McG fumbles with the thin wires, struggling to attach them to the blasting cap pressed into the block of semtex in front of him. The fact that his fingers are nearly numb with cold doesn't help the delicate procedure, and he growls a curse under his breath.
"Are you almost finished McG? We have to move soon."
Amir says from his position behind him. McG can hear the tension in his voice, even though he's facing away. He shifts uncomfortably, knees starting to ache from kneeling too long.
"I know, I know. I'm going as fast as I can."
Just go ahead and rush the guy who's messing around with a brick of plastic explosives, he thinks but doesn't say, see how well that goes for you. His comm crackles to life in his ear and his fingers twitch dangerously.
"Finished setting the charges at the south-east corner, heading to the rendezvous."
Jaz says, sounding vaguely smug even through the distortion. McG grits his teeth as the wires refuse to stay connected to the damn timer device.
"Jaz, this isn't a competition." Top says, sigh crackling over the radio. "McG, Amir, what's your status?"
"Coast is clear, for now. No hostiles sighted."
Amir reports. McG finally manages to slot the last wire in place, tongue pressed to the roof of his mouth in concentration.
"Almost done…..There!" With a click he closes the face of the timer, arming it, and pushes himself to his feet pulling his gloves back on as he stands. "Charge is set, we're headed to you."
"Acknowledged. See you in ten."
Top replies. As McG pushes himself to his feet he throws a grin at Amir whose gaze is still leveled down the corridor, M16 up and head on a swivel.
"See, I told you I got it."
He teases lightly. Amir rolls his eyes as they start towards the rendezvous point.
"Yes, but it would have been faster if you'd just let me do it."
McG lets his shoulder lightly knock against Amir's as he moves forward to take the lead.
"Didn't you hear what Top said? It's not a competition."
He calls quietly over his shoulder, turning to clear the next room before Amir can think of a reply.
They move quickly through the long abandoned hallways, the timer McG set on his watch driving them forward. They've got about six minutes and change before this whole building comes down on top of them and the cache of Russian explosives and weapons in the basement. It's a compelling incentive to move swiftly and with purpose, and McG clears each corner quicker then the one before, Amir keeping pace behind him to watch their backs. In retrospect, it was stupid and careless and he's going to regret it for the rest of his life.
He takes the next corner a little too fast, his body going out from behind cover before his rifle. It breaks every rule drilled into him in basic and if Top were here he'd chew him a new one, but he's thinking more about the approximately 20 pounds of semtex that's about to blow then clearing every corner and room of the seemingly abandoned building. It was stupid, and the bullet bites into his thigh, just above the knee. His leg buckles and he goes down before his brain even has time to catch up with what's happened and by then it's too late. The sound of two shots rings out, deafeningly loud in the small corridor, and McG half expects to feel them tearing into his flesh. No more pain comes though, and when he looks up he sees a man in dark camo at the other end of the hallway crumple to the ground. A pair red stains spread quickly across his uniform center-mass. There's the sound of hurried footsteps from behind him and after a second Amir appears in his field of view, face cool and hands efficient as he kneels in front of McG.
"Are you alright?"
He asks in a clipped tone, swinging his rifle to the side as he starts to tear open the hole in the leg of McG's ruined pants.
"It didn't hit bone, went straight through. I'll be fine."
McG bites out, wincing a little as Amir pokes at the wound, more embarrassed by the stupid mistake then anything. Amir ignores him, lips pressed tight and eyes focused down.
"Amir, seriously, I said I'm fine."
He says more roughly then he means, brushing at Amir's hands where they continue to prod. Amir looks up to him, brow furrowed, and opens his mouth to say something. Before he can he jerks, eyes going wide with surprise, before abruptly falling forward into McG as something warm and salty sprays across McG's face. The sudden weight of Amir's body knocks him back and he falls awkwardly to the ground, Amir splayed on top of him and wet viscous liquid soaking into the front of his BDU's. Looking back on the moment, he doesn't even remember hearing the gunshot, just remembers the awful thought running through his brain is this what Jaz felt like?
For a fraction of a second he just lays there, shock freezing his muscles in place while he tries to process what happened, but then his years and years of training kick in and he doesn't think anymore-just moves. Rolling Amir off of him as gently as he can he sits up, swinging his M16 around as he does. He barely takes the time to sight at the tango who's just come around the corner, planting a bullet in his chest, then his head, then chest again just for good measure. The man stumbles and slumps back against the wall behind him before sliding bonelessly down to the ground. He leaves a trail of gore behind him, bright crimson against the dull grey concrete.
It takes a moment for McG's head to catch up with his body, adrenaline pumping through his veins and heart pounding furiously in his chest, and as soon as it does he turns back to Amir. Amir who hasn't moved or made a sound since he collapsed against McG. He's still lying where McG left him, chest moving in a sharp frantic staccato as he silently pants, eyes wide and staring. McG clumsily half drags-half crawls himself to Amir's side, pulling his pack with him. He can see Amir's eyes lock onto him as he approaches, takes comfort in the fact that he's lucid enough to recognize him. There's a rapidly growing pool of blood under Amir, spreading out from beneath him like someone spilled a glass of wine. He can already feel it soaking into the knees of his pants. There's no blood on the front of Amir's shirt though, meaning the bullet's probably still inside him somewhere.
"Hey man, I got you, you're gonna be fine. Okay, you're gonna be just fine."
He says, trying to keep the panic out of his voice as he pulls off his gloves and pushes Amir onto his side to look at the entry wound. Amir's breath hitches but other then that he's quiet. His eyes are glassy and blank, from pain or shock or some combination of the two. It's hard to tell how bad the damage is, blood keeps welling up and obscuring his view of the injury, fingers slipping in it as he tries to clear it away. It looks like the bullet hit just past the edge of his vest, but entered too high to hit his heart or his lungs. McG counts his blessing for that as he lets Amir back down.
"McG, where the hell are you guys?"
Top questions shortly in his ear. McG winces, reaching in to his bag to pull out a roll of gauze. Tearing the packaging open he rips off a length and reaches under Amir to press it hard against the wound. Amir grunts, biting down hard on his lip as his fingers scrabble uselessly against the floor.
"We uh, we ran into some trouble. Both got tagged."
"How bad?"
Is the immediate reply, Top's voice razor-sharp and suddenly attentive. McG glances down at his leg which is still bleeding sluggishly and throbbing in time with his hammering pulse.
"I'm fine, through and through to the leg. Amir took one to the shoulder, still trying to assess how bad, but he's conscious."
He's sweating now despite the cold of fall in Ukraine, feels it beading across his forehead. He reaches up to wipe it away and when he pulls his hand down the back of his glove is smeared with red. Suddenly he's aware of the tacky feeling of blood drying on his face. He feels vaguely sick. Top's still talking in his ear and he forces himself to focus.
"-are you mobile? You've got three minutes till those charges blow McG you have to move."
"Yeah," he says with a confidence he's not sure he feels. "Yeah, we're mobile."
Reaching down he taps sharply at the side of Amir's face which is grey and clammy to the touch. He's definitely going into shock he notes, problematic but can be dealt with when they're not three minute away from being crushed to death under a couple tons of concrete and steel.
"Hey Amir, I need you to focus okay. We have to go, buildings going to come down soon and we can't be in it. I'd carry you but my leg isn't gonna hold any weight so I need you to help me Amir, can you do that?"
He hates to ask, it goes against every instinct he has as a medic, but they don't have any other choice. Amir for his part just nods, lips tight but face determined. His eyes have lost the glazed look from earlier, and he seems more present.
"Just help me up."
He says tightly, already weakly trying to lever himself into a sitting position with one arm, the other cradled against his stomach. McG does what he can to help, lending his shoulder for Amir to use to lever himself upward and bracing him when he wavers a little. It takes a few seconds but eventually Amir is standing. He leans against the wall, panting a little, before reaching a hand down to McG. He takes it, letting Amir pull him to his feet and pushing up as much as he can with his good leg. It's an awkward ungainly process but eventually they're both upright, McG's arm looped around Amir's left shoulder, Amir bringing up his usable arm to clutch at the sleeve of McG's uniform to keep him anchored.
McG hitches his pack higher on his shoulder as the start their trek towards the exit, bringing his M16 up and bracing it against his side so he can use it one-handed. He'll damned if he makes the same mistake twice. If the situation wasn't so dire McG might even laugh at the two of them, limping their way through the building at a snails pace like some sort of geriatric buddy-cop duo. As it is the steady trail of red they're leaving on the ground behind them and the soft sounds of pain Amir makes with every step don't seem so funny.
"Come on man, we just got to make it a little further alright? Once we're out there's a nice comfy hospital bed waiting, maybe even some hot nurses."
McG cajoles, as they crawl forwards. Top's tense bark echoes over the comms.
"Status report?"
"We're moving towards the east exit. A minute out."
He hears someone curse, Preach he thinks, before Top cuts them off.
"Dammit, McG, you have to move faster."
He wishes they could, but Amir's flagging, blood soaked all the way down his sleeve to his wrist now, and McG isn't much help hopping along awkwardly beside him. He knows Amir's doing the best he can, but there is only so much the body is capable of and even Amir's determination can't fight the effects of blood loss.
They're not going to make it; he can already tell they're not going to make it. There's just not enough time, even as Amir doggedly drags them both along with a strength that belies his small stature. It's just not enough. In his ear he can hear the team clamoring, Jaz begging Top to let her go back for them, like it would do any good. Just get all three of them killed instead, but he appreciates the sentiment. Tuning them out he searches for an out, for something, for anything.
There's a door up ahead on their left that McG had noted on their way in, maybe a cleaning supply closet or something in better days before this building had been torn apart by war. Now it might be what saves them. He nudges Amir urgently, jerking his chin towards the door.
"We're not going to make it out,"
He says a little breathlessly, probably telling Amir something he already knew. Amir nods, changing course. From McG's wrist his watch beeps urgently at them, glowing numbers counting down unfairly quickly.
"Change of plans Top, not gonna make the rendezvous. Taking cover in a room just to the west of the main entrance."
He bites out, not waiting for a reply. As they get closer McG reaches out and drags the door open in front of them, and they practically fall the last few feet into the cramped room. Amir stays where he is, rolling onto his back and panting, but McG scrambles onto his knees, pushing the door closed before throwing himself on top of Amir, trying to cover as much of the smaller man with his own body as he can.
The alarm he on his watch goes off with a high-pitched tone and around them the building starts to shake as the charges they set take out the support pillars, a rumble that starts out small and then builds and builds and builds until it eclipses everything else, till he can feel it in his bones. The last thing he hears is Top shouting their names in his ear, and then there's a sharp pain at the back of his head and darkness.