Eliza walked into HQ the next morning feeling slightly nervous. She glanced over at Alex as she walked by him to her desk. He looked up at her as she passed, but he quickly turned back to his writing, and maybe it was Eliza's imagination, but there seemed to be a faint blush dusting Alex's cheeks.
Just as Eliza sat down, Washington walked into the tent followed by Herc, Laf and two other men, "Hamilton, Laurens, Schuyler, with me," he called,
John and Eliza glanced at each other before getting to their feet and hurrying after the General.
The seven of them gathered around Washington's desk as he sat down. He picked up a few sheets of paper and handed them to Lafayette. "There is an outpost an hour's ride north of here," he started, "We're abandoning it and your mission is to destroy it before it falls into the hands of the British,"
"Destroy?" John asked,
"Set it on fire," Washington clarified, "Lafayette, you have the lead, Bailey, you're the second,"
Alex took the papers off of Laf and skimmed through them, "When do we leave?" he asked,
"An hour," Washington replied, "Shurtleff is getting your horses ready as we speak,"
Laf snatched the papers back and nodded to Washington, "Yes sir," he said, prompting everyone else to stand to attention. Washington nodded at them, "Good luck."
-x-
Eliza kept quiet for the entire ride to the outpost. She rode in the middle of the group next to Herc, he seemed to understand her desire for silence. This was her first mission, and nothing could stop the churning feeling in her stomach. Nearly all the other recruits she'd been trained with had been shipped off to battle and had already seen action, but she'd just been tucked away in HQ, and she couldn't help but feel woefully unprepared for this mission.
They rode up to the watch tower and Laf jumped down off his horse,
"Bailey, Sampson, Laurens, Mulligan, go check that there's nothing been left in the tower,"
"Yes sir,"
The four of them jumped down off their horses and headed inside,
"Schuyler, go and find some kindling. Hamilton, with me."
Eliza rode to the edge of some woods to the west of the tower. She dismounted and set about gathering grasses to set light to and it wasn't too long before she'd gathered a large bunch,
"Schuyler!"
Eliza turned to see that John, Herc and the others had returned, and that Alex was now holding a flaming torch. She led her horse back over to the group and passed the grass over to Laf, "Will this do?" she asked,
"Perfect." Laf started to methodically lay the grass around the base of the tower, "Once this goes up it will be like a beacon calling the British to us," Laf explained, "So we need to be ready to make a quick exit,"
Alex passed Laf the torch before mounting his horse. Laf nodded at the others and they too all climbed back on to their horses. Laf lowered the torch and set fire to the grass. The flames quickly grew, and it was only a matter of seconds before the base of the tower was also set ablaze.
Laf quickly mounted his horse, "Go!" He shouted, and the seven of them set off at a gallop back the way they came.
Eliza glanced back over her shoulder, the entire tower was now alite, and it was now clear that it would not be a case of if the British showed but a case of when.
They rounded the corner and there was a loud bang. A bullet whistled past John's head.
"We're under attack!" Bailey shouted.
Nine redcoats on horseback jumped out from the trees.
Eliza drew her gun and loaded it as quickly as possible. She heard several more guns go off followed by the sound of somebody falling off their horse. She could only hope that it wasn't one of her friends. She rose her gun and aimed at a redcoat near the edge of the action. She fired, hitting his arm. She quickly rode forward before the redcoat had the chance to return fire.
Eliza quickly glanced around, trying to get a glimpse of her friends. She could see Herc grappling with a redcoat, both of them without their horses, while John and Laf were firing at two more redcoats. She whipped around trying to find Alex. She saw him ridding over to Herc's aid, however, she also saw something Alex had not: A redcoat taking aim at him. Eliza kicked her horse, sending him into a gallop towards Alex,
"Alex!" She shouted at the top of her lungs. Alex turned to look at her, but Eliza could tell that he wasn't going to be able to get out of the way of the redcoat in time. Eliza heard the redcoat pull the trigger and time seemed to slow down. She pulled as hard as she could on her horse's reigns, turning it and positioning herself between the redcoat and Alex. The bullet hit her hip, knocking her back off her horse. She distantly heard Alex scream, "Eliza!" as she hit the floor, but the rest of the battle seemed to tune out around her. She felt somebody kneel down next to her and press down on the bullet wound,
"Help!" Alex shouted, "Herc!"
Somebody else knelt down next to Eliza and joined Alex with putting pressure on her hip.
"Let's get him on your horse and then you ride as quickly as you can back to HQ," Herc said, "I'll give you cover,"
Eliza felt the pressure on her wound weaken slightly,
"Stay with me Schuyler," Herc said.
Alex and Herc released their grip on Eliza and stood up. Alex climbed on to his horse and Herc picked Eliza up as gently as possible, but it wasn't enough to stop Eliza crying out in pain,
"Sorry," Herc said as he passed Eliza up to Alex.
Eliza was doing her best to hold onto consciousness, but she was fighting a losing battle.
Herc pressed a balled-up jacket into Eliza's hip, trying to wedge it between Eliza and the horse so that it stayed in place, "Go!" he shouted, taking a step back,
Alex kicked his horse and they set off at speed away from the tail end of the battle just as Eliza lost consciousness.