We pulled up about one mile down the road from the compound, covered from the other buildings around us. Will was first out of the Humvee and the first to put his gear on. Eldridge zipped him up for me considering I could hardly stand to be near him. I was so angry with him and so afraid at the same time. "Everyone ready?" he asked as Eldridge put the helmet on Will's head.
"Yes, sir," Sanborn answered Will, looking over at me as he equipped himself with extra ammo and a couple of extra handguns. Eldridge did the same. I turned to him and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Eldridge, I want you to be extremely cautious, okay?" I asked giving him a small shake. "Keep your eyes open."
"I've got this," he replied, looking back at me. He swallowed nervously as he clipped an extra gun on his utility belt. I rubbed my forehead and turned around to find Will standing inches away from me. I tried as hard as I could not to look into his eyes. My stubbornness and pride rushed over me. He grabbed one of my hands with his gloved one and squeezed, causing me to look at him anyway.
"Gia…" he began talking when Brown came in and interrupted everything. I held onto his hand for a second longer.
"Alright, girl, you coming?" Brown questioned, raising an eyebrow at me as he moved his rifle between his hands. I nodded solemnly, not even having the fight left in me to say something rude back.
"Keep an eye on her," Will ordered as I walked between the three of them over to Brown. Brown nodded. "I fucking mean it, Brown. Just like she is one of your own."
"Keep your fucking panties on, James. She's in the same uniform isn't she?" I stood beside Brown uneasily. I had no idea what their tactics were or how they handled things. I didn't know what their weaknesses were or any of the important stuff you need to know before you head into a battle with a group of other people. "You all will head in with me and Tyler. Rakton, you will be taking out a tactic unit that's a couple of buildings over. We have intel that a lot of his bombs and weaker units are at his actual compound. He's using the bombs to even the playing field. His beefed up unit orchestrates from the building Rakton will be heading to with my three other men. They're the best of the best." The rest of the Hype squad walked over from their Humvee and gave me a sheepish greeting. It was a bit more friendly than the one I expected. "This is Allen, Shepherd, and Bridges." He held his arm out to each of the equally large men. Allen had an enormous barrel chest compared to the other two. Bridges was my height, but made up for it in muscle. And Shepherd was of Hispanic descent by the looks of his face. I gave a nod of my head and stepped over to them. "We're going to try and keep this as quiet as possible. Let's get this done fast and stop this bullshit." Each of the men nodded in unison. "Alright, you guys, head out," Brown spoke, turning to face the four of us.
"Got you, boss," Shepherd snapped. Shepherd looked at each of us and nodded. "Let's go." I gave a small wave of my hand. I took one more second to look at Will before trudging along behind the three of them. He looked back at me, his eyes as serious as his face. It was all I could do to keep myself from shaking and breaking down. I wanted to turn around and kiss him like I never had before. My brain was buzzing through the list of things I hadn't gotten a chance to tell him yet. I breathed in deeply and quietly, trying to remind myself that I was about to have guns pointed at me and lord knows what else. I had my daughter to think about right now. I had to stay alive for her. One block away from the building, we shuffled into a single file line with Allen in front. I held onto my gun, keeping it as tight to my body as I possibly could. There were hardly any lights on and the street was almost like an alley. Allen held up his hand, causing all of us to stop. He pointed his fingers down the street and held up 3 fingers. Great. Men on the street, already. He peeked his head around, ever so slightly and turned back to look at us. He pulled his knife from his belt. We each did the same, putting our rifles over our shoulders by the strap. Before I could take a second to think, the guys were around the corner in a fury. For big men, they moved incredibly fast. Each one of them slowly dropped the guys to the ground, wiping their blades off on their victim's clothes.
They pulled their rifles back out and began to rush in, me following behind them. It was pitch black in the hallway. I feared in the back of mind that I was going to run into someone or something and give away our position. Shepherd held a hand up behind him to stop me, gently. I was grateful for that. He tapped me twice, the second tap higher than the first. Stairs. I eased my foot up, sliding it over silently before raising it, climbing the stairs carefully. I could feel my heart beat in my chest and my ears. I highly doubted that even if someone was giving us orders at that moment that I would hear them. Shepherd stopped me again and a light appeared about 5 feet in front of us, over a landing. We crept up to it, me focusing on the darkened stairs behind us, my eyes hopelessly searching for someone to pop out at any second. I stopped when I felt Shepherd stop moving and turned to watch Allen give us direction. He and Bridges nodded at each other, guns ready, before popping into the light, quickly scanning the room. I was expecting bullets to go flying and a whole horde of men to come running up the stairs, but nothing happened.
"Empty," Allen whispered, dropping his gun.
"What?" I asked in a confused tone, stepping around to look inside the room myself. It was completely empty. Only tables with loose odds and ends of ammo sat there. A few knives were scattered around the room along with a few pounds of explosives. We were expecting a full blown army in here and the first room was empty. It was highly unlikely for this type of situation with Saeed out there knowing the military was coming after him. Unless they had already geared up and were waiting at the compound…
"Let's head up to the top and see what's going on." We continued up the stairs at the end of the hallway which were now lit. Allen held his hand up again. We stopped and I heard voices loudly talking in Arabic. He held up 2 fingers and motioned for us to continue. At the top of the stairs, Allen opened fire along with Bridges. Before Shepherd and I made it up the stairs the two men were dead. We got into position anyway considering how loud their guns were. No one came running down the stairs. We all looked at each other and charged the hallway, peering into each room with our rifles as we ran by, rushing up the next set of stairs to find it completely empty. "I'm going to radio to Brown." Allen stepped into the small room filled with bunks and paced, using his large radio to call out to Brown. There was no response. I swallowed hard. What if something had happened to Will? What if Eldridge missed someone in his scanning... I unclipped my helmet for a second and tried to breathe. He wasn't dead. He couldn't be dead. I should have demanded he let me stay with them.
"We're moving back out now," I ordered, clipping my chin strap back on. Allen balked at me and raised an eyebrow. "What?" I asked, fear clutching my throat. I wanted to scream and cry all at the same time. I wanted to be safe. I wanted to know Will was safe. That's when I heard it… the explosion. More like felt it... I could feel it in my chest, even under my bullet proof vest. It rattled my insides and it left an uncomfortable taste in my mouth.
"The fuck?" Allen asked, staring around at the walls.
"She's right," Shepherd added, looking around behind him to make sure the building was still intact. "We need to check on them. If the unit isn't here, they're in there." We hustled down the stairs, Allen showing his speed and strength by skipping five steps at a time and jumping almost entire sets of steps. Outside smoke was billowing from the street we had just walked down about 20 minutes before. I thought I was going to vomit again. It was light gray, so nothing major was burning, but it was still enough to alarm us all. We filled back into a single line and jogged towards the compound. A couple of Humvees had pulled up outside of the compound, directly in front of it. Six men were rushing inside, we joined them. The compound was huge. It was almost like a palace in the middle of a lot of shitty broken down buildings. It angered me to know someone lived in such class while the people around him lived in poverty. The top floor of the north wing was on fire, it wasn't enough to be serious by being on the top floor, but it fire can still spread. We ran inside and found ourselves at a literal fork in the road. There were two main hallways. One for the north wing and one for the south.
"Rakton, you come with me. Bridges and Shepherd, you take the north wing," Allen ordered, motioning me to follow with his hand. We could hear gunshots coming from somewhere in our wing. It caused us to break out into a jog, haphazardly peering into rooms that we past. There were dead bodies in almost each room that we passed by. We ran to the end of the hallway and turned, following its direction when we came to a second split. The hallway that branched off seemed to lead into the building directly next door to the compound. Allen whistled and guided his gun down the hallway. "This shit is huge."
"Yeah, I can see that. What the hell are we gonna do?" I asked hurriedly, trying my best not to shake him. My boyfriend was out there, possibly dying and we were standing there admiring the size of the place.
"Relax, Rakton, I want to find my squad as much as you do." He tapped his chin as gunshots rang out again. "I'm betting they went this way. As least that's what it sounds like."
"So help me, Allen…" I started.
"Just trust me, fuck," he snapped, jogging down the hallway. I followed, but not with a lot of enthusiasm. We made it to the end of the hallway again and ran down a set of stairs. We found two dead bodies of insurgents. By the way they were shot I knew the wounds were from Sanborn. He always shot men in the shoulder and in the stomach. "Good sign," he stated proudly, as if he would get some recognition for choosing the right path at time like this. We walked down the stairs when I heard 3 gunshots and an audible yell. We turned the corner on the steps and found Eldridge holding his leg, screaming. There was a rush of blood coming from his thigh. I screamed his name and ran over to him, scanning the hallways with a quick flash. Allen stood beside us, monitoring the area as I sat down beside Eldridge, pulling packs from his backpack. I pulled out clotting agents and ace wraps of all kinds.
"Why the fuck did they leave you behind?" I asked in a loud whisper, my hands ripping open the agent and pouring it on the wound. Eldridge moaned loudly in pain and gripped his leg, looking at me with pain in his eyes.
"They wanted me to guard the stairs. They're somewhere in this hell hole. Last time I heard Sanborn come on the radio he said they found another set of stairs leading down and they were going down them." I nodded and tightly wrapped an entire roll of gauze around his leg along with an ace wrap. I knew he couldn't be down there much longer.
"Allen, you're gonna have to carry Eldridge back out to the medic," I ordered, rising to my feet to look at him. He dropped his rifle and smirked.
"Excuse me?" he asked looking down at Eldridge before looking at me again.
"I don't think I stuttered there, big boy. You're large enough to carry a cow. I can't carry him. I need to find my squad." Eldridge moaned again, holding his leg.
"Whatever," he sighed, putting his rifle on his shoulder before bending down to pick Eldridge up. "You just going to plow through here on your own?"
"Whatever is necessary." He laughed a little and shook his head.
"Hey, you think you can handle it… go for it." He hiked Eldridge up over his shoulder, being careful not to disturb the wound on Eldridge's thigh.
"I am more than capable of handling this situation, but thanks for the confidence, asshole," I quipped, pulling some of Eldridge's weapons and ammo off of the ground for my own use. "Just get him to a safe zone. And watch your asses." I handed Eldridge and Allen both a handgun and watched them climb the steps.
"See ya, Rakton, and good luck," Eldridge called out with a half assed salute from over Allen's shoulder. It was deathly quiet after Allen's footsteps subsided. I took a deep breath and made my way down the hallway. I had no idea where these stairs could be. I checked the rooms down the first hallway… nothing. I picked my pace up to a jog and found a few more hallways. I pushed each door open only to find more ammo, equipment, beds, storage space, I sighed. This was a mess. I found a large heavy metal door at the end of the hallway and kicked it open. I had never been so happy to see stairs before. I could hear gun shots. I ran down the steps, my rifle raised. An insurgent stood on the landing, desperately trying to reload. I shot him in the head and continued my descent. Sanborn yelled something causing me to practically jump the entire length of the last set of steps.
"It's a friendly!" I called out before stepping out into the opening.
"Gia?" called out Will.
"It's just Rakton, don't shoot." I slowly walked into the opening, my hands up. Sanborn had a small amount of blood trickling from his arm. Will was hunched over the biggest bomb I had seen in my life. His gear was completely off, the chest piece and helmet sitting a few feet away from him. Will wiped his forearm across his sweaty forehead and looked at me.
"What the hell are you doing here?" he asked rising to his feet.
"Nice to see you, too, Will. Our building was completely empty so we headed back here to help." I took a deep breath and looked at the both of them. I was relieved to know that they were both still okay. I felt the heaviness in my chest leave, looking upon Will to find he wasn't bleeding.
"Where's Eldridge?" Sanborn asked, looking behind me.
"He's been shot in the leg. Allen carried him out to the medic." I looked at Sanborn's wound and pulled a roll of gauze out of my pack. "That feeling alright?" I asked, motioning towards it. He shrugged.
"It's okay. Kinda burns, but I should live," Sanborn replied. He still had his rifle raised, scanning each opening. Will returned to the bomb and sighed. There were pounds upon pounds of explosives wired together, he was still sorting through the tangles of wires, clipping what he could. I wrapped the gauze tightly around his wound and crouched down beside Will.
"Are you okay?" I asked quietly, looking between him and the bomb. He gave a slight nod of his head and clipped another wire. I wanted to reach out and touch him, but I knew that was uncalled for considering he had his hands elbow deep in a bomb that could kill us all and that Sanborn was still standing right there.
"I think I only have a few more to clip and we can get the fuck out of here," he muttered, moving his hands around a few wires again. I stepped around the other side of the bomb and raised my rifle, ready for anything to come out around the corner. There were four total door openings to the room. I had three to watch compared to Sanborn's one, but I couldn't bitch too much since he had been down there for a while watching all four alone. I heard Will clip four more wires and then clap his hands together. I turned slightly to look at him, still keeping my body turned in the direction of the openings.
"I think we're done," he stated, wiping another bead of sweat off of his brow.
"Good job, Will," I sighed, picking his chest piece up off of the ground. He smiled at me and placed some of his gear away in Sanborn's pack.
"I'm glad you're alright."
"I'm glad you both are fine," I corrected him, handing Will's helmet to Sanborn.
"Thanks for wrapping me up," Sanborn added, raising his arm up slightly.
"Don't mention it, seriously." He smirked and adjusted some of the gear around to hold onto the bomb suit helmet better. "Ready?" Sanborn asked looking over at Will. Will had his hands on hips, staring blankly at the bomb.
"Yeah," he answered, sounding out of it.
"We need to get out of here, because I am damn tired of this place," I said, sitting the chest piece down for a minute. Will nodded and smiled at me.
"Me too. I am thinking screwdrivers all night tonight, until I can't think." Sanborn laughed.
"I'm with you on that, man." We started walking up the stairs together, Will without any gear on whatsoever, only equipped with two handguns. I tried to give him my helmet, but he wouldn't take it. I was extremely frustrated and worried all over again. We still had to make it out of the compound alive and there was no telling who or what else was inside the compound. At the top of the stairs, I opened the metal door. Assuming all was fine we continued walking the hallway, with our guns halfway raised.
"I think we'll be okay," I reported as I peeked into a random room. We walked around the corner and found ourselves face to face with a group of 5 insurgents. I barely gasped when I heard the gunshots. So much for my big mouth. We retreated immediately back around the corner we had just walked from and slumped against the wall. Will slid down the wall, my eyes looking over to see what he was doing…
"Fuck," Will breathed, clutching his side. I looked down to watch blood seep out from under his hands. I could feel my heart hit the bottom of my stomach.
