Chapter 10:
"Andreev, push up!" Romanov barked as he pushed forward. Nodding, the corporal levelled his G3 and began to advance. Looking behind himself to Nevski, Romanov was about to say something when he heard a gunshot ring out. Spinning around, he saw Andreev fall to his knees before another bullet tore his lower jaw off and he went down. "CONTACT!" the Sergeant roared, lunging back behind the tree. More fire rang out up and down as another firefight erupted.
He wasn't sure where the fire was coming from. Peering out, Romanov scanned the treeline when he caught glimpse of a large rock formation atop of it. For a brief moment, the glint of a sniper scope flared on the rock. Suddenly, bark splintered next to his head as a bullet missed its' target and struck the tree trunk. Romanov reeled back into cover. The Americans were there. They had lured them into another ambush. "You three!" He barked to the support team. "Get that gun setup right fucking now!"
Panic set in for Nevski again as he lay behind a fallen log watching his squadmates open fire. Why am I even here? Why the fuck did I listen to Ptelvoisky?! Dropping his gun, the man threw his hands to his ears, attempting to block out the rattling of gunfire. Curling up into a ball behind the log, he heard bullets strike the other side and rip into the wood. His AK fell to the floor as Nevski tried to drown out everything. Romanov was at his side in an instant. "Get up! We need you!" He yelled, handing the man back his weapon. "They're in cover in a rock formation. We need you to flush them out!" He didn't get a response. Nevski continued to whimper as his shaking hands fumbled with the AK. For fucks' sake! Romanov tore the grenade bag away from the shellshock-stricken soldier and began to advance. To his right, Romanov could hear the rapid thunderous claps of the DSHK opening fire. That gave him confidence. The large calibre rounds tore apart everything between them and the rock, slicing entire trees in two, sending dust and splinters in all directions. "Keep suppressing!" He shouted to them as he started to pick up speed towards the rick along with the remainder of his team. Luckily for him, the rest of the unit would also be moving up.
….
"Goddammit, Tommy! This wasn't a good idea!" Lee shouted as he rolled into cover. "They got us zeroed in!"
"I know!" The Lieutenant replied, squeezing off three round bursts at the enemy. "They're using a damn Dishka! Someone take it out!"
Raising out of cover, Lee spotted the DSHK and its' operating crew. "Keep me covered!" He barked to the others, who proceeded to draw the gun's fire away from the sniper. Zooming in, Lee set his sights on the gunner himself. The man was biting his lip as he tensed under the weapon's immense recoil. Exhaling, Lee drilled a hole in the gunners' head and he went down. Immediately, one of the other operators took his place. Lee readied for another shot when the gunfire came his way. Rolling back behind the rock into safety, the rounds missed him by centimetres. Had a single round hit him, the SEAL would have easily been ripped in half.
"What's the sitrep on that Dishka, Lee?" Tommy asked, dropping a nearby attacker. "Still operational, no way I can get another shot!" The Lieutenant swore as he reeled into cover to talk to Lee. "Alright then, we're going to have to fall back. You and Dwight get your smoke grenades ready!"
….
Romanov could see them now. They were picking off his squad with ease, though he had somehow managed to slip by unnoticed. Two of them sat behind the rock talking as one reached for something in his pack. Now was his chance. Taking a grenade from the bag, he squeezed the primer and pulled the pin. Throwing it upwards, he watched the grenade fall down towards the two American soldiers. Going back into cover, he readied another grenade.
….
"Shit!" Tommy yelped, scuttling away from the grenade. "Get fucking rid of it!" He screamed. Grabbing the small metal ball, Lee hurled it over the rock where it exploded a few feet away, sending a cloud of dust raining over him and the Lieutenant.
Charlie ran over to them. "Are you two alright?" She asked, helping up her brother. "We're fine. Tell Dwight we need to pull back now!" Charlie acknowledged, making her way over to the sniper. However, before she said anything, Charlie saw movement on the left. A Russian had taken out a frag grenade and was fumbling with it.
….
Romanov ripped out the pin and raised his arm ready to throw when a bullet caught him dead in the chest, tearing its' way through his ribcage and vital organs. Choking from the hit, he fell back over onto the dirt as the world began to spin. The wound was serious as it had likely went through an artery, though that was the least of his concerns as he looked over to the grenade next to him…
….
Charlie watched as the grenade went off, instantly obliterating her target. However, the explosion set of a chain reaction as the other grenades in the Russian's bag went off. The blast knocked her back down into cover as the ground shook violently. That should hold them off for now. She thought, looking over to Dwight, who was brushing dirt off of himself. "We're pulling back! Tommy needs you to set off the smoke grenades!" Dwight set to work on pulling out his smoke grenades. Tossing them over the rock, each grenade let out a large plume of white mist which obscured everything. Lee began to do the same as Charlie began to climb down the ledge.
….
Enough was enough. Nevski got to his feet, shouldering his rifle. He followed the others towards the cloud of smoke as the remaining DSHK crew began to dismantle their weapon to move it. Sergeant Romanov was nowhere in sight but that didn't matter, the soldier still had one grenade. And he would be dammed if he didn't get the opportunity to show it to the Americans who killed his old squad.
….
Charlie had reached the bottom of the ledge and shouted up to her brother to make his way down. Before he did, he patted Lee on the shoulder. "Get ready to move on my go!" He said before heading to the ledge. Lee picked off another Russian soldier before looking across to Dwight. They had to keep Tommy covered as he climbed down to Charlie. "You good?" He asked. "Fine!" the other sniper shouted back as he fired into the smoke. It was almost impossible to see anything now as the smoke grenades had fully opened up. That was good as that meant the enemy couldn't see them either. Once Tommy reached the bottom, Lee would cover Dwight's retreat and then climb down himself.
"Alright, you're good!" Tommy shouted. Dwight looked to Lee. "You go first, I've got your back." He said. Lee shook his head. "No, you go now!" He replied. Dwight glared at the man, his face serious. "Negative. Get your ass outta here right fuckn' now!" He boomed. Biting his lip, Lee go up and ran towards the ledge. Sonofabitch! He thought as he looked back to Dwight who was still firing at approaching silhouettes in the smoke. He was about to climb down when something came to a thud at Dwight's feet. It was a small, spherical object about the size of a baseball. Fear instantly took hold of the SEAL as he and Dwight caught each other's glances. Both of them were frozen with panic as their gazes met before the grenade went off. Dwight died in an instant as the blast wave hit Lee several feet away. The explosion threw him off of his feet, sending him tumbling down over the ledge to the ground below.
And BANG, out of the blue. Dwight's gone. Sorry for the dick-ish cliffhanger. Stay tuned for the next chapter. J