust the pair of them behind a tree, ducking low. Peggy breathed deeply, relief in the unsafe relative safety. Glancing back, Dugan and Dernier returned fire from their acquired position.
It was slower this time, the gunfire. It came in short bursts here and there. Their attackers had moved into the woods, now moving from tree to tree. Peggy and Gabe would have to do the same if they were going to reach the other two.
She rose carefully, leaning her shoulder against the bark. After the first few movements, she caught on with their rhythm of move-fire-move fire. "Go," she muttered when an opening struck.
Jones ducked over to the next tree. She held her gaze on the known positions of the enemy. She was tense, rigid in wait of his go-ahead. He readied himself and looked back, positioning himself to fire.
Just as he gave the order a flashbang struck.
She heard him mutter a curse, feeling one slip from her tongue as well.
If she thought they couldn't see before, they really couldn't see now. Or hear.
Peggy dropped to the ground again. She didn't know where they were going to come from now. Best to make herself a smaller target. They could be anywhere; she had to find better cover than crouching beside a tree. Vision came back quickly, but likely not quickly enough to be safe where she was. Especially so if her guess about being up against than one force was right. She wasn't going to take that chance.
There was nearby undergrowth. Not the most comfortable of hiding spots, but it was her best bet and in the moment it could have been king sized bed the way she pulled herself into it.
The crunch of footsteps caught her breath. Just in time. Hopefully.
She tensed again, hoping she hadn't been seen worming her way into the thicket, hoping the others repositioned themselves. Heavy footsteps clamored towards her, soldiers looking for new cover at a different angle or soldiers closing in on a hopefully not that obvious prey.
Don't move. She told herself, immediately thinking how stupidly obvious that was. The German soldiers were near enough now that she could make out what they were saying.
"These aren't the ones the Lieutenant mentioned."
"Are you sure? The male is very common looking."
"I'm sure, these ones we take out."
From the sound of their voices one of them stood a just a few feet from her, the other was further past him.
Her heart pounded. Should she stay, wait them out and risk being found in such a vulnerable position? Or should she try for the element of surprise and leap out to take them on? Peggy peered through the undergrowth, all she could see was the soldier's mud encrusted boot. She could probably take him out from how close they were and might have a chance on the second guy, but there could be more lurking in the woods further down.
In any case, she needed to be ready, Peggy tilted her rifle up from under her. She could only guess the accuracy of her aim. She should wait it out, she told herself, they weren't out there to win any battle. Their goal was simply to get back to base. She breathed out slowly and carefully. That was their goal, so getting back to the commandos as quick as she could should be top priority, they all worked that much better as a group.
At their next words, she didn't have a choice.
"There, fire!" The one closest to her muttered.
She pulled the trigger. Peggy couldn't see the soldier, so the only indication that she had hit him was the thump of his gun hitting the ground before her and his cry of pain.
Her position was known, it was time to move. She moved to spring up and go after the second one, but couldn't. Her jacket was caught in the branches.
The first soldier saw her struggle out of the jacket, clutching the stub where his blown-off hand had been. He reached for his gun with his good hand.
Shirking out of the sleeves, she rolled just in time to avoid his sloppy shot. She quickly moved to her knees, lifting her gun to fire.
The second soldier turned his gun on her, but he hesitated once he spotted her. She took the opportunity.
"Get her!" The first soldier shouted.
Jones leaned out from behind his cover, raising his gun. "Carter! Behind you!" She spotted the other two poked their heads out from their tree, aiming their guns in her direction.
Before any shots were made she felt a blow to the back of her head, out before she hit the ground.