Author's Note: Any sentences written in italics are Elsa's thoughts. Please review!
Elsa loved the forest as a kid. During her childhood in Norway, she spent most of her free time in the woodland behind her house. It's where she learned to hunt, shoot, and track. It's where she learned everything that equipped her to be a SEAL.
Right now, however, Elsa was harboring a deep-seated hatred for the woods. It limited her line-of-sight and seemed to distort the direction of any sound. Elsa folded her map and stuffed the compass back into their pouch.
"That way. Less than one klick… uh, I mean kilometer," Elsa's voice was slow and subdued as the adrenaline rush from the morning's combat began to wear off. Her arms and legs began to feel heavy, her rifle began to weigh her down. Pain began to seep from her shoulder and thigh. Anna was behaving just as sluggish as she cradled her injured arm.
The sound of twigs snapping not far behind them forced the two girls to find the energy to pick up speed. Elsa was tired, but she had been tired before. During her Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training, Elsa managed to survive the dreaded "Hell Week"; nearly six days of continuous physical conditioning. There were times Elsa felt like she was going to simply pass out from lack of sleep during that week, but somehow found the endurance to push on just one more hour. She was feeling those effects now, combined with the shock of her wounds and the crash after the adrenaline high.
Just one more hour.
In one hour they would be at the extract point. The problem was that Elsa had no idea when the helicopter would arrive or if they were already too late. Every noise made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. The success of the mission and the survival of an innocent young girl rested solely on Elsa's shoulders. Elsa would not… no, could not screw this up. Not after the rest of her team had sacrificed themselves for this mission.
"Ice? It's Ice, isn't it?" Anna suddenly asked in a whisper.
"What?" Elsa shot back with a slightly annoyed tone in her voice.
"Seesh, I can see why they call you 'Ice'," Anna responded while she twiddled her thumbs. "Well, I know that this may seem kinda, uh… inappropriate, considering out current predicament, but how old are you?"
"Twenty-one. I'll turn twenty-two in a few months. Why do you care?" Elsa briskly replied.
"There we go with the 'Ice' thing again," Anna continued, "I was just wondering. It's hard to believe that you're only three years older than me, yet I'm just looking at college and you're…" Anna's voice trailed off. Elsa raised an eyebrow, anticipating the girl's next comment. "I don't know… you're actually doing something with your life."
"Weren't you doing humanitarian aid or something like that?" Elsa countered as she scanned the forest around them. "That's something."
"Yeah, but I only decided to go so my dad would stop harping on me about college," Anna replied. "It wasn't some selfless act from the bottom of my heart." As Anna spoke, they came to the clearing. Elsa motioned to Anna to shut up and heightened her senses, listening for any noise that was out of the ordinary. She didn't hear anything.
She did, however, eye a perfect hiding spot. A small shale outcropping, maybe three feet high rested just feet within the tree line. The shale created a slight overhang, providing cover for someone to crawl underneath. Elsa motioned for Anna to move toward the overhang. As Elsa started to move, she heard a twig snap behind her. Her rifle was at her shoulder in less than a second. She couldn't see anything through her scope, but she could hear the faint voices again.
Ah, shit.
Elsa put her figure to her lips to order Anna to remain quiet and pushed the younger girl under the shale overhang. She quickly stuffed dried leaves around Anna to act as concealment. Elsa saw the look of utter confusion in Anna's eyes.
"They're almost on top of us," she whispered quickly as she drew her pistol. "Take this. Just in case they find you."
"What are you doing?" Anna pleaded as she gingerly took the handgun.
"Probably something really stupid, but it's the only chance you have," Elsa replied as she pulled the smoke grenade from her harness. "Ok, when the helicopter shows up, pull the pin on this and throw it into the field. Don't worry, it just produces smoke. The helicopter will land and take you to a navy ship that's off the coast."
"Where are you going?" Anna asked.
"I'm gonna do my best to lead these guys on a little wild goose chase," Elsa answered.
"Can't the helicopter pick you up too?" Anna had a despite tone in her voice.
"There's no telling where I'll be when the helo gets here and those rockets they shot at us can easily shoot a helicopter down," Elsa explained. "That's why I have to lead them away. Goodbye." Elsa stood to leave.
"Wait. Can you at least tell me your real name first?" Anna whispered.
"Petty Officer Third Class Elsa Irina Winters, at your service," Elsa replied with a slight bow before starting to walk away. She needed to move fast, not just to distract the enemy, but also before she could talk herself out of this suicide mission. With no knowledge of the helicopter's location or arrival time, Elsa alone would have no chance of holding off the enemy force.
This is the only way she'll live.
Elsa moved back into the forest. Now she was looking for the enemy. She edged her bets that the opposition did not know exactly how many SEALs had hit their compound. Elsa had to act and fight as if she was a larger force.
Suddenly, she saw movement. She raised her rifle and steadied it against a tree. She was just about to pull the trigger when she noticed one thing wrong with plan. She lowered her weapon and unscrewed the suppressor from the end of the barrel. She wanted to make sure those bastards heard her coming.