CHAPTER 27

"Don't hurt her! You hear me? I'm coming out!" The assistant director of the CIA shouted through the speaker at the bunker to Haqqani, who still had a knife pressed to the petrified woman's throat.

"Open the door!" Haqqani demanded.

"I'm unlocking it now, I swear." The assistant director stammered.

"No games!" Haqqani bellowed.

"No, no! No games, I swear. You have my word!"

Meanwhile, Miguel and the Marine Corps Private finally made it to the embassy floor, and they crept down the corridor, swiftly moving towards loud voices that they could hear up ahead. Eventually, they came to a corner, and Miguel peeked his head around to see what was going on. His heart dropped…

Haqqani and his men were all gathered around right outside the vault, a line of hostages on their knees right before him. There were also a couple of hostages lying dead on the ground, and Miguel winced. He then saw Haqqani holding a knife to the young woman's throat, and Miguel slowly aimed his gun. After a couple of seconds, he realised that there was no way he could fire his weapon without risking hitting the hostage. There was nothing the soldiers could do but wait and watch as the action unfolded.

"What's going on?" The Marine whispered to Miguel. He was behind Miguel as the SEAL peaked out, so he couldn't see what was going on.

"They're at the door to the bunker." Miguel replied. "Three hostages are down. Haqqani has a knife to the throat of the fourth."

"What do we do?" The Marine asked.

"Well, they managed to cut through the embassy easily, so chances are they got this place mapped out. They knew about the secret back entrance and the vault, right?"

"Right." The Marine nodded.

"That means they know about the emergency stairwell at the back of the ambassador's office." Miguel continued.

"What are you thinking?" The Marine asked.

"I say we chase them towards the exit." Miguel murmured.

"There's only two of us!"

"This is a surgical strike for them, it's not a suicide mission. They're just here to get the list. They'd rather run than engage in firefight."

"You sure?" The Private asked. Miguel looked at the terrified Private right in the eye and sighed.

"No." Miguel replied, honestly.

At that moment, the assistant director of the CIA finally finished unlocking the vault and he stepped out, facing the terrorist. Miguel's eyes widened when he saw this.

"Shit." He whispered as he watched the assistant director hand the list to Haqqani's right-hand-man.

"Here. Now let her go." The assistant director begged. Haqqani nodded and murmured something in his native language into the young girl's ear. But rather than letting her go, Haqqani slashed his knife right through her neck. As the girl fell away, limp, Miguel forced himself to stay calm. He was finally granted his opening. He nodded at the Marine, and the two of them sprung from their hiding spot, firing their guns at the terrorists…

All hell broke loose. Miguel killed three terrorists immediately, and then he hit Haqqani with a bullet to the arm, injuring him but not killing him. The terrorists shot back, spraying their assault rifles at the two Americans. Miguel and the Marine dived for cover behind the wall and occasionally peeked out and fired some more bullets. Haqqani and a couple of his men had taken off towards the exit like Miguel had planned, and only two men remained behind to fire at Miguel and the American. The two professional soldiers finally managed to take them out after an insane gunfight, and they then sprinted in the direction Haqqani had gone…

Down the stairs they went. One flight. Two flights. Three flights. They eventually made it to the basement, running down a corridor that would lead them to the back exit of the embassy. Haqqani and his men had a massive head start but Miguel was quickly gaining on them. But he wasn't fast enough. Haqqani and his men soon reached the exit and they placed a remote explosive on the wall, blowing it up just as Miguel reached it and causing the exit to collapse on itself. Miguel stumbled to a halt and punched the wall in anger. Haqqani had gotten away. He had failed.

"FUCK!" He screamed.

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The next morning, when Sam woke up, she had a pounding headache and hangover. She had drank way too much the night before, and it took her a while to gather her bearings. She lay back in her bed and looked sideways, smiling when she saw the picture of her and Miguel on the side table, the two of them looking so happy. It was taken on their first trip together, when they went on a staycation to San Francisco. She then looked at the right side of the bed and saw Miguel's side of the bed cold and empty. She sighed and began to think about the night before. Could Robby actually be right? Should she be with him? The Robby she saw last night was nothing like the Robby she had dumped two years ago. He was a completely different person. A way better person than he was before. And she had history with him. A connection. Sure her connection with Miguel was just as strong, if not stronger… but something Robby said to her the night before stuck to her head: why should she be in a relationship with someone who clearly cared about his job more than her?

Sam wasn't a needy girlfriend. Far from it. She was a badass, independent woman. But she wanted a boyfriend who was home for more than a month or two a year. And maybe, just maybe, could Robby be that person?

Sam groaned and put her pillow over her head. She was a mess. Her mom had always told her that her life shouldn't revolve around boys but here she was, her head spinning, her heart split in half across two different guys. What was she going to do?

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Miguel slowly stumbled back onto the main floor of the embassy, where he was greeted by all of the bloodshed. As Miguel surveyed his surroundings, tears crept to his eyes as he saw the four dead hostages on the ground - none of them any older than 30. Innocent lives cut short despite the fact that they weren't military. They didn't ask for any of this. Their jobs were behind desks all day, and yet they were the victims of the bloody, merciless war. Miguel slid to the ground in the corner of the embassy and put his head in his hands. It was like his entire body and mind had gone completely numb. He only vaguely noticed medics rushing into the room and checking him out, before loading all of the dead bodies into duffel bags and carrying them out of the room.

Half an hour later, backup from the Pakistani Forces finally made it to the sight of the convoy on the streets, where Eli's men were being overrun. Seeing the reinforcements, the Taliban quickly retreated, and the Americans piled back into their 4x4s and sped towards the embassy. None of them said anything on the drive back. Not Eli. Not Ben. Not Lieutenant Anderson. They had come inches away from dying, and the Pakistani Government had clearly betrayed them, taking an hour to arrive with backup rather than the 10 minutes it should have taken. But it was only going to get worse, as they had no idea about the devastation that had just occurred in the Embassy. As the car they were in pulled into the embassy compound, the soldiers' eyes widened.

"Oh, my God." Eli whispered. Draped on the outside of the embassy was a colossal Taliban flag, the ultimate form of humiliation against the United States. The car screeched to a halt and the soldiers rushed into the embassy, their guns raised. However, as soon as they entered and saw all of the medics and embassy personnel standing around, they realised that whatever situation had occurred had been resolved. They put their guns down and took in the scene, learning the horror story that had just happened…

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Suddenly, Sam's phone started ringing, and Sam covered her ears due to the sharp noise. She gasped in pain as she stumbled towards the phone, answering it.

"Hello?" She grumbled into the phone.

"SAM!" Aisha's unmistakable voice shouted into the phone, and Sam winced in pain due to her hung over and the loud noises. Aisha then started jabbering about something urgent, but Sam was too nauseous and tired to understand what her friend was saying.

"Aisha, Aisha, slow down." Sam slurred. "What are you saying?"

"Sam, Miguel's in Pakistan right? In the Embassy?" Aisha asked, nervously. Sam raised an eyebrow, confused.

"Um… yeah, why?" Sam responded.

"Turn on your TV. NOW!" Aisha demanded, before hanging up. Sam slowly stumbled downstairs into the living room and turned on the TV, where Breaking News with the words 'ATTACK ON ISLAMABAD EMBASSY' filled the screen. Sam's heart stopped, and she turned up the volume to listen to the presenter…

"Grim details continue to emerge from Islamabad, where the U.S Embassy was attacked earlier today. In scenes reminiscent of Benghazi, Libya, gunmen overran parts of the compound, leaving as many as 40 Americans dead."

"Oh, my God." Sam whispered, worried tears springing to her eyes. She grabbed her phone and began calling Miguel incessantly. No answer. "Come on, Miguel! Pick up! Pick up!"

Still nothing. Eventually, Sam threw her phone aside and put her head in her hands, listening to the presenter briefly recount the events that had just occurred.

"According to the Taliban, the attack was in retaliation for drone strikes in the Northwest part of the country. Meanwhile, the Pakistani Army has sealed off the area immediately surrounding the embassy and will provide security at the site until order in the capital has been restored. Although the attack is believed to be an isolated incident, security measures at…"

Sam turned off the TV. She couldn't watch this anymore…