Chapter 8 - Walking with History and the Dead - 2
Trevor adjusted his watch and glanced at the screen on his wrist. He opened up the underground layout and began to make his way through the narrow passages. Everyone kept their heads low, just sensing the space around them was tight and sparse. Trevor's hair brushed against the ceiling, and Shawn and Ricochet only had a few inches of clearance. Soap on the other hand, underestimated just how awkward it'd be. He was the only one over 6 foot, to add to it, he was four inches oversized, five if you count in the hair that sat atop his head. Pausing to look down the two different passages that now stood before him, Trevor took a right and ducked underneath a portion of rock which had drooped from the weight of the earth above them. It was chilly and rather unusual; the hairs on their arms and neck stood up.
Noticing the dips in the ceiling and the random narrowing of the space, Trevor had to look over his shoulder to observe Soap. The light on his vest put a glare on Trevor's vision, but he could see the slightly annoyed expression on the Scotsman's face.
"You doing alright back there, Soap?" Trevor had to ask with mild concern.
"Just fine."
Ricochet couldn't resist the urge to look back at him. His eyes quickly found her's. Feeling a bit of his tension rushing off of him, she looked back forward where she was met with the backs of Shawn and Trevor's heads.
Suddenly, Trevor came to a complete stop as he threw his fist into the air. "Hold."
Everyone paused. The space around them filled with distant sounds of dripping water and faint scurrying. Trevor held his position but lowered his fist and began to scan the area.
"Thought I heard voices." Trevor whispered quietly.
With those words out in the open, everyone fell even more still as they slowed their breathing and honed in their senses. All they could hear was the soft and crisp breeze that blew in from the outside and the hurried paws from the many rats that turned the dark and narrow space into their homes. The way the breeze touched the backs of their necks sent shivers down their spines.
"Hmm, must of just imagined it." Trevor stated flatly before continuing his pace. Taking a sharp left, he slipped through yet another narrow opening. "That threshold gave in at some point. Watch your step."
The rest of the group carefully stepped over the crumbled debris as Shawn heaved a sigh. "Christ. This place is falling apart."
"It's old. You have to be amazed at how well it's held up after hundreds of years." Ricochet commented quietly from her position.
"Doesn't mean it isn't falling apart." Shawn replied as he ducked his head.
Ricochet lowered her head past the dip Shawn had just passed. "Still is an interesting part of Italian history."
Shawn nodded. "Oh, no doubt."
"Guys," Trevor interrupted. "Stay hush. I swear I keep hearing voices."
They all paused again and readjusted their guns and listened in. Once it fell silent between them, it was merely a repeat of last time. Trevor shook his head with annoyance before returning to his guiding through the tunnels.
After ten minutes had passed, the group was starting to feel the toll the narrow tunnels were taking on their bodies. They'd be stiff in the morning.
Soap grunted with mild irritation as he had to lower his head even more. "I don't know about you all. But this is definitely not an almost 2 meter clearance."
Shawn immediately agreed. "No way in hell. It's starting to smell weird too."
"Just mud and eroding rock." Trevor was quick to comment.
The ground below them suddenly felt odd, as if it had shifted. Each person ignored it, assuming it was all apart of their minds as it continued to play tricks on them. Several times, they each had sworn they had seen a distant shadow or heard a faint voice. It was a spooky space to be venturing in. Then Trevor felt as if his foot had slightly sunk as he continued with his steps. Brushing it off, he pressed forward. As Shawn took a step down, the ground gave in a little bit, enough to make him turn his head to look down at it; but he kept his pace.
Ricochet saw his random curious stare and wondered what was wrong. "What was that about?"
Shawn shrugged. "Don't know."
She watched him as he turned his head back in wonderment. Once her foot went down, the ground sagged in causing her footing to tetter. Soap saw her sudden change in movements and immediately wondered what had happened.
Then his foot went down, and with his added weight the ground below them capsized and gave in. Ricochet was in mid step and emitted a quick scream as she plummeted forward. The ground below her feet disappeared as Soap fell forward with her. Quickly panicking, Soap let go of his gun to snag the back of her vest in his strong hand; using his free hand, his fingers managed to grasp a wooden beam that had appeared before their faces as they plunged through the ground. Dirt and small rocks fell onto their heads as the debris drifted into the dark hole below them and splashed into a pool of water. The two were now dangling freely as Ricochet panted and stared down at her feet. She swallowed hard and peered up, only to see the light from the opening they had created and Soap's silhouette.
"What the fuck!" Shawn shouted as he ran to the side of the newly formed hole to look over. He spotted the two hanging by a wooden beam that was emitting a faint stressed sound. Soap was fast enough to have grabbed Ricochet's vest as she dropped, but he lost his gun in the process.
Trevor joined Shawn's side and flashed his light down. "How the hell-hang on guys."
Shawn looked to Trevor. "We have nothing to get them up with! This wasn't supposed to be a climbing mission!"
"Calm down, we'll figure something out." Trevor leaned over and reached as far down as he could, he still had another foot to go, and he could feel the ground weakening beneath him as more structure crumbled slightly.
Soap's eyes flashed up towards them as he narrowed them at the sight of the light in his face. He quickly looked down to the dangling Ricochet who peered up to meet his stare with worried eyes.
"Ricochet. Try to climb up me. Reach for Trevor." Soap ordered calmly. She nodded and fumbled with her ACR. Her shoulders were raised by the vest that was now holding her in place. Turning as much as she could, her hands found his thigh. "Let me know when you have a strong hold."
She nodded swiftly and strengthened her grip and wrapped her legs around his shins. "Ok, I'm good."
He slowly released her vest and brought his hand up to hang onto the beam and release some of the tension on his right shoulder that had been strong enough to catch both of their weight. Heaving a sigh, she inched up his body as if he were a rope from gym class. Trevor could feel the ground give again as it began to sink, causing more debris to fall atop Ricochet and Soap's heads. They both lowered their faces as the dirt came for them.
Soap could feel the wood weakening in his grip. "Hurry up, lass. This thing won't hold for much longer."
She nodded in response, and reached up. With the light in her eye, her vision was blurred. Unaware of where her hand would end up, it found a solid spot against his crotch. He emitted a quick grunt and a flinch as she reeled back.
"I'm so sorry." She immediately apologized.
Soap shook his head. "Just climb."
Ignoring the potentially awkward position, she scaled up him and reached up for Trevor's hand, but before her arm could completely outstretch, the beam loosened and split. Both of their eyes widened as Soap pulled an arm back to place a wide-palmed hand against her rear to send her flying up towards Trevor. But his leverage disappeared with the splitting of the beam. They both plummeted and dropped with a portion of the beam and some more stone that caved in with them.
"Step back!" Trevor shouted as he pulled Shawn and himself backwards and away from the sinking ground.
"Fuck!" Shawn yelled with stress.
Soap and Ricochet dropped an easy four meters before they went splashing in a deep pool of water. It was like splashing into a well; the water was cold and chilling as it encompassed their bodies and swarmed around them. Ricochet went in first as the beam followed in shortly behind. Soap straightened his body out and relaxed as he approached the water's surface. Once his body submerged, water spouted upward from the sheer force of the fall. Dirt, mud, and rock continued to sprinkle down at them as Shawn hollered down into the darkness.
"Rico! Soap! Are you alright?" Shawn shined his light down and was met with the distant image of shimmering water.
Soap brought himself out of the water and shaked his head, sending water flying. He rubbed his nose and peered up quickly towards the light, but before he could answer he looked around for the blonde-haired girl.
"Rico?" His voice asked deeply. Looking around, he spotted the light from her vest under the water several feet away. Rushing over, he hastily dove under and saw that the wooden beam had found a cozy spot against her leg. Her hands pushed against it but couldn't find the leverage. His large hands landed on the side and threw it up from her. He grasped her wrist and pulled her up. They surfaced as Ricochet released a gasp for air. She blinked with wet eyelashes and immediately peered up towards the hole they had fallen through.
She looked back towards Soap's profile. "Shit. What the hell?"
He shook his head and waved at Shawn. "We're fine."
"Thank, God." Shawn muttered with relief.
"Yeah, that's great and all, but now we got to figure a way to get you two out. What have you two fallen in?" Trevor asked with a hint of tension.
They both looked around at their surroundings. The room was larger in comparison to the tunnels, in fact, it made the tunnels look suitable for ants. The old stone walls curved around them, similar to that of a rotunda, and one lone entrance sat perpendicular to them. The opening was similar to that of the tunnels. Their eyes ran over everything that they could make out. There appeared to be ancient coffins that set inside wide openings in the walls. She blinked at them then looked back up.
"I-I think we're in some kind of under region. Did Talon or anyone mention that?" She questioned; her voice echoing off of the water and walls.
"No, they didn't." Trevor said down at them.
"Shite." Soap began feeling through the water. "I have to find my gun I dropped." He abruptly went under the water and came back up shortly with his ACR in hand. His eyes found her. "We have to get out of this water. It's cold." Making his way for the rise in the floor where dry land lingered, she followed his movements. Her teeth chattered momentarily after completely pulling themselves from the dark, mirror-like surface of the water. Their eyes were compelled to study the new space they found themselves in.
She suddenly lowered her voice. "Soap, I think these are catacombs." Her blue-green eyes ran over the coffins.
He nodded in agreement. "Looks that way. These types of historical architecture generally housed the dead as well. Guess we found the hideout."
Shawn looked to Trevor. "What do we do?"
Trevor had to cross his arms. "There's obviously a way down there."
"Yeah...this hole."
"No, there's an entrance somewhere. There's access to that lower level." Trevor stepped forward. "Soap."
Soap's attention shot up towards the noise.
"These under regions typically follow the same blueprints of the top levels. If we're lucky, your map should match the level you're now on."
Soap looked to his wrist and sighed with relief to see that the piece of equipment was high enough quality to be waterproofed. He pulled up the map and blinked at the screen. Lowering his wrist, he exhaled through his nose. "This is a major set back."
Trevor sat in silence for a moment. "I know. But we have to reunite with you two. Find your way through. Let's hope we don't lose a radio signal with each other. Good luck, guys."
They could hear Trevor and Shawn hesitate before steadily continuing their journey. Soap and Ricochet both looked at each other. Pulling his attention away from her face, he analyzed his now soaked ACR. "We shouldn't fire these for awhile. I'm sure they're fine, but I don't want to give the guns any reason to jam." He threw it over his shoulder and nodded in her direction. "Let's hope we don't need them for any reason down here."
She looked over his shoulder and found the only exit. It was like staring into a black hole. It was darkest space she had ever stood in. It smelled of musk and dank air; dust danced around in the little light that emitted from the source on their vests. Soap rose a flashlight and brought up a knife with it. He shot the ray of light into the opening. The beam of light appeared almost as if it hit a wall of darkness.
"Odd isn't it?" She stated quietly, but the way it echoed increased its volume. He looked at her in the corner of his vision. "The light. It just smacks dead and stops right there. It's eerie."
His eyes landed on the open threshold. "Looks like we're about to enter a horror film." He took a large step forward and motioned for her. Following his lead, she passed up the threshold where they found themselves standing in a new set of tunnels. These set of tunnels were oddly taller than the ones from before. They had more clearance. Soap had another inch before his head touched, but at least this way, he could loosen his shoulders and neck and not be so crunched up.
"Strange how the lowest level has higher ceilings." He commented flatly as he kept his eyes locked onto the narrow space before him.
"It's just how they honored the dead, I suppose." Ricochet replied with her soft voice as she spotted rats scurry by. "Wait, the rats."
He craned his neck and looked back at her before following her light to where she aimed it. Seeing the rats crawl away with panic, he wondered what she was getting at. He assumed she was disgusted by them, which was actually a misunderstanding.
She pointed. "They obviously know the way in and out. So that's promising. Using the map and the rats, we should be able to find an exit."
He nodded in understanding, realizing the valid point. They crept along at a decent pace, unable to resist the urge to analyze their surroundings. The amount of coffins had increased and some had even been pried open; perhaps grave diggers. An occasional skeletal arm would hang over loosely from the opened rim.
"We really did find ourselves in a horror film. This is like nothing I've ever seen." She stared at the walls and caskets with awe.
He kept waiting for her to get scared, but she was oddly enjoying it. "Looks like we're walking with the dead." Soap commented with his usual thick tone.
"This is pretty awesome." Her eyes were wide. "It's a shame someone had to come and defile their slumber though."
The radio in their ears hummed. "Can we get an update on your location. Over." It was Trevor.
"We're traveling along the designated pathway. So far, so good. Heading north. Over." Soap responded.
"Copy that."
Soap looked to Ricochet, where she followed behind but kept her distance. Her skin had a faint blue glow from the light that shined from her flashlight and light on her vest. He wasn't much of a talker, and didn't have any way to keep the conversation active. He figured there was no need, but the spooky silence that filled the underbellies of the tunnels was unsettling.
Then something caught his eye off in the distance; a movement, down off in the east end of the tunnels that suddenly came to a four way intersection of sorts. He raised his flashlight and kept the knife parallel to the barrel. He narrowed his eyes with a mixture of curiosity and concern. The movement was far too big to be a rat.
She saw his change in mannerisms and followed his light. "What's wrong?"
He took a second to ponder as his eyes watched and waited for more movement that he swore he saw. "Certain I saw something."
"Oh?" She took a step forward, raising her knife and flashlight as well. "Rats?"
He shook his head. "Too big."
She shifted her weight and widened her stance to match the width of her shoulders. "Like the shadows above us?"
He quickly glanced at her. "You saw those too?"
"Yeah, I just figured it was our own shadows from the different light sources."
"But they were different." He replied deeply, then swiftly looked ahead as he heard movement. He threw his fist up and then placed a single finger against his lips before repositioning his knife. His hand motioned for her to get into formation. His voice sounded quietly, it was near inaudible with the combination of his deep voice and the low volume. "There's something down here. Watch our 6."
Inching his way forward, his grip strengthened around the hilt of the combat knife; Ricochet remaining a decent distance away, but staying mindful to their surroundings. Soap then caught sight of a heel disappearing around the corner. He lowered his brow and quickened his pace; though his feet moved fast they maintained a quiet step. His back found the wall right before spinning around to face the source of the foot. All he was met with was disappointment and uncertainty, for there was nothing there.
"The fuck-" He murmured before slowly raising the knife. He turned his body towards Ricochet who watched him with wide eyes. His mouth opened to speak, but was interrupted by a figure charging him. She uttered a quick gasp as Soap quickly grappled with the figure. Getting the upper hand in the matter of a second, Soap sent the figure forward and followed through by jabbing the knife into its throat. Blood gushed out and was accompanied with thick gargling. The figure fell to its knees before falling flat. Ricochet and Soap shot their lights in the now dead figure's direction. It was a man. Crazed. Lost? They weren't sure. The beanie that sat atop his head hid his hair and ears.
Their eyes quickly met. "What the hell? What's he doing down here?" Her voice was laced with bewilderment. Soap kneeled himself by the man's side and rolled his weight over revealing his glassy, lifeless stare. He stared into the dead man's face and furrowed his brow.
"He's dirty. I don't think he's with the gang." Soap felt the man's pockets, only to find them empty. "Maybe homeless."
"That's more promising news. Well, the fact that he knew of a way in and out-not that you just killed a homeless man."
He rose and towered over her. She was tall, but Soap made a lot of people look short. "Hm. Well, it's unfortunate we had to startle him enough to provoke him to attack me. Otherwise we could have gotten directions-" His eyes suddenly caught a light off in the distance. "See that? The warm light?"
She leaned her weight to look passed Soap's mass where she immediately saw a distant light source. Narrowing her eyes, she opened her mouth. "What is that?"
He shook his head. "No clue, let's go find out." They both ventured down the east tunnel. As they quickened their pace, their skin on their faces felt a cool breeze picking up. Both figured they were nearing an opening.
They broke into a clearing and spacious room, similar to that of the one they plummeted in, as their eyes caught a glimpse of a small, burning fire. Suddenly, a few, worried faces looked in their direction. Soap and Ricochet could only stare dumbfounded. It appeared to be a group of a few homeless men and women who had taken shelter in the tunnels. They clearly had found a way in. Seeing the two soldiers geared up for a fight, the ones sitting stood to take several steps back.
Ricochet leaned in closer to Soap to speak quietly. "They know of an exit. Know Italian?"
Soap shook his head and decided to try English first. "Know a way out?"
As expected, they only stared with bewilderment and fear. Soap scratched his head and sighed.
"Spanish may work." Ricochet stated softly. She raised her head to look at all of them. Her Spanish wasn't the best. "Conozca...una salida?"
The people still stared with wide-eyed expressions, unsure of how to react. Soap stepped forward to snap them out of their daze. He used some of his Portugueses experience. His voice came out deep and demanding. "Precisamos encontrar uma saída. Mostra-nos."
Immediately, they looked as if they stirred from their confusion as one pointed down towards the tunnel to their right, which was Soap and Ricochet's left. Soap nodded in their direction and moved for the designated tunnel. Ricochet followed after him as she signaled for Trevor and Shawn.
"Trevor, Shawn. I think we found a way out. It may lead to outside because there's a growing breeze in here, but I believe we're heading for the exit leading to the first level. Over."
There was a very short moment of silence before Trevor's voice sounded. "Good. What's your location on the map? We're heading into the northern wing. Warehouse should be ten minutes away. Over."
"Heading north as well. Over."
Trevor emitted a sigh. "That's good. Less backtracking. If we're lucky we'll all bump into each other. Over."
Soap and Ricochet quickened their pace, leaving the homeless behind; Soap dwelled momentarily on the fact that he had just murdered one of their friends, but justified it with self-defense. It wasn't the best of times to get caught up on potentially petty things.
Eventually, they found a set of dark, narrow stairs that climbed their way up a slope. Ducking, they hopped up the steps and reached the top. They found themselves standing in the cramped tunnels from before. Peering down both sets of tunnels, their minds wandered.
"Made it back to the first level. Over." Soap said.
"Good. Just head for the warehouse. We're getting close. So we'll just wait here for you. Over." Trevor was quick to respond.
"Copy that." Soap reached for his ACR. "Guns should be safe to use. Guess we'll still have to find out. Check the suppressor real quick."
They both unscrewed their suppressors to dry off what dampness was left and to allow it to air out. Soap slid it into a vest pocket before raising the gun back up. "Reattach it later. Let's move." He returned to leading the way as she followed shortly behind.
"Let's hope we don't cave in through the ground again." She commented flatly.
Soap agreed with a head nod. She watched him closely for a moment. He was a different man during a mission. He was quiet to start with, but he became a different kind of reserved in terms of business. His quiet self outside of work was shyness, but during a mission it was focus and concentration.
After sometime, they met up with Trevor and Shawn who stood underneath what appeared to be a metal trapdoor. The tunnels had widened and increased in height, indicating recent and modern tampering. Ricochet and Soap stepped over two bodies which had bullet wounds on their faces and bodies.
Seeing their stares, Shawn immediately gestured. "Those two fucks were standing down here."
Ricochet and Soap's eyes moved up towards him. "We ran into some homeless people down in the lower level. So they were probably standing guard." Ricochet stated.
On cue, Soap remembered their suppressors. He pointed towards Ricochet who spotted his gesture. "Suppressors."
"Right." She responded as their screwed their attachments back onto the barrels of their weapons.
Trevor looked up towards the trapdoor. "So, who first?"
Soap stepped up. "I'll go."
"Look at that. Someone taking initiative." Shawn said jokingly as Soap passed.
Soap smiled but it was hidden in the shadows. His hand found the ladder. "It's about time someone does."
"To avoid tension, I'm just going to say you were joking." Shawn replied as he waited for Soap to climb up.
Soap's hand found the door, but it didn't budge. He outstretched an arm and pointed towards the two deceased men, whose blood trailed down the incline. "It's locked. See if one of them has a key of sorts."
Ricochet and Trevor instantly began looking through their pockets. Ricochet found a key fob. "This may be it." She tossed it at him.
His large palm caught it as he brought it up to the small magnet located on the left side of the door. A mechanical click emitted as Soap slowly pushed open the door. His head went up first and was followed shortly after by his ACR's barrel. He spotted one man sitting in a chair, with his back facing him. The man's feet were propped up as cigarette smoke hovered in the air.
The man lowered his feet from the desk and began to turn his chair around. He sighed, "Angelo, il vostro turno non è ancora finita. Tornare laggiù-" a bullet pierced him in between the eyes. His body went limp as it sank into the chair. Peering around to determine that the room was clear, Soap climbed up and motioned for them to follow. The four of them were all now in the small space together. Few windows ran along the frontside and met up with a closed door.
Trevor began to whisper. "Remember. We have to clear the warehouse of any thugs. Move fast, stay low, and take any possible shot. We'll spread out to cover as much ground. Soap, come with me, we'll cover the west end. Rico, Shawn, you two make your way up the east end. We'll meet up with you on the far side. Good?"
Everyone nodded, signaling their readiness. Shawn and Ricochet crept along the wall as Soap and Trevor journeyed across the floor and towards the far wall. Two assembly lines ran up the center, giant industrial lights lit up the grey space, and several towering crates provided them with cover.
"Check corners." Soap's deep voice sounded in their ears.
Shawn pointed up where Ricochet followed his gesture. "Up there. Looks like an office area. We can probably find all of the information we need on sellers up there. Let's head towards those stairs."
"Right," she responded lowly.
Trevor and Soap finally reached their end of the warehouse; luckily for them, it was a medium sized warehouse and not some giant factory of sorts. A man stepped out from in between two sets of crates, clipboard in hand. Soap shot him dead. The man fell back against the crates, stirring them slightly. As the four of them inched along, they silently took out more of the thugs as they passed them up.
Suddenly, a noise drew their attention up towards the office windows from their position on the first level. A man was shouting from one of the windows pointing out. The four of them quickly raised up their weapons but the man ducked down as bullets whipped past and showered glass down onto his back and head. What the four of them didn't realize was that two other men were inside. One rose up, AK-16 in hand, and began sending a barrage of bullets in Shawn and Ricochet's direction. Shawn quickly twisted himself behind a large crate as Ricochet took shelter behind a tall structural column.
"Taking fire! Taking fire!" Shawn shouted, as Soap and Trevor placed themselves behind cover and readied themselves to take aim. "Tango on the stair landing!"
Trevor spun out from behind his cover and took aim at the one on the landing, only in time to have to reel back in as bullets pelted the side of his crate.
"Shit." He cursed.
Soap tried to peep out to get a look at their new found challenge. One man had begun making his way down the stairs, gun raised, the other two had set up on the ledge of the busted out windows. "Three tangos! One on the stairs, two in the windows at our 2 o'clock!" Soap's voice carried and bellowed off of the metal interior.
"Moving up!" Shawn slinked around his crate and dashed his way up to the next aisle, sliding to get behind the next set of crates. His movement drew some of their attentions. "Out in the open!"
Ricochet turned to take aim at the man who reached the bottom of the steps. Taking several muffled shots, three bullets found their way into his abdomen and chest. "Tango down!"
Shawn pulled himself over the side, and aimed down his sights at the two men in the window. As he blasted off several shots, the men ducked down to avoid the fire fight. "Fucking bastards. Moving up!" He ran out from cover and quickly found a safe spot behind the next set of crates, slowly narrowing in on the stairs. During this time, Soap and Trevor had inched their way forward, avoiding detection as Shawn and Ricochet's movements drew in the enemies' sights. The two of them mounted up against lower leveled crates and waited for one of the tangos' heads to emerge.
"Watch the left, I'll get the right." Soap ordered from his position. Trevor nodded with agreement as the professional, battle chemistry between them strengthened.
One head went up, Trevor took aim, removing part of the man's scalp. The man screamed and yelped as he went down. They could hear the cursing from the one remaining man.
"Good kill." Soap commented as he tightened his grip around the trigger and stock. His eye caught movement by the stairs; it was Shawn. He crept up silently with his gun raised.
"Watch the windows." Shawn's voice murmured softly through their radios. All went still as Shawn steadily climbed the steps, gun raised. His movements were agile and quiet. As he drew near the landing, more shots were fired in his direction; bullets pinging and sparking off of the metal door frame and threshold. He quickly lowered and took cover on the landing next to the jarred open door.
Everyone's eyes were on the windows, as they waited anxiously for any movement. But the man lay on the ground determined to remain in his spot. Shawn exhaled heavily as he reached for a flashbang.
"Shawn, you're our paramedic. Don't go getting injured up there." Trevor stated flatly over the radio.
"Flashbanging." He quickly tossed the flashbang through the door where the screech and bright flash of light emitted. The man cursed and screamed as he emptied his magazine towards the door. Shawn went prone as bullets began to pierce through the sheet metal. Then the gun fell quiet and only gave off the faint sound of a clicking trigger. Shawn quickly rose, took aim, and blasted five rounds into the man, leaving him sprawled out and bleeding onto the floor.
Shawn sighed and brought his radio up. "Clear." He lowered his gun and arms to his sides. Soap, Trevor, and Ricochet emerged from their positions and headed for the stairs. "Call in Talon." Shawn said with mild relief flowing through his words.
They signaled for Talon, and afterwards, Shawn and Ricochet retrieved any information they could from the computers and filing cabinets. Soap and Trevor planted charges on structural supports and the propane tanks which fueled the warehouse a portion of its power.
"This warehouse is going to light up the night sky." Trevor stated as he sealed a charge against the side of a column.
"Got to make sure we greatly distance ourselves." Soap replied with a stoic expression.
Eventually, as the charges were being finished and Shawn and Ricochet grabbed up what they could, Talon had converged onto the warehouse. The few members loaded their trucks with what they could manage as another set of drivers waved for Darkhorse to follow.
"Let's get you all back to the LZ. Charges placed?" The Talon member inquired with narrowed eyes.
Trevor nodded. "Affirmative."
"Good," the man rounded on his heels. "Let's roll." He then led them outside where they filed inside the back of a truck and set off for the hills where the LZ was located. Drug cartel was loaded up, and once a safe distance became apparent, the charges were set off and the warehouse burst into flames, sending a fireball into the skyline and a heat wave to blast through the surrounding area. The four team members nodded with approval with just their eyes alone, and felt satisfied with their accomplishments.
"Well done. When we get back, we're going to be greeted with several contracts." Trevor interrupted the silence and buzzing of the engine.
"Staying busy." Shawn replied, eyes elsewhere.
Trevor nodded smoothly as the truck bumped along.
Once they reached the designated LZ several klicks away, they were lifted off and carried back to their base in Croatia.
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