'Runners of the Woods'

15:06:32

Sgt. Gary Sanderson

Task Force 141

Forest outside of Creedenhill, UK

Gary's POV

I sit at the edge of the woods next to Snake and the other guys I had already met along with several new faces. With the group mumbling to each other, I try my best to make light conversation with Snake, Royce, and Meat. Eventually, Captain Mactavish and Ghost walk to the front of us in full gear. I quickly double check to make sure I have all my equipment. My chest rig is outfitted with flash bangs and mock frags, five each. Slung across my shoulder is an ACR, specially designed to fire paint balls and fitted with a quick draw TAC harness for easy access. Strapped on my back are rappelling ropes and a canteen. I pull out the G18, which was holstered to my thigh, and re-holster it. Then I pull it out again to make sure I could get it quickly if needed. I check the rubber training knife we all had been equipped with, a bemused smile on my face as I flick it.

"Alright men listen up," Mactavish begins. All of the chatter dies down as everyone turns to face the captain, "OK, now we have three hours to get to the objective and secure the VIP," Mactavish continued as if this were an actual mission, "We should be back just before nightfall. Any questions? No? Good. Keep your eyes peeled and follow me." Mactavish concludes, jogging promptly into the woods.

Ghost nods at us, "Alright let's do this." Ghost remarks, following after his Mohawk comrade. We all begin a moderate jog into the woods. The light drizzle from before had picked up. It caused the ground to become very muddy. Water splashed freely onto my face with each step, causing my visibility to decrease steadily. Come on Gary tough it out, it's just a little rain. I told myself as I shouldered my rifle and pulled my Oakleys off my face to clean the mud off.

"Gary. Be careful, there are mud holes everywhere." A familiar female voice calls from behind me.

I turn my head to see Ruby and Gadget running behind me. "Where- oofh!" I begin before slipping and falling face first into the mud. Great first day on the Task Force and already I'm falling on my face, good job Gary. I curse myself mentally. I then feel myself being lifted off the ground by two people. Glancing to my sides, I see Ruby and Gadget each lifting me by my arms. My face immediately flushes with embarrassment. "Sorry ladies." I mumbled apologetically.

"Save it. We're falling behind." Gadget replies as she takes off jogging after the group.

I run a hand across my face, the mud coming off in slicks. "Yo Gary, ya forgot these." Ruby said from beside me as she hands me my mud covered sunglasses. Quickly I take them and shoved them into one of the many pockets of my PCU jacket.

"Thank you Sergeant Summers." I reply as I continue jogging. We soon find our way back into the midst of the group.

Royce notices my arrival, a perplex look on his dampen face. "Gary! Man what happened back there?" Royce asks over the continuing downpour.

"Nothing. Just slipped." I state, trying to keep up with the group.

Toad snorts, falling in next to me. "Ya need someone to keep an eye on ya?" Toad asked jokingly, a smirk fixed on his face.

"Gadget and I got it covered. Thank you very much." Ruby answers for me, patting me on the back. A small smile slips on my face, feeling a little better.

"Good to see we're all working together." Ghost said suddenly from beside us, making me jump. Now I see how he got his name, the man was sneaky.

About an hour into the run Mactavish motions for us to slow down. "Alright boys slow it down a bit, but stay frosty." He tells us. We all gladly slowed to a walk and caught our breaths.

Scarecrow scratches to back of his head, glancing at Mactavish then back to us. "Hey what do you think the captain meant by stay frosty?" he asks quietly.

"I don't know, maybe we-!" Meat begins but was cutoff by a whooshing sound and a paint ball hitting him straight to the crotch. He doubles over in pain, clutching his paint splattered privates.

Ozone's eyes snap in different directions, confusing on his face. "What the fuck was that!" he questions. More paint balls begin to fly through the air and we all start doing the sniper dance to avoid getting hit.

"Get down ya moppets! Ambush!" Ghost finally shouts, shoving people to the ground. I immediately drop to prone and look for where the paint balls are coming from. There are people dressed as terrorist hiding behind some trees shooting at us.

"Sanderson!" I glance up at the mention of my name to see Mactavish and the others taking cover behind a fallen tree. "Sanderson! On me! We'll cover ya!" Mactavish screams, waving me over. Everyone then rises over the log and returns fire. Seizing this opportunity, I sprint to the captain's side and take cover. "Alright listen up! Sanderson, on my go, toss a flash bang. Scarecrow and Royce will push them to the left, Snake and Ozone to the right. Everyone else will get them in the center!" Mactavish orders starkly. I pull out one of my flash bangs and awaited the captain's order. "Sanderson! Go!" With that, I pull the pin and lob the flash bang over the log. A loud boom follows and Royce, Scarecrow, Snake, and Ozone hop over the log and fire at the 'terrorists'. I rise from cover and aim down my sights at any stragglers caught out in the open. Soon enough, the shooting dies down and Mactavish orders everyone to cease fire. I check myself to see if I had been hit. Nope OK I'm good to go. I gaze over to Meat who is still on the ground writhing in pain. Mactavish looks down at him and chuckles. "Maybe next time I say 'stay frosty' you'll listen." He berates Meat lightly, helping him up. We then resume our trek through the woods.

Meat obtains a handkerchief from his pocket and tries to remove the red paint splatter while walking. "Ugh! Shit!" Meat swears loudly.

Worm stifles a laugh, "What's wrong Meat? You forget your tampons again?" Worm jokes.

"Fuck you man!" Meat growls in response.

"Ease up man. No need to start PMSing on us." Worm replies, fueling Meat's already jacked up temper.

"Shut the fuck up!" Meat spat sharply, ready to blow up completely on Worm.

"You shut the fuck up!" Worm spat back.

"HEY! IF YOU TWO NANCYS BOTH DON'T SHUT THE FUCK UP I'LL CASTRATE YOU WITH A GARDEN WEASEL AND FEED EM TO A DOG!" Gadget screams over the two's bickering. Both of the men go dead silent and move towards the front of the group.

I gulp, gravitating to Ruby. "Is she always like this?" I inquire quietly.

Ruby smirks, "Only when the guys get out of hand." She responds, laughing. I caught a glimpse ahead and notice everyone has stopped. Wordlessly, I walk to the front and realize the reason for the stop. In front of us is a fifty foot drop. I glance down and instantly shudder. Yeah I guess I forgot to mention how terrified I am of heights.

"Everyone ready your rappelling ropes." Mactavish instructs as he secured his rope onto a tree nearby the edge. I grab the spool of nylon rope that was on my back and latch it onto a tree. Everyone around me does the same and we move towards the ledge where the captain and Ghost stand.

"Gary what's wrong?" Ruby asks noticing my trembling.

"Um, well… I'm sort of afraid of heights." I whisper, scratching the back of my head embarrassed.

Ruby throws me a reassuring thumbs up, "Well don't worry I'll catch ya." she replies grinning.

"Alright! Go! Go!" Mactavish bellows as he slides down his rope. We all quickly follow suit and slide down to the ground. I practically fell to the forest floor and begin vomiting violently.

Snake is the first to notice, making his way over to me. "Buddy? You OK?" he inquires as he and Royce approach me.

I nod shakily, "Yeah just scared of heights!" I mumbling, wiping vomit from my mouth. Immediately, I feel myself being lifted up by Snake and Royce. We then walk until we come to a ridge overlooking a small hut.

"Alright boys the objective is just ahead. Meat and Royce will guard the south entrance and cut off avenues of escape," Mactavish explains, "Ghost, you'll take the front entrance. Sanderson you plant the breaching charge." Mactavish hands me a square piece of cardboard. I feel a whole weight of responsibility fall upon me as I take the charge from the captain's hand.

Immediately, I freeze thinking of the level of responsibility. "Come on Sergeant, I'm with ya!" Ghost said, pulling me out of my daze. Ghost and I run to the side of the door. I place the charge on the door and it explodes the door inward. Ghost and I dash in, side by side and take down the 'tangos'.

"Sanderson! Secure the VIP!" I hear the captain shout. I look to a man tied to a chair and tackle him out of harms way. Soon the activity dies down.

"God kid! Your supposed protect him, not hurt him!" I hear Gadget shout from across the room.

The man below me groans in pain, "Yeah no kidding! You hit like a bloody train!" he moans. I shoot up in embarrassment.

"Sorry, are you OK?" I ask, my words tumbling out of my mouth, as I help the poor man up.

Ruby approaches me, waving me off, "Don't sweat it kid, ya actually did good." she said with a pat on my back. I begin to feel a smile form on my face with this reassurance.

Ruby's POV

We were all back at camp at the edge of the woods, gathered around a fire relaxing after our PT. We all had just finished dinner. Gadget and I were conversing, occasionally scolding Meat for his stupidness, until I feel someone else take a seat beside us. I glance up to see none other than our Scottish captain, Mactavish. "Hey Johnny what's up?" I ask, flashing him a smile.

"Hello lass, so how'd it go with Sanderson earlier?" He inquires, returning my smile.

"Good! He's shy but so niiiiice!" I answer.

Mactavish nods, "Glad to hear. But why is he off by himself?" The captain asks, pointing off toward the woods. I glance over and find Gary leaning against a tree smoking a cigarette.

I blink, shrugging, "Um I'm not really sure… Gadget let's go talk to him." I chime, standing up swiftly. Gadget looks up from her chat with Ghost and follows after me. We walk to where Gary is standing, giving each other a look before I walk up to him.

"What's up Gary?" I said, tapping him on the shoulder. Gary instantly jumps and spins around.

He looks at us, a startled look on his face. "Oh good evening Miss Summers, Miss Robbi-" He starts but I place up my hand, stopping him.

"Relax kid, its Ruby or Veronica." I state calmly.

Gadget nods in agreement. "Yeah and please don't call me Miss Robbins; I had some creeper call me that a while back." Gadget adds, shuddering slightly.

Gary nods, scratching the back of his head. "Sorry ladies." Gary remarks, taking a drag of his cigarette. There is then an awkward silence between us.

Gadget coughs, breaking the silence. "So why you off here by yourself kid?" Gadget asks, glancing at the others in the group.

"Oh, am I supposed to be with the group?" He asks nervously, looking also at the group.

I shake my head, "No, it's just we figured you'd wanna hang out with the guys." I explain to him.

Gary's face falters a little, "Oh well I'm not sure if that's a good idea." He replies, looking at the ground sadly.

"Why not?" I ask a puzzled look on my face.

Gary takes a drag on his cigarette, blowing a puff of smoke into the black night. "Well I'm not so good at conversation. So they'd probably think I'm weird." He reveals.

"Nonsense, you did awesome in PT. So that's something to talk about." I state positively.

Gadget grins, nodding in accordances "Yeah, so come on silly." Gadget said pulling him along in the direction of the group. He meekly complies, following us to the fire.

Gary's POV

I take a seat beside the girls by the fire, fidgeting nervously. "Sanderson! Was sup ya crazy Okie!" Meat greets warmly.

Snake grins, nodding at me. "Yeah where'd you go man?" Snake questions.

I wave him off, smiling haft heartily. "Oh nowhere, just smoking." I reply.

"Well you're just in time bro!" Meat hollers.

"Huh?"

Mactavish sighs, shaking his head as a bemused smile sits on his face. "Their having another on of their 'intellectual discussions." He said in response to my question.

"Come on, captain answer the question!" Toad shouts, waiting for the Scotsman's answer.

Mactavish rolls his eyes, "Honestly lads is it really that impo-!" he begins but gets cut off by a bunch of 'hell yeahs'. "Fine, in response to your question, yes I have worn a bloody kilt! There, happy?" Mactavish replies. Everyone bursts out with laughter; the captain just rolls his eyes. I let out a slight chuckle at the thought of the big burly man across me in a kilt. Hmm maybe he's a bad ass like Brave heart. When the laughter has died down, Mactavish looks at me with a friendly smile. "So Sanderson? You found a nickname yet?" He questions.

"No not yet." I respond, shrugging.

Mactavish smirks, "Well don't worry. I'm sure you'll find one soon." He said, laughing slightly. A curious question begins to form in my head.

Inevitably, I let the question form into words and let them off. "So, captain how come you ain't got a nickname?" I ask with a small smile.

Mactavish shrugs, "Eh I've just never seen the need." he replies.

"So the geniuses here never gave you one?" I inquire, nodding at the others at the fire.

Mactavish looks into the fire, "I never said that." he states, a grin sliding onto his face.

"Yeah you should hear the story about when we were on mission in Beirut." Ruby blurts out, smirking devilishly at the captain. Everyone joins in smiling evilly at Mactavish, silently pressuring him into telling the story.

"Guys come on is this really necessary?" Mactavish groans, face palming. Everyone gazes at the captain with puppy eyes, finally getting to him. "Oh fine! Undermine me in front of the new guy I guess!" Mactavish states sarcastically.

Ruby grins, turning to me as she explains the story. "Well basically we were being chased by hundreds of pissed of Lebanese militia and Gadget here was frantically calling for Mactavish to evac us. He said the LZ was too hot, so Meat grabbed the radio and shouted 'beam me up Scotty' to Mactavish!" Ruby explains, trying to stifle her laughter. Everyone along with myself burst out laughing.

I caught my breath, wiping a tear from my eye. "Ya know captain I think I've got the perfect name for ya." I said with a grin the size of the moon.

"And what would that be lad?" Mactavish inquires, an interested smile sitting on his face.

"BIG MAC!" I cry out, bellowing with laughter.

Mactavish blinks, "Big Mac? You mean like the hamburger?" he questions. Everyone ponders this for a moment before erupting into laughter. The captain's face is twisted in slight confusion before turning into a smile. "I like you lad. You're funny." He utters confidently. Mactavish looks around the fire at everyone, "Alright I'm sure we've all had enough fun for one evening," He states "You can have the rest of the night off till 2200. As for me I'm heading off to do paperwork and then hopefully get some sleep." He walks away from the fire, yawning loudly. My whole body ached from the countless hours of PT, so I decide to head off to the barracks and catch a few extra Zs. I'm so completely worn out from the day's events that I basically fall asleep when I hit the sheets.

Author's Note: Hahaha….ha. Hi. ^^; Sorry for the non-existent updates. Life's been pretty hectic on my end and I haven't had the chance to really work on editing this story. (Though I have been able to work on the rough draft for Russian roulette). But it's summer! So, hopefully that'll mean more updates. No promises, because I did that last summer and it didn't really work out as planned.

Anyway…Jacob and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :) Please rate and review!